Moonlight Soirée, Saturday, September 17, 7 - 11pm
SAVE THE DATE!
TICKETS AND TABLES NOW AVAILABLE. CLICK HERE.
Help us celebrate our 30th Anniversary in celestial style with cocktails in then gardens followed by dinner and dancing under the stars!
This is our only fundraiser of the year. Proceeds support the full calendar of FREE public programs that we offer year round plus ongoing preservation and restoration projects of the buildings and grounds. Thank you to our Soirée Co-Chairs Christie Bonaserra, Aileen Burdick, Lindsay Bello Martin, Lori Silbert and Caroline T. Walker. Committee in Formation.
For Corporate Sponsorships or Underwriting Opportunities, please contact JHC Executive Director Kevin Peraino at peraino.jhc@gmail.com.
News & Upcoming Events
Volunteers Rocked I Love My Park Day!
Successful Sunday Giving Back
Volunteers rock! It was a productive and really fun Sunday in our park this past May 15th. The day began with a tremendous effort by volunteers who came out to beautify our grounds for a rescheduled I Love My Park Day! Thank you to Garden Club of America and Rye Garden Club members Rose Stewart and Julia Burke, Jay Garden Team members Anthony deMeo, Jim Britt and June Hesler, JHC Board members Aileen Burdick and Tracy Edwards for removing invasive species and weeds from the brick apron of our historic 1907 Carriage House. And huge applause to Con Edison‘s Green team for raking and composting literally truckloads of leaves for us!
Next up, visitors to the Jay gardens enjoyed a fascinating talk about ticks and learned about what to watch out for in their yards and neighborhoods from Dr. Christopher Pappas. All in all an amazing Sunday!
Friday, June 3, at 6pm - in-person event!
"Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas" with Jennifer Raff
Both the 23-acre Jay Estate and our neighbors at Marshlands Conservancy are situated on land which was settled by First Peoples. Milton Harbor provided a rich and fertile place for fishing and hunting. Today these parks are both recognized as archaeologically significant by the Department of the Interior and the imprints of the women and men who lived here are preserved and studied with the utmost respect.
On Friday, June 3, at 6 p.m., JHC will welcome anthropologist Jennifer Raff, for a FREE program to discuss her best-selling and critically acclaimed new book “Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas” and tie her findings in to our own understanding of the earliest residents of these lands for which we are stewards.
Raff’s book tells “the story of who the first peoples in the Americas were, how and why they made the crossing, how they dispersed south, and how they lived based on a new and powerful kind of evidence: their complete genomes.” It also “provides an overview of these new histories throughout North and South America, and a glimpse into how the tools of genetics reveal details about human history and evolution.”
Sunday, June 5 at 2pm
Plants and Poetry
Join us in the Jay Mansion for a program with author Marta McDowell, author of “Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Iconic Poet.” The program is the second in a series about the life and legacy of Emily Dickinson. Last year the popular Apple TV+ historical comedy “Dickinson,” starring Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld, filmed for more than two months at the Jay Estate.
The Wall Street Journal called McDowell’s work “a visual treat as well as a literary one,” adding that it “will be deeply satisfying for gardeners and garden lovers, connoisseurs of botanical illustration, and those who seek a deeper understanding of the life and work of Emily Dickinson.” The New York Times Book Review adds: “Wandering through this book, we can smell the hyacinth that bloomed on the poet’s windowsill in winter, hear the thrum of hummingbird wings, smell the cooking odors from the kitchen and imagine Dickinson pruning, staking, digging — and listening and watching.”
The Jay Estate in Rye was home to one of our nation's greatest peacemakers, John Jay...
...and today, it is YOUR park
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