Dan Lancaster, Comcast’s construction head for the Sharon project, at left, confers with Rich Phipps, owner of R&R Broadband, contractor for the work, on Thursday, Feb. 22.
SHARON — After years of community-wide surveys, expert planning, public meetings, and coordination of multitiered elements legal and logistical, the work of the SharonConnect Task Force, town officials and Comcast and construction crews is nearly completed.
The last big construction job needed for the project, now judged to be 80-90% completed, was happening on schedule when Dan Lancaster, Comcast’s construction head for the Sharon project, paused for an interview Thursday, Feb. 22. That was the day contractor crews were stringing cable line from West Cornwall Road through the forest to two homes along Route 7.
Rich Phipps, owner of R&R Broadband LLC, was on the job with his crew doing the contracted installation work, involving pulling the cable line through pole to pole down the steep forested incline from West Cornwall Road.
“We’re getting close; we’re almost there,” Lancaster said, noting that 27-30 miles of cable had been strung throughout the town on utility poles, with an additional 7-8 miles of underground buried cable. For Thursday’s job on Route 7, 2,400 feet of cable, just about an entire reel, was needed to cover the distance.
While the project’s initial approval came in February 2023, with the contract with Comcast signed March 2, Lancaster said that it was July before pole permissions were in place, so the underground installation began first.
Jointly providing additional information about the project’s history, SharonConnect Task Force co-chairs Jill Drew and Meghan Flanagan along with the town’s project coordinator, Nikki Blass, indicated that work began March 9 with the stringing of Caroline Drive that took three days to complete. In that one instance, pole permissions were already in place.
While a specific date for completion has not yet been determined, Drew said that the construction phase is winding down. She noted that at least one home received its installation on Super Bowl Sunday.
Looking ahead, Drew said that Comcast is planning to hold at least one community meeting, perhaps in April, at which company representatives will answer any questions, offer technical advice and show residents how to use the Comcast website.
In the spring, the task force is planning a celebration at the Town Beach on Mudge Pond to mark completion of the project, giving a special cheer because Comcast has agreed to install service at the site to enable Wi-Fi calling for the first time. Drew said that cell service at the beach has always been all but impossible, so the service will enhance safety and convenience.
Veterans’ Field has also been wired for internet and Wi-Fi as a part of the project, Drew noted.
There have been challenges to the project along the way, although Drew said that they were not unexpected.
“We do now better understand why universal access [making high-speed internet available to every single address in town] is so hard to achieve. The application process for licensing more than 700 individual utility poles took months,” she said, noting, however, that the issue was expected.
“The Comcast project managers have been great to work with and the people working in Sharon are terrific,” Drew said. Lancaster had returned the compliment, praising the diligent work of the SharonConnect Task Force members and the town as being crucial to the needs of the project. Lancaster brings a history of 37 years of experience with Comcast.
Problems have arisen, however, when residents have contacted the corporate offices, particularly when trying to subscribe for Xfinity mobile phone service in connection with their service packages. Drew cited complaints about interfacing with robots online and by phone bringing frustration to the new customers, who are also suffering delays and confusion when they are ready to sign up for service packages.
Drew suggested that residents needing help with service packages might call 800-934-6489 or go online to: www.xfinity.com/learn/deals/internet
Praising Lancaster as a “can-do” person, Drew went on to applaud the Comcast project team serving the Sharon project, specifically Matt Skane and Elizabeth Calabrese, for being “accessible and responsive.”
As the project winds down, the task force members continue videoconferencing with the Comcast project team every two weeks, identifying specific addresses where issues exist and seeing that those issues are resolved, keeping the homeowner informed along the way.
Reflecting the good relationship built between Comcast and the town, Drew said that Skane and Calabrese were successful in convincing Comcast to add addresses to the project at no additional cost to the town.
Comcast technicians who do the in-home installations, Dan Dodge and Steve Wabrek, have also earned praise from residents for their patience and clear explanation of the service.
‘Night and day’
Asked for comments about their satisfaction with the new high-speed internet, two residents termed it “night and day.”
Ellsworth resident Larry Rand wrote that several weeks ago, Comcast had installed a new modem in Rand’s home, replacing a wireless system.
“We immediately went from download speeds of 1-70mbps (upload 10mbps) with daily rebooting to a dependable download speed of 250-350mbps (upload 50-80mbps). It has been like going from night to day.”
“We are thankful Sharon decided to extend Comcast coverage to areas like ours,” Rand said.
“I felt like I took off a blindfold that I had not realized I was wearing in the first place” said John Brett of Drum Road. He said that his connectivity went from 2.03mbps for a download (upload .035mbps) to 356mbps (upload 11.6mbps).
“You get the idea, basically night and day,” Brett said.
Kate Stiassni, a Boland Road resident with a long driveway, is no less pleased. “I think this SharonConnect is a great story,” she said, crediting a group of “smart, dedicated Sharon residents” for their years of effort to solve the problem of poor internet service.
Stiassni’s service was connected during the summer. A builder by profession, she indicated that she can now send and receive heavy architectural files. As a textile artist, she can send high-resolution images of her works without cringing when she hits the “send” button. Her musician son said that he is no longer stressed by her internet service when he visits. She herself can now download a book in under five minutes rather than the previous rate of five hours.
“I am a pretty normal person with pretty normal everyday needs who can now live convincingly in the 21st century,” Stiassni said.
“We are thrilled to have access to the internet via Xfinity,” said resident Joan Lewis, who lives on Herb Road, noting that several providers had been tried in past years before the Comcast project, but ultimately her service had involved “pinging off a nearby cell tower.”
“Thanks to the SharonConnect task force, and Xfinity’s technician Steve Wabrek, we have finally joined the rest of Sharon enjoying all things high-speed internet has to offer,” Lewis said, noting that she had scheduled her recent activation in February for her birthday as a gift to herself.
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.
LAKEVILLE — Kelsey K. Horton, 43, a lifelong area resident, died peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, following a courageous battle with cancer. Kelsey worked as a certified nursing assistant and administrative assistant at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, from 1999 until 2024, where she was a very respected and loved member of their nursing and administrative staff.
Born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sharon, she was the daughter of W. Craig Kellogg of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and JoAnne (Lukens) Tuncy and her husband Donald of Millerton, New York. Kelsey graduated with the class of 1999 from Webutuck High School in Amenia and from BOCES in 1999 with a certificate from the CNA program as well. She was a longtime member of the Lakeville United Methodist Church in Lakeville. On Oct. 11, 2003, in Poughkeepsie, New York, she married James Horton. Jimmy survives at home in Lakeville. Kelsey loved camping every summer at Waubeeka Family Campground in Copake, and she volunteered as a cheer coach for A.R.C. Cheerleading for many years. Kelsey also enjoyed hiking and gardening in her spare time and spending time with her loving family and many dear friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Kelsey is survived by her two beloved children, Hunter Horton and Aryanna Horton, both of Lakeville; a step-brother, Jason Tuncy of East Hartford, Connecticut; her mother-in-law, Frances “Fran” Horton and her brother-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton III and his wife Penny of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and their son, Alec, and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton, Jr. in 2017.
There are no calling hours. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. A time to celebrate Kelsey and share stories and memories. Memorial contributions may be made to The Jane Lloyd Fund. Please make checks payable to Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (please note in memo line, The Jane Lloyd Fund) and mail to: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 N. Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257.
To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Kelsey’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.
SHARON — On Sept. 27, Eliot Warren Brown was shot and killed at age 47 at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a random act of violence by a young man in need of mental health services. Eliot was born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, and attended Indian Mountain School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife Brooke moved to New Orleans to answer the call for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and fell in love with the city.
In addition to his wife Brooke, Eliot leaves behind his parents Malcolm and Louise Brown, his sisters Lucia (Thaddeus) and Carla (Ruairi), three nephews, and extended family and friends spread far and wide.
Normally at this point one might list some interests, but in Eliot’s case, it’s easier to list what he wasn’t interested in: watching sports.
Eliot made a living as a fine craftsman and carpenter, but at heart he was an artist. He was well versed in music, painting, literature, biking, travel, Mardi Gras costumes, poker, pranks, street performance and on and on and on.Having previously hiked the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal, he recently achieved another dream of summiting the highest stratovolcano in North America.
Eliot’s creative ability was astounding. His creations were designed to bring joy to others. He didn’t seek recognition or praise, and a large part of his work was anonymous. Pieces of art would appear in the community, encouraging people to think, connect and enjoy.
From the precociously funny and determinedly defiant boy that grew up in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, Eliot grew into a brilliant, gentle souled, boundlessly creative, ever mischievous, perpetually scraggly, and astoundingly wise and caring man who made an indelible impact on those who were lucky to have him in their lives.
In honor of Eliot, please consider making donations to organizations that work to end gun violence, support the arts, or provide mental health services. A service will be held at the Congregational Church in Salisbury on Sunday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.
SHARON — Randall “Randy” Osolin passed away on Sept. 25, 2025, at the age of 74. He was born on Feb. 6, 1951, in Sharon, Connecticut to the late Ramon (Sonny) and Barbara (Sandmeyer) Osolin.
He was a dedicated social worker, a natural athlete, a gentle friend of animals, an abiding parish verger, an inveterate reader, and an estimable friend and neighbor. He was a kind-hearted person whose greatest joy was in helping someone in need and sharing his time with his family and good friends.
He was the beloved husband of Karen LaChance Osolin; the loving brother of Bruce Osolin and the late Gail Osolin Leo; the devoted uncle of Kyle and Andrew Osolin and Taylor LaChance; the brother-in-law of Debra LaChance; and the cousin of Brenda Curran, Jay Pickering and Audra Salazar.
To honor Randy’s memory, do a good deed for another or send a donation to the Little Guild, 258 Sharon-Goshen Road, West Cornwall, CT 06796. The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
