MILLERTON — Shoppers will have an opportunity to find some special treasures at the 12th annual craft fair on the lawn of the NorthEast- Millerton Library 75 Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
All items have been handcrafted and donated by local artisans with proceeds going to support the library’s general fund. Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said: “We are fortunate to be supported through tax revenue, but we do have a deficit at the end of each year. The craft fair is one way we are able to fill the gap and provide services.”
While sending appreciation to all contributors, Leo-Jameson gave a special nod to perennial contributor Carol Loper, who has donated hundreds of knit and crochet items over the years.
This year, her contributions have again led the way, with yarn crafters offering everything from hand-worked warm head gear, mittens and sweaters to blankets, toys and gifts for pets.
Decorations for the upcoming holiday season add variety, with many having been created by members of the senior citizen friendship group, which meets Monday though Thursday at the Annex.
Finely crafted wooden toys and kitchen items from the skilled hands of retired shop teacher John Roccanova will give a small sneak preview of the wide variety of items he will be selling at the Irondale Schoolhouse in November. Items sold there will help him and his wife, Jean, continue to also support the needs of school children and other residents through Grow Against Poverty’s Kenya program, which they began aiding years ago.
Homemade jelly will be on sale, and residents are invited to drop off homemade baked goods any time Friday or Saturday morning.
The day will also include the annual all free homemade Cookie Cook-Off competition. Entries should be dropped off Friday or Saturday starting at 11 a.m. Shoppers will taste and vote for their favorites between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate from the local merchant of their choice.
A highlight of the sale will be the raffle of items generously donated by Amenia Yoga, Demitasse, Designer Finds, The Farm Store at Willowbrook, Gilded Moon Framing, North Elm Home, Kiki Nail Salon, Oblong Books, Mane Street Salon, Millerton Service Center, Relief Chiropractic Wellness Center, Paley’s Farm Market, T-Shirt Farm, Studio 343, and Tree Fort Toys.
The sale, scheduled for the Memorial Garden in front of the library, will move to the Annex at 28 Century Blvd. in case of rain.
For more information including rules for the Cookie Cook-Off go to nemillertonlibrary.org or call 518-789-3340.
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
The Millerton post office was moved Tuesday night into permanent quarters in the new one-story brick building on Center Street. The post office has been situated in the erstwhile saloon of Charles A. Corey for the past five months, having been transferred there the first of April from the Shufelt building on Main Street. It was understood when the office was moved last spring that the new quarters, also situated on Center Street, were to house it only temporarily pending construction of the new building which was to have been ready for occupancy July 1.
Supervisor Frank L. Minor of the town of North East has announced that a voting machine will be demonstrated at the town room in the Brick Block Friday and Saturday from 10 a. m. to 9 p.m.
Important new developments are expected in the Germond murder case, according to prevalent rumors, although authorities have denied that any new angles have entered the picture and state that no definite information has been presented. Private agencies, however, have been attempting solution of the crime and are seeking to obtain evidence of sufficient strength to warrant official action, it is said.
MT. WASHINGTON-Saturday was dobbin’s birthday party day.
“Chubby,” a twenty-five-year-old Western broncho owned by Betty Melius, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. N. L. Melius, was the guest of honor at a unique birthday party held on the lawn of the Melius place here Saturday afternoon. Invitations were sent to four other saddle horses, and upon arriving at the scene of festivity with their child riders each of the equine celebrants was fastened to a tree on which a place card was tacked.
No member of the public showed up at the Comprehensive Plan hearings held last week in the Village of Millerton and the Town of North East.
The controversial Equal Rights Amendment was handed a defeat by New York State voters on Tuesday, 1,724,189 voting no and 1,329,545 yes. (At press time, 92 per cent of all the State election districts had reported).
In Dutchess County, the ERA, Amendment 1 on the ballot, lost 35,566 to 20,784.
WEBUTUCK — If approved, will a proposed charter school in the Harlem Valley result in significant tax increases? Do charter schools and conventional public schools compete on a level playing field?
These are some of the questions being asked in the wake of the revelation last month that a Dover group has proposed to start a charter school at the campus of the now-defunct Immaculate Conception School in Amenia.
At a joint meeting of the Webutuck and Dover school boards last month, Webutuck Superintendent Justine Winters said if the proposed Harlem Valley Charter School (HVCS) draws evenly between the Dover and Webutuck districts, Webutuck residents could see a 9.1-percent increase in taxes to make up for the loss of state aid per student. Dover Superintendent Craig Onofry projected a 7.6-percent increase.
According to Mr. Herald, if the HVCS draws about 80 students from Webutuck, the district may have to consider closing one of its community elementary schools in Millerton or Amenia. Such a move is particularly vexing in light of a recently passed 120-million capital project that includes extensive renovations to both schools.
“We’d be smarter to keep those students in one school and revisit the central campus concept,” said Mr. Herald, adding that the district “would still have to stay within the money that was approved.”
[Mr. Slater] cited reported vandalism to charter school board members’ property in Hempsted, Long Island.
“There’s been threats made and they’ve had their tires slashed,” he added.
The shingled Washington bungalow built around 1910 at 53 Jameson Hill Road in the hamlet of Clinton Corners sold for $525,000.
MILLBROOK — September brought a rare dose of affordability to the Town of Washington’s real estate market. All six single-family homes that changed hands during the month sold for under $600,000, with no seven-figure sales recorded.
This stands in sharp contrast to the 30 properties listed for sale at the end of October, where 21 were priced above $1 million. Only four homes and seven parcels of land were listed below the $1 million mark.
53 Jameson Hill Road — 3 bedroom/1.5 bath home built in 1910 sold to Courtney Hundelt for $525,000.
26 Horseshoe Road — 3 bedroom/1 bath split-level home sold to Alfred J. Dehors for $400,000.
32 Halcyon Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .23 acres sold to Mariela Pelaez Cordova for $390,000.
3206 Sharon Turnpike — 2 bedroom/1 bath ranch on 1.7 acres sold to Cristina Alves for $418,000.
43 Rodrigo Knolls — 3 bedroom/2 bath split-level sold to Marcus Gonzalez for $575,000.
126-128 Christian Hill Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath home on 2 acres sold to John Gearhart for $290,000.
*Town of Washington recorded real estate transfers from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30 sourced from Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access. Current listings from realtor.com. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Local landscape artist and charcoal kiln historian Cliff Waldow was the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Amenia Historical Society on Sunday, Oct. 26. Newly elected President Judy Westfall joined him beside his painting of an open door at his Amenia Union home.
AMENIA — The Amenia Historical Society held its annual meeting on Sunday, Oct. 26, electing Judy Westfall to serve as president for a two-year term.
Westfall provided welcoming remarks and led the business portion of the meeting when the additional election results were read. Walter Dietrich will serve a two-year term as vice-president, and Maureen Moore was elected to serve as Secretary. Trustees elected to three-year terms were Julian Strauss, Ericka Howard and Larry Havens. Two-year terms as trustee will be held by Deb Phillips and Vicki Doyle, and a one-year term by Victoria Herow.
The program that followed featured local landscape artist Cliff Waldow whose paintings of local barns, charcoal furnaces and landscapes capture some of the town’s historic features as well as historic kilns dotted throughout the eastern seaboard. Waldow’s talk was titled “Scenes Behind the Paintings.”
Stories of the search for remote charcoal kilns that fired wood to make charcoal, essential to the iron industry over two centuries, engaged Waldow’s audience. Once the industry changed, the kilns were abandoned where they stood. As the years passed, Waldow found that clues about the locations would be found in the fragile memories of the elderly.
Waldow sought to locate forgotten stone kilns, frequently returning to a wooded mountainside numerous times to locate a kiln. Some of these kilns became the subjects for his paintings, his interest in painting having begun in 1951 when he was newly married and had moved to Florida.
Lime Rock has a significant history in iron production, with factories running around the clock with two 12-hour shifts to meet demand.
Included in the display were Waldow’s rural scenes from the Amenia area, including the old Chase Farm in Sharon, no longer standing, and his own Amenia Union home depicted as a slightly ajar rustic door leading to his basement.
Without formal art instruction, Waldow nevertheless managed to capture landscapes with clear authenticity.
“Painting was a challenge,” Waldow said.
FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. — The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News, published by LJMN Media, Inc., welcomed Christian Murray as executive editor in October.
Murray, a veteran journalist who founded and led the Queens Post in New York City, brings deep experience in community news and newsroom management, as well as in business and finance reporting.
He joins the newsroom after serving as the managing editor at Schneps Media, a New York City-based company that publishes amNY, Queens Courier, Brooklyn Paper, Bronx Times and other local news outlets.
He joined Schneps in December 2022, after selling the Queens Post — a collection of hyperlocal news sites that he founded including Sunnyside Post, Astoria Post, and Jackson Heights Post. The sites became a model for neighborhood journalism in the borough of Queens.
“I’m thrilled to join The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News,” Murray said. “I’ve always believed that strong local journalism builds strong communities, and I look forward to continuing that tradition here in Northwest Connecticut and Dutchess County.”
“Christian is a proven builder of local news organizations and a champion for community reporting,” said James Clark, CEO and Publisher. “His leadership and experience will strengthen our newsroom and help advance our mission to provide essential journalism for Northwest Connecticut and New York’s Harlem Valley.”
Early in his career, he was a political reporter with Newsday and a business reporter with Reuters. Murray, who is originally from New Zealand, holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. After living in New York City for 25 years, he moved to Northwest Connecticut in 2022.
Murray can be reached at christianm@lakevillejournal.com.
