Lily Kahan, at left, and Jordyn Briehof, clerks at the Pine Plains Free Library, holding ground annatto and guascas respectively. Both spices are from our new Spice Library (seen behind them).
PINE PLAINS — Anyone with a taste for a home cooked Latin American meal need look no farther than the Pine Plains Free Library’s new “spice library” for inspiration, instruction, and the spices needed to make it all happen.
But beyond making a tasty meal, Library Director Dee Ann Campbell says that the decision to focus on the spices chosen is the result of the library working to “build a bridge in the community between Spanish speakers who often come to the area to help pick crops” and non-Spanish speaking residents.
Speaking of the new residents, Campbell says, “We thought it would be a way of engaging them with the library in addition to language classes — to have access to spices they might not be able to get a hold of easily in the community.”
Campbell, a former resident of Texas, says that the current spices includes Epazote, which she uses in preparing Tex-Mex Beans for a touch of home. Others, mainly from Mexico, Central, and South America, are Annatto, Guascas, Chimichurri, and Aji Amrillo, with a variety of others coming soon.
Cookbooks printed in English may be borrowed by curious cooks who who are not familiar with the use of the spices.
As of Tuesday, Aug. 20, the spices have been packaged in small envelopes and are available to all at the main desk.
Although most library loans require a free card from the Mid-Hudson Library System, Assistant Library Director Annie Mallozzi, recognizes that those wishing to access the spices are not always able to show the proof of residency required to register for a card. If that is the case, she says, “We don’t want to deny anyone access, so we will make it work for them.”
That bridge building effort also entails free English language lessons, which currently take place at the library at 7775 S. Main St. on Wednesday at 10 :30 a.m and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Additional classes are scheduled for Mondays at 6:30 p.m. starting the second week in September.
Campbell notes, “With this course, when school starts in the fall, we are going to have cultural exchange events between the Spanish speakers in our class who are learning English and the classes (at Stissing High School) that are learning Spanish.”
She says food will be a touchstone of that event where, “They will all get together,” practice their new languages, “and we will build a community that way. It’s a component of an over all plan.”
For more information or to check library hours which will change as of Sept. 1, go to pineplainslibrary.org. or call 518-398-1927.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
