FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School Principal Ian Strever said secretary Cindy Fuller, speaking with admiration of the class of 2025, summed it up perfectly when she said, “It’s great to know so many good people are going out into the world.”
At graduation ceremonies Friday night, June 13, the constant theme was the accomplishments of these 99 students; academically, athletically, socially and civically and what an outstanding class it was.
Standing on the front steps of the school on a beautiful spring evening, Strever said next week the building will return to bricks and mortar when these students, “who are vibrant, exciting and Dunkin-fueled” are gone. He spoke of the endurance portrayed by four members of the class who faced tragedies and incredible challenges, but handled them with courage beyond their years.
Region One Superintendent Melony Shanley-Brady assured the graduates, “Housatonic will always be a part of you.”
Salutatorian Tess Marks chose to speak on the subject of humanity, noting the international and domestic strife now being faced. “We are the hope of what is to come.” She said compromise is a lost art, with people only hearing, but not listening. “Don’t let the differences pull us apart. Why can’t they bring us together? We’re all inherently different, but that is what makes a successful community.”
As they always do, the two AFS students, Carlos “Charlie” Castellana Cruz from Colombia and Allegra Ferri from Italy, spoke with deep gratitude, emotion and eloquence about the year they spent at the school and how welcomed they were made to feel.
“Everything Housy did for me will go wherever I go,” said Cruz, while Ferri said, “This year reminded me of the human connection.”
Essayist Lola Moerschell talked about life being a series of trapeze swings.
Elinor Wolgemuth decorated her graduation cap with a colorful scene and the words “To The World We Dream About.”Patrick L. Sullivan
Valedictorian Manasseh Matsudaira gave a touching tribute to his dad who died this year. He said he was so engrossed in the college application process, he couldn’t bear to watch the 19 videos his father had recorded during the last year. “I missed the opportunity to bond and connect with my father.” He urged his classmates to not let ambition get in the way of relationships with others.
Matsudaira moved the audience when he said his dad, who was ever-present at all his soccer game, was not there to see him make an impressive goal.
Valedictorian Mannasseh Matsudaira spoke of ambition and relationships in his speech at HVRHS graduation Friday, June 13.Patrick L. Sullivan
The class chose Peter Vermilyea, the social studies department chairman, to be guest speaker. Using a phrase found in the school song written decades ago by Hattie Travis, he focused on the “greater work” that the students will do in their future. “Not more work. Not harder work. But greater work — work that matters. Work that impacts the world around you.”
Vermilyea said looking back will allow them to remember their firsts, so when the greater works ahead feel intimidating, remember them and reflect on the progress made.
“Look to what you and your classmates have achieved, collectively and individually, to understand what greater work is...Along the way you have demonstrated — and taught all of us about curiosity and enthusiasm, leadership and mental toughness, kindness, bravery and determination. You’ve shown each other and the rest of us what it means to be a community. And that’s no small thing,” Vermilyea said.
The Good Sportsmanship Awards went to Daniela Brennan and Kyle McCarron. The Good Citizenship Awards to Tess Marks, Madeline Collingwood and Elinor Wolgemuth. The Chamberlain Arts Achievement Awards to Andy Delgado and Ellanor Karcheski.
David Moran, head of the agriscience department, was presented the Community Award of Merit.
Heavy stone garden ornaments, a specialty of Judy Milne Antiques from Kingston, at Trade Secrets 2025.
Van Ginhoven points to towers of boxes containing event programs, various ribbons, elegant decor and stacks of magazines, all in preparation for the event.
Project SAGE will celebrate its 26th year hosting Trade Secrets, but it’s so much more than a garden event.
“It’s a fundraiser for domestic violence prevention and intervention,” van Ginhoven said. “Anybody who attends knows they’re supporting a really meaningful and important cause.”
The fundraiser accounts for at least 30 percent of the organization’s overall budget, she said, and attracts around 3,000 people from across the region each year, creating an unmatched opportunity for Project SAGE to share its mission and generate support.
The event, though expensive to produce, generates enough income to significantly support Project SAGE’s direct services and prevention services.
Officials said a wave of new underwriters have emerged this year.
“We’re very grateful, because we live in a time when funding is uncertain,” van Ginhoven said.
Hundreds of copies of the annual Trade Secrets guide sat at Project SAGE headquarters, ready for distribution at the event. The book doubles as a domestic violence resource, complete with warning signs, myth-busting information and scripts for difficult conversations.
Volunteers will be present throughout the event to connect with community members. Each volunteer must be certified as a domestic violence counselor in order to work with Project SAGE.
“It means they can help us drive clients, move clients, take them to appointments or the grocery store,” van Ginhoven said.
Project SAGE officials said education about domestic violence should start early. The organization has developed a comprehensive curriculum spanning early childhood through grade 12 and visits schools throughout the region. The class of 2026 will be the first graduating class at Housatonic Valley Regional High School to have received all four years of training from Project SAGE.
Martha Stewart signing her new book at Trade Secrets 2025.Christine Bates
The organization’s partnerships extend throughout the region and include on-site training in schools and nonprofit organizations, including the Sharon Playhouse. Community support also goes directly to Project SAGE, including a recently donated array of colorful gift bags bearing positing affirmations and filled with toiletries and basic necessities from students at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, Connecticut.
The people who visit Project SAGE have often left uncomfortable or dangerous situations and leave without any belongings.
“Some of them have nothing,” van Ginhoven said. “They just show up because they had the courage to leave.”
Project SAGE staff say many referrals come through local hospitals, police and sister agencies.
The organization serves people in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
With the stress of event planning mounting, van Ginhoven spent a “previous life” preparing for this exact moment. She spent 30 working at the intersection of arts and activism, having co-founded WAM Theatre, a Lenox-based organization focused on stories and issues affecting those who self-identify as women and girls. During her tenure, WAM donated $100,000 to 25 local and global organizations working toward gender equity in areas such as girls’ education, teen pregnancy prevention, gender-based violence, sexual trafficking awareness and midwife training.
“I love the adrenaline of putting on a show,” van Ginhoven said with a laugh. With the help of volunteers and organizers, she said she isn’t bothered by the stress.
“The show will go on,” she said.
Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo at home in Salisbury with their dogs, Petruchio and Beatrice
“We met during the pandemic, a bleak time,” Kinsolving said. “On our first date, we met at The Hickory Stick Bookshop and walked outside six feet apart. We fell in love.”
They lived in a tiny studio near Averill Farm in Washington, Connecticut.
“He played his violin, I worked on my lines, we walked the dog, and suddenly we were circling each other perfectly,” Capozziello said with a laugh. “When I told her I was a violinist, she mentioned ‘Appalachian Spring’ by Aaron Copland. I sent her a recording of me playing it, and it became our song.”
“For our wedding, we wanted all our friends and family out in the field listening to that music,” Kinsolving said. Capozziello’s friends from Orchestra New England performed the piece at their wedding.
“Circus Fire,” written by Connecticut’s own Jacques Lamarre and directed by Jared Mezzocchi, is a multimedia world-premiere tribute to the Hartford Circus Fire. On July 6, 1944, the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus caught fire, killing 167 and injuring 700 in Connecticut’s worst fire disaster.
Capozziello, who grew up in Fairfield, began: “I came from very limited means, though my parents gave me the kind of support that mattered most. I had a hard time in school. My music teachers, noticing my knack for music, kept me in school.” As he became a teenager, he realized how demanding classical violin truly is. “I had the honor of playing in a master class for Isaac Stern when I was 18,” he said. “That was the wake-up call. He was relentless with my intonation, telling me I must ‘feel the fire in my belly.’”
At SUNY Purchase, he “met a wonderful violin teacher who taught me to play, study and practice five hours a day.” After studying at the New England Conservatory, Capozziello earned his doctorate from The Hartt School in 2018. He now teaches at The Hotchkiss School and performs with the Hartford Symphony.
He explained that his role as assistant concertmaster is the direct line between conductor and musicians, and that the orchestra is “a family dynamic, a democratic unit, truly a living, breathing organism.”
Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo Jennifer Almquist
On May 2, Capozziello was soloist with Orchestra New England, performing the world premiere of Neely Bruce’s “Concerto for Violin,” along with “The River” by Jan Swafford and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” at Battell Chapel at Yale.
“I care about bringing classical music into communities and spaces where people may not expect it,” said Capozziello.“Music is most powerful to me when it feels alive, humanand accessible, not distant or formal.”
For 20 years, Kinsolving has acted in film, television and theater in London, New York and Los Angeles. “I was first onstage at Washington Montessori School playing Peter Pan,” she said. “I improvised a line, got a laugh and liked the feeling.”
She enjoys performing Shakespeare. “I love Titania’s monologue because it speaks to our current climate crisis. Lady Macbeth surprised me. I fell in love with her while I was doing it. I could play those scenes forever; so much range and depth to explore,” she said.
Kinsolving added, “I love Shakespeare’s comedies for the fun and rhythm. I have loved Rosalind, Viola, Olivia, Helena and Kate, yet the top of my bucket list is Beatrice. Each character reflects a shade of my soul. Shakespeare had the brilliance to illuminate them. If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a list of their names.”
Kinsolving, whose parents, poet Susan Kinsolving and author William Kinsolving, live in Lakeville, studied at Milton Academy, universities in China, and Vassar College. Her theater training includes Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Yale Drama Intensive and she is currently studying online through Juilliard.. She founded Theatre for Good, which donates its proceeds to charity.
Both artists are looking forward to June, when they will have more time to spend with their dogs.
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