Halloween lands Saturday, and the Valley's week runs straight at it. Today stays sunny near 64 in Dover and 66 in Pawling and Patterson behind the morning frost, and the next three days carry the season's last library programming before the holiday, from Girls Who Code and the final toy photography session tonight to Wednesday's pumpkin drop-off and Thursday's craft workshops. The day itself opens at the Pawling Free Library, where the Haunted Library runs 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. during Trick or Treat Pawling, with gently spooky games, crafts and candy stations for all ages with a caregiver, drop in or stay the whole time. Sunset runs 5:50 p.m. with civil twilight ending 6:19 p.m., so the porch lights come on early.
The Lanterns at the Library contest fills the middle of the week. Decorated or carved pumpkins come in Wednesday or Thursday, the display and the visitor vote for Pawling's Perfect Pumpkin run Halloween day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the winner is announced Monday, Nov. 2. Thursday also brings Witch Noses at the Pawling Library Annex, 4 to 5 p.m. for ages 7 and up, the green nose meant to be worn straight to Saturday's event, and Patterson's Spooky Science the same afternoon, 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. for ages 5 to 8 with registration required.
One change from last week's plan: Patterson's events calendar now lists nothing for Halloween itself, so Saturday there belongs to Pawling's two library events and the evening doorbells. Between the pumpkin vote, the nose workshop and a week of regular programs in front of them, the days before the holiday hold more library stops than the holiday does.
The questions the Valley searches this week, answer first, source after.
When is trick or treat in Pawling?
The Haunted Library at the Pawling Free Library runs Saturday, Oct. 31, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., as part of Trick or Treat Pawling, with trick-or-treat stations around the village outside those hours. For planning the evening: sunset comes 5:50 p.m. and civil twilight ends 6:19 p.m., which is the practical dark. All ages attend with a caregiver, and drop-ins are welcome.
This morning's patch in Patterson is the last named this week. Tonight clears with lows near 39 to 41 and no frost in the forecast, and Tuesday runs sunny but cooler, 55 to 58. The final round arrives Tuesday night: lows near 31 in Dover, 32 in Patterson and 34 in Pawling, with widespread frost after 2 a.m. in Patterson and frost before 9 a.m. Wednesday. After Wednesday morning the seven-day names no frost anywhere: 65 to 67 Thursday, near 70 to 72 Friday, 66 Saturday, and the next rain chance waits for Sunday.
Monday, Nov. 2, and the two deadlines sit a mile apart. Town water and sewer customers stop at 12:00 noon at the town clerk's office, 160 Charles Colman Blvd, open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; nothing is accepted after noon whatever the postmark says, and an outstanding balance attaches as a lien to the town tax bill. In the village, the fiscal-year tax window at Village Hall, 9 Memorial Ave, closed its penalty-free stage on July 1, so payments made now carry five percent interest for the first month under the treasurer's posted notice.
The Pawling Free Library's pumpkin decorating contest, and it runs on three dates. Participants of all ages bring a decorated or carved pumpkin to the library on Wednesday, Oct. 28, or Thursday, Oct. 29. The pumpkins go on display Halloween day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when visitors vote for Pawling's Perfect Pumpkin, and the winner is announced Monday, Nov. 2.
Patterson's Justice Court is taking resumes for a full-time clerk to Judge Michael V. Caruso, 35 hours a week plus court sessions on Wednesday nights and one Monday a month, paying $47,000 to $53,000 plus a stipend for court nights; resumes go to mvcaruso@nycourts.gov. Patterson is also running an AARP-sponsored survey for its senior residents, about 20 minutes, on the town's announcements page.
How did Pawling and Dover football land in the Section 9 rankings?
At the top and in the chase. Mid Hudson News's weekly rankings put Pawling's eight-man Tigers first in the section: 7-0 after a 44-6 win over Millbrook/Webutuck, Division Two champions with a quarterfinal-round bye, and a 306-82 scoring margin across the season. Dover's Dragons sit seventh on the same Class C list after beating Monticello, with Burke on the schedule this week and a road Class C semifinal at O'Neill waiting behind it.
The seven-day runs dry everywhere. Today is sunny near 64 in Dover and 66 in Pawling and Patterson. Tuesday is the cool step, 55 to 58, and Tuesday night brings the week's final frost round, lows near 31 to 34 with widespread frost after 2 a.m. in Patterson. Wednesday opens frosty before 9 a.m., then reaches 59 to 61, Thursday climbs to 65 to 67, and Friday lands near 70 to 72, the warmest readings since early October. Saturday holds near 66 for the evening doorbells, and the next rain chance waits for Sunday.
The standing road item holds in Dover: the town's posted notice for the Chestnut Ridge Road closure, up for the county's culvert repair, remains listed on its news flash, and drivers keep to the posted detour. The boards this week: Dover's Town Board meets Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 126 E Duncan Hill Rd, and Patterson's board next meets Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m., streamed on YouTube and Zoom. For the train, the edition's alert feed lists no Metro-North service alerts this morning.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: what a ranking can and cannot tell you.
The football rankings read like facts in a feed, and an AI summary will hand them over as facts. They are two different things pressed together. Pawling's 7-0 record and the 306-82 scoring margin are numbers anyone can look up in box scores. The ordering that puts the Tigers first, and Dover seventh, is a writer's judgment, and it exists for one practical reason: it shapes the playoff bracket. When a chatbot repeats a ranking, it repeats both layers at once, the checkable numbers and the debatable order. The habit worth keeping is to ask which layer a sentence comes from, and who keeps the list. In this valley this week, the record behind the ranking carries more weight than the ranking itself.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
The Dates-Ahead Calendar
Pawling Library: Girls Who Code grades 3 to 5 at 4, Toy Photography Workshop with Zach Oat 5 to 6 at the Annex, final of three Monday sessions; Patterson Library: Art Time with Twos 11, Tales for Tots 12:30, Library Help Session: Libby & Hoopla 5 to 6 with circulation clerk Grace Maxwell; areas of frost before 9 a.m. in Patterson, then sunny, high near 64 to 66
Pawling Library Annex for toy photography · Patterson Library Green Room for the children's programs
CVS vaccine clinic at the Pawling library, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Patterson Library: Flying Needles 10:30, movie matinee "The Meddler" 1 to 3:30, ABC Club 2, Open Tech Help slots with Adam Bernier of A&R 360 from 3:10, Patterson Historical Society: The Old Burying Ground, The Final Cut, encore presentation 6 to 8; Pawling Library: Baby Bounce and Groove 10, Toddlers and Twos Together 11, Mahjong 3 to 5, Girls Who Code grades 6 to 12 at the Annex 4, Tuesday Afternoon Book Club on "The God of the Woods," online, 4, Writers Group 6:15; sunny but cooler, high near 55 to 58
Pawling Free Library for the clinic and book club · Patterson Library Community Room for the movie and the Historical Society encore
Dover Town Board regular meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 126 E Duncan Hill Rd; Threads Lab: Intro to Knitting with Dorian, 6 to 7 p.m. at the Pawling Annex, ages 10 to adults; Line Dancing at Lakeside Park, 2 to 3 p.m.; Patterson Library: Baby Jamboree 10:30, Library Help Session: Digital Tools 11:30, The Adventure Club 4:30; Lanterns at the Library pumpkin drop-off opens at the Pawling Free Library (through Thursday); frost before 9 a.m. in Patterson, then mostly sunny, high near 59 to 61
Dover Town Hall for the board · Pawling Library Annex for Threads Lab · pumpkin drop-off at Pawling Free Library
CVS vaccine clinic at the Pawling library, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Lanterns pumpkin drop-off ends; Witch Noses: Craft Workshop, 4 to 5 p.m. at the Pawling Annex, ages 7 and up; Medicare drop-in help with Maggie Flynn, 4 to 6 p.m. at Patterson; Spooky Science, 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. at Patterson, ages 5 to 8, drop-off, registration required; Knitting & Crocheting with Friends 2 to 4 at Pawling; Chess for All at the Pawling library, 6 to 7:30 p.m., ages 8 through adult, walk-ins welcome; sunny, high near 65 to 67
Pawling Library Annex for the craft night · Patterson Library for Medicare help and Spooky Science · wear the nose to the library's Haunted Library on Halloween
Mahjong Drop-In, 10:30 a.m. at Patterson; the week's warmest day, sunny, high near 70 to 72
Patterson Library Community Room · adults 18 and up, beginners welcome
Halloween. Haunted Library during Trick or Treat Pawling, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Lanterns at the Library pumpkin display and voting, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; sunset runs 5:50 p.m., with civil twilight ending 6:19 p.m.
Pawling Free Library · part of the village's Trick or Treat Pawling
Pawling town water-sewer payments stop at 12:00 noon, balances then lien to the town tax bill; village tax payments carry five percent interest at Village Hall; Patterson sealed bids for snow and ice removal at town facilities and sidewalks due at the Town Clerk's office by 10 a.m., opened and read aloud on the spot; Lanterns at the Library winner announced: Pawling's Perfect Pumpkin picked from the display vote
Town Clerk, 160 Charles Colman Blvd, Pawling for water-sewer · Village Hall, 9 Memorial Ave for village taxes · Patterson Town Hall, 1142 Route 311 for the bid opening · Pawling Free Library for the Lanterns winner
Patterson Town Board regular meeting, 7 p.m.
Patterson Town Hall, 1142 Route 311, streamed on YouTube and Zoom
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