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Jeanine Coleman, left, has been a loyal server at the Community Thanksgiving Dinner for many years.
Ruth Epstein
NORTH CANAAN — The Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pilgrim House each year provides nourishment and camaraderie for both guests and volunteers alike.
As Valerie Crane was dishing out slices of turkey along the buffet line, she noted that she’s been serving for the past three years since her husband, Rich, died.
“I wanted to give back,” she said. “It’s overwhelming to see the need. It’s hospitality for those who are alone. It brings a spirit of happiness and thankfulness to people.”
Stacey Dodge lost her mother this year, and volunteering at the dinner was a way to help heal, she said. Jeanine Coleman is a loyal server. “It’s my favorite time of year,” she said. “I love doing this.”
Paul Ramunni, who entertains at each dinner by playing favorites on the accordion, said, “Having music gives the meal seasoning, just like salt and pepper. Otherwise, it’s bland.”
For 18 years, Beverly Becker has organized the event, soliciting funds that make the meal possible. While she was hoping for 200 diners, the number was about 150 to 175, including the take-outs that were delivered around town. For those who did attend, the reviews were high.
Wyatt Stanton sat with Steve Allyn, and while they had talked to one another in passing, the dinner provided an opportunity for an in-depth conversation and a chance to get to know each other better. “We talked about vehicles and families,” related Allyn.
Chris Mafale came from Southington to join the festivities. With his plate heaped to the brim, he said, “You’ve got to be happy with a meal and people like this.”
In the kitchen, Becker was talking to Karl Hester, who prepared the dinner that included 21 turkeys, 200 pounds of peeled vegetables and dozens of rolls, among all the other fixings. “It’s a way to give back to the community,” said Hester, who is the chef at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Becker said she has coordinated the meal all these years with the help of some of the local churches. Her impetus came from reading a Bible verse that called for feeding others.
In a recent presentation to the Norfolk Congregational Church, Becker reflected on how the dinner has evolved over the years.
“I was trying to reach out to people in hardship. Over the years it has grown into so much more. I realized that there is more than just the original hardship that I intended; there is loneliness, there are people who can’t cook for whatever reason; those that have no family to share with. We feed families. People come and meet friends for dinner. We still have the hardship families, but they blend in so that you can’t really tell that they are there.”
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Kent wetlands dispute nears settlement
Dec 02, 2025
Kent Town Hall, where the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission approved the draft settlement.
Leila Hawken
KENT– A year-and-a-half-long legal dispute over an unpermitted roadway and dock built through wetlands on North Spectacle Pond is approaching a resolution. The KenMont and KenWood summer camp and the town’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission are close to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.
The conflict began after the IWWC denied the camp’s retroactive application in March 2024 for the road and dock, which were constructed without town approval sometime last decade. The Commission found both structures violated town regulations, leading the camp to file a legal appeal.
Although most deliberations occurred in executive session, IWWC Chair Lynn Werner announced at the Commission’s Nov. 24 meeting that both sides had found a path forward. “We’ve come to a place where both sides are in agreement,” she said.
The Commission then voted unanimously to approve the settlement, which must now be submitted to the court for final approval. During the meeting, the Commission’s legal counsel, attorney Michael Ziska, explained that the current camp leadership—who were not involved in constructing the roadway or dock—had agreed to terms that would prohibit vehicle traffic on the road, require invasive-species management around it, and allow the IWWC to conduct regular inspections.
Ziska said the former camp leader responsible for building the road has since died, and the new directors are cooperating. He noted the roadway was built largely of logs that are now degrading into the wetland. Expert consultants for both the camp and the IWWC have advised allowing the roadway to be naturally reclaimed by the landscape, with light management to ensure several culverts beneath the structure remain functional.
“I believe that this settlement agreement protects the Commission’s interests,” Ziska said. “[It] recognizes the unique aspects of this particular violation – the number of years it’s been in place, the fact that the person who is responsible is no longer around, and the fact that the consultants have said things should probably be left as is for the time being. All of that commends itself to this draft settlement that we have proposed.”
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GNH blanks St. Paul 34-0 in Turkey Bowl
Nov 27, 2025
Wes Allyn breaks away from the St. Paul defense for a reception touchdown Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Photo by Riley Klein
BRISTOL — The Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic co-op football team ended the season with a 34-0 shutout victory over St. Paul Catholic High School Wednesday, Nov. 26.
It was GNH’s fourth consecutive Turkey Bowl win against St. Paul and the final game for 19 GNH seniors.
The Yellowjacket defense played lights out, holding St. Paul’s offense to 73 total yards and forcing three turnovers. Owen Riemer and Tyler Roberts each caught an interception and Jacob Robles recovered a fumble.

QB Trevor Campbell threw for three touchdowns: one to Wes Allyn, one to Cole Linnen and one to Esten Ryan. GNH scored twice on the ground with rushing touchdowns from Linnen and Riemer.
The game concluded in some confusion. A late run by Linnen ended when he was tackled near the end zone. The ball was spotted at the one-yard line and GNH took a knee to end the fourth quarter with the scoreboard reading 28-0. After the game, Linnen’s run was reassessed as a touchdown, and the final score was adjusted to 34-0.

Coach Scott Salius was thankful that his team went out on a high note. “We’re one of the few teams in the state that will finish with a win.” He commented on the “chippiness” of this year’s Thanksgiving matchup. “We have started a true rivalry.”
GNH won four of the last five games and ended with a record of 5-5.
“Battling back from 1-4, huge turnaround. I couldn’t be happier,” said GNH captain Wes Allyn after the win. “Out of the four years I’ve been playing, undefeated on Thanksgiving. No one will ever take that away from me.”

Looking back on his final varsity season, Nick Crodelle said he will remember “practice, complaining about practice, and getting ready for the games. Game day was a lot of fun.”
Hunter Conklin said ending on a win “feels great” and appreciated his time on the field with his teammates. “There’s no one else I’d rather do it with.”
“I’m so thankful to have these guys in my life,” said Riemer. “It’s emotional.”

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“Once Upon a Time in America” features ten portraits by artist Katro Storm.
Natalia Zukerman
The Kearcher-Monsell Gallery at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village is once again host to a wonderful student-curated exhibition. “Once Upon a Time in America,” ten portraits by New Haven artist Katro Storm, opened on Nov. 20 and will run through the end of the year.
“This is our first show of the year,” said senior student Alex Wilbur, the current head intern who oversees the student-run gallery. “I inherited the position last year from Elinor Wolgemuth. It’s been really amazing to take charge and see this through.”
Part of what became a capstone project for Wolgemuth, she left behind a comprehensive guide to help future student interns manage the gallery effectively. “Everything from who we should contact, the steps to take for everything, our donors,” Wilbur said. “It’s really extensive and it’s been a huge help.”
Art teacher Lilly Rand Barnett first met Storm a few years ago through his ICEHOUSE Project Space exhibition in Sharon, “Will It Grow in Sharon?” in which he planted cotton and tobacco as part of an exploration of ancestral heritage.
“And the plants did grow,” said Barnett. She asked Storm if her students could use them, and the resulting work became a project for that year’s Troutbeck Symposium, the annual student-led event in Amenia that uncovers little-known or under-told histories of marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC histories.
Last spring, Rand emailed to ask if Storm would consider a solo show at HVRHS. He agreed.
And just a few weeks ago, he arrived — paints, brushes and canvases in tow.
“When Katro came to start hanging everything, he took up a mini art residency in Ms. Rand’s room,” Wilbur said. “All her students were able to see his process and talk to him. It was great working with him.”
Perhaps more unexpected was his openness. “He really trusted us as curators and visionaries,” Wilbur said. “He said, ‘Do with it what you will.’”

Storm’s artistic training began at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts. His talent earned him a full scholarship to the Arts Institute of Boston, then Boston’s Museum School, where he painted seven oversized portraits of influential Black figures — in seven days — for his final project. Those works became the backbone of his early exhibitions, including at Howard University’s National Council for the Arts.
Storm has created several community murals like the 2009 READ Mural featuring local heroes, and several literacy and wellness murals at the Stetson Branch Library in New Haven. Today, he teaches and works, he said, “wherever I set up shop. Sometimes I go outside. Sometimes I’m on top of roofs. Wherever it is, I get the job done.”
His deep ties to education made a high school gallery an especially meaningful stop. “No one really knew who these people were except maybe John Lennon,” Storm said of the portraits in the show. “It’s really important for them to know James Baldwin and Shirley Chisholm. And now they do.”
The exhibition includes a wide list of subjects: James Baldwin, Shirley Chisholm, Redd Foxx, Jasper Johns, Marilyn Manson, William F. Buckley, Harold Hunter, John Lennon, as well as two deeply personal works — a portrait of Tracy Sherrod (“She’s a friend of mine… She had an interesting hairdo”) and a tribute to his late friend Nes Rivera. “Most of the time I choose my subjects because there are things I want to see,” Storm said.
Storm’s paintings, which he describes as “full frontal figuratism,” rely on drips, tonal shifts, and what feels like emerging depth. His process moves quickly. “It depends on how fast it needs to get done,” he said. “Sometimes I like to take the long way up the mountain. Instead of doing an outline, I just start coloring, blocking things off with light and dark until it starts to take shape.”
He’s currently in a black-and-white phase. “Right now, I’m inspired by black and white, the way I can really get contrast and depth.”
Work happens on multiple canvases at once. “Sometimes I’ll have five paintings going on at one time because I go through different moods, and then there’s the way the light hits,” he said. “It’s kind of like cooking. You’ve got a couple things going at once, a couple things cooking, and you just try to reach that deadline.”
For Wilbur, who has studied studio arts “ever since I was really young” and recently applied early decision to Vassar, the experience has been transformative. For Storm — an artist who built an early career painting seven portraits in seven days and has turned New York’s subway corridors into a makeshift museum — it has been another chance to merge artmaking with education, and to pass a torch to a new generation of curators.
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