Area residents hoping to celebrate the Grand Opening of Tarts and Bread, a new bakery in Amenia, on Saturday, April 27, were disappointed to read that the opening has been postponed.
Leila Hawken
Latest News
CORNWALL — A public hearing at the Cornwall Library Friday, April 11, afforded residents the opportunity to weigh in on the town spending proposal for 2025-26.
Cornwall Consolidated School’s annual expenses are up to $3,016,786, an increase of $269,564 or 9.81% compared to last year.
Region One’s assessment for Cornwall is down to $4,004,274, a reduction of $20,612 or -1.02% from 2024-25’s budget.
Municipal spending increased to $2,514,497, up by $105,518 or 4.38% from last year.
Combined, town expenses are up to $8,417,629 in Cornwall, an increase of $355,934 or 4.42% compared to 2024-25.
To balance the budget, $225,000 was transferred from the unassigned general fund.
As presented, the mill rate will increase to 15.98, up by 4.47% from last year.
One resident spoke at the hearing. Park and Recreation Chair Michelle Shipp explained the $3,819.12 rise in expenses for her commission. “The bulk of our increase actually comes to fund our usage of the UCC Parish House,” she said, noting that many town events are held at the Parish House. “$3,000 of the money that we are asking for is actually to help pay the usage fee.”
The referendum for the Region One budget is Tuesday, May 6. A town meeting to vote on Cornwall’s 2025-26 budget will be held Friday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Cornwall Consolidated School.
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Sharon history: Remembering Buckley
Apr 16, 2025
A photo of the Buckley family was on display during author Sam Tanenhaus’s book talk April 12.
Ruth Epstein
SHARON — The setting for author Sam Tanenhaus’s talk on his book “Buckley: The Life and Revolution that Changed America” was most appropriate.
Speaking Saturday, April 12, at Sharon Town Hall about William F. Buckley Jr., conservative writer and political commentator, Tanenhaus said, “Sharon was the essence of what Buckley did. The origins of the conservative movement are from Sharon.”
The program, titled “The Buckleys of Sharon,” was sponsored by the Sharon Historical Society, and followed the organization’s annual meeting. Investigative journalist Brian Ross served as interviewer. The room was packed with listeners attentive to Tanenhaus’ informative and somewhat humorous delivery.
William F. Buckley Sr. purchased Great Elm, the house on South Main Street, in 1923. It was there he and his wife, Aloise, raised their 10 children. An 11th girl who died in infancy is buried in a Sharon cemetery.
“All WFB learned,” as Tanenhaus referred to him throughout the presentation, “started at that home in Sharon.”
Young Buckley was born in 1925, the middle child of the large family, which also consisted of James Buckley, who went on to become a senator.
While Tanenhaus said delving into long passages about early lives when writing biographies is no longer an accepted practice, he did take some time to read a passage about the senior Buckleys’ beginnings, due to the influence it had on their children. WFB’s father was raised in southern Texas, and spoke as much Spanish as English. That might have served as the basis for his son’s way of speaking, which some believe was an attempt to sound British. Aloise Buckley, whom Tanenhaus labeled “a culturally southern Catholic,” came from New Orleans,
Tanenhaus explained that the book came about because of his previous biography on Whitaker Chambers. Buckley was a source for that work and as they got to know one another, “WFB welcomed me into his life as if I mattered.”
Giving some insight into the man, Tanenhaus noted that almost all of Buckley’s good friends were liberals, which was part of the largeness he displayed. He had an all-encompassing quality about him and was able to charm everyone.
The founder of the National Review magazine and host of the public affairs television program “Firing Line,” “WFB was an orator and debater, going back to his student days. In his first competition, he took the side of defending Charles Lindbergh, who was a Buckley family hero. Another time, around 1939 or ’40, he was part of a debate in nearby Amenia, New York, in which the subject was whether the United States should intervene in the European War. Buckley took an isolationist stance.
Later in life, there were two notable debates in which Buckley participated. In one particularly explosive interchange, author Gore Vidal accused Buckley of being a Nazi and Buckley went wild, losing the match. He also lost in another notable debate with civil rights activist James Baldwin.
A few times during his talk, Tanenhaus made reference to “the Sharon incident.” Finally, Ross asked him to explain what that was. Great Elm was located just across the road from Christ Church Episcopal. Its pastor was the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter, who happened to be the father of two daughters who went on to become celebrities: Jayne and Audrey Meadows.
It was the spring of 1944, when World War II was ending, but tensions were still high. One Sunday morning, the Rev. Cotter entered the church to find the cushions and altar defiled. The police were called and the tracks led back to Great Elm. It turned out that three Buckley girls and their friends did it as a prank.
There was a court case and the perpetrators plead guilty, resulting in a lot of negative publicity, lawsuits, and daughter Patricia not being accepted to Smith College, which had been a family tradition. Tanenhaus said the episode took on religious overtones, with some believing the Catholic Buckleys purposefully went after a Protestant church.
“That was another reminder of how key this town is,” said the author. “It was a painful event in the life of the Buckley family. But after that, there were signs of atonement.”
The book is due in June.
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Reading between the bargains
Apr 16, 2025
Shoppers search the shelves for books to buy at Scoville Memorial Library’s book sale April 12.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — Bibliophiles converged on the Scoville Memorial Library for the Friends of the Library book sale Saturday, April 12.
Dan Dwyer of Lion’s Head Books, always alert on the book front, had a few items picked out which cost a whopping $7.
One woman was on the prowl for cookbooks and anything involving home design and decor. She had plenty to choose from.
The books were in good shape — or better — and the shelves were well-organized.
And despite the ghastly weather, a steady stream of people trudged through the slush for the sale, all with a certain gleam in the eye peculiar to book people.
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Classmates look on as Cole Lidstone is handcuffed by Trooper Will Veras at Salisbury Central School Career Day Friday, April 11.
Patrick L. Sullivan
LAKEVILLE — Sixth-grader Cole Lidstone gamely volunteered to be handcuffed and placed in a police car during Career Day at Salisbury Central School Friday, April 11.
Salisbury Resident State Trooper Will Veras explained how troopers transport prisoners one at a time and in the front seat of their vehicles because they don’t have a barrier between the rear and front seats.
Veras placed the cuffs behind the back on the volunteer and guided him into the vehicle.
Afterwards Lidstone described the encounter matter-of-factly as “uncomfortable,” adding he has no intention of repeating the experience.
Nearby Jason Emberlin of Emberlin Landscaping had lots of equipment on display and Skyler Ohmen got to sit at the controls of an excavator.
Inside Nick Cornell from National Iron Bank took students through their hypothetical investments in stocks the students picked beforehand, including Meta, Apple and Amazon.
Artist Millree Hughes walked students through his work on an Alexander McQueen fashion show. He explained how he treated large mirrors to get a “patchy” effect.
And hair stylist Lori Holt told a group that while there are seven basic hair styles, she can’t remember which is which “because they blend in.” She said often clients bring a photo of how they want their hair to look.
Also on hand to share their expertise and experience: Melissa Moore, a teaching; Taylor Wilfore, nurse practitioner; athletic trainer Jon Rusillo; Kristin Watson, veterinary technician; strength trainer Seth Diters; Loch Johnson, political scientist; author Donna Fazzino; web designers Elizabeth and John Schaufelberger; and architect Pilar Proffitt.
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