Cub Scouts hold flapjack feast with Santa in North Canaan
Santa Claus made a visit to the Cub Scout’s breakfast in North Canaan Sunday, Dec. 7, where he heard from Bria King, 4
John Coston
Declan Salmon, 6, of Lakeville, wearing his father’s Cub Scout shirt from 1977, takes an order from Makenzsilea Watson, 16, of Lakeville.John Coston
Bryce Salmon, 14, a Boy Scout in Troop 22, dishes out pancakes as the orders come in from Boy Scouts in Pack 22.John Coston
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Kent students plant, share eco-projects
Ruth Epstein
Apr 29, 2026
Kent Center School kindergartner Landon Sensenbrenner shovels dirt onto the newly planted flowering dogwood tree Friday, April 24.
Ruth Epstein
KENT — Christopher Martin, a former high school teacher who moved to town five years ago, spends his time volunteering at Kent Center School – and recently offered a spot on his Elizabeth Street lawn as the site for an Arbor Day tree planting.
The entire school walked to Martin’s home Friday, where fifth- and sixth-grade science teacher Christopher Rose spoke about the flowering dogwood that will soon blossom there. He pointed to another mature dogwood down the street that towers over houses, noting that some day the little one being planted will be that size.
A representative from each class stepped forward to pour a shovelful of dirt into the planting, which was made possible through the Kent Conservation Commission and the Kent Garden Club.
Back at school, students, staff and guests gathered in the gym for the annual Arbor Day celebration featuring projects involving music, art and recycling. Fifth-graders talked about the history of Arbor Day, noting that Birdsey Grant Northrup, a Kent native, founded the state’s observance. The first celebration was held in 1887. In 1970, President Richard Nixon declared the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day.
Eighth-grade students unveiled their environmentally-themed murals, the school joined in song and winners of a billboard design contest sponsored by Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority were announced.
Teacher Ane Starr reported that the school had collected 1,000 pounds of plastic fill over the year.The effort earned the school a bench made from recycled plastic.
“What an accomplishment,” she said. “We’re taking care of our earth not just for today, but every day.”
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Kent Memorial Library breaks ground on expansion
Ruth Epstein
Apr 29, 2026
From left: Library director Sarah Marshall, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, State Rep. (D-64) Maria Horn, and Gov. Ned Lamont speak at the groundbreaking ceremony for Kent Memorial Library’s renovations and expansion.
Lans Christensen
“Libraries are more important than ever. Algorithms just play to your proclivities. Libraries are different.”
— Governor Ned Lamont
KENT – A ceremonial groundbreaking was held at Kent Memorial Library on Saturday, April 25, drawing community members and local leaders to celebrate its expansion and renovations, which are already underway.
Guest speakers, including Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, said libraries today serve a broader role than in the past, functioning as community hubs as well as places for books.
The project has been funded by a $2 million construction grant from the Connecticut State Library, along with $5 million raised locally through private donations, according to Executive Director Sarah Marshall. Construction is expected to be completed next year.
The small brick building on Main Street dates back to 1922, with additions made in 1958 and in 1994. The current plan calls for upgrading the existing building and connecting it to the adjacent former firehouse, creating additional space for library functions and public events.
Lans Christensen
Sam Callaway, an architect who has been consulting with library board members on the project for many years, called the library “the backbone of the community.” He noted that modern libraries have evolved into community centers.
“We are here today to celebrate the start of construction of additions and alterations to the library, which will bring its facilities into the present and the future,” Callaway said.
He also praised the 23-member board and staff, saying their efforts made the project possible.
Board Vice President Janet Rivkin shared that when the library turned 100 in 2022, so did her husband, Larry. A devoted supporter, he made a donation in their honor that helped launch the project’s fundraising campaign.
“He passed away just as we got started,” she said.
Lamont also shared his love of libraries in modern times.
“Libraries are more important than ever,” he said. “Algorithms just play to your proclivities. Libraries are different. They can give you different perspectives. Take books seriously. Put down your phones. To the next generation, this library is yours.”
Hayes, D-5th District, said the timing of the event was appropriate since it was the end of Library Week.
Meanwhile, State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) said the project reflects the community’s commitment to meeting the town’s evolving needs.
Following the ceremony, attendees were invited to the temporary library at 10-12 Landmark Lane for refreshments.
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A ballroom, really?
Lakeville Journal
Apr 29, 2026
Saturday’s shooting targeted an event designed to defend the First Amendment freedoms Donald Trump has spent years undermining — labeling the press as “the enemy of the people”. His takeaway? Washington needs a new ballroom. Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed, “It’s very difficult to have a bunch of important people in the same place unless it’s really, really secure.”
This from a president who, within hours of his inauguration, shut down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and has since ordered the rollback of background checks, defunded community safety programs, and made it easier to put weapons in dangerous hands.
So far this year, 69 children under 12 and 262 teenagers have been killed by gun violence — a number that grew since this was written. Firearms have been the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 19 every year since 2020.
One man with a gun disrupted a dinner. Hundreds of children are dead.
The president’s solution? Build himself a ballroom. Call it a bunker if it helps.
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Letters to the Editor - April 30, 2026
Lakeville Journal
Apr 29, 2026
Response to ‘Confronting evil’
Gentlemen: Your letter lays out the historical facts clearly and accurately. There is no way to excuse or condone the behavior you chronicle. I agree with your opening paragraph but am troubled by the implication that this war could not be avoided.
Perhaps more diplomacy would have been the equivalent of appeasement but I am uncertain.
Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, 2025 failed to solve the problem. The question raised then and again now is the gray area regarding presidential authority to engage in war without congressional approval. History illustrates the uncertain outcomes of similar conflicts. It is too early to judge the wisdom of the choices made by our current administration. I shared your letter with Perplexity, an AI provider.
Perplexity says: “The letter presents the war as the unavoidable price of finally confronting a malevolent regime, which is a coherent argument — but it omits the role that specific policy choices (particularly the 2018 JCPOA withdrawal) played in accelerating the nuclear crisis it describes. Whether war was truly unavoidable, or whether different diplomacy could have prevented it, depends heavily on assumptions about Iranian intentions that remain genuinely debated among serious foreign policy thinkers.
The letter is an opinion piece by concerned citizens, not a policy analysis — so it argues a point of view rather than weighing all the evidence. That is entirely legitimate, but a reader should be aware they are getting one side of a complex argument.”
“The Case That War Was Unavoidable”
Perplexity
• Iran repeatedly rebuffed diplomatic overtures across multiple administrations — Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Obama, Trump — suggesting no negotiated solution was achievable
• Iran continued enriching uranium even during the JCPOA period, and after the U.S. withdrew in 2018, accelerated its program to the point of being weeks away from weapons-grade material
• The letter’s implicit argument is that each concession or delay only bought Iran more time to build missiles, fund proxies, and approach nuclear capability — making eventual confrontation more dangerous, not less
• Some serious analysts argue that a nuclear-armed Iran would have been permanently destabilizing, making a conventional war now preferable to nuclear deterrence under a hostile theocracy”
“The Case That War Could Have Been Avoided”
Perplexity
• The JCPOA (2015 nuclear deal) was working — IAEA inspectors confirmed Iran was in compliance when the U.S. unilaterally withdrew in 2018. Many foreign policy experts argue that staying in the deal, or negotiating a stronger one, offered a credible non-military path
• The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA directly triggered Iran’s uranium acceleration — the crisis the letter describes was in part a consequence of that decision, not an inevitability
• Coercive diplomacy backed by sanctions had demonstrably constrained Iranian behavior at various points; critics argue it was never given sufficient time or consistency
• Several of Iran’s most aggressive proxy actions (the October 7 attack, Hezbollah’s rocket campaign) were responses to specific events — they were not simply predetermined
• Historical precedent: the U.S. reached arms agreements with the Soviet Union despite profound ideological hostility, suggesting negotiated coexistence with adversarial regimes is possible”
Philip V. Oppenheimer
Lakeville
Omissions in ‘surging gas prices’ article
Last week’s front-page article, “Surging gas prices stretch local budgets,” was timely and certainly of interest to everyone. However, I noted two obvious omissions. One, there was no mention of local governments adjusting their budgets by reducing spending as most families must do when confronted by rising prices in the face of fixed incomes. When costs rise for essential commodities such as gasoline, the logical response is to temporarily cut back on spending for non-essential things like entertainment and eating out, or postponing major purchases. The economy is cyclical and the cost of gasoline fluctuates. It will not remain high forever. Budgets can always be readjusted when things return to what passes for normal – for families and local governments, alike.
Speaking of which, the present cost of gasoline has risen from approximately $3.00 a gallon a year ago to about $4.00 presently. This is due to our current conflict with Iran, something which began 47 years ago. The Iranian mullahs declared war on us but we never responded. Every president just kicked the can down the road, expecting a successor to deal with it. “It,” of course, was the threat of a nuclear attack as soon as they completed a weapon to use. They got closer and closer until President Trump moved preemptively to eliminate the threat. Geopolitics are complicated and things do not get resolved overnight. The rest of us need to practice patience.
I noted one more thing in the article. While the cost of a gallon of gasoline rose from $3.00 to its current $4.00 in the past year, nowhere in was it mentioned that the average weekly retail gasoline price hit an all-time high of $5.07 a gallon in 2022 when Joseph Biden was President. Most people seem to have selective amnesia.
Richard Kopec
Sharon
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Turning Back the Pages - April 30, 2026
Norma Bosworth
Apr 29, 2026
125 years ago —
April 1901
The Canaan creamery has been incorporated with a capitalization of $50,000 and is doing an extensive business. They have recently added the manufacture of fancy cheese for which they have large advance orders.
It is said that a steam road will be built from Canaan to Clayton by the Consolidated. It is said that a large brick making plant will be erected at Clayton on the lands of the White Brick and Cotta Co.
The bill incorporating the Falls Village Light and Water Co. was passed in the Senate April 24th. The legislature also passed a bill making poultry stealing punishable by a fine of not more than $10, or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.
100 years ago —
April 1926
Maple Tree Inn, the former Shannon Sanitarium at Falls Village, now owned by Samuel Weiner, was completely destroyed by fire early this morning. When the fire was first discovered it was apparent that the building was past saving and no outside help was called, the Falls Village fire company handling the affair alone.
Some of the women claim that it is almost impossible to buy a new spring hat unless they bob their hair, as everything in the millinery is designed for bobbed hair. There are still a few ladies who continue to retain “woman’s crowning glory” but they appear to be in the minority. One of them remarks that the present style of dress reminds one of an aviator or a deep sea diver.
50 years ago —
April 1976
There’s fresh evidence this week that neighborliness is alive and well in Salisbury. A local farmer with a bad back has his fields all plowed and harrowed, thanks to a chance remark dropped at a dinner meeting. Willard Myers, who operates a rented farm on Weatogue Road, is the afflicted farmer, and his benefactors were students from the vocational agriculture program at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Two vo-ag teachers at the HVRHS heard Myers mention his back problems at a Young Farmer organization dinner last Thursday night. From Friday morning through Sunday, not in the least discouraged by the foul weather, shifts of vo-ag students worked to prepare Myers’ fields for planting. In all, nine young men and women labored under the direction of teachers Walter Burcroff and George Wheeler, who took turns supervising during their time off from official duties, and student teacher Becky Brickell of Goshen. Mrs. Myers said Monday they accomplished in three days what would normally have taken her husband three weeks.
Residents of Lakeville will have to rely for a while on their stomachs and their watches to tell them when to eat lunch. The noon whistle will not be heard for an indefinite length of time, Fire Chief Peter Brazzale said Monday night. A part in the clock mechanism needs to be replaced and the 12 o’clock signal will be out of commission until the new piece arrives. A similar situation existed for several weeks two years ago. The same part of the timing device had to be replaced then too. Brazzale said the fire siren will continue to work as usual. Only the noon blast will be affected.
CANAAN — The dramatic end of an 1873 attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air was described last Wednesday to the members of the Falls Village- Canaan Historical Society. Society president Oliver Eldridge told of the end of the flight of the Graphic balloon on Oct. 6, 1873 after a stormy passage over Canaan Mountain. The balloon was forced down on Lower Road in East Canaan after a flight from New York City. The adventure had been sponsored by the New York Daily Graphic newspaper. A crew of three, Washington H. Donaldson, Alfred Ford and George A. Lunt, set out from Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, at 6 a.m. in a brave attempt to reach Europe by air. They were traveling in a lifeboat suspended beneath a balloon 160 feet high, 110 feet in diameter and with a lifting capacity of 600,000 cubic feet of gas. The balloon crossed Long Island Sound, flew over Westchester County and up over Bethel, Conn. The winds abruptly changed and the craft drifted over Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury before traveling northwest to the Canaan vicinity. It passed so close to the earth in Goshen that the crew was able to converse with those on the ground. They declined invitations to stop for a drink of cider but left a card certifying that the balloon had been in the region.
25 years ago —
April 2001
SALISBURY — Kathleen Lauretano testified before state legislators last week and told them abuses she has seen by Connecticut State Police in recent years “have radically altered my faith in my own profession and confirmed me in the belief that no police department should be allowed to police itself.” Although she has been a state trooper since 1982, Mrs. Lauretano told members of the judiciary committee of the State House of Representatives and Senate at an April 16 hearing in Hartford, “I do not ... represent the state police today.” A civilian oversight committee is needed to police the police, she told legislators, who are considering a bill that would require such supervision for municipal police forces. “I am here to advocate that it be amended to include the state police,” she said.
CORNWALL — If any residents are thinking about donating any money to the town, a new proposed endowment fund could make it easier to contribute and also make the gift go farther. First Selectman Gordon Ridgway presented a legal prospectus to the Board of Finance at its meeting Thursday night, outlining the possible endowment. “It would allow the town, when we receive gifts, to invest them in different ways than we can right now,” Mr. Ridgway said. A recent $50,000 donation by Mary Schiefflin’s estate, designated for recreation purposes, will be used to start the fund.
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
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