MILLERTON — The village business community mourned the loss of a favorite shopkeeper when Barbara Walker, owner of the former long-time vintage store B.W. Eagle Eye, passed away on Saturday, April 11, from the coronavirus. She was 83 years old.
Regardless of how they met her or the extent of their acquaintance, many will remember Walker from her legendary sense of style, her lively sense of humor and the friendships she formed with shoppers and residents. Spanning 26 years, her store stood as one of the village’s oldest operating businesses. It was a place for Walker to channel her passion for the fashion industry and her retail experience into a successful Main Street business. Beyond the rows of fashion and home accessories, new and vintage clothing, antique jewelry and other treasures, customers could always count on finding Walker behind the counter with a welcoming smile and a discerning eye for selecting the perfect item.
Though Walker closed her shop’s doors for good back in December of 2017, her presence lingered in the minds of her fellow merchants, many of whom had the privilege of calling her a friend.
“She was a stylish character who was a Millerton icon,” said Kent Hunter, co-owner of Hunter Bee antiques in Millerton. “She had such a great history — she had great stories of fashion and the New York design industry.”
Having known Walker for almost a decade, Hunter said, “I will say we will always miss Barbara’s hourly visits to the shop. She would just pop in three or four times a day, and we always had fun seeing her. We’ve missed her, of course, for several years, but now there’s a big legend that’s gone.”
Combing through her memories of Walker, Jan Gilmor, co-owner of the now-closed Gilmor Glass Works at the corner of Main Street and Route 22, said she and Walker hit it off from the moment Walker stopped into her store to introduce herself. Calling Walker one of her close friends, Gilmor recounted how her late friend always dressed fashionably regardless of her surroundings and how she could always see the humor in others as well as in herself. Since she was always the first to know what was going on in the local region, Gilmor said she used to joke that Walker was “the town crier.
“She was a force of nature and she had a very, very powerful personality,” Gilmor said. “There were times when we disagreed and she wasn’t afraid of making her displeasure known, but in the end, she was always very supportive and very kind. We always patched it up.”
As a testament of the sincerity of their friendship, Gilmor shared the memory of Walker’s weekly visits when Gilmor was hospitalized for Guillain-Barré syndrome.
“She almost never missed a week,” Gilmor said, “and if she couldn’t come, we’d always talk on the phone. I can’t say enough for how supportive she was.”
Though the beloved former merchant has now passed away due to a health crisis that has all but brought the world to its knees, it’s clear memories of the fashionable Barbara Walker, with her trademark bob hairstyle and her dazzling smile, will remain in the hearts of Millertonites for many years to come.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.
AMENIA — After gathering comments from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, as it considers adding alternate members to those boards, the Town Board discussed possible changes to local laws governing those boards at its meeting on Friday, Oct. 3. The meeting date, usually on a Thursday, had been changed to accommodate a holiday.
In recent weeks Town Board attorney Ian Lindars has been compiling comments from the affected boards along with comments from the Town Board. The new laws may bring the appointment of two alternate members to each board. Alternate members are likely to be required to attend all meetings and be prepared to be seated if needed and be familiar with the applications being discussed. They would also need to take training required of all board members.
Lindars will prepare a draft of the new local laws to be reviewed by the Town Board and the affected boards.
As the Town Board begins work on the town’s annual budget negotiation process and anticipating an increase in some budget lines to accommodate major projects, the board unanimously approved three resolutions. The first will override the tax levy limit imposed on municipalities by the state of New York, a limit generally tied to the rate of inflation.
A public hearing on the proposal to override the levy limit was set for Thursday, November 6, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.
