This summer, thanks to the organizational prowess of the Booster Club and the generosity of the community, a fundraising effort to restore the Saugerties School District’s athletic program was a success. Now, another group dedicated to restoring art, music and library programs hopes to have similar results. Though it was formed almost immediately after the passage of the 2010-2011 school budget in May, Saugerties SLAM (Saves Library Art and Music) had to be organized from scratch, and has thus far raised about $10,000 with another $5,000 promised by the Kiwanis Club. SLAM chair Sue Sachar said the group hopes to ramp up its efforts in the coming weeks, with several large fundraisers planned. With the sports fundraisers complete, and students returning to school soon and seeing the effects of budget cuts, Sachar is optimistic the group’s cause will gain momentum this fall, and, beginning in the second half of the school year, reinstate a substantial amount of the programs that were cut.

Of the group’s supporters, Sachar said they agree with its mission, and many say they wish they’d had a second chance to vote on a reduced school budget before going directly to the steep cuts of austerity. She spoke about the positive effects art, music and library programming have.

“Twenty-five percent of our kids go on to an arts related field,” she said. “I don’t even know how many people go on to a literacy field [or become] writers. Even as a contractor, you have to be able to draw out your plan of what you’re going to build. And if we don’t have the foundation in our schools for people to become well-rounded adults, to be able to do those things, it hits every type of business. You have to have that creativity, [which you get] through the arts, and through music and all those things, it is so important to have those bases, and those are the things that have been cut.”

With several art and music electives eliminated, Sachar worries that those students whose main interests lie in those subjects will drop out or skip school more often. “If one student is saved, either because we got the sports reinstated or the art classes or the music, if they stay in school, just one student, because of all these efforts, it’s worth it,” she said.

The cuts to these subjects, district-wide, include: three librarians (from six to three), two art (from seven to five) and five music teachers (from nine to five). For the art and music departments, this will mean no instrumental music and truncated art and music sessions for elementary school students, and fewer high school electives. Sachar said a single librarian will be expected to provide the necessary research instruction to 1,600 junior and senior high students, and the elementary art and music teachers will be teaching 500 to 800 students per week.

The group’s goal is $125,000 by the end of the calendar year. Most of that, $90,000, would go toward hiring two music teachers to revive the elementary music program (and perhaps an upper level music elective), with the remainder to be used to hire a part-time art teacher and a part-time librarian.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Slam Jam. This Saturday, August 28, SLAM will host a concert at OPUS 40 from 3 to 8 p.m. headlined by Medeski and Wood, and featuring David Sancious and Joe Bonadio as well as Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams with Amy Helm and Byron

Isaacs. Tickets purchased in advance are $25, $30 at the gate. Junior and senior high students with a valid student ID can purchase tickets for $10 on the day of the show. Children 12 and under are free. Advance tickets are available at Music Works, the Inquiring Mind Book Store and Smith Hardware in Saugerties, as well as Catskill Art & Office Supply in Woodstock, Kingston and Poughkeepsie. Tickets are also available for purchase online through WDST.com.

“We are very excited and grateful to have such an incredible group of musicians willing to stand with us and raise money for this crucial cause,” said Carl Mateo, SLAM volunteer and concert committee member. “Music and Arts programs are being cut across the board, not just in our school district but in districts around the country. These programs are so incredibly important to provide a well-rounded educational experience to children. This concert will not only serve as a great fundraiser for our cause, but as a teachable moment to the members of the community that our children deserve access to these programs and we all need to come together to make that possible.”

Flea Market/ Craft Fair, Sunday, August 29, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saugerties Senior Center. Vendors and donations needed, $15 for a 10x10 vendor booth. Refreshments, Bouncy House, 50/50 Raffles and door prizes. Contact Holly at hconlon71@yahoo.com.

All proceeds go to Saugerties Saving Library, Arts, Music Committee Summer Eve Soiree, August 31, 6-8 p.m. The Renwick Clifton House B&B 27 Barclay Street, Saugerties. Sparkling Beverages, delectable Hors d’oeuvres and desserts donated by top area restaurants and local chefs, live jazz, silent auction of art of local artists and raffle items. Tickets are $30 each and are available at Music Works and Inquiring Mind Bookstore in Saugerties. Contact Sue Sachar at suesachar@gmail.com for more information. All proceeds go to Saugerties Saving Library, Arts and Music Committee. Raindate is Thursday, September 9.

Masquerade Ball at Lazy Swan, October 15 at 7 p.m. at the Lazy Swan Golf and Country Club, 1754 Old Kings Highway. Auctions and raffles will be held. Contact SLAM for more info.

Pepsi Refresh Grant, not an event, but an ongoing competition for grant money from the Pepsi Company. Vote online to keep Saugerties SLAM in the running for a $50,000 grant. The page is accessible through SLAM’s website, or by this shortcut: tinyurl.com/SLAMgrant.

Donations to Saugerties PTSA SLAM can be sent to the Saugerties PTSA, Call Box A, Saugerties, NY 12477 and checks should be written out to: Ulster County community foundation/SLAM. Any donation over $1,000 will receive two complimentary tickets to the Masquerade Ball at the Lazy Swan.