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Busy plotting: Town to vote to privatize cemetery

SHARON — Should the East Side Cemetery be privatized and independent of the town? This will be a question facing residents at the annual town meeting on Friday, May 14, at 8 p.m. at Town Hall. Taxpayers will also vote on the budgets for the coming fiscal year that evening.

The resolution comes after several months of Board of Selectmen’s meetings in which some residents said they are concerned that funds set aside for the East Side Cemetery were being spent on maintenance and repairs at other cemeteries in town.

“We’re proposing to turn it back to a group of people who are interested in taking care of it,� First Selectman Bob Loucks said. “If the town approves the resolution, the group of people who would take care of the cemetery would have to set up a new association. With it, a whole set of rules, regulations and a committee.�

Prior to 1989, the East Side Cemetery Association was in charge of both maintaining the cemetery and managing the fund.

When the association was dissolved in 1989, its assets (including an endowment of $200,000) were put in the hands of the town. Subsequently, the town used those funds to maintain other cemeteries in town.

Several residents disapproved of this and made their feelings known at selectmen’s meetings.

“It was a long hard battle,� Glenn Dennis said of the discussions. “It should be private again. I’ve researched how other cemeteries are operated in surrounding towns, and all of them are self-sufficient and take care of themselves. The East Side Cemetery needs at least $26,000 of work right now because it has not been kept up by the town during all of these years.�

If the resolution is approved, Dennis said, the cemetery would receive an estimated $226,000 out of the town’s East Side Cemetery fund. The town would keep $200,000 for maintaining the other cemeteries. The town’s East Side Cemetery fund would be dissolved and the new East Side Cemetery Association would take charge.

Lakeville Journal

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Lelah M. Somers

Lelah M. Somers

DOVER PLAINS — Lelah M. Somers, 97, a longtime Dover Plains, New York, resident, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York. Lelah was born on July 3, 1929, in Pawling, New York, to the late Byron and Lelah (Watts) Brill. Lelah grew up in Pawling and on Nov. 22, 1946, in Pleasant Valley, New York, she married James F. Somers, Sr. Mr. Somers passed away on Sept. 3, 1970. Lelah worked for New York State as a therapy aide for thirty-years and as a senior companion for New York State for thirty-two-years, with specific care provided to the mentally disabled.

She enjoyed taking care of the mentally disabled, was a wonderful mother to her four children, always putting her family first. She is survived by her son, James F. Somers, Jr. and his wife Donna of Dover Plains; two daughters, Doreen Monica of Wingdale, and Frances “Fran” Horton of Dover Plains, who was also her caregiver for many years; seven grandchildren, Debbie, Margie, Leah, Stephanie, Deirdra, Benji and Jimmy and several great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews, and her step-son, Kenny Elliott. In addition to her parents and husband, Lelah was predeceased by her daughter and son-in-law, Carol “DeeDee” Maile and Gil Maile, her son-in-law, Stephen Monica, and her son-in-law, Benny Horton as well as her companion of over forty-years, Andrew “Mac” McAlravey and her siblings, Ferris Brill, Eleanor Barryann, Richard Brill, William Brill and Barney Brill.

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The art of getting into art school

The art of getting into art school

Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day returns to Poughkeepsie.

Provided

For a young artist considering college, the question isn’t simply whether the work is good enough. It’s which work to show, which school might be the right fit and even whether a creative life can lead to a sustainable career.

On Friday, Oct. 16, hundreds of aspiring artists will have the opportunity to explore those questions at Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day, presented by The Art Effect at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie.

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education

A colorful life together at Atelier Valla

A colorful life together at Atelier Valla

Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.

L. Tomaino
I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.
— Justine Valla

Husband and wife Victor and Justine Valla share a lavender and pink studio, Atelier Valla, across the driveway from their pink house, nestled into a hillside in Salisbury. The colors, said Justine, “were inspired by Monet’s house at Giverny.”

Creating art has been a lifelong pursuit for both.

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David Ruchman’s “Acquired Taste”

David Ruchman’s “Acquired Taste”

Filmmaker David Ruchman

Bleacher and Everard Photography

In a region known for its vibrant but geographically scattered arts community, discovering something new can require a little effort. The same might be said for finding a new place for an extraordinary meal. While the Northwest Corner, Berkshires and Hudson Valley have no shortage of creative talent, opportunities to experience it — whether on a stage, in a gallery or on a plate — aren’t always just around the corner.

In David Ruchman’s short film “Acquired Taste,” that challenge becomes the premise for an unlikely friendship between Nick, an aspiring young food critic living in an area with limited dining options, and a gruff New York City master chef.

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film

Follow the Clay Way for ceramic delights

Follow the Clay Way for ceramic delights

Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.

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As the leaves across Litchfield and Dutchess counties rush to make it to the ground, your last chance to peep autumn is fast approaching. On Oct.17 and 18, the 10th annual Clay Way offers peepers a route to follow lined with unique art that rivals the area’s natural beauty.

The two-day event is a ceramics-focused open studio tour through northwestern Connecticut, with a few studios peppered in just over the border in Dutchess County. Featuring nine open studios and 25 participating artists, the tour promises a wide variety of work, from decorative objects to grand vessels and a whole world in between.

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A new home for the unexpected at Kent Fine Art

A new home for the unexpected at Kent Fine Art

CAMERON (1922-1995) is on view at Kent Fine Art in Pine Plains through Nov. 14.

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Where can one find the work of an artist associated with occult rituals, surrealist visions and the underground California art scene? In a beautifully renovated former carriage house in Pine Plains, of course.

Unexpected discoveries are, after all, part of what Doug Walla has spent his career making possible. The longtime New York City art dealer and founder of Kent Fine Art, has brought the work of Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel, known simply as Cameron, to his new gallery space. The exhibition, on view through Nov. 14, introduces visitors to an artist whose life and work moved between mysticism, poetry, film and the avant-garde.

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