Linda Salanad
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme- mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme- mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme- mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-} From birth in Hell”™s Kitchen  to  living on the banks of the Hudson River, Linda Saland came to the Hudson Valley with a mission: to be a good wife and mother. Somewhere along the way, she decided she needed a little bit more, just for herself.
While she enjoyed her four boys and the challenges of motherhood, Saland, who once worked in the executive suite in Manhattan”™s Macy”™s before becoming a stay-at-home mom, Â wanted something “that would be just for me. When you are home all day with children, it”™s nice to get out and do something with other adults.” Saland, wife of state Sen. Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, checked out several adult education classes and found one that enticed her: learning to create stained glass.
“Adult education, whether it is a credited or noncredited course, is a great way to find an outlet or help you decide if the career you are in is not really where you want to be. It”™s also a wonderful way to enhance your career,” said Saland. “For me, it was something I was interested in and a good way to be with people my own age ”“ learning along with some conversation that contained more than three syllables!”
She took the stained glass art class at a local high school, but when it came down  to the actual glass cutting, Saland was at an impasse. For help, she turned to a local glazier, Schmalling Glass in Poughkeepsie. “I was able to complete the course and learned because someone took the time, with patience and skill, to show meme so proficient at it, she began to offer classes of her own. how to do it.” Saland decided she not only enjoyed her newfound outlet, but beca
For the next 25 years, Saland taught at the local Ys, adult education classes, Dutchess Community College ”“ “You name it, and I was probably there,” laughed Saland. “I took what I learned in my original class that helped me and incorporated it into my own teaching. I left out the things I didn”™t like when I took instruction and created my own method of teaching. I was very proud of my students, and I never had one that didn”™t complete the course.”
But after a quarter-century of crafting  stained glass pieces and teaching, Saland decided it was time for a change. “When you stop loving what you are doing, you know it”™s time to find something else.”  She admired a piece of handmade jewelry and decided to try to make it herself, which led to a new interest: jewelry making and design. She didn”™t intend for it to also become a “profit” in the process. It just happened.
She learned how to crochet with silver, which became her niche. “I can incorporate it into whatever suits my fancy. I have to like what I make. If I wouldn”™t want to wear it, I can”™t make it.”Â
De”™s Jewelry in Poughkeepsie thought Saland”™s hand-designed necklaces and matching earrings good enough to carry, so now  she”™s getting ready to get onto the information superhighway. She wrestled with a name for her jewelry line. “I decided to stick to my own,” said Saland. “If it works for others, why shouldn”™t it work for me? I”™ve been Linda Saland for 46 years, and who knows? I may be the next Diane Von Furstenburg!”
“If it hadn”™t been for the availability of continuing education for adults, I may never have found my niche. It’s essential to have the opportunity to go on learning. For me, it not only helped me create a home-based business but got me in touch with other people, which was a wonderful outlet, when I was a young mother.”
Now that Saland”™s “passion” has turned to “profit,” what”™s next? “Who knows?” says the grandma-turned-jewelry designer. “As long as I”™m doing what I love and can keep doing it, Â I”™ll be blessed. The money? It”™s nice, but if you don”™t love what you are doing, all the money in the world won”™t make a difference.”