Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
things to do

Millbrook to welcome the New Year with music, magic and community fun

MILLBROOK — Millbrook residents are invited to gather with friends and neighbors to ring in the New Year at a community celebration held across two nearby venues — Lyall Community Church and Grace Church — on Wednesday, Dec. 31. The two churches are located just a few minutes’ walk from one another in the heart of the village.

The family-friendly festivities will run from 4 to 7 p.m., with activities taking place at both churches. Together, the venues will host a wide range of offerings for all ages, including live music, magic, interactive activities and opportunities to connect with neighbors in a welcoming, walkable setting.

The annual event is hosted by the Millbrook Rotary Club, Millbrook Arts Group, The Millbrook Library and the Village of Millbrook. Support services are provided by the Millbrook Police Department, and the celebration is made possible through the efforts of community sponsors and an extensive group of volunteers.

“New Year’s Eve Millbrook is about creating a space where everyone feels welcome,” said Michelle Del Valle, Millbrook Rotary Club Secretary, about the celebration.

“This year feels especially exciting because the evening offers something for every generation; from local live music that gets you moving, to magical storytelling that invites wonder, to the depth of community group collaboration and the shared moments that remind us how special it is to celebrate together,” she added.

Live music will set the tone throughout the evening, encouraging dancing and celebration. The Hammerhead Horns will perform blues, swing, boogie-woogie and gospel music. Miss Paula and The Twangbusters are billed as a full-tilt swing experience with upbeat, vintage-inspired sounds, while Nite Train will keep the energy high with rockin’ blues guaranteed to get people on their feet.
Additional family activities will include the Bubble Bus, a favorite among younger attendees, a live magic show, a puppet performance by the Grumbling Gryphons, balloon twisting and other community activities spread throughout both venues. Face painting will also be available.

Crêpes Royale, a longtime community favorite, will serve sweet crêpes throughout the event, and coffee from Spark will also be available.

Admission buttons, designed by Millbrook Central School District student Lydia Kascsak, are available for a suggested donation of $5. Buttons are available at a variety of merchants, including Merritt Bookstore, Reardon Briggs Hardware, Hunt and Harvest, Millbrook Antiques Center, and at the Thorne Center the night of the event.

For more information, go to www.millbrookrotary.org.

Leila Hawken
things to do

Latest News

The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

Download directly

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton\u2019s Main Street in 1985.

Provided
No matter what I’ve done, I’m trying to be useful to the communities I’m associated with.
— Dick Hermans

When Dick Hermans receives the Estabrook Community Leadership Award on Oct. 11, he will accept it for a lifetime of work that has taken many forms: bookseller, radio host, school board member, advocate for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, business owner, volunteer and, perhaps most importantly, a person who has consistently looked for ways to be useful to the communities around him.

The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News will present Hermans with the 2026 award at the annual Jubilee celebration at the Sharon Playhouse. The award honors outstanding leadership in community service and was inspired by Mary Lou and Robert Estabrook, former owners of the newspapers who believed that strengthening a community extended well beyond the work of publishing a newspaper.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches-from-the-farm
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.