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Spongy moth larvae feed on tree leaves, contributing to stress that could kill an ailing tree.
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MILLBROOK — The spongy moth epidemic of eastern Dutchess and Columbia Counties and northwestern Connecticut appears to be receding after more than three years of infestation, based on forecasting work and early-summer land surveys undertaken at Millbrook’s Cary Institute.
The spongy moth epidemic has marked widespread defoliation, affecting trees particularly in the area of the New York–Connecticut border.
The current epidemic appeared in Dutchess and Columbia Counties and in Connecticut’s northwest corner in 2021 as a result of various regional ecological factors, combined with the spongy moths’ ability for rapid proliferation.
“The white-footed mouse, which preys on spongy moth [egg masses], is usually enough to keep the population under control,” said Clive Jones, a terrestrial ecologist at the Cary Institute. “If the mouse population collapses, as it did, then the spongy moth population can escape.” Populations of parasitic wasps and flies, which bring the population down to normal levels, can take a few years to grow enough to curb the spongy moth. During this time, when the moths have few significant predators, their population grows unchecked and they rapidly defoliate trees.
This year’s wet spring contributed to the counter-epidemic of both a virus and a fungus antagonistic to spongy moth larvae.
The Cary Institute, in its 2025 forecast of the spongy moth’s prevalence, estimated the outbreak would abate during the summer, leading to a negligible population of spongy moths in previously-affected areas. “We see the population collapse due to the fungus and the virus and due to the other natural enemies’ population growing because of the moth’s rise,” Jones said.
Given the passage of an appropriate period of time for natural mechanisms to control the moth population, “we knew at Cary that there was a very low probability of much defoliation by the spongy moth [in previously-affected areas] this year,” Jones said.
Jones and his colleagues at the Cary Institute compiled their forecast of the danger the spongy moth would pose to trees this summer through the collection of data at the Cary Institute’s own 1,924-acre arboretum, the observation of satellite imagery and through samples taken around the Hudson Valley and into Connecticut’s northwest corner.
Defoliation rarely kills trees directly, even if it occurs for years in a row. But defoliation in conjunction with other harmful factors does kill trees. “Many of the trees out there are fine… but quite a lot have succumbed due to the drought in 2022 and then defoliation in ‘23 and ‘24,” Jones said.
“Spongy moth flare-ups are not cyclical in the sense that they are regularly spaced,” Jones said. “You can fit a periodicity to spongy moth outbreaks which shows that they occur about every 10 years, but it’s no more than a very rough guideline and can be completely wrong.” Before the 2021 epidemic, the last spongy moth infestation occurred in Millbrook nearly
30 years prior, limiting the statistical measures which can be taken to forecast a future spongy moth epidemic.
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Michael Kashgarian
Jul 09, 2025
SHARON — Michael Kashgarian, MD (Mike), died peacefully at home in Hamden, Connecticut, on June 28, 2025, surrounded by his loving family and the sounds of his favorite Irish folk music. Mike and his beloved wife Jeanie (d.2019) were longtime residents of North Haven and Sharon. Mike was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a distinguished physician, professor, colleague and mentor. He had wide-ranging interests – he was a music lover, a wine connoisseur, an avid fly-fisherman, and enjoyed gourmet cooking and travel.
Born on Sept. 20, 1933, in New York City to Toros and Araxie (Almasian) Kashgarian – both survivors of the Armenian Genocide – Mike was raised with a deep appreciation for learning and the responsibility to make the world a better place. He attended public schools and graduated from Bronx High School of Science, already showing the brilliance and curiosity that would shape his life’s work. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and philosophy from New York University in 1954 where he sang tenor in the glee club and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry that same year. He went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine from Yale University School of Medicine in 1958.
After an internship in Internal Medicine at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and a research fellowship in Renal Physiology at the University of Goettingen in Germany, Mike returned to New Haven to join the faculty of the Yale School of Medicine where he became a full professor and served as vice chair and interim chair of the Department of Pathology. He also held a joint appointment in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. He retired as an Emeritus Professor in 2008.
Mike was a world-renowned, dedicated and prolific academic and clinician in the field of Renal Pathology, he was the founder of Yale’s Diagnostic Renal Pathology and Electron Microscopy Laboratory and also served as Chief Pathologist at Yale New Haven Hospital. His research advanced the understanding of the cell biology of kidney function, from the role of ion transporters to the mechanisms of acute and chronic kidney disease. He published a vast body of pioneering collaborative scientific work in renal physiology and cellular and molecular biology, including the Diagnostic Atlas of Renal Pathology, currently in its 4th edition. Among numerous awards and honors, he was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recognized by Osaka City University, the Postgraduate Medical Institute of Saint Petersburg, and was a recipient of both the Jacob Churg Distinguished Achievement Award and Robert Heptinstall Lifetime Achievement Award from the Renal Pathology Society where he also served a term as President.
Mike touched the lives of countless students and colleagues throughout his career at Yale and as a visiting professor at over 50 universities throughout the world. Active in the Yale community, he served as the Resident Faculty Head at Harkness Hall, a Fellow at Jonathan Edwards College, Editor in Chief of Yale Medicine, secretary of the Board of Governors of Association of Yale Alumni and was recognized with Distinguished Service Award of Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine.
A lifelong learner with a sharp mind and a kind heart, he found joy in nature, music, and family. Introduced to fly fishing by his father-in-law, Harry Caldwell, he spent countless treasured hours on rivers and streams across North America. He was a longtime member of the Potatuck Club in Sandy Hook, the Walton Fishing Club in Cornwall, and the Tobique Salmon Club in Matapedia, Quebec.
He supported many charitable organizations and served on the boards of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
But his greatest joy and pride was always his family. He was married for 60 years to Jean Gaylor Caldwell, who passed away in 2019. He is survived by his two daughters and their spouses, Michaele Kashgarian and Mark Rose, and Thea Kashgarian Obstler and David Obstler; and by his four grandchildren, Alison Gaylor Obstler, Eugenia Coley Rose, Andrew Caldwell Obstler, and Harry Caldwell Rose. He also cherished his extended family, especially his many nieces and nephews.
He will be remembered not only for his intellectual brilliance and professional legacy, but for his warmth, humility, generous spirit, and sense of humor. It was in his family, in the quiet of nature, and in the pursuit of knowledge that he was truly happiest.
Contributions in his memory may be made to The Michael and Jean Caldwell Kashgarian Scholarship Fund at the Yale School of Medicine.
Checks can be made payable to Yale University and mailed to:
P.O. Box 7611, New Haven, CT 06519-0611
Please note “Michael and Jean Caldwell Kashgarian Scholarship Fund” in the memo line.
A memorial will be held in the fall. Arrangements are with the Hawley Lincoln Memorial, New Haven.
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James North
Jul 09, 2025
SHARON — James W. North of Sharon, passed away on June 4, 2025 at the age of 91.
James was born on Feb. 2, 1934, and grew up in Stratford, Connecticut. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
He made his career in advertising, working for many years as an advertising executive in New York City.
He was the husband of the late Joanne C. North.
He was the father of Brian F. North and of the late Laurie (North) Fox.
James is survived by his son, Brian F. North.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
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Still waiting for a good thing
Jul 09, 2025
An artist’s rendering of what a pool and poolhouse in Eddie Collins Park in Millerton could look like.
Photo Provided
Sometime this month the Village of Millerton will meet with regulators to learn more about what is needed to proceed with construction of the pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park. As we reported last week, the Dutchess County Board of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are reviewing the project regarding septic placement and wetland buffers.
It has been a long time coming, but worth the wait, and the Village has the money! That’s a big accomplishment, and the lion’s share of the credit goes to the Millerton Community Park Committee chaired by Stephen Waite. As Mayor Jenn Najdek said last week, the project is now “99% funded,” with $7.56 million secured from three separate New York State grants.
Located on North Elm Avenue in the Village, Eddie Collins Memorial Park was originally used as a turntable for trains, a ball field and a horse racing track. In 1916, the village was left a sum of $15,000 by William G. Denney for “the benefit of the young people,” and by 1963, a committee was formed to name the ball field after former resident and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Collins.
Since then, the park has seen several additions, including the now defunct Denney Pool.Mayor Najdek has a lifelong connection to the park — swimming and lifeguarding at the pool and running the camp as a teenage counselor.
Waite also has fond memories of Denney Pool. “I spent a lot of time at the old Denney Pool as a kid and made many friends there, some I still keep in contact with,” he said in an interview last year.
Even today, The Millerton News invokes memories of Denney Pool in its ‘From the Archives’ column that appears on this page every week. Written by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the NorthEast-Millerton Library and reprinting news from the past, the column frequently mentions stubborn cracks in Denney Pool or news about lifeguard lessons. Announcements back then of night swims for the community also suggest an inviting recreational activity during these hot summer days.
Built in 1966, the Village closed the pool in 2015 — due to those cracks and structural problems.
In 2019, as members of the Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee, Waite and Jeanne Vanecko presented tentative plans for the park’s re-imagining to the Village Board. They explained the committee ultimately decided to complete the project in four phases. Waite and Co-Chair Vanecko have volunteered their time, energy and talents to help renovate the aging Eddie Collins Park into a recreational resource for the 21st Century.
The bequest more than 100 years ago by William G. Denney now has been succeeded by state grant money and significant funding raised by a steering committee and the entire revitalization committee.
As a community we owe much to these selfless volunteers for making it possible not only for Millerton to have a pool, but a first-class park for all of us to enjoy.
So let’s do the meetings, however long it takes.
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