By KAITLIN LYLE
Part II
HARLEM VALLEY — Last week The Millerton News reviewed the top stories of the first half of 2020, a year with challenges including a global health pandemic and a collapsing economy. In this week’s edition, the year in review will take a brief look the headlines between July and August.
July
As New York State and Dutchess County to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, summertime activities in the Harlem Valley continued — including summer camp, summer school, fundraisers and other area celebrations — altered to fit the new normal (or canceled) or a virtual platform.
Responding to the urgent call for police reform, local police agencies — including those in Millerton, Pine Plains and Millbrook — began to review their policing strategies, policies and procedures to develop plans to address community needs, promote community engagement and address “any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color,” as mandated by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order. The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police also re-examined procedures through this and other months.
The town of North East created a Zoning Review Committee (ZRC) and appointed the nine-member board.
While the Stissing Mountain Class of 2020 celebrated its graduation at a ceremony held on Sunday, July 12, New York State Senator Sue Serino (R-41) officially announced her breast cancer diagnosis to the public in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining routine health screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, July 29, the town of Pine Plains officially closed on the sale of a property at 12 North Main St., bringing it a step closer to plans to revitalize its main hamlet area.
Having served the village of Millbrook since the start of 2017, Mayor Rodney Brown submitted his letter of resignation on Friday, July 31. Brown announced his intent on June 9; he gave no reason for his decision to leave office just months before his term was scheduled to end. Village Trustee Mike Herzog served as interim mayor until year’s end and was just re-elected to serve as village trustee again in 2021.
August
With the start of a new school year, Harlem Valley school districts began submitting their individual re-entry plans to the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) between the end of July and the start of August. The Webutuck, Pine Plains and Millbrook school boards held multiple virtual meetings to discuss the logistics and complications that could potentially arise once students and staff returned to campus.
New York residents Creek Iversen, Ben Schwartz, Monica Hunken and George Elliot each received one year probation on Monday, Aug. 3, for climbing the smokestack to protest the Cricket Valley Energy Center power plant in Dover on Nov. 16, 2019.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost power in the wake of Tropical Storm Isiais on Tuesday, Aug. 4, throughout the Tri-state region, with fallen trees and wires.
On Tuesday, Aug. 11, Pine Plains voters cast their ballots in a special election to authorize the Pine Plains Fire Company to issue $275,000 in bonds to finance the purchase of a new 2021 Class A pumper to replace an old firetruck. Out of 77 votes cast, 68 voted in favor of the purchase; nine votes were against the buy.
Though Election Day was still months away, Gov. Cuomo signed a new law into effect on Thursday, Aug. 20, to make absentee ballots permissible in the 2020 election.
In Millbrook, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies received support in the amount of $11 million through its Campaign for Cary for a renovation project, with the hopes of raising the remaining $2 million.
After more than 20 years of planning and saving, the Amenia Free Library held a ground-breaking ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 29, to celebrate its long-awaited expansion, with an opening date for the new addition scheduled for Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
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Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Starting in 2015, the building was disassembled and moved — piece-by-piece — thanks to the efforts of a local organization called the Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse and a Millerton resident that has dedicated much of his life to the community and preserving local landmarks.
That man is Ralph Fedele, a revered figure in the community both for his efforts to restore, maintain and educate people about the former schoolhouse and for more than a decade serving on the North East Town Board.
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats – volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official – yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students – Mary (Mechare) Leitch – who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, left, and Mary Leitch, who was the last living Irondale Schoolhouse student until her death in 2025.Provided
Leitch died on Dec. 24, 2025, at the age of 103.
Leitch was born in Millerton in 1922 and grew up on Winchell Mountain in the hamlet of Irondale. Her early schooling was at Irondale’s 1858 one-room schoolhouse until it closed in 1930. She was proud of having been the last person to attend the school. From the third grade onward, she attended school in the Millerton school district.
“If you sit still, you will rust,” was a favorite Leitch saying, perhaps inspired by the Irondale district and the area’s iron industry.
Leitch delighted in the outdoors and in the company of animals and people, caring for many dogs—especially Jack Russells—and cherishing the horses that were part of her long, vibrant life. An avid sportswoman, she enjoyed deer hunting and fishing, keeping her licenses current right up until her passing. She was a longtime member of both the Jack Russell Club of America and the Dutchess County Professional Horsemen’s Association.
In 1958, she married William “Billy” Leitch of Millbrook, a professional horseman, sharing a love of the sporting life and enjoying active membership in the Millbrook Hunt Club. Billy pre-deceased her in 2015.
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