Join us at Spiral House Park for Walking the Spiral, a guided, all-ages gathering exploring mortality, grief, remembrance, transformation, and preparing for the end of life.
As autumn gives way to winter and Spiral House Park prepares to enter its season of rest, we’ll gather for an afternoon of reflection, storytelling, live music, song, ritual, and conversation. Together, we’ll honor loved ones, share memories, create offerings, and explore both the emotional and practical aspects of death and remembrance.
The afternoon will culminate in a communal walk along the spiral path to the Rainbow Portal, where we’ll gather for a closing ceremony marking the end of our time together and Spiral House Park’s transition into its winter season.
All ages are welcome.
Photos courtesy of Larkspur Conservation Cemetery
Come for the full afternoon or drop in when you can. Guests are welcome to arrive and depart throughout the event and participate in as many or as few of the day’s offerings as they wish.
Schedule of Events
12:00 – 12:45 pm | Arrival & Gentle Exploration
Guests are invited to arrive, settle in, and explore a variety of optional activities throughout the park.
- Explore the park and grounds
- Create a cinquain poem reflecting on memory, grief, nature, or transformation
- Add a photograph, drawing, or message to our communal remembrance space
- Visit the handwoven willow casket installation by Elizabeth Stange
- Visit the Aeon Woods Conservation Cemetery table & mini natural burial demo
- Participate in decorating the casket with flowers and natural materials
- Create a foraged floral offering
- Explore resources and information related to end-of-life care, remembrance, and planning
1pm | Opening Gathering | Welcome Address
We’ll come together to formally open the afternoon and acknowledge the changing season, our gathering, and Spiral House Park’s transition into its winter resting period.
- Welcome from Hadrien Coumans, Co-Founder, Lenape Center
- Welcome from Suzi on behalf of Spiral House Park
- Welcome from HK Lee, Founder & Chair of Aeon Woods
- Acknowledgment of Spiral House Park's seasonal closing
1:30 pm | Live Music | Chris Dingman
Gather beneath Your Love Is a Rainbow for an immersive musical experience with vibraphonist and composer Chris Dingman.
- Find a place on the hill and settle in with a blanket
- Listen to a live vibraphone performance exploring music as a space for grief and healing
- Share a few moments of quiet together following the performance
2 pm Stories, Poetry & Song
An informal, all-ages gathering centered around remembrance, nature, grief, and the changing season.
- Listen to short readings, poems, and stories
- Share a short story or memory, if you wish
- Share a cinquain poem created earlier in the afternoon
- Gather beneath Your Love is a Rainbow for songs from the Mid-Hudson Valley Threshold Choir's repertoire for singing at the bedside to those at their Threshold
- Sit, listen, or quietly participate as you feel comfortable
2:50 – 3:00 PM | Closing: Walking the Spiral
We’ll close the afternoon together with a communal walk through Spiral House Park.
- Gather for the final procession
- Volunteers will carry the willow casket toward the Rainbow Portal
- Bring along flowers, poems, or other small offerings created during the afternoon
- Walk the spiral together
- Place offerings on the casket at the Rainbow Portal
- Gather for a final closing as Spiral House Park enters its winter resting season
Tickets
General Admission: $25 – $35 sliding scale
Children Under 12: $15
15% off for Members, Students, Seniors, Veterans, and Neighbors: Use code MSSVN26
Featured Instructors & Contributors
Hadrien Coumans
Co-founder, Lenape Center
HK Lee
Founder & Chair, Aeon Woods
Sarah Fitzsimmons
Head of the Mid-Hudson Valley Threshold Choir
Chris Dingman
Vibraphonist and composer exploring grief and healing through music
Elizabeth Stange
Willow casket weaver, Little Way Caskets
The Mid-Hudson Valley Threshold Choir serves our local community by singing at the bedsides of those at their final threshold. In groups of three singers, we offer gentle harmonies to bring comfort, presence and ease to hospitals, hospice care or private homes. Singing from a non-denominational repertoire of Threshold songs, our service is offered without charge to those in transition. To learn more about the international organization visit thresholdchoir.org. To request singers for a bedside please contact kingston@thresholdchoir.org
