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By the community, for the community

When Robert and Mary Lou Estabrook purchased The Lakeville Journal in 1970 and The Millerton News in 1972, they set out to “publish the best newspaper of which [they] were capable.” They taught us that the role of the newspaper wasn’t just to report on the day-to-day, but to hold up a mirror, provide a record, and to help our community understand itself. But beyond that, Bob and Mary Lou took that sense of community responsibility and personally lived it.

This past weekend at the Jubilee Country Luncheon, we at The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News presented the inaugural Estabrook Community Leadership Award to The Harney Family, a family that has given so much to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut and Eastern Dutchess County in New York (see story and photos here). The award, named for Bob and Mary Lou Estabrook, recognizes an individual, family or organization for community leadership and the nurturing of community spirit.

The Harneys, too, embody that sense of responsibility. They are champions of local institutions, not just as employers and businesspeople, but as active and prominent supporters of a wide range of community organizations that provide essential services throughout the region.

This weekend, Elyse Harney reminded us to get involved. If you can give your time, money, or talents to a local organization working for a cause important to you, do it. If such an organization doesn’t exist, start it — and it doesn’t take much to begin.

The Jubilee was also an occasion to celebrate and support The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News, now a nonprofit news organization. In an era when local news — news of your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your communities — is dwindling, we are grateful to be not only surviving but thriving. And that is only thanks to you ... our readers, our donors, and our advertisers.

Covering the goings-on of the region week-in and week-out is a duty we perform with great pride. After all, your community is our community.

Thank you.

Lakeville Journal

Latest News

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

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Sharon voters approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds at an Aug. 27 town meeting.

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The decision Thursday, Aug. 27, came two months after voters rejected an earlier Board of Finance-backed proposal, 27-11, at a June 18 town meeting. Residents had expressed concern about directing all the money, which must be used for opioid remediation, to a regional organization rather than supporting the town’s emergency medical service.

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Provided

Last month, James Boehmer and Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” wearable art sold exclusively at their store in the Kent Barns section of Kent, Connecticut.

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Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
—Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

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Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of “Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made” is one of thefeatured authors at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Mirissa Neff

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

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Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday
“Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman,”will be screened Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan.
Provided

On Sunday, Sept. 6, Lime Rock Park will host a screening of the documentary “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan at 7 p.m.

Newman was one of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, known for films including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” His 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” also began a decades-long friendship with co-star Robert Redford.

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film

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

Steven Tayler

On Sunday, Sept. 6, PS21 in Chatham, New York, will host a celebration of community through dance at its second annual Dive Barn performance at the organization’s Dance Barn.

Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

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dance
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