Town of Huntington, NY - News Details
7/1/2015 - Huntington Recognizes Arts Council, Chapin Family
With rain spreading the activities over two different days, Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone and members of the Town Council recently recognized the Huntington Arts Council for its half century of running the Town’s Summer Arts Festival and the family of folk singer Harry Chapin, who performed at a special 50th anniversary concert in Heckscher Park.
Supervisor Petrone and the council members presented proclamations to the Arts Council and to Sandy Chapin, Harry Chapin’s widow, at a VIP reception Saturday, June 27 at the Heckscher Museum. As originally planned, the reception was to directly precede the concert, but because of bad weather, the concert was postponed until Monday, June 29. In addition to presenting a proclamation to the Chapin Family, the Town unveiled the sign officially branding the concert venue as the Harry Chapin Rainbow Stage.
The Chapin family holds a special place in the history of the Huntington Arts Council. Sandy Chapin is a former Vice President of the Council, and was an integral force of the Lively Arts Festival, in which Harry performed. Sandy Chapin created the organization’s wildly successful Journey Program, which is now implemented in seven school districts. In addition to the Town proclamation, the Arts Council presented Sandy Chapin with its “Harry and Sandy Chapin Arts and Humanitarian Award.” Both the Town and Arts Council honors recognized the Chapins’ contributions to the arts and their efforts to combat world hunger by founding organizations such as Why Hunger and Long Island Cares, which now identifies itself as The Harry Chapin Food Bank. 
The Summer Arts Festival runs from Thursday, June 25 until Sunday, August 9. All performances are free and held at The Chapin Rainbow Stage. Shows are Tuesday- Sunday with performances beginning at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evenings are Family Nights and performances begin at 7:30 p.m. The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. The presenting sponsor is Canon USA. The festival is also supported by Suffolk County and New York State Council on the Arts.
In the photo (l-r): Assemb. Andrew Raia, Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, Councilman Eugene Cook, Councilwoman Susan Berland, Arts Council Board Member Susan Miller, Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, Supervisor Frank Petrone Sandy Chapin , Arts Council Board Chair Debbi Honorof, Arts Council Executive Director Marc Courtade.