Orange County Land Trust Annual Benefit Dinner a Great Success!
Several Hundred Attend to Support Land Preservation and Open Space Protection
Over 350 people came out to support the Orange County Land Trust at their Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction, held recently on the grounds of Glenmere in the Town of Chester. The annual dinner is the nonprofit’s largest yearly fundraiser and this year the Land Trust raised over $100,000 for the protection of the county’s natural areas and working farmland.
The theme for the 2009 annual dinner was Celebrating the Preservation of Orange County’s Natural and Historic Treasures. Three groups were honored for their outstanding contribution to land preservation. Carol Ash, New York State Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation was honored for her vital role in the preservation of Sterling Forest. Paul Dolan, Executive Director of ABC News International and JoAnn Dolan, former executive director of New York-New Jersey Trail Conference were honored for their pioneering and continuing efforts in the protection of Sterling Forest and Arrow Park. The Orange County Land Trust was also pleased to honor this year Orange County’s elected leaders and dedicated professionals in county government who have worked diligently together to preserve the county’s working farms and natural areas under the Open Space Plan. The Office of the County Executive, Orange County Legislature, Orange County Department of Planning and Office of the County Attorney were all honored for their contribution to land preservation.
Glenmere, which overlooks Glenmere Lake, has undergone extensive renovations and will reopen in the fall of this year as a luxury 19-suite hotel, restaurant and spa. Built between 1911 and 1913 as a country manor for American industrialist and real estate scion Robert Goelet, the 35-room mansion was designed by Carrere and Hastings, designers of the New York Public Library and the U. S. House and Senate office buildings. It is modeled after a Tuscan villa with a center courtyard, marble columns and mantels, hand plastered moldings, hand painted murals and on the grounds, statuary and a classically inspired sunken Italian garden.
The Orange County Land Trust would like to thank our generous sponsors:
| Glenmere | | Gusciora Construction |
| Arrow Park, Inc. | | Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP |
| Bank of America | | Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union |
| Blue Spruce Construction Corp. | | Morgan Wheelock, Inc. Landscape Architects |
| C.R. Wolfe Heating | | N.A.S. Security Systems |
| Dayne Lossee, Inc. | | Pietrzak & Pfau Engineering & Surveying, PLLC |
| Earth and Sun Energy Systems, Inc. | | Precision Roofing |
| Esposito & Associates | | R.J. Smith Realty |
| First Federal Savings of Middletown | | Scott Snyder, Inc. |
| Gerard Associates | | The Walt Disney Company |
| Hudson Valley Clean Energy | | The Turner Miller Group |
| J.M. Electric & Son, Inc. | | Voss Excavating |
