Left, author/editor Bryan Bunch introduced David Brinckerhoff at a Rotary dinner Wednesday, Dec. 13, at the Millbrook Cafe, where Brinckerhoff was made an honorary member after more than 50 years as a Rotarian.
MILLBROOK — When the Millbrook Rotary Club recognized David Brinkerhoff at a dinner Wednesday, Dec. 13, it was with a great amount of enthusiasm for a life well-lived and spent in serving others.
Brinckerhoff is still serving and was elevated to an honorary member of the Millbrook Rotary. The dinner was held at the Millbrook Café. Bryan Bunch, a writer/editor and teacher as well as someone who knows Brinckerhoff well, gave the introduction.
He told the diners quite a bit about the guest of honor, beginning with the fact that Brinckerhoff is the last of the charter members who continued as an active member of the club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. A past president of the club in 1976-’77, he has also served as historian for a great many years, and gave an account of the club and its beginnings at the anniversary dinner.
The Millbrook Rotary Club was originally the Dutchess Rotary Club. It had to be started by another club and have well-attended meetings for one year before it could actually become a club. It was started by the Rotary Club of Hyde Park, which met at the Cottonwood Inn.
The bell, still rung at the meetings, is inscribed “Central Dutchess Rotary Club.” After much work and bringing ideas to fruition, the Millbrook Rotary Club was born, and it then helped three other clubs get started: Pleasant Valley, East Fishkill and LaGrange.
It was also mentioned that Bunch was originally recruited into the Rotary Club by Brinckerhoff, as were many others. In fact, Brinckerhoff has brought more new members into Rotary than any other member.
He is most known, however, for having been the catalyst for many local projects. The Veteran’s Monument at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and North Avenue was restored mostly at the determined insistence of Brinckerhoff. The signs welcoming visitors to Millbrook were also a pet project that he diligently worked to see to fruition. The Business Directory of Millbrook is a major means of funding for Rotary projects, and his work on that project has been immense.
Brinckerhoff was born in Sullivan County, and while not giving away his exact age, he will admit that he not only attended the Woodstock festival, but that he walked to the now-famous music venue. Brinckerhoff likes people; he waited tables in Catskill resorts, then pursued an education at Purdue University in Indiana. After earning degrees in the field of psychology, he was employed by the university.
Moving to Millbrook when he started a career in executive placement, he later went on to earn a certificate for counseling in alcohol and drug misuse, starting a second career instead of retiring. As president of MARC Agency, which deals in alcohol and drug recovery, Brinckerhoff negotiated a merger between MARC and Mental Health America.
A man who believes in the value of work and service, today, in his 80s, Brinckerhoff still works on large projects that will provide lasting benefits to communities for many years to come. On a personal basis, he will help a friend at the drop of a hat; he has helped with tasks such as writing a resume for someone, and helping to cut up and remove a fallen tree from a friend’s driveway. He commuted back and forth to New York’s Sloan Kettering Hospital to care for a friend and one of his sons who had terminal cancer whenever they needed his help.
In his closing remarks, Bunch said, “Again, welcome to Dave in his new status as an honorary Rotarian. It is our hope that he will take advantage of the opportunities that arise where he can still join us at meetings and other events.” Knowing the verve and energy of this octogenarian, their wishes will probably be manifested, and often.
AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.
Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken
Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.
MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.
The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”
Olenik worked with The Cruiser’s Division in Mamaroneck, New York, to design the vehicles.
“We really want to thank the Pine Plains Police Department for their tremendous support,” Olenik said. After the fire, “they were the first ones to come forward and offer help.”
The new police cruisers are outfitted with lights with automatically adjusting brightness to best perform in ambient conditions.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Since February, Millerton officers have been borrowing a patrol car from Pine Plains. With the new vehicles now in service, Olenik said he plans to thank Pine Plains officers by treating them to dinner at Four Brothers in Amenia and having their car detailed
The main entrance to Kent Hollow Mine at 341 South Amenia Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — Amenia residents and a Wassaic business have filed suit against the Town Board and Kent Hollow Inc., alleging a settlement between the town and the mine amounts to illegal contract zoning that allows the circumvention of environmental review.
Petitioners Laurence Levin, Theodore Schiffman and Clark Hill LLC filed the suit on Aug. 22. Town officials were served with documents for the case last week and took first steps in organizing a response to the suit at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The lawsuit is the latest in a multi-year long legal battle surrounding the mine on South Amenia Road. After Kent Hollow Inc. — a subsidiary of Bethel, Connecticut, based homebuilder Steiner Inc. — applied for a state mining permit in 2017, the Amenia code enforcement officer issued the business a notice of violation.
At the time, Kent Hollow Inc. did not possess a special permit to conduct mining operations as required by Amenia zoning code, and the property did not reside in the Special Mining Overlay district established as part of rezoning efforts coinciding with the 2007 adoption of the town’s comprehensive plan.
Kent Hollow Inc. appealed the violation, claiming the use of the property as a mine predates amendments to town and state regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal citing insufficient evidence in 2019. That spurred Kent Hollow to file two lawsuits — one in the New York State Supreme Court and a federal civil rights lawsuit — challenging the town’s order.
In July 2025, those lawsuits were brought to a close when the Town Board voted at a special meeting to accept a settlement agreement allowing Kent Hollow to continue mining operations under limited hours and quantities.
The most recent suit alleges the 2025 settlement amounts to contract zoning that allows Kent Hollow Inc. to skirt environmental review and the scrutiny of the permitting and rezoning process. Court documents allege Kent Hollow did not adequately prove a continuous, legal nonconforming use.
Supporting the argument, petitioners have submitted the court documents and decision from the 2019 New York Supreme Court case against the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the documents from the preceding ZBA appeals process including receipts and tax returns from Kent Hollow Inc. purporting to establish the nonconforming use.
Kent Hollow Inc. formed as a subsidiary of housing developer Steiner Inc. and purchased the property in 1971, according to state and county real estate records.
Millerton News reporting from 1971 Amenia planning board meetings detail Kent Hollow’s pursuit of a four-section, 40-unit apartment complex on the property.
The News reported Kent Hollow was granted tentative approval on July 6, 1971, to build eight units on the site with the expectation that more would be built later.
The additional units never came to fruition and Kent Hollow apparently abandoned the housing project, opting to use the property as a gravel mine.
Attorneys for the Town of Amenia or Kent Hollow Inc. have not filed responses to the lawsuit as of press time.
AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.
Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.
The talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia. The handicapped-accessible church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road. Refreshments will be served.
Colden was the son of a New York Lieutenant Governor. He was a surveyor, farmer and mercantilist, serving as a judge in Ulster County. His fortunes changed dramatically with the dawn of the Revolutionary War when he remained loyal to the British Crown. His arrest came in 1776, just before the start of his journal.
Campbell is a historian specializing in Hudson Valley history, and the regional stories of Revolutionary era families.
