Hello New Windsor. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Let us all be thankful for what we have and try to offer help to those that do not have it as good as us. In New Windsor we had a food pantry for many years that was operated out of the Recreation Department. In 2020 it was taken over by the Encounter Church in Rock Tavern and they have grown it to help even more people than we were able to, and we still help and support them on a regular basis. So if you are looking for somewhere to help those less fortunate, please consider helping the Food Pantry that helps those in need in our community. Donations can be made directly to Encounter or if you would rather donate to the Town of New Windsor we will purchase food for the pantry with donations we receive.

The Orange County Veterans Center, 30 Lawrence Ave., New Windsor will host a “Thank A Veteran” Brunch on Sunday, Nov. 27, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. to honor those who served.

Admission for Veterans is free. Donations of $10 for all others and unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots are welcomed.

Congratulations to Town of New Windsor Police Officer Ryan Sussman who was recently honored by the Orange County Stop DWI program and Orange County Emergency Services for his work in DWI enforcement. Officer Sussman was recognized for having the second most arrests by a municipal agency Police Officer during the calendar year 2021.

Officer Sussman had worked for me as a camp counselor for the Recreation Department when he was a teenager. It makes me proud to see his accomplishments as well as all of the accomplishments of the officers of our great police department in New Windsor. Congratulations Ryan keep up the good work!

The Town of New Windsor is pleased to offer our holiday events this year with the Christmas Festival taking place on Saturday December 3 from 1 - 6 p.m. at the Town Hall Complex and the Hanukkah Menorah Lighting taking place on Tuesday December 20 from 6 - 8 p.m. also at the Town Hall Complex. Both are outside events with activities and refreshments for all.

The Town of New Windsor Recreation Department is pleased to offer winter programming for youth soccer and youth basketball held at the Vails Gate Elementary School. For Soccer the Recreation Department is once again teaming up the professional instructors of Quickstrike FC and their high school players to mentor our recreation players with a dash of soccer fundamentals mixed in with soccer games. The program will meet on Wednesday nights starting on January 4 and will go for eight weeks ending on February 22 and is broken down by age group with ages 2-4 (Born to Strike) meeting 5 - 5:45 p.m., ages 5-6 (Little Strikers) meeting 6 - 7 p.m., ages 7-12 (Quickstrikers 1) meeting 7 - 8 p.m., and ages 13-17 (Quickstrikers 2) meeting from 8 - 9 p.m.

The price for the program is $65 for New Windsor residents and $75 for non-residents.

Then for Winter Basketball the Recreation Department is pleased to once again team up with the professional instructors from Sky Hawks Sports Academy for an eight-week basketball program that will focus on the whole player teaching sportsmanship and teamwork, as well as the fundamentals of passing, shooting, ball handling, rebounding, and defense. Each week will include skilled based instruction as well as small sided scrimmages. The program will meet on Thursday nights from January 5 - February 23 with ages 6-7 playing from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., ages 8-10 playing 6:35 - 7:35 p.m., and ages 11-14 playing 7:45 - 9 p.m. The fee for the program is $85 for New Windsor Residents, and $95 for non-residents. Space is extremely limited in both programs so don’t hesitate sign up today at nwrecisfun.com or call 845-565-7750 for more information.

Toys For Tots drop boxes will be located in the New Windsor Town Hall through Friday, December 9 if you are looking for a place to donate new unwrapped toys for children of all ages.

 Birthday shout outs this week go to Dan Jackson whose birthday is on November 25, to Mike Zarrilli whose birthday is on November 26, to Chesnie Veronesi whose birthday is on November 27, to Colin Riordan and Louie Mattingly whose birthdays are on November 29, and to anyone else out there celebrating birthdays this week Happy Birthday!

If anyone has a birthday or other special event you want mentioned in my column, or have anything going on in New Windsor that you want the world to know about you can reach me at mveronesi@optimum.net or by calling 845-629-1260. Have a great week.