What a difference a week makes. My wife and I went out of town for a few days. When we left, brown was still the predominant color. When we returned, green was sprouting up all over! The buds had broken on most trees and young leaves were emerging in every direction. Daffodils were in full color and the smell of freshly cut grass was in the air. This all happened in a matter of days, or so it seemed. The symphony of bird song that had just started when I wrote my Nature’s Notebook column two weeks ago is now in full volume, with all the players contributing to a melodious fanfare. This is the time of year when our resident birds are not only joined by our migrating birds returning home to breed, but also by those migrants that are just passing through on their way to nesting grounds farther north. These additional birds, pausing in our forests to refuel, add to the musical mix.Luckily for us, there is no shortage of places to witness this phenomenon. Audubon’s Miles Wildlife Sanctuary and Sharon Audubon Center are two of the best, but we are also fortunate to host miles of the Appalachian Trail in addition to the Housatonic State Forest, Mohawk State Forest, Housatonic Meadows State Park, Macedonia Brook State Park, the White Memorial Conservation Foundation and many more.These are extremely valuable resources to have in our midst; each is easy to get to, unique and extremely important for birds and other wildlife. A mere 30-minute walk at Housatonic Forest, across from the Miles Wildlife Sanctuary, this week revealed 15 species of birds. Time flies by, and so do the birds. Don’t miss this great transitional season. Our birdlife is spectacular all summer long, but this is the time when it really shines.As a parting note, Saturday is Audubon’s annual Birdathon to raise money for local conservation initiatives, education programs and animal care. In true “thon” fashion, birders and pledges are both greatly appreciated. Call the center for more information. Happy Birding! Scott Heth is the director of Audubon Sharon and can be reached at sheth@audubon.org, (subject line: Nature Notes).
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Turning Back the Pages - October 8, 2026
Norma Bosworth
Oct 07, 2026
125 years ago — October 1901
SALISBURY — Mr. Thomas Crowley, a popular young Blacksmith of Torrington, spent a few days last week with his sisters and friends in this village.
LIME ROCK — Herbert Ensign discontinued his milk route in this village the first of the week. Mr. Ensign has supplied the villagers with milk for the past 30 years.
George Ingraham has purchased of the Sharon Valley Iron Co. the house and lot adjoining Adelbert Middlebrooks’ home at Sharon Valley, and expects to move there about Nov. 1st.
LIME ROCK — A few days ago Patrick Farry of Hoppertown climbed a walnut tree for the purpose of shaking the same. He shook himself out during the operation and fell to the ground, a distance of 25 feet, spraining an ankle and breaking his collar bone.
SHARON — Baron and Baroness deLuze of Bordeaux of France spent Sunday at Mrs. H. Simonds recently.
Michael McDonald has ceased resting at the golf links.
Silas Silvernail has a cherry tree in blossom, a rather rare occurrence at this season of the year.
100 years ago — October 1926
Now that the bathing season is over it will be a terrible blow for some of the beauties to again appear in ordinary clothing. In order to soften the shock of too radical a change of clothing we suggest that they try going around in their pajamas till they get more accustomed to the change.
LIME ROCK — Ralph Hunter is in Sharon Hospital with a fractured ankle.
While Garwood H. Belter and his men were drawing ensilage corn for the silo, his sons Henry, 3 ¾ yrs. old, and Willis, 1 ¾ yrs. old, followed unknown to him. There is a stream known as Salmon Creek, between the corn lot and barn at the end of the lane. The boys must have been playing on the edge of the bank, and Willis slid off or fell off the foot bridge which crossed the stream, into the water. Henry, realizing that his brother was in danger, went in after him. Being unable to get him up on the bank on that side, he pulled him across the stream to the other side in water up to his arms. The men, hearing them, went to their aid and reached there as Henry pulled Willis up on the bank through the mud, full of water and blue and stiff with cold.
The cellar of the building the Community Service Co. are putting up is well under way.
M.G. Fenn, the radio man, this week has very generously made it possible for a large number of fans to listen in to the world series games. Mr. Fenn’s radios and loud speakers installed at Thurston’s Barber Shop and the Journal Office have attracted a large number of enthusiasts, who have listened to a play-by-play report of games direct from the diamonds. To Mr. Fenn many thanks are due.
50 years ago — October 1976
U.S. Rep. Toby Moffett has assured Salisbury town officials that he will assist them in obtaining federal funding for a sewerage system the remainder of the way around Lake Wononscopomuc. Mr. Moffett confirmed Tuesday that 100 per cent funding is available, and said he would assist the town in obtaining it.
Frank Markey with his wife, Alice, accepted the good wishes of more than 200 friends last Sunday as he retired after 25 years as manager of the Salisbury Town Grove. Mr. Markey held a display of hundred-dollar bills, part of the $1,500 gift of contributions from well-wishers. Fisherman friends came from as far as Stratford to honor him.
The Stanley Works, which owns some 1,500 acres of land along the Housatonic River in Kent, donated 159 of those prime acres to the State of Connecticut and The Nature Conservancy Tuesday. Gov. Ella Grasso was on hand at the Sloane-Stanley Museum in Kent to accept two parcels — totaling 27 acres — for the state. A 132-acre piece was given to The Nature Conservancy. It includes St. Johns Ledges, a mile-long rock formation, 600 feet high, which overlooks the river. A section of the Appalachian Trail traverses the land.
Pat Erickson of Sharon was awarded $1,237 in damages in Litchfield Superior Court Friday. Hartford Electric Light Co. was ordered to pay her this amount for underestimating the cost of using electric heat in her Williams Road home. The six-member jury was ordered by Judge Harold M. Missal to find in favor of HELCO in the breach of warranty case; she had originally sought $100,000 in damages. The jury decided a contract between the utilities company and Miss Erickson had been created when HELCO gave her an estimate for yearly heating with electric heat. Miss Erickson said that the settlement “didn’t anywhere near cover it,” and that the three years she used electric heat nearly bankrupted her. HELCO had estimated about half what the bills actually totaled, she said. HELCO is planning to appeal the case, said a spokesman, apparently because the decision sets a precedent.
Salisbury Tax Collector Denise Rice, former chairman of the Republican Town Committee, was the winner of two round-trip air tickets to Bermuda given as a door prize at the Republican fund-raising cocktail party for Tim Upson and John Gawrych last Wednesday at the White Hart Inn. Mrs. Rice, who has never flown before, is excited about the prospect of going to Bermuda with her husband John, sometime in November.
NORFOLK — Edward Childs, owner of Great Mountain Forest, which covers 6,500 acres on Canaan Mountain, received the American Tree Farmer of the Year Award from the American Tree Farm System last Saturday. The presentation, held at Childs’ home on Windrow Road, followed a tour of the forest. Childs was presented with a Charter Oak seedling, a certificate from Gov. Ella Grasso, a plaque commemorating the event, a small chain saw and other items.
The Service Pharmacy in Canaan is getting a facelift. The old black glass facade shattered over the years, creating possible danger and affecting the appearance of the town’s center. This week pharmacy owner Andy Phair had the old glass peeled away and replaced with stained cedar siding. The glass had been in place since the building went up in 1937. Newspaper accounts from that era remark on the way the new building bettered the appearance of downtown Canaan. The pharmacy replaced a building housing Parson’s General Store.
William C. Clarke of Cornwall Bridge and his dog Tippy were honored by about 65 fellow workers recently at a party given by the men of the Sharon garage of the state highway crew. The party for Clarke and the garage mascot, known there as “Shadpoke,” was at the VFW hall in Cornwall Bridge. Clarke has been working out of the Sharon garage for almost 20 years and Tippy has been the unofficial garage mascot for about half that time. Clarke said he was pleased about his retirement, but said he will still feel a longing to be with the men of the Sharon crew when they begin moving the trucks for the winter’s first snowstorm.
SHEFFIELD — Maurica Paul, 14, of Boardman Street, and her horse, Black Creek, took top honors in the intermediate jumping class at the Eastern States Exposition horse show in West Springfield recently. Maurica, who has been riding since she was five years old, is the youngest person ever to win that award, and the only one to win it two years in succession.
John F. Campbell of Rudd Pond Road, Millerton, has won a one-week trip to Italy, as one of 125 appliance dealers nationally who have exceeded their quota for Frigidaire products. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell plan to leave Oct. 12 and will spend the week in the Lake Como area of northern Italy. While in Europe they hope to see their son John, who is stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany.
Sam Posey, the internationally famous professional race driver, has designated Sharon Hospital as the recipient of his share of the prize purse in a special charity match race to be held Sunday, Oct. 10, at the Watkins Glen, N.Y., road circuit. Posey’s competition will include Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., the former astronaut and commander of Apollo 12, now a vice-president of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Joy Wilkerson of California, Arlene Hiss, a native of Derby, Conn. who competes in both SCCA and USAC events, and Bobbie Ann Cooper, a California-based driver and racing instructor.
25 years ago — October 2001
Local dairy farmers are cautiously optimistic despite the demise of the Northeast Dairy Compact which officially expired at midnight Sept. 30. “It wasn’t reauthorized but we’re still hopeful,” Robert Jacquier said. Owner of Laurelbrook Farm in East Canaan, Mr. Jacquier is one of five Connecticut representatives, including a consumer, a milk dealer and an individual from the WIC program, to the compact. “We had an emergency meeting of the compact on the 28th,” Mr. Jacquier said. As a result of that meeting, the compact’s legal affairs were terminated, pending reactivation by Congress.
CANAAN — It may well be that the classic cars that passed through Canaan a recent Sunday afternoon were contemporary when the Canfield Building last looked as good as it does today. The new owner, Considine Properties LLC, is nearly finished with more than a year’s worth of renovations that have put business tenants on the second and third floors, where apartments had been vacant for quite some time. The latest work, and most notable, is the recently completed exterior paint job.
LAKEVILLE — Peter H. Levy has been appointed branch manager of Arnoff Moving & Storage Inc.’s New England operations. The firm operates in two locations in this region, Lakeville and Great Barrington, Mass.
SHARON — Kelly and Eric Golden are the parents of Farmington’s University of Connecticut Medical Center’s largest baby ever. Karleen Ann Golden was born prematurely Tuesday, Oct. 2. She weighed 13 pounds, 11.6 ounces and was 22 ¼ inches long. Not only is she the largest preemie born at the facility, she outweighs all of the full term babies ever born at UConn. The baby was actually due Nov. 3.
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
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Housatonic blanks GT Soccer 7-0
Riley Klein
Oct 07, 2026
Lainey Diorio, left, in action for Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Riley Klein
TERRYVILLE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s girls varsity soccer team defeated the Gilbert/Terryville co-op team 7-0 Tuesday, Sept. 29.
Twin strikers Lainey and Lyla Diorio combined for six of the Mountaineers’ goals, and senior Georgie Clayton converted a penalty kick for the seventh. It was the fourth win in a row for HVRHS, which improved to 7-1.
This is the first season for the GT Soccer co-op team. The game was played at Terryville High School beneath overcast skies with the temperature around 65 degrees. The field remained heavily saturated following several days of rain.
HVRHS established control early, setting the tone with dominant possession. In the 22nd minute, Lyla Diorio put HVRHS on the board. Starting from the corner of the box, she weaved through four defenders and slipped a low shot past the keeper.
About six minutes later, she scored again. On a drive down the middle, she broke through GT’s back line by sending the ball to the right and spinning left around the last defender for a clear look at the net.
Just before halftime, Clayton assisted Lainey Diorio on a fast break that led to the third goal of the day. Then, just after halftime, Clayton was fouled inside the box and calmly buried the ensuing penalty kick.
Up 4-0, HVRHS coach Don Drislane tested different lineups in the second half. He replaced goalie V Salazar with senior Carmela Egan, who had started at center midfield. Egan made a save before the game ended.
Lainey Diorio caught fire down the stretch with a three-goal burst. She opened her run in the 62nd minute, finishing a solo charge from midfield with an unassisted strike past the keeper.
In the 74th, she bent in a free kick from the right side. Then, in the 79th, she capped the surge by racing in from the left flank and slotting home her fourth goal of the day.
HVRHS seemed to be firing on all cylinders, with dominant performances on both ends of the field. Through eight games, the team has outscored opponents 50-9.
The Mountaineers graduated just two seniors after their 2025 Class S state tournament run, which concluded in the semifinals. With a record of 7-1 at the midway point of this season, HVRHS has already clinched a berth in the 2026 state tournament, which begins the first week of November.
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Black bear fears are overblown, expert says at Hotchkiss Library talk in Sharon
Alec Linden
Oct 07, 2026
Ginny Apple discusses black bear behavior and ways to reduce conflicts with humans during a talk at Hotchkiss Library in Sharon on Oct. 4.
Alec Linden
SHARON – Connecticut has one of the smallest black bear populations in the Northeast but the most conflicts between bears and humans, wildlife conservationist Ginny Apple said during a Sunday afternoon library talk. The reason, she said, is our habits.
“Seventy percent of our problems with black bears in Connecticut are bird seed and unsecured garbage,” Apple told attendees at Hotchkiss Library.
“If a black bear gets habituated to [human] food, it can get a little pushy,” she said.
Still, she said black bear encounters are rarely dangerous—“It’s more likely you’ll be struck by lightning than be killed by a black bear.”
During the 90-minute presentation, Apple, a master wildlife conservationist certified by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), discussed bear species past and present, from the relatively small sun bear of Southeast Asia to the massive short-faced bear, Arctodus, which she said could stand up to 12 feet tall on its hind legs.
These prehistoric giants went extinct approximately 11,000 years ago. Today, the black bear is the only bear species found in the northeastern United States.
Apple described it as among the most docile of the world’s eight bear species.
Still, she said, its association with larger, more aggressive bears, such as grizzlies, “causes a lot of problems for black bears.”
Apple said that many myths surrounding black bear aggression are actually more characteristic of grizzly bear behavior.
The warning never to get between a mother bear and her cubs applies more to brown bears, Apple said. A mother black bear will often send her cubs up a tree and stand watch below until the perceived threat has passed.
Apple said fear and misinformation contributed to the black bear’s disappearance from much of New England in the 19th century, as landowners killed bears they perceived as dangerous. Other animals that were driven out of the region included wolves, mountain lions and turkeys.
With reduced farming and the regrowth of forests, which were extensively cleared a century ago, several animals, including bears, have returned.
Black bears started to repopulate Connecticut in the 1980s, and now number between 1,000 and 1,200, according to DEEP’s 2026 “The State of the Bears” report.
Other nearby states—excluding Rhode Island which has a very small population—have far more bears, according to the report.
Massachusetts has about 4,500, while New York has up to 8,000, though Connecticut has far more reported conflicts between humans and bears, mostly in the western part of the state. Approximately 3,100 reports were filed in Connecticut in 2023 versus 645 in Massachusetts and 1,200 in New York that year.
Connecticut also has the most home entries by bears of any state in the region, with 265 reports from 2020-2025, with the vast majority occurring in the Northwest Corner. DEEP reports that conflicts and home entries are both trending upward in the state.
A growing bear population and a highly fragmented landscape—meaning forest habitat is disrupted by roads and new subdivisions—contribute to the increase, Apple said. Connecticut is approximately 60% forested, but is one of the most fragmented states in the nation.
“With all the development, our land is getting chopped up like a giant Pac Man is running around,” Apple said.
Under the circumstances, bear encounters are inevitable, she said, but can be mitigated by responsible behavior, meaning limiting bird feeders, storing trash responsibly in bear-safe bins and enclosing hen houses with electric fencing. They’re opportunistic and highly general feeders, she said—“They eat my neighbor’s motor oil,” Apple said—and will be persistent once they locate an easy food source.
Many enter homes through screen doors and open windows. In the case of Betsy Pearson, a Sharon resident who attended the talk, one decided to break through her garage door and rip a door off its hinges. Furthermore, the bear kept coming back.
“He was incorrigible,” she said, “He just kept coming and coming.”
She said she reported the issue to DEEP, which attempted to trap the bear—using a cage with a door triggered by a bait of two dozen donuts—on three separate occasions to no avail.
“I accused my husband of eating the donuts but he probably didn’t,” Pearson quipped.
During one break in, the bear managed to burst open a box of bagged wine stored in the garage.
“He drank the whole thing,” Pearson said.
Apple maintained that modifying human behavior remains the most effective mechanism to mitigating problematic encounters with bears.
“If you have something that smells really good, close your windows,” she said. Also, “never let your dog chase a bear… it’s not fair to the bear or your dog.”
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BD syringe reaches semifinals; satellite valve wins state contest
Debra A. Aleksinas
Oct 07, 2026
NORTH CANAAN — A syringe made at BD’s North Canaan plant reached the semifinals of the 2026 Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut competition, which ended Oct. 1 with a satellite valve taking the title.
BD was the first Northwest Corner manufacturer to reach the semifinals in the competition’s three-year history. It lost to Waterbury Button Company’s Santa Claus Brass Button, which finished runner-up to The Lee Company’s Satellite Propellant Isolation Valve.
The winner was announced at the Made in Connecticut: 2026 Manufacturing Summit in Hartford. Made in Westbrook, the valve is used in space and satellite applications supporting GPS, global communications and weather forecasting.
More than 30,000 votes were cast throughout the competition, which began with 16 Connecticut-made products competing in a public vote. The contest was presented by the CBIA Foundation in partnership with CONNSTEP.
BD’s North Canaan plant produces approximately 2.5 billion syringes annually for use in more than 70 countries. It has manufactured syringes for 65 years.
The products featured in this year’s competition will be celebrated in a new exhibit at the Connecticut Science Center, scheduled to open Nov. 5.
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Kent students walk, bike and roll to school
Ruth Epstein
Oct 07, 2026
Kent Center School students ride bikes and scooters to school Sept. 30 during Walk, Bike & Roll to School, an event encouraging physical activity and safer routes to school.
Ruth Epstein
KENT – Kent Center School students and staff walked, biked and rolled to school Sept. 30 as part of an event encouraging physical activity.
The school’s event was part of the national Walk, Bike & Roll to School program, which encourages children to use active transportation and promotes safer routes to school.
Principal Michelle Mott said she and physical education teacher Marci Saunders first organized the school’s participation last May. The event was so successful that they decided to hold it again.
Children rode bicycles, skateboards and scooters or walked from the parking area at 23 North Main St. to the school.
“This is done to encourage students to stay active,” Mott said. She thanked the Kent Volunteer Fire Department and the Community Emergency Response Team for their assistance in putting on the event.
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Horses take center stage at Equus Effect fundraiser
Ruth Epstein
Oct 07, 2026
A horse and rider demonstrate at The Equus Effect’s annual fundraiser.
Ruth Epstein
AMENIA — The audience at the 12th annual Equus Effect event Saturday, Oct. 3, at Highlands Hudson Valley Equestrian Center at Keane Stud watched in awe as horses and their riders circled the ring with precision and grace.
The demonstrations highlighted the partnership between horses and people while showcasing The Equus Effect, a Sharon-based nonprofit whose mission is to help veterans, first responders and their families build healthy relationships through guided engagement with horses.
This year’s event took a new twist. After weeks of soaking rain at The Equus Effect’s farm in Sharon, organizers moved the gathering to the equestrian center’s enclosed barn.
In addition to demonstrating how the organization’s horses work with clients, this year’s presentation explored the roles horses have played throughout history.
Founder Jane Strong described how their uses and physical characteristics have changed over time.
First came an example of an early warhorse. As Pasquale, a horse, pranced around the ring, Strong explained how those movements served a practical purpose in battle.
As the centuries passed, thoroughbreds were introduced, prized for their speed and athleticism.
“They could go fast, forward and up,” she said as Olaf, a horse, charmed the audience. “They were more lean and muscular.”
Horse and rider demonstrations showcased equine history at The Equus Effect’s fundraiser.Ruth Epstein
Lastly, Callahan, one of the horses, demonstrated the work of a Western ranch horse.
“Their saddle and purpose were different,” Strong said. “They would work on ranches and perform such duties as tracking cows.”
Following the horse show, a video featured clients describing how The Equus Effect had helped them.
Veterans who returned from war struggling to express their emotions spoke about learning to communicate their feelings. Emergency medical workers described finding ways to talk about the traumatic incidents they had encountered.
One war veteran said in the film that he found the horses responding to his energy and emotions.
“I felt a wave of relief come over me. I started to cry for the first time in many years.”
Strong, who has worked with thousands of clients since The Equus Effect’s founding in 2012, said, “They feel safe with horses. The horses save lives; they change lives.”
The event ended with an appeal for donations to support the organization’s work. One donor agreed to contribute $64,000 to sponsorgroups of veterans and first responders through the program over the coming year.
Other donations supported a couple’s retreat at $6,000; a group for Blue and Gold Star mothers at $6,000; a horse care fund at $1,000; blankets and barn supplies at $500; and carrots, apples and molasses cookies at $250.
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