This Month’s Featured Articles…

In the January issue of Main Street Magazine Dutchess County Legislator, Gregg Pulver, indicated that the FFA organization (Future Farmers of America) played a crucial role in his development as a leader. We hear of the “farm-to-table” movement, the desire for fresh/local food and the need for local farms to flourish. In these pandemic times with supply chain snags, we see a renewed interest in home gardening and home food production generally. We observe the aging of our farmer population. Who will provide our food [...]

Hudson, NY, also renowned as “Upstate’s Favorite Downtown” is a riverside town that is home to 7,000 diverse residents. Its urban center boasts over 300 independently-owned shops, bars, bakeries, and restaurants. Its burgeoning new economy is rooted in food, the arts, and culture. In 2014, Letterbox Farm, a collectively-owned and operated commercial farm opened in Hudson. It was founded by farmer and researcher, Faith Gilbert, who is the author of free publications, Cooperative Farming, a how-to handbook on forming collaborative farm ventures and A Guide To [...]

The night required a couple layers of wool but no headlamp. As I stepped down from my truck at the Undermountain Trailhead in Salisbury, CT, a row of pines stood before me like a curtain, awash in moonlight, blue and bare like a Hopper painting, though no work of art that I have seen has captured that otherworldly light. Maybe Coltrane. For a moment, I looked around at the world, transformed, quiet and still. A couple of times a year, I need to spend a [...]

It’s February and that means Valentine’s Day. In case you hadn’t noticed, the grocery store shelves cleared out Christmas and started stocking Valentine’s candy on January 1. Geez. Even if you want to, there’s no escaping Valentine’s Day. What do we really want? As adults, what do we really want on Valentine’s Day? Good chocolates are good any time of year. Flowers are always welcome. Dinner by candlelight with mood music? Sure, but that’s also something that should be a regular part of life. Hopefully, [...]

Volunteerism is the engine that makes many of our communities run. Look around your town, and you’ll see what I mean. From houses of worship, fire and ambulance services, food pantries and soup kitchens, libraries, environment and conservation efforts, and social service agencies, lives are enhanced and needs are met through the work of volunteers and the non-profits they serve. Aside from the good that volunteering does for the recipients in our communities, the act of service carries benefits for the doer. While ethics may [...]