Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
summer fairs

Carnival Rides, Fireworks and Cotton Candy: It Must Be Summer Again

Why does July feel so innocent? Perhaps it’s because children are out of school and even the most jaded, urbanized adults find themselves being towed along to sweet summer activities behind a child, a grandchild, a nephew or niece, or even a beloved pet, bowled over with the excitement of being outside and maybe getting to snatch a hot dog.

In June the kids are still in school. In August, it’s too hot and the beginning of school begins to loom. But in July we go to the beach and drink lemonade and lose ourselves in the garden.

And we go to Railroad Days in North Canaan, Conn., one of the last of the great Litchfield County summer carnivals.

It used to be that nearly all the local towns had summer fairs, with cake walks and games of chance and firefighter parades. Slowly and for various reasons they’ve all died off, but Railroad Days is back for its 58th year, from July 13 to 17.

Everything you could possibly want in a summer carnival is part of Railroad Days. There is ice cream and cotton candy and carnival rides and carnival games in the evening (giving older children a chance to go off on their own and have safe, independent adventures with their friends).

There are sidewalk sales at all the downtown shops. There are raffles and picnics and church suppers.

Don’t miss the parade of firefighters marching together in full dress uniform, followed by their oldest and most charming fire-fighting vehicles. This year’s procession is on Saturday, July 16, at 6 p.m. and as always it will be followed at dusk by fireworks.

It will feel like the finale of the five days of summer fun, but more is in store on Sunday, July 17, including open hours at the Canaan Union Station Railroad Museum. The town’s historic railroad depot was burned in an arson fire in 2001, just weeks after the terror attacks of that year on Sept. 11. Many area firefighters had already been volunteering their time at the World Trade Center sites, and returned home to help battle the blaze at the beloved former train station, which was home to offices and a restaurant at that time.

It took decades to rebuild the depot, but it’s open again and is of course the honored heart of Railroad Days. The railroad museum was assembled by volunteers and includes railway memorabilia donated by train buffs across New England. Find out the full schedule for the 2022 Railroad Days events at https://canaanrailroaddays.com.

Cynthia Hochswender
summer fairs

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Seeing isn’t always believing. Sometimes it’s the lack of a defined picture that can be the most compelling. And when Alex Harvey of Shinbone Alley sings his supernaturally charged sea shanties and street ballads, the unseen will be downright scary. On Oct. 30, the historically inclined storyteller and performer will create a spooky evening of forbidden tales and yarns through a carefully chosen series of songs at Spencertown Academy of Arts.

The repertoire for the performance is a bit fraught. Over the years, Shinbone Alley has explored the world of folklore through music. Though the group usually features two musicians, Harvey, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, will be performing solo. That is, of course, unless you include the spirits.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield
Vieux Farka Touré
Proivded

Desert winds rarely blow into the Berkshires, but on Nov. 5, they will carry the Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa music to Race Brook Lodge.

That evening, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, often called “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Moroccan musician Samir LanGus will play at the lodge’s Event Barn in Sheffield, Massachusetts, at a benefit for the foundation Touré directs.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.