MILLBROOK — With perfect weather on hand, the Save the Elm Drive Gazebo fundraiser provided a good time for a good cause on Thursday, May 12, at the Millbrook Winery Loft. The event was held by the FRIENDS of the Gazebo with support from the Millbrook Historical Society.
The atmosphere at the winery was upbeat as guests mingled, some of whom went onto the patio to look over the vineyards. Others stayed inside to nibble on the delicious hors d’oeuvres including crab balls, lox, skewered chicken, deviled eggs and more.
Each $50 ticket included the vineyard’s wine, and after so many people have been staying home due to the COVID pandemic, it was nice to break out some spring clothes and attend a more formal affair and meet old friends for a good cause. Those who attended enjoyed music by duo Larry Ham and George Potts.
More than 60 people attended the event to save the Gazebo, spearheaded by FRIENDS leader Ashley Lempka, who was assisted by Director of the Millbrook Library Courtney Tshalis and volunteer Michelle Del Valle.
The fundraiser included a silent auction with items from local businesses including Alicia Adams Alpaca; Juniper; All That Java; Canoe Hill; Babbette’s Kitchen; Millbrook Winery and Vineyards; Orvis Sandanona Game Fair; and more.
Lempka has made saving the gazebo her special project since last fall. She’s worked with the Millbrook Central School District and its school board, the historical society, local residents, businesses and local leaders to save the decaying structure.
Donations have been raised to help fund repairs, or even a possible replacement of the gazebo, which is located on a small piece of property owned by the school district.
After much planning the FRIENDS decided the gala at the winery would be a smart way to generate even more fiscal support and awareness for the cause.
The project is not totally without controversy, as the gazebo is not only closed but taped off and closed for use by orange caution tape.
The cost of repairs have been deemed prohibitive by the Millbrook Board of Education (BOE), which said the option to refurbish it isn’t favorable at this time. Just the demolition alone is estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to the BOE.
Many residents, though, have fond memories of the gazebo, built sometime in the 1980s. Lempka believes it may have been designed by famous architect James Ware.
With help from Millbrook residents, she thinks it can still be saved. Lempka said about 25% of the estimated cost to repair or replace the gazebo has already been raised. She has continued to work with the BOE to see the project through to fruition throughout .
The FRIENDS of the Gazebo is hoping the community will continue to donate to the fund; to do so or to learn more, go to www.millbrookgazebo.com.
AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.
Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken
Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.
MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.
The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”
Olenik worked with The Cruiser’s Division in Mamaroneck, New York, to design the vehicles.
“We really want to thank the Pine Plains Police Department for their tremendous support,” Olenik said. After the fire, “they were the first ones to come forward and offer help.”
The new police cruisers are outfitted with lights with automatically adjusting brightness to best perform in ambient conditions.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Since February, Millerton officers have been borrowing a patrol car from Pine Plains. With the new vehicles now in service, Olenik said he plans to thank Pine Plains officers by treating them to dinner at Four Brothers in Amenia and having their car detailed
The main entrance to Kent Hollow Mine at 341 South Amenia Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — Amenia residents and a Wassaic business have filed suit against the Town Board and Kent Hollow Inc., alleging a settlement between the town and the mine amounts to illegal contract zoning that allows the circumvention of environmental review.
Petitioners Laurence Levin, Theodore Schiffman and Clark Hill LLC filed the suit on Aug. 22. Town officials were served with documents for the case last week and took first steps in organizing a response to the suit at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The lawsuit is the latest in a multi-year long legal battle surrounding the mine on South Amenia Road. After Kent Hollow Inc. — a subsidiary of Bethel, Connecticut, based homebuilder Steiner Inc. — applied for a state mining permit in 2017, the Amenia code enforcement officer issued the business a notice of violation.
At the time, Kent Hollow Inc. did not possess a special permit to conduct mining operations as required by Amenia zoning code, and the property did not reside in the Special Mining Overlay district established as part of rezoning efforts coinciding with the 2007 adoption of the town’s comprehensive plan.
Kent Hollow Inc. appealed the violation, claiming the use of the property as a mine predates amendments to town and state regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal citing insufficient evidence in 2019. That spurred Kent Hollow to file two lawsuits — one in the New York State Supreme Court and a federal civil rights lawsuit — challenging the town’s order.
In July 2025, those lawsuits were brought to a close when the Town Board voted at a special meeting to accept a settlement agreement allowing Kent Hollow to continue mining operations under limited hours and quantities.
The most recent suit alleges the 2025 settlement amounts to contract zoning that allows Kent Hollow Inc. to skirt environmental review and the scrutiny of the permitting and rezoning process. Court documents allege Kent Hollow did not adequately prove a continuous, legal nonconforming use.
Supporting the argument, petitioners have submitted the court documents and decision from the 2019 New York Supreme Court case against the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the documents from the preceding ZBA appeals process including receipts and tax returns from Kent Hollow Inc. purporting to establish the nonconforming use.
Kent Hollow Inc. formed as a subsidiary of housing developer Steiner Inc. and purchased the property in 1971, according to state and county real estate records.
Millerton News reporting from 1971 Amenia planning board meetings detail Kent Hollow’s pursuit of a four-section, 40-unit apartment complex on the property.
The News reported Kent Hollow was granted tentative approval on July 6, 1971, to build eight units on the site with the expectation that more would be built later.
The additional units never came to fruition and Kent Hollow apparently abandoned the housing project, opting to use the property as a gravel mine.
Attorneys for the Town of Amenia or Kent Hollow Inc. have not filed responses to the lawsuit as of press time.
AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.
Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.
The talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia. The handicapped-accessible church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road. Refreshments will be served.
Colden was the son of a New York Lieutenant Governor. He was a surveyor, farmer and mercantilist, serving as a judge in Ulster County. His fortunes changed dramatically with the dawn of the Revolutionary War when he remained loyal to the British Crown. His arrest came in 1776, just before the start of his journal.
Campbell is a historian specializing in Hudson Valley history, and the regional stories of Revolutionary era families.
