Local individuals will be recognized for their outstanding community service at historic Hudson Valley property

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY- The Community Foundation serving Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam counties is pleased to announce the Honorees for their 2010 Garden Party: Lillian S. Weigert, Timmian C. Massie and R. Abel Garraghan. Scheduled for Sunday, September 19 from 3 to 6 p.m., this signature event is presented to recognize local individuals for their community service, while demonstrating the work of the Community Foundation in our area. The Garden Party will be hosted at the Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne Mansion, home of Marist College's Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development in Esopus, NY.

 

“Through the generous offer from Marist College to host the event this year at their property in Ulster County our volunteer event committee decided to take advantage of the location to call attention to the community service and dedication of individuals from both Dutchess and Ulster Counties” said Sandy Arteaga, Event Chair of the 2010 Garden Party committee. “These community-minded individuals share their personal dedication to our area and characterize the work of the Community Foundation: to make our region an even better place to live and work. We are so pleased to provide the community this opportunity to show their appreciation to our Honorees.”

 
About the 2010 Honorees

Raised in Poughkeepsie, Lillian S. Weigert is a principal attorney with Gellert & Klein, P.C. Ms. Weigert is the immediate past Chair of the Board of Vassar Brother’s Medical Center and has served on the Health Quest Board of Directors. She previously served as Chair of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation, and held leadership roles for Hudson Valley Home Care, Inc. and Barrett House, and served on the boards of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill and New Horizons Foundation. She is also a former member of the Vassar College Campus Investment Responsibility Committee.

 

Since 1994, Timmian C. Massie has been Chief Public Affairs Officer and the official Marist College spokesman, and currently serves on various boards including The Dyson Foundation, Saint Francis Hospital and Health Centers, Saint Simeon Foundation and Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation. A Poughkeepsie native, Mr. Massie previously served two terms as a member and president of the City of Poughkeepsie Board of Education; President of Dutchess Outreach, the Dutchess County Interfaith Council, and the Dutchess County Chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America. He is a past Chair of the Dutchess County Arts Council and served as Vice President of Taconic Resources for Independence.

 

R. Abel Garraghan, President of Heritagenergy, has a life long history of commitment to the community. Currently Chair of the Board of Trustees for Mount Saint Mary College; Trustee of Rhinebeck Savings Bank; and Director of Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley, his previous civic and community activities include chair roles of the Benedictine Hospital Cancer Center Capital Campaign; Kingston Waterfront Revitalization Commission and Ulster County Development Corporation. Mr. Garraghan also served as the first Chair of the Advisory Board of the Ulster County Community Foundation.

 

Honorary Co-Chairs for the event are last year’s Honorees Dana and Ira Effron and Shirley and Bernard Handel, 2010 Garden Party Event Sponsorship Co-Chairs for the 2010 Garden Party are Carol Gordon and Stacey Langenthal of Rhinebeck Savings Bank. Platinum Sponsors are Gellert & Klein, PC, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, Health Quest and Saint Francis Hospital and Health Centers. Gold Sponsors are Heritagenergy, Mike Arteaga’s Health and Fitness Centers, Rhinebeck Savings Bank and Wm. G. Miller and Son Funeral Home, Inc.

Due to an unprecedented response and space limitations we are no longer accepting ticket reservations online.  Please call the Community Foundation at 452-3077.  We appreciate your understanding.

 

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Established in 1969, for over forty years the Community Foundation has been a driving force of affordable philanthropy in our region. Serving all of Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam counties and representing thousands of donors through more than 430 separate funds, the Foundation channels much needed support to the community through grants and scholarships. As your first resource for everything charitable TM, the Foundation’s purpose is to connect people who care with causes that matter. For information about charitable giving through the Community Foundation, our grant programs, or to obtain a copy of our Annual Report, please call the Foundation at 845-452-3077; email cfdc@cfdcny.org or visit our Web site www.cfdcny.org.

 

One of the most historically and architecturally significant homes in the Hudson River Valley, Payne Mansion is a 42,000-square-foot Beaux Arts-style palazzo designed by the famed Manhattan firm of Carrère and Hastings, architects of the New York Public Library and the Frick Museum. Built in 1905 by Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne, a brigadier general in the Civil War who founded an oil refinery later bought by Standard Oil Co., it later served as the Wiltwyck School for Boys and the Marist Brothers school and retreat house. In 1989 Mr. Raymond A. Rich purchased and restored the estate to its former glory, and upon his death in 2009 bequeathed it to Marist College to be the home for the Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development.