Wassaic tree replaced with native bur oak

Wassaic tree replaced with native bur oak

Some of the local volunteers who planted a native tree on Arbor Day, Friday, April 25, gathered around the tree for a photo to mark the occasion. Left to right are Ana Hajdak, Maryanne Pitts, Christy Gast, Leo Blackman, Ken Monteiro, and Vicky Doyle.

Photo by Leila Hawken

WASSAIC — Local tree enthusiasts assembled in Wassaic village center to plant a young tree at the entrance to the rail trail in observance of Arbor Day.

The event on Friday, April 25 was co-sponsored by the Amenia Conservation Advisory Council and the Amenia Town Enhancement Committee.

Volunteers were attracted to help with the project led by Maryanne Pitts, CAC member. Some set to work to accomplish the task, others advised, and still others photographed the progress.

Bringing a wheelbarrow to the session was Wassaic resident Edwin Erreyes who saw the group of volunteers and wanted to help.
The new tree, a bur oak donated by the Amenia Garden Club, replaced a non-native dogwood that had failed to thrive at the location.

Garden Club president Ken Monteiro noted that the bur oak, native to eastern North America, produces acorns, each sporting a tiny burr.

“Oaks are a key help to native species, including their tendency to host insect larvae that feed birds,” Pitts said before the work began. “Birds need to feed their young the caterpillars because very young birds do not eat seeds,” she added. “They need protein.”
Pitts said that the interval between the egg and the fledgling is only two weeks in duration.

“So, it is critical that they have native trees and shrubs available to them,” Pitts said, adding that she is a supporter of the Homegrown National Park program.

“The gardens of today are the natural world,” Pitts commented. “Everything else is choked with invasives.”

As Pitts is working toward earning a designation of being a “Tree City,” she said that 2025 is the first step in what will be an annual event.

“We’ll do it every year,” she said.

Latest News

Fallen trees injure man, destroy fences at dog shelter

Two uprooted locust trees still lie in the yard in front of Animal Farm Foundation’s original kennels where they fell on a fence during a storm on Thursday, June 19.

Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Fallen trees, uprooted and splintered during a thunderstorm, injured a man, destroyed fences and damaged a dog kennel at the Animal Farm Foundation facilities in Bangall.

Isaias Nunez was cleaning along a road on the property with Marco Ortiz, another employee of the dog shelter, when the storm rolled in on the afternoon of Thursday, June 19.

Keep ReadingShow less
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit millertonnews.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less