Business blooms for Wassaic flower shop

WASSAIC — Images of butterflies and ladybugs are hard to avoid at Monarch Creations, a new flower and decorations shop located on Route 22 in Wassaic. They’re even a part of the store logo.The new business is owned by Melissa Conklin, and if a flower shop in that location strikes a familiar chord, it’s because she purchased the business from Judy Marshall, who ran Judy’s Flower Shop there for more than a decade and still owns the building.“It’s really just something I always wanted to do,” Conklin said. “I’m the crafty one in the family, and I have a lot of hands-on, self-taught experience.”Conklin said the goal for her business is that everything that comes out of the store will be a hand-crafted and unique piece.“Creation is part of the name,” she said. “It’s about creating gifts for people that you can’t just go to any store and buy.”In addition to flowers (and there are a wide variety that can be ordered daily), there are specialty baskets, candles and soaps, among other items.Going back to the theme of butterflies and monarchs, Conklin said the images are in memory of her father and close family members, several of whom she lost during the last year.“They really gave me the inspiration to go for it and open the business now,” she said.Although the store has opened its doors to customers already, there will be a grand opening Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to noon, with refreshments served and gifts at sale prices.“This is where I bought my flowers,” she said of the store. “The location means a lot to me. One door closes and another one opens.”Monarch Creations is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Reach the business at 845-373-7053 or by email at monarchcreations11@gmail.com.

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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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