letters to the editor

Letters to the Editor: Sept. 26, 2024

Support for Millbrook Library on the ballot

I write in support of the ballot referendum to appear before Town of Washington voters this coming Election Day to increase public funding of our Millbrook Library. The Library has not requested a fund increase since funding was originally approved by taxpayers in 2015. Since that time inflation has risen 33%. We need to keep our Library’s funding current so they can meet their budget requirements. It is vitally important they have the funds to attract and retain qualified staff and this means offering competitive pay and benefits in today’s marketplace. Your Library Board, composed of our friends and neighbors watches every penny spent. There is no “fluff” in how the Library spends their dollars. Let’s all do the right thing and show our support. Vote YES on the Library Proposition this Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024!

Alec Pandaleon

Town of Washington

Gratitude toward my rescuers on Lion’s Head

On July 24 I was hiking alone on the Appalachian Trail near Lion’s Head mountain. I had just passed the peak of the mountain and was headed north when I slipped down a damp rock outcropping and fractured my ankle. I knew right away that I was in trouble, and that I would need help getting off the mountain. The part of the trail where I had fallen was very steep and rocky, and was over a mile from the trailhead. Using my mobile phone I was able to reach the emergency center at the Salisbury, Connecticut Fire Department. I explained that I was badly injured and would need help getting off the mountain. I was told to sit tight and wait for help to arrive. Some 45 minutes later I called the dispatcher back to inquire as to how much longer I would have to wait for help to arrive. She told me that it was taking time to put together a rescue team at the trailhead, but that they would be arriving soon. A short time later an entire team of some 15 to 20 volunteer rescuers arrived where I had fallen: a Salisbury Fire Department EMT; a retired physician; and three separate rope teams — one from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, one from Amenia, New York, and one from Connecticut. The medical team attached a splint to my leg and ankle, and members of the three rope teams loaded me onto a specialized rescue stretcher which was balanced atop a large wheel. The teams then used ropes to pull me up and down the steepest parts of the trail, all the while team members on both sides of my stretcher steadied me while they carried me down the trail. It took the rope-teams about 45 minutes to get me to the trail head where there was an ambulance waiting to take me to the Sharon Hospital.

Recuperating at home following ankle surgery at the hospital, I have had a chance to reflect on what may well be the rarest of human virtues: gratitude. My rescue from Lion’s Head mountain has made me very aware of how blessed I am to live in a community and nation where I have so very much to be thankful for. Needless to say, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the nearly 20 men and women volunteers who carried me safely from the Appalachian Trail rock ledge where I had fallen. I was a total stranger to all the rope-team members who dropped whatever they were doing that weekday afternoon and traveled to the Bunker Hill Trailhead. There is a very good chance that I will never again encounter any of the men and women who carried me to safety. But I want them all to know that I am well aware of how richly blessed I am to live in a community and a nation where there is a long tradition of helping strangers who are in distress. I can not possibly repay them for their efforts. The common bonds of trust and caring they exhibited that day are crucial to holding American society together.

Arthur C. Fort

Millerton

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Amelia R. Wright

Amelia R. Wright

Falls Village – Amelia Rosalie (Betti) Wright, 91, of Falls Village died September 30, 2024 at her home surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of the late Robert Kenneth Wright.

Amelia was born September 6, 1933 in Torrington, CT, daughter of the late Benjamin and Mary Eliza (Passini) Betti. Amelia worked at Camp Isabella Freedman as the Head Housekeeper. She was employed there for 35 years. She attended the Falls Village Congregational Church and had been very active at the Senior Center in Falls Village. She enjoyed collecting. She also enjoyed the craft classes offered by Adult Ed at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She enjoyed traveling, especially to the Cape, Vermont and New Hampshire. An avid flower person, Amelia had traveled to the major flower shows in both Boston and Philadelphia.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan Osborn and her husband David of Falls Village, her son, Robert H. Wright of Falls Village and her son, Donald Wright and his wife Kate of Millbrook, NY; her sister, MaryAnn Betti of Falls Village; her grandchildren, Benjamin and Katie Osborn and Jacob Wright. Amelia is also survived by her great grandson, Gunner Osborn. Amelia was predeceased by her brother, Donald Betti.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2024 in the Mountain View Cemetery, Sand Road, North Canaan, CT. Calling hours will be held at the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home, 118 Main Street, North Canaan, CT 06018 on Friday, October 4, 2024 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Falls Village Volunteer Ambulance Association, 188 US-7 South, Falls Village, CT. 06031

Stissing Mountain faces tough challenge in Rhinebeck rematch

Stissing Mountain faces tough challenge in Rhinebeck rematch

Makayla Robinson, no. 3 of Pine Plains, dribbles the ball down midfield past Rhinebeck’s Ellie Firestone, no. 13, at a soccer match at Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains Wednesday, Sept. 25.

Photo by Nathan Miller


“Use your head,” is particularly good advice in soccer, and Pine Plains senior Madison Spann, no. 7, obviously takes the advice to heart to win the ball from Rhinebeck senior Maddy Santoro, no. 6, in a girls’ soccer match at Stissing Mountain High School Wednesday, Sept. 25. The game ended 6-1 Rhinebeck, marking Stissing Mountain's second loss to the team.Photo by Nathan Miller

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sports

Let’s talk about dirt: soil ecology hikes at the Cary Institute

Let’s talk about dirt: soil ecology hikes at the Cary Institute

Jane Lucas, who holds a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology, at right in all black, leads an educational hike through the woods at the Cary Institute in Millbrook Sunday, Sept. 29. The group followed Lucas down the trail to Wappingers Creek, where she explained the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorous cycle and the carbon cycle and the important role soil microbes play in each.

Photo by Nathan Miller

MILLBROOK — A crowd of nearly 30 went undeterred by cool rain for a hike and lecture on soil ecology at the Cary Institute Sunday morning, Sept. 29.

Jane Lucas, who holds a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology, led the group on a brief hike in the frigid mist and discussed her research focus: microbial communities.

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environment