Dutchess County’s Rev250 grant program funded lectures on the history of quakers at Millbrook’s Nine Partners Meeting House. The next lecture is Sunday, July 27.
Just in time for the upcoming commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 19 Dutchess County historical societies have been awarded $100,000 in grant money by the Dutchess County Legislature.
Announced by Dutchess County Historian Will Tatum at a December 2024 meeting, all twenty historical societies in the county would have the opportunity to apply for the grant in tandem with the anniversary, known as Rev250. The funds have been allocated to support a wide variety of programs, events and exhibits across the 19 historical societies.
Dyan Wapnick, president of Pine Plains’ Little Nine Partners Historical Society, said the pool of funds was originally $75,000, but was increased to the final amount of $100,000 due to impressive applications and detailed plans.
“Of the 20 historical societies, 19 applied, and out of 27 project proposals, 23 were funded,” Wapnick said.
Robert McHugh, president of the Millbrook Historical Society, described the application process as competitive. “We had to lay out our plans for publicity, for what audience we hoped to attract and what we wanted them to take away from the programs,” he said.
Although there were a wide variety of possible programs, Wapnick said, “the minute the grant was announced I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to write a play about the experience of Pine Planes Revolutionary War widow Mary Ingalls applying for her husband’s pension in 1842.” The story had inspired Wapnick ever since she came across the Ingalls’ records in the National Archives.
Following the themes set by the grant, “The monologue theme chosen is ‘Power of Place’ and the play theme is ‘We the People,’” Wapnick said.
Wapnick took to writing the play herself, “the development and writing of the play has taken the most hours,” she said. “Even though I had much of the research material on hand or available through online websites like Ancestry.com, I still had to tie it all together with a storyline.”
Along with Wapnick’s play, “Widow’s Weeds,” which will take place at 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Stissing Center, there will be a full day of activities from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Graham-Brush House. Events include blacksmith and cooking demonstrations, tours of the house and talks and reenactments of Revolutionary soldiers, all of which are free.
Similarly, the Millbrook Historical Society has added additional programming with the allocated funds from the two grants it received. The first allows for the society to bring in two speakers to the Nine Partners Meeting house for lectures on Quaker history. Professor Sara Gronningsater from the University of Pennsylvania spoke on Quakers, Manumission and Abolition on Sunday, June 29, and Professor Carl Lounsbury from the College of William and Mary will speak on Sunday, July 27, from 2 to 3 p.m. on the architecture of the Nine Partners Meeting House.
The other grant, which includes four different Quaker meeting houses, will allow for tours open to the public on the first Sunday of each month from noon to 4 p.m. until November.
For McHugh and the Millbrook Historical Society, events that centered on Quaker history were “an obvious solution, because the Quaker meeting house that we have in Millbrook is probably the most historically important building. It is from 1780.”
McHugh also noted that Quaker history in Dutchess County is intertwined with the American Revolution, and therefore, a valuable outlet for the funds they received.
Although unrelated to the Rev250 grant, the North East Historical Society plans to explore and discuss the effects of the American Revolution through an exhibit at the NorthEast-Millerton Library during the month of November. They will also host a presentation by historian Anthony Musso on effects of the Revolution in the Hudson Valley on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. in the Library Annex.
Along with Millbrook and Pine Plains, historical societies in Amenia and Stanford also have big plans for events made possible by grant money.
The Amenia Historical Society will host a lecture about the journal of Cadwallader Colden, a Loyalist imprisoned in Amenia during the American Revolution. The event will be presented by researcher Jay Campbell on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Amenia Town Hall Auditorium.
The Stanford Historical Society plans to host two free lectures by Professor Dillon Streifeneder at the Stanford Free Library on Friday, July 18, regarding post-Revolution changes in government, and Friday, Sept. 19, about the town of Stanford as it became an independent town in 1793.
The grant allows smaller towns and historical societies to acknowledge and teach about their rich history and role in the American Revolution. “We are immensely grateful to the county for its generosity and interest in promoting local history programming into its towns,” Wapnick stated. “We are hopeful this continues our efforts to bring local history programming to the community and make the public aware of the events that have shaped small rural towns like Pine Plains.”
McHugh put it simply, the programs “wouldn’t be happening without the funding,” he said.
McHugh noted that this is a way to draw people to Dutchess County and spread its history. “It’s an endorsement,” he said. “This is actually important and the people in power who allocate funds support this kind of effort. I think it’s a good sign.”
Nathan Miller
Voters also passed a resolution to purchase two new 72-passenger school buses.
AMENIA — Webutuck Central School District voters approved a 2026-27 budget on Tuesday, May 19, that triggers the district's first property tax increase in over five years.
The approved spending plan locks in a 1.35% increase to the tax levy. Under the new rate, property taxes will sit at approximately $8.77 per $1,000 of assessed home valuation. According to Webutuck Business Administrator Robert Farrier, a homeowner with a property valued at $200,000 can expect a total school tax bill of about $2,036 for the upcoming year.
That tax bump will cover a 4.45% increase in overall expenditures, largely driven by salary increases and health insurance costs.
Farrier said the district has multi-year agreements with labor groups that mandate increases to employee salaries, meaning those costs are predictable year over year. Salaries are set to increase by a total of $515,344 over last year’s budget, including special education positions that were added during the 2025-2026 school year.
Health insurance costs are projected to rise sharply next year. Farrier said he expects regular annual increases averaging 8% to 10% going forward.
In addition to the budget, voters also approved a bus purchase and reelected three incumbents to the school board.
Voters approved the purchase of two 72-passenger buses and a Bobcat UW56, a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle.
Judy Moran, Amy Wesley and Jerry Heiser were all reelected to the school board. The three incumbents ran unopposed for an additional three-year term on the board.
Superintendent Ray Castellani said the vote reflects a supportive school community. He thanked voters for coming out to the polls at Webutuck High School on Tuesday.
Graham Corrigan
MILLBROOK — Millbrook Central School District had its proposed budget ratified Tuesday, May 19.
Residents voted 391-221 in favor of the $37,992,751 plan. It’s a year-over-year increase of 6.57%, and the tax levy will rise at a rate of 7.02%.
Millbrook’s budget does not exceed the allowed state tax rate — meaning the budget needed a simple majority to pass. While some program and staffing cuts are included, the district was able to avoid a contingency budget and the additional $1.5 million in cuts it would have necessitated.
The district is faced with rising insurance and transportation costs, and is still waiting on state aid from the to-be-determined New York budget. Governor Kathy Hochul announced a broad agreement on key priorities earlier this month, but state legislators filed for their twelfth budget extension last week.
The next year at Millbrook will include a number of capital projects aimed at repairing the school’s aging buildings. Leaks and roof damage have been a persistent problem at the school’s buildings, and a capital project fund transfer is set to address the damage.
Further down the ballot, Howard Shapiro and Chris Rosenbergen were both reelected to their Board of Education seats.
Nathan Miller
Wassaic-based cannabis grower Douglas Broughton in his basement greenhouse at his home on Old Route 22 on Sunday, May 17.
MILLERTON — A cannabis dispensary planned for Main Street is facing lengthy delays that the Wassaic-based grower behind the project attributed to bureaucracy at the Office of Cannabis Management.
Doug Broughton, who operates a commercial cannabis farm at his home on Old Route 22 in Wassaic, plans to open a retail wing of his licensed cannabis microbusiness at 32 Main St. in downtown Millerton. Broughton first announced the plans earlier this year, targeting March and April openings that were later pushed back
He now hopes to open the shop in early summer, but said he can’t peg a specific date due to delays at New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management.
Broughton attributes sluggish administration at OCM to interference from larger cannabis businesses. Those businesses, he said, consume much of the agency’s time and resources, creating delays that can place significant financial strain on smaller microbusinesses like his own.
He said selling his cannabis wholesale to retailers has been keeping him afloat as he pays $1,800 per month on rent for the space on Millerton’s Main Street. Despite that, he’s confident the quality of his products and his shop will make up for the wait once it’s over.
“We have a lot of options and we can be very competitive,” Broughton said, adding he believes his cannabis is of a higher quality and better value than larger, corporate producers. “They threw huge amounts of money into bullying their way into a market and now nobody wants their weed.”
Broughton’s business has also faced other challenges. Rising fuel and commodity prices due to the Trump administration’s conflict with Iran have increased shipping costs, cutting into Broughton’s wholesale profits.
Those price hikes hit Broughton in multiple ways, affecting the cost to purchase packaging for his cannabis and the cost to ship it to retailers.
“I just got containers. I ordered a year ago and the shipping cost would be $2.50,” Broughton said. “Now, it was $6.50.”
The situation isn’t dire, though. Standing in his basement greenhouse in his Wassaic home, Broughton explained that he’s only utilizing just over one-tenth of his legally allowed grow area.
Under OCM regulations, licensed microbusinesses such as Broughton’s are allowed up to 5,000 square feet of mixed-light growing space, his preferred growing method.
Mixed-light growing means Broughton uses a combination of artificial and natural light to grow his cannabis plants. He said he exercises scientific precision over his crops, manipulating artificial light color, humidity levels, nutrients and temperature to ensure his ideal product.
Broughton said he uses just over 600 square feet of his allotted growing space currently, so the business has plenty of room to expand to cover rising costs. But Broughton encouraged proponents of small business and legal cannabis to write to state officials about the effects of long licensing periods on small businesses.
“If people want to get this open, write a letter,” Broughton said. “I’m wholesaling still. It’ll be fine, but I’m excited to get it open.”
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Nathan Miller
A Life Flight medical helicopter carried a man to Westchester Medical Center after he sustained injuries to his foot caused by lawn mower blades.
MILLERTON — A man was flown by helicopter to a regional hospital Friday after a lawn mower caused injuries to his foot.
New York State Police troopers arrived at 43 Scenic View Drive in the Scenic View trailer park at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, May 15, after a 52-year-old man had gotten his foot stuck in the blades of his lawn mower.
A police spokesperson said the man sustained serious injuries. A helicopter operated by private ambulance company Life Flight landed in Eddie Collins Memorial Park to transport the man.
He was taken to Westchester Medical Center for treatment. The man’s identity and current conditions are unknown as of press time.
Leila Hawken
Enhancing educational opportunities for students in the Millbrook Central School District since 2001, the Millbrook Educational Foundation took part in the Millbrook Volunteer Fair on Saturday, May 16. Residents were invited to learn about volunteer opportunities with the foundation and a variety of other local and regional organizations. The event, now in its fifth year, was held at the Millbrook Library.
Christine Bates
Known as the “Ice House,” 12 State Line Road on 3.81 acres was sold by the mortgage holder after standing vacant for years. The property was later renovated and resold for $400,000 on April 15.
MILLERTON — North East’s housing market continued to cool this spring, with home prices holding relatively steady and sales activity slowing compared with the post-pandemic surge that drove prices sharply higher across the region.
The 12-month trailing median sale price for residential properties in the Town of North East, including the Village of Millerton, was $420,000 for the period from May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026. That figure remained essentially unchanged month-to-month, but marked the second consecutive year of declining annual median prices.
The residential median includes all types of housing sales — from modest village homes to large estates with significant acreage — but excludes commercial properties and vacant land sales. Among the higher-end transactions during the period was the sale of 5-15 Homestead Lane for $3.1 million.
Outside the village, where homes are generally situated on larger parcels, the median sale price reached $575,000. Within the Village of Millerton, where lots are typically smaller, the median price for the 10 homes sold during the period was $410,000.
The townwide median price of $420,000 was down 2% from the $430,000 median recorded during the 12-month period ending April 30, 2025. It was also 4% below the median recorded the year before that, continuing a gradual market slowdown following the price increases seen during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sales activity has also slowed considerably. North East recorded 24 residential transactions on a trailing 12-month basis at the end of April, down from 37 sales during the previous year.
Housing inventory showed modest improvement entering the spring market. In early May, 14 homes were listed for sale in North East, including four properties with asking prices above $1 million. Among them was the Hudson Valley Magazine “design home,” listed for $3.99 million.
Only two residential properties were listed for sale within the Village of Millerton in early May. Meanwhile, four commercial properties remained on the market in the village, along with eight parcels of vacant land throughout the town.
Town of North East March and April property sales
710 Smithfield Road — 23.89 acres were sold on April 20 for $190,000.
26 South Center St. —An investment property in the Village of Millerton was sold on April 15 for $700,000.
12 State Line Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath renovated home on 3.8 acres sold on April 15 for $400,000.
5-15 Homestead Lane — 3 bedroom/2 bath home built in 1950 on 258 acres sold on March 27 for $3.1 million.
Town of North East and Village of Millerton closed sales for March and April from realtor.com with property details from Dutchess Parcel Access. Median price and activity calculations for all residential properties from NY State Sales Web transfers through February 2026 with updated residential sales for March and April. Current market data from One Key MLS. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
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