Stissing Center patrons gathered for the annual Fire & Ice fundraiser on Jan. 18 in Banning Hall to celebrate the center’s 2025 theme, Find Your Center.
Mr. Marty Pants, an offbeat short film entirely shot in Pine Plains, was the centerpiece of the evening. Created by Patrick Trettenero, the center’s executive director, it featured several Pine Plains residents and establishments. Comedian Rachel Lenihan, a Pine Plains native (“My center will always be at Stewart’s”), hosted the evening’s local music and theater artists, who included pianist Alec Cisco; Long Steel Rail, a bluegrass and honky-tonk duo; guitarist Will Lawrence; and Erin Lindsey Krom.
Gwen M. Greene, the president of the center’s board of directors, took the opportunity to appeal to the audience of about 150 people for donations, concluding, “We’re going to make this, Stissing Center, the hub of the community.”
The evening concluded with a spirited prelude by George Gershwin, played by Sophia Zhou, the Stissing Center Chamber Music director.
