Street Fair on Academy set for Aug. 2

Stiltwalkers from Mortal Beasts & Deities promenaded along Academy Street during last year's Lakeville Journal Street Fair on Academy Street in Salisbury.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Stiltwalkers from Mortal Beasts & Deities promenaded along Academy Street during last year's Lakeville Journal Street Fair on Academy Street in Salisbury.
SALISBURY — The Lakeville Journal Street Fair returns to downtown Salisbury for the third year Saturday, Aug. 2, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Academy Street.
Over 20 nonprofit organizations will showcase their missions. Hungry visitors can choose between food trucks and nearby restaurants.
There will be activities for children including face painting and a scavenger hunt, and live music from Danny Tieger (11 a.m. to noon) and Northwest Passage (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.).
And Salisbury businesses will have special offerings for the street fair crowd.
Devon Allman
On Friday, Aug. 15, The Devon Allman Project will play Infinity Hall in Norfolk. As the son of the legendary musician Gregg Allman, Devon carries on the family tradition while stepping out on his own.
“We’re honored to keep the tradition alive,” said Allman. “But I don’t play my records and try to compare them to records from 50 years ago. I try to write songs that mean something to me, and hopefully they’ll resonate with other people.”
His band features harmonica player/singer Jimmy Hall, guitarist Larry McRae and singer Sierra Green.
“It’s an all-star show. Jimmy Hall is from the great Wet Willie band from the ‘70s. Larry McCray is regarded in blues circles as a legend, and we’re honored to introduce Sierra Green. She’s a fantastic up-and-coming R&B singer from New Orleans who has been wowing the crowds. Everybody gets to pick up the ball and run with it. It’s an elevated show for sure.”
Their Infinity Hall Norfolk gig will feature cuts from his new album “Blues Summit,” as well as hits from The Allman Brother’s catalog, tunes from Devon’s early catalog and songs by Jimmy Hall.
The Devon Allman ProjectHeather Johnson
Asked what he learned about life from his famous father, Allman chuckled and said,
“Stay away from drugs and don’t get married seven times! My dad would laugh and agree to that. Musically, just let the music ooze out of you know. You don’t want to force it. Play what moves you.”
“I didn’t meet my father until I was 17. Once I met him, I went out on tour with The Allman Brothers instead of going to my senior year of high school. I already knew what I wanted to do, but I really wanted to see if it was going to be my calling. They had me sit in on the final night of the tour in Miami singing “Midnight Rider” to 5,000 people. I was 17, and that did it. The energy was just amazing. I was putting bands together from then on,” he added.
Various members of the extensive Allman Brothers family have their own musical projects such as the “Allman Betts Family Revival.” For those shows, Devon tips his hat to Duane Allman and Dicky Betts by playing a Gibson Les Paul but for The Devon Allman Project, he primarily plays a 1966 Fender Stratocaster.
Gregg Allman, who died on May 27, 2017, passed down many of his prized instruments to his son.
“He left me 43 guitars. I also got his grand piano and his Hammond B3 organ. The grand piano is set up in my music room; the Hammond B3 comes with us on the revival tours. I try to utilize his instruments so they’re not just sitting around,” he said.
Audiences at Infinity Hall Norfolk can expect solid grooves, dynamic range, and a lot of energy.
Having started their tour in Sweden, the band will carry on playing the USA and Europe for three week stretches over the next year.
“We’re just having a lot of fun. Infinity Hall is a great venue, and we always love playing it. We hope to see everybody!” Allman said.
For ticket info, merchandise and more, visit:devonallmanproject.com
Fire hydrant replacements in the village disrupted water service for businesses on Main Street.
MILLERTON — Construction on Main Street last week disrupted traffic as crews worked to replace an outdated fire hydrant next to Oakhurst Diner.
The scheduled maintenance, which continued into this week, was part of a 2019 grant awarded by the New York State Department of Health under the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act. Since then, the village has been upgrading undersized, damaged and outdated hydrants. A total of 25 hydrants have been replaced.
A statement on the village website reads, “This initiative aims to align our water system with the 10 States Recommended Standard for Water Works, enhancing safety by reducing the risk of hydrant vehicular strikes.” Water service was temporarily shut off at times last week and Monday as part of the scheduled work.
An employee at Oakhurst Diner said the water disruption caused the restaurant to open late on Friday at noon but had otherwise not affected business as of Monday morning.
Republican County Comptroller candidate Will Truitt currently serves as the chair of the Dutchess County Legislature.
Republican Will Truitt of Hyde Park is facing off against Democrat Dan Aymar-Blair for the county comptroller seat in the Nov. 4 election.
Truitt currently serves as the chair of the Dutchess County Legislature and has served as Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley’s representative in the legislating body for the past ten years.
Truitt, 29, made his first foray into politics as a student at Marist College at the age of 19.
After a stint interning in Marc Molinaro’s office, Truitt decided to run for office himself. At the age of 20 he unseated the incumbent representative of Hyde Park and he’s been reelected to the seat ever since.
“I was knocking on all my neighbors doors,” Truitt said. “A lot of them recognizedand kind of knew who I was. They knew that I really wanted to serve and they put their faith in me.”
Truitt said his experience as the chair of the county legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee, and his current full-time job at Metzger Construction Corp. in Hopewell Junction, have prepared him for the comptroller’s position.
“You have to understand dollars and cents, you have to understand finance,” Truitt said. “I went to Marist for business, finance and accounting and a minor in economics so none of the language felt foreign to me.”
The County Legislature chair cited the passage of term limit regulation as a major success of his 10 years in government. “I have always believed term limits should be in place for all levels of government,” Truitt said. “I brought forward term limits in my first term and it failed pretty miserably. I brought it back in my second year and it passed unanimously.” Now, all elected county officials are limited to no more than 12 years in a particular post.
Truitt reflected on a failed bid to unseat New York Assemblywoman Didi Barrett when he was just 22-years-old, saying he’s eager to return to Northeast Dutchess County and meet more people on the campaign trail.
“I got to really know so many people in that region,” Truitt said. “I ran for the state assembly when I was that young because I — just like I did when I ran for the Dutchess County Legislature — I thought I could provide a strong voice for the people.”
AMENIA — Three years in, the full-service health clinic at the Webutuck School District, known internally as the school-based health center, has been a resounding success.
The clinic is staffed by a full-time physician who acts as a participating student’s primary care physician at no extra cost to families. Looking to expand the scope of medical services Webtuck could offer to its students, school nurse Charlie Davis proposed the clinic three years ago.
Given that visits to the doctor can prevent students from attending school on a given day, they were something Webutuck was happy to bring in-house, said Deputy Superintendent Robert Farrier. “We schedule those visits during study halls. Students come down, they have the appointment, and half an hour later they are back to class,” he said.
Because many Webutuck students would not otherwise have access to proper medical care, an illness is something that could cause a prolonged absence and have a serious effect on students’ health. “Really one of the main reasons why we introduced this was to try and improve on our chronic absenteeism,” Farrier said.
“The school-based health center has been incredibly received by the student population and by the parents,” Farrier said. Currently, 77% of Webutuck students are enrolled in the free program.
The clinic is operated by Open Door Health, a healthcare provider which runs many similar clinics in Westchester County, Farrier said.
Even if a student does not have insurance, Open Door, which receives federal funding to run clinics such as the Webutuck Health Center, will provide care free of charge to the student. Having received more than $100,000 in grant funding toward the project, the only cost Webtucuk was required to incur was the construction of a suitable space to house the clinic. Beyond students and families in the district, the health program at Webtucuk has provided a model for other schools in the district, Farrier said. “Every school district in Dutchess County has come at least once to visit us and to learn about how we set the clinic up and how we run things at the school,” he said.
The clinic is part of a broader attempt by the Webutuck School District to improve student life through the allocation of school funds to projects beyond the basic responsibilities of the district, Farrier said.
“We offer free breakfast and lunch for all of our students. We’re trying to make sure that our students don’t go home hungry and that they’re getting proper meals during the school day,” he said.
The clinic has been such a success at Webutuck that other school districts in the county are attempting to replicate the program locally. “The Wappinger’s school district was really impressed with what they saw… this has really been a first for Dutchess County,” Farrier said.