NECC celebrates its many supporters, fills up on nostalgia

Rob Cooper stands next to the flying Pegasus at his restored Mobil Station on Route 44 in Millerton.
Photo by Christine Bates


Rob Cooper stands next to the flying Pegasus at his restored Mobil Station on Route 44 in Millerton.
MILLERTON — The North East Community Council (NECC) celebrated its donors under a tent next to Millerton’s iconic Mobil gas station on Saturday Sept. 21.
Guests mingled and explored the down-to-the-last-detail restoration of a 1957 Mobil gas station with its emblematic flying Pegasus, period gas pumps and a 1957 Chevrolet pickup while snacking on pizza from a food truck.
Christine Sargent, NECC’S executive director, thanked all of the contributors for making NECC’s expanding programs possible.
The station was acquired by Rob Cooper, owner of Associated Lightning Protection, in 2019 and became an instant Millerton landmark. The site of an abandoned gas station that sits between two functioning gas stations on Route 44 continues to be renovated.
Asked why he recreated a Mobil Gas Station, Cooper explained his nostalgic passion for old gas stations and also not wanting a national retailer at the entrance to the village which would compete with established mom and pop businesses. The gas station is not permitted to dispense fuel or operate as a business but has become a community gathering spot. The next event will be a car show on Oct. 4.
Millerton News
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity report May 28 to June 3
May 28 — Deputies responded to Lakeview Drive in the Town of Pawling for a fraud complaint. The caller reported being the victim of an on-line bank fraud scheme.Investigation on-going.
May 28 — Deputies charged John Able, age 30, with operating a motor vehicle without a license following a traffic stop on Route 22 in the Town of Dover. Able is to appear in the Town of Dover Court at a later date.
May 30 — Deputy Sherrer reports the arrest of Robert E. Gover, age 62, for driving without a license, and Operating a Motor Vehicle without an Ignition Interlock Device subsequent to a traffic stop on Route 22 in Amenia. Gover to appear in the Town of Amenia court at a later date.
May 31 — Deputies responded to Willow Ln in the Town of Amenia to investigate a disturbance. Situation mediated by patrol.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity, please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845 605 CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Alec Linden
Lynn Kearcher and her husband, Carl Chaiet, pull brush from within the pound’s walls just off Sharon Mountain Road. Kearcher said the boulder embedded in the slope at the back of the pound is a unique architectural feature.
SHARON – While many think of the “pound” as a place for stray dogs, a century and a half ago town pounds were a fixture of life in rural Connecticut, used to temporarily contain wandering livestock. Today, a Sharon resident is working to restore one of those long-forgotten stone enclosures.
Lynn Kearcher, a town selectman pursuing the project independently, has spent months restoring an old-fashioned pound on Sharon Mountain Road in an effort to preserve a little-known piece of the town’s agrarian history.
“It’s a structure that links us to our past in what was a very important period,” she said June 4, while pulling brush from the pound’s low stone walls. The site, near the intersection of Sharon Mountain and Jackson Hill roads, is owned by three private landowners, all of whom have given permission for the effort.
The now-tidy plot looked very different just several months ago, Kearcher said. Since then, she, her husband, Carl Chaiet, and other volunteers have spent many hours clearing weeds and brush, while several community members donated money to hire Applewood Tree Care to remove several dead trees from the site.
Kearcher is continuing to raise money to restore the pound to an appearance she believes reflects the dignity such a vestige of town history deserves.
In pre-barbed wire days, when farms were more numerous and often smaller with limited means of monitoring livestock, New England towns built special corrals for animals on the loose. A resident known as the pound keeper rounded up rogue animals in a common pen. Farmers could either pay a fee to collect them or surrender them to the town, which could then auction the animals and keep the earnings.
Town pounds emerged in New England from the earliest days of livestock husbandry up until the late 19th century, and their importance in that era is hard to overstate, said history writer Matthew E. Thomas, author of a 2023 book on New England’s remaining animal pounds.
“You had to have a pound to be able to prevent all of these different livestock animals from escaping from their farms and wreaking havoc in neighbors’ property, which did not make for good neighborly dealing sometimes,” Thomas said.
“These are wonderful monuments to the past,” he added, noting that a runaway cow could wreck someone’s food stores for the hard winter ahead.
Thomas’s research identified approximately 170 known pounds intact today in New England, but he said he’s grateful to residents like Kearcher who show that there are likely many more lost to time in yards and woods across the region.
“It just makes it so much more meaningful to know that there are people out there that genuinely care about preserving our early American history,” he said.
Kearcher has identified two more suspected pounds nearby, with one hidden in the woods farther south on Sharon Road and the other sitting in a thicket next to Fairchild Road. Both are located on land owned by the Sharon Land Trust, which has given permission for future restoration.
The goal, Kearcher said, is to protect these sites with an ordinance that would herald them as artifacts of Sharon’s history, potentially dating back to the early 18th century. Kearcher has been communicating with the state archeologist to organize a visit that may shed some light on the specific stories of the structures.
For his part, Thomas said the pounds, while forgotten by many, are a strong reminder of a different way of living in the countryside: “A time,” he wrote, “when nearly all social, economic, religious and political issues were handled primarily at the local level.” In that bygone era, sometimes locking up a cow or pig for a few days was another means to keep the peace.
Alec Linden
In July, Nikki Blass, right, will take over as Sharon’s Land Use Administrator when Jamie Casey retires after more than three decades in Town Hall.
SHARON – Nichole “Nikki” Blass of Sharon will take over as Land Use Administrator on July 1, following the retirement of longtime town employee Jamie Casey. Blass is a seven-year veteran of the Land Use Office and also serves as the second lieutenant and secretary for Sharon Ambulance.
Casey said Blass’ experience working as the Office’s assistant has set her up well to succeed in the role.
The Land Use Administrator is the town’s zoning enforcement officer, responsible for handling all applications related to construction, development and landscape alterations and issuing citations when zoning code is broken. It is a paid role that is appointed by the First Selectman.
“To me, she was the only choice for the job,” Casey said. “She knows the town inside and out, and she grew up here. That’s important, too.”
Blass’s appointment was announced during the Board of Selectmen’s May 26 meeting. In previous weeks, selectmen interviewed Blass and another candidate for the position.
Blass said she was first introduced to Casey and the Land Use Office through her involvement with Sharon Ambulance. She was initially hired to handle filing duties but quickly took on additional responsibilities as the workload increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When Covid hit, we were so inundated with projects and work that I just jumped in,” Blass said, saying that she and Casey worked naturally together. “It was sink or swim.”
Blass said when she takes office in July, she plans to focus on organization to support several large-scale projects that are ongoing or pending review. Those include the development of an office facility for Jasper Johns-affiliated nonprofit Low Road Foundation and a controversial housing development on Hospital Hill Road which is currently facing litigation from neighbors.
She said replacing Casey will be a challenge. Still, she said her time working in the office with Casey has prepared her well for the flexibility and depth of knowledge the position requires.
“Every situation that comes through the door is not the same as the one that was before it,” Blass said. “Being able to handle that kind of thing is the most valuable lesson she could have taught me.”
Blass is stepping into a complex role, Casey said, “but I know she’s more than capable of doing it.”
Plus, “she’s a Sharon girl,” Casey said.
Meanwhile the Selectmen have been conducting interviews to replace Stanley MacMillan Jr., the town’s building inspector and fire marshal of three decades, who is also retiring at the end of the month.No hire had been announced as of June 4. Town Hall is also seeking to hire a replacement for Blass’ current position to assist both the Land Use Administrator and Building Inspector, and will be soliciting candidates this month.

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Millerton News
AMENIA — The Amenia Free Library is gearing up for its Sips & Sweets fundraiser.
The fundraiser is set for Saturday, June 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the library on Route 343.
Tickets cost $30 per person and are available for sale at the library prior to the event or at the door the night of. The cover price includes drinks, food and two raffle tickets.
The fundraiser is limited to adults 21 and over.
The Amenia Free Library is located at 3309 Route 343 in Amenia.
Jennifer Almquist
SALISBURY – Sunshine, laughter and hundreds of wagging tails filled Lime Rock Park Sunday, June 7, for The Great Country Mutt Show, an annual fundraiser for the Little Guild animal shelter located in West Cornwall. Attendance more than doubled from last year, with approximately 1,500 people turning out for the free event alongside their four-legged companions.
“This year’s Great Country Mutt Show was the most successful in the event’s history,” said Jenny Langendoerfer, executive director of The Little Guild. She said the record attendance “speaks volumes about the love of animals in our community and the tremendous support shown for the Little Guild and its mission.”
The giant tent, silhouetted against a wide blue sky, began filling just before the 11 a.m. opening. The “tongue-in-cheek, Westminster-style” dog show was originally conceived by renowned designer and animal advocate Bunny Williams.
WFSB meteorologist Scot Haney returned as host, joined by judges Richard Schlesinger, an Emmy-Award winning journalist with CBS News, and Bill Berloni, the well-known animal trainer who trained the first Sandy for the Broadway show “Annie,” proving that rescue animals can become stars.
People of all ages lined up with their dogs, which were leashed and eager to strut their stuff in contests throughout the day. Children held pets in their arms, some owners sported matching outfits with their canine companions, and despite the crowd, there was not a growl or skirmish amongst the dogs. Dogs of every size and breed filled the grounds, including towering Bernese Mountain dogs, tiny chihuahuas tucked into shoulder carriers, whiskery terriers, long-haired dachshunds, happy retrievers, bulldogs, one Bassett hound and countless mixed breeds.
Co-Chairs Robin Chandler and Chet Krayewski said they were pleased with the event’s success.Members of the board filled different roles, along with many volunteers, plus the staff of the Little Guild.
Langendoerfer also expressed special thanks to Tracy Tucker and Joel Howard for their support of a gala held the night before at Norfolk Country Club.
New this year was a hospitality tent, suggested by Bunny Williams, where dogs could cool off at their own water station while visitors enjoyed food trucks, a mobile pizza oven and live music by The Joint Chiefs. Vendors offered dog-themed merchandise.
Awards were presented to the Most Unidentifiable Mix, Sweetest Pair of Dogs, Best Ears, Best Trick, Best Companion/Family Member, Best Lap Dog Over 40 Pounds, Best Kisser, Waggiest Tail, and Best in Show. While the winners received blue ribbons, each registered dog received a commemorative ribbon.
Alec Linden
LaBonne’s Market is considering an expansion that would reorganize the flow of traffic on Academy Street in Salisbury.
SALISBURY – Expansion may be on the horizon for LaBonne’s Market, Salisbury’s only grocery store, as preliminary plans call for a 4,700-square-foot addition that would create more retail space, add employee facilities and reconfigure parking around the downtown property to add more spots.
During a meeting with the Economic Development Committee on May 21, Robert LaBonne Jr., the current president and CEO of the four LaBonne’s Markets locations across the state, outlined conceptual plans for an addition on the east side of the building.
According to a blueprint he shared with the group, the registers would be relocated to the new addition, creating room for longer grocery aisles within the existing store. The plans also include an expanded produce section, a café space, a second-floor area for staff facilities and a loading and storage area on the north side of the expansion.
LaBonne Jr. said the store has simply outgrown its current footprint of just over 43,000-square-feet. “It’s the smallest sales space of the four,” he said, the others being located in Watertown, Woodbury and Prospect, “and in the summer it does the most business.”
In order for the expansion to move forward, the Academy Street corridor would be overhauled. Currently, Academy Street is a small street that provides access to the grocery store, the used bookstore Johnnycake Books, a guest house, and several private residences.
As presented in the expansion plans, the street would essentially be the center of a parking lot comprised of the current LaBonne’s parking on the west side of Academy Street, another plot on the east side and a third area to the north of the building, with auxiliary spaces on another parcel at the end of the street that are currently used as overflow for the store.
The conceptual plans, developed by SLR Consulting of Cheshire, Connecticut, would create a total of about 90 parking spaces across a series of plots owned by the Market Place of Salisbury, a decades-old private shareholder group that LaBonne’s leases the land from. While most of the land is already owned by the Market Place, some of the proposed parking area lies on land currently owned by the town. One parcel currently houses an occupied affordable home rental, which LaBonne noted would have to be replaced elsewhere if it is removed as the plan proposes.
LaBonne Jr. noted that the plans come after years of deliberation with the town on how to proceed, and remain highly preliminary, pending review from both the town and from the Market Place of Salisbury.
As of early June, LaBonne’s leadership did not comment directly on the project when asked, stating that the effort remains in early stages.
During the meeting, though, LaBonne Jr. spoke about the advantages of expanding parking options in town.
Referencing other municipalities with vibrant downtowns such as Litchfield and Middletown, he said that ample parking and thoughtful planning can play a big role in vitalizing Main Street activity.
“If you don’t provide parking for capacity, you will chase people out of town,” he said.

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