From left, Deborah Maier, moderator, Megan Wolff, Nicole Clanahan and Olivia Skeen.
Photo by John Coston
Latest News
New priest takes the altar in Amenia
Apr 30, 2025
Father Andrew O'Connor
Photo by Christine Bates
AMENIA — Father Andrew O’Connor celebrated his first Easter at the Church of the Immaculate Conception after arriving in February to serve the parishioners of Amenia, Pine Plains and Millerton.
In an interview with The Millerton News, he commented that Easter was a time to see whole families together and meet young people home from college or prep school. His busy schedule includes masses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and another on Sunday night at Choate Rosemary Hall prep school when he visits his family in Connecticut.
Now that spring has arrived the new priest is enchanted by our rural landscape. “Sometimes I ask myself if I wandered into Austria.”
When asked why he was sent by the New York Archdiocese to Amenia, O’Connor mused that these decisions are never quite clear but that perhaps it was because of his fluent Spanish and love of Guatemala, or maybe his faith in the power of art. O’Connor is a visual artist who believes that the church and art nourish each other. He has a background in literature and the fine arts and is already making plans for a sculpture depicting the Ascension.
His book, “A Tuscan Résumé,” which is available at Oblong Books, describes a brief sabbatical in Florence studying sacred art. In 2000 Father O’Connor founded Sacred Art Heals, a Catholic not for profit, that fosters collaborative projects with local artists in parishes from Mississippi to Paris. His fashion line, Social Fabric, produces organic cotton with natural dyes in Central America for clothing made in the United States. Cameron Diaz modeled his linen shorts in a Vogue feature article.
Father O’Connor discovered his talent for learning languages at an early age — first French, then Spanish, Irish in Dublin, Italian and now he’s studying German. He became ordained in 1996 and served in parishes in the United States, Europe and Latin America. For the last ten years he was pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New York City’s East Village where he was part of a Lower East Side preservation effort. Here he is supportive of reopening St. Patrick’s church in Millerton.
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Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — A report from the town’s visual impact consultant in connection with the application submitted by developers of the proposed Keane Stud subdivision led to discussion of the type of detailed information needed to satisfy local requirements at the regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, April 23.
At the April 9 meeting of the Planning Board, Keane Stud subdivision’s Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering had reviewed plan changes that had reduced the number of lots planned from 27 to 23 with a corresponding reduction in total acreage from 704 to 605. Changes had been made to protect the viewshed from DeLaVergne Hill, Sander said.
Deed restrictions would limit the scale and visibility of development on any lot as each lot is acquired by a buyer, Sander had indicated.
Board input was key to the next steps, leading Sander to ask for such comments as well as comments from George Janes, the town’s visual resources consultant. Planning board member James Vitiello commented that he would want to see scope of vegetative screening around each future home as part of the current planning.
Covenant requirements are important in each instance, Planning Board Engineer John Andrews said, citing lighting, building materials and plantings that can be specified in envisioning visual effects of future development.
In advance of the April 23 meeting, the developers had provided a Declaration of Covenant document for review by the town’s visual consultant George Janes, who reported his findings to the Planning Board. He described the Covenant Report as incomplete and inadequate in identifying likely changes to the viewshed visible from DeLaVergne Hill.
Because of the topography of the land, for example, Janes said the developers failed to indicate any grading challenges that might require retaining walls were a home to be built on the site. The photos also failed to show recreational additions such as swimming pools, tennis courts and outbuildings. No access roads were shown in the photo views, all of which would impact the viewshed.
The developers had also failed to address whether the proposed lots might be expected to add perimeter walls or fencing on the properties, or solar panels.
“We want to know as a town what the viewshed would look like,” planning board member Ken Topolsky said. As an example, he said that if a property that might be allowed to support seven horses would need a barn and perhaps an additional ring that would likely be visible.
Although not scheduled to appear, attorneys for the Keane Stud subdivision asked to be heard and agreed that more conversation between the developers and the town is needed.
The Keane Stud attorney reminded the board that the current drawings represent only a subdivision application, too early to expect to see engineering studies and site plans. The town would be a party to any deed restrictions devised for each lot’s design.
Planning board engineer Andrews noted that Janes’ language used in requesting the Covenant Report had asked for a “reasonable worst case development” on a few key lots, to assist the board in visualizing possible viewshed impact.
Seeking clarification on the meaning of “worst case,” board member John Stefanopoulos asked as an example whether the developers would need to imagine 20 swimming pools on 20 lots.
Ready to re-review plans presented at the April 9 meeting, Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering was present, indicating that no changes had been made to the drawings since the previous meeting.
“Things that are in a viewshed are not necessarily unsightly, such as trees and fences,” said planning board member Nina Peek, although she would want to see examples of “reasonable worst-case scenarios.”
“We need to see it,” Peek said, indicating that the planners and board officials will work together to gather necessary details in the coming weeks, preparing for the next report to the public.
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The Amenia Fire Company on Mechanic Street in Amenia.
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — The long-anticipated Ham Dinner, an annual event put on by the Amenia Fire Company, is scheduled for Saturday, May 3, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the firehouse on Mechanic Street. Diners are welcome to eat-in or take-out.
Each dinner will include sliced ham, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, dinner rolls, apple sauce and dessert, all at a price of $17 per person, or $15, if the customer is at least 60 years of age.
For information or to order dinners, contact Shawn Howard at 845-418-8633 or Scott Boardman at 845-518-6742. Proceeds will benefit the Amenia Fire Company.
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Bethany Sheffer, volunteer coordinator and naturalist at Sharon Audubon, gives a talk on supporting birds using native plants at the Amenia Free Library Saturday, April 26. The program was put on by the Amenia Garden Club and Conservation Advisory Council as part of Earth Day events.
Photo by Ruth Epstein
AMENIA — Watching birds find nourishment in nature can be an enjoyable experience. Supporting them in that endeavor can be even more rewarding.
Those attending a talk at the Amenia Free Library on Saturday by Bethany Sheffer, volunteer coordinator and naturalist at Sharon Audubon, heard about the plants on which birds feast, and gently encouraged listeners to consider adding some to their property.
The program was sponsored by the Amenia Garden Club and the Conservation Advisory Council as part of Earth Day events.
“We do a lot of work with forest conservation at Audubon to improve the environment for the habitat of birds,” Sheffer said. “That provides a long impact of feeding birds throughout the year.”
Her talk was accompanied by a PowerPoint filled with images of colorful birds and their habitats. She listed the various types of offerings for birds, including those under the category of hard mast, such as nuts and seeds. When Sheffer asked what birds would benefit from those items, she was delighted to find the audience so knowledgeable. The answers were bluejays, wild turkeys and wood ducks, noting that such things as acorns and hazelnuts provide 80% of their winter diets.
Dry seeds, which are a bit softer and found on maples and birches, are attractive to cross beaks, chickadees and cardinals, while flowers, buds, pollen and nectar on sugar maples, dogwoods and oaks, provide sustenance for orioles and scarlet tanagers due to the insects that inhabit them.
Turning to soft mast, which are fruits and berries, Sheffer described the plants that contain them, such as black cherry for thrushes and robins, red cedar for ruby-crowned kinglets and American holly, for hermit thrushes, bluejays and chickadees. She shared that berries are not that nourishing for birds.
Properties containing wetlands are often a good source of food for birds. Dispelling the myths surrounding the Virginia creeper and poison ivy, Sheffer said they don’t strangle trees and bring them down. “If you don’t come in contact with them, leave them be to offer food for birds.” When she asked if anyone has Virginia creeper in their yards, she elicited a loud round of laughter. “Is there anyone who doesn’t?” asked one audience member.
Sheffer said trees and shrubs not only provide food for birds, but cover as well. She also broached the subject of insects, which help sustain the bird population. Passing on some statistics, she noted that 96% of birds feed insects to their young. She surprised the audience with the fact that nesting chickadees eat 390 to 570 caterpillars a day and over 9,000 until they fledge.
Sheffer recommended apps that might be of interest to gardeners, including PictureThis and iNaturalist.
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