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: People
Video portraits of people of Pine Plains
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…
A New Crop? Sunlight?
Now with public comments from the second hearing of March 11, 2023. On January 21, 2023, the Pine Plains, NY, Planning Board held a public hearing for the community on a proposal for a large solar panel project to be constructed in the township,
A Global Pandemic, A Small Town, and A Pharmacist
Pine Plains, NY, with a population of about 1,500 located 100 miles due north of New York City could have been easily overlooked in the data and statistics about COVID-19. But it…
Shucks — Everything Goes Better with Oysters!
For a while, in TDBTP (Those Days Before The Pandemic), Lia’s Mountain View had Oysters ‘n Wings Tuesday Nights. Whether or not you liked oysters (or even wings), you were bound to…
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…
It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Shop Class!
Because it is not your grandfather’s world anymore. It’s theirs! To thrive in their world, they need new skills to cope with changing technology. The challenge is not only learning new technology…
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…
You Know It’s Spring When…
It’s time to shear the sheep! There are all sorts of signs of Spring, but I’ve picked this one to show on Pine Plains Views: the annual sheep shearing on Black Sheep…
Last Night at the Wild Hive
After a four-year run, the Wild Hive Farm, Store & Café Bakery closed. A few miles away, in Clinton Corners, not Pine Plains, but it could have been and I wish it…
Riding High in Copake! The Antique Bicycle Auction
A whole world converged on Copake, NY, — the world of antique bicycle collectors! Why neighboring Copake which, unlike Pine Plains, does not even have ONE traffic light? Because of the 26th…
Nanjing on the Hudson
Once the world was flat then it became round. Now it is flat again… The high school cafeteria was filled with the sounds and sights of Chinese in a welcome to the delegation from High School #29 in Nanjing (China).
It Takes a Play to Make a Community: Backstage at The Music Man
Pine Plains has a lively history of live theatre — a story in itself. And now, every year, like high schools all over the country, it puts on an annual musical. I…
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….
It Takes a Community to Run a Railroad
Actually, this is not a railroad story. It is about, a group of people who decided to run a railroad. A real one, as you can see for yourself in this film…
A Master Class for the High School Jazz Band
When Wynton Marsalis gave the opening concert for the new Stising Center, he also opened some hearts and minds of the local high school Jazz Band in a Master Class.
A Day for Honor
Veterans Day, 2015 I can’t really say that it rained on our parade ’cause, well, it didn’t really rain as such and we did not have any kind of parade at all….
It Was All Treats — Halloween 2015
I am sure that this goes on all over America in small towns, but I am so thrilled at how our community of Pine Plains celebrates Halloween with its children. No committees or dot orgs….
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…
So, Let’s Make a Knife!
A working conversation with Master Bladesmith Joseph Szilaski I heard that there was this guy who lived somewhere in Pine Plains and made knives — great ones — although no one had ever actually seen one. His name…
The High Schoolers Paint the Town!
We don’t often get a chance to see what goes on in the schools because everything is tucked away in brick buildings. When I heard that the high school was going to…
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…
A Live South African Braai Right in Pine Plains!
For the second year, Will Carter, of Pine Plains Fine Wines and Spirits, hosted a tasting of South African wines and food to raise money for the Pine Plains Food Pantry. We hope…
Pine Plains on Parade: The Parade of Lights, 2015
I thought I would do something different this year for the Parade of Lights. Instead of filming the parade itself, I would film Pine Plains FROM the parade.
Burgers with the Herd
Burgers with the cows at Chaseholm Farm. The first in what I hope will be an on-going event. We had a great time, hung out with our favorite herd of cows, some old…
Everyone Loves a Parade!
And this proves it! I was told that the Fire Department was going to hold a parade. Usually parades are held to honor, remember, or celebrate something. I’m not sure about this one….
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,…
A Farrier? What’s That?
Here in northeast Dutchess County, it was dairy farms and we were the Milk Bottle of New York City. But the dairy farms closed and different animals were brought to graze our…
The Parade of Lights 2012
It’s the tradition. Every year, at 3PM the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Pine Plains decorates itself with Christmas Lights. And then, at 5, just when it is dark, Pine Plains becomes the Center…
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…
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.
The Porsches Have Landed!
Right here in Pine Plains! A fleet (what do you call a flock of Porsches, anyway?) of all vintages of Porsches as the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Porsche Club of America landed on our own John Corson’s lawn to visit his garage.
Chop Shop Suey
They’re always talking about what we import from China. Well, here’s what we export to back to them. WARNING: Not for the mechanically squeamish!
Roll Your Own — Chinese Dumplings!
For those of us in Pine Plains who crave good Chinese food it means hitting the road. But we are fortunate that just up the road is a chef and caterer who will not only bring the food but can show us how to make it. This is an entertaining series about making Chinese dumplings. Another thing you can do in Pine Plains!
Meet the Candidates Night, 2017
What I hope will become a tradition in the future, the Pine Plains Free Library hosted an evening for the community to hear candidates for local offices discuss the issues. It was…
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.
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.
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…
The Tree Couple
WARNING: DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! We had this tree… well, up until recently it had been 3 trees, a triple crown, but when two of them came down in the field the third one was leaning more and more perilously over our backyard and… We had to call the Wallendas of Pine Plains.
Chopping Rock
A video visit with Verne Tower, stone-cutter, as he re-creates an elaborate marble stoop for a historic mansion in Hudson, NY. While Verne may be doing wonderful restoration and preservation of historical buildings, he is also preserving skills and technology that are disappearing faster than the buildings he works on.
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…
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…
Wynton in Pine Plains
I was not permitted to shoot any video of Wynton during his stay in Pine Plains. I was only granted permission to shoot the still photographs in this gallery of the sound…