Fiery speeches mark HVRHS graduation

Members of the Class of 2022 at Housatonic Valley Regional High School cheered their classmates during the commencement ceremony on Thursday, June 16.
Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
FALLS VILLAGE — The 90 members of the Class of 2022 heard passionate speeches from their classmates as they celebrated the 83rd commencement at Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS) on Thursday, June 16.
The ceremony took place under a very large tent on the grass in front of the school. The graduates, faculty and some family members filled the tent and many more spectators brought chairs and watched from outside the tent.
HVRHS Principal Ian Strever noted that the graduates had spent a significant part of their high school years “in a mask, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in school procedures.
“Two years of the pandemic could not suppress the indomitable energy of teenagers.”
And presaging what was to follow, Strever praised the graduates for exercising “their First Amendment rights on an unprecedented scale.”
He also noted the Class of 2022 set a new record, with over $500,000 in scholarships and awards.
Salutatorian Avery Tripp’s speech was a true stemwinder.
Flatly contradicting the stereotype of her generation as “lazy and phone-addicted,” she said “We will be the ones to change the world, which is in desperate need of reform.”
She described the probable reversal of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion as “mind-blowing and devastating.”
“We have made far too much progress to regress in such a drastic manner.”
Tripp said if the abortion decision is overturned, that would open the door for restrictions on or abolition of same-sex marriage, interracial marriage and the availability of contraception.
She was equally voluble on the subject of gun control and school shootings.
“Education does not matter if the process of education gets you killed.”
She urged her classmates to “stay angry until the change you want actually occurs.”
Essayist Hayley Considine remembered her ninth grade embarrassment when, after an uneventful first day of high school, she accidentally broke a bottle when getting on the school bus.
She said she was scared that she would be judged and laughed at then, and later, because of her sexual orientation “as a bisexual woman.”
“I will not let the ignorance and hatred of those who know nothing about me bring me down again.”
Guest speaker Michael Baldwin (Class of 2000), clearly a favorite with the graduates, began by mentioning he had just got married the previous weekend. This got a loud cheer.
Baldwin said when he arrived at HVRHS, “I had no idea who I was.
“I felt unbelievably average.”
He was also coming to terms with his sexual orientation.
He described “an intense amount of shame and self-loathing. I had a secret that could not be voiced.”
“High school is just the beginning,” he continued. “I didn’t know that I’d marry a man and then tell everyone about it at the Housatonic commencement ceremony!”
“Give yourself permission to ride the voyage of self-discovery,” he urged the graduates. “I failed Life Skills, and years later was asked to be the graduation speaker — so anything really is possible!”
Valedictorian Josie Marks said her class grew up “sheltered by the privilege and safety of the Northwest Corner.”
She said it is her generation’s turn “to combat our country’s hypocrisy as it claims to stand for equal protection under the law.”
Among the things she vowed to fight for was abortion rights, saying abortion had never been an issue until white male doctors and the Catholic Church made it so.
She issued a “rallying cry,” saying the “liberties of all minorities are at stake.”
“As a woman and a member of the LGBTQ community, I am petrified.”
She urged her classmates not to be indifferent to such issues.
“Instead of moving on, take action.”
Valedictorian Josie Marks urged her classmates to take action against hypocrisy and injustice. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Members of the Class of 2022 walked out for the 83rd commencement ceremony at Housatonic Valley Regional High School on Thursday, June 16. Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Emergency responders block Amenia Union Road in Sharon Saturday, Oct. 11, while responding to the vehicle crash.
SHARON — Emergency crews were called Saturday, Oct. 11, to Amenia Union Road in Sharon for a report of a vehicle into a building with entrapment.
The call went out shortly after 3 p.m. with an update at 3:20 p.m. reporting one dead on arrival, two conscious. Emergency helicopter transport was requested.
State police released the following information: "Troopers from Troop B - North Canaan, responded to Amenia Union Rd in Sharon for a motor vehicle into a building. Serious injuries were reported, and LifeStar was dispatched to the scene. The roadway was closed in the area for several hours for the investigation but has since reopened. The investigation remains active, anything further will be posted to cspnews.org when available."
Updates will be posted.
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.
LAKEVILLE — Kelsey K. Horton, 43, a lifelong area resident, died peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, following a courageous battle with cancer. Kelsey worked as a certified nursing assistant and administrative assistant at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, from 1999 until 2024, where she was a very respected and loved member of their nursing and administrative staff.
Born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sharon, she was the daughter of W. Craig Kellogg of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and JoAnne (Lukens) Tuncy and her husband Donald of Millerton, New York. Kelsey graduated with the class of 1999 from Webutuck High School in Amenia and from BOCES in 1999 with a certificate from the CNA program as well. She was a longtime member of the Lakeville United Methodist Church in Lakeville. On Oct. 11, 2003, in Poughkeepsie, New York, she married James Horton. Jimmy survives at home in Lakeville. Kelsey loved camping every summer at Waubeeka Family Campground in Copake, and she volunteered as a cheer coach for A.R.C. Cheerleading for many years. Kelsey also enjoyed hiking and gardening in her spare time and spending time with her loving family and many dear friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Kelsey is survived by her two beloved children, Hunter Horton and Aryanna Horton, both of Lakeville; a step-brother, Jason Tuncy of East Hartford, Connecticut; her mother-in-law, Frances “Fran” Horton and her brother-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton III and his wife Penny of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and their son, Alec, and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton, Jr. in 2017.
There are no calling hours. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. A time to celebrate Kelsey and share stories and memories. Memorial contributions may be made to The Jane Lloyd Fund. Please make checks payable to Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (please note in memo line, The Jane Lloyd Fund) and mail to: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 N. Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257.
To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Kelsey’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.
SHARON — On Sept. 27, Eliot Warren Brown was shot and killed at age 47 at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a random act of violence by a young man in need of mental health services. Eliot was born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, and attended Indian Mountain School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife Brooke moved to New Orleans to answer the call for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and fell in love with the city.
In addition to his wife Brooke, Eliot leaves behind his parents Malcolm and Louise Brown, his sisters Lucia (Thaddeus) and Carla (Ruairi), three nephews, and extended family and friends spread far and wide.
Normally at this point one might list some interests, but in Eliot’s case, it’s easier to list what he wasn’t interested in: watching sports.
Eliot made a living as a fine craftsman and carpenter, but at heart he was an artist. He was well versed in music, painting, literature, biking, travel, Mardi Gras costumes, poker, pranks, street performance and on and on and on.Having previously hiked the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal, he recently achieved another dream of summiting the highest stratovolcano in North America.
Eliot’s creative ability was astounding. His creations were designed to bring joy to others. He didn’t seek recognition or praise, and a large part of his work was anonymous. Pieces of art would appear in the community, encouraging people to think, connect and enjoy.
From the precociously funny and determinedly defiant boy that grew up in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, Eliot grew into a brilliant, gentle souled, boundlessly creative, ever mischievous, perpetually scraggly, and astoundingly wise and caring man who made an indelible impact on those who were lucky to have him in their lives.
In honor of Eliot, please consider making donations to organizations that work to end gun violence, support the arts, or provide mental health services. A service will be held at the Congregational Church in Salisbury on Sunday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.