Amenia hosts annual carnival

AMENIA — The annual carnival returned to town June 29 to July 2. The Firefighters Parade was held on Friday, July 1, and the festivities were wrapped up with a fireworks display Saturday night.Hundreds of people lined the streets of Amenia on Friday to watch the parade. Local fire companies marched through the streets and displayed their firetrucks. Judges were stationed at intervals along the parade route to score the fire companies on their presentation.A bandstand near the end of the route announced each fire company, naming the chief and describing the vehicle fleets. Some of the fire trucks were nearly a century old. The announcer spoke highly of every group, offering thanks on behalf of the local residents for the service and dedication shown by every firefighter and volunteer.The fire companies were joined in the parade by marching bands, sports teams, the Girl Scouts, antique car owners, local politicians and a petting zoo. Many of the groups tossed candy to the children eagerly waiting on the sidewalks.When the parade ended, the crowd filled the streets to walk to the fairgrounds set up at the Amenia firehouse.The carnival offered activities for people of all ages. Dozens of stalls offered carnival games, sweet snacks, savory food, colorful novelty items and gambling wheels. Music played by Far Beyond Gone filled the air and lasted well into the evening. Lines formed for some of the fear-inducing rides, including one that swung passengers upside down. Parents leaned over the railings on the kiddie rides to wave at their children. Several of them noted that is was their child’s first time at a carnival. The first-timers stood out among the other children; they were the ones with the brightest smiles, riding the same colorful rocket over and over, never seeming to tire of the excitement.

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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