School girl hit by car; spotting more birds; Harney Teas crosses border

The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.

March 15, 1934

‘School Girl Struck By Auto;’ Ina Merwin, eight-year-old student of the Millerton grammar school, sustained minor injuries when struck by an automobile while crossing the highway after the closing of school Friday afternoon.

Dr. H. S. Tripp attended the Golden Gloves boxing tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City Monday night.

‘Believe It Or Not’; Anyone who wants a good excuse to drop “Believe-it-or-not” Ripley a line should interview Floyd Cline, who burned his finger recently in a pail of cold water. The water, he explains, had just been placed on the stove. He touched the bottom gingerly. It felt cold. He tried again, and it still was cold. He held his finger against it and, deprived of the cooling properties of water over that small area, the metal heated almost instantly.

An electric regrooving apparatus for regrooving smooth tires has been added to the equipment at the filling station of the Dutchess Auto and Supply Company.

Barbara Ann Chase, eight-year-old daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Earle Chase, has been confined to her home by an attack of the mumps.

‘More Birds Flock About Farm Homes; Mt. Washington Families Put Out Food For Feathered Residents’; Because of the unusually severe winter there have been more birds than usual about the farm homes this year. Observers state that they have seen pairs of the hairy woodpecker, the downy woodpecker, the white-breasted nuthatch, the pine grosbeak, the tree sparrow and numerous chicadees [sic] and bluejays taking their turns at the trays.

March 20, 1975

‘Millerton Cracks Down On Junk Car Violations’; The Village Board of Millerton decided to crack down on junk cars at its meeting on Wednesday night, March 12.

Village Police Officer Lewis Lindsey reported that he had investigated four cases of violators of the state junk car ordinance, involving about 18 vehicles in all.

‘Lighting Petition’; A petition, signed by 13 citizens, was presented to the Board requesting that two new street lights be erected in front of the Cournean and Lindner residences on west Highland Drive. The citizens charged that the lights already on the street were “too few and too far apart.”

‘Tree Planting’; Trustee Hermans told the Board that Thomas Elias, director of the Cary Arboretum in Millbrook, has agreed to take a walk around Millerton and advise the Board where various types of trees could be planted. Adding foliage to Park Street will be the first goal.

‘Youngest Mayor Elected, Twice As Many Vote’; John Hermans, the youngest mayor in Millerton’s memory, won the seat Tuesday night in a Village election that drew twice as many voters as last year.

‘Palm Sunday March Set’; The Millerton Presbyterian and Methodist Church congregations and Sunday schools will proceed down Main Street on Palm Sunday, March 23, in remembrance of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem.

March 16, 2000

‘Community Snapshot: John Dietter’; MILLERTON - On a rainy March afternoon, Millerton resident and occasional crossing guard John Dietter waits in his ‘98 Taurus sedan in front of the Methodist Church on Main Street, a large STOP sign and a fluorescent vest in his back seat.

Any time now, Riley Hart will come off the school bus and cross Main Street on her way home, and Mr. Dietter is there every weekday at 2:30 waiting to help her across. She’s the only one to cross this spot in the afternoon, though Mr. Dietter is also here for an hour in the morning.

Mr. Dietter, a resident of Millerton for over 40 years, was born in Ancramdale in the late 1920s, one of 17 brothers and sisters.

‘Harney Teas Crossing the Border’; LAKEVILLE - Lakeville’s loss will be Millerton’s gain in mid-April.

That’s when Harney Teas moves most of its business from its present quarters, between Lakeville and Salisbury, to the former Taconic Products building on Route 22 in Millerton.

“We’ve run out of space and we don’t have room to expand,” John Harney said this week, pointing to nine trailers the firm has had to rent for extra storage space at its present location.