Beer OK’d at the BBQ; ‘Rent-A-Kid’; A First Woman Post Commander

July 13, 1933

‘Beer Allowed by New Ruling at Barbecues’; That beer may now be dispensed at club outings, picnics, barbecues, etc., under a special one-day permit is stated in a special ruling which has been received by the Dutchess County Beverages Control Board from the state board. The ruling applies only to outdoor entertainments and solves a question which has faced social organizations planning such affairs ever since 3.2 beer became legal.

‘About Millerton’; Recent inquiries as to who is the real veteran of Millerton ball teams still living in town recalled the fact that Clint Dakin played for Millerton in 1885, being a catcher and outfielder. Will Bates played with Wassic and Millerton in 1890, being a pitcher and outfielder.

Ad: Good Use of Time And Money Both time and money are valuable. Put them to good use. Now is the time to start your dollars working for you where they are safe and will soon increase a t compound interest. Open an account with this Bank. Interest paid in our special interest department. Millerton National Bank.

July 11, 1974

‘Hay Day’; There will be a hay harvesting and handling demonstration on July 25 at Alton and Dick Wright’s Ellbank Farm in McGhee Hill Road in Pine Plains. Hay handling machinery will be demonstrated by local dealers.

‘In the Beginning’; … a good foundation must be laid. Work crews pour in the cement that will be the base for the new branch of the Rhinebeck Savings Bank that will open on Route 44 in Millerton some time this fall.

‘Millerton Offered Village Property’; The Village of Millerton has been offered the chance to purchase the property which runs from Main Street to John Street, on land where the Village diner and parking lot are located, to the railroad tracks on North Center Street… Last August, in a public referendum Millerton residents overwhelmingly voted down a similar proposal to issue a $30,000 bond for the property in order to build a park-parking lot.

‘Rent-A-Kid in Operation’; The Millerton Rent-A-Kid substation is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Rent-A-Kid is a nine-week program initiated to help homeowners to solve the problem of a tedious job and for teen-agers to acquire summer jobs,” said Rosemary Oles, substation operator.

July 8, 1999

‘Millerton American Legion Gets First-Ever Female Commander’; Millerton —For the first time in the organization’s 72-year history, American Legion Post 178 in Millerton has elected a female commander. Barbara Sabatine also becomes only the third female commander in Dutchess County history.

Ms. Sabatine graduated from Dover High School in 1980. She served in the U.S. Army from 1980 to 1984 and was assigned to water-craft duty at Fort Eustis in Virginia. She also worked in the personnel area. Serving her country was no cake walk.

“It was hard,” Ms. Sabatine recalled, “but you grow up very quick. I learned a lot.”

She works at Taconic Developmental Disabilities Services Organization (DDSO) in Wassaic and lives in Millerton with her 13-year-old daughter, Tamara Carter.

Rising up through the ranks, Ms. Sabatine is a familiar and friendly face around the legion. She has held several positions over the years, including sergeant-at-arms, historian and second vice commander.

She is a member of the 20/4, an honor society for women legionnaires. Members serve by invitation only. She currently serves as the county historian for the Dutchess County American Legion.

The immediate past commander was Al Andrews, who will continue to serve as second vide commander after 25 years of total service….

With her election, Ms. Sabatine is breaking some longtime, invisible barriers for women. “This has always been the old boys’ club,” she joked. But she has received nothing but support from her male counterparts.

“All the men have been very supportive here,” she said, “They’ve always made me feel comfortable.” …

‘Botany Basics’; James ‘Spider’ Barbour, a biologist/ecologist and research associate with Hudsonia, has been contracted by the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association to inventory all the plants along the future rail trail, looking particularly for places sensitive to trail development, special habitats, wetlands and special assemblages of plants. Eventually, there could be interpretative[sic] signs along the Rail Trail, indicating some of the special places along the way. Mr. Barbour is surveying the entire length of the present and future trail from Copake Falls to Wassaic. One of the goals of the research is to soften the blow of the paved rail trail on the natural surroundings. “If you do things too fast, you may damage something,” he cautioned. The Rail Trail is home to more than 1,000 plant species alone, Mr. Barbour said. He said the area was “a melting pot” of plants.

Latest News

Juneteenth and Mumbet’s legacy

Sheffield resident, singer Wanda Houston will play Mumbet in "1781" on June 19 at 7 p.m. at The Center on Main, Falls Village.

Jeffery Serratt

In August of 1781, after spending thirty years as an enslaved woman in the household of Colonel John Ashley in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mumbet, was the first enslaved person to sue for her freedom in court. At the time of her trial there were 5,000 enslaved people in the state. MumBet’s legal victory set a precedent for the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts in 1790, the first in the nation. She took the name Elizabeth Freeman.

Local playwrights Lonnie Carter and Linda Rossi will tell her story in a staged reading of “1781” to celebrate Juneteenth, ay 7 p.m. at The Center on Main in Falls Village, Connecticut.Singer Wanda Houston will play MumBet, joined by actors Chantell McCulloch, Tarik Shah, Kim Canning, Sherie Berk, Howard Platt, Gloria Parker and Ruby Cameron Miller. Musical composer Donald Sosin added, “MumBet is an American hero whose story deserves to be known much more widely.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A sweet collaboration with students in Torrington

The new mural painted by students at Saint John Paul The Great Academy in Torrington, Connecticut.

Photo by Kristy Barto, owner of The Nutmeg Fudge Company

Thanks to a unique collaboration between The Nutmeg Fudge Company, local artist Gerald Incandela, and Saint John Paul The Great Academy in Torrington, Connecticut a mural — designed and painted entirely by students — now graces the interior of the fudge company.

The Nutmeg Fudge Company owner Kristy Barto was looking to brighten her party space with a mural that celebrated both old and new Torrington. She worked with school board member Susan Cook and Incandela to reach out to the Academy’s art teacher, Rachael Martinelli.

Keep ReadingShow less
In the company of artists

Curator Henry Klimowicz, left, with artists Brigitta Varadi and Amy Podmore at The Re Institute

Aida Laleian

For anyone who wants a deeper glimpse into how art comes about, an on-site artist talk is a rich experience worth the trip.On Saturday, June 14, Henry Klimowicz’s cavernous Re Institute — a vast, converted 1960’s barn north of Millerton — hosted Amy Podmore and Brigitta Varadi, who elucidated their process to a small but engaged crowd amid the installation of sculptures and two remarkable videos.

Though they were all there at different times, a common thread among Klimowicz, Podmore and Varadi is their experience of New Hampshire’s famed MacDowell Colony. The silence, the safety of being able to walk in the woods at night, and the camaraderie of other working artists are precious goads to hardworking creativity. For his part, for fifteen years, Klimowicz has promoted community among thousands of participating artists, in the hope that the pairs or groups he shows together will always be linked. “To be an artist,” he stressed, “is to be among other artists.”

Keep ReadingShow less