Millstones, Mile Markers, and the Man Who Runs Rhinebeck's Roads

Norm sits down with Bob Wyant, the Town of Rhinebeck's highway superintendent, for a wide-ranging chat. Bob talks through the mechanics of the job: a seven-man crew, a budget he can't touch without town board approval, and so much more. He walks through his favorite and least favorite roads in town, including Old Post Road, which traces back to a 1700s mail route to Albany, and Stone Church Road, which he says is just too long to love. Norm also gets Bob talking about his family. The Wyants have been in Rhinebeck since 1850, and the road he lives on is named after them after he rejected the town's original pick. He traces his family back through a Civil War ancestor buried in Rhinebeck Cemetery to German roots that got Americanized along the way. Bob also talks about digging up a 300-year-old millstone by accident while running an excavator, losing his first election and calling it one of the best things that ever happened to him, and his second career as a competitive karaoke singer with a soft spot for David Allan Coe and Elvis. Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org Send comments to [email protected]