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Local landscape artist and charcoal kiln historian Cliff Waldow was the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Amenia Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 26. Newly elected President Judy Westfall joined him beside his painting of an open door at his Amenia Union home.
Photo by Leila Hawken
AMENIA — The Amenia Historical Society held its annual meeting on Sunday, Oct. 26, electing Judy Westfall to serve as president for a two-year term.
Westfall provided welcoming remarks and led the business portion of the meeting when the additional election results were read. Walter Dietrich will serve a two-year term as vice-president, and Maureen Moore was elected to serve as Secretary. Trustees elected to three-year terms were Julian Strauss, Ericka Howard and Larry Havens. Two-year terms as trustee will be held by Deb Phillips and Vicki Doyle, and a one-year term by Victoria Herow.
The program that followed featured local landscape artist Cliff Waldow whose paintings of local barns, charcoal furnaces and landscapes capture some of the town’s historic features as well as historic kilns dotted throughout the eastern seaboard. Waldow’s talk was titled “Scenes Behind the Paintings.”
Stories of the search for remote charcoal kilns that fired wood to make charcoal, essential to the iron industry over two centuries, engaged Waldow’s audience. Once the industry changed, the kilns were abandoned where they stood. As the years passed, Waldow found that clues about the locations would be found in the fragile memories of the elderly.
Waldow sought to locate forgotten stone kilns, frequently returning to a wooded mountainside numerous times to locate a kiln. Some of these kilns became the subjects for his paintings, his interest in painting having begun in 1951 when he was newly married and had moved to Florida.
Lime Rock has a significant history in iron production, with factories running around the clock with two 12-hour shifts to meet demand.
Included in the display were Waldow’s rural scenes from the Amenia area, including the old Chase Farm in Sharon, no longer standing, and his own Amenia Union home depicted as a slightly ajar rustic door leading to his basement.
Without formal art instruction, Waldow nevertheless managed to capture landscapes with clear authenticity.
“Painting was a challenge,” Waldow said.
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FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. — The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News, published by LJMN Media, Inc., welcomed Christian Murray as executive editor in October.
Murray, a veteran journalist who founded and led the Queens Post in New York City, brings deep experience in community news and newsroom management, as well as in business and finance reporting.
He joins the newsroom after serving as the managing editor at Schneps Media, a New York City-based company that publishes amNY, Queens Courier, Brooklyn Paper, Bronx Times and other local news outlets.
He joined Schneps in December 2022, after selling the Queens Post — a collection of hyperlocal news sites that he founded including Sunnyside Post, Astoria Post, and Jackson Heights Post. The sites became a model for neighborhood journalism in the borough of Queens.
“I’m thrilled to join The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News,” Murray said. “I’ve always believed that strong local journalism builds strong communities, and I look forward to continuing that tradition here in Northwest Connecticut and Dutchess County.”
“Christian is a proven builder of local news organizations and a champion for community reporting,” said James Clark, CEO and Publisher. “His leadership and experience will strengthen our newsroom and help advance our mission to provide essential journalism for Northwest Connecticut and New York’s Harlem Valley.”
Early in his career, he was a political reporter with Newsday and a business reporter with Reuters. Murray, who is originally from New Zealand, holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. After living in New York City for 25 years, he moved to Northwest Connecticut in 2022.
Murray can be reached at christianm@lakevillejournal.com.
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Pitcher Emmet Sheehan earned a World Series championship ring Nov. 1 when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7.
Sheehan, who graduated from Salisbury School in 2018, pitched four innings over three different games in the series.
In Game 1 he entered in relief during the sixth inning. He recorded one out.
Sheehan pitched two and two-thirds scoreless innings in Game 3, which the Dodgers ultimately won in the 18th inning.
In Game 7 he threw a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts, helping to keep the game tied before the Dodgers’ extra-inning win.
After becoming a World Series champ, Sheehan received congratulations from his alma mater via Salisbury School’s Instagram account @sarumknight. “Way to go, Emmet!”
Sheehan was born in New York and grew up in Darien, Connecticut. He attended Fordham Prep School in the Bronx prior to transferring to Salisbury School where he helped the Knights win the Western New England Prep Baseball League 2018 championship.
He played for Boston College for three seasons before being drafted by the Dodgers in 2021. Sheehan made his Major League Baseball debut in 2023.
Sheehan underwent elbow surgery in 2024 and was reactivated by the Dodgers earlier this year.
While at Salisbury School, Emmet Sheehan helped the Knights win the WNEPBL championship in 2018. Now in 2025, he is a World Series champion.Joe Meehan
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William Searby Leicht
Nov 05, 2025
William Searby Leicht
William Searby Leicht
GREAT BARRINGTON — William (“Bill”) Searby Leicht passed away on Oct. 1, 2025, at the age of 89, surrounded by his loving family.
Bill’s life encompassed science, art, and Quaker activism. Born in Winona, Minnesota to Margaret and Robert Leicht, he attended the University of Chicago at the age of 16. After serving in the Army, he earned an MA in Fine Arts Education through Teachers College at Columbia University. Following an early career in neurochemistry, Bill taught ceramics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Hunter College, and Bronx Community College. He dedicated many years to sculpting, and in 1968 Audubon Artists awarded him a national medal of honor for one of his sculptures.
Bill’s passion for social activism took form during the Civil Rights Movement, when he heard Dr. Martin Luther King preach peaceful resistance at a church in Baltimore. The next day, King delivered his “Dream” speech at the Washington Monument. Bill, his wife, and his baby daughter joined the desegregation protest at Gwynn Oaks Amusement Park in Baltimore. He later supported the South Bronx community through his peacemaking work with the United Bronx Parents, The Phoenix School, and Logos. Bill participated in the evolution of the Ghetto Brothers as they changed from a street gang to community leaders and musical innovators during the early days of Hip-Hop. During those years he founded Urban Visions, a non-profit helping young people obtain arts industry apprenticeships and careers in graphic design.
He also became involved in the Alternatives to Violence Project, a program training ex-cons and prisoners in conflict resolution skills. Inspired by AVP, his decades-long practice of Aikido (a non-violent Japanese martial art), and Quaker principles, Bill created Aiki Workshops, a conflict resolution training technique he brought to schools and community groups. A passionate peacemaker, Bill remained an activist into his elder years, supporting peace-seeking groups around the U.S.A., Ecuador, Colombia, and Palestine.
After many years in New York City, Bill relocated to Ancramdale New York, and later, Great Barrington, Massachusettes.
Bill is survived by his children, Cara Marie Vera of Lynchburg, Virginia and Paul Leicht of New York City. Their mother, his former wife, Carol “Carrie” Leicht, passed away in 2009. He is also survived by his stepchildren Sarah Getz of Sharon and Kurt Gubrud of Canaan, whose mother and Bill’s wife, Winifred “Anne” Carriere, passed away in March 2025. Bill is also survived by his sister Morgan and his brother John.
His family wishes to thank the East Mountain House Hospice in Lakeville, where Bill spent his final days. Their compassionate, professional staff offered kind support not only for Bill, but also for his family and many devoted friends. Donations to East Mountain House in Bill’s honor would be warmly appreciated.
A memorial service will be held this spring at Bull’s Head - Oswego Friends Meeting House in Clinton Corners, New York, date TBA.
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