Goal made for Danbury man: Bicycle to all 169 towns and cities in Connecticut

SHARON — What does a 34-year-old Danbury man, who dislikes what he calls “the car culture,” do to be true to his beliefs? In 2001, then-24-year-old David Bonan made a vow to give up his automobile and rely only on his bicycle and public transportation.“Cars keep people from interacting,” Bonan said in an interview this week. “In a car you just fly by people and never take time to stop and talk with them.”As a freelance journalist, political organizer and documentary filmmaker, Bonan is someone who thrives on communicating with others.In 2006, Bonan realized he had ridden his bicycle through many of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns. That realization gave birth to the goal of riding his bicycle through every one of them. His goal was reached in Sharon at 2:25 p.m. on Saturday, July 16. He stopped for a visit in front of the town’s Hotchkiss Library. Bonan’s goal was not merely to ride his bicycle “through” each municipality, but to ride through the geographic center, Main Street or “town center” of each one. The Sharon Green met his criteria. When he gave up his automobile, Bonan relied on mass transportation for about 20 percent of his needs and his bicycle for the other 80 percent. He estimates the bicycle now accounts for about 90 percent of the miles he travels. Each year, he cycles between 6,500 and 7,000 miles. He even uses his bike to take vacations, or what he calls, “bike-ations.”For Bonan it is not about saving money or being green. “In my heart I have come to believe the bicycle is the ‘great community organizer.’ It gets people talking to one another, instead of being isolated in their cars.”For Bonan to complete the 41-mile trip from his home in Danbury to the Sharon Green took about four hours and 25 minutes. “I had forgotten how uphill Route 4 is from Cornwall Bridge to Sharon,” he said.Bonan has also bicycled through about 95 percent of Rhode Island. Bonan is working on a documentary film about the Still River, which is in the New Milford area. The Housatonic Valley Association is one of the sponsors of the project.

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

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After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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