
Even a simple walk in the woods can have hazards. A few precautions (such as wearing bright orange clothing) can help keep you safe.
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender
Autumn is a time when I think of the color orange,not only because of the falling leaves and not only because I associate the fall and winter months with eating citrus fruit but also because it is now hunting season and it’s important to wear orange if you’re out in the woods.
Connecticut and New York state offer slightly different advice to hikers, dog walkers, paddlers, anglers, equestrians and anyone else who is outdoors at this time of year. Connecticut just says to wear (fluorescent) orange. New York says you can also wear (fluorescent) pink.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) tip sheet offers the moderately encouraging information that, “Hunters who wear hunter orange are seven times less likely to be shot.” Presumably this applies as well to everyone who’s out in the woods.
The DEC also says that, “wearing bright colors makes it easier for Forest Rangers, Environmental Conservation Police Officers and other rescue personnel to find lost, sick or injured people afield.”
Many of us like to take our dogs out for a walk in the woods at this time of year, but if anything, pets are even more at risk during hunting season than their owners.
Therefore, the New York DEC says, “Pet owners are encouraged to dress their dogs in blaze orange or pink or another bright color vest or scarf. Dogs should also stay leashed at all times.”
Keeping your dog on a leash will also help keep it from getting caught in a trap.
For hunters, there are specific rules about how much blaze pink and blaze orange you should wear, and those same guidelines work for anyone else out in the woods at this time of year.
In New York the guidance is: “a shirt, jacket or vest with at least 250 square inches of solid or patterned fluorescent orange or pink (the pattern must be at least 50% orange or pink) OR a hat with at least 50% fluorescent orange or pink.”
In Connecticut, “400 square inches of fluorescent orange are required for hunters,” and you should “avoid wearing gray, brown, tan or white when hiking in hunted areas.”
Cyclists and riders are encouraged to put a bell on their bike or horse. Hikers are encouraged to call out and identify themselves if they see or hear hunters nearby.
Newcomers to the area — and visitors who are only here on a day trip to enjoy our area trails, rivers and forests — might not realize that there is quite a bit of hunting around here. The New York DEC says hunting is “among the most popular forms of wildlife recreation in the state, drawing an estimated 600,000 New Yorkers.”
COVID-19 has also brought more people to the area, seeking a way to be out in the fresh air and (theoretically) away from the close contact with other people that is hard to avoid in urban areas.
As a result, this hunting season there is likely to be more overlap in the woods, of people who are hunting and people seeking other types of outdoor activities (and who might not realize that this is hunting season).
The schedules for the different seasons and types of hunting are complicated but, essentially, hunting started in late October and will continue through December. It won’t end in December, but there will be less of it.
Most hunters go out around 9 a.m. and/or in the late afternoon, especially but not exclusively on Saturdays and holidays.
This year, Connecticut is also warning anyone out in the woods to be aware of falling trees and limbs.
“Look up and watch out for hazardous trees while in forested areas. Several years of storms, drought and insect infestations have severely damaged a significant number of Connecticut’s trees. A ‘hazard tree’ has a structural defect that makes it likely to fail in whole or in part. Such a tree can fall without warning.”
For a full list of safety tips for the state of Connecticut, go to https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Hunting/Outdoor-Safety-Tips. For New York, go to www.dec.ny.gov/press/121768.html.
Bunny McGuire, at center holding the big scissors, surrounded by her family as she cuts the ribbon to the park that now bears her name in North Canaan on Saturday, June 7.
NORTH CANAAN — The park on Main Street in North Canaan was officially renamed Bunny McGuire Park at a ceremony beneath the pavilion Saturday, June 7.
Clementine “Bunny” McGuire was recognized for her lifelong commitment to volunteerism in town. Her civil contributions include work with the Beautification Committee, the Douglas Library, the historical society, a poll worker, an employee of North Canaan Elementary and Housatonic Valley Regional High Schools and a volunteer at her church.
“People like Bunny are the lifeblood of small towns and we should all be grateful for the bountiful benefits we have derived from having this vital and generous force in our midst,” said Kathryn Boughton, town historian.
First Selectman Brian Ohler described McGuire as, “A person whose name is truly synonymous with service, kindness, civility and generosity.”
First Selectman Brian Ohler praised McGuire for her impact on the town. "Bunny, you are so, so loved," Ohler said. "The outpouring of suppourt is not a surprise."Photo by Riley Klein
Ohler noted the impact McGuire has had on the town, as evidenced by the nearly 100 guests in attendance and the long list of donors who contributed to updating the facilities at the park.
“Bunny, you are so, so loved. The outpouring of support is not a surprise,” said Ohler.
Among the recent improvements include a new dog park fenced area, basketball hoops, updated playground, parking lot pavement, landscaping, new signage, paint and lighting for the pavilion.
“Everyone says I have done so much for the town, but this town has done so much for me,” said McGuire. “Just look around you, what we have,” she said tearfully. “A big thank you to all of you. I love you.”
SHARON — Angela Derrick Carabine, 74, died May 16, 2025, at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York. She was the wife of Michael Carabine and mother of Caitlin Carabine McLean.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on June 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Katri (St Bernards Church) Church. Burial will follow at St. Bernards Cemetery. A complete obituary can be found on the website of the Kenny Funeral home kennyfuneralhomes.com.
Sam Waterston
On June 7 at 3 p.m., the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington will host a benefit screening of “The Killing Fields,” Roland Joffé’s 1984 drama about the Khmer Rouge and the two journalists, Cambodian Dith Pran and New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg, whose story carried the weight of a nation’s tragedy.
The film, which earned three Academy Awards and seven nominations — including one for Best Actor for Sam Waterston — will be followed by a rare conversation between Waterston and his longtime collaborator and acclaimed television and theater director Matthew Penn.
“This came out of the blue,” Waterston said of the Triplex invitation, “but I love the town, I love this area. We raised our kids here in the Northwest Corner and it’s been good for them and good for us.”
Waterston hasn’t seen the film in decades but its impact has always remained present.
“It was a major event in my life at the time,” Waterston said of filming “The Killing Fields,” “and it had a big influence on me and my life ever after.” He remembers the shoot vividly. “My adrenaline was running high and the part of Sydney Schanberg was so complicated, so interesting.”
Waterston lobbied for the role of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for years, tracing his early interest to a serendipitous connection while filming in England. Even before Joffé’s production was greenlit, he had his sights set on playing the role. “I knew I wanted the part for years even before it was a movie that was being produced.”
What followed was not just critical acclaim, but also a political awakening. “The film gave all of us an intimate acquaintance with refugees, what it is to be a refugee, how the world forgets them and what a terrible crime that is.”
In Boston, at a press stop for the film, two women asked Waterston a pointed question: now that he knew what he knew, what was he going to do about it? “I said, ‘Well, you know, I’m an actor, so I thought I’d go on acting.’ And they said, ‘No, that’s not what you need to do. You need to join Refugees International.’” And join he did, serving on the organization’s board for 25 years.
Both Schanberg and Dith Pran, whose life the film also chronicles, were “cooperative and helpful … in a million ways,” Waterston said. Upon first meeting Pran, Waterston recalled, “He came up to me, made a fist, and pounded on my chest really hard and said, ‘You must understand that Sydney is very strong here.’ He was trying to plant something in me.”
There were more tender gestures, too. Schanberg used the New York Times wire to relay that Waterston’s wife had just given birth while he was filming in Thailand, adding to the personal and emotional connection to the production.
Though “The Killing Fields” is a historical document, its truths still resonate deeply today. “Corruption is a real thing,” Waterston warned. “Journalism is an absolutely essential part of our democracy that is as under siege today as it was then. It’s different now but it’s the same thing of ‘Don’t tell the stories we don’t want heard.’ Without journalists, we are dust in the wind.” Waterston added, “Democracy is built on the consent of the governed but the other thing it’s built on is participation of the governed and without full participation, democracy really doesn’t stand much of a chance. It’s kind of a dead man walking.”
When asked what he hopes the audience will take away from the screening, Waterston didn’t hesitate. “This is the story that puts the victims of war at the center of the story and breaks your heart. I think that does people a world of good to have their hearts broken about something that’s true. So, I hope that’s what the impact will be now.”
Tickets for the benefit screening are available at www.thetriplex.org. Proceeds support Triplex Cinema, a nonprofit home for film and community programming in the Berkshires.