A haunting they will go

A haunting they will go
From left, Jeanne and Pickle Gutierrez came to the hamlet of Wassaic to celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costume and watching the Wassaic Haunted Parade on Saturday, Oct. 31. For another photo, see Wassaic gets ghoulish.
Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

WASSAIC — Not even the cold weather could halt the Halloween happenings taking place in the hamlet of Wassaic as The Wassaic Project and the Wassaic Fire Company co-hosted a COVID-19 safe Halloween parade on Saturday night, Oct. 31. 

In the moments leading up to the parade’s launch, the hamlet sidewalks were swarmed with families and children both in costume and bundled up in their warmest coats. Everyone was required to wear face masks and maintain social distancing as they observed the parade. 

After lining up at the Luther Barn, the Wassaic Haunted Parade wound its way through the center of the hamlet, starting at 5:30 p.m. and featuring a series of artist-made floats. Led by a grand marshal vehicle carrying a skeletal bride and groom on its rooftop, the parade featured a series of creative floats bearing inflatable ghosts, pythons, bats, skeletons and more as well as a few tractors and even a pair of butterflies on bicycles. 

From “Thriller” and “This is Halloween” to the ever-classic “Monster Mash,” music could be heard streaming out of some of the parade floats, while individually wrapped bags of Halloween candy were seen flying out of others, thanks to the generous donations of local businesses.

— Kaitlin Lyle

Latest News

Fallen trees injure man, destroy fences at dog shelter

Two uprooted locust trees still lie in the yard in front of Animal Farm Foundation’s original kennels where they fell on a fence during a storm on Thursday, June 19.

Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Fallen trees, uprooted and splintered during a thunderstorm, injured a man, destroyed fences and damaged a dog kennel at the Animal Farm Foundation facilities in Bangall.

Isaias Nunez was cleaning along a road on the property with Marco Ortiz, another employee of the dog shelter, when the storm rolled in on the afternoon of Thursday, June 19.

Keep ReadingShow less
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit millertonnews.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less