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Citywide Automotive North has opened its wide doors in Amenia, ready to serve the community’s service needs. Owner Toby Kiernan, foreground, is ably assisted by his uncle, Peter Kiernan, in the full-service enterprise situated on Route 343.
AMENIA — A well-appointed automotive service establishment with accommodating staff is ready to serve the area’s automotive repair needs. Citywide Automotive North, located at 3387 Route 343, has been open for business since Feb. 1, following a few months of building renovation.
“I grew up around the automotive industry,” said owner and chief mechanic Toby Kiernan during a conversation on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Getting the building ready to open included “a ton of cleaning,” Kiernan said, along with painting the interior, carpeting the offices and applying epoxy to the shop floor.
Services offered to the community include 24-hour towing service, all automotive mechanicals, body repair and auto sales, Kiernan said. Services also include oil changes, brake service and tires. The tow services offer a flatbed tow truck and a standard wrecker tow.
Citywide Automotive is equipped and experienced with all makes and models of vehicles, including high end luxury and classic cars. Electric vehicles, however, are not a specialty.
Kiernan’s uncle, Peter Kiernan, brings 45 years of auto repair experience to the business, delighting in serving as a personable volunteer assistant in the shop.
“We love it here,” Peter Kiernan said of the town. He divides his time between Amenia and his home in Florida.
Completing work on a car belonging to a veteran, Peter Kiernan set about giving the car a washing, a small, and yet appreciated, reward for that customer’s military service.
“It’s the least I could do,” he said.
While customers wait for their vehicles, there will be time to admire the classic cars Pete Kiernan has lovingly restored to their original glory.
“The cars are most certainly his pride and joy,” Toby Kiernan said of his uncle’s cars.
“My uncle Pete is my mentor in the automotive industry and business. What I am doing here I could not do without his knowledge and support,” Toby said.
Veterans and senior citizens receive a 10% discount on service.
“We come from a long line of veterans who served. We support our troops and first responders as much as possible in appreciation for their service,” Toby Kiernan said.
“My uncle loves to BBQ,” Kiernan said, and there is plenty of room. Once the weather gets warm, on Fridays at lunch time Citywide Automotive expects to have the grill going, welcoming all comers for a festive free lunch.
Toby Kiernan recognized the challenges in finding qualified shop workers today, He said that as the shop gets busier, they expect to contact the local BOCES training program to find help and to explore ways that they might help to mentor the next generation of expert mechanics.
Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The business is closed on Sundays. Towing services are open 24 hours. To contact Citywide Automotive, phone 845-789-1300.
“We appreciate the people we’ve met from Amenia and surrounding towns. They have been kind, helpful and courteous. We are happy to be in business here,” Toby Kiernan said.
AMENIA — The Webutuck Board of Education discussed a potential new district cellphone policy at its meeting on Monday, March 3.
The potential policy, which is still in its early planning phases, would require students to place cellphones in a receptacle when they enter a classroom at the beginning of a period.
Cellphones would remain in that box until the end of the period unless teachers decide to allow the class to use the cellphones for instructional purposes.
Students would still be allowed to have and use their cellphones during passing periods and during lunch, but not during any class periods — including study halls.
The policy discussion at Webutuck coincides with discussions in Albany over statewide school cellphone regulations.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced in January a plan to curb school cellphone use by mandating phone storage boxes in classrooms and about $13 million in funding for the receptacles in the 2026 budget.
The Webutuck policy is still being discussed.
“Easy to speak about it, but I am telling you as sure as my name is Ray that this is going to be a nightmare,” Webutuck Superintendent Ray Castellani said. “But this is not something that’s unique to New York State or to Webutuck.”
Castellani emphasized the cellphone policy is only intended to improve educational quality at the Webutuck school district. He said cellphones get in the way of learning and access to social media causes friction between students.
“When your kids are at school they are safe,” Castellani said. “Cellphones are not meant for instruction unless a teacher needs it for instruction. It’s just that simple.”
Also on the agenda was a recap of the mid-year testing data for the elementary, intermediate and high schools.
Generally, students showed measured improvements from the beginning of the year across grade levels in reading and math assessments in the elementary and middle schools.
The high school data report by principals Robert Knuschke and Matthew Pascale included data on in-school suspension and office referrals.
The principals said they had implemented some new policies and strategies to reduce in-school suspensions and office referrals, and the data showed huge gains in both arenas in the high school and the intermediate school.
Since September, compared to the same period last school year, suspensions in the intermediate school were down more than 80% and in the high school around 50%.
AMENIA — Two seats have opened on the Webutuck Board of Education with the departures of incumbents Nichole Reyes and Anthony Robustelli.
These seats are for a three-year term starting July 1, 2025, and will be filled via nominations and election.
Information packets containing nominating petitions are now available for pickup at the district offices located at Webutuck High School on Haight Road north of Amenia. Nominations are due no later than Monday, April 21, by 5 p.m. To secure a nomination, candidates must have obtained at least 25 signatures from qualified voters in the district.
To qualify for a seat on the Board, candidates must be able to read and write and be an eligible voter and a resident in the Webutuck district for at least one continuous year prior to the election.
Candidates are ineligible if they have been removed from any school district office one year prior to the election, a current employee of the district, or reside with another family member serving the same school board. To prevent conflicts of interest, candidates may not simultaneously hold another public office while serving as a board member.
Questions may be directed to school district clerk Therese Trotter at 845-373-4100, ext. 5506. Board member elections will be held on Tuesday, May 20, at the same time as the annual school budget vote.
The term for these two board seats will end on June 30, 2028.
Lent: Time to consider social gospel movement
We are entering the annual Christian season of Lent this week.With its 40 days of contemplation and “little Easter” Sundays, it is a time to remember the healing ministry and the sacrifice of Jesus.During this season, we are invited to think deeply about our role as agents of grace and love in our hurting world.
There is a long history of making sacrifices and commitments for Lent, modeling our discipleship and hopes for a more heavenly world. It is through this lens that I invite you to join us in considering what gifts and services the community needs that we can commit to bringing forth in the weeks leading up to Easter.While many lean into solitary introspection during Lent, it may be particularly advantageous to use our meditations and sacrifices for the greater good this year.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, advised his followers centuries ago that “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and depth and breadth and height of Christian perfection.”These words are connected to the firm belief of Wesley that a Methodist was fundamentally one who loved God with all their heart, mind, strength, and soul, along with loving one’s neighbor as oneself.He believed that being in love with God naturally also required loving other people, as every person was a beloved soul coming from the same source of life that we are.
Consequently, Wesley stood against slavery long before it was a popular view, prioritized caring for those who were poor and imprisoned, and made a point to do good to as many as he could for as long as he was physically able.
Indeed, the Methodists are not the only Christians who believe such things.These thoughts are primary messages of the Christian faith.In more recent history, we can note that during the time of the Golden Age, at the end of the late 19th century, the Christians mobilized to counteract the abject poverty, child labor, dangerous working conditions, and lack of education of the time.Famous theologians such as Washington Gladden, Walter Rauschenbusch, and W.E.B. DuBois began the Social Gospel movement, enacting with new verve the passion of Christ that empowers the community toward building the Kingdom of God.As Christians, they believed in uplifting the downtrodden and creating a community where all had a chance to thrive.Child labor laws were enacted, better working conditions were secured, Sunday School helped provide education, settlement houses were created, and the Salvation Army was born.
The social gospel movement continued in another wave of reforms and empowerment through the Civil Rights era.Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his intellect, energy, and life to help secure the reforms that enabled persons of color to vote, go to non-segregated schools, and have the right to share public spaces without discrimination.Like Christ, he paid the ultimate price for his prophetic vision.However, his impact on our society was formidable, lasting far beyond his short lifetime.
As Christians, it is very clear what to do in times of hardship, crisis, or challenge.Throughout the centuries, our call has been to help heal the world, doing whatever we can to uplift and transform loneliness into community, reminding each one how precious they are and how important it is to unite for the sake of the whole.Individually, the challenges can be overwhelming, even too much to bear.Collectively, we can do all things through the One who strengthens us.As they say, “We have the receipts!” We can do it again.
This Lent, let us give up our pessimism and fear, replacing it with a commitment to community and hope.Yes, things can seem dreadful, but our souls are not served by allowing ourselves to descend into the dark.We are keepers of the light.Let us do all within our power to create brightness so that its warmth may strengthen all as we live into the Social Gospel movement for our time.Chin up, friends, we can do this.We simply must be willing to get serious about doing it together.
Rev. Dr. Anna Crews Camphouse is pastor of Canaan, Lakeville, Millerton, and Sharon United Methodist Churches
Lead Pastor of the Northwestern Hills Cooperative
Parish UMC