Quellas host Hotchkiss Library of Sharon gala

James and Linda Quella hosted the spring gala at their estate in Sharon.
Alexander Wilburn
James and Linda Quella hosted the spring gala at their estate in Sharon.
The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon held its annual spring gala and auction on Saturday, May 18, at the Sharon home of James and Linda Quella, best known in the area for their family-run poultry farm, Q Farms, where they humanely raise chickens in their pastures.
The spring gala is a major event each year for the library to raise funds for its annual budgeting cost, explained Hotchkiss Library Director Gretchen Hachmeister. “We raise about 65% of our annual operating budget just through fundraising events. We get about 25% from the town and the rest, some grants, and then the rest is fundraising. The general budget supports just opening the doors and helping us do everything we do.”
Silent auction items at the gala included a handcrafted dinnerware set by DBO Home in Sharon — which has provided dining wear to restaurants like ABC Kitchen and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, and Troutbeck in Amenia — as well as art by Patty Mullins and the late Cleve Gray, and a dahlia subscription provided by English Garden Grown in Salisbury. Also notable was a throw woven with wool collected from Hachmeister’s own Shetland sheep she raises.
“We are passionate about community and community is about people and bringing people together,” James Quella said on hosting this year’s library gala. “Mission-driven is a way a community can be brought together. The mission here is that Hotchkiss Library is a community center. It’s a place where the community can gather, learn, educate themselves, educate others, and provide a way station for people who don’t have internet connectivity. A place to reach out to members of the community who may not feel welcome, and we want everyone in our community to feel welcome. [My wife,] Linda is on the library’s board, and her mission to join the board was to create that kind of sense of community. To have everyone here at our house, to get connected, and to believe in the mission of The Hotchkiss Library, it’s ecstasy. It makes us happy. It’s not even a job.”
Hotchkiss Library Board of Directors member Linda Quella cited the sponsorship of Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. (Food, Equity, Education, and Distribution) as a major opportunity in partnering with the library. Founded by James and Linda Quella, Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. connects with farmers in communities experiencing food scarcity and provides resources, as well as allows farms to receive advance payments for their produce in order to secure a reliable flow of income. “Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. is about providing food security and food access for all members of our community. By sponsoring this event we wanted to raise awareness of our farming and agricultural community and make sure that all the food here at the gala is provided by the farmers that are in our community. We want people to understand and start having an awareness of the level of food security in the area. It’s one of the things that we hope to bring to some of the library programs”
For those unable to attend the spring gala but with interest in supporting The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, Hachmeister said, “We welcome support of all kinds. We’ll be marching in Sharon’s Memorial Day parade, for example, to raise the profile of the library. If anyone would like to participate, they are welcome. Our annual appeal is also ongoing until Sunday, June 30. We welcome everybody at the library. We provide our services free of charge, but it costs us something to do that.”
AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.
Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken
The main entrance to Kent Hollow Mine at 341 South Amenia Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — Amenia residents and a Wassaic business have filed suit against the Town Board and Kent Hollow Inc., alleging a settlement between the town and the mine amounts to illegal contract zoning that allows the circumvention of environmental review.
Petitioners Laurence Levin, Theodore Schiffman and Clark Hill LLC filed the suit on Aug. 22. Town officials were served with documents for the case last week and took first steps in organizing a response to the suit at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The lawsuit is the latest in a multi-year long legal battle surrounding the mine on South Amenia Road. After Kent Hollow Inc. — a subsidiary of Bethel, Connecticut, based homebuilder Steiner Inc. — applied for a state mining permit in 2017, the Amenia code enforcement officer issued the business a notice of violation.
At the time, Kent Hollow Inc. did not possess a special permit to conduct mining operations as required by Amenia zoning code, and the property did not reside in the Special Mining Overlay district established as part of rezoning efforts coinciding with the 2007 adoption of the town’s comprehensive plan.
Kent Hollow Inc. appealed the violation, claiming the use of the property as a mine predates amendments to town and state regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal citing insufficient evidence in 2019. That spurred Kent Hollow to file two lawsuits — one in the New York State Supreme Court and a federal civil rights lawsuit — challenging the town’s order.
In July 2025, those lawsuits were brought to a close when the Town Board voted at a special meeting to accept a settlement agreement allowing Kent Hollow to continue mining operations under limited hours and quantities.
The most recent suit alleges the 2025 settlement amounts to contract zoning that allows Kent Hollow Inc. to skirt environmental review and the scrutiny of the permitting and rezoning process. Court documents allege Kent Hollow did not adequately prove a continuous, legal nonconforming use.
Supporting the argument, petitioners have submitted the court documents and decision from the 2019 New York Supreme Court case against the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the documents from the preceding ZBA appeals process including receipts and tax returns from Kent Hollow Inc. purporting to establish the nonconforming use.
Kent Hollow Inc. formed as a subsidiary of housing developer Steiner Inc. and purchased the property in 1971, according to state and county real estate records.
Millerton News reporting from 1971 Amenia planning board meetings detail Kent Hollow’s pursuit of a four-section, 40-unit apartment complex on the property.
The News reported Kent Hollow was granted tentative approval on July 6, 1971, to build eight units on the site with the expectation that more would be built later.
The additional units never came to fruition and Kent Hollow apparently abandoned the housing project, opting to use the property as a gravel mine.
Attorneys for the Town of Amenia or Kent Hollow Inc. have not filed responses to the lawsuit as of press time.
AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.
Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.
The talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia. The handicapped-accessible church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road. Refreshments will be served.
Colden was the son of a New York Lieutenant Governor. He was a surveyor, farmer and mercantilist, serving as a judge in Ulster County. His fortunes changed dramatically with the dawn of the Revolutionary War when he remained loyal to the British Crown. His arrest came in 1776, just before the start of his journal.
Campbell is a historian specializing in Hudson Valley history, and the regional stories of Revolutionary era families.
Erin Rollins of Millbrook in the Fashion Feed booth, open year round, at the Millbrook Antiques Mall. All proceeds from Fashion Feeds go to the Food of Life Pantry. As an interior designer by trade, Rollins designed this booth to evoke a high-end department store to align with the designer brands she carries.
MILLERTON — The Townscape 50/50 raffle drawing has collected a pot of more than $7,000.
That raffle drawing will take place this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Veteran’s Park. The moment is not just about picking a winner, but also about reflecting on how far Townscape has come since its humble beginnings in 1998, when founder Catherine Fenn — alongside Renee Vollen and Jan Gilmor — first set out to beautify her beloved village.
Fenn’s connection to Millerton runs deep. “I moved here from the Bronx when I was eight years old and fell in love with the place, even as a child,” she recalled, remembering camping trips at Rudd Pond and enjoying the quiet pace of life.
At 15, her family relocated to southern Connecticut. “My dad didn’t think there was much here for us, so we moved. I left kicking and screaming, literally, and I said, ‘Someday I’m coming back.’”
Years later, after marrying, divorcing, and raising children, Fenn kept that promise. She returned to Millerton and married a childhood friend who was very involved in the fire department. After his passing, Fenn threw herself into her own way of giving back.
“I care about this village deeply. Townscape is my way of helping Millerton be the best it can be,” she said.
What began as an informal effort to gather volunteers and plant flowers eventually blossomed into something larger. “We started with flowers up and down Main Street — barrels of them everywhere. Then it grew into benches, tables, trees and even events. It was such a fun world, a really wonderful organization with so many people involved.”
Fenn’s service to the community extends beyond beautification. She spent roughly two decades on the Planning Board, served as Town Supervisor and worked with the county housing authority. Still, her passion for flowers, trees and landscapes has left the most visible mark on Millerton — shaping not only how the village looks, but how it feels.
In 2006, Townscape became a nonprofit organization. But beautification, Fenn admits, isn’t always the easiest cause to fund. “We’re just putting flowers out — and I shouldn’t say ‘just,’ because to me it’s really important. The trees, the benches, all of it matters. But it’s not high on most people’s list when they think about charitable donations. Still, people have been wonderfully generous over the years.”
This Saturday’s raffle drawing is one way neighbors can show their support. The winner does not have to be present to claim the prize, but those who stop by can enjoy cookies, lemonade and artwork by local creators on display in the park.