Our 2025 book of the year, West with Giraffes, begins with a hurricane – so that is how we launched our Two Towns One Book (TTOB) community activities!
On January 19, we hosted the TTOB kickoff, “Weather” or Not You’ve Read the Book, featuring WNYT meteorologist Reid Kisselback. Over 100 people braved the forecast for snow and attended this wonderful, educational program. Reid explained all about hurricanes and focused specifically on the Hurricane of 1938 mentioned in West With Giraffes. This was followed by an interactive question-and-answer session with many questions. The audience enjoyed Reid’s knowledge, easy way of answering and his sense of humor.
Since West with Giraffes is set during the great depression when soup was a mainstay of the American diet, the second TTOB event was “Soup-er Saturday,” on Saturday, February 8. Chef Abby Shea demonstrated
how to prepare French Onion Soup. She also gave tips on how to cut an onion and how to make your own stock. After the presentation, the audience was invited to taste the three different vegetarian soups Abby had prepared – French Onion Soup, Vegetable Soup, and Potato Soup.
More than 90 people sampled the soups and enjoyed the wonderful desserts that the Hospitality Committee provided. This activity gave people an opportunity to mingle with others while tasting and talking to old and new friends. A special thank you goes to the Town of Clifton Park for providing the cups and spoons used for the tasting, and to the Halfmoon Diner for donating the saltine crackers.
Thanks to our TTOB chairperson Linda Conklin for planning these great events for our community!