MILLBROOK — Innisfree Garden was the site of the annual Blessing Our Sacred Earth interfaith celebration on Sunday, May 21.
In his welcome to about 35 participants, the Rev. Dr. Matthew Calkins, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook, said that he and the Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, who was at St. Peter’s Church in Lithgow, had started the event in 2016. Kate Kerin, curator and director of Innisfree Garden, also greeted the guests.
The event started with a short program high above the lake, and then the celebrants formed a procession and traveled down the path through the garden, making stops along the way for saying devotions from different denominations, such as a reading from Hebrew scripture at one point and a Hindu story at the next, plus reading from the Quran, a reading of the Parable of the Seeds, and an Iroquois Thanksgiving Prayer.
The readings were interspersed with hymns, and there were several chants as well. Following the walk, a picnic lunch was enjoyed by all.
Co-sponsors of the blessing are Grace Church, Innisfree Garden and the Dutchess County Interfaith Council (DIC). Others involved include the Rev. Heather Sisk of St. Paul’s Church, Pleasant Valley; Donna Coane, Schaghticoke First Nations; Temple BethEl, Poughkeespsie; the Hindu Samaj Temple, Wappingers Falls; Plpung Thubten Choling Monastery; and Bader Isman, imam, Masjid al Noor, Anna Mata, Baha’l Cluster.
Music was provided by Heather Holihan Guarneri, the Rev. Cameron Hardy, students from Millbrook School, and Lorraine Hardin-Gelardi and John A McKenna of DIC.
Danielle Mailer with her 12 foot aluminum mountain lion outside of the Scoville Library.
On Saturday, Sept. 27, Salisbury Family Services (SFS) will hold a benefit dinner and barn dance, honoring artist Danielle Mailer. Taking place at Stillwater Farm in Salisbury, this festive fundraiser will feature cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, and lively barn dancing — all in support of the critical services SFS provides.
Founded in the mid-1930s during the Great Depression, Salisbury Family Services has been a lifeline for residents of Salisbury and the surrounding villages of Amesville, Lakeville, Lime Rock, and Taconic for nearly 90 years. What began as an effort by local women to mend clothes and provide food has evolved into a professional social service agency offering confidential support for housing, food, childcare, medical needs and more.
This year’s benefit celebrates Danielle Mailer, a nationally recognized visual artist and longtime local resident whose vibrant work and generous spirit have left a lasting impression on the Northwest Corner. Known for her bold, figurative style and large-scale public installations, Mailer has brought color and life to communities throughout Connecticut and beyond.
“I suspect that they honored me because they think I’ve given back to the community in various ways,” said Mailer from her studio in Goshen. Mailer just began her tenth year as a teacher at the Salisbury School. Prior to that, she taught at Indian Mountain School for 15 years. “So that’s, what? That’s 25 years of teaching in the community,” said Mailer with a laugh.
Alongside teaching, Mailer will also be honored for her artistic contributions to the area. If you’ve driven through Torrington and seen the undulating sea of fish on the backside of Staples (“Project Fishtales”) or delighted in her playful blue lion outside of the Scoville Library, you’ve seen her art do what it does best: transform public space into something personal and joyful.
Mailer has shown in major galleries, had retrospectives at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, and helped shape The Tides of Provincetown, a traveling tribute to her hometown of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Currently, she’s getting ready for the unveiling of a large-scale ballerina she created for the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory in Torrington on Oct. 3.
Some of Mailer’s work will be on view and for sale at the event on the 27th. Proceeds directly support the SFS’s ability to provide emergency assistance and essential services to those in need.
“I readily donate my art to lots of things because I think that’s something art can do — to support the different community events that are very necessary to keep the town humming, said Mailer. “And I am really flattered. It’s been really fun to be honored.”
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.salisburyfamilyservices.org
TRIFEST, a new three-day festival featuring work by international filmmakers aged 25 and under.
Great Barrington’s Triplex Cinema will soon roll out the red carpet for a new generation of filmmakers. TRIFEST, a new youth film festival, is set to showcase the creativity and voices of young storytellers from across the globe.
The three-day festival, running from Sept. 19 to 21, will feature 44 short films from filmmakers aged 25 and under, representing over 17 countries. Categories include narrative, documentary, animation, and experimental films. In addition to screenings, a variety of industry panels and conversations are scheduled with internationally renowned filmmakers and producers, including Peter Becker, president of Criterion Collection; Hamish Linklater (“The Big Short,” “Nickel Boys”); Tony Gerber, Emmy and PGA Award-winning documentarian (“We Will Rise,” “War Game”); and first-time feature filmmakers Zia Anger (“My First Film”), Carson Lund (“Eephus”), and Haley Elizabeth Anderson (“Tendaberry”).
TRIFEST founder Nicki Wilson led the charge to save the Triplex from the threat of closure back in 2023 when its future was in limbo. As a longtime arts advocate and film lover, Nicki explained “I could not imagine living in a town without a theater.”
Wilson and other community members formed the grassroots non-profit Save The Triplex in an effort to keep the theater open and operating.
The group successfully purchased the theater in the summer of 2023. Soon after, Wilson identified another opportunity.
“I’m working nonstop trying to get submissions from Williamstown and North Adams, and Sheffield, and I’m getting submissions from China, India, Germany, Ukraine — and I thought, well, wouldn’t it be interesting for the Triplex to actually start an international youth film festival?” she said. “It would be inspirational and educational to the younger people in our area, but at the same time, it would be interesting for all of us to see what younger people were making around the world. It just seemed like a perfect fit for the Triplex.”
Tickets are $10 per program, $20 for evening shows, or $45 for a 3-day pass. Tickets are available at trifest.org and thetriplex.org.
A map showing the planned wastewater service are within the Village of Millerton. Shaded parcels will be receiving wastewater installation.
MILLERTON — Construction on Millerton’s long-awaited wastewater system could begin in early 2027 and wrap up by the spring of 2028, according to an update delivered at the Village Board’s Sept. 9 workshop meeting.
The presentation — led by Erin Moore of Tighe & Bond, an engineering and environmental consulting firm — outlined the timeline, design, and costs of the project, which is a joint initiative with the Town of North East.
For the town, the service area will include the Boulevard, an area officials see as key to future development. For the village, the system will serve multiple parcels stretching from Main Street up to Century Boulevard and including side streets down to South Center Street.
“There has been a lot happening, and it’s really exciting,” Moore said as she detailed how the system would function, what it would cost and how it would be paid for.
The plan calls for a step-system, which uses small septic tanks and pumps to carry wastewater from individual homes and businesses to a new treatment plant on a village-owned parcel off Mill Street.
While homeowners will pay the electricity to run the pumps, which Moore describes as an “incredibly efficient system and operates infrequently,” the village will be responsible for installing and maintaining the equipment through permanent easements. An added benefit for residents, Moore noted, is that replacing traditional septic fields could free up outdoor space, potentially allowing for development on previously protected leach fields.
The total project cost is estimated at $13 million, which includes construction, engineering, contingency and legal fees.
The village’s share is about $10.8 million, with annual operations and maintenance projected at $144,000.
Funding to date includes $200,000 from a Dutchess County Municipal Investment Grant, nearly $960,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency secured through Congressman Pat Ryan, and just over $5 million from the New York Environmental Facilities Corporation.
A zero-percent interest loan through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund will cover about 30% of the remaining balance, leaving roughly $5.7 million still to be secured.
Moore said the next step is for trustees to finalize and sign the engineering contract, which will unlock the remaining EPA funding. Board members have been asked to submit final questions within the week so the contract can move forward. The NYSEFC funding also requires a short list of outstanding items before it can be closed.
Over the past two years, house-to-house investigations and individual conversations with residents have taken place, surveys have gone out, and geotechnical testing have been completed across the service area.
Moore said that once the final authorization is given — conservatively estimated by January 2026 — the design should be finished within a year, and construction within a year after that.
“We have a great team that is really excited and ready,” she said.
In addition to the existing grants, the village and town are preparing to pursue new funding opportunities. As announced at a recent Town of North East board meeting, the municipalities are in talks to apply jointly for the state’s New York Forward program, a competitive grant which offers two $4.5 million awards for small communities. Town Supervisor Chris Kennan and Village Mayor Jenn Najdek said the wastewater project would be the focus of their application, which is due next month.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert spoke to a sold-out crowd at The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie on Sept. 10 during an event presented by Oblong Books, celebrating the release of her new memoir, “All the Way to the River.”
