Everybody Loves A Parade: Meet the people of Pine Plains as they turn out for the Memorial Day Parade.  Here is some video of the world in 2000, before 9/11, when everywhere still seemed like small-town, rural America.

Dairy Farming: There were, until fairly recently, dozens of dairy farms in the Pine Plains area.  Milk production and processing was the mainstay of the local economy.  But now, as there are only a handful of farmers still milking, people who have moved in from the City or are too young to remember, the familiarity with the way of life of the dairy farmer has passed, too. I hope that this sequence of videos will preserve that way of life if not the farms.

Old Farm Movies:  Amazing home movies made by a farmer's wife about her life on the farm in the forties and fifties.  They document the change from horse to iron and preserve a way of life on a dairy farm in Falls Village, Connecticut. Pete Howe and his brother, Jim, found their mother's films and videotaped them projected against a wall.

Moving On: This house is jacked up and ready to go.  Where and how it is going is a story about changing ways of life in rural America.  It is a good story, for instead of being torn down, the house is being moved to a new setting and purpose.  If you are one of  those people who are curious about how they do things, like how to move a house, this shows it.  Maybe  even more than you ever wanted to know!

 This Old Mill: Just outside of town there by an old mill pond and dam there is what remains of an abandoned flour and feed mill. I had never stopped to look at it until I noticed that the foundations were being shored up.  I stopped to find out what was going to be done to the building and met some interesting people and a fascinating story.

Wednesday Jam: Some local folks who like to play bluegrass have been getting together on Wednesday nights for over 40 years. They never had a name for their group so I just call it The Wednesday Jam.  And they call it picking rather than playing. 

The Tree Couple: Don't try this at home!  A very, very tall tree in our yard was leaning precariously towards our house.  It had to come down and there was no way I could do it myself .  We called the experts, a couple who are our local Flying Wallendas.  As you will see, the job got done with grace.

Choppin' Rock is what he calls his work.  You'll see Verne Tower, stone-cutter work mostly with marble to keep alive techniques and skills that are centuries old and dying out.  Although what he does is in itself fascinating, I felt it important to document on video.     

The future of farming is told in this story of some Pine Plains 4-H Club members waiting to have their cows judged at the Dutchess County Fair.  Hint: we have already met the winner!

The Stissing Sprint Triathalon was held for the first time this year by some enterprising young residents of Pine Plains. I hope it becomes a tradition in future years.  

That old house, behind the bank and next to the market parking lot, was built around 1770.  Members of the community are restoring it. I've been tracking their progress and you can, too, by clicking on the picture and going to the story!