Now celebrating its 18th consecutive year of holiday music, the Smithfield Church’s annual Christmas Concert and Tea packed every pew and left more standing.
The traditional event was begun by local realtor, the late Katharine Dunlop, and now continues as a part of the Bang Family Concert Series.
A variety of holiday pieces, some old favorites and some new compositions, were performed by an assemblage of 14 gifted regional musicians comprising the popular Smithfield Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Matt Finley.
The concert, held in the festively decorated historic sanctuary, opened with a poem, “It’s All in the Music,” composed and read by Kevin T. McEneaney, poet laureate of Smithfield Valley, followed by a new arrangement of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
There were the sprightly notes of “The Nutcracker” played by the ensemble; “White Christmas,” was performed as a clarinet solo by Norman Baker.
Finley welcomed the audience, noting their importance to the occasion.
“Were it not for the audience,” Finley said, “these musicians would just be here as if for a practice session.” He noted that some of the performers have been at each of the 18 preceding years, and that trombonist Steve Hubbert was new this year.
Contemporary pieces and Brazilian jazz interpretations were also performed.
“If there is something that you don’t like, just wait a couple of minutes and we’ll be on to something else,” Finley quipped.
The concert concluded with Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus. Finley had told everyone at the onset that it would not be necessary to stand, as King John was assuredly not present.
They stood anyway at the end, and were rewarded with an encore of “Sleigh Bells.”
Sally Haver
The Equus Effect, a Sharon-based equine-assisted learning and equestrian facility that helps participants build emotional resilience through work with horses, will welcome the public to an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 24, at its stables at 37 Drum Road.
Families are invited to bring a picnic lunch and blanket for the afternoon gathering, where The Equus Effect will provide demonstrations, cookies and the chance to meet four of its resident horses — Dutch, Lance, Babe and Blaze — while showcasing the unique ways people can connect and learn through interaction with these animals.
The organization was founded to support veterans and first responders experiencing PTSD, helping them process trauma and better manage the emotional effects associated with working in high-stress environments. Horses, because they are powerful yet gentle and offer honest, nonjudgmental feedback, are uniquely suited to foster trust and connection, providing what organizers describe as “calm in the storm” for people navigating adrenaline-fueled responses to external and internal stressors.
The Equus Effect’s offerings have since expanded beyond its flagship emotional fitness program. The organization also offers a four-day workshop based on the Enneagram, a personality framework that identifies core motivators, fears and behaviors that shape how people view the world. The workshop is designed to help participants develop tools for greater self-awareness and personal growth.
A third program helps participants build both ground and mounted equestrian skills. The Equus Effect works with groups of children ages 8 and older to develop focus and leadership skills, adults interested in personal and professional growth, and business teams seeking to improve communication and performance. A fourth program, the Facilitator Training Program, takes place over six months and is designed to teach experienced horse people how to work with others.
More information is available at theequuseffect.org.
Lakeville Journal
The upstairs community space at Random Harvest Market in Craryville is hosting a series of Soup Night fundraisers to support the market following the recent fatal crash and road detour at the nearby Route 23 intersection. Featuring food, music and community gathering, the next event is May 24. More information at randomharvestmarket.com
Patrick L. Sullivan
Author Tom Schachtman
Tom Shachtman read from his new book, “A Jericho’s Cobble Miscellany,” at the Scoville Memorial Library on Sunday, May 17.
Shachtman and Harriet Shelane read excerpts from the points of view of an 18th-century settler in the wilds of New England, a contemporary high school senior who cannot wait to get herself out of town, a Native American sachem and an upright piano.
The book tells the story of a fictional New England village that Shachtman said he imagines as being about 20 miles east of Great Barrington.
It is a tale told through several genres: fiction, newspaper stories, oral histories, poetry, plays and emails.
Shachtman said he was inspired by Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology,” in which small-town Americans’ stories are told in free-verse form by the deceased.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea, but I didn’t want everybody to be dead.”
Shachtman said there are more than 100 distinct voices in the book and that he began with 50 to 100 pages of notes on all sorts of topics.
“It’s not one story. It’s many stories. That’s why it took five years.”
Shachtman was asked how closely Salisbury resembles Jericho’s Cobble.
“Of course there are similarities. I’ve lived here for 30 years.”
He said certain stories in the book, such as an arson attack at the Town Hall and the transformation of the local weekly newspaper from a for-profit to a nonprofit, have obvious local precedents.
“But these are not unique to us,” he added.
About that upright piano: Shachtman paused before reading that particular excerpt and looked at the audience.
“Not all the speakers are living or dead. Some are inanimate objects.”
He then read “An Upright’s Lament.”
“I haven’t been seriously caressed in a long time,” the passage begins.
The piano, a 1903 Hamilton, goes on to say it has been relegated to “the seldom-used back dining room of the Grey Griffon Inn with its fading wallpaper.”
“In my heyday, when many people still knew how to play a piano, I was the focus of attention in the pub, where late of an evening, after enough alcohol had been downed, there would always be someone opening me up and striking my keys, to general enjoyment.”
But times have changed, and the piano is not optimistic.
“I fear the coming winter’s continuously roaring fires in the inn’s many fireplaces: Their dry heat will wick away the last bit of moisture from my woods, leaving me fit only for the garbage heap and the lumber pile.”
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Christian Murray
NORTH CANAAN – Voters approved North Canaan’s proposed $14.6 million combined municipal and education budgets at a town meeting on May 18.
The approval led the Board of Finance to set the mill rate at 24.75 for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, unchanged from the current year.
The $14.6 million spending plan includes a $3,351,583 municipal budget, up 3.25% from the current fiscal year, largely due to rising employee medical insurance costs. The municipal budget was approved by voters 52-5.
The education budget totals $11,238,600, a 7.92% increase over the current fiscal year. Of that total, $5,098,488 is allocated for North Canaan Elementary School, a 6.73% increase also due, in part, to rising insurance costs.
The elementary school budget was approved by town voters 50-6.
The remaining $6,140,112 in the education budget represents North Canaan’s share of the Region One budget, which covers Housatonic Valley Regional High School tuition and districtwide shared services. Voters across the six-town district, including North Canaan, approved that budget earlier this month.
North Canaan’s Region One assessment rose by about $503,679, or 8.94%, compared with last year’s increase of just over 1%. The town’s assessment is based on 106 students from North Canaan attending HVRHS in the coming school year.
Town officials said state grants helped offset some of the rising costs when setting the mill rate.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY – Voters unanimously approved Salisbury’s $21.6 million combined municipal and education budget at a town meeting last week, paving the way for a lower property tax rate in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Following the town meeting on May 13, the Board of Finance met and set the new mill rate at 9.8, down from the current 11.0 rate and among the lowest in Connecticut.
For homeowners, the lower mill rate will reduce annual property taxes. A home with a market value of $750,000 would see its tax bill fall from about $5,775 under the previous 11.0 mill rate to about $5,145 under the new 9.8 rate — a savings of roughly $630 annually.
Comptroller Joe Cleaveland said the lower rate was made possible due to several factors, including the recent revaluation that increased the value of the grand list, growth in the town’s surplus funds, and the decision to reduce the amount of reserves held.
At the town meeting, 22 people attended in person and seven online. All agenda items passed unanimously, 29-0.
The approved $21,630,267 spending plan includes a municipal budget of $9,617,825, an increase of $412,723, or 4.4%.
The Salisbury Central School budget was set at $7,213,515, an increase of $316,367, or 4.59%.
The Region One assessment, which primarily covers the cost of educating Salisbury students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, totals $4,798,927, an increase of $17,834 or 0.37%.
Total education spending is $12,012,442, an increase of $334,201 or 2.86%.
Caitlin Hanlon
CORNWALL – Voters approved the town’s 2026-27 proposed budget during a seven-minute town meeting Friday, May 15, before the Board of Finance set the mill rate at 16.62, a 4.13% increase from the current 15.96 rate.
For a homeowner, that increase will mean annual property taxes of about $5,817 on a home assessed at $350,000, compared with roughly $5,586 today — an increase of about $231.
The approved budget totals $8,924,433, a 6% increase over the current $8,417,014 plan.
Just 11 residents attended the seven-minute budget meeting, moderated by the Rev. Scott Cady. No public comments were offered before the budget moved forward to the Board of Finance for final action on the mill rate.
First Selectman Gordon M. Ridgway said the budget process began in January and credited town boards and commissions with keeping spending requests in check.
“We appreciate the boards and commissions keeping their budgets realistic,” Ridgway said. “Both the selectmen and the Board of Education were able to bring their increases down.”
Still, he said, rising costs made a tax increase unavoidable.
Ridgway said health insurance represented one of the largest increases affecting both municipal and education budgets. Additional cost increases included oil and electricity.
The Board of Selectmen also approved increased funding for several regional social service organizations, including Greenwoods Counseling Services, Housatonic Youth Service Bureau, Northwest Corner Chore Service, the Susan B. Anthony Project and Project SAGE.
“We’re giving people support in trying times,” Ridgway said.
During the meeting, Chairman Joe Pryor said the town’s grand list increased by 1.5%, helping offset some budget pressures.
“That brought us some breathing room,” Pryor said.
With a new mill rate of 16.62, the board voted to use $225,000 from undesignated funds toward next year’s budget. Cornwall is scheduled to undergo a town-wide property revaluation next year.
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