Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Authors meet fans at Sharon Book Signing

Authors meet fans at Sharon Book Signing

Author Chris Heacox signs a copy of his book “Chudderdudders” for Deborah Donovan, board member at Hotchkiss Library of Sharon.

Mia Barnes

SHARON — Thunderstorms had little effect on the 27th Annual Sharon Book Signing on Friday Aug. 2. Originally set to be outside, authors and fans alike had to roll with the weather, continuing their conversations inside the Hotchkiss Memorial Library until clouds cleared up.

Inside the library the 25 authors sat next to each other around a long table. Though a tight squeeze, they were able to share their work with one another against a backdrop of shelved books. After an hour, the event moved back outside.

Community members waited patiently to get a personal copy signed. Chris Heacox, a Sharon native and author, had his woodland creature picture book on display. His book, “The Chudderdudders,” is based on his son and teaches kids a lesson of responsibility. “This has been a side project for me” explained Heacox, who co-owns Sharon Pharmacy. “It’s been long but fun.”

Throughout the evening rising eighth graders from Sharon Center School served as waitstaff. Appetizers and charcuterie were catered by J.P. Gifford Cafe.

Separate from the signing, community members had the chance to have dinner with an author. The dinners, which were not included in admission, were hosted by local families who sponsored an author for the night. The opportunity allowed for an extended and more individualized conversation with the writer.

Planning the event is extensive. Explained by Gretchen Hachmeister, executive director of the library, the process of brainstorming books, reading each suggestion and reaching out to authors, starts in the winter each year.

Authors varied in location, though most were regional. The furthest traveled from Boston and Washington, D.C. The only strict requirement was that books had to have been published between August 2023 and July 2024. “Basically between last year’s signing and yesterday,” added Hachmeister.

The Book Signing is “one for the community,” added library President Thomas Trowbridge. Trowbridge, who both grew up coming to the library and taking his children to the library, emphasized his appreciation of the space. “I was even an author at the Book Signing one of the first few years it ran” recounted Trowbridge. “I’m just grateful for all of it.”

Mia Barnes

Latest News

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.

Jay Ballesteros

Fast fashion has made it possible to buy the latest trend almost as quickly as it appears on social media. The environmental cost, however, is anything but fleeting. Fashion production accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, consumes enormous quantities of water and energy, and an estimated 85% of textiles end up in landfills each year. Synthetic fabrics also shed microplastics when washed.

So what would happen if we slowed things down?

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
It’s a joyful process. —Susan Schneider

A beautiful September morning found Susan Schneider of Shandell’s working in her Ashley Falls home studio, while linen cocktail napkins she had marbled the day before hung on a line outside her back door. Her helpers, dogs Daisy and Stubbs, are never far from her.

“Marbling,” Schneider explained, “the art of floating paint on a liquid and printing it on a medium, has been around for hundreds of years.”

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Through the lens of war

Through the lens of war

“Omaha Beach Rescue, D-Day +1, Normandy, June 7, 1944.” one of the best-known photographs of D-Day.

Walter Rosenblum

Longtime Norfolk resident Nina Rosenblum will present her award-winning documentary, “They Fight With Cameras,” on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Library.

The film tells the story of her father, decorated U.S. Army Signal Corps combat cameraman Walter Rosenblum.

Keep ReadingShow less
film
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Filmmaker Brian Gersten

D.H. Callahan

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, award-winning filmmaker Brian Gersten will screen four short documentaries at the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, exploring obscure topics such as a lingering territorial dispute between the United States and Canada, a nationwide toilet paper panic sparked by a late-night joke, the infamous “Balloon Boy” saga and the history of bowling in America.

The Chicago-raised, Millerton-based filmmaker has worked as an editor on feature-length documentaries like the cycling film “Enter the Slipstream” and Netflix’s profile on author Tom Wolfe, “Radical Wolfe.” In 2025, “Why We Dream,” a film he edited about bringing D-Day veterans back to the beaches of Normandy, premiered aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City. When it comes to directing, Gersten’s own interests focus more on the underappreciated and unremembered, as the four short films he directed will demonstrate.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show
Muriel Stockdale, left, and judge Roger McKee during the awards announcement at the juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church. Stockdale\u2019s \u201cKevin\u201d was the second place winner.
Patrick L. Sullivan

The annual juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lime Rock was won by Mi-Kyung Hwang of Sharon for “Wild Hazelnut from Eggleston.”

The winners were announced at the show’s opening reception at the church Friday evening, Sept. 18.

Keep ReadingShow less
art show

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

Graham Nash brings a career-spanning retrospective to the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, joined by Todd Caldwell, Adam Minkoff and Zack Djanikian.

Misti Layne

Imagine stepping out onto a stage in front of hundreds of thousands of tired, wet and weary strangers with a lineup of songs they’ve never heard before. If you’re Graham Nash, who will perform with his current band at the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, you don’t have to imagine. You only have to remember.

The legendary Woodstock music festival was only the second concert Nash played with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Nash had already formed Crosby, Stills & Nash, releasing their debut album earlier that year. Theirs was a sound both new and nostalgic when it hit the scene in the late 1960s, and, thanks in part to the success all three members had had with previous bands, they instantly found a wide and willing audience.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.