Aayan Munir, Evan Pagett, Joe Natalizio and Manav Patel remove the black plastic from the new historical marker commemorating the Millerton Inn as the birthplace of famous baseball player Eddie Collins. The Arlington High School seniors acquired a grant for the marker from the Pomeroy Foundation as part of a history project.
MILLERTON — Students from Arlington High School unveiled a historical marker commemorating the Millerton Inn as the site of an early home of baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Collins.
Aayan Munir, Evan Pagett, Joe Natalizio and Manav Patel researched Eddie Collins as part of a history project where they had to secure a Pomeroy Foundation grant for a historical marker.
“A lot of historical figures are chosen, but not a lot of sports figures,” Patel said.
The Millerton Inn is reported to be the birthplace of Eddie Collins. His grandparents owned and operated the property, known as the Simmons House at the time. On May 2, 1887, while his mother, Mary, was visiting the Simmons House, she gave birth to Eddie, according to a biography by Rick Huhn.
Collins began his professional baseball career at the age of 19 while still attending Columbia University. He spent his first season playing only in the minors, but by his third season in 1909 he was a full time player and the starting second basemen. Collins finished the 1909 season with a .349 batting average and 67 stolen bases.
Collins became known for excellent playing offensively and defensively. He became the sixth player ever to achieve 3,000 hits in 1925 and is to date the 12th highest ranked player by total hits with 3,315. Collins is one of four players to have stolen more than 500 bases — he stole 745.
Collins played with the Philadelphia Athletics until 1914, including all five seasons the Athletics won the World Series while stationed in Philadelphia. In 1915 he joined the Chicago White Sox where he was a part of the infamous “Black Sox” team that threw the 1919 World Series, although Collins was not implicated in the scandal and arrived on the other side unmarked by the controversy. In 1924 he was named player-manager of the team, a position he held for two seasons.
Collins retired from play in 1930 and went on to coach and manage the Boston Red Sox. Under his leadership, the Red Sox played winning seasons in seven out of 12 years and won their first pennant in 28 years in 1946. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. He retired in 1947 at the age of 60.
Collins died after years of struggles with heart problems in a hospital in Boston in 1951 at the age of 63.
Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — A local boarding school’s efforts to receive current formal approval for its buildings received support from neighbors and faculty of the institution at the first public hearing in the Planning Board approval process.
Olivet Academy, which took over the former Kildonan School campus in 2020, is seeking a special use permit, certificates of occupancy for all campus buildings, and approval of its existing septic systems to satisfy current state Department of Education requirements for private boarding schools.
Architect Ray Nelson, representing the school, told the Planning Board on Wednesday, July 22, that the state now requires schools to provide current certificates of occupancy for all campus buildings under the operating institution’s name. Because the campus predates modern permitting requirements, many of its buildings were never issued formal permits or certificates of occupancy.
The campus has operated as a school since it was built in 1940, first as the Barlow School and later as the Kildonan School from 1980 until the institution closed in 2019. Nelson said the current application is intended to formally document and legalize longstanding uses of the property rather than expand or substantially alter the campus.
Wednesday night’s meeting marked the first public hearing on the application, marking a step toward approval that will bring the historic school into formal legal compliance for the first time since its construction over 80 years ago.
Betsy Strauss, a longtime neighbor of the property, and her husband, Julian, spoke in support of the school and its efforts to obtain formal approval. She said Olivet has been a good neighbor and she’s delighted to live in a neighborhood surrounded by schools on both sides.
Strauss’s property is bordered on the west by Olivet Academy and on the east by the Webutuck Central School District campus.
“It’s very nice to know that we’ve got people who are serious about their work and are good neighbors,” Strauss said.
Milo Tsukroff — a Pleasant Valley, New York, resident and math instructor at the school — said he has taught at the school for five years and loves the community.
He said Olivet students excel in and out of school, and that the presence of the boarding school and Webutuck’s campus in such close proximity qualifies that section of town around Morse Hill Road and Haight Road as a de facto education district.
“Graduates return to this school and tell us they’re college math classes are too easy because they learned math at Olivet,” Tsukroff said.
Planning Board members opted to keep the public hearing open pending approvals from outside agencies for outstanding issues such as approval of an existing septic system and building department certification. The next public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7:35 p.m. at the North East Town Hall on Maple Avenue.
Madi Long
Ariel Grald rides Adagio’s Nobility around the showjumping ring at the 41st annual Millbrook Horse Trials on Sunday, July 26. The Millbrook Horse Trials is an annual event that combines dressage, showjumping and cross-country.
Ariel Grald rides Adagio’s Nobility around the showjumping ring at the 41st annual Millbrook Horse Trials on Sunday, July 26. The Millbrook Horse Trials is an annual event that combines dressage, showjumping and cross-country.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Months of deliberation over the environmental impacts of a proposed workforce housing subdivision concluded Thursday, July 23, when Planning Board members voted to move the project forward to site plan approval.
The environmental impact analysis phase in connection with the Cascade Creek subdivision application was completed following the Planning Board’s unanimous vote for a “negative declaration” as part of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process.
The proposal, submitted by the Hudson River Housing of Poughkeepsie, calls for a 28-home workforce housing development on a 24.13-acre parcel between Cascade Road and Route 22. The developers also aim to preserve open space and environmentally sensitive land.
The negative declaration means the Planning Board found the proposed workforce housing development is not expected to have significant adverse environmental impacts, allowing the application to move forward to the site plan review stage without requiring a full Environmental Impact Statement.
That action allows the developer to proceed to the site plan phase of the application process where actual plans for the subdivision are submitted for consideration by the Planning Board. Public hearings will be included in that site plan process.
A significant issue within the SEQR process had been the board’s concern about the volume of water storage that would support firefighting efforts within the planned subdivision.
Attorney Alec Gladd, of Cuddy & Feder LLP out of Fishkill, New York, representing the developer, stated that the fire department is asking for water storage capacity data that could only be answered within the site plan phase. Currently, the developer is offering on-site fire suppression and home sprinklers in each housing unit.
“We have met the requirement for now,” Gladd said, noting that the SEQR analysis is an environmental review.
The issue of firefighting capacity can be raised again later in the process once the site can be tested for water availability, advised Planning Board attorney Cassandra Britton.
“Sprinklers are for evacuation of people from their homes, but you still need water to fight the fires,” said Planning Board Engineer John Andrews. Water storage to support home sprinklers is separate from water storage to fight fires.
Peter Deister, chairman of the local Board of Fire Commissioners, attended the meeting and expressed his concern about the issue of adequate water storage capability. The fire department has scheduled a second meeting with architect Richard Rennia, who designed the project, on Monday, Aug. 10.
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Leila Hawken
AMENIA — A Sharon resident has offered to donate a 27-acre parcel valued at more than $1 million to the Town of Amenia, proposing that the land be permanently preserved as conservation property to protect the final unprotected section of Westerly Ridge.
Carol Flaton, owner of the property at 108 Westerly Ridge near the Connecticut border, presented the proposal to the Town Board during its regular meeting Thursday, July 23. She said she purchased the property less than a month ago with the intention of ensuring it would never be developed.
The 27-acre parcel has a value of $1,014,200.
“I don’t live in New York, I just want you people to have it and to protect the ridge line,” Flaton told the board. She said donating the property would be consistent with the town’s Master Plan, which envisions protecting the ridge line from future development.
“The whole ridge line will then be protected,” she said.
Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm said the proposal would require review and approval from several parties before the town could accept the donation, including the Westerly Ridge Homeowners Association and Dutchess County conservation officials.
Flaton said she hopes the donation process can be completed by the end of the year.
Leila Hawken
Paula Pelosi
AMENIA — Friends and community members are invited to celebrate the life of local art curator Paula Pelosi at the Smithfield Church.
A significant loss to the contemporary art world, as well as to her many local and area friends, the life of Pelosi will be celebrated at a memorial service set for the Smithfield Church on Saturday, Aug. 1. The service will begin at 2 p.m.
Pelosi died this year in April after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.
The memorial service will be led by the Rev. Douglas Grandgeorge, Pastor of The Smithfield Church.
Pelosi’s career brought her close to luminaries in the art world including years as an executive assistant and curator for artist Frank Stella, an association that led her to divide her time between her home in Amenia and her Brooklyn home. She looked after all details of curating and hanging Stella’s exhibitions world-wide and assisted in the management of his local horse farm. In addition to art-related travel, Pelosi enjoyed traveling for pleasure to experience remote regions.
Community service was an important aspect of Pelosi’s life as she served 10 years as a member of the Amenia Zoning Board of Appeals.
“I knew Paula as a friend and a colleague,” said Judy Westfall on Friday, July 24, remembering Pelosi’s service on the ZBA, when Westfall served as ZBA Secretary. “She loved Amenia and always looked to the future with great pride and enthusiasm.”
“She was a kind and gentle woman with a great heart. She cared greatly about her work and the many friendships she had in Amenia. Her presence is missed,” Westfall said, noting that Pelosi’s smile brightened the mood at every ZBA meeting.
“I always referred to her as the ‘Queen of the ZBA’ because she was the only woman member,” Westfall said.
“She was a wonderful woman,” said Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm on Friday, July 24, adding that she regretted not having had an opportunity to work with Pelosi longer to know her better. Hamm began her term in office in January 2026.
Tributes offered by Town Hall staff and ZBA members carried effusive praise and genuine appreciation for Pelosi’s service to the town.
“Paula led a very interesting life,” Hamm said.
Jacquelyn Drain
NorthEast-Millerton’s new “tower garden” in the center of the library will grow lettuce and other leafy greens.
MILLERTON — The NorthEast-Millerton library is cultivating a new program to address food access in the community through its new “Tower Garden,” an indoor growing system that allows the library to produce and distribute vegetables, herbs and flowers year-round.
The tower garden, described as an aeroponic vertical growing system, came to the library through a grant issued by The Library of Local. That initiative stems from a partnership between the Mid-Hudson Library System and The Understory, an organization that promotes ecological resilience in the Hudson Valley.
The kit provides the tower, made out of plastic tubing, as well as a starter pack with seeds and instructions. The tubing inside carries water from a tank on the bottom to rain down on the seedlings. There are also four lights attached that mimic sunlight necessary for growth. The librarians have also added googly eyes on the contraption giving it an abstract face. Currently they are growing kale, rainbow chard, basil, dill, lettuces and snapdragons.
Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson is spearheading this project and has strong hopes for the garden despite its unusual look.
“During the downpour the other day it started to water itself and I think the person in the library thought we had sprung a leak and panicked for a second,” Leo-Jameson said. “As they really start growing, people are gonna be noticing it more and more.”
The Library hopes that this addition will produce enough yield to distribute to the community. They have previously put on programs to assist with providing food to community members, such as opening a small food pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic and adding garden beds in the backyard. They are hoping to provide more once the Tower produces significant growth.
“We’ve struggled with food access in our community,” Leo-Jameson said. “We thought ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something more.’”
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