Hudson Valley Writers Center Holds Annual Gala

The Hudson Valley Writers Center (HVWC) hosted its annual gala on Friday, November 22, celebrating its 31rst year. The lively evening supported the many valued community outreach programs, classes, and readings that the Center offers to the Lower Hudson Valley region.

“Our honorees exemplify a commitment to the literary arts and the advancement of our region’s cultural affairs,” said Donald W. Stever, Chairman of the HVWC Board. “This year, we celebrate and fundraise for our outreach efforts in the form of writing classes at the Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry and the RSHM Life Center in Sleepy Hollow.” Four fifth grade students from Sleepy Hollow’s RSHM Life Center read excerpts of their writing, giving attendees the opportunity to see the beautiful results of this important programming.

Honored at the gala were: Dr. Jeremy C. Kohomban, President and CEO of The Children’s Village and the President of Harlem Dowling; Alan C. Brown, MD, and his wife Marion Brown, HVWC Board member and volunteer, and tireless supporters of local arts; and Margo Taft Stever, who is a poet and HVWC’s founder. Please see extended bios below.

The benefit took place at Tappan Hill Mansion located on the former estate of Mark Twain. The night featured live music from four jazz musicians from Sleepy Hollow High School: Henry Poret, Ben Poret, Devin Batheja, and Alex Louis. There was also a silent auction for many desirable items and memberships donated from area businesses and organizations. All of the profits support the HVWC’s mission of bringing literary enrichment to the region.

The HVWC was honored to receive Official Proclamations from Congresswoman Nita Lowey, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti.

PHOTOS attached: Honorees (l-r) Jeremy Kohomban, Marion Brown, Alan Brown, and Margo Taft Stever; Students from the RSHM Life Center (pictured below); jazz musicians from Sleepy Hollow High School. Credit Alexa Brandenberg Photography

Please contact admin@writerscenter.org if you would like photos in another format or have any questions about the content or media in this release.

Honoree Bios:
Dr. Jeremy C. Kohomban is the President and CEO of The Children’s Village and the President of Harlem Dowling. The Children’s Village, founded in 1851, and Harlem Dowling, founded in 1831, provides a broad continuum of residential and community-embedded programs, serving 15,000 children and families each year. Dr. Kohomban is an author, sometimes an activist, and always a pragmatic leader. He is widely recognized as a leader in his field and is driven by the belief that every child, regardless of age, deserves a family, and he is outspoken in his recognition of the social justice antecedents that drive child welfare and juvenile justice. Under his leadership, The Children’s Village, the nation’s oldest and once the largest children’s residential treatment center, has been transformed into a national model for community-embedded family support.

Alan C. Brown, MD is a retired after a 30 plus year career doing eye surgery and general ophthalmology in Manhattan. He is an amateur wood worker and avid bicyclist. Alan serves on the HVWC Board as well as the board of Loose Cannons Inc., a non profit that focuses on securing reparations for Vietnamese children that suffer from Agent Orange exposure.

Marion Brown, a life-long resident of New York State, lives with her husband, Alan, in Yonkers. She earned a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. Marion taught at Adelphi University and Rutgers, Newark, worked on Wall Street, and volunteered for ten years as a Westchester Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension. She has published two poetry chapbooks, received the Portico Prize in poetry, and has had her work published in numerous poetry reviews. She serves on the Advisory Committee of Slapering Hol Press, the HVWC’s Program Committee, and the National Council of Graywolf Press.

Margo Stever is the founder of the Hudson Valley Writers Center and the founding editor of Slapering Hol Press. She is the author of six poetry collections. In 2019, her chapbook Cracked Piano was published by CavanKerry Press and Ghost Moose was published by Kattywompus Press. Her poems have appeared widely in journals and anthologies. She co-authored Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia and created a traveling exhibition of “Looking East” photographs.

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