
Moviehouse owners David Maltby and Chelsea Altman, left and center, and manager Casey Lehman. Photo courtesy The Moviehouse
The region enjoyed a collective sigh of delight and relief over Memorial Day weekend as the new owners of The Moviehouse in Millerton, N.Y., enjoyed a successful soft opening (showing the films “A Quiet Place 2” and “Dream Horse”).
Carol and Robert Sadlon were the creators of The Moviehouse, which opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1978 — which was the reason new owners Chelsea Altman and David Maltby pushed hard to open on the same holiday weekend this year.
After Robert died in 2019, his widow and partner began making plans to turn the theater to new owners — and felt very fortunate to have found Maltby and Altman earlier this year.
Ownership changed hands in March; and in a perhaps ironic twist, the COVID-19 pandemic became kind of sort of a good thing. It allowed them to get in quickly with construction crews and do updates to the interior and, of course, add the elevator that theater patrons had been asking for (and making donations toward) in recent years.
“And we have an ice maker now,” Altman said in an interview by phone on May 10. “Apparently that was something people really wanted.”
Ice will come in handy for more than soft drinks from the concession stand. Maltby and Altman both have backgrounds in the entertainment and hospitality industries and they will be part of a new trend toward making movie theaters more like entertainment centers.
Of course it will still be possible to come and just see a movie; but there will be options for making it more of a Night Out.
The small upstairs theater that was in recent years a screening room will be available for parties and events. It’s possible that patrons will someday be able to enter by a separate door that takes them right upstairs to have a glass of wine, even if they’re not seeing a film, Altman said. The logistics on that are still being calculated out.
Altman did not expect the upstairs space to be open by Memorial Day weekend — and in fact it wasn’t.
“We had wanted to do a soft opening on Memorial Day weekend, with just the two downstairs theaters open,” she said.
“There were some construction delays upstairs, it’s an old building and this is a big job. And from an operations perspective, we can open slowly and see how it goes, and not be overwhelmed with four theaters and the bar, all at once.”
The expected grand opening date will be July 4 weekend.
Altman and Maltby feel fortunate to have found a general manager, Casey Lehman, who moved here from Ohio for this job, which he learned about from an online careers website.
“He wanted to hear about any film job, anywhere, and then he saw this one,” Altman said. “He’s been the perfect guy for the job, charming and intelligent and knowledgeable about films and also about the service industry. He found a place to live, easily. It feels very Meant To Be.”
Changes small and large are in evidence at The Moviehouse, with fresh paint and new carpet and even a new sign outside.
“But we’re not changing the name,” Altman promised. Nor will she and Maltby swerve dramatically from the high-quality film offerings that area cinema fans have traditionally found and loved at The Moviehouse.
Even the website will remain the same, at www.themoviehouse.net, although the site will get updated and spiffed up this summer. For now because of COVID-19, but possibly on into the future, moviegoers will have to reserve their seats online ahead of time. Tickets will also be sold at the door, but at that point there will likely be fewer seats to choose from.
Bill Dinneen, left, and Ivan Kotchoubey, age 7, place a recently restored grave marker at the headstone of David Mallery, a Revolutionary War veteran, in Cornwall Sunday, May 25.
CORNWALL — On Sunday, May 25, Cornwall held a powerful ceremony to honor local veterans of the Revolutionary War.
At the cemetery on Route 4, about 25 attendees gathered to witness the placement of 10 grave markers. Bill Dinneen of the Cornwall Historical Society and Warren Stevens led the ceremony.
“These markers had gone missing from the cemetery, we don’t know when,” Dinneen said, showing six bronze and four cast iron markers that were recently restored and painted.
He explained the markers were found in bushes at the edge of the cemetery by Gene Swanson, of Washington Depot. It was unclear why they were removed from the gravestones, and Dinneen said there could be more elsewhere in the cemetery.
Bill Dinneen, left, and Warren Stevens explain the history, discovery and restoration process of the grave markers to attendees May 25.Photo by Riley Klein
“Today we have 10 markers. We have 32 names” of buried Revolutionary War veterans, Dinneen said. “The bronze markers will go to ranked soldiers,” such as sergeants, and “the cast ones will go to the oldest” of the infantry soldiers.
The restoration process included sandblasting, priming and painting. He was not certain, but Dinneen said the markers may have been originally placed by the government around World War I, at which time the original tombstones were replaced with harder stone.
Stevens explained the symbolism of the markers: A big star in the middle represents one of the colonies, 13 little stars represent all the colonies, the years 1775 and 1783 show the duration of the war, the words “A Patriot’s Grave” and “E Pluribus Unum. From many, there is one,” he said.
Susan Hellmann placed a bronze marker at the grave of her ancestor Noah Harrison. Photo by Riley Klein
Attendees, some of them descendants of the veterans, assisted in the placement of the markers.
Susan Hellmann, of Cornwall, said she would be placing a restored marker at the grave of “my great, great, great grandfather Noah Harrison” who served in the Revolution. “I feel like I’m going to cry. It’s just very touching, very powerful,” she said.
Dinneen read the rank, company and lifespan of each veteran as the markers were being placed, then Stevens fired a blast from his musket. When all the markers were set, the names of the other Revolutionary veterans buried in town were read aloud.
Warren Stevens fires his musket.Photo by Riley Klein
The ceremony was held as part of Memorial Day remembrances in Cornwall. It also marked the first official event in town for the nation’s 250th birthday with more to come.
As the occasion came to an end, a light rain began.
A bronze marker was placed at the grave of James Bierce, who lived to the age of 94 after serving in the Revolution with Captain Smith's Company. Bill Dinneen noted many of the Revolutionary War veterans buried in Cornwall lived to old ages. "The average age that these veterans died was 72 years old," he said.Photo by Riley Klein
LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School girls lacrosse won the 2025 Founders League championship with an 11-10 victory over Choate Rosemary Hall May 21.
The Bearcats battled back from behind by as many as four points.
MaryHelen McCooey scored the game-winning goal with about two minutes remaining.
The win marked the fourth consecutive Founders League title for Hotchkiss girls lacrosse.
The Marvelwood lacrosse team poses for a group photo May 20 after winning the HVAL title for the second year in row.
KENT — On Tuesday, May 20, Marvelwood School lacrosse defeated Woodhall School 15-9 in the Housatonic Valley Athletic League tournament final.
It was second straight HVAL championship win for the Pterodactyls and their fifth league title since 2018.
Marvelwood and Woodhall played twice this past season with Marvelwood winning both games. They met in the championship as the first and second ranked teams in the league.
In the pre-game huddle, Marvelwood Coach Zach Maizel pumped up his players and urged them to “be aggressive early.”
Eli Jamieson, No. 4, congratulates teammate C. Jones after a goal.Photo by Lans Christensen
Taking his message to heart, attackman Eli Jamieson scored in the first minute of game play. He scored twice more in the first period, which ended with Marvelwood ahead 6-3.
Woodhall played aggressively and stayed on the attack, but the first half ended 9-4 in favor of Marvelwood.
Jamieson was the key player on the Marvelwood squad, and he scored twice more in the final period to maintain the Pterodactyls’ lead.
Woodhall fought hard and possessed control for most of the final period, scoring five goals but falling to a final 15-9 Marvelwood victory.
HVRHS sophomore Ryan Segalla went three-for-three May 17 with Berkshire League gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m races. He was also on the gold-winning 4x400m relay team.
Berkshire League track and field wrapped up a season of competition with the league finals in Litchfield May 17. The BL festival followed with decathlon, heptathlon, steeplechase and hammer in Falls Village May 20 and Thomaston May 21.
The events included athletes from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Gilbert School, Lakeview High School, Nonnewaug High School, Northwestern Regional High School, Shepaug Valley High School, Terryville High School and Thomaston High School.
In the gold medal tally, Nonnewaug led with 12 golds, Housatonic won 10, Northwestern won six, Thomaston won six, Lakeview won five and Shepaug won three.
For Housatonic, Senior Mia Dodge won the girls 300m hurdles.
Mia DodgePhoto by Riley Klein
Sophomore Ryan Segalla won the boys 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Senior Kyle McCarron won the boys 800m and 1600m races.
The boys 4x400m relay team of Anthony Labbadia, Patrick Money, Kyle McCarron and Ryan Segalla won gold.
Junior Anthony Labbadia won the boys triple jump by a margin of more than three feet. He also earned second place in the boys 400m race.
Senior Patrick Money won the decathlon.
Senior Gabi Titone won the steeplechase. Junior Olivia Brooks took bronze.
The girls 4x400m relay team of Mckenzie Lotz, Harper Howe, Mia Dodge and Maddy Johnson took silver. The same team took bronze in the 4x100m relay.
Harper Howe took silver in the girls 400m race.
Gabi Titone took silver in the girls 800m race.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S state track and field meet will be held in New Britain on June 2.
Patrick Money
Photo by Riley Klein