Friends Host English High Tea

What could be more delightful than spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon attending an English High Tea! It was not necessary to cross the Atlantic, hoping to rub elbows with William and Kate in order to do this. You could have stayed right here in Dutchess County to enjoy the wonderful food of Jan and David Bushey, residents of Hopewell Jct. and the hosts for this afternoon. This May 21 event was one many fund raisers offered by the Friends of the East Fishkill Community Library.

The people who attended were seated in three different rooms; the dining room, the breakfast area or the glassed in porch. They were served homemade scones with jam, and three kinds of sandwiches: chicken salad with cranberries and fresh tarragon, egg salad, and the ever famous cream cheese with cucumber and dill. Five different delicious desserts were offered including lemon cookies, hazelnut cookies dipped in chocolate, lemon tarts, English date-nut bars and brownies. One had the choice of a variety teas, or in a nod to the Americas, coffee. The Friends suggested a $20 donation for this tea, though many people who were not able to fit this into their calendar still sent a contribution.

Jan and David were gracious enough to give the attendees a tour of the premises of what appeared to be a pre-Revolutionary War home. The rooms with wide board floors, beamed ceilings and five fireplaces looked like something out of Johnny Tremain . But, everyone was amazed to find that this house had been built in 1981. Such care had been taken into replicating a home from the 1700’s that people missed the date of this home by centuries. They were fooled by things like the battered brick on the fireplaces which had been salvaged from buildings demolished when Poughkeepsie went through its urban renewal.

If you were not able to attend this lovely spring event, hopefully you will be able to join us next year when we present this English High Tea again. With the marvelous generosity of those who attended and the additional contributions from many who could not, the Friends raised $990.00 for the benefit of the library.