The auditorium at Housatonic Valley Regional High School is brighter and has new, very comfortable seats.
Patrick L. Sullivan
HVRHS senior Harper Howe led a tour of the recent renovations.Patrick L. Sullivan
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Amanda Freund of East Canaan will appear on the television show "Shark Tank" on April 4 to pitch CowPots.
Photo by Ruth Epstein
CANAAN — Fans of the television show “Shark Tank,” stay tuned. On Friday, April 4, Amanda Freund of East Canaan will be facing the panel, imploring members to invest in her unique product: cow poop.
Freund and her father Matthew Freund produce and market CowPots, which are made from the abundance of manure found on their dairy farm. Matthew Freund, realizing cows were producing more manure — 100 pounds per cow per day — than was needed for fertilizing fields for crops, came up with the concept of the pots. Years of trial-and-error experimentation finally resulted in success. In 2006 he began selling the biodegradable pots using 100% composted manure to local stores. Now the pots can be found in outlets across the country, as well as internationally.
Amanda Freund — after graduating from Cornell University’s School of Agriculture, doing a stint working as a legislative aide and spending two years in Zambia as part of the Peace Corps — returned to the farm and now heads up the marketing part of the business.
Freund recently spoke about the USDA Rural Development Value Added Producer Grant they received. As part of that, the business is supported through Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, which helps get grants for investing in marketing. One of the consultants they deal with sent in a submission for appearing on “Shark Tank.”
“I guess they were intrigued enough to take it to the next step,” Freund said.
The program is an American reality business series dating back to 2009. Contestants seek investments and in return give up equity in their enterprises. They may receive offers for the amount being requested, multiple offers, an amount too low or nothing at all.
Freund had a phone introduction with the show’s representatives last June and had meetings with producer teams almost every week after that. Upon submitting reams of documents, including business analyses and digital content, she flew out to SONY Studios in Los Angeles in September to tape the program. “I was told I wouldn’t know if the segment would air until three weeks before,” she said, “and to the day, that’s when I heard.”
Freund smiled, remembering how she was trying to figure out ways to “make a splash about poop” on the show and thought about bringing a live cow onto the stage. But that endeavor proved to be “udderly expensive,” so she opted for an inflatable one. She said she watched a lot of previous broadcasts to get a sense of what the panelists, known as “sharks,” were looking for and determined they each seemed to have a particular interest. She decided to focus her presentation on environmental sustainability, promoting the idea of providing an alternative to plastic and peat.
“It felt very grass roots being able to get that exposure on a national stage,” she said. “I felt solid in my conviction of being able to share our product with millions.”
Freund said the show also gave her an opportunity to showcase the packaging aspect of the business which they are seeking to increase, since CowPots have a limited seasonal demand. She showed an example of the product that can be used to ship wine bottles.
“Shark Tank” isn’t the first time CowPots were featured on a syndicated television show. In 2007, Matthew Freund appeared on an episode of “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe, which was well received.
“Shark Tank” airs on ABC at 8 p.m.
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LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School opened the girls varsity lacrosse season with a big win in the snow against Kingswood Oxford School.
The Bearcats won 19-0 in a decisive performance March 26. Twelve different players scored for Hotchkiss, led by Coco Sheronas with four goals.
Coco Sheronas scored four goals for Hotchkiss in the snowy 2025 season opener.Photo by Riley Klein
Kingswood Oxford is in the process of rebuilding its girls lacrosse program after some time without a team. The first game of the season gave the Kingswood coaches a chance to see their team play and rework position assignments.
At gametime, Downing Field became enshrouded in a veil of snow flurries. Players kept moving to stay warm with the temperature around 39 degrees.
The mercy rule kicked in during the second quarter when the lead entered double digits, causing a running clock to tick for the rest of the game.
Eleanor Helm scored once against Kingswood Oxford.Photo by Riley Klein
In addition to four goals by Sheronas, MaryHelen Cooey and Charlotte Dorman scored three each and the following players scored once: Eleanor Helm, Lily Lavigne, Lilah Crispino, Kailyn Willa, Marygrace Lawry, Lila Snow, Harper Semlies, Allison Wick and Emma Ohler.
Hotchkiss will play the next two games on the road before hosting Canterbury School April 9 at 3 p.m.
Allison Wick, left, and Kailyn Willa rejoice after a goal March 26.Photo by Riley Klein
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Thomas Ditto
Mar 26, 2025
ANCRAMDALE — Thomas Ditto of Ancramdale, born Thomas David DeWitt Aug. 11, 1944 in New York City changing his surname to Ditto at marriage, passed peacefully on Pi Day, March 14, 2025. He was a husband, father, artist, scientist, Shakespeare scholar, visionary, inventor, actor, mime, filmmaker, clown, teacher, lecturer, colleague, and friend. Recipient of numerous grants, awards and honors in both the arts and sciences, a Guggenheim and NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts fellow, he was a creative genius beyond his time. In addition to authoring scores of papers, he held several patents and invented the first motion capture system and the Ditto-scope, a radically new kind of telescope. He was a pioneer in computer generated video, film, and performance.
When not hard at work, he was always there to help when needed and he knew how to bring smiles to faces. He loved his family and pets and was supportive of his wife’s cat rescue work.
He is survived by wife Beverly (Botto), son David, sister Alice Pero and nieces and nephews in the extended family. He was predeceased by his parents David and Madlyn Dewitt and sister Peggy.
Memorial contributions may be made to any of the following non-profits.
Collaborative Cats Inc. PO Box 88, Ancramdale, NY 12503 www.collaborativecats.org
eba inc. dance theatre company, PO Box 145, Albany, NY 12201 www.eba-arts.org
Wave Farm transmission arts WGXC 90.7 FM PO Box 13 Acra, NY 12405 www.wavefarm.org
American Astronomical Society 1667 K Street NW, Suite 800 Washington DC 20006 www.aas.org
American Cancer Society 2678 South Road, Suite 103, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. www.cancer.org
A Celebration of Life memorial service will take place at a future date and will be announced on the funeral home website.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Ave., Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
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Winifred Anne Carriere
Mar 26, 2025
SHARON — Winifred Anne Carriere passed away on March 6, 2025, at the age of 87. A resident of Sharon for many years, she later retired to Ancramdale, New York.
Born in New Haven to writers Albert Carriere and Winifred Osborn, Anne grew up in New York City. Raised in a Quaker family, she attended Friends Seminary, and The University of Wisconsin. Anne studied American Architectural History through Bard College’s University Without Walls. For her degree, she wrote a comprehensive history of the architecture of Sharon during its first hundred years.
Anne worked as an editor for her mother’s publication Professional Florist Magazine. She also served as Public Relations Director for South Street Seaport Museum, and later, as a legal secretary at the firms Paul Weiss and Coudert Brothers.
A writer throughout her life, Anne produced numerous short stories and poems. Her work was published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Herald Tribune. Best known is Anne’s children’s book “Jennifer’s Walk” published by Golden Books in 1973, and illustrated by her then-husband New Yorker magazine cover artist Arthur Getz. The book was inspired by the outdoor adventures of their young daughter.
Anne was an activist. She participated in the anti-nuclear movement, volunteering for the campaign Ground Zero. Upon retirement she founded the non-profit community service organization Ancramdale Neighbors Helping Neighbors. She helped develop the somatic nonviolence method, Aiki-AVP, editing its first training manual. Anne served as a Trustee for Fifteenth Street Quaker Meeting in New York City, and later served on various committees of the Bulls Head-Oswego Quaker Meeting in Clinton Corners, New York.
Anne was passionate about nature, and always preferred to be outdoors. She was an avid hiker, long-distance swimmer, cross-country skier, canoeist, and flower gardener.
She also was a voracious reader, and loved poetry, classical music, and humorous wordplay.
Anne is survived by her husband, William “Bill” Leicht of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, her son, Kurt Gubrud of Canaan, and her daughter, Sarah Getz of Sharon.
The family wishes to thank the staff of The Meadows, the memory care division of Brookmeade in Rhinebeck, for their compassionate care of Anne during her final years.
A memorial gathering will take place this spring at the Bulls Head–Oswego Quaker Meetinghouse with a date to be announced.
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