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Main Street sidewalks to get $150,000 facelift thanks to block grant

MILLERTON — The village of Millerton was recently named one of four Dutchess County municipalities to receive funding from this year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Totaling $334,599, the first round of municipal project awards from the program focused on improving sidewalk accessibility throughout the county. According to a recent Dutchess County press release, the awards are a part of almost $1.5 million in funding awarded this year though the CDBG and HOME Investment Partnership programs “to improve accessibility, expand affordable housing options and address critical public service needs.” 

Additional awards will be announced over the coming weeks as well as awards to improve handicapped accessibility at local parks, affordable housing projects and other various public service projects.

Out of $334,599 in total funding, Millerton received $150,000 for a sidewalk replacement project on Main Street. Included in the project, the village intends to replace 1,000 linear feet of deteriorated sidewalks on the south side of Main Street, just east of the entrance to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

“I’m so excited,” said Mayor Debbie Middlebrook in a previous interview with The Millerton News. “We’ll see what we can do in two more years. I’m so thrilled we got money for sidewalks. We really needed that for a while. I’m really excited about it.”

At the beginning of the Village Board meeting on Monday, March 25, Middlebrook extended her thanks to village Trustee Alicia Sartori for her work in writing and submitting the CDBG grant.

As a member of the Village Grant Committee, Sartori said the village previously applied for a grant to repair the sidewalks on the south side of Main Street a few years ago, but did not receive funding at the time. Regarding her decision to submit another grant application for the sidewalks, she said, “Sidewalks have always been a priority in the village. It was just time to reapply for that and spice up the grant a bit and talk about all the great things going on in Millerton so we can have safe sidewalks, because it is a walking village.

“It just seemed like the perfect time to apply,” Sartori said, adding that they were pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

In addition to the village of Millerton, the village of Tivoli, the town of Amenia and the village and town of Pawling also received CDBG funding during this first round of grant awards.

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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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.

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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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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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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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