Every year, during the first weekend in December, a small Hudson Valley town carries out an old tradition. We traveled to Rhinebeck, New York, to see it unfold. The annual Sinterklaas festival is a  celebration that’s based the Dutch celebration of St. Nicholas Day. Dutch settlers brought it to the region over 300 years ago. Today it’s a colorful parade featuring costumes and puppets and paper lantern stars that draws crowds of thousands. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/LWTLO_Sinterklaas-FINAL.mp3 After dodging roving Grumpuses and decorating crowns and branches along the quaint streets of Rhinebeck- the branches are a modern day twist on the birch rod St Nicholas used to carry – we ran into Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk. And he was kind enough to bestow us with another seasonal tale. (more…)