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recreation

Millerton opens bidding period for new pool at Eddie Collins park

Millerton opens bidding period for new pool at Eddie Collins park
A rendering provided by engineering firm LaBella Associates shows updated plans for the poolhouse at Eddie Collins Memorial Park.
Illustration provided

MILLERTON — Village trustees marked another milestone for a planned pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park after approving a bid solicitation.

Board members voted unanimously to send plans for the swimming pool and poolhouse out for bidders at a special meeting on Monday, April 6, following a brief report on the planned septic system from senior landscape architect Kevin Hasselwander of LaBella Associates.

Mayor Jenn Najdek explained the project will be split into four separate contracts, all going out for bids at the same time.

The resolution opened the bidding period on Tuesday, April 7, with a set deadline of May 13 at 2 p.m. Najdek said that timeline paved the way for construction to begin on Aug. 3, with a projected opening date for the pool of July 30, 2027, but cautioned that construction delays can be unpredictable.

“Weather’s a big factor in that,” Najdek said. “If we get a winter like we got last year, it may take some time.” Najdek and Hasslewander said favorable conditions through the winter season could allow builders to continue working through the colder months if foundation work can be completed in time.

Hasselwander reported Dutchess County’s Department of Health has chosen to support a proposed septic system that operates on a smaller footprint. He said the proposed septic system uses technology developed by Eljen Corporation, based in Windsor, Connecticut.

The system uses fabric mats filled with plastics to provide surfaces for bacteria to grow that treat the wastewater. Treated wastewater then flows through sand for further filtration before leaching back into the soil. The result is a smaller septic leach field that lasts longer.

“They used to not allow Eljen systems in Dutchess County,” Hasselwander said. “The footprint of the septic system is actually about three-quarters what it was before.”

Nathan Miller
recreation

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The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

The Millerton News - October 1, 2026

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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.

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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.

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community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton\u2019s Main Street in 1985.

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No matter what I’ve done, I’m trying to be useful to the communities I’m associated with.
— Dick Hermans

When Dick Hermans receives the Estabrook Community Leadership Award on Oct. 11, he will accept it for a lifetime of work that has taken many forms: bookseller, radio host, school board member, advocate for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, business owner, volunteer and, perhaps most importantly, a person who has consistently looked for ways to be useful to the communities around him.

The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News will present Hermans with the 2026 award at the annual Jubilee celebration at the Sharon Playhouse. The award honors outstanding leadership in community service and was inspired by Mary Lou and Robert Estabrook, former owners of the newspapers who believed that strengthening a community extended well beyond the work of publishing a newspaper.

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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.

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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.

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performances

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.

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