A video medley of Memorial Day in Pine Plains: The church BBQ chicken fund-raiser The Parade (of course) The opening of a new store in town People enjoying each other and the Lake….
Category: History
History preserved as it lives on.
Howe They Farmed — A Mother’s Memories
This is about. the Howe family. In 1939, Carolyn Howe got married. One of her wedding presents was a 16mm movie camera. She did exactly what a young mother should: took baby…
This Old Mill: In Honor and Memory of Bruce Humphries
His passing on December 26, 2021, was not just the loss to his family and friends, but leaves a gap in the core of our community. Because I know that many of the people who recently arrived by birth or choice to Pine Plains probably never heard of him and certainly did not know him, I am highlighting this film I made of him a few years ago as a way of introduction to not only Bruce but also to a part of Pine Plains that otherwise might not be known.
Learning History By Living It!
Students enrolled in Mr. Murray’s Military History course are bringing their research and studies of the American Revolution to life. Through historic interpretation and documented analysis, students set out to recreate the…
When A Family Business is a Community Affair
It’s sad to see any business close, but in a small rural town the only hardware store is a vital necessity.
Burger Night at the Farm
Chaseholm Farm Creamery held its last “Burger Night” event of the 2015 season. Oh, how I wish there were more! It a great combination of “scrumptious” burgers, the cows, the people and the music by…
Where We Come From and Where We Are Going…
For several years a tradition has been growing in Pine Plains: the annual Lantern Tour of the Evergreen Cemetery. As a fund-raiser for the Library, the historical society researches the lives of…
Roseland Ranch, Where All the Good Times Have Gone….
It finally had to happen! This much-beloved resort where friendships and even families were formed closed down a few years ago. The regulars hoped that somehow it would re-open and they could get their memories back. I hate to be the bearer of bad news…
The Man Who Made Pine Plains Tick
Once a week for many years Greg McEldowney would come and wind the Town Clock and keep it running. He passed on November 11, 2017. He was a keeper of Pine Plains…
An Old Building Brings New Life to Pine Plains
This is Downton Pine Plains, New York. Well, some people might not call it a real downtown, but it’s where our traffic light, bank, pharmacy, and a genuine French restaurant are located….
Making History
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?“ If an event happens in the past and is not, in some…
Sergeant, Make It Happen!
There was a touch of Revolutionary War and black powder smoke right in the middle of Pine Plains the other day as Neil Murray was giving his students of military history some…
Soldiers’ Tales
Master Sergeant (Ret.) David A. Cookingham Jr. August 8, 1971 to May 4, 2015 This official obituary tells only part of the story: PINE PLAINS- David Cookingham Jr., 43, of Broadway, NC and…
Let’s Remember Sal….
Sal passed away in May, 2013, at the age of 77. Although I would run into Sal at one of his jobs in town, either at at Deuel’s hardware or at the…
Where Every Car Has a Story
Wheels of Time, the shop of dreams and fond memories. Whether you prefer stories about people over cars or cars over people, you can’t go wrong here! See for yourself! A Pine Plains treasure.
A Halloween Story: Those Pumpkins on Patchin Mills Bridge
Every year, come Halloween, Jack O’ Lanterns, dozens of them, show up and glow on the bridge at Patchin Mills. This is the story behind them. If you have a good connection,…
The Culture of Agriculture
The farmers may be leaving their farms and the farmland, even if preserved, may be left only as viewscape. But a culture and tradition of agriculture remains. Each year the Agriculture Fair,…
Chads Don’t Hang in Pine Plains
The 2015 Town Board election was very close. Even for a small town like ours, only 3 votes separated the 2nd and 3rd place candidates. Absentee ballots could change the outcome. Curious…
Love Where You Live: The Story of Hammertown
Because it sets itself apart from the ordinary by striving to do things better and living up to its motto: Love Where You Live, it was able to invite its customers in the community to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
A Touch of Country: The Fall Fair
Every year the Stissing Mountain High School chapter of the Future Farmers of America runs an ag fair. I’ve filmed different parts of it before, but this year I’ve pretty much stuck…
For the Sake of History
It’s great when a community pulls together for a cause. In this case it was pulling pork as a fund-raiser for the local historical society. Two hundred tickets were sold and late-comers had to be turned away. Perhaps some vegetarians had to look away…
Wednesday Jam
Local folks who like to play bluegrass, they 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. When I came across them they had been playing in Pete and Cindy Howe’s kitchen where I took these videos.
Time Marches On…
A great introduction to Pine Plains is the Memorial Day Parade. If they’re not actually in it, they’re watching it! This was in 2000. The rest of the world, but not the parade, has changed a lot since. See for yourself as it is in 2011.
Food For Thought
Field work — literally — when Vassar College students milked cows, fed turkeys, picked fruit, mucked stalls and wrote ethnographies as part of an anthropology course.
That Old House
It’s often referred to as “that old house by the bank parking lot” by people who do not remember the name, Louis Graham/Brush House. I confess that I was, up until I started filming its restoration, one of them.
The Family Farm
This is about a dairy farmer, Barry Chase, who is about to sell his herd of milking cows. I visited with him and his wife, Rosey, a few days before their herd leaves.
“Those Gangsters Were No Dummies”
If this looks as if a man is trying to disappear into that hole in the brush, well, that was the whole idea. It leads to where a huge moonshine operation had been hidden since The Prohibition in a warren of underground rooms and tunnels. I’ve heard about this for years and was finally able to take a tour. Come on along.
A House Moves Home
An old farmhouse was resting on a warped frame that could no longer support it. But this house is not going to be torn down. It will be restored after it is jacked up and moved onto a new foundation. Ever wonder how they jack up a whole house and move it? Well, see for yourself! It’s all revealed in this story.
What IS Community, Anyway?
It was a large red barn right by the side of the road. It was so well-known it was a landmark for directions. Then, on a Tuesday morning, if you were driving…
On the Steps of the County Court House…
They said it would be sold on the court house steps. They were not exaggerating. Just not the front steps, the back ones. Wherever. I just had to see it with my…
Yikes! They’re Packing up the Library!
Yes, packing up the Library to move to…. the Library! What’s happening here? Don’t ask me, I haven’t the slightest idea and I don’t think anyone else in Pine Plains does either.
The Long Haul Home: The Library Returns!
Talk about returning overdue library books… In what we hope will be the resolution of a long and complex story, books are coming out of storage and the library will be moved…
“Going… Going…. Wait! It’s Coming Back!
So long known as “That” building”, Memorial Hall — or whatever you called it in the past — now has a new future. And one that will help Pine Plains with its…
The Next Chapter: The Library Moved. The Story Goes On…
You know you’re from Pine Plains if you have an opinion about this library situation. And if you are wondering why I am covering this story as it drags on and on, well…