MILLERTON — Keeping in synch with the ghoulish thrills and chills that just seem to go along with the end-of-the-month Halloween theme, the Friends of Spencer’s Corners Burying Grounds (FOSCBG) group was thrilled to death to announce that on Oct. 1 “we were officially registered as a not-for-profit corporation 501(C)3,” according to group president, Claire Goodman.
What that means exactly is the FRIENDS of the lovely, nearly 320-year-old, roughly 2-acre cemetery that’s identifiable by a low-stone wall off of Merwin Road in the town of North East will be able “to engage in charitable activities that qualify it for exemption from taxation,” according to paperwork Goodman provided explaining the status from New York State. She further explained that FOSCBG “is made up of individuals from the local community interested in the preservation and conservation of the historic” burying grounds.
In addition to Goodman, fellow history buff volunteers on the FRIENDS group include Vice-President Ralph Fedele (a North East Town Board member who also brought the 1858 one-room Irondale Schoolhouse to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail head on Main Street in Millerton); Jim Campbell; Peter Buchholz; Alice Quin and Millerton Village Trustee Laurie Kerr. Chris Baetz, Carol Sadlon, Cathy Fenn, John Hicks, David Shapiro and Lyman Terni serve in an advisory capacity.
The group has been brainstorming for the past year on how to best preserve and restore the site — and fundraise. It took nearly $1,500 just to raise the money to file for the FRIENDS 501(C)3 status, said Fedele. Next, the FRIENDS will have to fundraise for real, to collect funds to hire professionals to clean the roughly 500 people who are buried at the historic cemetery.
“The work won’t begin until springtime, because it all takes so much time — it’s amazing we can get anything done at all,” said Fedele. “It’s just to respect the history of this area. There are a lot of veterans buried there. One of the things we need to do is credit the American Legion, who has volunteered over the years to come and put flowers and remembrances on the veterans who have passed away who are buried there.”
Like Post 178, others in the community have made it a point to visit Spencer’s Corners throughout the years and visit the many gravestones to honor those who have passed before them.
“The first monuments go back to the 1700s,” said Fedele. “It’s one of the oldest burying grounds around here.”
In fact, the first tombstone at Spencer’s Corners is marked with the date of 1701.
“I’m very interested in old cemeteries; the thing really is to restore it, and we need to raise funds to do that,” said Goodman. “We are working, and did have a meeting, with somebody, and sent details, to see the problems. Some of the stones have just heaved up, they’re so old some of them. The upright stones sort of heaved up because of weather and age… also some of them may have been vandalized over the years.
“You can read some of them, some of the inscriptions become clear, I think, when you do some restoration,” she added, “but you don’t want to do so much because you don’t want it to look too new because a patina, a grunge on the stones, adds to the aesthetic.”
Goodman did say the FRIENDS wants to make sure the stones are all put upright and properly placed in the burying grounds.
“The process of restoration is going to take years,” said Fedele. “That word is very important. Process. It’s not going to happen overnight. Just the way the Irondale Schoolhouse project was a process that took eight years to complete.”
In addition to the physical restoration, Goodman said there’s the “educational and historic reasons, really, to promote research, although it’s very difficult to find any information. I do have some material lists. In the library there was a listing of names from about the early 1800s.”
In her research, Goodman said “one thing that caught my attention,” which she said Fedele saw “when he was poking around,” were six little gravestone markers in a row. Most likely, they were all from the same family. The two local history buffs believe they were likely victims of the Spanish flu, as the dates of their deaths were all 1918, which was the time of that era’s pandemic, mirroring “the pandemic we’re experiencing now,” Goodman said.
“One of the things I would like to do is find that row of monuments and show how that entire family had been destroyed in less than a year, maybe in a few months: father, mother, children,” said Fedele. “I do remember it was in a row. We’ll look for that row in the spring.”
“It’s to stake a claim for our community as best as we can,” added Goodman about the project, adding Spencer’s Corners Burying Grounds is “a lovely place to visit and a lovely place for a walk.”
In 1987 the burial site was decommissioned and ceded to the town of North East, which mows the property to this day.
Fedele said the centuries-old cemetery “tells something about the early development of the area. Right now, with the town changing so rapidly, it tells the characters of the town are changing. We want to preserve the history of the area, this is a way of doing that.”
Both Fedele and Goodman said doing so will take a long while and lots of money, which is why they’re working to build community awareness now.
The FOSCBG is looking at the restoration of the 300-plus-year-old burying grounds as a long-term project they are hoping residents of both the town and village will get behind.
More can be learned about the cemetery from the North East Historical Society, as well as from the FOSCBG, which is in the process of creating a website.
Until the FRIENDS receives an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, donations to FOSCBG should be sent to the North East Historical Society at North East Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 727, Millerton, NY 12546; checks should be marked with “Spencer’s Corners Burying Grounds Project” in the memo line.
In the original text the date was erroneously written as 1819 rather than 1918. We regret the error.
The Great Room at Norfolk Library filled to capacity for the Haystack Festival.
Just after noon on Sunday, Oct. 6, attendees of Norfolk Foundation’s Haystack Festival spilled out of the red Shingle Style Norfolk Library into brilliant October sunshine, emerging from the final book talk of the weekend (excepting an event for young readers later in the day). The talk, which was a conversation between horse experts journalist Sarah Maslin Nir and author David Chaffetz, was rife with equine puns and startling facts. The tongue-in-cheek use of the word “cavalier” brought laughs from the engaged audience, while Nir disclosed that horses eat for a full 16 hours a day.
The talk brought levity and humor to the festival’s conclusion, while also diving into the serious history of the relationship between society and horses. Chaffetz explained horses were fundamental in the formation of large empires: “We don’t see empires until horses became fundamental to the political state.” Nir elaborated that the “wild” horses in North America are not native, but feral horses descended from animals brought by Spanish imperialists. “No tea grows in England,” she explained, “it is the result of empire – and so are horses.”
Other talks included a conversation about the history of ballet between writers and dance critics Marina Harss and Mindy Aloff, a discussion between bestselling authors Michael Korda and Simon Winchester on wisdom and memory, and a heady chat about the intersection between academic ideas and the public sphere between public academics William Egginton and Samuel Moyn.
Festival Director Michael Selleck said that while he doesn’t curate for theme when selecting the speakers, a certain atmosphere tends to manifest. While last year the tone skewed political, he said, “this year things were more philosophical.”
Exemplifying the philosophical streak in the festival was a conversation between naturalist and writer Noah Charney and Great Mountain Forest executive director Mike Zarfos. Charney advocated for a philosophy of nature that “shouldn’t take species as good or bad.” He encouraged the audience to get out into their own yards and “learn the plants and critters” while remaining open to imaginative and novel understandings of ecology. He urged the crowd to follow a naturalist principle of “being out there, getting muddy and wet, and eating plants.”
Selleck was very pleased with the turnout this year, with few seats left empty and an audience that he said was “very engaged”. And why throw a festival like this one in Norfolk? “Norfolk is a cultural center,” he said, and he wants to “bring a literary element back to the cultural heart of Norfolk.”
Brooklyn and New York based writer Gillian Bagley gave the Brendan Gill Lecture on Friday night. The lecture is an annual talk given in memorial of Brendan Gill, a celebrated New Yorker writer who lived in Bronxville, N.Y. and Norfolk.
Appropriately, it was a family affair. Bagley is Gill’s granddaughter, and she was introduced by her cousin Anne Gill, another granddaughter of the writer. As she took the podium, Bagley fondly recalled spending summers with her grandfather in Norfork as a child – during one such stay, the two co-authored a book called “The Monster of Haystack Mountain.”
Beyond recalling memories, Bagley also presented and read from her new novel Negative Space, and reflected on how Gill influenced her own writing. She read a passage in which Gill said he sought to instill within his paragraphs “a weight and a shape no greater than a cloud of blue butterflies.” She said she strives to imbue her own fiction with this sense of “precise contours and the weight of something real,” informing her practice of “constant whittling” that defines the pared-down style of her prose.
This writing process doesn’t produce long novels, and she offered several jokes about her predilection for brevity that drew hearty laughter from the crowd. Several readers had told her they had finished the book in one sitting, she said, adding that, “I suspect it wasn’t that they couldn’t put it down, but that they didn’t have to.”
"The Red Sand Project" is intended to draw attention to often overlooked domestic violence issues in the Northwest Corner.
To mark the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Project SAGE held its annual community vigil on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Community Field in Lakeville. Project SAGE is a community-focused organization dedicated to supporting, advocating, guiding and educating victims of relationship violence through a range of services and outreach programs.
A large group of people gathered quietly in the center of the field where they were handed packets of red sand. Red Sand Project, created by artist and activist Molly Gochman, is a participatory artwork that uses sidewalk interventions and earthwork installations to encourage people to reflect, connect, and take action against the vulnerabilities that contribute to human trafficking, modern slavery, and exploitation.
“We pour sand into sidewalk cracks to draw attention to issues we often overlook, like intimate partner violence, exploitation, and sexual assault in our own communities,” explained Kristen Pratt, operations manager at the Red Sand Project. “So, as you’re pouring the sand into the cracks, think about what vulnerabilities might be present all around you in your own community. How can we open our eyes and deepen our awareness a bit more? How can we remember the ones we are honoring tonight as we go forward?” Pratt instructed.
After filling the sidewalk cracks around the park with sand, the group reconvened to hear opening remarks from Project SAGE’s executive director, Kristen van Ginhoven. “Thank you for taking time out of your day to join us in honoring those who lost their lives to domestic violence in Connecticut in 2023,” said van Ginhoven. She went on to explain that Project SAGE is part of a larger coalition of eighteen sister agencies across Connecticut (known as Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence or CCADV) all of whom are dedicated to creating social change and ending interpersonal relationship violence for all.
Virginia Gold, Project SAGE’s director of client services also spoke. “We are gathered tonight to remember 26 lives that ended this year in Connecticut. Each individual was the victim of someone who decided to use the power of brute force to silence their voice forever,” said Gold. She went on to offer a hopeful reflection of resilience.
The group then lit battery operated candles and walked along Main Street, “as a visible, collective symbol,” said Gold. “The lights we carry honor both the lives that have been lost as well as all of us who still work and hope for change,” she added. Slowly and contemplatively, the group processed to Project SAGE’s office on Porter Street where a poem was shared in English and Spanish before the names of the 26 victims of Domestic Violence were read aloud. After each name was read aloud, names of victims aged 2 to 83, the group was instructed to respond in unison: “We remember their name.”
The list of names was followed by a moment of silence after which, Pastor John Nelson, who serves on the Board of Directors of Project SAGE, offered closing remarks. “In the silence we hold, we remember the pain and loss. We remember those who have borne the injury of violence in their bodies and in their spirits. But we remember also our commitment that no one will be left alone. We remember our determination to demand an end to violence. We remember our resolve that violence will not define us.” Inviting the group gathered to stay for refreshments and reflections, Pastor Nelson offered, “We can move forward from silence to community, to the resolute practice of compassion, even to the celebration that we will share, so that tomorrow we may return invigorated to continue the good struggle for justice, for healing, and for hope.”
Pottery of all sorts will be on display at the Clay Way Tour, featuring 26 area artists.
Now in its 8th year, The Clay Way Studio Tour is an annually held event featuring some of Connecticut’s best potters. Twenty six artists will show their work among nine studios.
The Tour takes place in Litchfield County Connecticut and Wingdale, New York Oct.19 and 20 from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Potter and organizer Jane Herald explained the origin of the tour.
“Clay Way was the brainchild of a potter named Linda Boston, who started it with Alison Palmer about eight years ago. Originally, they aimed to gather a following for potters in the Woodbury area. For some reason it didn’t take off there, but the response was enthusiastic in the Northwest Corner. So here we are,” Herald said.
The tour is free and a great way to enjoy a weekend in beautiful Litchfield and Dutchess Counties during peak fall foliage season. The tour will take place rain or shine.
“Clay Way is a cooperative effort by the nine host potters and their guests. Ann Heywood and Jane Herold have been chairing it the last few years. By inviting guests to show with us we are able to offer a wide range of pottery in a fairly concentrated area. Quite a few regular attendees make a weekend of it, and go to all nine studios,” Herald explained.
Regarding the abundance of potters in the area, Herald said,
“Rural areas have always attracted potters, in part because they are able to afford properties that can be adapted to workshops and studios. A number of the potters on the Clay Way Tour fire wood kilns, which requires a team effort, which has probably contributed to the growth of a pottery culture here. Some of us use locally found materials including kaolin and limestone. And there’s a pottery supply shop right in Sheffield, Massachusetts.”
As to the role Clay Way Tour plays in promoting clay arts and the regional arts community in general, Herald said,
“A number of our exhibitors teach classes in the area, or host workshops, in addition to wood firing. There is a huge interest in learning to throw. I get asked about classes at least once a week at my showroom in Cornwall. I’m very happy that 5 Points Arts Center (an arts space in Torrington) now has a well equipped pottery studio where I can send people. Drew Montgomery teaches classes at his studio in Wingdale. Alison Palmer hosts about 12 workshops a year at her studio in Kent, bringing people from all over to teach and participate. The benefit to the communities extends to local inns and restaurants as well. The northwest corner is beginning to be known as a welcoming place for potters. We hope this can extend to other craft-based businesses as well.”
As a potter herself, Herold makes pots that are “useful” including dishes.
“But holding food is not what makes them useful. The most important task of a useful pot is to generate caring. Most of modern life does not generate this emotion. Things many of us think of as useful or even essential – cell phones, automobiles, computers, fast food, microwaves – don’t generate real caring at all. We could live very well without many of these things. But we can’t live good lives at all if we are callous and uncaring. Being indifferent, unconscious, unawake is not something that you can turn on and off at will. We must either find ways of living that encourage awareness or face a loss of sensibility that is likely to seep into all areas of our lives.”
The Clay Way Studio Tour is free and takes place rain or shine, much of it outdoors if the weather cooperates. For more information including examples of each artist’s work and a printable map, go to: www.ClayWay.net
