Who brings the art to Millbrook?

Janice Pendarvis and group performed last summer at the Millbrook Library.
Judith O'Hara Balfe
Janice Pendarvis and group performed last summer at the Millbrook Library.
Known to many as horse country, the Village of Millbrook is also home to dairy and other farms, beagles and fox hunting, bucolic scenery and vineyards, as well as a sense of community and a love of arts both audio and visual, the latter two of which the Millbrook Arts Group (MAG) can proudly take a well deserved bow on.
Ann Gifford, MAG’s president, spoke recently about the nonprofit group in which she has long been involved. In fact, Gifford was the attorney that Robert Krall and Stan Morse went to when the idea of needing a group that would seek out entertainment first came up as a result of the Millbrook Band Shell having been built.
Krall was a member of the Lion’s Club, and having traveled extensively to other communities, he noted that many had band shells and provided entertainment to the community. With the help of the local Lion’s Club, the band shell got built, and the need to fill it with music meant that groups had to be found and contracted. Thus, in 1988, MAG was founded and incorporated as a nonprofit.
Over the years since its inception, MAG has brought music to Millbrook’s many venues, including children’s programs, poetry workshops and exhibitions, and has been involved in many art exhibits throughout the years.
One thing Gifford is especially proud of is that MAG collaborates with many other groups, including the Millbrook Library, the Millbrook Central School District, the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market, and the Millbrook Rotary Club, among others. In 2023 alone, MAG helped with the UpState Art Open Studio Art Festival, the Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival and New Years Eve Millbrook, hiring and paying for the two music groups that entertained; and at least two children’s programs at the Millbrook Library. It sponsored the summer concerts at the band shell, the winter concerts at the library, several groups that performed at the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market, and Music in the Streets.
All of this costs a lot of money. Gifford said MAG is doing well and is grateful for donations from the Tribute Garden, which has always given generously; a grant from the H.W. Wilson Foundation, most of which supports the library venues and the children’s events; and the estate of Nancy F. Perkins made a noteworthy donation. All other funding comes from local sources. Each May, a letter goes out to residents asking for support. Other means of fundraising include selling 50/50 raffle tickets at the concerts, along with hats and T-shirts.
“My thanks to the community who respond to our [annual fundraising] letter, we have been given so much support with gifts both big and small,” said Gifford. “You know that others appreciate your work, so they want to help. We believe every donation shows an interest in what we do.”
All of the work is done by the 16 members of the MAG board of directors via committees, and they meet in person about eight times per year. The board is composed of people from all walks of life, including businesspeople, educators and artists, although Gifford said that there is currently a large portion of artist volunteers, testimony to the fact that many artists are discovering the Millbrook community and its reverence toward the arts in all forms.
The next offering from MAG will be on Saturday, Feb 24, with the Taghanik String Quartet performing at the Millbrook Library. A reception will take place at 4:30 p.m., with the performance begins at 5 p.m.
From the 2023 Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival, August, at Millbrook Band Shell. Judith O'Hara Balfe
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.