MILLERTON — Paying tribute to a family that’s had a lasting impression on the village during the past century, the North East Historical Society partnered with several local entities to arrange an exhibition of the Terni family’s legacy at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
“It’s an interesting story on many levels,” said North East Historical Society President Ed Downey in regard to the Terni history. “First of all, it’s unusual to have a family in the same business throughout three generations in the community. It’s a story of immigrants who came here — first lived in other parts of New York south of us — but came to this community in 1919 and created a business, and the business itself is unique and this has survived through three generations.”
Downey touched on how each member of the Terni clan, in their own way, made important contributions to the community.
Bringing this exhibition to life, Downey said, was a partnership among several different entities, including the NorthEast-Millerton Library whom Downey said was gracious enough to offer space for the exhibit.
“It couldn’t happen to a nicer family,” said Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson. “I’ve known Ellen [Terni] fairly well over the last couple of years and they’re just lovely people and it’s so interesting.”
Though she didn’t grow up in the village, Leo-Jameson has heard stories of the Terni family and was touched when looking through photos of the three generations now on display.
“It’s also wonderful for the library to work with the Historical Society because it’s important to recognize our local families, especially one that has such an impact on the community,” she said.
Other partners for the exhibition include Main Street Magazine — which assisted the Historical Society with accessing information about the family — and Thorunn Kristjansdottir of Thorunn Designs and Main Street, whom the Historical Society retained to create poster boards for the exhibit. The Terni family was especially vital in the collaboration by providing an abundance of information and background for the exhibition.
As they make their way around the library, visitors will find the exhibition divided into three main sections. The first element entails a series of about a dozen poster boards featuring different components of the family’s legacy. Told as a “chronological, biographical narrative to give people a sense of each generation,” Downey explained the boards are based on research that was done in collaboration with the Terni family with members of the Historical Society, accompanied by images collected from the Historical Society’s own collection and the Terni family.
As a digital element to the display, the second part of the exhibition includes a video-recorded interview told in three parts featuring the recollections of Don Hastings, an actor, writer and close personal friend of the late Phil Terni. Recorded on Thursday, May 6, Downey said Hastings’ family was kind enough to let the Historical Society do the interview, adding that Hastings also delivered the eulogy at the memorial service for Phil, who passed away this March.
The last element features a collection of artifacts from the Terni family that shares their story through images, objects and elements of the family’s history, including (among other tokens) candies and photos taken inside the now closed Terni’s Store on 42 Main St. in Millerton; Phil Terni’s hats; a photograph taken in 1953 to commemorate Assunta Terni’s return visit to Italy with her granddaughter, Stephanie; and photographs of the family.
The Terni exhibit will be available for viewing until Saturday, June 29.
AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.
Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken
Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.
MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.
The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”
Olenik worked with The Cruiser’s Division in Mamaroneck, New York, to design the vehicles.
“We really want to thank the Pine Plains Police Department for their tremendous support,” Olenik said. After the fire, “they were the first ones to come forward and offer help.”
The new police cruisers are outfitted with lights with automatically adjusting brightness to best perform in ambient conditions.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Since February, Millerton officers have been borrowing a patrol car from Pine Plains. With the new vehicles now in service, Olenik said he plans to thank Pine Plains officers by treating them to dinner at Four Brothers in Amenia and having their car detailed
The main entrance to Kent Hollow Mine at 341 South Amenia Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — Amenia residents and a Wassaic business have filed suit against the Town Board and Kent Hollow Inc., alleging a settlement between the town and the mine amounts to illegal contract zoning that allows the circumvention of environmental review.
Petitioners Laurence Levin, Theodore Schiffman and Clark Hill LLC filed the suit on Aug. 22. Town officials were served with documents for the case last week and took first steps in organizing a response to the suit at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The lawsuit is the latest in a multi-year long legal battle surrounding the mine on South Amenia Road. After Kent Hollow Inc. — a subsidiary of Bethel, Connecticut, based homebuilder Steiner Inc. — applied for a state mining permit in 2017, the Amenia code enforcement officer issued the business a notice of violation.
At the time, Kent Hollow Inc. did not possess a special permit to conduct mining operations as required by Amenia zoning code, and the property did not reside in the Special Mining Overlay district established as part of rezoning efforts coinciding with the 2007 adoption of the town’s comprehensive plan.
Kent Hollow Inc. appealed the violation, claiming the use of the property as a mine predates amendments to town and state regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal citing insufficient evidence in 2019. That spurred Kent Hollow to file two lawsuits — one in the New York State Supreme Court and a federal civil rights lawsuit — challenging the town’s order.
In July 2025, those lawsuits were brought to a close when the Town Board voted at a special meeting to accept a settlement agreement allowing Kent Hollow to continue mining operations under limited hours and quantities.
The most recent suit alleges the 2025 settlement amounts to contract zoning that allows Kent Hollow Inc. to skirt environmental review and the scrutiny of the permitting and rezoning process. Court documents allege Kent Hollow did not adequately prove a continuous, legal nonconforming use.
Supporting the argument, petitioners have submitted the court documents and decision from the 2019 New York Supreme Court case against the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the documents from the preceding ZBA appeals process including receipts and tax returns from Kent Hollow Inc. purporting to establish the nonconforming use.
Kent Hollow Inc. formed as a subsidiary of housing developer Steiner Inc. and purchased the property in 1971, according to state and county real estate records.
Millerton News reporting from 1971 Amenia planning board meetings detail Kent Hollow’s pursuit of a four-section, 40-unit apartment complex on the property.
The News reported Kent Hollow was granted tentative approval on July 6, 1971, to build eight units on the site with the expectation that more would be built later.
The additional units never came to fruition and Kent Hollow apparently abandoned the housing project, opting to use the property as a gravel mine.
Attorneys for the Town of Amenia or Kent Hollow Inc. have not filed responses to the lawsuit as of press time.
AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.
Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.
The talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia. The handicapped-accessible church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road. Refreshments will be served.
Colden was the son of a New York Lieutenant Governor. He was a surveyor, farmer and mercantilist, serving as a judge in Ulster County. His fortunes changed dramatically with the dawn of the Revolutionary War when he remained loyal to the British Crown. His arrest came in 1776, just before the start of his journal.
Campbell is a historian specializing in Hudson Valley history, and the regional stories of Revolutionary era families.
