MILLBROOK — After seven fun and productive years at the Millbrook Library, Diana Bontecou decided to retire from her position as its adult program director. Over the years, Bontecou has been responsible for many wonderful programs, involving cooking classes -— Greek, Italian, Korean, vegetarian, raw food — you name it. Popular “Chopped” TV show champion chef Dafna Mizrahi was even a guest once.
Bontecou has also curated countless art exhibits that rotated on a near monthly basis, covering all mediums and a variety of artists from near and far. Some of her favorites included the yearly Art Blast art show that showcased the work of Millbrook students, usually held in January. She also enjoyed exhibiting work from senior residents at The Fountains, along with other local artists who showed their art at the library’s Gallery, usually celebrated at openings replete with live music and refreshments.
Bontecou also specialized in offering programs for local veterans; one particularly popular program featured music from the WWI era. She also organized annual celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day with Irish music and dancing.
Bontecou would regularly invite authors to the library to read from and discuss their books with patrons. She was involved with the annual Millbrook Literary Festival, which required a lot of work, but has long been a favorite with local readers and authors and an event Bontecou particularly enjoyed.
Bontecou regularly scheduled craft events before the pandemic — included making things such as greeting cards, lotus lanterns and silk-screen paintings.
Another favorite event Bontecou was known for was the library’s dinner and mystery night, as well as a series that featured South Korean culture, including both traditional tea and wedding ceremony demonstrations.
“I was able to coordinate with many wonderful people to help me make our programming unique and successful,” she said. “I was also able to partner with many amazing community groups such as the Millbrook Arts Group and The Catskill Jazz Factory, allowing us to hold beautiful concerts in our great hall. Of course, I will also be grateful to all the incredible artists whose works adorned our walls over the years.”
For the seven years that Bontecou ran the adult programming at the Millbrook Library, patrons could always count on something exciting, fun and educational to enjoy. That changed this past March, when the coronavirus pandemic caused public gatherings to be banned for fear of spreading the deadly virus.
Bontecou said she will really miss her work and those she worked with — and no doubt she will be missed greatly in return. But she’s looking forward to the next chapter in her life: riding her horse, walking her dog and playing with her three cats. She’ll also have more time to spend renovating her house with her partner, James Warhola, whom, coincidently, she met when he appeared as a guest author at the library. When the world returns to normal, Bontecou said the pair hopes to travel.
“I love to cook,” she said, “and I need to decompress. I’ll still be involved with the Berkshire Taconic Community Outreach,” a regional philanthropic organization looking to strengthen the local communities that she supports.
Bontecou retired at the end of December.
“Everyone should be lucky enough to retire from a job they love,” she said.
Cloudy skies and haze cover a farm north of Amenia on Sharon Station Road. Rain and heat waves have led to challenges for farmers in drying hay and adhering to a typical harvest timeline.
A rainy spring and early summer have delayed the hay crop for local farmers, while highly variable temperatures in June have caused difficulties in vegetable cultivation and have pushed the harvest further into the season.
According to the National Weather Service, average precipitation for northern Dutchess County in May is 4.3 inches, while last May’s total rainfall averaged 8.1 inches across the region.
While Eric McEnroe of McEnroe Organic Farm in Millerton said that too much rain is better than no rain at all, abnormally high precipitation in the area has made the drying of hay more difficult.
“It’s hard to make dry hay when it’s wet,” said Peter Coon of Coon Brothers Farm in Amenia. After forage — grass specially cultivated for hay production — is cut, the still-hydrated grass requires time to dry in the sun before it can be baled, a process that is delayed by excessive rainfall.
Hay was not the only crop which high springtime precipitation levels affected — the planting of produce was also put on hold. The delay, combined with inconsistent temperatures in June, has particularly affected tomato production, said Olivia Skeen, Director of Development for McEnroe Organic Farm.
“Tomatoes like dry, straight heat,” Skeen explained. The combination of an unusually cool start to the summer with a late-June heat wave have pushed the tomato harvest into August, where Skeen said that farmers in the area would ordinarily have been close to finished with their produce efforts by this point in July.
Recent weather in the region has been abnormal as compared to statistical averages, according to data from the National Weather Service. The wet spring comes after a fall season of record-low rainfall last September and October. However, Skeen emphasized that every year is different, an observation which Coon shared.
“Every year has challenges,” Coon said, “except 2012,” a year that stood out for its remarkably predictable weather patterns. Recognizing that every year’s weather seems abnormal is just another part of farming, Coon said.
“Some years are easier than others — it’s ebbs and flows, being able to go with what Mother Nature does,” Skeen said.
Carl Lounsbury, an expert on ecclesiastical architecture, visited the Nine Partners Meeting House in Millbrook on Sunday, July 27, to talk about the history of the uniquely symmetrical building.
MILLBROOK — The plain but imposing red brick Nine Partners Quaker Meetinghouse was the subject of a detailed exposition by a noted architectural historian during a talk sponsored by the Millbrook Historical Society on Sunday, July 27, the second of two such sponsored talks this summer.
The presentation drew an audience of 70 to hear ecclesiastical architecture expert Carl Lounsbury, professor of history at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who also serves on the board of Colonial Williamsburg. The College of William and Mary is the second oldest college in the U.S., predated only by Harvard University.
The Nine Partners meetinghouse was completed in 1781 at a total cost of a bit more than 800 pounds. As it stands today, it is well maintained but largely unchanged, serving as one of the earliest examples of interior and exterior symmetry in a Quaker meetinghouse in the Huson Valley.
During welcoming remarks, Millbrook Historical Society President Robert McHugh noted that the summer series of two meeting house talks and open houses has been supported by a grant from Dutchess County.
The principal focus of Lounsbury’s talk was the plan for any standard Quaker meetinghouse building and how the plan reflects changes in Quaker philosophy as the structures evolved over time. The earliest examples of Quaker meetinghouses of the 1600s and 1700s are preserved in England as the Quakers distanced themselves from the Church of England. Quaker migration to the New World brought early colonial Quaker structures in the early U.S. colonies of Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Separation of men and women for worship and business meetings was universal in every meetinghouse. Men participated in the business meetings. In time, women began to hold business meetings, but at first, they were little more than gatherings, with no business conducted, Lounsbury explained. Women’s business meetings were infrequent and brief, and not always at the meetinghouse.
Future generations saw an expanded role of women who engaged in more substantive business meetings and took a leadership role in the women’s suffrage and antislavery movements of the 1800s.
Audience questions followed the talk, including inquiry into meetinghouse locations. Lounsbury said that Quakers were active in areas where the Church of England was not strong. Also, disaffected Puritans might turn to Quakerism.
For those who want to take a closer look at the interior of the Nine Partners Meeting House, McHugh announced that the historic site will be open through the summer until November on the first Sunday of each month, from noon to 4 p.m. Docent-led tours are also scheduled for the same days and hours at four other Dutchess County Quaker meetinghouses. For more details, go to www.meetinghousetour.com.
Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.
Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.
Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.
“The diary,”Franklin explained, “has been appropriated in ways that sometimes obscure the reality of who she was and the historical context of her life.” By weaving together different perspectives, including testimonies from those who knew Anne or whose lives were shaped by her, Franklin sought to rehumanize a figure who has, for better and worse, been turned into a symbol.
Franklin’s book examines the many faces of Anne Frank that have appeared in the public consciousness: the girl whose diary became a universal symbol of the Holocaust, the teenage diarist whose words offer an optimistic glimpse of humanity, and the historical figure whose Jewish identity has at times been obscured in favor of a broader, universal message. Franklin highlighted how Anne’s legacy was shaped by her father, Otto Frank. Many of Otto’s decisions have been viewed as controversial such as removing passages that could have alienated potential readers. While often criticized, Franklin suggested that his editorial work was driven by the desire to reach the broadest possible audience.
“I think we have to be so generous in thinking about Otto Frank and the choices that he made,” said Franklin. “He made the decision that he wanted the diary to be read by the greatest number of people possible. He wanted Anne’s message to go out into the world and work, as he said, against prejudice, understood in the widest possible sense. The Anne Frank House today in Amsterdam is carrying on his mission in making Anne’s story relatable and accessible and comparing it to many other different kinds of prejudice around the world. Not everybody agrees with this approach, but that’s what he decided to do.”
The conversation turned to a quote from author Cynthia Ozick, who argued that Anne’s story has been “vulgarized, distorted, and infantilized” in adaptations of the diary, particularly those created for mass consumption. While acknowledging the validity of Ozick’s concerns, Franklin pushed back. The desire to make Anne’s story accessible to a global audience, Franklin suggested, began with Anne herself, who rewrote her diary with an eye toward future readers who might not understand her specific historical context.
The conversation also delved into the profound grief and ambivalence Otto Frank must have felt as he worked to preserve his daughter’s legacy. Franklin’s expressed deep empathy for him, burdened with making Anne’s diary into something more than a personal testament. “He was working with a tragic loss, with an immense responsibility,” Franklin noted.
The evening’s discussion expanded to include the contentious debate over the graphic version of Anne Frank’s diary, which has been banned in several U.S. states. Critics of the graphic adaptation have condemned it for including depictions of Anne’s developing sexuality, citing them as “pornographic.” Franklin pointed out that this outrage stems from “the intersection of homophobia and anti-Semitism” in today’s political climate, highlighting how Anne’s legacy continues to be embroiled in ongoing cultural and political struggles. “The books that are most frequently banned in the country right now are those that have to do with LGBTQ content.This is a serious issue of the Republican Party persecuting gay people and trans people more generally,” said Franklin.
Smith pointedly asked Franklin about what is widely considered the most famous quote from the diary: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Franklin responded, “In many ways, Anne Frank was an optimistic person and that quote is an accurate reflection of who she was. At the same time, that quote is incomplete. It actually comes in the middle of a much longer passage in which she describes feeling hopeless about the future of the world.” Franklin continued, “That quote is often dismissed by Holocaust scholars or other people who have said with a lot of confidence that if Anne Frank had survived the camps to write about it, she would no longer have believed that people are truly good at heart. My own position, which is the perspective I adopt in this book, is that none of us can know what a surviving Anne Frank would have thought about anything at all, and it is irresponsible to speculate about it.We simply can’t go there. “
As the conversation concluded, the room was filled with a sense of reflection and appreciation. The crowd was invited to continue the conversation in the Community Room, where Franklin signed copies of her book, which were available through Oblong Books. Her visit left attendees with much to ponder about how we interpret history, memory, and the cultural artifacts that endure.
Yuja Wang performs with the TMCO and Andris Nelsons.
Sunday, July 20 was sunny and warm. Nic Mayorga, son of American concert pianist, the late Lincoln Mayorga, joined me at Tanglewood to hear Yuja Wang play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16. I first saw Wang on July 8, 2022, when she filled in for Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the opening night of Tanglewood’s summer season. She virtually blew the shed down with her powerful and dynamic playing of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Nic was my guest last season on July 13, when Wang wowed us with her delicate interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. We made plans on the spot to return for her next date in Lenox.
As we found our seats there was a buzz in the Shed. A huge crowd had gathered. Nic went for tall cans of cold mineral water — essential. The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra was on stage. The door opened, and out stepped Wang in a brilliant shear and sparkling silvery light dress befitting the warm day. Conductor Andris Nelsons followed. They greeted concertmaster Nathan Cole, and settled in.
The first movement, an Andandtino -Allegretto - Andandtino, is one where a 22-year-old Prokofiev distinguishes himself as an entirely new breed of concerto composers. It is far from typical. There is no conventional drama between opposing forces of piano and orchestra — just a light, gentle phrase with intentionally muted strings (pizzicato) and clarinets, giving way to Chopin-like left-hand figures from the piano, and a lengthy, divine melody in the right. There is beauty in this.Wang is in charge.
She transitioned to a faster march section that evolved into an extended solo played with great precision and attention to detail. The soloist had the floor until a raucous return of the full orchestra, followed by a pianissimo recollection of the opening. The two great forces now united, everyone was on the edge of their seat.
The second movement is a Scherzo: Vivace. Here, Wang showed her mastery over one of the most challenging sections — a relentlessly demanding moto perpetuo where the soloist must play unbroken sixteenths, both hands, in octave unison. Nic agreed that one must see this type of playing live to fully appreciate the artist. The orchestra added wonderful, subtle color and counter moods to this virtuoso spotlight. Wang’s command of the minutest shifts in tempo was astounding. The piano, here, produces melodies but also becomes a percussion instrument of the highest order.
In the third movement, an Intermezzo: Allegro moderato, the soloist gets a breather from the speedy tempos — but not quite, as she must alternate between delicacy and great force in figures while the orchestra layers a backdrop of a heavy march. Wang displayed her versatility here, commanding the tone, volume and moods as dictated by Prokofiev’s adventuring. Tempos changed. Everything changed. Yet throughout, each mini stanza and bar stood out — authentic, independent, real. Likely exactly what Prokofiev had in mind, but likely to elude all but the finest musicians.
In the Finale: Allegro tempestoso, Prokofiev reverts to the more conventional opposition-of-forces theme — the piano trying to overwhelm the orchestra in a barrage of flittering bright passages offset by heavy-handed chords. Wang chose a more collegial approach here. She was firm but polite; it never felt like a struggle. This made the transition to the next idea — where clarinets and violas offer a contrasting tranquility — smooth as silk. The solo piano continued with elements of Russian folk music, joined by the orchestra, building intensity before another solo piano display, and then a traditional buildup to a sweeping conclusion.
I glanced over at Nic’s joy and bewilderment. A standing ovation was followed, with encore performances of selections from Sebelius’s 13 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76, No. 2: Etude; Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade,” D. 118, arranged by Liszt; and Horowitz’s Variations on a Theme from Carmen.
Prokofiev’s debut of this concerto in 1913 did not go over quite as well. Some in the audience expressed displeasure at his ideas, hissed and rushed out. But Prokofiev expressed his displeasure at their poor taste, played an encore nonetheless, and fanned the flames. Sometimes a genius from one generation is misunderstood in his time but vindicated generations later by audiences and musicians of a different era. Such is the case with Prokofiez, who had the last laugh. Yuja Wang has her place in this saga. That she performs with the young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra shows her generous nature and kind heart — she cares about the future of classical music.
If you are curious and like to travel, Wang will play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 again several times this season: Nov. 13 at The Philharmonie de Paris; Dec. 4 and 5 at The Konzerthaus, Vienna; and Dec. 12 at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. I highly recommend it.
