Mary Leitch, who passed away Dec. 24, is pictured at a 2024 observance marking 10 years since the Irondale Schoolhouse was relocated and restored as a visitor center for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail on Main Street in Millerton. The last living student to attend the one-room schoolhouse before it closed in 1930, Leitch was welcomed by North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan.
AMENIA — Mary Leitch, of Amenia, whose life was filled with energy, generosity, and kindness, passed away peacefully at the age of 103 on Christmas Eve morning. For decades, she touched the lives of many and left a lasting mark on the communities of Millerton, Millbrook and Amenia.
Leitch was born in Millerton in 1922 and grew up on Winchell Mountain in the hamlet of Irondale. Her early schooling was at Irondale’s 1858 one-room schoolhouse until it closed in 1930. She was proud of having been the last living person to attend that District No. 7 school, one of 14 one-room schoolhouses serving the town. From the third grade onward, she attended school in the Millerton school district.
In 2014, the Irondale schoolhouse was moved to the village of Millerton’s Main Street to serve as a visitor center for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. The preservation project was accomplished by the Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse, an organization that had been formed in 2008 and continues to manage the operations of the visitor center.
“If you sit still, you will rust,” was a favorite Leitch saying, perhaps inspired by the Irondale district and the area’s iron industry.
Leitch delighted in the outdoors and in the company of animals and people, caring for many dogs—especially Jack Russells—and cherishing the horses that were part of her long, vibrant life. An avid sportswoman, she enjoyed deer hunting and fishing, keeping her licenses current right up until her passing. She was a longtime member of both the Jack Russell Club of America and the Dutchess County Professional Horsemen’s Association.
In 1958, she married William (Billy) Leitch of Millbrook, a professional horseman, sharing a love of the sporting life and enjoying active membership in the Millbrook Hunt Club. Billy pre-deceased her in 2015. The pair never had any children.
Mary Leitch spent her life caring for others, whether nurturing children or tending to horses. When the pandemic began in 2020, she found yet another way to help others, sewing over 600 facemasks that she freely gave to anyone in need.
“She was mother to so many by her love,” said Bishop Gerardo Colacicco of St. Joseph’s Church in Millbrook, during her funeral mass on Tuesday, Dec. 30. Bishop Colacicco enjoyed many years of friendship and had visited with Leitch during her final days and hours, as did numerous neighbors and friends.
At the age of 101, Leitch was featured in The Millerton News by Arts Editor Natalia Zukerman, part of a series of articles highlighting her many contributions and active involvement in the community.
“She was my girl; she was everyone’s girl,” said Pine Plains resident Nan Cassidy, reflecting on decades of friendship.
“You could say a lot of nice things about Mary,” said Paula Redmond of Amenia. “No grass grew under Mary’s feet. She loved life, and she loved people,” Redmond said, a sentiment shared by Redmond’s husband, Toby Collins, from their perspective as next-door neighbors to Leitch.
“She even had a Harley Davidson at one point that she was very proud of,” Redmond added.
“Mary Leitch was a special person,” observed Pastor Douglas Grandgeorge of The Smithfield Church in Amenia. “When it was inconvenient to attend St. Joseph’s where she had been baptized after expressing a lifelong desire to be a Catholic, she gladly attended Smithfield Church with her friends and neighbors, Paula and Toby. For that reason, she and I became fast friends. She was our nearest neighbor to the north, greatly loved and respected.”
Members of the North East Town Board discuss proposed zoning code revisions during a meeting at North East Town Hall in Millerton on Monday, Jan. 19.
MILLERTON — The North East Town Board on Monday, Jan. 19, adopted a series of detailed revisions to its proposed zoning code overhaul, incorporating feedback from county and local agencies as well as public comments.
Zoning Review Commission Chair Edie Greenwood and the town’s zoning consultant, Will Agresta, participated in the meeting as board members reviewed comments submitted by Dutchess County Planning, the North East Planning Board, the town’s Conservation Advisory Council, and residents who spoke or submitted written remarks during the initial public hearing on Jan. 8.
Board members addressed the comments line by line, approving changes that Greenwood described as largely technical in nature, including revisions to definitions that did not align with state regulations and clarifications intended to improve readability and consistency.
Greenwood said a red-line draft showing the approved changes alongside the original text will be prepared.
Among the more substantive revisions was the decision to impose an overall size cap on accessory dwelling units. The board voted to limit ADUs to a maximum of 1,200 square feet and specified that they must be accessed from an existing driveway on the property. Board members also discussed adding language to clarify how ownership through an LLC or trust would comply with the requirement that the property owner reside in the principal dwelling.
The board also approved allowing retail businesses and restaurants in the so-called Irondale District, a small commercial area encompassing seven parcels along Route 22 near Winchell Mountain Road and Irondale Road.
Other changes included:
– Replacing the term “farm” with “farm operation” for consistency with state law.
— Revising drive-through regulations to allow additional lanes for banks.
— Tying requirements for landscaped islands in parking lots to the size of the lot.
— Adding expiration dates for site plan approvals.
— Removing references to “cage-type poultry farms.”
— Requiring 10% of parking spaces in lots with 30 or more spaces to be “EV-ready,” meaning the necessary infrastructure must be installed, but not necessarily a charger itself.
— Standardizing safety and maintenance requirements across all parking regulations.
— Clarifying that parking structures may be built above or below grade.
— Allowing farm machinery sales and rentals.
Greenwood told The News she expects the red-line draft to be completed and submitted before the end of next week. The Town Board is set to continue the public hearing on the proposed zoning changes on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. at North East Town Hall.
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
January 24, 1935
About Millerton
Mayor and Mrs. William J. Brewer and Mr. and Mrs. Miles Jenks left on Monday for a month’s vacation in Florida.
Mr. Roy Ganung and daughter, Jane, spent Tuesday afternoon In Poughkeepsie.
Jean Silvernale is confined to home by illness.
Miss Blanche Bates is spending several weeks at the home of her brother, Edward Bates, at Pittsfield, Mass.
George Wooding of Thornewood spent Sunday at the home of his sister, Mrs. Harry Card.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Decker and family moved to Lakeville on Sunday.
January 22, 1976
Snowmobiles Tresspassing[sic], Officer Says
Trespassing and riding on public roads are the major offenses committed by area snowmobilers this winter, New York State Conservation Officer Harry Wheeler stated this week.
He asserted that a number of snowmobile riders have been sighted traveling on public roads and soaring across private property without permission, both illegal acts.
January 18, 2001
Local Homes Added to Historic Register
COLEMAN STATION — Three houses in the town of North East were recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Oliver Barrett House, the Dakin-Coleman Farm and the Thomas Wheeler Farm, all located in the Coleman Station area, were selected by the New York state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to be listed individually on the register, though the entire Coleman Station Valley was considered for the recognition in 1993.
Millerton Sees Some Business Changes; Shops Move, Expand
MILLERTON- Two stores on Main Street in Millerton have interior changes in the works.
Leslie Hoss Flood has recently relocated her Amenia-based store to the basement of the Millerton Antiques Center. Ms. Flood’s shop had been in Amenia for about 15 years, where, in addition to selling used and antique furniture, Ms. Flood also ran an upholstery shop.
After removing several partitions and installing new lights, the basement store looks entirely new. Ms. Flood is pleased with the space, which offers more room in which to showcase her wares. She is also taking advantage of the additional area by creating a separate reupholstery room and a section to display in-stock fabrics.
Pasta-At-Large Expands
After acquiring the empty space, owner Sofia Okołowicz has expanded her business to provide “a little more elbow room inside.”
The front portion has been open since late November and, in recent days, Ms. Okolowicz has removed a wall and had electricity installed in the new area.
The college-age generation is grappling with inflation, increasing housing prices, climate change, and now mass corporate layoffs. In a world where geopolitical turmoil is increasing, the ground beneath their feet is shifting. Many believe their future is bleak.
My nephew, Joey, just got married. His wife lives with her parents, and he lives with his. While he makes good money as a pharmacy manager at a national chain drugstore, neither he nor his wife can afford even a down payment on a house in Long Island. They are moving in with the wife’s parents. Joey’s sister is also married with two children. They also live with their parents. Welcome to the American dream turned nightmare for almost 70 million young Americans.
The typical age range of Gen Z is 1997 to 2012. They are the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. They are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in America, with 48% being non-white.
Almost all of this generation is highly active on social media. Almost 60% are planning to pursue a college education. They are just as likely to identify as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. As such, the present populist upheaval the U.S. is undergoing takes an inordinate toll on them. It may be why 91% of Gen Zers report experiencing symptoms of stress and anxiety.
While Wall Street opened the year celebrating the promise of a bright future, thanks to AI. Opinion leaders predict that artificial intelligence, robots, and space, among other technological breakthroughs, will dramatically reshape the way the world works. For college grads, all they see is a no-fire, no-hire labor market where unemployment among workers ages 20 to 24 continues to rise. It is now to 5.3% and even worse for those younger than that.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers predict the entry-level hiring crisis will worsen this year, rating job prospects as poor or at best fair. At a recent gathering of employers at the Yale School of Management, 66% admitted they planned to cut jobs or freeze hiring.
With an economy that is expected to grow by 3% in 2026, one would have expected the opposite reaction, but then you would not be reckoning with the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market. Potential employers are concerned and uncertain about how AI might reshape the workforce over the next few years, and rightfully so.
Most analysts believe that many white-collar positions, especially at the entry level, will be replaced by technological advancement. Underscoring that concern, many corporate giants, including Amazon, UPS, Target, and Google, announced layoffs affecting more than 60,000 jobs. And to many, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Faced with taking fast-food jobs at minimum wage and lacking work experience in their hoped-for professions, 3 in 5 Gen Z workers are looking elsewhere for a job with some kind of reasonable future. Almost half of these young workers believe the blue-collar jobs may offer better long-term security than corporate work in the technology fields. The top sectors pursued by Gen Z include plumbing, automotive repair, construction, and electrical work.
I happen to agree with that belief, but unfortunately, Gen Z applicants face the same barrier to entry in their white-collar arena—lack of experience. Many job applicants, regardless of industry, are now required to have at least 3 years of experience and up to 5 years before being considered.
The lure of six-figure salaries in the blue-collar area is attracting more Gen Zs to vocational schools. However, what many conveniently forget is that earning that kind of take-home pay requires years of experience, a substantial investment in personal tools and equipment, and serious wear and tear on the body.
As I write this, in the next room, a 65-year-old builder I’ll call Scott, who is going in for his second knee replacement next month, is building another room in our condo. Assisting him is a young GenZer. There is a constant stream of chatter as Scott talks through his drywalling process. His helper listens intently. They seem eager to learn and ask questions as they work. He did the same when he placed the struts and erected the wall.
For several years, Scott has been involved in a local high school program that teaches vocational school grads his business, while they gain on-the-job experience and a paycheck. Scott and others like him are providing a solution one day at a time. He is one answer to the dilemma facing this struggling generation. This country needs more Scotts to hire and teach a young workforce in need.
Next week, I will highlight one area where many Gen Xers have found an alternative to home ownership. It holds risks but doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to get involved.
Bill Schmick is a founding partner of Onota Partners, Inc., in the Berkshires.Bill’s forecasts and opinions are purely his own and do not necessarily represent the views of Onota Partners, Inc. (OPI).
