Old Sparc Park sent off, new volunteer builders called

The crowd is gathered under the tent with the original builders to check out the contents of the time capsule that was buried in the park when it was built in 1991.
Judith O'Hara Balfe
The crowd is gathered under the tent with the original builders to check out the contents of the time capsule that was buried in the park when it was built in 1991.
STANFORD — Town residents and friends gathered at the Stanford Recreation Center Saturday, March 2, to say goodbye to the 33-year-old playground structure that so many of Stanford’s children have grown up playing in.
Said Town Supervisor Wendy Burton, “It’s old, it’s wooden, so full of splinters, and it’s not ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act]-compliant.”
Although it was raining and cold, the pavilion at the park was crowded with people of all ages. There was fresh popcorn from Big Rock Farm, homemade donuts from Big Rock Market, hot coffee from All That Java, and music courtesy of DJ Jared Rosenberg from Not Donuts Records, all free.
Burton was enthusiastic, saying: “I’m thrilled. So many people have come, even with the rain. It’s a dream come true. This is a 40-year event, bringing the community together for the sake of the children.”
One of the purposes of the gathering was to impress upon people the need for volunteers to build the new park.
The original park was built in five days. The new park will take eight days, from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., completely by volunteers. Tools are needed, to be donated or borrowed. Builders are needed, but volunteers are also needed for child care, running errands, and getting food back and forth to the workers. All the food will be home-cooked or donated.
Many children at the event signed up to make something to remember, filling little Mason jars. They were invited to register to add to a time capsule that will be buried in the new park when it is finished.
Probably the most exciting moment came when the builders of the original park were invited to a open a time capsule that was buried when the park was built in 1991. It included handwritten letters from children saying who they were and something about themselves. A couple of T-shirts from the original park — one blue, one tan — were unrolled and revealed.
Thanking everyone for their efforts, including the highway crew, who dug up the time capsule, there were directions on how to sign up to volunteer, reminders that no one under 18 can be on the work site, and that while builders are needed, the other volunteer jobs are equally important.
Even in the rain, there were children playing on the playground, and grown-ups wandering through, all enjoying a little nostalgia. Soon it will be torn down, the rebuilding will begin, and the expected opening date is Memorial Day 2024, with a huge celebration planned for the opening of the new park.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
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.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.