The Great Lawn at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum in Hyde Park was the scene July 10 of Dutchess County”™s Special Needs Picnic for special needs children and young adults.
County Executive Marcus Molinaro said, “Our annual special needs picnics give hundreds of individuals of every ability and their families a care-free day of fun, great food and live music, as well as the chance to make new friends and connect with agencies and organizations that can greatly impact their lives.”
New this year was a farm theme with barnyard animals. The donkey, being the symbol of the Democratic Party, might have felt perfectly at home on the Roosevelt property but the event was strictly nonpolitical and involved multiple government departments, including Community & Family Services, Public Works, Behavioral & Community Health, the Office for the Aging, and the Dutchess County Sheriff”™s Office. Other community organizations, including Cornell Cooperative Extension and Lucky Orphans Horse Rescue, collaborated with the County.
Molinaro noted that Roosevelt did not let “a physical disability limit his possibilities; he instead looked inward to his innate potential and became one of our nation”™s greatest leaders.”
