A5THE MILLERTON NEWS, Thursday, May 25, 2017

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By WHITNEY JOSEPH

editor@millertonnews.com

PINE PLAINS — It was a groundbreaking like no other. There were the expected balloons and buttons, stickers and signs. But there were also crafts, ven-dors, food, games, a flea market, walking tours and lots and lots of dogs. There was even a dunking booth, atop which sat town Su-pervisor Brian Coons, wet from previous dunkings.

The groundbreaking at Pine Plains Memorial Hall (PPMH) had an absolute festive feel on Saturday, May 20, and those who attended were practically glowing with excitement and good cheer.

“I am having a wonderful time. This is so much fun,” gushed Pine Plains resident Joan Dunham. “I’ve talked to people I know and people I don’t know. It’s such a wonder-ful community day. I’m excited for the great groundbreaking for something that’s so wonderful for the community. This is really im-portant for Pine Plains.”

PPMH is a beautiful, but de-crepit, brick building built in 1915. It’s served as a vaudeville theater, movie house, dance studio, laun-dromat, hair salon, office space and mini-mall. It fell into disrepair in the 1990s, and in 2013 it was bought by a group of local resi-dents with the hopes of turning it into a performing arts center for the entire Tri-state region.

The $5 million project is in the midst of a fundraising campaign. Once finished, the hall is to be “the home of community-based civic and social programs, agricultural and arts education, a venue for concerts, films and cultural per-formances and an incubator for local charitable organizations and entrepreneurs,” according to its literature.

There were three men who invested in the hall originally: Jack Banning, Ariel Schlein and the late Christian Eisenbeiss. As SEB Holdings Management, they bought the building for $199,000 in 2014, and installed a laundromat in the rear of the basement one year later. That was the first step in the journey of transforming PPMH into a place for the whole community to use. Its broad ap-peal is what helped make Com-munity Day such a success on the 20th.

The collective sentiment on Community Day, from the hun-dreds of people who attended, reflected new hope. Pine Plains resident Todd Lanthier was there with his wife and two children.

“It’s a great day,” he said, prais-

Memorial Hall celebration makes a lasting impression

ing the gorgeous weather and out-door activities. “It’s a fun place to be, great for the community, and I look forward to more years of it. It’s a great day for the kids, too. They’re having a lot of fun. Can’t miss the first Pine Plains Com-munity Day.”

“I think it’s fantastic, and hope to see it again in the future,” echoed Pine Plains resident Mary Douglass, there with her husband and children.

Ken and Ruth Noskin were at the event with their dog, Rasa.

“We love the building and wanted to see what’s going on,” said Ken. “We wanted to see the inside. We’re so glad there are plans for it.”

“It’s fabulous. Miraculous,” said Brooklyn resident Irene Zimmer-man. “The tour was really amaz-ing. It’s going to be spectacular for the town and everyone who comes to it. Supporting the arts is a great thing.”

Brian Keeler, executive direc-tor of PPMH, said he was thrilled with the turnout on Saturday. At day’s end, he lined up the many, many people still in attendance and posed them for a group photo.

“I want everybody to be a part of this groundbreaking ceremony,” he said, referencing an old, histori-cal photo that’s been around for more than 100 years. “We want this picture to live on for another 107 years, too.”

After the shot was taken, Keeler took a moment to reflect on the afternoon.

“What a fantastic day,” he said. “This was better than we ever could have imagined, beyond our wildest dreams. Hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of peo-ple showed up to celebrate Pine Plains.

“This is the vision of the com-munity,” Keeler added. “All we can do is give them the building, and they’ll figure out how to use it.”

PHOTOS BY WHITNEY JOSEPH

Clockwise, from above, residents shouted “We dig Pine Plains”

as they posed for a group photo at the Memorial Hall Commu-

nity Day, Saturday, May 20. Pine Plains resident Joan Dunham

inspected handcrafted bird houses before making a purchase.

Town Supervisor Brian Coons got soaked, after volunteering

for the dunking booth on Community Day. Two-year-old Liam

Lupoli was all energy and excitement, as he led mom Alysha

Hedges around the grounds of Memorial Hall. Two-year-old

Evelyn Bailey-Damico’s interest was held by a festive balloon

at the groundbreaking for the remodel of the historic building.