All hands on deck at FFA store

FALLS VILLAGE — Wednesday, Nov. 30, was the first of two production nights for the Housatonic Valley FFA chapter at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

FFA members plus faculty and parents (often FFA alums) turned out to make wreaths for sale in the FFA holiday store.

Tim Downs gave Mumyn Aiuba a tutorial on how to trim greens so they can be bunched together and then assembled into wreaths.

Aiuba, a junior and an exchange student from Mozambique, is staying with the Downs family in Falls Village.

Jennifer Markow ‘93 and son Simon were busy wrapping bunches of greens with green wire.

Mackenzie Casey joined them, and between wraps gave a quick rundown of what the FFA does with the proceeds from the sale of trees, wreaths, poinsettas and sundries.

The holiday store proceeds represent a significant chunk of the organization’s budget.

The money goes to events such as the FFA national convention, to cover travel and lodging.

Other uses include an alumni dinner, scholarships, donations to food banks, and field trips.

A second production night is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m.

FFA members past and present trimmed greens and made wreaths. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

FFA members past and present trimmed greens and made wreaths. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

FFA members past and present trimmed greens and made wreaths. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

FFA members past and present trimmed greens and made wreaths. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

FFA members past and present trimmed greens and made wreaths. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan
Related Articles Around the Web

Latest News

Walk-off win sends Pirates to championship

Milo Ellison sends a fly ball to left field, bringing home Brody Ohler and Sam Hahn in a walk-off win for the Canaan Pirates June 11.

Photo by Riley Klein

NORTH CANAAN — The Canaan Pirates advanced to the league championship after a comeback victory over the Tri-Town Red Sox Wednesday, June 11.

Down 3-2 with two outs and two on in the bottom of the 6th inning, "Mighty" Milo Ellison stepped up to the plate and launched a fly ball deep to left field. The single brought home Brody Ohler and Sam Hahn for a walk-off Pirates win.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kevin Kelly’s After Hours

Kevin Kelly

Photo by Christopher Delarosa
“I was exposed to that cutthroat, ‘Yes, chef’ culture. It’s not for me. I don’t want anyone apologizing for who they are or what they love.”— Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly doesn’t call himself a chef; he prefers “cook.” His business, After Hours, based in Great Barrington, operates as what Kelly calls “a restaurant without a home,” a pop-up dining concept that prioritizes collaboration over competition, flexibility over permanence, and accessibility over exclusivity.

Kelly grew up in Great Barrington and has roots in the Southern Berkshires that go back ten generations. He began working in restaurants at age 14. “I started at Allium and was hooked right off the bat,” he said. He worked across the region from Cantina 229 in New Marlborough to The Old Inn on the Green at Jacob’s Pillow before heading to Babson College in Boston to study business. After a few years in Boston kitchens, he returned home to open a restaurant. But the math didn’t work. “The traditional model just didn’t feel financially sustainable,” he said. “So, I took a step back and asked, ‘If that doesn’t work, then what does?’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Books & Blooms’ tenth anniversary

Dee Salomon on what makes a garden a garden.

hoto by Ngoc Minh Ngo for Architectural Digest

On June 20 and 21, the Cornwall Library will celebrate its 10th anniversary of Books & Blooms, the two-day celebration of gardens, art, and the rural beauty of Cornwall. This beloved annual benefit features a talk, reception, art exhibit, and self-guided tours of four extraordinary local gardens.

The first Library sponsored garden tour was in June 2010 and featured a talk by Page Dickey, an avid gardener and author. This year’s Books & Blooms will coincide with Ellen Moon’s exhibit “Thinking About Gardens,” a collection of watercolors capturing the quiet spirit of Cornwall’s private gardens. Moon, a weekly storyteller to the first grade at Cornwall Consolidated School and art curator for The Cornwall Library, paints en plein air. Her work investigates what constitutes a garden. In the description of the show, she writes: “there are many sorts...formal, botanical, cottage, vegetable, herb...even a path through the woods is a kind of garden. My current working definition of a garden is a human intervention in the landscape to enhance human appreciation of the landscape.” Also on display are two of her hand-embroidered jackets. One depicts spring’s flowering trees and pollinators. The other, a kimono, was inspired by Yeats’s “The Song of the Wandering Aengus.”

Keep ReadingShow less