Veterans Park, one sunny Wednesday morning

The sun was bright in the sky, pouring down on Veterans Park last Wednesday, Oct. 4, as the wait began for someone to sit down on a nearby bench, whence a conversation might be struck. 

It was 20 minutes before noon. The sidewalks along Main Street and Dutchess Avenue were mostly empty. A couple walked a dog. Two women exited a luxury automobile and strolled over to peruse the windows at Luxury Finds, which wasn’t open, then moved on to visit with a couple and a dog sitting in front of Irving Farm. 

Trucks rumbled by, even three village highway vehicles that had been staged up by the newspaper office on Century Boulevard where some new asphalt was being laid. 

Millerton was in its mid-tide. Small waves of activity on a midweek morning kept the easy pace going. A man I know rushed by, said hello, and crossed the street on his way to work at Irving Farm, which saw a regular stream of customers, many stopping to visit with friends, and others racing off to get back to work, bolstered by caffeine they sipped on the run. 

Sylvia Schultz, 85, approached. She smiled my way and sat on an unoccupied bench. 

“The best spot in town,” Sylvia said, tilting her head right at the strong sun overhead. Her bench was given in memory of Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, national security advisor to the president of the United States from 1997 to 2001, by the Berger family in 2016. The plaque says: “Millerton native who never forgot his roots.” 

Sylvia lives on Indian Lake. She raised two daughters in Millerton, one of whom was circling in the car to pick up mom. Sylvia appreciates the Memorial Day ceremonies at Veterans Park, with its monument to veterans of World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Korea, and fondly recalls many celebrations here.

Sylvia was just making a stopover in the park, taking in a rejuvenating moment that can be added on to her 40 years of Millerton experiences. When her daughter pulled up, Sylvia said good-bye. They headed westbound. 

The sun was getting high. The village bell rang, loudly and with certainty 12 times. It made me think of Mayor Najdek, who once told me that she fields “so many” complaints about that bell. As I peered at the plaque on my bench, I saw that it is in memory of Mariley Najdek, mayor and trustee of the Village of Millerton and mother of Mayor Jenn Najdek. The bench was donated by Townscape in 2014. 

A woman crossed Main and sat down at a shady table to check her phone and put on sunglasses. My phone buzzed. It was someone texting me not to forget to cover the Pine Plains Ag Fair this weekend. 

Another woman approached, balancing her Irving Farm coffee cup in one hand, a doggie cup of water in the other, which also held the leash for Maisie, her golden doodle who was tractor-beaming to the park. Judy Barber, 79, said she comes almost every day from Sharon to get coffee, sit in the park and walk the rail trail. 

We chatted, and Judy commented that the world today needs more “personal touch,” meaning people should talk to each other. 

It was now 12:40 p.m. Judy looked at her phone. She explained that her husband, Skip Barber, of Skip Barber Racing School fame, was participating in an online car auction that would end at 1 p.m. She said he’s very interested in one particular car. 

“He’s bidding. I hope he gets it,” she said. “I’m not a car person.”

So ended our brief conversation in the sun in Veterans Park on a Wednesday morning in October.  As I left, Judy was fast in conversation with another friend who stopped  by the park for a minute.

John Coston is the editor-in-chief for The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News.