MILLERTON — On July 13, 2024, 75-year-old Paul Perkins of Millerton won the USA National American Drug Free Powerlifting Federation competition in Boston, Massachusetts.
Perkins wants others to know that they can be active and fit at any age. “I am living proof that it can be done because I am 75 and still going strong,” he said.
Whatever exercise you choose, the key is to “make yourself do it every day,” Perkins said. “Even if you don’t feel like it. It has to become part of your lifestyle, like brushing your teeth.”
Paul Perkins became interested in powerlifting when he was looking for something to change his own routine. He also runs and loves to surf.
“Powerlifting has introduced me to a whole new set of exercises,” Perkins said.
Perkins belongs to Gold’s Gym, but during the COVID-19 pandemic Perkins converted a bay of his three-car garage into a gym.
Perkins has a routine that he follows every day. He begins with an hour of warm-ups. “Warming up is especially important as you age,” he said. He favors “dynamic stretching” which takes muscles and joints through their full range of motion. He goes on to interval training, in which for example, he might run for four minutes and then walk four minutes, and train with weights.
He points to Dr. Jeffery Life who wrote “Mastering Life Plan,” Bill Phillips who wrote “Body for Life,” Chris Heria of YouTube, and Dr. Mike Israetel, author of “Scientific Principles of Strength Training” as inspiration.
Perkins eats a few small meals a day beginning with a breakfast of Greek yogurt and fruit, then a lunch of egg whites for protein and rice. Dinner is usually a salad and at least once a week salmon for Omega-3’s, with small snacks like an apple between.
He said of the powerlifting competition where he won in the 150-pound deadlift category, “It was one of the best experiences in life.” He “still gets goosebumps thinking about it.” Not only did he have his family cheering him on, but other competitors and spectators cheered too. “The comradery is stunning.”
The rules are strict in powerlifting. Each competitor must compete in the “Squat,” holding a weighted barbell across the shoulders, squatting with it, and returning to standing position; “Bench Press,” lifting the weights while laying down on a bench; and “Dead Lifting,” picking the weights off the floor to a standing position. Competitors are weighed in and judges look at your clothes, “even your underwear,” said Perkins. Competitors can win a category or have the best score in all three for the overall win. Judges are on all sides watching each competitor as they lift the weights.
For Paul Perkins, his message is one of “health and longevity.” He stresses there are “no magic pills” and that “they simply don’t exist and do not take the place of boring, daily, consistent hard work and common sense.”
Perkins points to what research has found as “five fundamental lifestyle behaviors” to achieve longevity: “1. Exercise regularly. 2. Eat a nutritious diet. 3. Avoid cigarettes and limit alcohol consumption. 4. Sleep eight hours a night regularly 5. Nurture meaningful relationships.”
Perkins has set his sights on the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation Competition which takes place in November in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
In Boston Corners, 74-year-old powerlifter Mike Burch has been busy breaking records. In fact, he has broken twelve for his age group in three years. He has his sights set on the World Powerlifting Associations World Championship on Sept. 28. in Oakville, Conn.
Mike Burch, now 74, of Boston Corners, competing at the American Powerlifting Competition. Mike has been lifting since he was six years old and has never stopped. Photo provided
Burch has been powerlifting since the 1950’s. He began weight lifting as a child to help with his lung capacity when he was diagnosed with asthma. He has continued ever since and was top ranked in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.
“I’m the only one still out there of all I lifted against in the 60’s and 70’s.” Burch commented. Burch has never stopped lifting weights although he did stop competing for a while. He began again when his grandson, Eli, encouraged him to get back into it. His grandson now competes and trains with his grandfather.
Webutuck sophomore Hayden Whiteley, center, battles for a layup during the Section IX Tournament pre-lims on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Webutuck quickly adjusted, mounting defensive pressure and picking up the pace offensively to keep S.S. Seward's score within reach.
By the half, Webutuck was only down by two points.
The Wildcats kept up with S.S. Seward through the next half, pulling ahead enough to lead S.S. Seward 39-36 at the end of the third quarter.
But the Spartans made a final push in the last quarter, scoring 14 points and holding Webutuck to just six points to win the game 50-45.
Webutuck senior Evan Bremmer led the wildcats in scoring, racking up 20 points in the final game of his high school career
Photo by Nathan Miller
Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago addresses the crowd at the end of a discussion on challenges facing parents and child care providers in rural northeast Dutchess County on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Drago hosted the forum to collect feedback from local stakeholders ahead of an expected $20 million in state funding to establish a universal childcare program in the county.
The proposal follows Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement in her State of the State address that she is seeking $60 million for Dutchess, Monroe and Broome counties to expand child care, with an emphasis on children under three. The funding, pending approval as part of the state budget due April 1, is a component of her broader effort to expand affordable child care statewide, including a push toward universal access for children under five.
Billed as a fact-finding session ahead of the state budget vote, the forum opened with presentations from representatives of Poughkeepsie-based child care advocacy and training organizations. Parents expressed concerns about access in the far reaches of the county, where services have long lagged behind more densely populated areas.
Kim Yarnell, a parent who lives in Millerton, said she struggled for years to find childcare. She was one of the parents left scrambling for care last December when the North East Community Center announced the sudden closure of its Early Learning Program.
"When I first got pregnant in 2019, I was on a waiting list for two years," she said. "So that's the kind of situation we all face every day."
Parents emphasized a lack of providers in the area, saying the biggest barriers in rural communities are cost and availability. Webutuck Elementary School Principal Amanda Coppola said parents regularly tell her they can't afford child care, a struggle she said she can relate to.
"I have a four-month-old at home, and I just finished my first month of paying for daycare, and it's expensive," she said. "Funding, as far as tuitions or lowering tuitions, I feel is one of the biggest needs that I hear. And now that I'm living it, I hear even more."
Local parents, child care providers and nonprofit representatives outline the challenges they face in accessing and providing childcare in rural northeast Dutchess County during a forum at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Photo by Nathan Miller
Representatives of the Child Care Council of Dutchess and Putnam presented facts and figures to the group, saying that within Drago’s legislative district there are roughly 300 children under three who need care, but licensed facilities have capacity for only 95.
Outside of Red Hook — the district’s most populous town — licensed providers have capacity for just 29 children.
That data underscores parents’ anxiety. The governor’s proposal emphasizes working within existing child care systems and infrastructure, but those resources are limited in northeast Dutchess County. Parents said there's a significant need for infant care, with some reporting they drive more than 30 minutes one way to Connecticut to access the nearest available care.
"We just need more daycare," Yarnell said. "It's not complicated, like, we need more daycare."
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Stephanie Haboush Plunkett
“The field of illustration is very close to my heart,” she said. Inspired by that example, she studied illustration at Pratt Institute and began her career as an illustrator before shifting toward museum work. An internship at the Brooklyn Museum proved pivotal. “It was inspiring to see the children come alive in front of art,” she recalled.
In addition to her curatorial work, Plunkett is the author of two children’s books, “Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Story from China” and “Sir Whong and the Golden Pig,” and has written or co-authored numerous books on illustration, including “Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School” and “Leo Lionni: Storyteller, Illustrator, Designer.” She earned an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and built a museum career that included positions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Heckscher Museum of Art before joining the Norman Rockwell Museum, where she has worked for 31 years.
But elevating illustration has meant challenging decades of critical skepticism.
“The goal has been to shine a light on this important American art form and to elevate public awareness of its artistic and cultural importance,”Plunkett said.
As a popular and widely circulated art, illustration is sometimes thought of as inferior to fine art, such as painting and sculpture. Plunkett considered why. She theorized that the 1913 New York Armory Show, the International Exhibition of Modern Art, with works by artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Duchamp, initially contributed to this evaluation. In the 1930s and ’40s, abstract expressionism became the art of the nation, and the rift widened further.
“Norman Rockwell became the antihero for many art critics of the time,” said Plunkett. “Illustration was viewed as too commercial and sentimental because of its emphasis on visual storytelling.”
Plunkett calls illustration “art with a job to do.” She explained, “Illustrators are adept at solving visual problems for their clients while expressing their own aesthetic and artistic vision.”
Visitors consider Norman Rockwell’s paintings on Civil Rights for Look Magazine, “New Kids in the Neighborhood” (1967) and “The Problem We All Live With” (1963.) L. Tomaino
She noted that the line between the fine and applied arts “is much more porous now, with many artists working across platforms and styles.” She cited late-20th-century illustrators like Marshall Arisman, Barbara Nessim, Robert Cunningham, Bernie Fuchs and Mark English as illustrators who forged unique approaches to working and seeing.
Plunkett commented that people want to see the original illustrations. “Generally, Rockwell exhibitions bring high attendance. Currently, our traveling exhibition, ‘Norman Rockwell: From Camera to Canvas,’ is at the New Britain Museum of American Art, but we’ve traveled Rockwell and illustration to 45 states and several countries, including Japan, France, Italy and Germany.”
Nowadays, illustrators take on subjects that are important to them. “The children’s book industry is committed to sharing the richness and diversity of people and cultures with young readers.” Plunkett cited the late illustrator Jerry Pinkney’s commitment to this goal. As a boy, Pinkney found no books portraying children like him, and “his life’s mission as an artist was to present inspiring, positive images of children of color.”
The Norman Rockwell Museum and Rockwell Center seeds were sown when “Rockwell placed the first 199 artworks in the care and collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum upon its founding in 1969, some of which he personally acquired for the fledgling collection,” said Plunkett. “The museum’s current Rockwell holdings include 865 original artworks, the artist’s Stockbridge studio and an archive of 400,000 photographs, letters, props and first uses of the artist’s work. We also hold about 25,000 illustrations by other artists, from the historical to the contemporary.”
“We call ourselves the home for American illustration. We have a real commitment to illustrators and what they’ve accomplished,” said Plunkett.
The Norman Rockwell Museum is located at 9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
nrm.org
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