Millbrook, Washington, fare well following nor’easter

Millbrook, Washington, fare well following nor’easter
Millbrook Police Officer Kelly Aliusio and other officers from the force worked with the Millbrook fire department to clear snow from fire hydrants throughout the village. 
Photo by Ted Bownas​

MILLBROOK — The village of Millbrook received 15 inches of snow during the nor’easter on Wednesday, Dec.  16, and Thursday, Dec.  17, with few glitches and its snow removal went well, according to all reports. 

In talking to Millbrook Highway Superintendent Bob Collocola, he said the Highway Department was able to cleanup village streets with few issues. 

One hiccup that did occur involved the sidewalk snow plow. Thursday morning a message was emailed to the Village Board and posted on its website announcing that village sidewalks could not be cleared due to the sidewalk plow breaking down. However, by early afternoon another announcement appeared.

“Thanks to Reardon Briggs Lawn and Garden Equipment for the quick turn around,” it read, posted by Collocola. “The sidewalk plow is back in service! The sidewalks are being cleared. We want to thank our residents for being patient and understanding. Crisis averted!” 

Sidewalks were quickly cleared for holiday shoppers along Franklin Avenue and other village streets.

“It was a heavy snow, but all sidewalks were cleared and the streets were open fairly quickly,” said Collocola.

Village snow ordinances do not allow parking on village streets; obstruction of snow removal and street cleaning is prohibited from Dec. 1 through March 31 between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m.

Town of Washington Highway Department Supervisor Joseph Spagnola also said the town’s snow removal efforts went well. 

“Fine,” he said, “no real problems. It was slightly blinding. We lost a few hoses and windshields.”

The town’s highway crew went out three separate times to clear the snow in an effort to keep the roads clear.

Spagnola added the town’s salt shed is on the small side, and that crews used a good portion of the de-icing materials that were being stored there. Crews salted and sanded town roads, but the highway supervisor pointed out that the town currently uses less salt and more sand than it previously did, which is better for the roads as it is less corrosive.

Spagnola also pointed out that the town has been fortunate that it hasn’t had any cases of COVID-19 within the Highway Department, so that in weather emergencies like last week’s nor’easter it can have all hands on deck. 

The Millbrook Highway Department handles the village streets while the Town of Washington Highway Department takes care of the rest of the roads, except for Franklin Avenue, routes 44 and 344, which are state roads and therefore maintained by New York State.

The Millbrook police and fire departments cleared snow away from fire hydrants, which property owners are supposed to do but often forget to. The two entities worked together for several hours clearing hydrants in the village.

Latest News

Robin Wall Kimmerer urges gratitude, reciprocity in talk at Cary Institute

Robin Wall Kimmerer inspired the audience with her grassroots initiative “Plant, Baby, Plant,” encouraging restoration, native planting and care for ecosystems.

Aly Morrissey

Robin Wall Kimmerer, the bestselling author of “Braiding Sweetgrass” and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, urged a sold-out audience at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies on Friday, March 13, to rethink humanity’s relationship with the natural world through gratitude, reciprocity and responsibility.

Introduced by Cary Institute President Joshua Ginsberg, Kimmerer opened the evening by greeting the audience in Potawatomi, the native language of her ancestors, and grounding the talk in a practice of gratitude.

Keep ReadingShow less

Melissa Gamwell’s handmade touch

Melissa Gamwell’s handmade touch
Melissa Gamwell, hand lettering with precision and care.
Kevin Greenberg
"There is no better feeling than working through something with your own brain and your own hands." —Melissa Gamwell

In an age of automation, Melissa Gamwell is keeping the human hand alive.

The Cornwall, Connecticut-based calligrapher is practicing an art form that’s been under attack by machines for nearly 400 years, and people are noticing. For proof, look no further than the line leading to her candle-lit table at the Stissing House Craft Feast each winter. In her first year there, she scribed around 1,200 gift tags, cards, and hand drawn ornaments.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

Regional 7 students bring ‘The Addams Family’ to the stage

The cast of “The Addams Family” from Northwest Regional School District No. 7 with Principal Kelly Carroll from Ann Antolini Elementary School in New Hartford.

Monique Jaramillo

Nearly 50 students from across the region are helping bring the delightfully macabre world of “The Addams Family” to life in Northwestern Regional School District No. 7’s upcoming production. The student cast and crew, representing the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk, will stage the musical March 27 and 28 at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on March 29 in the school’s auditorium in Winsted.

Based on the iconic characters created by Charles Addams, the musical follows Wednesday Addams, who shocks her famously eccentric family by falling in love with a perfectly “normal” young man. When his parents come to dinner at the Addams’ mansion, two very different families collide, leading to an evening of secrets, surprises and unexpected revelations about love and belonging.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Quilts of Many Colors’ opens at Hunt Library

Garth Kobel, Art Wall Chair, Mary Randolph, Frank Halden, Ruth Giumarro, Project Chair, Maria Bulson, Barbara Lobdell, Sherry Newman, Elizabeth Frey-Thomas, Donna Heinz around “The Green Man.”

Robin Roraback

In honor of National Quilt Day, a tradition established in 1991, Hunt Library’s second annual quilt show, “Quilts of Many Colors,” will open Saturday, March 21, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The quilts, made by members of the Hunt Library Quilters, will be displayed through April 17. All quilts will be for sale, and a portion of each sale goes to the library.

At the center of the exhibit is a quilt the Hunt Library Quilters collaborated on called the “Quilt of Many Colors,” inspired by Dolly Parton’s song”Coat of Many Colors.” Each member of the Hunt Library Quilters made two to four 10-inch squares for the twin-size quilt, with Gail Allyn embroidering “The Green Man” for the center square. The Green Man, a symbol of rebirth, is also a symbol of the library, seen carved in stone at the library’s entrance. One hundred percent of the sale of this quilt benefits the library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Webutuck students’ films hit the silver screen at filmmaking workshop

Benjamin Sprague, left, Nolan Howard, center, and Holden Slater conduct a Q&A with community members that came to watch their short documentary films after a filmmaking workshop at the Millerton Moviehouse on Thursday, March 12.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — Students from the Webutuck Central School District screened their five-minute documentaries at The Moviehouse Thursday, March12, showing off their newly acquired skills to an audience of friends, family and community members.

The films — written, directed, shot and edited by the students themselves with guidance from local filmmakers — were the culmination of a two-day student filmmaking bootcamp held earlier this month.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

google preferred source

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