Dan Aymar-Blair, left, won the Dutchess County Comptroller seat in a special election in November 2024. Will Truitt, right, is a county legislator representing Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley and is presumed to be Aymar-Blair's Republican challenger in the November 2025 election.
POUGHKEEPSIE — Less than a month after his swearing-in ceremony was held in Lagrangeville, Dutchess County comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair has declared his candidacy for reelection to the position on Jan. 19.
“As I start work as Dutchess Comptroller, I also have to start campaigning for re-election because I was just elected to a one-year term in a special election, which means I’m back on the ballot this November,” Aymar-Blair explained. “I’ve got big plans to implement and I need more than a year to see them through.”
With the rapid return to the campaign trail, Aymar-Blair, a Democrat who defeated Republican challenger A. Gregg Pulver by a narrow 929 votes last November, is looking at a possible challenge from county legislator Will Truitt, R-7, a familiar face on the Dutchess political scene. Truitt represents Hyde Park and the Town of Pleasant Valley, and currently serves as chairman of the legislature. While Truitt’s candidacy has not yet officially been declared, he concedes he’s in contention for the comptroller contest.
Said Truitt of the upcoming race, “I am honored and humbled to have my name in consideration for county comptroller … I look forward to the work we have to come in 2025, and I am excited to travel the county to speak with our neighbors about the road that lies ahead.”
This article was originally published in The New Pine Plains Herald and is reprinted here with permission.
PINE PLAINS — The shelves at Peck’s Market, Pine Plains’ only grocery store, appeared thinly stocked last week as the century-old family business confronts mounting financial and legal pressure. After failing to respond to a federal lawsuit seeking more than $77,000 for unpaid food deliveries, the store now risks a default judgment that could leave its owners liable.
The suit, filed in April by Connecticut distributor Bozzuto’s Inc., alleges Peck’s Market owes $77,959.49 for deliveries made between February 2024 and April 2025, plus $3,650 in legal fees. On Aug. 8, United States District Court Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ordered owners Donald and Charlene Peck to show cause why a default judgment should not be entered. Court records show no response was submitted by the Aug. 18 deadline.
It is unclear when Clarke is expected to rule. A default judgment would mean the Pecks lose the case without a trial and could be ordered to pay the full amount. The attorney for Bozzuto’s declined to comment.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Aug. 20, Don Peck said the family is considering options, including raising money by selling or borrowing against property. “We’re very optimistic about the lawsuit,” he said. “We’ll take care of that. As far as the store itself, we’re trying to keep optimistic about it. We’re working at it.”
Still, Peck acknowledged the store’s shrinking inventory and the difficulties facing small, independent grocers. He said he loves the business but raised the possibility of closing or selling the store, noting that several potential buyers have expressed interest.
“We have a lot of options, just closing and selling, of course, is one,” he said.
”Hopefully if we did do that, people would come up with an idea that would work for a small town.”
For Pine Plains, the stakes are considerable. The nearest full-service supermarkets are more than 15 miles away — Hannaford in Red Hook, Tops in Rhinebeck, Freshtown in Amenia, or LaBonne’s in Salisbury, Conn. That distance poses a hardship for older residents and those without reliable transportation.
Peck said members of the community have offered support, but no clear path forward has emerged. “There’s no definite thing right now,” he said. “People are interested in supporting us in different ways. So I’m not sure which direction we’re going to go in.”
Peck also pointed to broader changes in the grocery industry that have left independent stores vulnerable. “A lot of our suppliers today are different than they were 40 years ago. They demand a certain amount of volume, because they’re taking care of bigger stores, so the volume that we have to get from them to get so many cases of grocery or dairy, or meat or frozen, has all gone up…. All these things have changed so much. It’s just unbelievable.”
Laura Strange, chief communications and engagement officer for the National Grocers Association, said many independents face similar pressures. “Independent grocers continue to navigate significant challenges in today’s marketplace,” she said. “Costs for goods, utilities, rent, and labor have all increased, yet independents have worked to compress margins to help consumers absorb rising prices and remain competitive. Even in this environment, their resilience, innovation, and commitment to their communities remain unmatched.”
Food sourcing has also dwindled, Peck said. “We used to have 57 suppliers of product coming here. You know, now we have 17. A lot of them are out of business … and a lot of them have been sucked up by other distributors.”
Brothers William and Robert Peck founded Peck’s Food Market in 1922, and Don represents the third generation of family ownership. Despite the uncertainty, he expressed hope the business will survive. “We’re working at it,” he said. “Thank God, we believe in God and Jesus. He’s with us, trying to figure out how to do this. So we’ll see what happens.”
CORNWALL — Clyde Perham Weed, 74, passed away peacefully at his home in West Cornwall, Connecticut on Sunday, August 17.
Clyde was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Jeanne and Herbert Weed. He was the grandson and namesake of Clyde E. Weed, Chairman of the board of Anaconda Copper.
Clyde was a gifted scholar. He did his undergraduate work at Vassar College, his Master’s and PhD at Columbia University. He was a wonderful Professor of Political Science and taught at Colgate University, Baruch College and spent the last 20 years of his career as a tenured Professor of Political Science at Southern Connecticut State University.
Clyde had remarkable energy and a vivacity that is hard to explain! Through his teaching, kindness and mentorship he touched so many lives.
He also wrote two important works on political realignment theory, “The Nemesis of Reform: The Republican Party during the New Deal,” published by Columbia University Press; and “The Transformation of the Republican Party 1912-1936 from Reform to Resistance”. At the time of his death, he was completing a manuscript on the political thought of Walter Lippmann during the New Deal.
Clyde loved nature and all animals. He spent many happy years walking and loving the natural beauty in West Cornwall.
Clyde leaves behind his wife of 24 years, Amy Weed, and brother Michael Weed of Los Altos, California, sister- in-law, Patricia Hurley, nieces, Emily and Maggie Weed, Brielle Cleary and nephews Jesse Weed, Daniel and Teagen Cleary. He also leaves behind his beloved Scottish Terrier “Hoover.”
Calling hours will be at The Kenny Funeral Home, 41 Main Street, Sharon, CT 06069 on Wednesday, Aug. 27 from 5 p.m. to 7.p.m.
In lieu of flowers please consider sending contributions to The Little Guild of St. Francis, an animal shelter, 285 Sharon Goshen Tpke, West Cornwall, CT 06796.
Clyde was much loved and will be truly missed by all who knew and loved him.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
AMENIA — Sidewalk construction that will extend the town sidewalk to Beekman Park got underway this week along Route 44.
On Wednesday, August 20, the crew was checking excavation lines.
Work is expected to continue for the next three to four weeks. Residents should anticipate minor traffic delays.
Sidewalk construction that will extend the town sidewalk to Beekman Park got underway this week along Route 44. On Wednesday, August 20, excavation began. Project Manager Don D. was at the controls of the excavation equipment.Photo by Leila Hawken
In light of rising local interest in the centuries-old game of Backgammon, Wednesday afternoon backgammon instruction and play sessions are being offered at The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon. The first such session was held on Wednesday, Aug. 13, attracting two enthusiastic participants, both of whom resolved to return for the weekly sessions.
Expert player and instructor Roger Lourie of Sharon, along with his equally expert wife, Claude, led the session, jumping right into the action of playing the game. Claude chose to pair with Janet Kaufman of Salisbury, a moderately experienced player looking to improve her skills, while Lourie teamed himself with Pam Jarvis of Sharon, who was new to the game.
In 2023, Lourie formed Backgammon of Northwestern Connecticut with two objectives: to promote the game in the northwest corner of the state and to teach it to children and adults interested in learning. In addition to the Wednesday sessions at The Hotchkiss Library, an informal, casual group meets at Le Gamin in Sharon every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon.
Acting as co-chairman is Ed Corey who leads the Le Gamin sessions, offering advice and instruction. Both Corey and Lourie play competitively and have distinguished themselves by winning tournaments. There are no fees for participation at either Hotchkiss or Le Gamin. Children, ages 8 and up, are welcome to come and learn the game, along with adults of any experience level.
Lourie says that he can teach a person to play competitively in three lessons.
Sessions at The Hotchkiss Library will continue until the end of the year and perhaps beyond, depending on interest. Lourie will be the instructor until mid-November, when expert player Ed Corey will assume responsibility for the sessions at the Hotchkiss Library.
“We’re hoping for more people and also to see youngsters participating and learning the game,” Lourie said.
“The beginner can be the expert with the right dice,” said Lourie, explaining that it is a game combining chance and strategy. An understanding of mathematics and probability can be helpful.
Lourie summarized the randomness of dice and the strategy of poker. “I want to know the proper etiquette,” Kaufman offered, intent on knowing more about the proper moves, although her play indicated a credible level of skill.
Stopping in to observe the Hotchkiss session, executive director of the library, Gretchen Hachmeister said, “We know that people come to library game sessions. People love games, getting together to learn something new.”
Lourie learned the game under extremely unusual circumstances — as a detainee in a Soviet prison during the1960s missile crisis, while working in Naval Engineering to decipher code for the U.S. Office of Technological Security.
Imprisonment was not terrible, he said. There was predictable questioning by day when he repeated daily the details of his cover story. But at night, the guards — many the same age as the detainees — had finished their shifts and of interrogation.They unplugged the cameras to brew tea and the backgammon games would begin. That was how Lourie learned the game and became an expert.
Board games date back 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia. Modern backgammon goes back to 17th-century England, having evolved from a 16th-century game called “Irish.”It grew in popularity in the 1960s, leading to formation of a World Backgammon Club in Manhattan. And then in 2023, Backgammon of Northwestern Connecticut came to be.
To learn more about the Backgammon sessions at The Hotchkiss Library, visit: www.hotchkisslibraryofsharon.org or contact Lourie directly at Rlourie@gmail.com.
