Diana Bontecou retires from the Millbrook Library

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.