Millerton gets ready for 175th anniversary celebration

MILLERTON — Months of planning will culminate this weekend as Millerton kicks off nine days of events celebrating the village’s 175th anniversary, with festivities running from July 11 through July 19.

Lisa Hermann, a veteran festival organizer who has been leading the planning effort for Millerton 175, said the process intensified this year as the July start date crept closer.

“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Hermann said. “We’re very lucky for the volunteers we had, because we have people who live in such a small community but yet there are people with so many different backgrounds.”

The variety of expertise among Millerton’s 175 committee members lent itself to an expansive list of events spread across the nine days scheduled for the celebration. The celebration brings together local organizations, businesses and volunteers for what organizers say is one of Millerton’s largest community celebrations in years.

The celebration’s first day on Saturday, July 11, will feature the biggest lineup of distinct events. Plans for Saturday include:

• A free screening of “A League of Their Own” at The Moviehouse at 10:30 a.m.
• The North East Community Center Farmers Market at the Millerton Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• A craft vendor fair at Eddie Collins Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• North East/Millerton Climate Smart Task Force’s community-wide flea market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eddie Collins Memorial Park will serve as a central hub with other participating sellers setting up shop on their lawns.
• “Touch a truck” at the Millerton firehouse on Century Boulevard from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• A bicycle decorating contest at the Irondale Schoolhouse on Main Street from noon to 2 p.m.
• A parade down Main Street starting at 3:30 p.m.
• A groundbreaking ceremony for the new pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park at 4:30 p.m., followed by a concert in the park featuring Poughkeepsie-based rock band 5 Day Knights.

Festivities continue with sports tournaments at Eddie Collins Memorial Park on Sunday, July 12. A 3-on-3 basketball tournament is set for 9:30 a.m., with sign-ups beginning at 8 a.m. Each team can register up to five players and registration costs $10 per player.

There will also be a cornhole tournament running at the park beginning at 11 a.m. Registration for that tournament begins at 10 a.m. and will carry a $30 entry fee.

Starting Saturday, July 11, and running on select days through the week are the North East Historical Society’s exhibit on Millerton’s history at the Millerton Methodist Church on Main Street. Visitors can peruse the exhibition materials on Monday, July 13, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday, July 16, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, July 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The night of Monday, July 13, will see a special dinner at the Millerton Inn, set for 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and a free screening of “Burying the Hatchet: The Tom Quick Story,” followed by discussion at the North East Community Center starting at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, July 14, will mark the unveiling of a brand new outdoor classroom on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. The immersive learning space will include vibrant, educational displays exploring water ecology, natural and social history, birds, insects and other elements of the local landscape.

On Wednesday, July 15, the Millerton Inn will host a party on its front lawn with outdoor cooking, cornhole and fire pits.

Then events start ramping back up with the Millerton Business Alliance’s annual Summer Stroll event, featuring sidewalk sales and pop-ups from local businesses throughout Millerton’s downtown from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The North East Historical Society’s exhibit on Millerton’s history will run from 1 p.m. to 7 to coincide with the Summer Stroll.

Festivities on Thursday wrap up with a comedy show in Eddie Collins Memorial Park hosted by local comedian and lifelong Millerton resident Ronnie Reed at 7 p.m.

The nine-day celebration then hits its apex starting Friday, July 17, with the kick-off of the Millerton 175 Fair at Eddie Collins Memorial Park. Inflatable obstacle courses and a bouncy house, live music, food and drink will fill the park for three days from July 17 to July 19.

The fair will run from 2 p.m. to 10 on Friday, July 17; from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 18; and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 19.

Bands and musicians from across the Hudson Valley will take the stage to perform free concerts in the park, including Northwest Passage Band, Guilty Pleasure, Jordan Stoner, Hammerhead Horns, The Steve Dunn Trio, Last Good Bender and The Wanda Houston Project.

A children’s stage will also host performances aimed at younger members of the audience, including a musical set from Danny Tieger, onstage clowning from Bee Bee the Clown, the musical talents of Mark Rust, and Jackie the Magician to close out the fair on Sunday.

Hermann said she and the planning committee are eagerly awaiting the start of festivities this Saturday. Looking forward, Hermann said there’s hope around the village that Millerton is starting to rebuild its summer recreation programs.

She said next year’s planned completion of the pool will allow village leadership to fully staff a recreation department again, facilitating more regular community events.

“We just really haven’t had a rec department in so long because we didn’t have the infrastructure,” Hermann said. “I’m very much looking forward to when the park’s done and we have that full rec department back again.”