No matter where she’s lived or whatever her occupation, Joan Miller has always made fitness part of her routine. So as the new director of community services for the town of Crawford, Miller set about creating a youth fitness program for kids ages 12 to 18 that, if it comes to pass, will be offered at the Senior Citizens Center next to Town Hall on Route 302.

Miller, a certified fitness instructor and yoga instructor, counts grant writing among her skills. She has applied for a grant to pay for the fitness program. She has also applied for another grant to help fund a community garden that the town hopes to make a feature on donated property on Holland Avenue. The town has also been told by Orange County that it will get a Community Development Block Grant to help pay for a senior citizen’s walking trail and exercise stations on the same Holland Avenue lot. The projects are important to her.

Miller’s resume includes work in human resources, office management, communications and teaching at the college level, as well as work in banking, servicing mortgages. The background should come in handy given the long list of responsibilities of the community services director.

Miller took some time this week while sitting in her office on the second floor of Town Hall to chat about the job at hand. She started in September, taking over from long-time Director Domanie Ragni who retired. Miller knew Ragni because she hired Miller to teach yoga as part of the town’s summer camp program. Like Ragni, she’ll oversee programs to assist residents with identifying services and resources they need. If you click on the arrow next to the words “community service” on the town’s website, a menu appears listing the senior’s club, farmer’s market, summer concert series, repair cafe and Pine Bush UFO fair, an annual bash that draws dozens of vendors and thousands of visitors to Pine Bush’s Main Street.

The director also oversees the Small Business and Tourism Office that is located in the Pine Bush UFO & Paranormal Museum. During the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, that office developed programs such as Music on Main Street and outdoor dining that helped to keep downtown businesses alive. With the pandemic less front and center, the office has concentrated on the marketing and promotion of local businesses. Shop owners are encouraged to send a short blurb detailing their services and a photo to the office, which it will share on town’s Small Business Facebook and Instagram pages. The town will also post a link to businesses’ websites from the town’s website.

Miller said that help with promotion is far and away the most requested service from businesses. To that end, she has reinvigorated the office’s relationship with the local Chamber of Commerce and its president Michelle England on such events as Shop Small Saturday, coming up later this month. “We both want the same thing,” Miller said.

As she settles into the job, Miller is blessed with a full-up Main Street. Every storefront downtown on Main is leased, she said.

And although business is rough at the moment, with obstacles such as inflation and high interest rates in the wake of the pandemic, Main Street is the only place to be for some business owners.

Guns & Butter (Cookies)

Jason Muehr opened his gun store, Smoke Wagon, in Pine Bush the same month Miller arrived. He relocated his shop from the tiny space in Bullville he’d occupied since 2017 to the former home of Pine Bush Pharmacy, a space three times the size of his old store. At the time, it was one of the few spaces available on Main. Another vacant spot, once home to the Pine Bush Sandwich Shop, has also filled up. The storefront has been rented by a bakery that has yet to open for business.

Asked why he chose Pine Bush, Muehr said the need for space and foot traffic figured in his decision. The store, located between a barber shop and a pizzeria, seemed an ideal spot, he said via email. Muehr, a commercial pilot, was out of town at the time of the interview.

The new location has dramatically raised the store’s profile. “I had no idea so many people did not know we have been in business in the town of Crawford for almost five years,” he said. “We were the talk of the town for a while. Mostly supporters, with a very occasional negative comment.”

Pine Bush had another draw. Smoke Wagon — a nickname for an old-time six-shooter (Wyatt Earp uses it in Muehr’s favorite movie, Tombstone) — could have relocated anywhere, Muehr said. “But I picked Main Street in Pine Bush because I’ve lived here for 10 years and have come to know the values the community holds dear to them.”

He said the hamlet has a “down home, family oriented conservative vibe where even people with disagreements can find common views within.” He likened the place to the town where he grew up in Texas. “My grandfather for 54 years owned and operated his grocery store in the town I grew up in. He and his business were a staple in the community,” Muehr said.

He would like to accomplish the same thing in Crawford, where he is also a member of the town board. “If anything,” he said, “I plan to leave a lasting impression on the community, that I hold near and dear to me as he did. Every chance we get at Smoke Wagon we donate to local charities and local groups — Boy Scouts, gymnastics teams, or Little League and many others.”

Despite the tough business climate, Muehr has plans to open a second business in Crawford, perhaps on Main Street, called Tombstone Cerakote, a process that applies a coating, baked on, to make anything, a firearm, car part, coffee mug, more durable. “We are in the process of website design and licensing right now,” he said.

Miller, who has lived in Crawford for nine years, shares Muehr’s affection and enthusiasm for the town.

“I’m really optimistic, she said, adding that with the backing of the community, “Pine Bush can be an even more enjoyable place.”