Touring Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood home

The Freeman Sessions with Stella May returns on Sunday, Sept. 18, from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at the home of Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood home, Oak Terrace, in Clermont in Columbia County.

I toured the First Lady's 1872 home to test the connection, as the property is fairly isolated.



Here's my creepy tour of the property.



As for the event, "Dinner at Eleanor’s: A Moveable Feast," is being presented by Green Peas TV to benefit The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill and ARCS, AIDS-Related Community Services.

Four of the Hudson Valley’s top chefs; a third-generation Hudson Valley farmer; a chocolatier from the Berkshires; the owner of Clinton Vineyards and Winery; and a foodie filmmaker are converging at the spooky location for historic cocktails, a five-course harvest feast, dessert wine and chocolate pairings, and an exclusive historic house tour, at 794 Woods Road in Tivoli.

"Dinner at Eleanor’s: A Moveable Feast" will celebrate the relationship between the Roosevelt and Morgenthau families. Henry Morgenthau, Jr., was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and governor of the Federal Farm Board during the administration of Frankiily D. Roosevelt.

The event is a fundraiser that has been organized and produced by filmmaker Jane Watson, founder of Green Peas TV, to benefit The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill and ARCS, AIDS-Related Community Services. It will be filmed as the next episode of greenpeastv.com and will also be streamed live at dailyfreeman.com as part of the Freeman Sessions with Stella May.

Admission is $125 per person. Seating is limited and tickets must be purchased in advance; there will be no on-site ticket sales the day of the event. Tickets may be purchased online at www.arcs.org/dinnerateleanors.php or by mailing a check to ARCS, Public Relations Office, 40 Saw Mill River Road, Hawthorne, NY 10532.

For more information, call (914) 785-8283.

Seeger wins Grammy

Folk legend and Beacon resident Pete Seeger is contending for a Grammy Award tonight. UPDATE: HE WON!!!

The album "Tomorrow's Children" by  Seeger With The Rivertown Kids And Friends and produced by Appleseed Records, received the nomination in the Best Musical Album For Children category.

According to the record label, "When Beacon fourth-grade teacher Tery Udell invited Clearwater educator and singer Dan Einbender to teach her students about the Hudson, class sessions became songfests, and where there are songs, there’s Pete. He became a regular visitor to the kids’ classroom in 2007.

"The classroom gatherings and performances inevitably led to a series of recordings by Pete, Dan, musician and CD co-producer (with Dan) David Bernz, the children (known as “The Rivertown Kids”), as well as adult musicians, high schoolers and even 14 grammar school percussion students." Collaborators of the album also included Dar Williams and Seeger's wife Toshi.

Another area resident up for a Grammy is Woodstock's Steve Earle, who received a nomination in the Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media category. Earle's song, "This City," was featured on the HBO show "Treme," which has as a cast member Melissa Leo of Stone Ridge. UPDATE: HE LOST




Rosanne Cash, daughter of the late Johnny Cash, and who has a home in Columbia County, is nominated in the Best Americana category for "The List."


Also nominated is "Healthy Food for Thought" in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children category,  and Phoenicia's Robert Burke 'Uncle Rock' Warren contributed in that effort. UPDATE: THE ALBUM LOST.

And finally, Cory Boris, a Kingston High School senior and trombonist, is set to perform with a Grammy Jazz Band during the Grammy ceremony tonight

The Grammy Awards will take place tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS.