Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Amenia Recreation Commission discusses enhancement projects

AMENIA —  Focusing on a goal to enhance town areas for recreational use by residents and visitors, the Amenia Recreation Commission agreed at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, to proceed with creation of design plans for the Amenia Green project.

Landscape architect Jane Didona of Didona Associates in Danbury, Connecticut, will create the drawings as part of the engineering plan to develop the town-owned land surrounding the Town Hall. The cost of that portion of the Amenia Green design planning is estimated at $90,000.

Rather than wait until next year’s grant application cycle, the commission agreed to pursue other fundraising avenues to move the design planning ahead. 

Generalized estimates forecast that the Amenia Green project could be expected to cost $600,000 to $800,000 to complete, although more exact cost estimates will be available once the design phase is completed.

Wassaic Park

The commission estimated that an additional $120,000 could be needed to create similarly detailed plans for Wassaic Park, a second recreational enhancement project for the town in the village of Wassaic.

“We can’t do anything yet with many items involved with improvements to Wassaic Park,” said commission Chair Paul Winters, indicating that plans would need to wait until the Highway Department garage is moved to its new location on Route 22. 

The commission did agree, however, to preliminarily accept a broad conceptual plan created by Didona in early October describing a location for playground equipment and the possible creation of a pump track for sport bicyclists, part of the planning for Wassaic Park.

Beekman Park

Plans to replace the playground equipment at Beekman Park have made progress. Winters reported on Friday, Oct. 13, that the town’s application for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), will be submitted to Dutchess County Planning and Development before the application deadline of Friday, Oct. 20.

Winters said that he is hopeful that the application will result in receiving the CDBG grant in 2024.

Repairs to the concession stand continue in the planning stage. The commission estimated that $20,000 to $30,000 would be needed just to purchase the necessary materials.

Trunk or Treat for Halloween

Recreation director Katie Sterk-Grassi reported that the annual Trunk or Treat event at Beekman Park will be held on Sunday, Oct. 29, between 1 and 2:30 p.m. Anyone wanting to dispense treats will need to register with the Recreation office. There is no fee for registration.

Leila Hawken

Latest News

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches-from-the-farm
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

Cheryl Mazak

The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Pickett and Prueher on stage.

Provided by Found Footage Festival

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the Found Footage Festival makes its way to the Triplex Theatre in Great Barrington with a treasure trove of lost and forgotten VHS tapes scraped from the piles of distant memories and discarded physical media.

The Found Footage Festival is a “celebration of the videos that time forgot” hosted by two Brooklyn-based comedy writers and childhood friends, Joe Pickett of The Onion and Nick Prueher of The Late Show.

Keep ReadingShow less
film festival

Luis Felber at home at Cornwall Music Bowl

Luis Felber at home at Cornwall Music Bowl
Luis Felber at home at Cornwall Music Bowl
Luis Felber at home at Cornwall Music Bowl

Luis Felber is excited about creating in the Northwest Corner. Coming of age in the British countryside, all he wanted to do as a teen was move to London, the creative heartbeat of England. At 17, he started a band called the Eraserheads and went for it. Since then, he’s been in so many bands he struggles to list them all. But on Saturday, Oct. 3, he’ll be taking the stage at the Cornwall Music Bowl all by himself.

Felber has always felt more comfortable on stage than interacting with people. There’s a sense of purpose in being at a concert. Everybody in the room is there for the same reason: to witness the act of making music. So whether he’s on the stage or in the audience, he feels at home in a venue.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.