Wiawaka is honored to have received four grants in 2006. These include a $149,000 grant from the New York State Department of Parks for the restoration of Wakonda Lodge, $9000 from The New York State Council on the Arts for a facilities audit of our property, $10,000 from the William Gundry Broughton Foundation for roof work on our cottages, and two grants from Poets & Writers underwritten by The New York State Council on the Arts for workshops on fiction writing and poetry with featured artists Joan Murray and Jean Heiberg. We would like to thank Senator Betty Little and Assemblywoman Theresa Sayward for their support of Wiawaka.

Fundraising News


In 2006 Wiawaka board chair, Cris Hine, and executive director, Wendy Littlefield collaborated on a grant application to The New York State Council on the Arts to enagage a preservation architect to do a complete facilities audit of the ten buildings on our property. In December 2006 we learned that Wiawaka had been awarded $9000 to undertake this important work which allow us to prioritize future restoration projects.

This project is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

The board unanimously endorsed the selection of Marilyn Kaplan as our architect. In early 2007, here is what The Albany Times Union wrote about her.

You see her work on buildings all over the Capital Region. It speaks for itself. Operating behind the scenes, Marilyn Kaplan, or her Albany firm, Preservation Architecture, has had a hand in preserving the state Capitol, the Alfred E. Smith building and the Court of Appeals' 1852 high court restoration. She also helped refurbish windows at the White House in Washington. She volunteers, a lot, and was recently cited for her Katrina relief work. She's helped restore small libraries, the Woman's Club of Albany building, the Hudson Opera House and the steeple at St. Peter's Church in Spencertown, to name a few. Future generations seeking a peek into the past can thank Kaplan for the tangible examples.

Many of you are likely to see Marilyn up at the property this summer. If you do we hope you will warmly welcome her into the Wiawaka family. The importance of her work on our behalf cannot be overestimated.

We also received a grant from the EPF fund of The New York State Department of Parks for the restoration of Wakonda. We are immensely grateful. Here is the text from the Parks Department website.

Our season will go from June 25th through Labor Day 2008. If you would like to register as a guest, please consult the registration form on the website. We look forward to your visit. Our calendar of workshops and events will be posted in the spring. We hope you will check back early and often.