PINE PLAINS — Stissing Mountain High School math teacher Gerard Lisella obviously loves what he does. Anyone who has the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Lisella can hear the enthusiasm — not only for his subject matter, but for his students — ring out as clear as a bell in his voice.
For the past five or six weeks, however, Lisella’s passion for his work and his impression of his students have grown tenfold, as his Topics in Math class surprised him with the project-based-learning (PBL) project it recently chose.
The 16 students, a mix of boys and girls in grades 10 through 12, opted to build a small, free-standing food pantry planted in a flower pot for the local nonprofit Willow Roots. It will be installed outside of the Pine Plains Free Library (PPFL), so those in need can take something and/or leave something whenever they need to, like a lending library for essential nonperishable food items.
“I was impressed they could see that kind of generosity and I was a little proud of it, to hear that from teenagers,” said Lisella. “I was like, ‘What do you want to do for your class project?’ And they were like, ‘Charity work.’”
He explained the Topics in Math class in the PPCSD “is another option for students to get their math credit, and we have the freedom to make our own curriculum; it’s not aligned with certain standards like geometry, algebra, etc.”
The math teacher further explained that at the start of the school year he sits down with his students and tries to build a class agenda based on students’ interests, rather than on what the books suggest.
Lisella’s class had just completed two PBL projects, including the classic egg drop from the second-floor window and another project that was based in the woodshop.
The class was brainstorming for project number three and agreed it enjoyed working in the woodshop, but wanted to do something centered around the holidays. It was December at the time.
“They wanted to do something in theme of giving,” said Lisella. “By the end of their class period the students said, ‘Let’s build a donation box for charity,’ and by the next class period I got in touch with Lisa [Zayas, co-founder of Willow Roots], and we rolled with it.”
“He’s just such an incredible gentleman and we’re so lucky to have this man on our team,” said Zayas about Lisella. “Just his enthusiasm and love for the kids alone is inspiring.”
Lisella brought his students to the February Pine Plains Town Board meeting; they had written up a proposal for the board and he wanted them to present it to the town.
“I didn’t want to speak for them, it wasn’t my idea — it was theirs,” said Lisella. “I am just helping them channel it.”
And channel it they did. In fact, town Supervisor Brian Walsh liked the idea so much, not only did he approve the mini-food pantry being installed at the PPFL, he and the board wanted it to be done officially, with town officials and The Millerton News, the town’s official newspaper, on hand to record the moment for historical purposes.
“It’s a great project to bring students together and bring the community together. They did an excellent job. I don’t even know how to describe it,” said Walsh. “They did a great job; it’s a beautiful box. And Willow Roots goes above and beyond for the community; you couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s a great organization run by two great individuals.”
Zayas is appreciative of the town’s support, and said installing the small pantry at the library is just one more way of ensuring Willow Roots and its mission will continue on into the future.
“I know that Willow Roots will definitely be around long after Nelson [my husband and co-founder] and I are gone,” she said. “That’s our dream, that Willow Roots is something that we started and is still persevering. Our volunteers are young and dedicated and kind. It warms our heart. You know you’re doing the right thing when you get positive feedback. We’re still on the right track and doing what we’re supposed to do. We’re good.”
She added as far as funding the mini pantry, Lisella arranged everything.
“I do not know how much it cost. He said the school is funding it; they didn’t skimp.”
However, in interviewing the math teacher, it slipped out that he actually footed the bill personally. Lisella said he just picked up supplies and materials when needed and shoved the receipts into his pocket.
“I haven’t even been keeping track of prices or receipts or anything; we’re building it and just donating it in the end,” he said.
“That does not surprise me,” said Walsh.
Lisella said he didn’t bother to approach the school board because he didn’t want to deal with the red tape or delays.
“It all goes back around,” he said, adding he feels he’s the lucky one.
The pantry is 24-inches wide and 27-inches tall, sloping down to 18-inches in the back. It has an internal depth of 16 inches; 3/4-inch exterior grade plywood was used along with pressure-treated lumber.
Once installed, the free-standing pantry at the library will be incredibly useful to community. As Zayas said, Willow Roots has so many clients that some days it gives out so much food (plus free clothing and winter coats) it winds up “decimated.”
To prevent volunteer burnout, Willow Roots is now open twice a month, on the first and third Saturdays, from 10 to 11 a.m. However, Zayas said, it is “giving out more food, with longer distributions” on those days.
Willow Roots is located at 7730 South Main St. To drop off food or clothing, call 518-751-0164 or 570-269-5649.
The installation of the new pantry is tentatively set for Wednesday, March 23, at 5 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Aly Morrissey
Dan Cohen, left, dispenses whipped cream on a plate of maple syrup treats during a demonstration on the making of maple syrup at Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on Millbrook School’s campus.
MILLBROOK — The Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo hosted its sixth annual Maple Syrup Madness Weekend on March 7 and 8, drawing visitors eager to sample fresh maple syrup, learn about the sugaring process and enjoy one of the region’s sweetest seasonal activities. The event will continue March 14 and 15, as long as the sap continues to flow, organizers said.
Visitors were treated to free tastings of locally made maple syrup with a side of waffles, while Alan Tousignant — a woodworker, syrup maker and director of the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo — led demonstrations showing how sap collected from nearby maple trees is transformed into syrup.
“This is a very seasonal activity, and you’ve got to go while you can,” Tousignant said of the labor-intensive process.
Alan Tousignant stokes a fire in a maple evaporator, a machine that turns maple sap into syrup with heat.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Tousignant first experimented with making maple syrup in a backyard over an open campfire under the stars — a method he said required long nights and wasted much of the heat.
Today, he uses a specialized maple evaporator, a large stainless-steel pan heated by a wood fire from below that allows sap to boil efficiently and continuously.
Sap collected from the trees begins as a clear, watery liquid that contains only about two to two and a half percent sugar, Tousignant explained. Before boiling, the sap is run through a reverse-osmosis process to concentrate the sugar slightly. The liquid then enters the evaporator, where heat gradually removes the water as the sap flows through a series of channels.
By the time the liquid reaches about 215 degrees, the sugar has concentrated enough to become maple syrup.
Tousignant said he is currently collecting sap from around 50 maple trees, some of which have multiple taps. He said one gallon of maple syrup requires around 40 gallons of sap, a process that requires a lot of patience.
“That’s what I call ‘almost syrup,’ he laughed, pointing to a container of darkening liquid that had already been boiled and was completing a filtration process.
“Typically, the early season syrup is lighter, and as the season goes on, it gets darker,” he said. “Toward the end of the season, it can be really dark, almost like walnut syrup.”
Tousignant collects chunks of naturally formed ice that float in the sap buckets when the weather gets cold enough as a way to keep a 300-gallon tank of sap cool to prevent it from spoiling until it can be processed.
Alan Tousignant adjusts the water level in his maple evaporator at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on Millbrook School’s campus on Saturday, March 7.Photo by Aly Morrissey
“I love trying to use Mother Nature to its fullest in a sustainable way,” he said.
He employs the same philosophy in his woodworking, using trees that have already died or fallen or collecting discarded wood pallets from Amazon deliveries to the Millbrook School, saving them from the burn pile.
Raised near the Canadian border in upstate New York, Tousignant said he has always enjoyed working outdoors. As a graduate student, he supported himself with a variety of hands-on jobs to make extra spending money.
“Raking leaves, washing houses, painting, anything to make a little cash for eating and paying the bills,” he said.
It was during this time when Tousignant developed an acronym that now serves as the label for his maple syrup — Hayibaco, short for Home and Yard Improvements by Alan.
This will mark his first year selling his own maple syrup under his custom label, which features an illustrated photo of him in his signature outfit — a plaid shirt and a fleece vest — against a backdrop of his syrup bottles. Syrup will be sold in the gift shop at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo and possibly at the Millerton Farmer’s Market in the future.
In addition to Hayibaco, other locally made maple syrup and maple products were available for sale at the tasting, including nearby Soukup Farms in Dover and Russell Farms in Rhinebeck.
Dan Cohen, Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo’s Director of Media, said that zoo attendance typically dips during the winter months. But for many of the zoo’s animals — particularly those who prefer the cold weather — winter can actually be one of the best times to visit.
Animals like Stanley the lynx, Cohen said, are far more active in the cold weather.
Cohen and his colleagues began brainstorming ways to encourage winter zoo visits and were pleased with the success of both a hot chocolate event earlier this year and the maple syrup weekend.
Aly Morrissey
Relief Chiropractic and Wellness on South Center Street in the Village of Millerton, where a stroller was reported stolen and later returned after Tyler Van Steenbergen
MILLERTON — News of a stolen stroller swept through Millerton last week after a grassroots effort to recover the expensive baby equipment gained traction on Main Street and social media.
The stroller, an UPPAbaby Vista model — widely considered a high-end brand and valued at more than $1,000 — was taken from outside Relief Chiropractic and Wellness on the corner of Main Street and South Center Street before it was anonymously returned the following day.
According to its owner, Tyler Van Steenbergen, the stroller had been tucked neatly outside of his office and was taken around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 27.
Van Steenbergen said he and his wife, who also owns a Main Street business — Treefort Toys and Gifts — became uneasy after their stroller disappeared.
“It was a shock because Millerton is so safe all the time,” Van Steenbergen said.
The couple waited about two hours before calling the Millerton Police Department for assistance. Without adequate security footage, however, Van Steenbergen said officers told them they were not optimistic about recovering the stroller.
“They said it would be like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said.
Undeterred, Van Steenbergen posted flyers up and down Main Street and shared the information on Facebook.
Around 8 a.m. the following day, he said he received a text message from someone who apologized and claimed they believed the stroller had been left out for free, noting that baby equipment is sometimes left on the street for others to take.
The stroller was returned to the alley behind the chiropractor’s office on South Center Street.
Van Steenbergen said there was no sign indicating the stroller was free and that it had not been placed by the roadside.
“I find that hard to believe because it was tucked up right against my office,” he said of the person’s claims.
Following the incident, Van Steenbergen said he ordered additional security cameras for the property. He said he and his wife are just happy to have their stroller back, which is used by their seven-month-old baby.
Nathan Miller
Cold Spring Early Learning Center on Homan Road in Stanford. Pine Plains school district officials proposed closing the building last year citing budget constraints and declining enrollment.
STANFORD — Community members gathered on Wednesday, March 4, for a first look at a newly-formed committee that will analyze the impact of closing an elementary school building in the Pine Plains Central School District.
Town Supervisor Julia Descoteaux arranged the Wednesday meeting at Stanford Town Hall to find volunteers to represent the town in the district-wide Building Utilization Advisory Committee. The committee's first district-wide meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 12.
Pine Plains Board of Education members voted in February to form the committee. That vote came after Stanford residents asked for more details on plans to shutter Cold Spring Early Learning Center on Homan Road in Stanford. Superintendent Brian Timm announced plans to close the building and consolidate students into Seymour Smith Intermediate School in Pine Plains last year, citing declining enrollment district-wide and potential reductions in state aid that threatened the district’s budget.
Descoteaux said the Board of Education asked each of the nine towns in the district to send three representatives, which would result in a committee with at least 27 members. Three people have shown interest in representing Stanford in the multi-town committee — Kyle Odell, Brooke Brown and Abby Knickerbocker, though Knickerbocker was not present at the Wednesday meeting.
Descoteaux said the committee will analyze the impact of closing Cold Spring Elementary and draft a full educational impact statement. Educational impact statements are recommended — but not required — under New York State education law.
The educational impact statement will analyze the closure’s effect on the community, district finances, use of other buildings, staff employment, and school and extracurricular services. The district currently operates three buildings — Cold Spring Early Learning Center in Stanford, and Seymour Smith Intermediate School and Stissing Mountain Jr./Sr. High School in Pine Plains.
Cold Spring Elementary serves roughly 150 students from pre-K to first grade. There are currently just over 750 students enrolled in the district from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Superintendent Timm said enrollment is down nearly 50% in the past twenty years.
Community members in attendance urged Descoteaux to advocate for more Stanford residents on the committee, citing Cold Spring’s location in the town, the town’s contribution to the district’s revenue, and the school’s integral role in the community.
Descoteaux echoed those sentiments. “Our town has a little bit of a different stake in the game,” she said. “I’ve heard from multiple families that — very direct — they wouldn’t have moved here if there wasn’t a school in town.”
Descoteaux said school district officials requested that representatives include a local business leader, a parent or community member and a representative of the Town Board — a request she said she disagreed with. She said Stanford parents have already taken the lead.
“The community’s been driving this process,” Descoteaux said. “The hope coming out of this is it feels like this is a community-driven process.”
Descoteaux credited Stanford parents like Brooke Brown, who she said led the early efforts to press for more information and community involvement in the school’s closure. Brown advocated strongly for her inclusion on the committee.
“I think I just bring slightly more than an average person would because I’ve already done so much research on it,” Brown said.
Kyle Odell, a Stanford parent and financial manager based out of Poughkeepsie, also volunteered for the committee. He said he wants to take a harder look at the budgetary figures that school district officials cited when Cold Spring’s closure was announced.
Odell said he doubted district officials’ claims about budget constraints, citing figures on rising health care and other costs from district presentations that he said added up to less significant losses than administrators claimed.
“They’re looking at it as the price increase for those things but not as to what it is for the overall budget,” Odell said. “I want to be on this committee to actually see the numbers, especially digging in, so we’re actually making an informed decision.”
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Publisher James Clark, left, and Executive Editor Christian Murray speak at Scoville Memorial Library March 7.
SALISBURY — What makes or breaks a local newspaper is its reputation, Lakeville Journal Executive Editor Christian Murray said at the Scoville Memorial Library Saturday, March 7.
Murray and publisher James Clark led a discussion at the library that was originally scheduled for January, but the weather intervened.
Karen Vrotsos, the head of adult programming for the library, introduced Clark and Murray, and noted that thousands of American newspapers have closed in recent decades, creating regional “news deserts.”
Clark said the news business is under “tremendous pressure even as local news remains the most trusted source.”
Clark said there are many ideas being discussed for the future of newspapers, including the possibility of going fully digital and eliminating print. He was quick to add that going all digital is not the plan for the Journal and The Millerton News.
“We all enjoy a print product,” Clark said. “But we’re also strongly focused on reaching readers on whatever platform they prefer — particularly online.”
He also noted that while the Connecticut and New York legislatures have introduced bills designed to support news organizations, including funding journalism jobs, they have also considered bills to remove requirements that legal notices be published in local newspapers.
While legal notices are a source of revenue, Clark said they also provide a valuable public service. “All the recent Wake Robin decisions were in our legals section,” which complemented the paper’s reporting.
Clark said long-term success in local news comes down to three essentials: adequate funding, enough reporters and, as he put it, “simply doing the reporting.”
“It’s challenging,” he continued. He said LJMN Media, the organization that publishes the two papers, is in its fifth year as a non-profit.
He thanked the community for the financial support, which has allowed for the hiring of new reporters and editors and expanded coverage.
One of those hires was Murray.
The native New Zealander used to be based in Queens, N.Y. and worked for outlets such as amNewYork, Newsday and Reuters.
When Clark was looking for a new executive editor and sorting through resumes, Murray’s experience with the Queens Post — a local news service he founded that reported on neighborhoods in that borough — caught his attention.
In Queens, Murray had a large urban readership. Here in northwest Connecticut and eastern Dutchess County, the population is markedly different.
“But the nuts and bolts of reporting are the same,” Murray said. “Communities of any size want to know about affordable housing, healthcare, new businesses and public safety.”
In Queens, “the scale is bigger, but it’s the same board meetings. The machinations are pretty much the same.”
Murray, who moved to northwest Connecticut five years ago, said local news is often more meaningful than national news for readers. “I want to know about the restaurant down the street, or the property up the road.”
He said bigger publications are often content rewriting press releases. “Quality journalism is at the local level. Our reporters are out there talking to people.”
Murray said he chatted recently with a friend who works for Fox Digital.
“He’s covering Iran from his apartment in Long Island City!”
Asked about how the two local papers cover national issues, Clark said “We cover how they affect our communities and what they’re doing about it.”
“We’ll continue providing news as we see it and keeping it balanced,” Murray added.
Asked about using Facebook and other social media, Clark said “we see Facebook as one platform of many. We want to get our news to people where they are.”
The questioner followed up, asking how Facebook comments are moderated.
Clark said that “in general we use as light a touch as possible” for comments.
“We’ll delete or hide comments that are simply inflammatory or profane.”
Clark mentioned “HVRHS Today,” the student publication from Housatonic Valley Regional High School that is a collaboration between The Lakeville Journal and the high school.
“That’s their newspaper. They’re not writing for The Lakeville Journal.”
Clark said there are three high schools in The Millerton News’ coverage area, and he hopes to expand the program.
Both Clark and Murray kept reiterating the importance of local newspapers being accurate and fair.
“Reputation matters so much in local news,” Murray said. “We’re much more accountable to our communities” than larger newspapers.
“When we ship the papers, we know we’re going to see the people we’re writing about in the checkout line at LaBonne’s,” said Clark.
“It gives us that little extra ‘oomph’ to get it right.”
Nathan Miller
The Millerton fire crew watches a pump hose carry water from the NorthEast-Millerton Library’s basement on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
MILLERTON — Library officials expect the NorthEast-Millerton Library to be fully open the weekend of March 14-15, a full month after a burst pipe forced librarians to move operations to the annex building on Century Boulevard.
Executive Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said the temporary relocation has been stressful, but library patrons have been understanding and using the library to the fullest extent possible.
A pipe in the wall of a private apartment above the library burst on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 10, sending water into the walls and flooding the basement.
Leo-Jameson reported that at its height, the water settled about five inches above the basement floor. Though the furnace was at risk, the water did not rise high enough to cause damage.
The basement did not contain any stored materials, and damage was contained to the walls surrounding the fireplace in the building’s rear.The leak required the building’s water to be shut off, forcing the library to close until service could be restored.
Leo-Jameson said the plumber is expected to fix the broken pipe on Wednesday, March 11. She said the plumber’s arrival was delayed because the building’s walls, floors and carpet had to be assessed for damage, mold and asbestos.
“Much to the surprise of everybody, it was the original flooring to the building,” Leo-Jameson said. She said current reports indicate the damage was limited to the single burst pipe and the sheetrock adjacent to the burst.
“The force of the water burst through the sheetrock,” Leo-Jameson said.
The library continues to operate during its normal hours of operation from a temporary station in the annex. Patrons can check out requested books and make returns, and daytime programming is ongoing. Leo-Jameson said she was thankful to have the annex after the pipe burst.
“If you’re ever going to have a burst pipe in the library, this was pretty ideal,” Leo-Jameson said.
Millerton News
SALISBURY — Alfred Lyon Ivry, a long-time resident of Salisbury, and son of Belle (Malamud) and Morris Ivry, died in Bergen County, New Jersey, on Feb. 12 at the age of 91, surrounded by family members. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he was a graduate ofAbraham Lincoln High School and Brooklyn College, where he earned a B.A. in English literature and Philosophy and served as drama critic for the school paper.
Alfred earned a PhD in Medieval Jewish Philosophy from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1963 and in 1971 was awarded a D. Phil in Medieval Islamic Philosophy from Oxford University, Linacre College.
He enjoyed a long career as a professor of Jewish and Islamic philosophy, with appointments at Cornell, Ohio State, Brandeis, and New York University. Alfred wrote more than one hundred scholarly articles and book reviews, and was the author or editor of nine books, including Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed: A Philosophical Guide, published in 2016.
Alfred and Joann, his wife of 67 years, moved to the Berkshire area in the early 1990s, splitting their time between the Twin Lakes and New York City until their respective retirements. After that, they lived in Salisbury full time, availing themselves of the region’s many cultural offerings. They relocated in late 2020 to Noble Horizons for two years before moving to New Jersey to be closer to their children.
In their many years together, Alfred and Joann traveled regularly, frequenting museums, national parks, and other destinations. Alfred was an avid reader of the newspaper, fiction, and poetry, and possessed both a sharp wit and an estimable sense of humor. Throughout his life, he enjoyed outdoor activities including swimming, camping, hiking, ice skating on Twin Lakes, and tennis. Like many Brooklyn boys of his era, he followed the Dodgers, but happily took his children to Red Sox games at Fenway Park and later his grandchildren to see the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
In Salisbury, Alfred became a successful gentleman farmer, and embarked on canoe trips and fishing expeditions on Twin Lakes and beyond.He took up birding, among other hobbies, and with Joann developed and enjoyed the friendships he made in Salisbury and environs, and especially amongst members of the Great Barrington-based Berkshire Minyan, of which they were founding members.
Above all, Alfred was committed to the Jewish tradition and people, and to his family. He is survived by his wife, Joann (nee Saltzman);children, Rebecca and husband Clifford Stein, Jonathan, Sara, and Jessica, grandchildren; Molly and husband Josh Mark, Noah and wife Noa Shapiro, Ben Stein, Talia, Max, Isaiah, and Esther Ivry; great-grandchild, Aaron Mark; and colleagues and friends made throughout his life. He was predeceased by his sister, Grace.
Donations in Alfred’s memory may be made to the Berkshire Minyan and to the Yaakov Goboff Fund at the Yaakov Herzog Institute for Jewish Studies.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
