WASSAIC — The Lantern Inn is a bit of an anomaly in the surrounding area, a quiet dive bar not on many people’s radar. In the Harlem Valley, the majority of establishments serving drinks are restaurants or veterans organizations like the American Legion or the VFW.The Lantern Inn is a bit of a forgotten business, tucked away in the sleepy hamlet of Wassaic. But in the past few years, there’s been some outside buzz building from The Wassaic Project, an arts initiative that includes festivals and artist residences centered around the Maxon Mills grain building and the old Luther Auction Barn.The Wassaic project, entering into its fourth year, has evolved from a once-a-year arts festival to what the organizers hope will become a year-round venture that could bring positive attention to the hamlet.“We think this town is very unique and special,” explained Jeff Barnett-Winsby, one of the codirectors of The Wassaic Project. “The more time you spend here, the more it feels like home.” If the arts festival is the organizers’ start of a new beginning for Wassaic, The Lantern Inn is the next step. Tony Zunino and Richard Berry, owners of several buildings in downtown Wassaic, including the Maxon Mills and Luther Auction Barn, purchased The Lantern Inn building nearly six months ago. Soon after they purchased The Lantern Inn business, Barnett-Winsby was made manager.Zunino and Barnett-Winsby appeared at a recent Amenia Planning Board meeting with proposed renovations to the exterior of the building, including fixing the siding, installing new windows that fit more into the original architecture of the building and building a front porch that, according to old photographs, ran along the front of the building and stuck out right to the edge of the sidewalk. Barnett-Winsby, 31, originally hails from Kansas. He is connected to The Wassaic Project originally through his girlfriend, Bowie Zunino, another co-director and Tony Zunino’s daughter. While he said that The Lantern Inn was not officially connected to The Wassaic Project, he was quick to point out that being a part of both entities, as well as operating in such close proximity, “the line is definitely blurry.” “The Lantern Inn is in service to hopefully help the town grow,” he explained. “That’s what the goal is here, and that’s also what The Wassaic Project is about.”What Barnett-Winsby stressed is that the intention is not to reinvent The Lantern Inn.“The goal is to save the building,” he said, “and bring it back to its original look, as much as we can. I think we can get pretty close.”The Lantern Inn, at least in recent memory, is probably most well known for its pool league. Cars fill the downtown streets of Wassaic every Wednesday, when pool players crowd around The Lantern Inn’s four tables. Pool trophies are abundant throughout the bar.But most nights are quiet, and Barnett-Winsby said the bar’s odd hours were often frustrating.“We all thought it was this great place,” he said, “but most nights it was closed by 7 p.m. Anytime we’d want to head over there, it wouldn’t be open.”The bar now has “guaranteed” hours of 3 to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, but Barnett-Winsby said the business’ resident bartender (and only employee) is known to stay late if there are patrons, especially on Wednesdays.“Gary has been a godsend,” he said. “He really made this transition possible.”Down the road, the goal is also to renovate the second and third floors of the building, which could become apartments.Zunino produced historic photographs at the Amenia Planning Board meeting on Feb. 24 to show the inspiriation for the renovations. The board is expected to approve the siding and window changes, while the porch could require an area variance as well as approval from Dutchess County Planning and Development, because the change is less than 500 feet from a county road, according to Attorney to the Town Michael Hayes.“There’s really no place to stop in the hamlet right now,” Zunino said, adding that the ideas was to eventually start serving food, not as a full-blown restaurant but a place for coffee and sandwiches.“Simple but delicious,” Barnett-Winsby elaborated, saying that once the exterior repairs were completed, work would probably begin on the kitchen area.“You know, I’ve heard all sorts of rumors about what we have planned for The Lantern Inn. I heard that it was going to become a martini bar,” he said, shaking his head.What is really planned, he explained, is to make The Lantern Inn into a community hub, a place where people can go for coffee in the morning, a quick bite to eat at lunch and a drink to wind down in the evening, all at prices that won’t break the bank. A beer won’t run you more than $3 at the bar, even less if you show up for the “2 for 1 Happy Hour” from 4 to 7 p.m. on Fridays.“It’s the type of place where people can go and chat,” he said. “Hopefully The Lantern Inn will be a place that the community feels they have some ownership of.”Still, there’s a long way to go before The Lantern Inn can be called a successful business. Barnett-Winsby said there are many $100 nights, and probably that will continue at least until the weather warms up and The Wassaic Project starts bringing outsiders down into the hamlet once again.“It’s just a matter of letting people know we’re out there,” Barnett-Winsby said. The big pool room is ideal for bands, he said, which could be one of the bigger changes, but the new manager of The Lantern Inn is confident that the business is a hidden gem.“The way we view it, everybody’s welcome here,” he added. “We’re not trying to alienate either new or old, and I think the combination of different people will give the inn a unique feel.“I think the revitalization of an area comes from people getting excited about projects. That kind of community growth comes from a central location,” Barnett-Winsby said. “We like The Lantern Inn the way it already is.”
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The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.
Jay Ballesteros
That’s the question behind Hudson Valley Sustainable Fashion Week[end], a two-day celebration of sustainable style, local makers and the possibilities of keeping clothing in circulation. The weekend lands at Stone Ridge Orchard, a 200-year-old working farm, on Sept. 25 and 26, pairing an evening fashion show with a new all-ages Slow Fashion Fair.
“To me, slow fashion means intentional fashion. Careful, thoughtful, human,” said Joanne Louis-Paul, the event’s communications director. “Slow fashion is the speed at which one person can sew an intricately detailed dress. It’s taking the time to go to a thrift store or clothing swap and sifting through an unknown bounty of possibilities. It’s extending the life of a piece of clothing for as long as possible.”
In everyday terms, she said, “It’s stopping to think before purchasing anything or giving anything away.”
Friday’s fourth annual Organic Runway brings Hudson Valley designers to the farm for a sunset showcase of garments made from repurposed textiles and produced locally. Designers include Clare Bare, ennui, Kacy Coyle, KNUD, la vie après l’amour, Last Night on Earth, So Vicki and Touch Threads. The evening runs from 4 to 8 p.m., giving attendees time to pick apples and sip local cider before settling in for the runway.
“We’re all about the whimsy here at HVSFW,” Louis-Paul said. “The runway is so incredibly dreamy. Being outside makes for an unpredictable, one-of-a-kind backdrop every year, and there’s just nothing like that sunset glow.”
Models walk the organic runway at HVSFW. Ilan Harel
The unlikely pairing of fashion and farming is also part of the point.
“Once you’re sitting amongst the apple trees, you realize how much sense it makes to mend the relationship between fashion and nature,” she said.
Saturday introduces the inaugural Slow Fashion Fair, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with workshops, mending, fiber art, vendors, music, eco-friendly kids’ crafts and a clothing swap. There will even be sheep.
“We wanted to have a fair so we could invite more people in the eco-friendly ecosystem into the fold,” Louis-Paul said. “We get to highlight not only designers, but makers and artisans of all kinds.”
The organizers hope the fair appeals not only to people already thinking about climate and sustainability but also to those encountering the ideas for the first time. With mending, a clothing swap and hands-on workshops, the emphasis is on showing visitors things they can actually do.
“There are so many things anyone can start doing today,” Louis-Paul said. “From something as simple as sewing a patch onto a stain or tear to hosting a mini clothing swap at your house with friends and family, there are tons of ways to engage with your wardrobe more thoughtfully.”
She speaks from experience. Before becoming involved with the event, she said, secondhand shopping held little appeal.
“As someone who never liked the idea of thrifting, I am now completely sold on circular fashion,” she said. “I recently sewed a broken strap on a dress I got at a clothing swap, and I felt so accomplished! Being in this world has shown me that conscious consumption is attainable and fun.”
But behind the fun is a serious concern about what happens to clothing once consumers decide they no longer want it.
“Just because you throw it away doesn’t mean it goes away,” she said, pointing to discarded clothing accumulating in other parts of the world and the microplastics shed by synthetic fabrics. “The planet and people are suffering because of this throwaway culture we’ve adopted. If an outfit is new but super cheap, believe there’s a high cost to someone else.”
For more information and tickets, visit hvsfw.org
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
She has been creating lampshades for 25 years and has settled in Ashley Falls, where she is renovating a barn behind her house for a larger studio. Her mission: “Changing the view on plain white lampshades, one at a time!”
Besides using marbled paper, she uses papyrus, silk and hand-painted papers for the shades.
Shandell’s on Main Street, offers a large selection of marbled decorative home items on its website — trays, coasters and bookends, to name a few — as well as scarves and belts. Schneider will also customize items and creates custom wallpaper, gifts and favors for weddings and special events. She offers consultations by appointment.
Schneider explained how she began making lampshades.
“I was in business as an antiques and textile dealer, needing lampshades at the time (the early 1990s). I had a dealer who used to make lampshades. She was moving and sold me everything she had in her barn for making them. Arcs, templates for lampshades, and tools.”
Schneider used the marbled paper from the endpapers of old books to make small lampshades.
“I collected those voraciously.”
The papers were too small for the larger lampshades she wanted to make. To get paper in the size she needed, she decided to learn how to marble.
That was 10 years ago. She now has 20 tanks for marbling, including one 10-foot tank that allows her to make 3 yards of fabric at a time.
As she demonstrated the marbling process, making covers for journals, it was easy to see why she “got hooked.”
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s, creates a variety of products with marbleized surfaces in her Ashley Falls studio.L. Tomaino
She explained that marbling takes a couple of days of preparation. She prepares water mixed with carrageenan the night before so that it thickens and becomes a viscous liquid onto which the acrylic paints can be dropped. Paper or fabric must also be prepared with alum, which “makes the paint stick,” she said, a day or two ahead of time.
When she was ready to start, Schneider first used a level to make sure the tank was even. Then she pulled a squeegee across the surface of the carrageenan mixture to break the surface tension, followed by strips of newsprint for the same purpose. She also dipped small pieces of newsprint into the mixture.
“The hardest thing to teach people is to break the surface tension first,” she noted.
Next, she used droppers to place rows of paint onto the mixture.
“It’s a joyful process,” she said as she chose more colors. “It’s totally the pleasure of the colors.”
She explained, “The colors are stopped from spreading by the surface tension.”
Then she added newsprint around the edges of the tank to break the tension again and added another layer of color. Next, she used a marbling comb, slowly dragging it back and forth across the width of the tank to create a feather-like design.
Combs come in many sizes, with teeth spaced at different intervals and in different patterns. She chose another comb to drag through the length of the tank, making the design more intricate before laying two pieces of paper on the surface. After a second or two, she lifted them, perfectly capturing the pattern, and carried them to the sink for a rinse with water.
Once she squeegeed away the paint left in the tank, she was ready to begin the process again.
Next, she created a different type of design, dripping colors in a less ordered array, then twirling them into curving lines and circles with a thin rod.
When the surface was ready, she laid a journal cover on top, then lifted it out, covered in a vibrant pattern of swirling colors.
For observers, the process can seem magical.
Schneider loves to share the delight of marbling by teaching classes at Dewey Hall in Sheffield. Upcoming classes will be held Nov. 20, 21 and 22. Beginning in November, she will also offer private classes in her home studio. Schneider had never pictured herself having a business like Shandell’s, but she discovered a passion for creating, as she says, “things that make you smile.”
For more information about her work and upcoming classes or to contact her for a consultation, visit shandells.com.
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