Exchange student Marina Baleller Molla, who is spending the school year with the Mark Vila family in Millbrook and as a student at Millbrook High School, has a pensive moment before her presentation of her life at home and in America in a slide show at the Wednesday, Feb. 28, Rotary Club dinner meeting at the Millbrook Cafe.
MILLBROOK — The Millbrook Rotary Club held a combined meeting and dinner at The Millbrook Café Wednesday, Feb. 28.
John Hedbavy, past president of the Salisbury (Connecticut) Rotary Club, was a guest, and the special guest was Martina Balaller Molla, an exchange student from Spain who is spending a school year with the Mark Vila family in Millbrook through the Rotary Club. She is 17, a junior, and has a twin sister, Serafina, who is an exchange student in Canada, both having gotten placement through the International Rotary Club. So far, as well as being a student in Millbrook High School, she has been to Washington, D.C., Boston and New York City. She has also been hiking and skiing, and was delighted to see “Wicked” on Broadway.
Molla entertained the group with a slide presentation about her hometown, some typical dishes from home, festivals that are celebrated, and her hobbies. She is a ballerina and also likes to play games. She will be in Millbrook until the end of the school year.
Fire hydrant replacements in the village disrupted water service for businesses on Main Street.
MILLERTON — Construction on Main Street last week disrupted traffic as crews worked to replace an outdated fire hydrant next to Oakhurst Diner.
The scheduled maintenance, which continued into this week, was part of a 2019 grant awarded by the New York State Department of Health under the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act. Since then, the village has been upgrading undersized, damaged and outdated hydrants. A total of 25 hydrants have been replaced.
A statement on the village website reads, “This initiative aims to align our water system with the 10 States Recommended Standard for Water Works, enhancing safety by reducing the risk of hydrant vehicular strikes.” Water service was temporarily shut off at times last week and Monday as part of the scheduled work.
An employee at Oakhurst Diner said the water disruption caused the restaurant to open late on Friday at noon but had otherwise not affected business as of Monday morning.
Republican County Comptroller candidate Will Truitt currently serves as the chair of the Dutchess County Legislature.
Republican Will Truitt of Hyde Park is facing off against Democrat Dan Aymar-Blair for the county comptroller seat in the Nov. 4 election.
Truitt currently serves as the chair of the Dutchess County Legislature and has served as Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley’s representative in the legislating body for the past ten years.
Truitt, 29, made his first foray into politics as a student at Marist College at the age of 19.
After a stint interning in Marc Molinaro’s office, Truitt decided to run for office himself. At the age of 20 he unseated the incumbent representative of Hyde Park and he’s been reelected to the seat ever since.
“I was knocking on all my neighbors doors,” Truitt said. “A lot of them recognizedand kind of knew who I was. They knew that I really wanted to serve and they put their faith in me.”
Truitt said his experience as the chair of the county legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee, and his current full-time job at Metzger Construction Corp. in Hopewell Junction, have prepared him for the comptroller’s position.
“You have to understand dollars and cents, you have to understand finance,” Truitt said. “I went to Marist for business, finance and accounting and a minor in economics so none of the language felt foreign to me.”
The County Legislature chair cited the passage of term limit regulation as a major success of his 10 years in government. “I have always believed term limits should be in place for all levels of government,” Truitt said. “I brought forward term limits in my first term and it failed pretty miserably. I brought it back in my second year and it passed unanimously.” Now, all elected county officials are limited to no more than 12 years in a particular post.
Truitt reflected on a failed bid to unseat New York Assemblywoman Didi Barrett when he was just 22-years-old, saying he’s eager to return to Northeast Dutchess County and meet more people on the campaign trail.
“I got to really know so many people in that region,” Truitt said. “I ran for the state assembly when I was that young because I — just like I did when I ran for the Dutchess County Legislature — I thought I could provide a strong voice for the people.”
AMENIA — Three years in, the full-service health clinic at the Webutuck School District, known internally as the school-based health center, has been a resounding success.
The clinic is staffed by a full-time physician who acts as a participating student’s primary care physician at no extra cost to families. Looking to expand the scope of medical services Webtuck could offer to its students, school nurse Charlie Davis proposed the clinic three years ago.
Given that visits to the doctor can prevent students from attending school on a given day, they were something Webutuck was happy to bring in-house, said Deputy Superintendent Robert Farrier. “We schedule those visits during study halls. Students come down, they have the appointment, and half an hour later they are back to class,” he said.
Because many Webutuck students would not otherwise have access to proper medical care, an illness is something that could cause a prolonged absence and have a serious effect on students’ health. “Really one of the main reasons why we introduced this was to try and improve on our chronic absenteeism,” Farrier said.
“The school-based health center has been incredibly received by the student population and by the parents,” Farrier said. Currently, 77% of Webutuck students are enrolled in the free program.
The clinic is operated by Open Door Health, a healthcare provider which runs many similar clinics in Westchester County, Farrier said.
Even if a student does not have insurance, Open Door, which receives federal funding to run clinics such as the Webutuck Health Center, will provide care free of charge to the student. Having received more than $100,000 in grant funding toward the project, the only cost Webtucuk was required to incur was the construction of a suitable space to house the clinic. Beyond students and families in the district, the health program at Webtucuk has provided a model for other schools in the district, Farrier said. “Every school district in Dutchess County has come at least once to visit us and to learn about how we set the clinic up and how we run things at the school,” he said.
The clinic is part of a broader attempt by the Webutuck School District to improve student life through the allocation of school funds to projects beyond the basic responsibilities of the district, Farrier said.
“We offer free breakfast and lunch for all of our students. We’re trying to make sure that our students don’t go home hungry and that they’re getting proper meals during the school day,” he said.
The clinic has been such a success at Webutuck that other school districts in the county are attempting to replicate the program locally. “The Wappinger’s school district was really impressed with what they saw… this has really been a first for Dutchess County,” Farrier said.
WASSAIC — Fans of good wine attractively presented in a welcoming village ambiance will want to stop at the newly opened historic candy store turned wine shop in Wassaic, next to The Lantern.
The little shop that sold candy in the 1890s has been restored, opening as Ten Mile Table on Saturday, July 26, adding yet another reason to visit the village of Wassaic and absorb the reality that it is an imaginatively special place.
Owner Erika DaSilva paused for an interview on Thursday, August 7, reflecting on her new shop’s place in the community after a year of work preparing to open at 14 Main St., just next door to The Lantern.
“We’re doing wonderfully. We’re proud and excited to share with the community,” DaSilva said.
“It’s my own business,” DaSilva said, “but we would not be here were it not for the support of the folks who support The Lantern and The Wassaic Project.”
Adjacent to Ten Mile Table, between it and The Lantern is found the Newsstand, also restored to become a space that DaSilva described as being for community members who might have food, beverages or events to share with passersby, perhaps something like a lemonade stand or some other endeavor.
DaSilva said that she first began learning about wine more than 20 years ago, even working in European vineyards where protecting the environment was essential.Selections for the wine store are environmentally conscious.
“Everything is delicious, of course, but I like to feature natural wines that are good for the environment,” DaSilva said of her choices from wineries that keep the protection of the environment at the fore throughout the growing and production process.
“We’re able to support smaller producers,” DaSilva said.
The conversation was interrupted by a trio of customers seeking just the right wine.
“What are you going to do with it,” was one of the questions DaSilva asked in considering her range of choices that span mostly from $25 to $45, with a few outliers.
The outcome of the exercise was a wine deemed to be “light, but not wimpy,” just what the customers were looking for.
Thursdays at The Ten Mile Table offer festive wine tastings from 5 to 7 p.m. for a fee of $5 that includes upscale nibbles. DaSilva intends to invite chefs from among her broad field of talented friends to provide signature delicacies to enhance the wine tasting experience.
“I don’t want not to be creatively busy,” DaSilva said. “I just like trying things out.”
Ten Mile Table is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 7 p.m. And on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m.
“I would love to be open more,” DaSilva said.
DaSilva resides in Kent with her family. Her husband, Minh Le, is the General Manager of The Lantern. Their daughter, Bibi, is 8, and son, Senna, just turned 3.
For more information about Ten Mile Table, go to www.tenmiletable.com or phone 845-570-5228.
