Warwick, NY has a long history of tending to itself. There have always been very active associations, granges, clubs and organizations... planning, discussing, plotting futures for this Town and its villages, hamlets and farms. In the 1870's, local dairy farmers planted maple trees along the main street, not just for beauty, but to keep the fresh milk shaded and cooler as they took it to the local rail head. It's a can do community.
In 1993, a dozen or so people were tired of community groups forming in opposition to some issue or another and found a radical, old idea: "What if we got together to dream and plan the future(s) we want?" It was called "Community 2000". During the next year or two, hundreds of people met in large and small groups to map out a dozen areas of interest for the futures of Warwick.
In time, many of these committees became their own organizations. The Farmers Market started like this in 1995 and the new Master Plan for the Town, and Artist's Studio Tours, Land Use and, and, and...
Today, Community 2000 is still a matrix for people and ideas in the Town of Warwick. It is a 501c3 with a kindly Board of Directors who encourage people with interests, passions and ideas to get them going. It offers backroom support, so good new ideas can grow. It make getting involved pretty easy.
It has just been named the community conduit for tax-deductable donations to Warwick FarmAid 2011... to help the Warwick farming community which was badly hurt by the hurricanes of 2011.
Currently Community 2000 is the extended family organization for:
Sustainable Warwick
The Warwick Summer Arts Festival
Art on the Green
Huge Cup Productions
and a few less active projects:
The Barbara Hall Graphic Arts Scholarship
The Warwick Valley Center for the Arts
Lakes Theater Collective
In 2010, it co-sponsored a Community Forum on proposed zoning changes to beautiful, commercial land on Route 94 just outside the Village of Warwick.
Anyone interested in joining others in helping shape the future of our town --in arts, culture, the environment, and more...We are looking for new people to get involved and always new projects to help move along.
contact Dan Mack, the Board President, rustic@warwick.net
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