Kim Yarnell, right, leads a group of toddlers and parents in basic ballet lessons at the North East Community Center office on South Center Street in Millerton on Sunday, Oct. 11.
The pilot is part of a broader shift at the organization, said Youth Programs Director Brandon Wolfe, as staffers seek new ways to engage the community in addition to NECC’s regular services. Part of that shift is welcoming ideas and efforts from community members, friends and volunteers that get people together.
The Toddler Movement class came from this line of thought, and from the community that remained following the closure of NECC’s early childcare program in December 2025. Yarnell was one of the parents with children enrolled in daycare at the facility. She said her and other parents were eager to find creative ways to allow gathering as a community.
“We don’t have our sort of third shared space to bring our kids to blow off some steam,” Yarnell said, mentioning the recent closure of local indoor playground business Kids Time in February.
The hope, Yarnell said, is to continue building similar programs leveraging Millerton’s community of parents.
Wolfe echoed that sentiment, saying NECC staffers have been making efforts to solicit ideas from community members and friends. The efforts have resulted in a few new events this year — most billed as “pilot” programs — that have drawn people into the NECC office and the weekly farmer’s market on Saturdays.
“We want to have more conversations with the community and then to create community,” Wolfe said. “The way you do that is by inviting people into the conversation.”
One example Wolfe surfaced was a badminton tournament on Saturday, Oct. 10. Four teams of two players each competed in a tournament during the farmer’s market on Saturday morning.
The tournament was the brainchild of a Webutuck student that took an internship with NECC’s food pantry over the summer. Leading into the fall and the new school year, the intern requrested badminton in the fall, prompting Wolfe to make it happen.
Their ears are open, Wolfe said, to community members that want to suggest ideas for community gathering.
“We’re a community center,” Wolfe said. “At the end of the day, in order to really have that word be a part of who we are, we need people to reach out.”
Kim Yarnell supplies all the young dancers with gold star trophies to mark their completion of the six-week pilot program at NECC on Sunday, Oct. 11.Photo by Nathan Miller
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From left, Board Chair Dan Dwyer, Publisher and CEO James Clark, Estabrook Community Leadership Award recipient Dick Hermans, his daughter Suzanna Hermans and Jubilee co-chair Joan Osofsky at the annual gala Oct. 11.
In an address to supporters, Publisher and CEO James Clark said the papers’ survival had been uncertain five years ago, before the transition to nonprofit ownership. Clark thanked attendees, board members and others in the community whose grassroots support enabled that transition.
“You demonstrated that The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News are essential community assets worth supporting. That support has allowed us to do much more than sustain two newspapers,” Clark said. “We’ve strengthened our newsroom, expanded our reporting, and invested in the people and resources needed to cover our communities more thoroughly.”
Brian Ross, the board vice chair, also addressed the gathering.
The Estabrook award, named for the publications’ former owners, Mary Lou and Robert Estabrook, recognizes outstanding work in the community. Clark praised Hermans’ “longstanding commitment to this region,” saying he “made a lasting difference” as the owner of Oblong Books and as a community activist.
Dan Dwyer, board chairman, connected that commitment to the support of those in attendance, crediting them with helping keep the newspapers going despite widespread closures across the industry.
“Newspapers across the country, thousands of them, have closed in the last 30 years. Similarly, bookstores around the country have too,” Dwyer said.
He pointed to Hermans and the Estabrooks as examples of the community commitment that helps such institutions endure.
“It’s because the Estabrooks established the pivotal role of the newspaper in this community. And Dick Hermans, through his business and his public service, has identified community service as the role that a citizen needs to play.”
For Dwyer, Hermans’ work embodied the practice of good citizenship.
“A bookshop is not just a place where you sell books.It’s where people come… it’s a place where ideas are exchanged,” Dwyer said. “If you want to talk about good old-fashioned civics… this is the guy who’s practiced it for his whole life.”
Hermans’ daughter, Suzanna Hermans, and Dwyer presented him with the award. In his remarks, he reflected on his business, his work establishing the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and his upbringing in the area.
“The store has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams and the Rail Trail is more beautiful than anybody could expect from an old railroad line,” said Hermans, who was “instrumental” in its establishment.
Hermans also reflected on his own experience in journalism, starting as a college radio host for the now NPR-affiliated WJHU in Baltimore. Hermans also co-founded the New Pine Plains Herald, a non-profit community newspaper.
“Accurate information and good news about things our neighbors are doing is a key to maintaining a cohesive community,” he said. “By being here, you’re part of The Lakeville Journal/Millerton News community. It is so important that we keep our communities sane.”
Attendees gather at the Sharon Playhouse Sunday, Oct. 11, for the annual Jubilee gala, celebrating five years of nonprofit ownership of The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News.Photo by Patrick Stachniak
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