Community

This week’s front page showcases stories about how the citizens of the Northwest Corner are making it a better place to live. Debra Aleksinas details efforts to protect environmentally and aesthetically sensitive land in the Salmon Kill River Valley. Natalia Zukerman profiles a crusader for social justice and women’s health.

In Compass, in the third part of a series about the healing power of theater, Lee Davies writes about how The Sharon Playhouse has been instrumental in bringing invigorating, in-person experiences to us.

These stories remind us how our friends and neighbors are making a difference.

More than 170 people raised $800,000 so that the Salisbury Association Land Trust could purchase 14 acres of farmland property in the Salmon Kill Valley. The valley and the creek itself have long been considered some of the most beautiful and ecologically valuable resources in Connecticut, Aleksinas writes. As Jeanette Weber, president of the Salisbury Association says, “We are very grateful to have received donations from so many people in the community.”

From many to one. Our community also needs to appreciate what one woman has done for many. Betsey Mauro, the departing executive director of Project SAGE, leaves behind a strong, community-based organization that supports, advocates for, guides and educates the victims of relationship violence through services and outreach programs in the Northwest Corner. When Mauro began in 2016, the organization was called Women’s Support Services. It has since changed its name to Project SAGE. Mauro expanded the organization and created a network that reaches far beyond Lakeville. “Whether I’m in a church or I’ve been in this role here, it’s all about how we lift up people and also challenge the systems that are unfair, that keep people from accessing their full selves,” Mauro says.

In Part III of Davies’ series on the role of theater in a community, Lee writes about how the Sharon Playhouse is partnering with local support groups, including Project Sage on the 2023 production of “Oliver!” Last fall, The Sharon Playhouse teamed up with The Salisbury Forum and this newspaper to co-sponsor a panel discussion about its production of “Lifespan of a Fact” on the hot issue of truth in journalism. It also worked with the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon to make its “Little Women” community read a success. During the 2023 season, Davies reports that The Sharon Playhouse provided jobs for 250 professional theater artists, actors, technicians, musicians and educators; welcomed 16,000 patrons; and offered over 95 live performances of 22 theater productions.

The hard work people put in matters. It makes the Northwest Corner a wonderful place to live. We are grateful for all their many efforts.

Latest News

All are welcome at The Mahaiwe

Paquito D’Rivera performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on April 5.

Geandy Pavon

Natalia Bernal is the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s education and community engagement manager and is, in her own words, “the one who makes sure that Mahaiwe events are accessible to all.”

The Mahaiwe’s community engagement program is rooted in the belief that the performing arts should be for everyone. “We are committed to establishing and growing partnerships with neighboring community and arts organizations to develop pathways for overcoming social and practical barriers,” Bernal explained. “Immigrants, people of color, communities with low income, those who have traditionally been underserved in the performing arts, should feel welcomed at the Mahaiwe.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Living with the things you love:
a conversation with Mary Randolph Carter
Mary Randolph Carter teaches us to surround ourselves with what matters to live happily ever after.
Carter Berg

There is magic in a home filled with the things we love, and Mary Randolph Carter, affectionately known as “Carter,” has spent a lifetime embracing that magic. Her latest book, “Live with the Things You Love … and You’ll Live Happily Ever After,” is about storytelling, joy, and honoring life’s poetry through the objects we keep.

“This is my tenth book,” Carter said. “At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Beloved classic film ‘The Red Shoes’ comes to the big screen for Triplex benefit
Provided

On Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m., The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington and Jacob’s Pillow, the dance festival in Becket, Massachusetts, are presenting a special benefit screening of the cinematic masterpiece, “The Red Shoes,” followed by a discussion and Q&A. Featuring guest speakers Norton Owen, director of preservation at Jacob’s Pillow, and dance historian Lynn Garafola, the event is a fundraiser for The Triplex.

“We’re pitching in, as it were, because we like to help our neighbors,” said Norton. “They (The Triplex) approached us with the idea, wanting some input if they were going to do a dance film. I thought of Lynn as the perfect person also to include in this because of her knowledge of The Ballets Russes and the book that she wrote about Diaghilev. There is so much in this film, even though it’s fictional, that derives from the Ballets Russes.” Garafola, the leading expert on the Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev, 1909–1929, the most influential company in twentieth-century theatrical dance, said, “We see glimpses of that Russian émigré tradition, performances we don’t see much of today. The film captures the artifice of ballet, from the behind-the-scenes world of dressers and conductors to the sheer passion of the audience.”

Keep ReadingShow less