PLEASANT VALLEY — There have been many protests and marches lately, some local, some far away — all in the name of social justice. The local protests have been mostly peaceful mirroring the kind of behavior expected in small towns and villages in the Hudson Valley. But on Saturday, July 18, in the neighboring town of Pleasant Valley, that was no longer true. The peaceful rally planned for that day, for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, met with counter protesters and it turned ugly fast.
BLM organizers Royal Parker, Kevin Halcott and Lauren Sky, along with a number of others, many from the town of Washington and village of Millbrook, announced their plans to march on July 2. Immediately afterward, they said, they began to get death threats. The protesters said they spoke with the Pleasant Valley town supervisor, and that the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office assured them they would be protected. So plans were made to carry on the event.
Shortly after, the Dutchess County Conservative Party of New York announced a counterprotest, but Parker said he felt safe because of his commitment to keeping things peaceful, and because the group had been promised protection. There were even snacks, water, T-shirts and a peace-keeping group wearing yellow vests; several speakers were slated to address the group, among them Millbrook mayoral candidate Kay Vanderlyn, Genesis Ramos and others. Also at the rally was Debbie Wright, the chairman of the Millbrook Democratic Committee.
The crowd was about 400 strong, with Blue Lives Matter protesters on one side and Black Lives Matter protesters on the other. Some supported the police, some held President Trump signs and both sides had American flags on display.
Upon arrival, Parker’s group gathered at Cady Recreation Park and prepared to march the planned parade route along Route 44; the counter group gathered on both sides of the road and behind the BLM group. It reportedly started to crowd the BLM protesters in, marching toward them. Those attending the rally described it as frightening. There were signs, flags, spitting, yelling and name calling — including the “N-word,” according to Parker.
At one point, a grown man was recorded hitting a 12 year old child, knocking her to the ground, and a scuffle with the girl’s mother occurred. Another woman, Margerite Pastor, intervened, and was hit in the face while her attacker reportedly laughed. When she tried to enlist help from officials, she said she was told she’d have to report it later.
Several of those in the BLM group have protested recently in Millbrook. The Millbrook protests were peaceful, and demonstrators were praised for their good behavior by Millbrook Police Officer Jared Witt at this month’s Village Board meeting.
Tia Scott, a 17 year old who is biracial, spoke at length about the terror she felt at Saturday’s rally. A resident of Pawling, she said it was deeply troubling.
“It was really rough. We were attacked, there was yelling, spitting, we were told to go home, and called the ‘N-word,’ coward and filth,” she said. “I’ll never forget the look of hatred that was in their eyes.”
Parker said he and the yellow-vested peace-keepers begged BLM supporters not to engage the counter-protesters, but it was hard not to. He said they knocked banners out of people’s hands, were verbally abusive and that the BLM protesters were not protected by sheriff’s deputies.
NORTH EAST — Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County will conduct a presentation on Thursday, May 9 on buying a three-bedroom affordable home to be built in the Town of North East.
The presentation will be held at the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex at 5:30 p.m.
Any first-time home buyer interested should attend the information session.
The application for this pilot program home-buying opportunity must be made between May 1 and June 10.Minimum household income for the pilot program is $55,000 while maximum income is determined by family size.
Applications are available at the North East Town Hall.Habitat for Humanity describes itself as a nonprofit with global reach, working across the United States and in approximately 70 countries.
‘Migration Collage' by ransome
If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.
Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.
‘Square Quilting painting' by ransomeAlexander Wilburn
Map fragments of North Carolina feature heavily in a large collection of eight-by-eight collage and acrylic paintings, sold individually but together mounted on Geary’s wall resembling the stitched patterns on quilts, like the quilts by the late Black American artist Arlonzia Pettway. Along with artists like Annie Mae Young and Mary Lee Bendolph, Pettway was a renowned artist associated with the quilts of Gee’s Bend, generations of women in the town of Gee’s Bend, Alabama who preserved African American culture in beautiful and vibrant textile art with bold combinations of stripes, textures and colors. The influence is also wonderfully clear in ransome large-scale collages and acrylic paintings like “Square Quilt painting” on display at Geary. It’s a powerful symbol of Gee’s Bend’s legacy continuing on, even under a new artistic medium.
In the smaller works, called “Migration Collages,” painted portraits are combined with pieces of floral and pastel paper, evocative of the tradition of “Sunday Best” splendor worn in Black churches in the South. “The women elders at my Baptist church often greeted each other that way on Sunday mornings when one hat was more elaborate, colorful, or wider brimmed than another,” New York Times veteran Lena Williams wrote in her 1996 essay, “In Defense of the Church Hat.” “It was traditional to put on one’s newest finery for church, and in many historically black churches, the wearing of fancy hats by women carried both spiritual and cultural significance.”
“The Bitter and the Sweet” is on view at Geary through Sunday, June 2.
Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. Tom Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.
The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.
The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.
Tom Stefanopoulos, the second generation helping to guide the Stefanopoulos family’s recreational complex, brings a deep understanding of hospitality and business sense in support of the multi-faceted enterprise, begun in the 1970s, that is now a mainstay of the town of Amenia, located on a corner in the heart of the commercial district. He paused for an interview on Friday, April 26.
Two luxury camping trailers, each with an attached wooden deck and fire pit, make up Hotel Caravana, and each offers a different fun vibe, Stefanopoulos explained. The larger of the two, offers a California lifestyle, retro to 1967, although its modern where it should be. It can sleep four.
The smaller Caravana sleeps two and offers a lifestyle of the future dating to about 2041. It’s a brand-new Airstream, Stefanopoulos noted. It also has an attached deck with firepit.
“We get a lot of New York City people,” Stefanopoulos said when asked what sorts of people are apt to be attracted to Hotel Caravana. “They want to experience the upstate life,” he added. The idea of sitting out on the deck while watching an actual drive-in movie appeals to them, as does room service offered by the restaurant.
The lobster rolls prepared by the Snack Shack, are served on brioche hot dog rolls, either Maine-style or Connecticut-style, and the lobster can be topped with caviar. Four Brothers version is praised by customers for the generous portion of lobster in each, and the price is competitive.
Caravana guests may book for a single night, or maybe two, or even longer, taking advantage of the bicycles to pedal along the nearby rail trail, a local amenity, Stefanopoulos noted.
“We make our guests feel like movie stars,” Stefanopoulos said of the hospitality. And, if they like miniature golf, it is just a few steps away from their Caravana deck.
Asked how and why the Caravana idea began, Stefanopoulos recalled that as the drive-in theater grew in popularity, people were traveling from greater distances away. The last film of the night might start at midnight, he said, so the idea grew that Four Brothers might be able to offer an accommodation to stay the night.
In addition to Caravana, Four Brothers offers an alternative of two or three tent camping sites.
Future plans may include a third Caravana, Stefanopoulos said. Also, there is a giant mastodon skeleton, presently in storage, that should be on display, he said.
“It’s pretty big,” Stefanopoulos added.
The playground might be enlarged in the coming seasons, and perhaps an old-fashioned arcade added for retro amusement.
The community that surrounds Four Brothers remains important to the Stefanopoulos family as they offer substantial summer employment opportunity. Stefanopoulos said that a goal is to contract locally for business needs, such as musical entertainment and advertising. The drive-in also schedules occasion fundraisers to benefit local organizations, including the Amenia Fire Company and area schools.
