
A notice on the Cornwall Bridge USPS collection box warns patrons to avoid putting mail in the box after the last posted pick-up time.
Debra A. Aleksinas
A notice on the Cornwall Bridge USPS collection box warns patrons to avoid putting mail in the box after the last posted pick-up time.
CORNWALL — Jim Young didn’t think twice when, on the evening of Dec. 23, he dropped a letter containing a $3,884 check into the iconic blue collection box outside the Cornwall Bridge Post Office.
It was addressed to the Housatonic Valley Rug Shop Inc., located roughly 100 feet away. The check never made it that far.
Instead, a crafty crook, likely under the cloak of darkness, fished that letter, and potentially others, out of the Postal Service drop box. A week later the altered check was cashed in Jamaica, New York.
Young, who owns Sharon Auto Body, wrote a replacement check to cover the purloined one but he is now mired in red tape trying to get reimbursed from his bank, NBT, for his nearly $4,000 loss. He is angry. And he is not alone.
Check fraud is a hot topic these days on a Cornwall neighborhood discussion site.
And in nearby Warren, more than a dozen residents have been victimized by mail theft from home mailboxes and the blue USPS box in the town center, according to First Selectman Greg LaCava, who, last month, posted warnings to residents via the town’s website.
LaCava said he has also been making rounds to the senior center in town to alert seniors and has been conferring with the Connecticut State Police.
One victim, he noted, had deposited mail at the Cornwall Bridge mailbox. In another case, the dollar amount on a check was changed from $500 to $15,000.
“The more I talk about it, the more I hear of other people with the same problem,” Young noted. What angers him the most, he said, is that “the U.S. Post Office has known this has been going on for three months, and they have done zero about it.”
Craig Drozd, postmaster at the Cornwall Bridge Post Office, declined to comment except to confirm that the matter is being handled by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
The recent spate of Litchfield County mail thefts is under investigation, said Danielle Schrage, a USPIS inspector and public information officer for Connecticut.
Her agency is the law enforcement and security arm of the United States Postal Service.
“I spoke with the investigators covering those complaints. They are aware and working very closely with the post offices to replace the standard blue collection boxes in those areas,” with newer, high-technology boxes, she reported Jan. 19.
“If there is a blue box with a pull-down handle, a lot of those are being phased out and replaced with newer ones with thinner slots to prevent fishing,” the Schrage noted. “It hasn’t happened yet but will be happening.”
In the meantime, she suggested that postal patrons bring their mail inside the Post Office, or hand it to a carrier on the street. If they must use the blue box, Schrage suggested making the deposit as close to daily pick-up times as possible.
“Don’t let your mail sit in there a minute longer than it needs to. Unfortunately, in this world, we have to give up a little convenience for security,” said the postal inspector. “We don’t live in 1950s Mayberry. We have to be a lot more savvy.”
Schrage advised victims of mail fraud to immediately contact the USPIS at www.uspis.gov/report and fill out a complaint online, or call 877-876-2455, so that the agency can track in real time when and where thefts are taking place and can gather information for criminal prosecution.
“I have been screaming from the rooftop, but a lot of people don’t know we exist as an agency,” said Schrage.
She warned that small, rural towns are easy targets for criminals.
“In some of the bedroom communities, people are a little more complacent. The criminals are not from Litchfield County, they’re coming in and looking for communities that are less savvy” about check fraud.
While check fishing is an age-old crime, it has been surging since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, said postal officials.
The USPS defines check fishing as a line, often with a sticky end, typically rodent glue traps, lowered into a postal box to snag letters and fished back out.
Fraudsters ditch all but the checks, which are then “washed” by changing the payee names, and often the dollar amounts, by removing the ink using chemical agents.
However, in Young’s case, his check was not washed, but completely reprinted with the bank routing number, check number, dollar amount and signature onto a different background.
After about a week of waiting for the check to reach its destination, Young said he went to NBT to void the missing check, only to find out that the $3,884 check had cleared in his account.
According to a recent report by the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, check fraud at depository institutions more than tripled between 2018 and 2022, up 201.2% between those years.
While fishing for checks is a lucrative catch for criminals, it is a nightmare for banks, said Steven Cornell, president and CEO of National Iron Bank (NIB), which has a branch in the Cornwall Bridge section of Cornwall.
Cornell confirmed a “big uptick” in customers from Cornwall reporting check fraud.
“We resolve every one of them very quickly. We go back to all the banks and work with them to get the money back, and except for the big banks, most are very good about it.”
Cornell explained that the Cornwall Bridge branch manager has devoted countless hours helping customers close out breached accounts and opening new ones.
He said it is frustrating that the postal service is unable to secure mail at the expense of the banks:
“It takes a lot of time for us to do this, but there is nothing we can do but resolve it for our customers. They’re doing the right things by using the mail and paying their bills, and then this happens to them. It’s a terrible situation.”
Cornell said one way for customers to deter fraud is to switch from using checks to utilizing the bank’s secure electronic bill-pay system or debit cards. “Everybody who has moved to bill-pay is happy with it.”
Those who can’t part with checks are advised by the USPS to write in permanent ink, which can’t be erased as it penetrates the paper’s fibers.
Young said it could be months before he recoups his loss, but that’s not his main concern.
What he does worry about is that until the blue boxes are secure, his neighbors run the risk of scammers emptying their bank accounts.
Young said he has taken it upon himself to tape laminated warning signs to the Cornwall Bridge USPS collection box, but they are taken down as fast as he posts them.
“Meanwhile, people are putting checks in that box today. It’s that complacency that drives me crazy.”
HVRHS sophomore Wyatt Bayer will suit up for the Mountaineers' varsity baseball team.
FALLS VILLAGE — With the arrival of warm weather, so too comes a new season of athletics at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
The Mountaineers will field teams in five different sports for the spring season: baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis and track and field.
Baseball gets the varsity season started with a scrimmage March 31 at home against Wolcott Technical High School. The Mountaineers will be coached by Bobby Chatfield this year. The last time most HVRHS varsity players took to the diamond was in August 2024 when Housy Juniors won the Babe Ruth League District 4 Northwest Connecticut summer baseball championship.
With a surplus of baseball players this year, junior varsity baseball returns to HVRHS. The JV boys, coached by Russell Sears, will get the season started April 5 on the road against Shepaug Valley High School.
Softball starts April 5 as well with a home game against Shepaug Valley. Coaches Pete Foley and Kaleigh Selino led the team to a 13-9 record and a trip to the Class S tournament last year. The Mountaineers will need to establish a new hurler on the mound after graduating star pitcher Anne Moran in 2024.
Boys and girls tennis begins April 7. The boys, coached by Jeff Tripp, will travel to Lakeview High School for the first meet of the season. At the same time, the girls, coached by Don Drislane and Mo Kirby-Dore, host Lakeview on the newly refinished courts at HVRHS.
The lacrosse season begins with a rematch of last year’s Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference girls championship game. HVRHS, coached by Laura Bushey, will travel to play the reigning champs St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol April 9. St. Paul defeated HVRHS 13-12 in a riveting league final last May.
Track and field is set to start April 22 with a home meet against Lakeview High School. HVRHS, coached by Alan Lovejoy, has a number of decorated athletes returning to the track this year including Kyle McCarron, Ava Segalla and Anthony Labbadia, each of whom competed in the CIAC State Open meet last June. Many more returning runners and jumpers gained state-level experience last year at the CIAC Class S meet in May.
Fans of fine art filed into the Sharon Historical Society’s gallery on Saturday, March 15, for the opening reception of student works from the Northlight Art Center in Amenia, New York.
Northlight was founded in Sharon by Pieter Lefferts in 2010 and later moved to Amenia. This is the 14th year of the annual student exhibit.
“It’s an invitation for people who may never have thought that they might be included in an art exhibit,” said Lefferts about the show that includes 34 works created by a dozen artists. Lefferts added that visitors will see a range of abilities and individual expression.
“I like to draw out innate expression,” Lefferts said. Lefferts said there were 34 pieces as he had hung them all the day before.
Several works on display were inspired by local subjects. For example, Kathleen Kulig’s “Grand Dame of the Orchard” depicts an actual old apple tree found at a friend’s home.
“I’ve actually picked apples from that tree,” Kulig said.
Kathleen Kulig with her “Grand Dame of the Orchard” painting.Leila Hawken
Artist Cathleen Halloran’s acrylic on paper painting titled “Eleven Eleven” is a loving remembrance of her dog, Maddie, whose death was imminent as Halloran created the painting, an expression of her subject’s magnificent spirit.
Variety is evident in artists’ ages, mediums, experience and subject matter.
“It’s always a pleasure to see how the artists grow every year, a fascinating variety,” said Historical Society President Chris Robinson as he dished out the wine and other beverages in the reception area.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the historical society, although not all works are for sale. The exhibit will be open until Friday, May 9, during historical society hours. For additional information, go to www.sharonhist.org.
Coinciding with the gallery show, the Sharon Historical Society’s current exhibit is worth a visit. Titled “Family Collections,” the exhibit shows collective Sharon memories found in the artifacts left by ancestors, remembered now in part by what they left behind. Each is a clue to the town’s historic past, spanning two centuries.
Tess Marks as Little Sally and Jackson Olson as Officer Lockstock in the Housatonic Musical Theatre Society production of "Urinetown."
Last week’s Housatonic Musical Theatre Society production of “Urinetown” featured strong performances and superb choreography.
The remodeled auditorium at Housatonic Valley Regional High School made a big difference as well. New seats were a welcome addition, and the increased technical capability meant that the show was flawless from a production point of view.
The difference was so noticeable that director Christiane Olson thanked the taxpayers of Region One for supporting the recent school improvements project in brief remarks before the start of the matinee performance Saturday, March 15.
Katelin Lopes and Andy Delgado were powerful as the star-crossed lovers Hope Cladwell and Bobby Strong.
Jackson Olson got a lot of laughs with his deadpan take on Officer Lockstock, often in tandem with Tess Marks’ wide-eyed Little Sally.
The entire cast hit all the right buttons, not the easiest thing to do with a show that contains multiple layers of satire.
The orchestra, led by Tom Krupa, was rock solid.
And Amber Cameron’s choreography was seamless. The cast looked like they’d been dancing together all their lives.
Race Brook Lodge
Tucked away on Under Mountain Road in Sheffield, Massachusetts, The Stagecoach Tavern dates back to the mid-18th century and offers fine dining in an enchanted setting. It also serves as the portal into the Race Brook Lodge, which harbors unique spaces for entertainment, lodging and wellness.
Intimate outdoor gathering areas are illuminated by strings of lights. A cluster of mid-century bungalows can be rented by guests who come to spend the weekend and attend concerts and retreats, which typically take place in the barns farther back in the woods.
This magical vision springs from the mind of David Rothstein, who purchased the property in pieces between 1990 and 2000, a continuation of his idea to create a place where like-minded people can congregate to enjoy cultural happenings in an idyllic setting.
Before acquiring the Race Brook Lodge, Rothstein, now 90, managed The Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, the premier outdoor music venue in the Berkshires during the 1970s, which he purchased with his former wife, Nancy Fitzpatrick, whose family owned the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge.
In its heyday from 1970 to 1979, The Music Inn featured a who’s who of iconic performers of the era like Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King, James Taylor, Muddy Waters, The Byrds, Ravi Shankar, Joan Baez, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, The Eagles, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Cliff, Toots & The Maytals and The Allman Brothers.
“Music Inn was the last outpost of the counterculture, which had evolved as a result of the groundbreaking evolution of jazz as the first integrated music genre that ultimately paved the way for Rock ‘n Roll,” Rothstein said.
Race Brook barn at nightLety Marcos
This history goes even deeper. Prior to the Music Inn, the buildings were known as the Berkshire Music Barn, and featured performers like Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk and the Modern Jazz Quartet. The property also featured The Lenox School of Jazz, The Lenox Arts Center, Toad Hall Moviehouse, and The Great Riot Alley Memorial.
As a student of modernist architect Louis Khan, Rothstein absorbed Khan’s ideas of “open frame” or a space without barriers. It’s a concept he used at the Music Inn that carries on at Race Brook.
Race Brook’s music programmer, Alex Harvey recalls how he came to do a retreat with Qi Gong master Thomas Drodge and noticed a Louis Khan poster on the wall. He spent a morning and afternoon talking with Rothstein about art, performance and community in a way he’d been dreaming about for a long time.
“When I saw the poster, I asked David about it. He told me that he was one of Khan’s assistants, and he actually drafted some of the buildings I’d studied. So, before I knew he had the Music Inn, he was a superstar to me,” Harvey said.
Harvey also met the current proprietor Casey Fitzpatrick — David and Nancy’s son — and the two hit it off, realizing they shared a common interest in global music. Armed with a deep Rolodex, thanks to his many years as a performer and ethnomusicologist, Harvey soon began programming shows at Race Brook.
When booking, Harvey looks for artists who can offer something beyond the typical performance.
“We had Alash, who are one of the more renowned Tuvan throat singing ensembles,” Harvey said. “With their energy, they change the weather of the room. It’s a participatory feeling. I loved reading the reactions online; was it a concert or a ritual? That’s what we’re interested in.”
“We have Beausoleil coming up on April 5. When they start playing, you feel transported to a hooch house in Eunice, Louisiana. They create a sense of place, and that’s what really excites me,” he added.
Sunder Ashni singing at Dia de los Muertos.Lety Marcos
There are regularly scheduled programs, like Jazz brunches every Sunday, and at times Race Brook Lodge is open to other groups who book shows like the recent “Almost Spring Weekender” a DJ’d house party produced by Edo Moore.
Ideally, Harvey books fully immersive weekends with music, workshops, and enjoyment of the spaces, whether hiking nearby trails or inside the barns.
“One of my favorites is the Dia de los Muertos weekend which has an open mic to the dead,” Harvey said. “It’s art as a form of medicine and healing. It’s kind of like Brooklyn Academy of Music meets Esselin.”
For elevated musical and wellness experiences in an idyllic Berkshire setting, Race Brook Lodge offers something for everyone. See their site for information on all that they offer: rblodge.com