Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

All things fall and FFA found in Pine Plains at annual Ag Fair

PINE PLAINS — Whether they were a rising member of the Pine Plains FFA, a longtime supporter of the local FFA chapter or a resident of Pine Plains, it was undoubtedly worth the wait to see the community brought together again by a long-standing tradition — the Pine Plains FFA’s annual Fall Agricultural Fair, held on Saturday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The main Ag Fair festivities on Saturday were preceded by a dairy showmanship event for fourth- and fifth-grade students on Friday, Oct. 8, and a field day for middle and high school students also on the 8th.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s Ag Fair didn’t include the traditional roast beef dinner. Last year’s entire fair had been canceled.

The crackling community excitement leading up to the fair was amplified on Saturday morning by the spectacular turnout of people who lined sidewalks in anticipation of the annual parade at 9:30 a.m. as well as the bleachers to watch the tractor pull on the lawn in front of the Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School.

With a float of FFA members leading the way, the parade rang in the morning as it made its grand arrival through town toward the school, featuring local representatives, tractors, a pair of oxen towing a cart and the Stissing Mountain Band. As the last parade vehicle turned the corner toward campus, spectators made their way toward the festivities, ready to get started on a day of FFA fun.

The tractor pull paused out of respect for a ceremony by the flagpole, then resumed its business with a cacophonous burst of noise as competing tractors strained to pull their given weights.

Walking past the food booths that emitted mouth-watering aromas, past the tractor pull and the range of cars on display at the car show in the parking lot, families and community members walked behind the high school to where the main festivities lay. Many followed signs promoting the flower show in the gym, the pet show, Cow Pie Bingo and other exhibits.

Various Pine Plains classes promoted their graduating classes with fundraisers that sold baked potatoes, pie slices, chili, pulled-pork parfaits, cotton candy and other food fit for a fall fair.

Local businesses and organizations also promoted their wares at booths set up around the school grounds. Walking into the main barn, spectators were overtaken by the sweet smell of fresh hay and the rows of calves being lovingly cared for by middle schoolers who petted and fed them and happily refreshed their hay.

In the barn next door, young children fawned over the small animals exhibit with its array of goats, sheep, rabbits, chicken and other creatures. Meanwhile, FFA members in the making guided their cows and horses around the field in anticipation of the horse and dairy shows.

The day ended with music and tapping toes as The Stissing Center hosted a square dance to raise money for the FFA. The fireworks display planned at the ball fields, planned by the Pine Plains Recreation Department and Pine Plains Dog Warden Rich Prentice, were canceled last minute, but town Supervisor Darrah Cloud emailed the community in her newsletter that the town would “see if it is legal to put the money that would have been used for this towards the new playground.”

Gemma Osofsky relaxed in the hay next to her calf Lemon at the Pine Plains FFA’s Fall Agricultural Fair on Saturday morning, Oct. 9. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

Members of the Pine Plains Class of 2023 sold hot chili to support their graduating class at the Pine Plains FFA Fall Agricutlure Fair on Saturday, Oct. 9. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

Visiting the small animals exhibit on display at the Pine Plains FFA Ag Fair, Shea Cordella, 4, posed in front of a very friendly Flemish giant. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

Gemma Osofsky relaxed in the hay next to her calf Lemon at the Pine Plains FFA’s Fall Agricultural Fair on Saturday morning, Oct. 9. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

Notice of Formation of Kaits Kleaning LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05-22-2026. Office Lo-cation: Dutchess county. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 24 Attlebury Hill Road, Standfordville NY 12581.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.