Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Letters to the Editor - The Millerton News - 4-16-20

Roe Jan Library continues to support its patrons, despite pandemic

 

We were very excited. The annual Party in the Park fundraiser we had planned was going to be something new and different. We were ready to celebrate the 10th birthday of the building that houses this little library, which has become such a huge force in the Roe Jan community.

And then, life changed.  

And so, of course, we have canceled the party — put away our plans until, we hope, next year, when we are again able to be together — to celebrate, to laugh and to at last stand shoulder to shoulder to enjoy each other’s company.

In these days, our community is challenged. And deprived of daily contact with friends and family, we have gained a deeper understanding of our need for community. And in that spirit, I want to tell you how proud I am of what Library Director Tammy Gaskell and her staff have achieved in keeping us all connected.

During these hard times while our beautiful building has been closed, www.RoeJanLibrary.org has been open. We have offered e-books, audiobooks, movies and online courses, as we always do, and added a few more digital resources, and we have conducted virtual programs — from strength and balance exercise classes to technology assistance to a community art project. We’ve read stories to toddlers and shared poetry among adults. And we have reached out to many of our most vulnerable patrons, to check in with them and to let them know that we are here to help. Our presence has comforted, consoled, and, yes, entertained our community. 

I know that many of us have suffered during this time. It is our goal and it is our obligation to continue to bind this community together as we recover from these times.

My very best wishes to you and your family. Next year we will celebrate together.

 

Patricia A. Placona

President, Roeliff
Jansen Community
Library Board of Trustees

Copake

 

Pine Plains Free Library stays in touch, virtually

Hello from the Pine Plains Free Library! We hope you have been doing well. We are still closed for the time being, and are unsure as to when we will be able to reopen, but we will let you know when we know. Please check our website, www.pineplainslibrary.org, and/or Facebook for updates.

 We are continuing to maintain and, when possible, increase access to online resources, and are here to help with any questions or concerns regarding your library card and online library resources. Just e-mail me at director@pineplainslibrary.org. 

Thanks for your patience and understanding, and stay safe and healthy! Visit our website to see some of our favorite online resources available to you for free with your library card, and for more information about remote resources and services we offer!

 

Veronica Stork
Director, Pine
Plains Free Library

Tivoli

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.

Latest News

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches-from-the-farm

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

Cheryl Mazak

The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Found Footage Festival brings laughs to The Triplex

Pickett and Prueher on stage.

Provided by Found Footage Festival

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the Found Footage Festival makes its way to the Triplex Theatre in Great Barrington with a treasure trove of lost and forgotten VHS tapes scraped from the piles of distant memories and discarded physical media.

The Found Footage Festival is a “celebration of the videos that time forgot” hosted by two Brooklyn-based comedy writers and childhood friends, Joe Pickett of The Onion and Nick Prueher of The Late Show.

Keep ReadingShow less
film festival
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.