Rural & Migrant Ministry welcomes its neighbors
Last October, members of the Rural & Migrant Ministry loaded a U-Haul and started making trips between Poughkeepsie and Cornwall-on-Hudson.
They were moving into the property that had been occupied by The Grail. They came at a time when COVID was keeping people close to home.
Now the members are planning a dual celebration. They’re observing the 40th anniversary of their organization and the end of their first year in their new facility. The weekend of Oct. 9-10 will be filled with events and will end with a free concert that is open to residents of Cornwall.
Grayson Morley, the communications coordinator for the ministry, described the concert as a way of meeting neighbors. “We see it as an opportunity to introduce ourselves to our new neighbors, with whom we hope to be in relation for many years to come,” he said. “We take the neighbor part of ministry seriously, and we are so excited to get to know our new neighbors even more as things trend back toward normalcy.”
The concert will take place under a tent on the picturesque Grail property from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10. Guests should bring lawn chairs and should know that space will be left for dancing.
The entertainment includes Bobby Harden (a soul singer from New York City who was the lead singer of the original Blues Brothers Band), The Justice Organization of Youth (a group of high school students seeking to make a positive change in their communities), Larry Marshall (a vocalist and actor who has been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award), Jeannine Otis (the ministry’s music director), and the Karlus Trapp Band/KT Magumbo (which is known for its soul-soothing, toe-tapping music).
Rural & Migrant Ministry works for the creation of a just, rural New York State by (1) nurturing leadership, (2) Standing with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers and rural workers, and (3) Changing unjust systems and structures. To see or register for other programs this weekend, go to bit.ly/rmm40weekend.
