The Southern Berkshires, more than any other place in the world, evoke a Norman Rockwell kind of holiday season because, of course, Rockwell lived here and often painted scenes of Stockbridge, Mass., where he lived and worked, and which is the site of the Norman Rockwell Museum.
To see some of the iconic Rockwell Thanksgiving and Christmas paintings, visit the museum during the special COVID-19 hours: Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Seniors and immunocompromised visitors can come Thursday through Friday, 10 a.m. to noon, if they would like. Two-hour-long private visits can also be arranged for up to nine people, on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m.
Once you’re up in Stockbridge, it’s a short trip (about 20 minutes) to the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass., which is planning several seasonal activities at the farm/museum/history center.
On Friday, Nov. 27, and Saturday, Nov. 28, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. there will be talks and demonstrations of how the Shakers lived and worked. Learn about woodworking and blacksmithing and the Shaker way of life. There are several hikes and talks planned (registration is requested). Children are invited to “smoosh” pumpkins and feed them to the farm’s pigs. There will be a foraging workshop on Saturday for an extra fee.
Holiday shoppers looking for handmade gifts can come to the artisan markets on Saturdays between Nov. 28 and Dec. 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The curated selection of gifts from regional artisans includes everything from jam and syrup to clothing and jewelry to bath products, toys and more. No museum admission is necessary to shop.
On Saturday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be drop-in holiday cookie decorating and ornament-making workshops for a small fee, artisan demos, a gingerbread contest, story time with Santa (registration requested), caroling, a fire pit and Shaker history talks.
For more information on Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass., including hours and admission fees, go to www.hancockshakervillage.org.
For more information on the Norman Rockwell Museum, including hours and admission fees, go to www.nrm.org.
LAKEVILLE — The Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission approved a funding request at its Dec. 18 meeting to renovate a recently purchased 19th-century building on Bostwick Street, despite concerns from several members that the structure may be too dilapidated to repair cost-effectively.
The application from the Salisbury Housing Committee, the town organization responsible for affordable rental properties, requested $200,000 to assist in the repair of the 3-unit property it recently purchased at 37 Bostwick St. The funds, if approved by the Board of Selectmen, will match $200,000 already secured by the SHC to a working funding pool of $400,000 for the project.
According to Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity Director Jocelyn Ayer, who assisted SHC President Peter Halle in presenting the plans, the historic structure has seen better days: “It was built in 1850, and it looks like it.”
The building contains three units in varying states of disrepair, one of which is currently occupied. Another unit, long vacant and most recently inhabited by raccoons, Ayer said, will require extensive renovation to be brought back to a habitable condition.
Still, those familiar with the building said the work will be worth the expense and that the structure is salvageable. “It’s not rotten to the core,” said Halle, while SAHC commissioner Pat Hackett, who is an engineer with extensive knowledge of building projects in town, said that he thinks the structure is sound.
Commissioners Mary Oppenheimer and Vivian Garfein both questioned whether it’s worth renovating. Both were concerned about unforeseen costs that might arise on top of the immediately apparent issues, which already pose a significant expense.
Ayer said $400,000 would not cover the entire price tag of the renovation, but it would enable the essential work to get done while the Committee seeks the additional funding to complete the renovations. Halle said that if that sum were secured, “there is a path” to financing the entire project, which would put residents in the units far more quickly than building a new development from scratch.
Commissioner Abeth Slotnick, who’s an architect, noted the townspeople had expressed interest in upgrading existing structures to be used as affordable rental options, and that this situation was a “good example of where that can work.”
Lee Sullivan, another commissioner, agreed that neighbors will appreciate the upkeep of an old house: “Keeping an historic 1850 building that is part of the existing neighborhood is really important to people.”
The SAHC ultimately voted to move forward with a request for funding. Slotnick said a contractor is ready to begin the top priority fixes as soon as the funding is guaranteed, which still has to be formally passed by the selectmen.
Fresh snowfall covers North Goshen Road after the Dec.13–14 storm, one of many winter weather events that require towns to decide how and where to apply road salt.
Snow returned to the Northwest Corner earlier this month, sending town highway and public work screws back into their annual cycle of plowing, sanding and salting —work that keeps roads passable but strains municipal budgets, equipment and the surrounding environment.
Connecticut lies within the so-called “Salt Belt,” where sodium chloride remains the primary defense against icy roads, even as officials weigh its financial and environmental costs.
In North Canaan, First Selectman Jesse Bunce said road salt is one of the town’s largest winter operating expenses, and reducing reliance on straight salt could bring both fiscal and environmental benefits. The town currently applies straight salt during most storms, but Bunce said he would like to shift toward blending salt with sand more often.
Bunce said the cost difference between the two materials is stark, estimating sand at roughly $20 per cubic yard compared to about $120 per cubic yard for salt. He said even partial blending could yield meaningful savings over the course of a winter while also reducing the volume of salt entering roadside soils and waterways. He said he and his highway crew have discussed experimenting with different blends to determine what works best under local conditions.
The town has also explored alternatives such as limestone in the past — an idea periodically raised because North Canaan has limestone quarries — though Bunce emphasized that no decisions have been made and further evaluation is needed. Beyond costs, Bunce said straight salt accelerates corrosion on trucks and equipment and contributes to environmental stress along roadways.
Salt-laden runoff, he said, can damage roadside trees, creating additional maintenance costs when trees decline or die. Reducing salt use, he said, could help protect vegetation while extending the lifespan of municipal vehicles. “Salt is tougher on our roadsides, our trees, things of that nature, which are another big operating cost,” Bunce said. “When these trees die on the roadside, we have to deal with them.”
Bunce, who owns and operates an excavation business, said equipment exposed to straight salt wears out significantly faster than machines spreading sand-and-salt mixtures, driving up maintenance and replacement costs for towns. When it comes to storms, North Canaan’s road crew handles them on a case-by-case basis, sometimes pre-treating roads ahead of storms and other times plowing several times before applying material. Certain roads pose particular challenges because of steep grades, making traction a key concern.
Falls Village First Selectman Dave Barger said his town follows a similarly adaptive approach, with the Department of Public Works applying sand and salt based on real-time conditions rather than a fixed formula. Road design and the surrounding landscape, he said, play a significant role.
“There are a lot of factors that play into how much product you put down — whether it keeps snowing, whether temperatures go up or down, and how much sun a road gets,” Barger said.
Narrow roads with heavy tree canopy tend to retain ice longer, requiring more salt, while more open roads that receive sunlight thaw faster and require less treatment. Many towns use sand–salt mixtures on back roads to improve traction, while applying straight salt in village centers. Local geography also shapes winter maintenance. Even modest elevation differences can affect temperatures enough to determine where ice forms first.
Norfolk, at roughly 1,200 feet, sits 400 to 500 feet higher than river-valley towns like North Canaan and often ices up sooner and holds snow longer.
With large areas to cover, Northwest Corner towns often require hours to complete plowing and salting routes. Sharon, for example, maintains 83 miles of roads divided into seven plow routes, each taking about four hours during storms.
For the current fiscal year, Salisbury budgeted $172,000 for salt and sand, Sharon $188,000, Kent $140,000, Cornwall $61,000 and Falls Village $42,000. North Canaan budgeted $46,000 for sand and salt, down from the previous two years.
Courtesy of the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy
NORTH CANAAN — The plan for a 20-lot subdivision off Honey Hill Road has been dropped and instead, the land, owned by H. Bruce McEver, could become a large public nature preserve.
The announcement came at the Dec. 15 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, when Catherine Rawson, executive director of the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy, went before the board to request a required letter of approval allowing the conservancy to seek state grants for the purchase. She emphasized that significant work remains, including extensive surveys, before a deal is completed and the deed is transferred.
Should all proceed as planned, a transfer of this nature generally takes 24 to 36 months to close, she said. Once finalized, the land must be opened to the public within six months. Funding decisions from the state— particularly through the OpenSpace and Watershed Land Acquisition program administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection — are expected inmid-2026. Additional funding will also be sought through the federal Highlands Conservation Act, as well as from private donations.
Rawson said the conservancy, which is based in Kent, had been in discussion with McEver and is delighted to partner with him to leave what she described as an extraordinary legacy. She expressed gratitude to him for making this decision.
“I’m a conservationist at heart,” McEver said, talking about his love of the environment since childhood. He said his initial motivation for seeking to develop the property was to help address the housing shortage in North Canaan, but construction costs were far lower when the idea first arose.
In today’s market, he said, selling the lots would be difficult, making the shift away from development largely an economic decision. McEver spoke of how beautiful the property is, with its hundreds of trees, and how he’s worked to remove invasives there. He said he is pleased to be working with the land trust on the project.
The land sits off Honey Hill Road, and the conservancy plans to purchase approximately 245 acres, which borders over a mile of the Housatonic River and a portion of the Blackberry River.
The property offers an extensive core forest, high biodiversity and intact wildlife habitat, which Rawson said “ranks it among the most ecologically valuable and climate-resilient landscape in the region. I’m delighted. It’s one of the most important conservation pieces in Northwest Connecticut in the organization’s history. We’re so pleased to partner with Bruce for the benefit of the community for generations to come."
The conservancy envisions creating miles of hiking trails on the land, some of which could be handicap accessible. Public access to the river has yet to be determined. Rawson said as part of the broader vision, the conservancy is exploring the possibility of installing a pedestrian footbridge over the river, which would result in the potential linking of lands on both sides, “strengthening regional trail networks and enhancing connectivity between the communities of North Canaan and Salisbury.”
Tim Abbott, executive director of the Housatonic Valley Association, said the cost to acquire the property is $2.25 million.
Abbott has been deeply involved in the project. At the time the subdivision application was first heard in October 2023, he was chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission and conservation director of HVA. He was vocal about his opposition to the plan and HVA became an intervenor in the proceedings.
Always recusing himself during discussions of the subdivision, in November 2024, he resigned from the commission following pressure from proponents of the plan who were also advocating for a text amendment to the regulations regarding road lengths on dead-end streets and number of lots allowed on such streets.
When the commission did not act on the text amendment request, the applicant withdrew the application and submitted a new one containing 33 lots but later withdrew it and went back to the original 20 lots after the amendment was approved.
Abbott echoed Rawson’s words of delight with the outcome. “All along, HVA wanted a real conservation project,” he said, adding a network of conservation organizations really “kept their eye on the ball. We’re very happy; it’s a huge win for everyone.”
Abbott noted the four conditions imposed on the application’s approval never progressed. These included a deed restriction protecting a 300-foot buffer extending inward from the edge of the river, a revegetation and erosion-control plan along 20 feet of the river, an endangered species survey and an archeological survey.
“The conservation of the McEver lands in North Canaan represents a rare opportunity to safeguard a landscape of exceptional importance while creating a lasting public benefit—protecting land, water, wildlife habitat and recreational access for generations to come,” Rawson said.
Founded in 1965, the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy is the state’s largest land trust, protecting 14,200 acres in Litchfield and northern Fairfield counties.
Cornwall's Parade of Lights, Sunday, Dec. 21.
CORNWALL — A variety of brightly decorated vehicles rolled through Cornwall Village the night of Sunday, Dec. 21, for the town's inaugural Parade of Lights. It was well attended despite the cold conditions, which didn't seem to dampen spirits. The various vehicles included trucks, utility vehicles, a school bus and rescue apparatus from Cornwall and surrounding towns.
