MILLERTON — After three decades of running Adopt-a-Family, which supplies holiday gifts to families in need, Stacey Moore is passing the program to the village’s North East Community Center (NECC), to be run by Family Program Director Jessica Raymond.
Adopt-a-family has become a Millterton tradition, began as so many small town organizations do: Individuals saw a problem and decided to do something about it.
When the late Marilyn Najdek, former mayor of Millerton and mother of Millerton Mayor Mayor Jenn Najdek, was director of the Astor Head Start, she saw children in need, and she and her best friend Stacy Moore expanded the Presbyterian Food Basket program to include toys and clothing at Christmas time.
The donations, most of which were new and contributed by local businesses, would be set the space up like a store, so primary caretakers could “shop” for their children’s Christmas.
The program became an annual Millerton community tradition, operating with a handful of volunteers: Moore, Vicki Moore and Deb Phillips registered families and accepted donations at Moore and More while Carol Dean, Monica Barlow and Pam Malarchuk managed the “shopping” at the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex, supplying toys, games, clothing and funds to some 250 children each year.
Of Moore, Najdek said: “She’s the Silent Santa, really, for everybody. She doesn’t like a lot of accolades and to be acknowledged for all the good things she’s done. There aren’t very many people left in this world that want to do really good things but want zero acknowledgement for it.”
Najdek recalls seeing her mother and Moore “some nights, 7 or 8 o’clock, poring over lists; on the weekend, making sure that the family that couldn’t get to shop had their bags.
“You’d get a last-minute call the day before Christmas: Somebody’s house burned down, or somebody lost their job, and they’d missed the signup. Word would spread,” and Moore would reach out to them.
“She she would have bags of clothes and toys and even food baskets. She would call me or my mother and there would be a last-minute, ‘Hey do you have a basket or can you put one together?’”
Relishing the memories, Najdek said: “To me, those are the things that feel really good. Somebody comes and they’re like, ‘Oh my God. I had no idea.’ And they want to hug you and they start crying and you start crying and everybody’s crying.”
As a realist, Najdek said: “You can’t change everything, but if you can effect change little by little... I think that’s kind of what Adopt-a-Family is for: this little kind of bright sunshine of hope that you aren’t in it alone and there are people that care. I hope that that’s still the feeling that they will try to have when the Community Center takes over.”
She concluded: “I can’t say enough about Stacey and all the good she’d been over the years. She’s helped make Millerton a better place, but she’d not want anyone to say that about her.”
Whenever Moore has spoken about the program, she acknowledges the others, including community donors and stalwarts Michele Haab, Karen McGinnness, Andrea MacArthur, Brenda Irish, Bill Anstett, Bob Jenks, Larry Eckler, Mike and Toni Reynolds, Lenny Morrison, Ed Watson, Penny Warren and Louise Meryman.
Before COVID-19 shut down the “North Pole” shopping experience in the Annex, Rob Cooper and Billy Nichols would fill a pickup truck full of balls and other athletic equipment.
Oblong Books’ Dick Hermans was similarly motivated, saying: “Stacey’s work on this is really remarkable because here is an individual person who made something happen that affected a whole lot of people, generations of people. If we all had that motivation, what a world it would be.”
Now, NECC’s Raymond will be working to fill those huge Santa boots, saying: “We are very honored to ‘adopt’ Adopt-a-Family from Stacey, to whom we have referred families over the years. And we look forward to keeping this community tradition alive.”
She is anxious to work with any in the community who wish to contribute or suggest names of children whose holidays could be brightened by a little help.
To learn more, call Raymond at 518-789-4259, ext. 105. New toys and games may be brought to NECC at 51 South Center St.
Millerton News
Legal Notice
Notice of Filing
Completed
Assessment Roll with Clerk
Notice is hereby given that the Final Assessment Roll for the Town of Pine Plains in the County of Dutchess for the year 2026 has been completed by the undersigned assessor, and a certified copy is filed in the office of the town clerk on the 1st day of July, 2026, where the same will remain open for public inspection by appointment during normal business hours.
Assessor for the Town of Pine Plains Sara Foglia
06-25-26
Legal Notice
Notice of Formation of Kaits Kleaning LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05-22-2026. Office Lo-cation: Dutchess county. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 24 Attlebury Hill Road, Standfordville NY 12581.
06-04-26
06-11-26
06-18-26
06-25-26
07-02-26
07-09-26
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
OF FINAL ASSESSMENT ROLL
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE FINAL ASSESSMENT ROLL FOR THE TOWN OF AMENIA, COUNTY OF DUTCHESS, FOR THE YEAR 2026, HAS BEEN COMPLETED BY THE UNDERSIGNED ASSESSOR, AND A CERTIFIED COPY IS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK OF AMENIA, 4988 ROUTE 22, AMENIA, NY, ON THE FIRST DAY OF JULY, 2026, WHERE THE SAME WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION. A COPY OF SUCH WILL BE AVAIL-ABLE ONLINE AT AMENIANY.GOV
DATED THIS 1ST DAY OF JULY, 2026.
DONNA DIPIPPO ASSESSOR
TOWN OF AMENIA
845-373-8118 x 104
06-18-26
06-25-26
Millerton News
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PUBLISHER'S NOTICE: Equal Housing Opportunity. All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1966 revised March 12, 1989 which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color religion, sex, handicap or familial status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All residential property advertised in the State of Connecticut General Statutes 46a-64c which prohibit the making, printing or publish-ing or causing to be made, printed or published any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or:rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status, physical or mental disability or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
2 Bedroom House. Millerton, NY. Quiet. 4 miles from town.$2500 monthly, plus utilities. 518-567-8277.
Estate Sale. Rain or Shine. July 3, 4. 9-5. 1011 Crossroads to Canaan Valley Road New Marl-borough, MA 01259.
Nathan Miller
Kanchisar Jiradhanaiphat, left, and John Schildbach hope to open Muanjai Tea on Main Street in Millerton by late July.
MILLERTON — Owners of a Thai tea shop planned for Main Street expect to get started with interior renovations this week after receiving approval for septic system plans from health officials.
John Schildbach, who plans to open Muanjai Tea at 28 Main St. in July, said on Monday, June 22, that the shop is awaiting one final approval from the Dutchess County Board of Health on the interior space itself and expects to begin installing counters and seating immediately after.
Discussions with the Board of Health over septic capacity caused earlier delays. Schildbach originally planned to have seating for 20 people inside the shop, but health officials required him to scale back that plan. The shop’s septic system was approved with the condition that only 14 seats be installed inside the shop.
He said the build out will likely take at least three weeks longer, meaning the storefront is not expected to open prior to Millerton’s 175 celebration running from July 11 to July 19. But Schildbach is planning to operate a pop-up tent offering a limited variety of tea drinks during the celebration.
Schildbach also plans to distribute 25% discount coupons to shoppers that stop by the pop-up. Customers can then use those coupons once the shop opens to get a discount at the shop once it opens later in July.
“It’s a little bit of a discount for people who want to try us out,” Schildbach said.
Schildbach announced plans to open the tea shop with his wife, Kanchisar Jiradhanaiphat, in late April. The shop will occupy the storefront formerly occupied by Candy-Os on Main Street.
“This isn’t going to be a bubble tea shop,” Schildbach said in April, describing a menu that seeks to bring authentic Thai tea culture to Millerton.
Highlights will include nom yen — a pink milk tea made with sweetened condensed milk and flavored syrup — as well as coffee cham yen, a blend of coffee and tea. The menu will also feature Thai tea ice cream floats, lattes and matcha drinks.
But the pair don’t want to limit the menu to just desserts and sweets. Schildbach said they are aiming for a sophisticated — yet affordable — menu that offers an authentic, approachable take on Thai tea shops.
That desire for authenticity will be built into the space itself, Schildbach said. Plans for the tea shop include adding a wall to create a service window typical of Bangkok tea shops, accented with tile and wood details.
The goal is to fit in with Millerton’s current lineup of Main Street businesses, while providing a unique experience for locals and visitors alike.
“It’s going to be like you’re in a tea shop in Thailand,” Schildbach said.
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Joe Brennan
Phil Carroll stands near a pile of cut firewood he prepared for sale across New York. The Amenia native has been cutting trees and splitting wood for fireplaces for decades.
AMENIA — It’s been said that wood, as it burns, tells its history.
Phil Carroll has split and sold countless cords of dry highly flammable firewood over the decades and has narrated a lot of the history of his hometown, Amenia.
Carroll’s story begins more than 80 years ago on the banks of what was once Lake Amenia. Right before Carroll was born in 1942, his brother drowned at that swimming spot at the end of Lake Amenia Road, where the dam used to be. Phil’s mother was furious years later when she caught Phil skating across the frozen lake one winter day.
“She already lost one son to that lake,” Carroll said.
But they didn’t move out of their neighborhood to escape bad memories. Even after the dam broke, draining the lake into swamps nearby and forever changing Amenia’s landscape, his family bought and traded the land, moved houses, improved them, stayed close and planted huge gardens, plowed them over and made their own little community of wood cutters. Everything today is impeccably cared for.
The wood cutting machines are clean but clearly well used. It is a place of steady purposeful work.
Before making his career as a firewood supplier, Carroll worked as a tractor-trailer driver cross country but didn’t like it.
“You can’t sleep in a truck and own a house,” Carroll said. “Anybody who does that I think is crazy. You’re paying for the house and you’re out there.”
Then he got the idea of selling bundles of wood he sourced from his own property and nearby forests. His family thought he was crazy. Nobody around here would pay for kiln-dried firewood so Phil started hauling four-foot lengths of wood south to Fishkill, Clark, and Wilkins, New York, eventually leading to connections to New York City.
He had cleared trees right across the lake, where developer John Lango carved out those homes on Broadway. It was a swamp then, part of the lake. Then he worked to clear the forests behind his house — by the Squabble Hole, where the old ore mine flooded and made a perfect swimming hole. Phil couldn’t swim much, but the town boys dove off a rope halfway up Squabble Mountain.
He focused on distributing his wood Manhattan’s East Side first because storefront owners would pay and he could double park his truck at less risk of $600 tickets. In 1988, walking block to block, store to store, the small bodega owners saved him, and supermarket chain D’Agostinos took half a truckload but couldn’t put a real wood pile in the basement or else risk burning down the borough.
“I used to buy 80 to 90 thousand dollars of wood a year, just for New York,” Carroll said. “I’ve cut that down to 35 thousand now.”
While visiting New York all those decades ago, Carroll fostered an appreciation for dancing at Korean nightclubs. A full day’s worth of driving and delivering firewood would end with a high-energy fete dancing until the clubs closed at 3 a.m. Then Carroll would drive home.
Over the years, Carroll has recruited most of his family to join in on the business, including his son, Phil Carroll Jr.
Phil Jr. turned to the forest at 5 years old to work with his father. His job was marking logs with a 19 inch stick his father gave him, that had been measured and carved out for him as a template. Phil gave Phil Jr. a small hatchet, and not a Davy Crockett rubber blade, a real sharp edge and he marked off each section with a chopped notch as his father came behind him and tore through the felled tree with his chainsaw.
The assembly line begins at the simple splitter. It’s been sitting out in the split log walls around the driveway. These mostly go to the campgrounds like Copake. The air-dried local pieces take a year to cure and do not burn as good as his top-of-the-line stuff. J and J Lumber in Dover Plains bakes 19-inch lengths of various hardwood for a day and a half until its water content is bone dry.
These he splits over and over again so most of the bundle’s individual pieces are small and light enough to be picked up by anyone. The other pieces are even smaller, making for ready kindling although the whole pile will erupt in perfect flame, dry as tumbleweed.
Just look at the design of his signature product: the firewood bundle. It’s got his name on top, easy to read, so the buyer knows he’s getting the real deal from the master. The clear plastic is shrink wrapped so you can see that the wood and bark is clean and dry and free of bugs.
Phil, who still works selling firewood, takes pride in his product, he’s been known to throw a bundle across the workshop, “Who the hell made that!”
And Phil’s tireless, always figuring. As he looks out over his backyard, he’s still thinking ahead. “Next year I’m going to get a guy I know to blow up that other side of the hill,” Carroll said dryly. “I’d have twice as much flat land up here.”
Graham Corrigan
PINE PLAINS — Voters approved a school district budget on Tuesday, June 16, that cut three staff positions to save nearly $300,000 in expenses.
After the initial budget failed in May, Pine Plains Central School District administrators cut expenses to bring the tax levy within the state’s tax cap. Since the revised spending plan complied with the cap, it required only a simple majority for approval.
The second budget passed easily on June 16. The final vote count was 643 votes in favor, and 288 against.
The new budget is $290,569 less than the first budget. The reduction primarily came from eliminating three staff positions — a head bus driver, typist and nurse.
The budget’s passage now means the district will avoid much deeper cuts than what would have been required had it been voted down a second time. The mandatory contingency budget, which would have gone into effect, would have resulted in $945,789 in additional reductions and a freezing of capital projects.
The district has now moved forward with capital plans with the new budget in place. It has announced plans to replace the floor tiles at Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center and is continuing repair work on the roof at Stissing Mountain Jr/Sr High School.
The high school’s tennis courts and track will also be resurfaced this summer. Work is expected to begin in late June, and will last until Sept. 1. During this time, Seymour Smith and the affected athletic fields will be closed.
Graham Corrigan
MILLBROOK — The town of Washington is rolling out its summer programming this month, and there’s something on offer for everyone.
The town’s major attraction, the park and pool located at 3774 Route 44, will be open daily starting on June 27, when the pool opens from 12 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Attendees can access basketball, pickleball, shuffleboard, and volleyball courts, as well as baseball and soccer fields, fishing access, and picnic areas. There are also pavilions available to rent for gatherings of up to 75 people.
Poolside concerts return this year as well. Music from Long Steel Rail, Big Ang, and Johnny Walkers will soundtrack the pool parties on Sunday afternoon throughout the summer.
There’s one major change to the summer offerings: the summer camp program, a popular option for kids and working parents alike, has been extended to include an all-day option. Previous camp sessions were limited to three hours a day — now, camp hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with early drop-off and late pick-up available as well. Campers can participate in group activities like swimming, athletics, and arts & crafts.
The first of three two-week camp sessions starts on June 29. Registration is open until June 22, or when full capacity is reached.
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