I’d discovered a new point of light, a new way for me to make a big difference with a small amount of money – the Hubbard Hall Scholarship Fund. Hubbard Hall is unique in my experience, an old restored Opera House in the middle of a small upstate New York town that is now a non-profit arts and cultural center. It is a classy place, an amazing place really, Hubbard Hall puts on first-class theater and musical productions and – this is the part that draws me –  it’s scholarship fund. Like every cultural institution in America, is struggling for funds and resources. Hubbard Hall is enormously important to my town, the people here have fought for it to stay open and vital forever. The fight goes on. America is not a generous place when it comes to supporting culture in rural areas.

In small towns, there are not a lot of people, and even fewer people with the resources to write big checks and  underwrite programs. The people at Hubbard Hall are guerrilla warriors, struggling for every dollar. It was rewarding to hold our reading last night for the benefit of their scholarship program.

Last night, we had nearly 70 people come to the Hubbard Hall Writer’s Workshop Readings, a community celebration as well as an affirmation of writing. The reading raised more than $200 for the Scholarship Fund, which permits children in this area – New York State, parts of Vermont and Massachusetts- to take dancing, arts and other programs this summer and the rest of the year. I think this is a very powerful thing, Red and I were watching students learn Irish step-dancing, and many here can’t afford even the small fees that Hubbard Hall charges. If you are in the mood and have a few dollars, consider sending a contribution to the Hubbard Hall Scholarship Fund, 25 E. Main Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. I have seen first hand – and experienced first-hand- the idea of changing a child’s life by allowing them to find their zeal and pursue it. You can send a contribution by s-mail and if you want some more information on Hubbard Hall, you can find it here. They don’t have fancy software yet for e-contributions, but writing an actual check brings back sweet memories.

For me this is a pure and inexpensive and gratifying way to brighten the world and feel very good about it. A gift to me, to us. Everyone is seeking money these days, and understandably, but the harsher the world sometimes seems, the more important to brighten it up a bit. Hubbard Hall Scholarship Fund, 25 E. Main Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Seeing the impact these programs have on the kids who take them – I was watching the dancers last night – makes me tear up.