MILLERTON — When in need of health services, patients generally find their way to providers, but on March 12, providers came to patients on Mobile Health Day.
Mobile Health Day — a collaboration between the North East Community Center, the Dutchess County Department of Health, and Sun River Health of Amenia — provided the public with the opportunity to receive vaccinations and health/medical screenings and to schedule medical appointments.
While the offerings were limited, the services on tap that day are much-needed in the region, which lacks a sufficient number of health providers and clinics.The NECC already provides transportation for those in need to pharmacies and doctor’s offices.
NECC’s mobile health day was an attempt to connect the public with easy-to-access care at Dutchess County’s mobile health unit, a large van parked a few doors down from the NECC at the rail trail parking lot on South Center Street.
“The health care desert we experience in northeast Dutchess County can be felt by all our neighbors, who often have to drive increasingly far distances to access the health care they need,” said Cheri Johnson, who serves as the NECC’s marketing and outreach coordinator. “While NECC’s transportation program provides approximately 2,800 free rides per year to those needing transport to medical appointments, this now-monthly gathering of mobile healthcare providers is a great way to bring medical services right into the heart of our community where we need them the most.”
Nurse practitioner Barbara Lopez-Heffernan, who was on-site that day, is bilingual in English and Spanish. Should a patient arrive who isn’t fluent in either tongue, a translation service LanguageLine, is available for those in need.
Lopez-Heffernan, who works with the Department of Health, conveyed that being able to converse with her patients in whatever language they speak fosters a sense of comfort, especially for nervous patients, and helps build patient-practitioner connections. “It’s important to reach patients where they’re at,” she said. “I tell my patients I’m here for you.”
Among the services offered that day included testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, and blood pressure checks along with informational pamphlets. “I triage, refer or treat,” said Lopez-Heffernan.
Sun River Health in Amenia had a table set up inside the NECC where information was provided and answers were given to questions about services.
In addition to the NECC and the Department of Health, Sharon’s Hospital’s Diaper Connections was also around with a generous supply of disposable diapers to provide to patrons in need. Diaper Connections, which is primarily privately funded, has received some grant monies. The organization serves approximately 85 children per month, and about 85% of families with newborns have diaper needs.
According to Candy Osborn, RN, of Sharon Hospital, about 85% of new parents have diaper needs with the birth of a newborn for a variety of reasons. Income is a factor, but sometimes parents are just not properly prepared.
An inflatable welcomed the public to Mobile Health Day on March 12 at the rail trail parking lot, just down the street from the NECC, one of the event’s sponsors.Photo by Krista A. Briggs
“I really feel a lot of families don’t know the resources,” Osborn said. “No judgment here. If you have a need, you have a need.” Osborn conveyed that about 40% to 50% of families with diaper needs in the first month of a newborn’s life return for additional supplies thereafter.
“Mobile Health Day was an excellent way to serve all members of our community, and a large number of people took advantage of the offerings made by North East Community Center, Dutchess County Health Department, Sharon Hospital’s Diaper Connections, and Sun River Health of Amenia,” said Johnson. “We look forward to continuing to provide these resources and are excited for our next mobile health event on April 9 at the South Center Street rail trail parking lot in Millerton.”
The Stone Round Barn at Hancock Shaker Village.
My husband Tom, our friend Jim Jasper and I spent the day at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A cold, blustery wind shook the limbs of an ancient apple tree still clinging to golden fruit. Spitting sleet drove us inside for warmth, and the lusty smells of manure from the goats, sheep, pigs and chickens in the Stone Round Barn filled our senses. We traveled back in time down sparse hallways lined with endless peg racks. The winter light was slightly crooked through the panes of old glass. The quiet life of the Shakers is preserved simply.
Shakers referred to their farm as the City of Peace.Jennifer Almquist
Originally founded in England, the Shakers brought their communal religious society to the New World 250 years ago. They sought the perfection of heaven on earth through their values of equality and pacifism. They followed strict protocols of behavior and belief. They were celibate and never married, yet they loved singing and ecstatic dancing, or “shaking,” and often adopted orphans. To achieve their millennialist goal of transcendental rapture, we learned, even their bedclothes had to conform: One must sleep in a bed painted deep green with blue and white coverings.
Shakers believed in gender and racial equality and anointed their visionary founding leader, Mother Ann Lee, an illiterate yet wise woman, as the Second Coming. They embraced sustainability and created practical designs of great utility and beauty, such as the mail-order seed packet, the wood stove, the circular saw, the metal pen, the flat broom and wooden clothespins.
Jennifer Almquist
Blacksmith Peter Kergaravat at work.
Burning coal smelled acrid as the blacksmith fired up his stove to heat the metal rod he was transforming into a hook. Hammer on anvil is an ancient sound. My husband has blacksmithing skills and once made the strap hinges and thumb latches for a friend’s home.
Shaker chairs and rockers are still made today in the woodworker’s shop. They are well made and functional, with woven cloth or rush seats. In the communal living space, or Brick Dwelling, chairs hang from the Shaker pegs that run the length of the hallways, which once housed more than 100 Shakers.
A Shaker chair.Jennifer Almquist
In 1826, the 95-foot Round Stone Barn was built of limestone quarried from the land of the 3,000-acre Hancock Shaker Village. Its unique design allowed a continuous workflow. Fifty cows could stand in a circle facing one another and be fed more easily. Manure could be shoveled into a pit below and removed by wagon and there was more light and better ventilation.
Shakers called us the “people of the world” and referred to their farm as the City of Peace. We take lessons away with us, yearning somehow for their simplicity and close relationship to nature. One Shaker said, “There’s as much reverence in pulling an onion as there is in singing hallelujah.”
A sense of calm came over me as I looked across the fields to the hills in the distance. A woman like me once stood between these long rows of herbs — summer savory, sage, sweet marjoram and thyme — leaned on her shovel brushing her hair back from her eyes, watching gray snow clouds roll down the Berkshires.
More information at hancockshakervillage.org
The Shakers embraced practical designs of great utility and beauty.Jennifer Almquist
Exterior of Lakeville Books & Stationery in Great Barrington.
The second Lakeville Books & Stationery is slightly larger than the first store. It offers more than 10,000 books and follows the same model: a general-interest store with a curated mix of current bestsellers, children’s and young readers’ sections; and robust collections for adults ranging from arts and architecture, cooking and gardening, and home design to literature and memoirs. Anne reads more than 150 new titles every year (as many as a Booker Prize judge) and is a great resource to help customers find the perfect pick.
A real-time inventory system helps the store track what’s on hand, and staff can order items that aren’t currently available. There is also a selection of writing and paper goods, including notecards, journals, pens and notebooks, as well as art supplies, board games, jigsaw puzzles and more. The owners scour the stationery trade shows twice a year and, Darryl says, “like to tailor what we offer to suit the interest of our customers in each market.”
The Pecks know what it takes to run a successful local enterprise. Darryl has a 53-year background in retail and has launched several successful businesses. He and Anne owned and operated a bookstore on St. Simons Island, Georgia, from 2019 to 2025. They are tapping into their local roots with both stores. They raised their family in Sharon, and their daughter Alice, a native of the Northwest Corner, manages the Lakeville store.
Interior of Lakeville Books & Stationery.Provided
The family values the role that a retail store plays as a supporting partner in the community, and they prioritize great management in both locations, hiring and training talent from local communities. Their 10 team members across both stores are from the area, and two of the Great Barrington employees previously worked at Bookloft.
Darryl and Anne’s attention to customer service is everywhere apparent and adds to the enjoyable and irreplaceable in-store shopping experience. The books are in pristine condition, eliminating the risk of damage that sometimes occurs during shipping. This is especially important for books that will live on people’s shelves and coffee tables for years.
Darryl says, “People love the in-store discovery — you find books you didn’t know existed, which is very difficult to do on a website. Also, many customers depend on our recommendations when visiting. There is a saying about bookstores versus online ordering: We may not have exactly what you were looking for, but we have what you want.”
Lakeville Books & Stationery’s Great Barrington store is open 7 days a week, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is available in the lot behind the building and in the parking lot behind the firehouse. The entrance to the store is accessible from the store parking lot.
For more information, go to lakevillebooks.com., and sign-up for the Lakeville Books newsletter.
Richard Feiner and Annette Stover have worked and taught in the arts, communications, and philanthropy in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and New York. Passionate supporters of the arts, they live in Salisbury and Greenwich Village.
