Above: Family Traditions owner Peri Rainbow-Sloan behind the counter. Photo by Anne Pyburn Craig.
A new business in Stone Ridge is a unique blend of gift shop, art gallery, and space for dispute resolution and educational services. All are invited to stop in between noon and 7pm this Saturday or Sunday, March 10 and 11, to meet the artists, munch complimentary snacks and wine, and get a peek at the newest denizen of Emmanuel's Plaza on Route 209.
Entering Family Traditions, it's hard to believe you're in the same space that used to house the well-loved but inarguably cramped video store. The feel is fresh and spacious. Beyond the array of gift-shop items, a comfy-looking lounge beckons. The walls pop with art.
“Family,” says Peri Rainbow-Sloan, “is not necessarily just the one you are born into. Families find each other. My family, we're blessed to have found each other – and this is what we're doing with it. My hope is that everyone who comes in will find some little piece of themselves here. And if you come in with a tradition you don't see represented, bring it! We welcome everything that is inclusive.”
The items for sale include Georgia Terwilliger's Plantomes and the exuberant hand blown glass of Brian and Brooke Holzhammer, wedding cake toppers in a full spectrum of ethnicities, jewelry and mementos from Sherri Cohen Design and other one-of-a-kind goodies – Hudson River Walking Sticks crafted from driftwood, Celtic “Lover's Knot” handfasting cords, and Rabbit Shoe keychains. (The luck, it turns out, isn't in the feet.)
The art on the walls is a rotating gallery with a fully-booked schedule stretching forward for months, with June devoted to an LGTBQ student art show entitled “Celebrate Pride” and July to a benefit for the Lakota Nation.
“We have items from $5 fun things to $5,000 gallery pieces,” says Rainbow-Sloan. “Artists have been coming forward wanting to be included...We're not starting this with a lot of money, but we have lots of good will, good ideas and fun.”
The most precious commodities offered at Family Traditions may be the intangibles. The lounge area, which will host events and openings (neighboring Stone Ridge Wine and Spirits is coordinating to schedule tastings on those nights) is a unique educational center meant to bring celebratory and inclusive wisdom into the limelight. The space will host mediation and dispute resolution services, individual and group consultations, and personal and professional development classes.
Rainbow-Sloan, a SUNY New Paltz professor, author and clinician of twenty years' experience, is no stranger to either struggle or celebration, and brings an impressive array of resources to bear on helping plan either or both. She's also legally ordained and can help plan and officiate over ceremonial observances of traditions of all kinds.
The gift shop/gallery/event space/learning center/chapel's location in a plaza anchored by Rite Aid Drugs and Emmanuel's Market has surprised some people. “I saw a friend of mine pass the window looking extremely angry,” says Rainbow-Sloan. “Turned out she just glanced at the name 'Family Traditions' and assumed we were an outpost of Rick Santorum fans or something.”
Uh, not quite. On a table one suspects will soon be crowded with networked offerings are flyers for the Rondout Valley Growers Association and Transition Marbletown. This weekend's grand opening bash, with treats from neighboring Emmanuel's Marketplace, Rosendale-based The Big Cheese and Lucky Chocolates as well as receptions for several of the gallery artists, will benefit the growers' association, still struggling to help local farmers recover from hurricane damage.
Family Traditions. 3853 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY. 845.377.1021. On the web at familytraditionsstoneridge.com, or on their Facebook page. Opening celebration: 12 noon - 7pm, Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11, 2012.
Below: The family behind Family Traditions. Back row: Tamela Rainbow-Sloan, Peri Rainbow-Sloan, Jill Rothschild. Front row: Cecilia Rainbow-Sloan, Dylan Blades. Photo by Donna Cohn Viertel.
