Hundreds Enjoy Fall Fun at Jay Day 2013

Thank you to the Jay Heritage Center's Suzanne Cleary for submitting this article: 

Jay Day 2013 at the Jay Heritage Center was remarkable for the abundance of warm sunshine following a soaking rain the night before. The skies above the Jay meadow literally hummed with irridescent dragonflies as over 200 families came to enjoy this Hudson River Ramble event. From pony rides in the landscape where John Jay first learned to rides to coring honeycrisp apples into delicious spiral ribbons, the offerings for families were many. Balloon twisters made magical butterfly wings, swords and scabbards for girls and boys, while facepainters outdid themselves transforming children into tigers and fairy princesses. 

Making their debut appearance, storyteller Jonathan Kruk and the Hudson River Ramblers did not disappoint as they commanded their post on the portico sharing spy stories of the Revolutionary War surrounded by rapt children and grandparents clustered on old fashioned patchwork quilts. Another standout of the day was Jim Eyring's falconry demonstration - his birds of prey swooped dramatically through the air with the Long Island Sound viewshed behind them much to the delight and awe of spectators lined up shoulder to shoulder on the Jay veranda. In fact several of the birds looked quite at home at the Jay Estate pausing to perch majestically on the mansion roof and in the branches of an old horsechestnut tree. Moments like these reminded everyone present of the property's historic past and inspired great aspirations for its future use.