Author: Jeff McKinney

Creator/Editor of ColumbiaCountyCurrent, Lover of Happy Hour, NY REALTOR, World's Best Uncle, Movie Buff.

Happenings This Weekend: Lyceum Cinemas’ Free Christmas Movies

For the 16th straight year, Lyceum Cinemas and Rhinebeck Savings Bank, with the merchants of Hardscrabble Center on Route 9 in Red Hook, are sponsoring free Christmas movies for children and their families on Saturday, December 15.

Starting at 10:15 on that Saturday morning, the Lyceum will once again offer two films for attendees to choose from: “The Polar Express” and “The Nativity Story.”

Tom Hanks stars in “The Polar Express,” which is rated G and is an animated holiday classic based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg.

Rated PG, “The Nativity Story” is said to be a beautiful telling of one of the world’s most familiar stories, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Isaac.

Admission is free and a total of 800 tickets are available on a fist come, first serve basis, however tickets must be obtained in advance from any of the following merchants of Hardscrabble Center: Movies To Go, Teacher’s Closet, Holy Cow, F&M Printing, RMB Enterprises, Hana Sushi, Carol’s Cutting Edge, Subway, or at the Rhinebeck Savings Bank Red Hook branch.

Everyone who attends the movie is asked to bring a non-perishable food item for collection by the Dutchess County Community Action Agency office in Red Hook for distribution to needy families in the area.

Anyone who does not plan to attend a movie but wishes to donate food items may come down and do so anytime between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on December 15.

You may want to call ahead to the theater to make sure the weather hasn’t canceled this event. That number is 845-758-3311

Around The Web – DealNews.com

I don’t know about you but for the past few years, I have done most of my holiday shopping online. I also do most of my non-holiday shopping online but that’s neither here nor there. If you also like to shop the Internet then you might be interested in a site I just found out about today, which really would have been useful to know about last month.

The site is called DealNews.com and basically it lists hundreds of incredible deals to be found online. I’m not talking about crap that you would never want but good stuff like Mac’s for under $800 and Kensington iPod speakers for $54. I even saw a JVC Digital Camcorder for $200 with free shipping! They also have all sorts of stuff for your home and car and anything else you might be shopping for.

Have you heard of or used this site before? If so, what did you think?

Kinderhook Shop, Michael Devine Home, Featured In Domino Magazine

The latest issue of Domino Magazine includes a great feature on local design and decorating shop – Michael Devine Home in Kinderhook, NY.

The shop is located in an 1840’s store on the town green of the village of Kinderhook and Mr. Devine’s home is situated in the apartment above. The merchandise is a mixture of stylish home and garden accessories, antiques, and Mr. Devine’s collection of original hand screened textiles.

Michael Devine Home is located at 10 Broad Street, in Kinderhook. The store’s hours are Friday, Saturday and Monday 10:00 to 6:00 pm and Sunday 11:00 to 4:00pm.

For more information or to shop online, visit MichaelDevineHome.com.

Countdown To Closing

In just nine days, the better half and I will close on our first home. We are first time home buyers and will be making a rather large leap from a small one bedroom, no outdoor space, apartment in New York City to a 1500 square foot, 2 bedroom on 2 acres of land house in upstate New York.


With the exception of the light fixtures and downstairs family room, the house was gutted and refinished with the sole purpose of flipping. The soon-to-be previous owners never spent a night in the place as they went about the remodeling work over the past year or so. The end result is a move-in ready house with everything brand new, shinny and clean or as I like to look at it, a blank canvas.

Painting the walls will be the first of many steps we will undertake to turn this house into a home. I will be chronicling all of the work here so stay tuned in 2008!