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The Friends, a Small Volunteer Group, Say Lack of Funding for Signature Fundraising Events, Was ‘Nail in the Coffin’
By Tina Traster
At the same time the Friends of Harmony Hall/Jacob Sloat House are being honored for historic preservation, cuts in Rockland County’s 2026 tourism grants have forced the group to cancel two of its signature fund-raising events this year: the Annual Highlands Bluegrass Festival & Crafts Fair and the Annual Grateful Dead Tribute Music Festival.
The Friends, who produce events to raise funds for restoration projects, are a small and aging group of volunteers who’ve been restoring the 1848 Sloatsburg mansion, while making it a community hub and destination for high-profile events, particularly the concerts held for years on its Great Lawn.
On May 17, the group will be given the 2026 Rockland County Executive’s Historic Preservation Merit Award for restoration of the house’s veranda. These awards are presented annually at the Jacob Blauvelt Homestead in New City.
But the award is bittersweet because the Friends still need to raise funds to complete the veranda.
However, we are not doing our concerts this year, which will impact our fundraising.”
“A significant amount of the work has been achieved but we are continuing to fundraise to see it through,” said Board of Trustee President Andrea LaMantia. “However, we are not doing our concerts this year, which will impact our fundraising.”
In a good year, the high-profile Bluegrass Festival draws more than 1,200 attendees, netting the group $15,000 after expenses. But without funding from the County’s Tourism Grant to advertise it, LaMantia said the group made the decision to cancel the event, along with the Grateful Dead Tribute because The Friends sell both concerts as a vendor package.
In 2025, the group received $16,450 from the county for the festival. This year, the Friends group got $8,000 but it came with strings: the county demanded the grant money be used to advertise the first-time Colonial Day Rev250, to tie in with the nation’s 250th celebrations. The May 16th free event will focus on role of the Ramapo Pass in the American Revolution, with storytelling and interactive activities. People can enlist in the “Continental Army” and set up their encampment, which is a ticketed event.
As of last week, the event had not drawn many to sign up in advance, said LaMantia. And while every event at Harmony Hall/Jacob Sloat House presents an opportunity to educate and to encourage donations, the Friends have relied on its notable summer concerts to spotlight the work it does while building a following.
The Friends is not the only cultural organization that was blindsided in March when letters trickled back from the county to applicants telling them that either they’ve not been awarded funding this year, or that the funding they have been given is tied to the 250th celebrations and FIFA, which is taking place this summer in New Jersey.
The Phoenix Festival, an arts organization that stages theatrical productions, suffered a 25 percent cut, from $8,000 in 2025 to $6,000 for this year. ArtsRock will receive $5,000 less this year, down from $11,000 last year to $6,000 in 2026.
The burning question is why the county has so severely reduced funding, and why those who have received monies have been required to use the money to focus on promoting Rockland County as a hotel/recreation destination for FIFA goers this summer and for a July 3rd concert to mark America250. What vexes them is that these requirements were not part of the application process.
Both FIFA and America250 are one-time events, while Rockland’s arts, cultural and historic groups typically rely on funding to bolster year-round programming. The focus on FIFA and America250 has left cultural organizations at sea, saying they’re having trouble planning and executing their programs. Many say talks with the county now revolve around criteria to align with the two events — but there’s no clarity as to whether additional 2026 tourism dollars will be available and what the qualifiers will be.
Rockland County Tourism Grants in 2025 awarded $316,750 to 30 tourism-focused businesses, up from $298,000 in 2024. The County will not reveal what it has meted out for 2026 and it remains unclear as to whether additional funding is forthcoming for programming beyond these two events.
Rockland County was awarded a $127,250 matching grant through Empire State Development’s Market NY program to support the Global Rhythms: Rockland Summer Festival 2026. “Global Rhythms is a multi‑day, countywide celebration aimed highlighting Rockland’s cultural diversity, artistic talent, and outdoor recreation in conjunction with the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” according to the county. The festival will feature live music, international cuisine, art installations, interactive sports activities, family programming, and large outdoor screens for World Cup match viewing.
Harmony House/Jacob Sloat House Funding Tied To Big Concert Events
It would not be an exaggeration to say historic homes can seem like an endangered species – hard to hold onto, needing protection and advocacy, something we miss when we fail to protect them.
Rockland County is peppered with privately-owned historic houses people love and live in. What’s more in flux are historic homes that are either government-owned (Ramapo purchased Harmony Hall/Jacob Sloat house in 2006) or those run by nonprofits that endeavor to maintain a legacy and put the house to the public good. The Friends began offering programming in 2007, spotlighting the home, teaching history, and fundraising.
In 2024, the nonprofit was gifted a $100,000 grant in memory of Rockland County residents Joan K. and Ray E. Stout, Jr., which was used to restore the front porch. Built in the late 1840s, the wooden house embodies the transition from the then waning Greek Revival style to the newer Picturesque and Italianate architecture.
The Jacob Sloat House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Friends of Harmony Hall was organized under a provisional charter issued by the New York State Board of Regents in 2007 in partnership with the Town of Ramapo. The joint partnership has been tasked to restore the house, document its history, and offer arts and educational activities.
The Jacob Sloat House, which sits on two acres of pastoral land, is a testament to historic preservation because many projects like this lose steam and fail.
What sets the Jacob Sloat House apart from many aspirational historic house preservation projects is the energy, vitality and excellent programming that has kept the house on the radar and in the hearts of those who’ve attended the Victorian Holiday teas, the Highlands Bluegrass Music & Crafts Festival, the Grateful Dead Music Festival, the Great American Picnic, Roaring 20s Speakeasy, Garden Parties, and solstice events.
