A perfect Millbrook Community Day

MILLBROOK — The Saturday after Labor Day has always been Community Day in Millbrook. This year it fell on Sept. 11, and the morning began with taps performed by Isabelle Hurley and Ryan Donovan, trumpet players at Millbrook High School, accompanied by the VFW Honor Guard at 9 a.m. on the Village Green.

The celebration stretched from face painting at the Thorne Building to the display of an antique water-pumping engine powered by coal in the Reardon Briggs parking lot at the bottom of Franklin Avenue. Stores put tables on the sidewalks. Music floated in the air and the Pack 31 Cub Scouts tried to sell microwave popcorn to everyone.

The VFW served 120 sausage sandwiches and 72 hamburgers. Merritt Book Store organized readings on the library lawn and the Millbrook Teachers Association handed out free books to encourage literacy.

It was a day to learn more about village institutions like Mutt-Lab Rescue, Dutchess Day School and the Cary Institute, where future scientists examined mosquito larvae through microscopes.

The Republicans and the Democrats had informational tables with materials on the new voting machines and absentee ballots. The village handed out information on the sewer project. Millbrook Matters sponsored a Plan It Right tent about the town of Washington comprehensive plan and urged citizen involvement. Cadets participating in the Millbrook Police youth police academy took fingerprints and told people about the Wednesday night program at the Village Hall.

It was a day of tradition and history. The parade of the Millbrook Hunt Fox Hounds with 14 very well-behaved, long-legged dogs accompanied by young equestrians in riding boots and hats sauntered up Franklin Avenue at 1:30 p.m., and after a brief rest underneath the Thorne Building trees, walked back down Franklin Avenue.

David Greenwood, village historian, led a historic walk through the village. Children rode in an authentic 19th-century governess donkey cart driven by Eve Propp of Dublin Dare Farm.

At 4 p.m. three winners of the free raffle were drawn out of a village of Millbrook paper bag under the supervision of Community Day organizers Paula Redmond and Ruthie Bontecou of the Millbrook Business Association. Each winner received an assortment of prizes donated by community organizations, from spa treatments to a ride with the Millbrook Hunt.

The three winners from the hundreds who handed in their completed passports were Art Crowley of Shady Dell Road in Millbrook, Susie Steinhaus, the wife of Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus, and Sarah Rizzo, a teacher at Alden Elementary School in Millbrook.

All afternoon the members of the Millbrook Fire Department prepared for the traditional chicken barbecue fundraiser, which started at 4:30 p.m. James Brownell oversaw the cooking of 200 quartered chickens over an open charcoal pit. Nolan Meyer and the other shucking volunteers busily husked corn on the cob from the Kessman’s Farm in Amenia. And the ladies of Lyall Church put the finishing touches on their famous coleslaw and macaroni salad.

Hundreds of people spent the day strolling on Franklin Avenue or working behind tables, grilling sausages, singing or handing out information. Everyone recognized the exceptional quality of life and feeling of neighborhood in Millbrook. It was another grand Community Day on a perfect Saturday in September.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less