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Letters to the Editor - The Millerton News - 12-16-21

Millerton Fire Company is, and was, a lifesaver

A recent letter to the editor gave the mistaken impression that our Millerton Fire Company (MFC) was not sufficiently staffed to respond the incredibly tragic fire on South Elm Avenue last month.

From everything I observed first-hand and have learned since, that is just not the case.

Given the extraordinary intensity of this fire, our Fire Company responded quickly, in force, and to the best of their abilities.

Fire companies from other towns responded to lend assistance, in what is known as Mutual Aid, as they regularly do, and as our company does with other towns.

While more volunteers are certainly needed to assure the future of our Fire Company, the women and men of our MFC should be recognized and appreciated for their exceptional dedication and effort.

I’m glad to know they are there.

Chris Kennan

Supervisor,
Town of North East

North East

 

It’s time for U.S. Senator Schumer to step up

Along with so many others, I have grave concerns about the state of our Democracy and the efforts of certain political actors to undermine Democracy’s foundational election process.  In this vein, I have sent the following email to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

I write to urge you to delay the upcoming Senate recess in order to bring voting rights legislation to a vote before the end of the year and before conservative Republican-majority state legislators do further harm to voter protections and enfranchisement measures.

Why can’t Democrats work as diligently to protect voting rights as Republicans do to disenfranchise people and weaken voter protections?

I urge others to make similar pleas to Sen. Schumer.

Amy Rothstein

Pine Plains

Millerton News
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Millerton News and The News does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

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A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

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Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

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Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

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Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

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For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

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