PINE PLAINS — If you find yourself in the woods of Stissing Mountain, chances are high that you’ll find Pine Plains residents Brian Sikora, Joe Schmidt and Viviann Berlinghoff hauling rocks and shifting soil as they build the newly named Thompson to Tower trail. Spanning 1 mile and over 900 feet of elevation gain, the trail is contiguous with the paths of Thompson Pond, and will take hikers from the trailhead at Lake Road up to the Stissing Fire Tower.
The trail is being constructed as a collaboration among three organizations: the Friends of Stissing Landmarks (FOSL), Dutchess Land Conservancy (DLC) and the Nature Conservancy (TNC). Berlinghoff is the chairperson of FOSL, a nonprofit that formed in the 1990s with the objective of preserving the fire tower, and Sikora and Schmidt are both members. The trail falls on a combination of DLC and TNC conserved land, and according to DLC outreach and engagement manager Brian Straniti, getting the collaboration in motion began with witnessing Sikora’s passionate work.
After meeting at a DLC volunteer event, Sikora invited Straniti to go and see the work he’d already undertaken on FOSL land with the hopes of getting DLC approval for further trail building. When Straniti saw the work already completed, he knew that empowering Sikora and FOSL to build the trail they wanted to build would result in something great: “I instantly went back and called my contact [at TNC] and said, ‘Hey, these guys are just itching to go on doing trail work and the stonework they’re doing is unbelievable. It’s like next-level stuff. Lightning is striking, let’s do this.’”
From there, the partnership fell easily into place, and Straniti began hosting DLC volunteer trail work days in coordination with FOSL. Pairing passionate and invested locals with community-oriented conservation projects is a hallmark of the sort of work Straniti hopes to do in his role, a part of the DLC’s recently developed outreach program.
Now, almost a year in, over 800 combined volunteer hours have been poured into the trail, with Sikora individually putting in over 540 hours of that work. Accordingly, Berlinghoff credited Sikora as a driving energy behind the effort: “He’s the reason that this trail is happening. It’s his total brainchild. He gets us out there, he designs it. His work ethic is amazing.”
On the Aug. 3 volunteer trail work day, the FOSL trio was joined by Straniti, recent Stissing Mountain High School graduate Hem Hanaburgh, and current Stissing Mountain High School student Cat Stoner for some invigorating work about three-quarters of the way up the mountain. As we zoomed to our work spot, the FOSL trio pointed out segments of the trail that were particularly tricky or that they were particularly proud of or that needed more work. It was a vigorous, lush, and well engineered hike: a credit to the many months of work done by Sikora, Schmidt, Berlinghoff, and the volunteers.
For the next three hours, we hauled rocks, smashed rocks, gathered rocks and placed rocks. Interspersed throughout the day’s labors were sprinkles of ecological information from Straniti, who spoke to the particular geography of Stissing Mountain.
While for other trail building efforts, the tasks might vary a bit more, Stissing Mountain is essentially a heap of stones with a relatively thin layer of dirt over it, so trail work means rocks work. It was dirty and it was fun.
For Sikora, there’s nothing he’d rather be doing. An avid hiking enthusiast who has traversed trails up and down the Northeast, the opportunity to imagine and sculpt a trail to be used widely by the public has been a dream come true: “Once you get up here, you don’t want to leave. I love being in nature and doing the work. But it’s also about wanting to leave something for the community that will last beyond me.”
Sikora and crew estimate that the Thompson to Tower trail is about 70% completed, but the trail is essentially usable and is already being enjoyed by local hikers. On Saturday, Sept. 23, all three involved organizations will host a grand opening of the trail, and there will be food, opportunities to learn about local flora and fauna, and the chance to enjoy the fruits of a community effort that a number of dedicated residents have devoted themselves to wholeheartedly.
Before the opening, however, DLC and FOSL will host two more volunteer trail work days. Hours are drop-in, and the next date is Thursday, Aug. 31, from 3 to 6 p.m. Make sure to bring water and good shoes. More details available at: www.dutchessland.org/get-involved/events-and-programs
Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.
I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.
We make a left on Salmon Kill Road and begin the most beautiful five-mile section of the route through rolling hills and beautiful farm country spread out over the length of the scenic valley. Fortunately, the Salmon Kill Bridge has been reopened after a two-year reconstruction — its lengthy closure was a real bummer.
After a short climb and descent, Salmon Kill terminates at Lime Rock Road.
This is the busiest and least enjoyable section of the ride, but lasts only about a mile when we turn left at the Trinity Lime Rock Episcopal Church and follow Dugway Road, with its rolling hills along the south side of the Housatonic River.
We usually stop on the Falls River Bridge to check out the volume of water flowing over the Great Falls. We make a right off the bridge on to Water Street, pass the power plant and Appalachian Trail parking lot, and go under the railroad bridge with a sharp left up a steep but short hill north on Route 126 (Point of Rocks Road.)
Now we’re on a long, flat run that includes a slight right on Sand Road, which we follow all the way to Route 7 at the Canaan Country Club. A left here leaves you on a very busy state highway less than a mile before turning right onto Lower Road — be careful — but there’s plenty of shoulder.
Lower Road runs parallel to the Blackberry River and passes both modern and historic local industry: the impressive lime rock quarry operated by Specialty Minerals Inc., followed by the Beckley Iron Furnace State Park.
Next, we make a left on the appropriately named Furnace Road, across Route 44 — careful again — and face a steep but short climb up Allyndale Rd. Following it to the left begins a long stretch of beautiful farms and distant views of the Southfield and New Marlborough hills. We pick up a lot of speed downhill, zip past Sodom Road, and then a flat stretch to Clayton Road and into Massachusetts.
Continue straight (north) on Polikoff Road, then make a left onto Hewins Road if you want to keep the ride short. Alternatively, you could turn right on Hewins Road and follow it to Maple and into Sheffield to add another 5 to 10 miles.
But, if you’re sticking with the 32-mile ride, turn left on Hewins and take it across Route 7, followed by a left on Main Street and into Ashley Falls’ bucolic town center.
The right turn on Rannapo Road takes us along and across the winding Housatonic River ,where we watch the corn grow from seedlings to more than six feet by late summer.
Next is a left on to the daunting Cooper Hill Road — the steepest and only tough climb of the route. The effort is rewarded by spectacular 360-degree views, including the mountains of the Taconic Ridge and Appalachian Trail to the west.
A left onto Silver Road leads to the payoff: two steep descents, a view of the Twin Lakes on the left, and arrival at stately Taconic Road, home to some of Salisbury’s grandest old estates. A left on Taconic Road offers more rolling farm hills and beautiful views of the Taconic Ridge.
It terminates at Route 44, where we make a right (west) and let the long, steep descent carry us all the way into Salisbury, past the White Hart Inn and back to our starting point at Town Hall.
That’s the route: a relatively flat 1,500 feet of climbing with minimal car traffic. We usually reward ourselves with post-ride refreshments on the White Hart lawn.
I hope you enjoy this local gem of a ride!
Kent Hiteshew is a Salisbury cyclist.
This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete.It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.
Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.
The ride starts and ends at The Farmer’s Wife Café in Ancramdale, a great place for lunch or refreshments after the ride.(The café is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).Parking is usually available between the café and the Ancramdale post office.But be courteous — don’t monopolize parking needed by the café’s guests and staff!
Here are the coordinates for the ride:
Turn left out of the parking lot of the Farmer’s Wife onto County Road 8.
At .5 miles, turn left on Crest Lane
At 1.9 miles, turn left on East Ancram Road
At 6.8 miles, turn left on County Road 3
At 7.0 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 7.7 miles, turn right on Empire Road
At 10.7 miles, go straight through the village of Copake onto Main Street.
At 11.1 miles, bear left onto Farm Road
At 11.3 miles, turn left on Mountain View Road
At 12.1 miles turn right on County Road 7A
At 12.3 miles, turn left on Snyder Pond Road
At 13.0 miles turn left to stay on Snyder Pond Road
At 14.2 miles, turn right on County Road 7
At 14.8 miles turn left on County Road 27 (This is where there is short hill.)
At 15.5 miles, make a hairpin turn to the left on County Road 27A.(This can be easy to miss so be on the lookout for it).
At 17.5 miles, go straight across County Road 7 onto Four Corners Road.
At 18.7 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 19.0 miles, turn left on Snyder Road
At 20.3 miles, bear left onto Roche Drive
At 20.8 miles, turn right on County Road 3
Follow County Road 3 back to Ancramdale and the Farmer’s Wife.
Jeremy Koch is a Norfolk cyclist.
Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.
MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.
As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.
The digitalization process in North East began in November of 2015, when the program LaserFiche was selected due to a grant shared with the nearby towns of Amenia, Dover Plains and Beekman. The program was shared until 2024 and now each town scans documents separately to their individual clouds.
The organization and scanning process is a daunting one because the Town Hall keeps historic, business, judicial and assessors records. Town Clerk Elizabeth “Tilly” Strauss explained that it is a learning process to go through the records, organize and keep or destroy based on retention schedules of certain items.
There are two forms of scanning and storing documents that the town has utilized. The Town Clerk’s office uses the system BAS for scanning vital records, minutes, invoices and resolutions. This system is updated constantly as new information comes in, but Wheatley, along with other offices in the Town Hall, has been working backwards to digitize all of the old files as well. Wheatley scans documents for about an hour every afternoon. “That’s what it takes to keep up to date,” she said. There are currently 3324 files in the system.
The other mode of scanning and storing documents is through the IPS system, which gets records from planning, zoning, building and assessors. Chris Virtuoso, who started as a tax collector in 2021, stepped up to lead this half of the process beginning in 2022.
“He had a big task. He had boxes all over the place. He was spread out, he was intense and focused,” Wheatley said of Virtuoso. According to Wheatley and Strauss, the project did not only include scanning and reordering, but a complete reorganization.
“What happened was, a lot of files were under the names of farmers, but they then either got sold or were subdivided,” said Strauss. “Chris has been scanning and organizing into and by parcel number instead of name.”
Virtuoso first began this project by finding parcel locations on the assessors map and looking through files of names and addresses. He then sorted through boxes to find the parcel numbers, organizing them into new boxes based on zone and ordered by parcel number.
“If somebody buys a parcel now and they want to know the history, they can go down there with the number for the parcel and those folders are in there,” stated Virtuoso. “That was the end goal, to get everything from alphabetical order into parcel number order.”
Virtuoso had also found a log tracking all cases by number, which went back until 2005, and added blank pages for all of the newly-scanned files dating back to 1968. This book is now up to date, and current cases and pages are added every year.
“You become like Sherlock Holmes,” said Virtuoso. “What I always kept in mind was, when I’m not here anymore, will someone be able to figure this out?”
From his start in 2022 to March 2023 when both planning and zoning were completely up to date, Virtuoso would come to the Town Hall every morning to scan for two or three hours, five days a week, while still maintaining his career as a realtor.
As of March 2023, when Virtuoso wrote a report on his progress, 361 case files were scanned for the Zoning Board of Appeals. He had also deleted and destroyed any duplicates, removed any metal that may damage the documents, resecured the folders, and organized everything by parcel number with room for additional files.
“He went above and beyond,” Wheatley stated.
Virtuoso — and the Town Clerks — are eager to move to the new Town Hall property. “Look, this is an old home, it’s charming, but we need room for all those files, we need more space and offices,” said Virtuoso.
“I can’t wait,” Strauss stated. “We’re going to have new shelves and everything organized by departments. It’s going to be beautiful.” After condensing, destroying duplicates and scanning, all records will be brought to the new location, however, the digitized copies will serve as backup and for convenience.
Although the process is viewed as an overall success, there are still a few remaining hopes for the future. Virtuoso hopes for collaboration with other towns to buy or lease a large-format scanner for large-scale maps, blueprints, and other important documents that have yet to be scanned.
Virtuoso also hopes to make the Historical Society aware of the rich and unique history that he found within the basement boxes, opening the possibility for deeper understanding of the local area. “The files are important because they do have a certain chunk of history.”
The Thorne Building on Franklin Avenue in the village of Millbrook.
MILLBROOK — Summer fun is just around the corner, thanks to the fire department and the return of the Fire Department Carnival scheduled to open on Wednesday, July 9, and continue through Saturday, July 12, on the Thorne Building grounds on Franklin Avenue.
Opening night activities will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9. The Carnival will open each night at 7 p.m., remaining open until 11 p.m.
There will be fun for everyone. All activities are free. Visitors can enjoy Bingo, games of chance, rides and games, and a 50/50 raffle drawing each night. Food will be available.
Music will be a feature on Thursday through Saturday. From 8 to 11 p.m. enjoy the sounds of DJ Gourmet on Thursday, Heavy Gauge on Friday, and Rhythm and Blues on Saturday.
Also on Saturday plan to be on hand for one of the largest parades in Dutchess County, starting at 6 p.m., proceeding along Franklin Avenue.
