PINE PLAINS — After the challenges they faced in their search for a new pantry space, Nelson and Lisa Zayas of Willow Roots wholeheartedly welcomed the community to join in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new space at 7730 South Main St. on Saturday, March 21, at 10 a.m.
The pantry co-founders were brought before the town’s Planning Board as they did not have the proper permits to operate in a residential neighborhood, out of their North Main Street home. Neighbors on the adjoining street, Carla Terrace, began complaining last September that traffic on Saturday morning distribution days was disrupting their quality of life (for more, go to www.tricornernews.com).
The Zayases are in litigation at the moment dealing with the matter; they are also in the midst of pursuing a major home occupation special-use permit. In the meantime, they’ve found a new home for their two-year-old pantry, thanks to the countless do-gooders in the community who contacted them with suggestions of where they could set up a new distribution site. The space that worked out is located on South Main Street.
And that’s where familiar faces in the community could be spotted, standing around the front of the new Willow Roots’ front entrance, waiting in hopeful anticipation.
“It’s a new beginning,” said Willow Roots Board Vice President Brett McCormack. “With winter, you see so many efforts happening behind the scene, roots if you will, and now that it’s spring, people are excited about positivity and change and new beginnings.”
The new set-up, McCormack said, will allow Willow Roots to grow and help more people, generating productive, rather than reactionary, change.
Walking out the front door, Lisa said she was touched to see so many people come out to watch the pantry take root in a new location. Nelson was soon spotted coming out the door with a ribbon in hand, which he pulled tautly across the entryway.
Meanwhile, longtime volunteer Ray Christiansen passed green ribbons out to onlookers to tie onto the willow tree McCormack crafted and painted for the lobby.
Thanking everyone for their presence and letting grateful tears fall, Lisa said, “I love you all and I’m really proud to be part of Willow Roots. I always said that Willow Roots doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to everyone, and you definitely showed that when you rallied together to help us.”
Telling the story of how Willow Roots first took root in Pine Plains, Lisa introduced the group to Bruce Silvernale, whom she described as the willow root that started their work. From that moment on, she said they realized they were “going to need a bigger boat” and their efforts flourished as they continued to feed, clothe and provide for more people in need of support.
Whether they’ve been a receiver or a giver of Willow Roots’ services, Lisa told the crowd that each and every one of them has become a part of the Willow Roots family.
“When we were asked to leave, or told we should leave… we had a hard time,” she admitted. “Nelson and I kept it quiet and then at one time we decided we were going to give up. We didn’t think we could go through with it anymore; we were tired and we thought that maybe the community didn’t really need us as much as we thought — and you guys all proved us wrong.”
It was with the community’s support, Lisa said, that she and Nelson realized Willow Roots didn’t belong to them at all and they had no right to make the decision to give up. Choosing instead to fight, they were able to secure the space that she said will be the pantry’s home for as long as the community still wants them. Previously occupied by the former thrift store, Pass It On, the Zayases learned of the space through its owner, Kyle Lougheed.
Once the pantry’s board members and volunteers had a chance to speak their peace, the Zayases invited Silvernale to stand beside them to tie on the willow tree’s first ribbon, and with a snip of the scissors in Lisa’s hand, the ribbon was cut and the pantry was officially opened for operation. A line soon formed up the walkway for visitors to tour the new space and tie on ribbons, and volunteers began arriving to distribute food at 11 a.m., for a rare Sunday morning distribution.
As they toured the new Willow Roots space at 7730 South Main St., community members were invited to tie a ribbon on the willow tree crafted by Willow Roots Board Vice President Brett McCormack that’s stationed in the lobby. Photo by Kaitlin Lyle
Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats — volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official — yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Before settling in Millerton, Fedele spent 25 years working in merchandising at JCPenney.
His roots, however, trace back to Rhinebeck, where he grew up on a 97-acre farm and enjoyed what he describes as an idyllic childhood.
“It was marvelous,” he said, with a twinkle of nostalgia in his eyes. As a boy, he climbed apple trees, spent hours in the family barn’s hayloft, played with neighbors until sunset, and helped his Sicilian grandmother — his nonna — in the garden. Today, Fedele wears her ring. “Any time I’m a little depressed or I want to remember,” he said, “I can talk to her.”
Growing up with an Italian grandmother sparked a lifelong love of history and culture. That curiosity eventually took Fedele to Italy, where he visited the church in which his grandmother was baptized. “Because I love history so much, I wanted to know where my grandmother was from, so I traveled to her village in Sicily.”
Along the way, he uncovered another piece of family history. His great-grandfather, Giovanni Nicolini, was a noted Italian sculptor whose work still stands outside Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy. Fedele later made a pilgrimage there and photographed his ancestor’s name on the bronze plaque outside of the theater.
Ralph Fedele sits at a table in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse in downtown Millerton. Fedele led the effort to renovate and relocate the schoolhouse to the center of the village.Photo by Aly Morrissey
The Irondale Schoolhouse
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
He left his post at the North East Historical Society to found Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse, leading an eight-year effort to “move, restore, and repurpose the building.”
Supervisor Chris Kennan said the project remains inseparable from Fedele’s name. “Every time I pass by the Schoolhouse, I think of Ralph,” Kennan said. “It was his vision and persistence that enabled this dream to become a reality.”
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students — Mary (Mechare) Leitch — who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
‘Trust is earned’
Today, even though he won’t call himself a local, Fedele is a familiar fixture in town. You can find him each week enjoying conversation and a cup of coffee at Talk of the Town Deli, or getting stopped in town by neighbors and friends for a chat.
“I have gained the trust and confidence of a lot of people,” Fedele said. “It comes a little bit at a time. Trust is earned.”
Not only has Fedele served as a town board member, he has volunteered for Townscape and served as the president of the North East Historical Society. He was also one of the first advocates of preserving history by fixing toppled gravestones at the Spencer’s Corners Burying Ground.
His service was formally recognized at his final Town Board meeting through a resolution commending his three four-year terms as councilman, citing his “good humor, kindness to all and deep concern for the community’s senior citizens and for those living on fixed incomes.”
An emotional Fedele addressed the room with a mantra he often repeats. “When you leave, leave this place a little bit better than you found it,” he said. “That’s what I have always tried to do.”
Neighbors react
During the public comment, several residents stood to thank Fedele.
Claire Goodman, a member of the village Zoning Board of Appeals and Townscape volunteer, said Fedele was among the first to welcome her to Millerton.
“Whether we’re standing out in the cold, scrubbing tombstones at Spencer’s Corners, or ringing the bell at the schoolhouse, you always have such grace and you’re such a gentleman.” She added, “The way you laugh, it opens my heart.”
Kathy Chow, who serves on the Conservation Advisory Council and the Climate Smart Task Force, referred to Fedele as a “pitbull,” adding, “We all have hard things that we do, and we keep pushing at it, but you’re the one who makes me think I can keep going.”
Fedele describes his retirement from the town board as bittersweet. “I’m going to miss this,” he said. “I really am.”
