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Local firewood splitter remembers a life of back-breaking labor
Joe Brennan
Jun 23, 2026
Phil Carroll stands near a pile of cut firewood he prepared for sale across New York. The Amenia native has been cutting trees and splitting wood for fireplaces for decades.
Photo By Joe Brennan
AMENIA — It’s been said that wood, as it burns, tells its history.
Phil Carroll has split and sold countless cords of dry highly flammable firewood over the decades and has narrated a lot of the history of his hometown, Amenia.
Carroll’s story begins more than 80 years ago on the banks of what was once Lake Amenia. Right before Carroll was born in 1942, his brother drowned at that swimming spot at the end of Lake Amenia Road, where the dam used to be. Phil’s mother was furious years later when she caught Phil skating across the frozen lake one winter day.
“She already lost one son to that lake,” Carroll said.
But they didn’t move out of their neighborhood to escape bad memories. Even after the dam broke, draining the lake into swamps nearby and forever changing Amenia’s landscape, his family bought and traded the land, moved houses, improved them, stayed close and planted huge gardens, plowed them over and made their own little community of wood cutters. Everything today is impeccably cared for.
The wood cutting machines are clean but clearly well used. It is a place of steady purposeful work.
Before making his career as a firewood supplier, Carroll worked as a tractor-trailer driver cross country but didn’t like it.
“You can’t sleep in a truck and own a house,” Carroll said. “Anybody who does that I think is crazy. You’re paying for the house and you’re out there.”
Then he got the idea of selling bundles of wood he sourced from his own property and nearby forests. His family thought he was crazy. Nobody around here would pay for kiln-dried firewood so Phil started hauling four-foot lengths of wood south to Fishkill, Clark, and Wilkins, New York, eventually leading to connections to New York City.
He had cleared trees right across the lake, where developer John Lango carved out those homes on Broadway. It was a swamp then, part of the lake. Then he worked to clear the forests behind his house — by the Squabble Hole, where the old ore mine flooded and made a perfect swimming hole. Phil couldn’t swim much, but the town boys dove off a rope halfway up Squabble Mountain.
He focused on distributing his wood Manhattan’s East Side first because storefront owners would pay and he could double park his truck at less risk of $600 tickets. In 1988, walking block to block, store to store, the small bodega owners saved him, and supermarket chain D’Agostinos took half a truckload but couldn’t put a real wood pile in the basement or else risk burning down the borough.
“I used to buy 80 to 90 thousand dollars of wood a year, just for New York,” Carroll said. “I’ve cut that down to 35 thousand now.”
While visiting New York all those decades ago, Carroll fostered an appreciation for dancing at Korean nightclubs. A full day’s worth of driving and delivering firewood would end with a high-energy fete dancing until the clubs closed at 3 a.m. Then Carroll would drive home.
Over the years, Carroll has recruited most of his family to join in on the business, including his son, Phil Carroll Jr.
Phil Jr. turned to the forest at 5 years old to work with his father. His job was marking logs with a 19 inch stick his father gave him, that had been measured and carved out for him as a template. Phil gave Phil Jr. a small hatchet, and not a Davy Crockett rubber blade, a real sharp edge and he marked off each section with a chopped notch as his father came behind him and tore through the felled tree with his chainsaw.
The assembly line begins at the simple splitter. It’s been sitting out in the split log walls around the driveway. These mostly go to the campgrounds like Copake. The air-dried local pieces take a year to cure and do not burn as good as his top-of-the-line stuff. J and J Lumber in Dover Plains bakes 19-inch lengths of various hardwood for a day and a half until its water content is bone dry.
These he splits over and over again so most of the bundle’s individual pieces are small and light enough to be picked up by anyone. The other pieces are even smaller, making for ready kindling although the whole pile will erupt in perfect flame, dry as tumbleweed.
Just look at the design of his signature product: the firewood bundle. It’s got his name on top, easy to read, so the buyer knows he’s getting the real deal from the master. The clear plastic is shrink wrapped so you can see that the wood and bark is clean and dry and free of bugs.
Phil, who still works selling firewood, takes pride in his product, he’s been known to throw a bundle across the workshop, “Who the hell made that!”
And Phil’s tireless, always figuring. As he looks out over his backyard, he’s still thinking ahead. “Next year I’m going to get a guy I know to blow up that other side of the hill,” Carroll said dryly. “I’d have twice as much flat land up here.”
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Voters approve Pine Plains school budget with nearly $300K in cuts
Graham Corrigan
Jun 23, 2026
Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains.
Photo by Graham Corrigan
PINE PLAINS — Voters approved a school district budget on Tuesday, June 16, that cut three staff positions to save nearly $300,000 in expenses.
After the initial budget failed in May, Pine Plains Central School District administrators cut expenses to bring the tax levy within the state’s tax cap. Since the revised spending plan complied with the cap, it required only a simple majority for approval.
The second budget passed easily on June 16. The final vote count was 643 votes in favor, and 288 against.
The new budget is $290,569 less than the first budget. The reduction primarily came from eliminating three staff positions — a head bus driver, typist and nurse.
The budget’s passage now means the district will avoid much deeper cuts than what would have been required had it been voted down a second time. The mandatory contingency budget, which would have gone into effect, would have resulted in $945,789 in additional reductions and a freezing of capital projects.
The district has now moved forward with capital plans with the new budget in place. It has announced plans to replace the floor tiles at Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center and is continuing repair work on the roof at Stissing Mountain Jr/Sr High School.
The high school’s tennis courts and track will also be resurfaced this summer. Work is expected to begin in late June, and will last until Sept. 1. During this time, Seymour Smith and the affected athletic fields will be closed.
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Washington Parks & Recreation ready for summer season
Graham Corrigan
Jun 23, 2026
MILLBROOK — The town of Washington is rolling out its summer programming this month, and there’s something on offer for everyone.
The town’s major attraction, the park and pool located at 3774 Route 44, will be open daily starting on June 27, when the pool opens from 12 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Attendees can access basketball, pickleball, shuffleboard, and volleyball courts, as well as baseball and soccer fields, fishing access, and picnic areas. There are also pavilions available to rent for gatherings of up to 75 people.
Poolside concerts return this year as well. Music from Long Steel Rail, Big Ang, and Johnny Walkers will soundtrack the pool parties on Sunday afternoon throughout the summer.
There’s one major change to the summer offerings: the summer camp program, a popular option for kids and working parents alike, has been extended to include an all-day option. Previous camp sessions were limited to three hours a day — now, camp hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with early drop-off and late pick-up available as well. Campers can participate in group activities like swimming, athletics, and arts & crafts.
The first of three two-week camp sessions starts on June 29. Registration is open until June 22, or when full capacity is reached.
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Commencement, Wing at 105, library, crime
Millerton News
Jun 23, 2026
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
June 27, 1935
Millerton High School Commencement Marked By Large Attendance
A large attendance marked the thirty-sixth commencement of Millerton High School which was held in the school auditorium on Monday night. Diplomas were awarded to ten graduates by Elmer W. Simmons, president of the Board of Education. They were Marion Winifred Agnew, Dorothy Louise Barth, George Herbert Brewer, Ruth Elizabeth Conklin, Edna Mae Francis, Edythe Marion Guptill, Margaret Mary Lilley, James Tripp Miller, Frances Heneritta Wooding and Anthony Arthur Yakubowski.
Ruth Conklin, valedictorian, was presented the Alumni Scholarship by Miss Blanche Bates, president of the Alumni Association, just before the presentation of diplomas.
June 24, 1976
‘Wing’ In Wingdale:
Anne Wing Levings: 105 And Still Going Strong
It is often said that the pity of growing really old is that you outlive your friends. That statement is only partially true for Anne Wing Levings, who celebrated her 105th birthday at the Lovely Hill Nursing home in Pawling on Sunday, June 13. Nearly 75 visitors and friends were there helping her to celebrate. She has outlived many of her dear friends, but because she remains so dear herself, she keeps acquiring new ones along the way, including a reporter doing a routine story.
Millerton Free Library Fund Drive Takes Off
The Millerton Free Library Fund Drive got under way this week. In a letter sent to all Millerton residents, the library campaign committee solicited support to achieve its $30,000 goal. The mailing included a brochure outlining the needs and the plans for the new Library building on Main Street.
June 28, 2001
Millerton Crime Wave Investigated
MILLERTON — Three separate incidents of burglary in the past three months have become the subject of local talk concerning the safety of local businesses and residences.
Millerton Postmaster Retiring After 12 Years
MILLERTON —After 12 years as Millerton’s postmaster, Martin Cavally has decided it’s time to hang up the mail bag. Mr. Cavally, who was raised in Dutchess County, joined the U.S. Postal Service in 1968.
“Northern Dutchess is my home.” explained Mr. Cavally, who has lived here most of his life. Although born in Manhattan, Mr. Cavally attended school in Poughkeepsie and earned his associate’s degree from Dutchess Community College.
Mr. Cavally served two years in the Army and was stationed in New York City and then in Dutchess County. He also served a brief stint in Vietnam. He married Claudette Wyant in 1966. The couple has a daughter Kelly and a granddaughter Chiara, living in Rensselaer.
Why did Mr. Cavally choose a career with the post office? “The retirement [benefits],” he admitted. After working part time for IBM and the state of New York, he was offered a position with the post office.
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The greatest game ever played?
James Speyer
Jun 23, 2026
This year’s NBA Finals, in which the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs to end a 53-year championship drought, was tense and tight throughout. Game Four, in which the Knicks overcame a 29-point second half deficit to win 107-106, is universally acknowledged to be the masterpiece of the series. But it was more than that: it was the greatest game ever played in the history of American team sports.
That’s a bold statement, for sure. But I don’t believe I’m suffering from recency bias. Nor am I saying this because I’m a 66-year-old lifelong Knicks fan who was wrapping up junior high school when they last won the title. Hear me out:
A truly great game requires the coming together of several elements. First, the stakes must be high, which eliminates games played during the regular season no matter how extraordinary they are. Playoff games are a must, preferably in the championship round.
Second, the drama must be of the highest order, which usually involves overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds in the form of a massive comeback. High drama certainly can come in other forms, such as Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series or Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962, but those are superlative individual achievements. What most sports fans consider a great game usually involves a thrilling team comeback.
Third, a great game should have an iconic, signature play, such as Bobby Thomson’s bottom-of-the-ninth home run to beat the Dodgers and advance to the 1951 World Series, or LeBron James’s full-court rundown to block Andre Iguodala’s layup to win the 2016 NBA Finals.
Game Four had it all. The stakes were massive. A Knicks win would put them up 3-1 in the series and in the catbird seat, given that only one team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. A Spurs win would, after their Game Three win, even the series at 2-2 and return the momentum and home-court advantage to them. To be sure, it was not an elimination game for either team. But it was critically important.
The comeback was insane. The Knicks were getting demolished. The Spurs were unstoppable. They made fourteen threes in the first half, a Finals record for any half. They led 76-49 at the half, the most first-half points ever scored by a road team in a Finals game. They led by 29 at the 9:40 mark of the third quarter. During the entire 2025-26 regular season and playoffs, no team had overcome a 29-point deficit, at any point in the game. At that point, the Knicks had a 0.4% shot at winning.
And then it happened, slowly at first, with the Knicks chipping away — hitting singles, as Jalen Brunson said after the game. By 9:33 of the fourth quarter they had cut nine points off the lead— but they were still down by 20, and still had only a 0.4% chance to win. In the last thirty years of playoff basketball, teams other than the Knicks were 3-751 when down by 20 or more in the fourth quarter.
In the next nine minutes the Knicks erased all but a point off the lead. And with two seconds remaining, OG Anunoby capped it all off with the greatest single play in Knicks history. In an astonishing display of athleticism and grace under pressure, OG swooped in from beyond the three-point line, soared over two Spurs defenders, and tipped in Jalen Brunson’s missed three-pointer for the win. The degree of difficulty was off the charts.
In that moment millions of hyperventilating Knicks fans lost their minds.
The Tip, as the play will forever be known, was, in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s eloquent words, “as beautiful an encapsulation of the majesty of sports as anything you’re ever likely to see. The seemingly impossible happened.”
The Tip completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history and the second greatest comeback in NBA playoff history (after the Clippers’ 31-point third-quarter comeback in the first round of the 2019 playoffs).
So there you have it: super-high stakes, an unprecedented comeback, and the most unforgettable of game-winning plays. Can any other game match that?
I don’t think so. Let’s look at some of the usual contenders.
The 1951 Giants game ending with Bobby Thomson’s home run — “the shot heard round the world” — was perhaps the most famous baseball game ever played. But that was not a World Series game (it was a playoff game to decide the National League championship), he hit it with one out, not two, and it helped the Giants overcome a three-run ninth-inning deficit — impressive but not in the same league as surmounting a 29-point disadvantage. What’s more, it was a pop fly that traveled just 315 feet — dramatic for sure, but not comparable to the stunning magnificence of OG’s play.
Tom Brady’s Patriots overcame a second-half 28-3 deficit to win the 2017 Super Bowl: the greatest comeback ever to win the championship. But it lacked an iconic last second, score-flipping, game-winning moment.
The helmet catch — David Tyree’s unbelievable grab of Eli Manning’s desperation pass to sustain the drive that allowed the New York Giants to beat the hitherto-undefeated Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl — was amazing, but that game involved nothing like the Knicks’ comeback.
Game Six of the 1986 World Series is also a good contender, since it was an elimination game for the Mets and they came back in the bottom of the tenth with two outs, no one on base and losing 5-3. But they won that game on a wild pitch and the famous Bill Buckner error, and it’s hard to say that a game ending on miscues should be considered the greatest game ever.
Sports fans are a disputatious lot, and I’m certain good arguments can and will be put forth for other worthy contenders that I haven’t even mentioned. But right now nothing else comes to mind. So I’m just going to say it (again): the greatest game ever played in the history of American team sports took place in New York City at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of hoops, on June 10, 2026.
James Speyer lives in Sharon. He is very happy.
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Let's hear it — June 25, 2026
Millerton News
Jun 23, 2026
This Week
Summer is here, bringing long days, local events, gardens, lake time, family visits and, for some, a chance to slow down.
What are you looking forward to this summer? Is there a place you plan to visit, a restaurant you want to try, a show or concert you hope to see, a trail you want to explore or a summer tradition you never miss?
Send your responses to social@lakevillejournal.com by Monday, June 29 at 10 a.m. or comment on Facebook or Instagram.
We’ll publish a selection in next week’s paper.
Last Week’s Question
Should communities hold on to fireworks, embrace drone shows or find room for both?
“We vote drone show, but we might be a little biased.”
— Millerton’s 175th Anniversay Team
“Silent fireworks!”
— Kimberley Travis, Amenia
“I love the drones. I have pets and the noise from the fireworks scares them to where one has seizures and that’s not a pretty site to see. Also, think of the people the suffer from PTSD.”
— Jo Little, Pine Plains
“Drones also allow people to demonstrate their skills and personalize the content of the show. Less air pollution, no risk of fire or accidental injuries from fireworks. My dogs have never been comfortable with the noise of fireworks either. That’s a vote for Drones here. Happy, safe 4th everyone.”
— Trina Rosas
“There’s nothing like fireworks. Maybe Gen Z likes drones more because technology is all they’ve known.”
— Joanna Zammiello, Poughkeepsie
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