AMENIA — Trowels in hand, board members of the Amenia Garden Club set about planting a native garden of pollinator plants, its gift to the Amenia Free Library on Saturday, May 10, the plant choices to be an attraction for bees, insects and birds common to this area.
The new perennial garden measuring 6 feet by 12 feet replaces old rhododendron bushes and a patch of wild strawberries, adding a colorful native display throughout the growing season for all to enjoy.
Butterflies and birds will soon be seen flocking to the Amenia Library to take advantage of a newly planted native pollinator garden. The entire board of the Amenia Garden Club gathered on Saturday, May 10 to do the planting using a Homegrown National Park/Ecoplantia kit. Left to right are Ryan Bagley, Nina Peek, Michael Peek, Ken Monteiro and Paul Arcario.
A program offered through the Homegrown National Park organization, cooperating with Ecoplantia of Frederick, MD, provided 25 live plant plugs that will bloom throughout the growing season from spring to fall, attracting and nourishing pollinator species. The planting kit includes a kraft paper biodegradable template to spread over the prepared soil, showing precise placement for each plant. A bit of fertilizer and a cover of mulch completed the task.
Ken Monteiro, president of the Garden Club, provided details, describing the various plants, all native to the region and therefore of interest to pollinating insects and birds that search for these specific plant species.
Visitors to the library during summer will delight in purple coneflower attracting a variety of butterflies and later, goldfinches. Then Black-Eyed Susans will appear in summer, along with Beardtongue, irresistible to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Ornamental purple Lovegrass will also appear along the way, as will a profusion of Coreopsis and Aster.
Protesters gather during a weekly anti-Trump demonstration in Fountain Square in Amenia on Saturday, Jan. 24, holding signs opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protest organizer Kimberley Travis, who began the regular demonstrations last June with signs bearing the anti-Trump slogan “No Kings,” has remained among the fluctuating number of protesters each week.
Travis said her garage is full of handmade signs – a reflection of the rapidly-changing news cycle and her need to keep up with current events. On Saturday, many of the signs focused on what protesters described as the increasingly extreme actions associated with ICE.
Large, simple signs planted in the snow read, “ICE Out for Good,” a phrase inspired, Travis said, by the recent killing of a Minneapolis mother by a federal agent.
Protesters hold a banner reading “ICE Out for Good” during a weekly demonstration in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
“We're here today – and every Saturday – because we’re tired of what's happening to our democracy,” Travis said, who believes that the Constitution is being “demolished on a daily basis.”
Gesturing toward the other protesters, Travis said, “We, the people, must stand for our democracy, our constitutional freedoms, and we need to stop the murder in the streets and the kidnapping.”
Millerton resident Greg Swinehart said he has attended the Fountain Square protests between eight and 10 times, motivated by what he described as the growing militarization of the country and the violence committed by ICE.
“We need to resist that in a peaceful, nonviolent way,” Swinehart said. “We’re trying to raise awareness in our local community by helping people see messages they might encounter in the national media through the voices of their own friends and neighbors.”
While most passing drivers either honked and waved in support – or simply drove past – a few showed disapproval. One man slowed his vehicle to hurl a string of expletives at the protesters, telling the group to go home.
Still, neither the occasional hostility nor the bitterly cold weather deterred the group, which gathers each Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. “Every car honk feels like another drop of hope,” one demonstrator said.
A small group of demonstrators at Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
When asked if they were afraid to protest so publicly after reports of lethal shootings in Minnesota, the residents generally shared the same response.
“I probably should be,” Travis said. “But they will not intimidate me, and they will not stop me.”
Since beginning the protests last summer, Travis said she has experienced threats and intimidation and has, on one occasion, had to call the police. Even so, she said the encouragement she receives far outweighs the hostility.
A longtime activist, Travis said she has been protesting for causes she believes in since she was a young teenager during the Vietnam War and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Swinehart said he has not felt threatened and hopes the gatherings will continue to grow.
“I hope that more citizens join us,” he said. “I hope more people will speak out for what they think is right, and to enjoy the camaraderie of standing alongside people who care deeply about America.”
Protesters gather in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24By Aly Morrissey
