Cows, horses die in fire; more fires; the fish lady
From the Archives: Thursday, April 24, 2025
From the Archives: Thursday, April 24, 2025
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
‘Midnight Fire Destroys Barn On McGhee Farm; Is Believed Incendiary...Fifteen Head Of Cattle. Team Of Horses. Perish In Flames’; A large barn on the James McGhee farm on Silver Mountain was completely destroyed by a midnight fire of mysterious origin last Wednesday with a loss roughly estimated at between $11.000 and $12.000. Fifteen head of grade cattle and a valuable team of horses perished in the blaze, and an automobile and farm equipment stored in the building was also burned. The loss was partially covered by insurance.
‘Paramount Theatre To Be Re-opened. Moving Picture House Taken Over By Robert A. Lane’; The Paramount Theatre in Millerton has been taken over by Robert A. Lane and will be re-opened in the near future, it was learned early this week. Early showing of all feature pictures produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists, R. K. O. and Columbia studios are promised under the new management with three or four changes in presentations each week during the summer season.
‘About Millerton’; N. Collins Smith, of Amenia Union, expects to begin the erection of a camp at Indian Lake within a few days on the site recently purchased from the Loope Realty Corporation. Workmen completed the grading of a roadway to the property from the state road last week.
Maynard Cook, Orville Velley and Floyd Dow motored to New York City Sunday and saw the world’s champion New York Giants suffer their first defeat of the 1934 season at the hands of the Boston Braves.
‘Commemorative Items Offered For Centennial’; The Millerton Centennial Committee is offering for sale a commemorative mug, plate and tile. These items will sell for $5, $2, and $2 respectively.
Each item is ceramic and will depict a picture of the Town Clock and a suitable inscription. The mug will be offered as a collector’s item since only 1000 copies will be made. The plate and tile will be open stock. They will be supplied by Sheffield Pottery, Sheffield, Mass.
‘Wave Of Fear Spreads After 2 Barns Burn’; Fire razed 2 dairy barns last week sending a wave of fear throughout the Dutchess County Farm area. In the 24 hour period of Thursday, April 17, Morgan Culver of Stanford and Edwin Pilch of Pine Plains watched their dairy barns burn to the foundations.
As news of the second fire spread throughout the communities farmers became fearful of the safety of their own barns and livestock. The William George farm on Route 82 in Pine Plains arranged to have a dog loose in the barn area to alarm them of trespassers. Other farmers put their cows out of the barn after the evening milking.
‘Fish Lady is Back’;The “Fish Lady” is back! Beginning Saturday, April 29, you can purchase Joan’s (the Fish Lady) vacuum sealed, preweighed fish at Paley’s Market in Sharon. Fresh fish will be delivered to Paley’s Thursday afternoons or Friday mornings. The spring hours at Paley’s are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Silamar Farm, on Route 44 in Millerton, is open for the spring season with a selection of perennials and pansies. According to Julie Schroeder, the spring produce is just beginning to pop up in the fields.
Peggy McEnroe, owner of The Millerton Deli, has created some new, yummy cookies. Customers refer to them as “those cream-filled pecan things,” and “the chocolate ones with the cream in the center.” Considering how tasty the cookies are, they deserve names. If you have a suggestion, jot it down on a piece of a paper and pass it along to Peg. Be sure to include your name and telephone number. If your suggestion is chosen, Peg will give you a pound of those now-nameless yummy cookies.
‘Today’s Capital Project Referendum: Mood is Cautious as Voters Head to Webutuck Polls’; WEBUTUCK — In what could be a watershed moment in Webutuck history, voters head to the polls today to weigh in on whether the district should be allowed to proceed with a $20-million capital improvement project.
And with the exception of some students, most observers were guarded in their predictions.
“I am cautiously optimistic,” said School Board President Joe Larocca, who had also been a strong proponent of the last two failed capital projects.
Mr. Larocca declined to speculate on whether the board would consider a maintenance-only package if today’s referendum fails.
“I don’t even want to think about that,” he added.
Town of Washington resident Dick Krivacs, who has grandchildren in the district and has been a frequent visitor to board meetings, was also hopeful.
“I certainly hope so,” he replied when asked for a prediction. “I’d like to see it pass.”
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Always an annual draw, the Amenia Garden Tour, titled “Real Gardens of Amenia,” drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 12, each one presenting a different gardening vibe, but all specializing in beauty of layout and blooms. A true community feel, the event was an activity planned by the Amenia Garden Club and supported by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
With the exception of the manicured beauty of Wethersfield, one of the five stops on the tour, the remaining four gardens were spectacular showings of gardens in progress, evolving from season to season, under the informed care and dedication of their owners, assisted by their bright green thumbs.
“Anyone can garden,” said Michael Peek as he greeted visitors to Wethersfield, pleased that the grand showcase gardens were part of the tour. He expressed amazement that so many local residents are not familiar with that “most beautiful place.”
Cobbler n’ Cream
5 to 7 p.m.
Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery | 324 Norfolk Rd.
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Cocktail Party
5 to 7 p.m.
Douglas Library | 108 Main St.
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Boot Drive
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
North Canaan Fire Co. | 4 E. Main St.
3rd Annual Fly-In
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Triumph Airfield | 547 W. Main St.
Canaan Railroad Station Museum
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
New England Accordion Connection
9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
Canaan Carnival
3 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Berkshire Resilience Brass Band
5 to 8 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
Barbecued Chicken Dinner
5 to 7 p.m.
St. Martin of Tours | 4 Main St.
Canaan Fireman’s parade
6 p.m.
Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.
After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.
At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.
On the cover of the new edition, a quote from Adrian Higgins of The Washington Post boasts, “Michael Dirr is the oracle of ornamental horticulture. I trust his judgements implicitly.”I heartily disagree with Mr. Higgins:I blame this book — and my poor use of it — for some of my worst tree and shrub choices.
I realize some readers might find this declaration inflammatory. The book still occupies a place of high regard among experienced and novice gardeners alike, so please allow me to explain.
In addition to giving the reader his opinion on the aesthetic worthiness of the woody plants included in the book, Mr. Dirr makes good on the book’s title with a review of each species’ hardiness. What makes a tree hardy?It thrives in its intended site, resisting disease with leaves and bark not readily eaten by insects and other critters.
Non-native plants make up the majority of the recommended hardy plants in the book.And here is why:Native trees and shrubs are, by evolution’s design, food source and host to our native fauna — critters large and small. There is no substitute equal to the fauna’s co-evolved flora.A native caterpillar cannot eat a kousa dogwood leaf, as it has not evolved to digest it.Non-native plants seemingly have the advantage if the lens we look through values pristine, uneaten leaves.
In the days when there were sufficient thriving ecosystems to maintain local habitats, a non-native specimen tree here and there was just fine.But where we live in Northwest Connecticut, our woods, meadows, marshes and other natural areas have, for a couple of decades, been severely compromised by invasives that have almost entirely removed the food sources for native insects. It is up to us — now — to plant native plants to save the food chain.Without insects, not only will native animals die, but human food sources will also be at risk.
The security of our food pipeline seems a worthy exchange for some caterpillar-eaten leaves — and to be clear, we’re not talking about non-native infestations such as spongy moth, but rather native caterpillars, which are the singular food source for nesting birds.
My issue is that, in being a trusted source for plant selection, Dirr’s book should give equal — if not prioritized — space to information on ecological impact.For example, it would be good to know when selecting a tree, that a native oak provides food and other ecosystem services to more than 400 native animal species, while a native tulip poplar supports fewer than 30 — though that includes the Eastern tiger swallowtail. Including information on the birds and insects attracted to a given plant would enable reader to weigh these factors in choosing what to grow.But this information is not mentioned at all.
Dirr makes no mention of the role some of these plants have played in the degradation of our natural areas — an omission that is highly relevant, as many of the plants featured in his book are, in fact, invasive culprits. Plants like barberry, porcelain berry and tree of heaven are showcased for consideration alongside native plants without recognition of the devastating infestations they can manifest. Tree of Heaven is now responsible for hosting the spotted lanternfly, which is devastating crops.
Similarly Euonymous alatus (winged euonymous) and Actinidia arguta (hardy kiwi) — two highly invasive plants touted in the book — have been banned or are close to being banned for sale from nurseries in the state of Massachusetts. To his credit, Dirr does point out the invasive nature of Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet), calling it “a terrible and devastating escapee that terrorizes floodplains, fencerows and even open fields, reducing native vegetation to rubble.” Yet Japanese honeysuckle gets an understated warning, with Dirr describing this massively invasive shrub as “bullying their way into understory and open areas.”
The latest edition of Dirr’s book devotes seven pages of copy and photos to various Berberis species, about which Dirr waxes poetic. He notes the addition of “30 new cultivars” in the latest revision and complains that “this species is under assault for its aggressive invasive nature.” He refers to Berberis thunbergii — Japanese barberry, the most invasive of them all — as “the species of major importance in garden commerce.” This plant has already been outlawed for sale in New York, Pennsylvania, New Hamphsire and Maine.A few weeks ago, a bill was passed in Connecticut recognizing the harm of a broad group of invasive plants. Under this new legislation, barberry will be phased out from sale or transport by October 2028.
In understating the invasive nature of many non-natives and de-prioritizing the importance of native species, Dirr’s widely used reference may be partly responsible for many a devastated woodland, forest, meadow and marsh in New England — if not across the U.S.Certainly, the evolution of species, and scientific knowledge about the environment, is changing faster than new editions of books can be printed. I can only hope that if a new edition of Mr. Dirr’s reference book is in the works that it will account for this criteria we now know to be vital in plant selection.
Which brings me back to that quote on the cover from The Washington Post and the larger issue it suggests:Should “ornamental horticulture” get a pass when it comes to ecological survival?I think we can agree — it should not.The consequences are simply too destructive.
Dee Salomon ‘ungardens’ in Litchfield County.
Foxtrot Farm & Flowers’ historic barn space during UAW’s 2024 exhibition entitled “Unruly Edges.”
Art lovers, mark your calendars. The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns July 17 to 21, with an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of the region. Spanning eight counties and over 130 venues, UAW invites residents and visitors alike to explore the Hudson Valley’s thriving creative communities.
Here’s a preview of four must-see exhibitions in the area:
1. Wassaic Project (37 Furnace Bank Road, Wassaic)
“So It Goes” is a powerful group exhibition curated by Eve Biddle, Bowie Zunino, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, and Will Hutnick. The title, drawn from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,” signals a reckoning with how we process the horrors of the world. Through play, reflection, and immersive scale, 43 artists respond with urgency and imagination. Installations can be seen throughout the town of Wassaic at Maxon Mills, Gridley Chapel, and Luther Barn, each space transformed by this deeply thoughtful show.
2. Foxtrot Farm & Flowers (6862 Route 82, Stanfordville)
“Queer Bestiary,” a group show curated by Charlotte Woolf, is inspired by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s book “Forest Euphoria.” The exhibition investigates queer ecology and human relationship to land through the work of 10 artists using painting, sculpture, textiles, and photography. The exhibit is accompanied by a variety of interactive experiences including tattoo pop-ups, karaoke, book readings, and pick-your-own flowers.
3. ChaShaMa North/ChaNorth (2600 Route 199, Pine Plains)
ChaShaMa North (ChaNorth) will have open studios all weekend and has partnered with Paradice Palase, a platform for emerging artists, to mount a site-specific sculpture exhibition featuring 20 artists entitled “Alone, You Are Heard.” On Saturday evening, July 19, stop by for Weird Music Night for an audio-visual synthesis of experimental music, performance art, and unexpected happenings. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an eclectic lineup of acts that redefine the boundaries of performance.
4. Millbrook Arts Project(3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook)
The Millbrook Arts Project is hosting a curated exhibit entitled “Generated Utility” at the newly renovated gallery at the village library. The exhibit will feature the work of artists Natalie Beall and Kathy Greenwood. Additionally, visitors will have access to 12 open artists studios across town. The weekend culminates in a free outdoor concert on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Millbrook Bandshell. Enjoy the Indie-Folk sounds of Strawberry Runners and She Keeps Bees.
For more information and a complete list of participating artists and locations, visit: upstateartweekend.org