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Millerton gets ready for 175th anniversary celebration
Nathan Miller
Jul 07, 2026
The Millerton 175th Anniversary Committee's logo.
Illustration Courtesy Village of Millerton
MILLERTON — Months of planning will culminate this weekend as Millerton kicks off nine days of events celebrating the village’s 175th anniversary, with festivities running from July 11 through July 19.
Lisa Hermann, a veteran festival organizer who has been leading the planning effort for Millerton 175, said the process intensified this year as the July start date crept closer.
“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Hermann said. “We’re very lucky for the volunteers we had, because we have people who live in such a small community but yet there are people with so many different backgrounds.”
The variety of expertise among Millerton’s 175 committee members lent itself to an expansive list of events spread across the nine days scheduled for the celebration. The celebration brings together local organizations, businesses and volunteers for what organizers say is one of Millerton’s largest community celebrations in years.
The celebration’s first day on Saturday, July 11, will feature the biggest lineup of distinct events. Plans for Saturday include:
- A free screening of “A League of Their Own” at The Moviehouse at 10:30 a.m.
- The North East Community Center Farmers Market at the Millerton Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- A craft vendor fair at Eddie Collins Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- North East/Millerton Climate Smart Task Force’s community-wide flea market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eddie Collins Memorial Park will serve as a central hub with other participating sellers setting up shop on their lawns.
- “Touch a truck” at the Millerton firehouse on Century Boulevard from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- A bicycle decorating contest at the Irondale Schoolhouse on Main Street from noon to 2 p.m.
- A parade down Main Street starting at 3:30 p.m.
- A groundbreaking ceremony for the new pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park at 4:30 p.m., followed by a concert in the park featuring Poughkeepsie-based rock band 5 Day Knights.
Festivities continue with sports tournaments at Eddie Collins Memorial Park on Sunday, July 12. A 3-on-3 basketball tournament is set for 9:30 a.m., with sign-ups beginning at 8 a.m. Each team can register up to five players and registration costs $10 per player.
There will also be a cornhole tournament running at the park beginning at 11 a.m. Registration for that tournament begins at 10 a.m. and will carry a $30 entry fee.
Starting Saturday, July 11, and running all week are the North East Historical Society’s exhibit on Millerton’s history at the Millerton Methodist Church on Main Street. Visitors can peruse the exhibition materials between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Saturday, July 11, to Sunday, July 19.
The night of Monday, July 13, will see a special dinner at the Millerton Inn, set for 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and a free screening of “Burying the Hatchet: The Tom Quick Story,” followed by discussion at the North East Community Center starting at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 14, will mark the unveiling of a brand new outdoor classroom on the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. The immersive learning space will include vibrant, educational displays exploring water ecology, natural and social history, birds, insects and other elements of the local landscape.
On Wednesday, July 15, the Millerton Inn will host a party on its front lawn with outdoor cooking, cornhole and fire pits.
Then events start ramping back up with the Millerton Business Alliance’s annual Summer Stroll event, featuring sidewalk sales and pop-ups from local businesses throughout Millerton’s downtown from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The North East Historical Society’s exhibit on Millerton’s history will run from 1 p.m. to 7 to coincide with the Summer Stroll.
Festivities on Thursday wrap up with a comedy show in Eddie Collins Memorial Park hosted by local comedian and lifelong Millerton resident Ronnie Reed at 7 p.m.
The nine-day celebration then hits its apex starting Friday, July 17, with the kick-off of the Millerton 175 Fair at Eddie Collins Memorial Park. Carnival rides and games, live music, food and drink will fill the park for three days from July 17 to July 19.
The fair will run from 2 p.m. to 10 on Friday, July 17; from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 18; and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 19.
Bands and musicians from across the Hudson Valley will take the stage to perform free concerts in the park, including Northwest Passage Band, Guilty Pleasure, Jordan Stoner, Hammerhead Horns, The Steve Dunn Trio, Last Good Bender and The Wanda Houston Project.
A children’s stage will also host performances aimed at younger members of the audience, including a musical set from Danny Tieger, onstage clowning from Bee Bee the Clown, the musical talents of Mark Rust, and Jackie the Magician to close out the fair on Sunday.
Hermann said she and the planning committee are eagerly awaiting the start of festivities this Saturday. Looking forward, Hermann said there’s hope around the village that Millerton is starting to rebuild its summer recreation programs.
She said next year’s planned completion of the pool will allow village leadership to fully staff a recreation department again, facilitating more regular community events.
“We just really haven’t had a rec department in so long because we didn’t have the infrastructure,” Hermann said. “I’m very much looking forward to when the park’s done and we have that full rec department back again.”
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Dover Stone Church reopened to the public
Lucia Landolo
Jul 07, 2026
The public entrance to the Dover Stone Church hiking trail sits on Thomas Whalen’s property along Route 22 in Dover Plains.
Photo by Lucia Iandolo
DOVER PLAINS — Dover Plains resident Thomas Whalen has reached a final settlement with the town to permanently restore public access to the Dover Stone Church hiking trail.
Whalen, who owns the property containing the only entrance to the trail, barred hikers from his land in March 2026 amid a dispute with the town over maintenance costs and safety. The closure came after the town’s license to use the trailhead — granted under a September 2024 settlement agreement, which also included a financial settlement — lapsed in October 2025 without being renewed.
The Town of Dover has now paid Whalen $200,000 total since 2024 to resolve the matter.
The new agreement is more permanent, guaranteeing the right of way indefinitely unless the town establishes another public access to the Stone Church. If that happens, Whalen said, his access point would revert to private property.
Hikers may now return to the geological landmark after the town agreed to perpetually maintain the trailhead.
The trail’s only public entrance crosses over Whalen’s property on Route 22 across from the Dover Elementary School and Freshco 22 Plaza.
Dover Town Supervisor Rich Yeno confirmed the news in a statement posted online.
“The sign is down and the entryway to the public is open once again,” Yeno said on Facebook. “I have to thank all who were involved over this very long negotiation period.”
Whalen posted signs and blocked access to the trail in April 2026 after he said the town wasn’t abiding by an agreement to maintain the trailhead and improve safety and aesthetics. He initiated a legal battle in 2018 seeking to require the town to insure and maintain the portion of the trail that crosses his land. That includes snow and ice removal, and the replacement of gravel as necessary.
Whalen’s petition was originally rejected by Dutchess County Supreme Court judges in May 2021. He then appealed the suit, resulting in an April 2024 reversal followed by a settlement approved by the Dover Town Board at their Sept. 25, 2024, meeting.
The 2024 settlement marked a year-long agreement granting public access to the trail over Whalen’s property.
With town officials agreeing to fulfill the settlement, Whalen now plans to spend time creating a peaceful and aesthetic environment at the site’s entryway. “I’m very pleased that this matter can finally be called settled,” Whalen said. “I definitely want to make the entrance a pleasing pastoral setting.”
The Stone Church is one of Dover’s most well-known historical landmarks, with hiking trails, open fields and a 30-foot waterfall inside a cave that resembles a cathedral made of rocks. The site has been a public preserve since 2004, and has been named one of the Hudson Valley’s top-10 natural attractions by Scenic Hudson.
The popular site is located near the Dover Plains Station of Metro-North’s Harlem Line.
Additional reporting provided by Graham Corrigan.
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Solar farm project ordered to obtain Copake flood plain construction permit
John Coston
Jul 07, 2026
Farmland vista where the proposed 42 megawatt Shepherd’s Run Solar Farm is planned along Route 23 at the entryway to the rural hamlet of Copake.
Photo by John Coston
COPAKE — New York State has ruled that a proposed commercial solar farm in Copake cannot move forward until its developer obtains a permit from the town to build in a flood zone.
The ruling affects Hecate Energy LLC’s proposed Shepherd’s Run Solar Farm, a 42-megawatt project that would occupy about 215 acres of a 723-acre site near the intersection of Routes 7 and 23 in Craryville. The Chicago-based company has spent years seeking state approval to build the facility, which has faced sustained opposition from the Town of Copake and local residents.
Approximately 154 acres of the land is classified as regulated wetlands.
“We cannot find... a demonstration of compliance with the applicable State wetlands laws and regulations. We find that the application is deficient insofar as it is based on outdated delineation data from 2019 and 2020,” wrote Maureen F. Leary and Dawn MacKillop-Soller, administrative law judges at the New York State Department of Public Service’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission in a ruling on June 25.
The ruling, which is laid out in a 226-page summary, also concluded: “We also find that the application fails to address wetlands of unusual importance and is otherwise not in compliance with the State’s applicable wetlands laws and regulations.”
The company must now go back to town officials in Copake to obtain a permit allowing construction in a flood plain, according to the ruling. The permit process would require extensive study of the proposed construction and site to determine potential and expected impacts to wildlife, wetland habitat and other environmental factors.
“We were granted limited party status,” he added. “It is the first time, as far as I know, that any host community has been granted party status.”
Hecate’s pursuit of a permit from ORES has its origins dating back to 2017. The project, which initially called for a 60-megawatt facility, has been downsized over the years after the company lost control of a parcel of land. Longstanding opposition from state and local officials has buffeted the project, further contributing to delays.
The Town of Copake has opposed the project, and citizen groups have identified a host of issues ranging from impacts to schools, traffic, noise, fire threat and agricultural resources as well as land-use that have been added to the conversation about siting Shepherd’s Run in this farming hamlet.
The Town of Copake received an extension to appeal any portions of the latest ruling until July 10. The administrative law judges set July 27 as a date for ORES staff to respond with a summary of responses to the ruling. A final permit for the project could be issued by Oct. 8, the end of a deadline set to issue a permit.
Three citizen groups commented on the ruling: “After years of bringing up major concerns about wetlands, it is gratifying that the Ruling found the wetland issues raised by the Town of Copake, Craryville Farms, Sensible Solar, and Birch Hill Neighbors Association to be ‘substantive and significant,’” wrote Sara Traberman of Sensible Solar for Rural New York.
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One injured in motorcycle crash on Delavergne Hill
Nathan Miller
Jul 07, 2026
First responders on the scene of a motorcycle crash block the eastbound lane of Route 44 on top of Delavergne Hill in Amenia as deputies investigate the incident. One person was injured, according to a Millerton News reporter on the scene, but authorities would not confirm any details citing an ongoing investigation.
Photo by Nathan Miller
AMENIA — At least one person was injured and taken to Sharon Hospital on Saturday after a crash involving two motorcyclists on Route 44.
The crash occurred at the hairpin turn on Route 44 at the peak of Delavergne Hill, near the scenic overlook around 1:15 p.m. The road was closed to traffic between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Captain John Watterson said in a statement a single rider lost control when traveling through the hairpin turn at the peak of Delavergne Hill. The rider struck a guardrail, causing non-life threatening injuries.
He said no charges have been filed at this time.
Authorities partially reopened the road to traffic after about an hour, although drivers are still facing delays as authorities investigate the scene. Full access to the road was restored as of 5 p.m.
A Millerton News reporter at the scene observed what appeared to be a female motorcyclist involved in the crash. The female rider appeared to have been ejected from the bike and came to rest on the road just past the guard rail adjacent to the eastbound lane. She was responsive but appeared to have suffered serious injuries, according to the reporter. At the time, just after 1:15 p.m., another motorcyclist and a motorist had stopped to assist the injured rider and call first responders.
Deputies on scene would not confirm details provided by the Millerton News reporter.
Amenia Fire Chief Chris Howard said the injured rider was taken to Sharon Hospital. He could not confirm the rider’s identity or status, citing an active police investigation.
Additional reporting provided by Aly Morrissey.
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Millbrook sidewalk improvement’s final phase awaits additional funding
Millerton News
Jul 07, 2026
A traffic cone draws attention to a sidewalk hazard along Franklin Avenue in Millbrook on July 4, 2026. The final phase of a sidewalk-improvement project for the north sidewalk on Franklin Avenue is expected to begin by the end of the summer.
Photo by Eloise Pickering
MILLBROOK — The final phase of a three year long sidewalk-improvement project on Franklin Avenue is slated to begin later this summer with funding almost in place.
The fourth and final stage covers the north side of Franklin Avenue from Friendly Lane to Front Street. According to Millbrook Mayor Peter Doro, the focal point of the project is to improve safety and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As of Tuesday morning, July 7, a detailed funding plan for the construction has yet to be announced.
“The focus of the project, and of the grant itself, is ADA accessibility, improving accessibility for the villages, handicapped, senior and other populations that need help,” Doro said.
Dutchess County awarded a grant to partially cover the construction, with local taxpayers likely to cover the rest. The bid was set for discussion at a July 8 Board of Trustees meeting, and officials expect to set the financing structure for outstanding costs shortly after.
“We’re still figuring out how we’re going to structure the rest of the financing that is needed,” Doro said.
As of press time, a clear estimate of outstanding costs was not available as village trustees had not yet approved any bids. The grant award total also had not been announced.
Doro said additional information and questions regarding finances and payment will be discussed at the July 8 meeting.
The sidewalk-improvement project is expected to be complete by the start of winter, although an exact timeline is unclear.
Not every concrete slab of the north sidewalk needs restoration, but cracks and irregular steps will be smoothed out and bricks will be replaced with concrete. Additionally, the project includes the removal of one tree along the avenue and updated, safer crosswalks, including repainting.
Residents on Franklin Avenue on Saturday, July 4, said improving the sidewalks is necessary, although they worry how much taxpayer money will be going toward the project. Some didn’t know the construction was going to be taking place.
Doro refers to Franklin Avenue and the business district as the “lifeblood of the village.” He said businesses along the north sidewalk will remain open and accessible throughout construction.
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