2011 Hudson Valley Gateway Experience

Hello Hudson Valley! What a great day, I am so excited, why, a number of reasons; tomorrow is the beginning of spring and today we attended the first (I believe the 1st)                   Hudson Valley Gateway Experience at The Mansion on the Hill at Colonial Terrace Conference Center, 119 Oregon Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY.

This great event provided area residents an opportunity to attend a fun-filled, jam-packed day while learning about and meeting some of the Hudson Valley-based businesses.   The first-ever “Experience” is a regional showcase for vendors to display their best products (many having been voted “Best of Westchester”) and services to the local market.  A few local personalities were on hand meeting and greeting too!  Our own WHUD 100.7 radio personality Kacey Morabito (also a friend from high school for me!) was busy announcing the various vendors in attendance. 

Nearly ninety (90) area businesses from across the Hudson Valley were there interacting with everyone, providing information, coupons, samples and more!  I completely love events like this where the businesses/vendors are accessible and eager to meet the community. 

While all the businesses / vendors were wonderful, a few of my personal favorites include:

I completely fell in love with the hottest trend in readers…well the hottest European trend … clic readers!  These are great and Stephanie Waters, owner of   CraftGoggles, is the ONLY vendor in the entire state of NY to have the license to carry these adorable readers!  The strengths vary from 1 to 3.  And for those of you that know me, yes, I did purchase a pair for myself!    I simply couldn’t resist!  So if you use readers, you know – a pair in the bathroom, a pair in the kitchen, a pair by your bedside and so on and so on, I strongly suggest you contact Stephanie. Keep checking her website (it’s currently under construction) or call her direct at 1-845-603-6124!!

Next on my list of new favorites is     G&K Sweet Foods! Kecia is amazing! With her business partner Gay, these two women have to be among the friendliest & personable ladies you will ever meet.               Their “sweetness” automatically draws you to their table and trust me, once there, you won’t want to leave!  Their sweet potato pie is will have you smiling for more.  The recipe is based on legacy recipe passed down by Gay’s great-grandmother.  My congratulations to these two amazing women for not only creating this successful women owned business but for continuing the legacy and preserving their family history & heritage through the use of recipes passed down through the generations. 

An already mentioned favorite but well worth mentioning again is 12 Grapes – the best music & wine bar in town!  It’s true when they say “a little bit of SoHo in historic downtown Peekskill”! 12 Grapes has received numerous awards and rave reviews including:

·       featured in the Jan. 2011 issue of Westchester Magazine Entitled “A Little Night Music”, this is a great article on food & music venues in the area.  The first photo, of the 12 Grapes stage, includes 5-time Grammy nominee Jon Cobert on keyboard, Mark Rivera on sax (Billy Joel’s sax player), Seth Glassman on bass, Denny McDermott on drums and Russ Velazquez on vocals. And what a night it was!  Click HERE to read the article.

 ·       Dec ’10: 12 Grapes was featured on Toni! on New York TV Everyone in New York loves TV’s Entertainment Reporter, Toni Senecal.  Formerly with WPIX & FOX5, she now has her own cable TV show.  We were happy to have Toni visit with us on December 8th as part of a Jazz special with Wynton Marsalis (Wynton visited 12 Grapes  last year after he performed at the Paramount). 
The Toni! on New York episode aired on 12/22 and 12/25. Click HERE to watch the video.  Toni’s spot on 12 Grapes is found at 20:35 thru 23:00 (you can fast-forward to it). 

 ·       Jul ’10: 12 Grapes was awarded Westchester Magazine‘s Readers’ Pick for “Best Place For A Date Night” See the July ’10 “Best of Westchester” issue of Westchester Magazine. Click HERE for the online story.

 We very much enjoy events like this as we love meeting new people in and around the Hudson Valley!  A very special THANK YOU to everyone for hosting such a spectacular event – one that is sure to grow each year!  Thank You to the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce organizing the event and to your wonderful sponsors:  

    

As always, I wish you days filled with wonder – take a minute to wonder what it is that made you smile today!

Please feel free to “share” this post with your family/friends!  And don’t forget to leave your comments below, we love hearing from you!


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