Local author to give library book talk on his ‘amusing life’
The Amenia Free Library on Route 343 in Amenia.
Photo by John Coston
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The former home of Demitasse at 32 Main St. in downtown Millerton will become the home of Wassaic-based cannabis farmer Douglas Broughton’s new dispensary.
Photo by Nathan Miller
“We hope to be open in March,” Broughton said.
Cannabis farmer Douglas Broughton, left, and Glenn Hilliard of Newtown, Connecticut, label plastic containers filled with cannabis at Broughton’s home in Wassaic on Friday, Dec. 19. Photo by Nathan Miller
Broughton has been growing cannabis since 1995 and has worked in the legal medical and recreational cannabis industries since their inception, when states across the U.S. began easing prohibitions on the drug..He said quality is paramount to him, and he plans to maintain that commitment in his new dispensary.
“There’s going to be probably 10 to 20 different products for sale at any one time,” Broughton said, emphasizing a desire to exclusively stock locally-produced cannabis from micro-growers. “I’m trying to get the small farm, the micro — which is the small license people — up and running and trying to help them out how to grow so I can feature their cannabis.”
Broughton has not assembled a complete list of participating growers yet, but his own Black Rabbit Farms cannabis will be among the dispensary’s selection. He grows cannabis in a greenhouse at his Wassaic home, using artificial light and a hands-on approach.
That hands-on approach results in lower yields, but Broughton said he values quality over quantity. His wife, Maria Laura Quintero, said he has even sacrificed entire harvests when problems arose.
Glass jars of Broughton’s “Beef and Broccoli” strain of cannabis. He plans to offer his homegrown cannabis and products from other local micro-growers.Photo by Nathan Miller
“He has wiped out entire crops because he saw a mite,” Quintero said. “He won’t give that to the public. He would prefer to kill the whole thing and start all over.”
By choosing an existing retail space in the Village of Millerton, Broughton was not required to go through lengthy approval processes before municipal boards.
The location is ideal, he said, though he acknowledged parking is limited and plans to warn customers on the dispensary’s website. “Parking, unfortunately, is going to be about a block walk either way,” Broughton said. “You’re going to have to park at the rail trail and walk up, or go park above the church and walk down. It’s a nice walk — three minutes, you’re there.”
For customers who prefer not to walk, Black Rabbit Farm will offer delivery within an Office of Cannabis Management-approved radius of the storefront. “It’ll be probably, I don’t know, 10 miles as the crow flies,” Broughton said.
Broughton said he wants the dispensary to fit in with downtown Millerton. “The motif is going to blend right in,” he said. “It’s not going to be this big neon pot leaf — like a McDonald’s thing.”
Glenn Hilliard smooths the label on a 3.5 gram container of Black Rabbit Farms' "Beef and Broccoli" strain of cannabis on Friday, Dec. 19. The plastic packages were destined for dispensaries in Westchester and Rockland county where they will be sold.Photo by Nathan Miller
Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Photo by Aly Morrissey
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats — volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official — yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Before settling in Millerton, Fedele spent 25 years working in merchandising at JCPenney.
His roots, however, trace back to Rhinebeck, where he grew up on a 97-acre farm and enjoyed what he describes as an idyllic childhood.
“It was marvelous,” he said, with a twinkle of nostalgia in his eyes. As a boy, he climbed apple trees, spent hours in the family barn’s hayloft, played with neighbors until sunset, and helped his Sicilian grandmother — his nonna — in the garden. Today, Fedele wears her ring. “Any time I’m a little depressed or I want to remember,” he said, “I can talk to her.”
Growing up with an Italian grandmother sparked a lifelong love of history and culture. That curiosity eventually took Fedele to Italy, where he visited the church in which his grandmother was baptized. “Because I love history so much, I wanted to know where my grandmother was from, so I traveled to her village in Sicily.”
Along the way, he uncovered another piece of family history. His great-grandfather, Giovanni Nicolini, was a noted Italian sculptor whose work still stands outside Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy. Fedele later made a pilgrimage there and photographed his ancestor’s name on the bronze plaque outside of the theater.
Ralph Fedele sits at a table in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse in downtown Millerton. Fedele led the effort to renovate and relocate the schoolhouse to the center of the village.Photo by Aly Morrissey
The Irondale Schoolhouse
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
He left his post at the North East Historical Society to found Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse, leading an eight-year effort to “move, restore, and repurpose the building.”
Supervisor Chris Kennan said the project remains inseparable from Fedele’s name. “Every time I pass by the Schoolhouse, I think of Ralph,” Kennan said. “It was his vision and persistence that enabled this dream to become a reality.”
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students — Mary (Mechare) Leitch — who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
‘Trust is earned’
Today, even though he won’t call himself a local, Fedele is a familiar fixture in town. You can find him each week enjoying conversation and a cup of coffee at Talk of the Town Deli, or getting stopped in town by neighbors and friends for a chat.
“I have gained the trust and confidence of a lot of people,” Fedele said. “It comes a little bit at a time. Trust is earned.”
Not only has Fedele served as a town board member, he has volunteered for Townscape and served as the president of the North East Historical Society. He was also one of the first advocates of preserving history by fixing toppled gravestones at the Spencer’s Corners Burying Ground.
His service was formally recognized at his final Town Board meeting through a resolution commending his three four-year terms as councilman, citing his “good humor, kindness to all and deep concern for the community’s senior citizens and for those living on fixed incomes.”
An emotional Fedele addressed the room with a mantra he often repeats. “When you leave, leave this place a little bit better than you found it,” he said. “That’s what I have always tried to do.”
Neighbors react
During the public comment, several residents stood to thank Fedele.
Claire Goodman, a member of the village Zoning Board of Appeals and Townscape volunteer, said Fedele was among the first to welcome her to Millerton.
“Whether we’re standing out in the cold, scrubbing tombstones at Spencer’s Corners, or ringing the bell at the schoolhouse, you always have such grace and you’re such a gentleman.” She added, “The way you laugh, it opens my heart.”
Kathy Chow, who serves on the Conservation Advisory Council and the Climate Smart Task Force, referred to Fedele as a “pitbull,” adding, “We all have hard things that we do, and we keep pushing at it, but you’re the one who makes me think I can keep going.”
Fedele describes his retirement from the town board as bittersweet. “I’m going to miss this,” he said. “I really am.”
