Hot sun + hot cars equals golden trophies

A lineup of vintage classics at Sunday’s Amenia Lions Classic Car Show with hoods up, showing off the power plants within.
Photo by John Coston
A lineup of vintage classics at Sunday’s Amenia Lions Classic Car Show with hoods up, showing off the power plants within.
AMENIA — The sun was high and bright at the Four Brothers Drive-in Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 17, beating down on 76 show cars competing in the Amenia Lions Club annual Classic Car Show.
Three judges walked the lines of entries, deciding winners in categories that spanned years from 1942 and earlier and up to the present. There also was a category for trucks and a People’s Choice.
Alex Dumond of Gardiner, New York, won the People’s Choice trophy for his 1979 Chevy C10 pickup, which was hauling a 1980 Yamaha GT80 bike in the truck bed and was fitted with a hitch-mounted two-seater hanging chair stand.
Troy Brazee, 17, a senior at Webutuck High School, won second place in his category for his 2005 Corvette, which has an air suspension system.Photo by John Coston
Car shows can draw the whole family and Sunday’s event at the Four Brothers Drive In was no exception. The intergenerational parade of car buffs ranged from babes in strollers to seniors with walkers.
The generation that grew up yearning for an Edelbrock manifold for their V8 could be overheard explaining how it could make a difference in performance to an unsure onlooker. Same with MAG wheels, a common treatment for Sixties muscle cars.
“You know you’re old when you go to a car show and you see a 40-year old car that you sold to someone when it was brand new,” Al Benson of Pine Plains said, pointing to a vintage Cadillac convertible.
Troy Brazee, 17, a Webutuck High School senior from Amenia, entered his 2005 Chevrolet Corvette in the show. Troy couldn’t be at the beginning of the show because he had to work at Daisy Hill Farm in Millerton.
His Corvette drew attention because it appeared to sit right on the ground, due to an air suspension he had installed. General Motor came up with the name Corvette to liken it to a small warship, and Troy’s ride — squatted on the ground — did look lethal.
The judges awarded him Second Place in the 2001-2023 category, and he arrived in time to receive his trophy.
For Troy, the day started picking crops on a 80-degree Sunday and culminated as he received his trophy to everyone’s applause. A victory lunch followed with his family at Four Brothers.
In 2023, the Club raised $3,500 from the car show that benefited our local fire companies and expects to do as well this year thanks to community support from car enthusiasts and sponsors like Associated Lightning Rod, Jack’s Auto Service, GK Electric, Wes’ Autobody, Maplebrook School, Interstate Batteries, BCI Generator Sales & Service, Boardman Generators, J. Andrighetti Remodeling, Welsh Sanitation, Car Quest, Hufcut Funeral Home and Four Brothers Drive-in and Pizza
A Ford with the all-steel dash in red and white. Photo by John Coston
1942 & earlier: 1st - Mark Thomas from LaGrangeville with his 1934 Ford Model 40 Roadster; 2nd - Arthur Coleman from Hillsdale with his 1933 Pontiac 2;
1943 - 1960: 1st - Tony D. Gian from Wappingers Falls with his 1955 Studebaker President Speedster; 2nd - Richard Taylor from Sharon, with his 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air;
1961 - 1980: 1st - Megan Chamberlin from Amenia with her 1971 Dodge Demon 340; 2nd - Walter Robinson from Pawling with his 1965 Ford Mustang;
1981 - 2000: 1st - Gary Nielsen from Hillsdale with his Ford Bronco; 2nd Terry Dunne from Lime Rock, CT with her 1990 Mosler Consulier GTP;
2001 - Present: 1st - Denny Smith from Pleasant Valley with his 2002 Chevy Impala LS Sport; 2nd - Troy Brazee from Millerton with his 2005 Chevy Corvette.
Trucks: 1st - Alex Dumond from Gardiner with his 1979 Chevrolet C-10; 2nd - Tony Lasko from Poughkeepsie with his 1936 Chevy Pick up;
Motorcycles: - Tommy Alexander from Poughkeepsie with his 1939 Ural Patrol
Best Car Club Representation: Harlem Valley Car Club
Best in Show: Russell McRoberts from Amenia with his 1969 Ford F-100
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.