WINSTED — Gilbert’s spirited softball squad hosted Nonnewaug on Monday, May 2, in an extra-innings affair that ended in a stunning Jackets comeback to edge out a 7-6 win at Walker Field.Yellowjacket starter Jaime LaChance worked a quick one-two-three inning and topped off the hitless first half with her first strikeout of the day.Gilbert’s leadoff batter, Jess Shotwell, worked out a walk, then turned a bunt single by Courtney Hoxie into a scoring opportunity with an inspired base-running effort. Shotwell’s aggressive speed allowed her to score from first, with the aid of a handful of Chief throwing errors — giving the Jackets a one-run lead and putting the also speedy Hoxie in position to score at third. Mackenzie Russo did not keep Hoxie waiting at third for long, driving her in with a base hit to put the Jackets up by two heading into the second.LaChance gave up a hard line single into shallow center to start the second, but a heads-up play by Hoxie caught the runner looking for a double and sent her back to the dugout with a quick throw to first. LaChance induced two infield grounders that were expertly fielded and quickly wrapped up another strong, scoreless inning.Gilbert added another run off a base hit RBI from Hoxie in the bottom of the second, but the innings to follow turned into a combined pitching and fielding duel between the two clubs.The Jackets’ defensive efforts continually lifted them from troublesome situations, and even when the young team coughed up an error, they quickly rallied and responded with top-drawer plays to maintain their advantage.Nonnewaug carried a quick swing in momentum into the top of the fifth after battling out of an immensely ugly bases loaded situation in the fourth and began to generate some offense at the plate. The Chiefs’ first chance to score came off a wild pitch that sent the runner from third sprinting home. Catcher Emily Owens quickly tracked the ball and sent a timely toss over to LaChance, who made the tag at the plate to keep Nonnewaug off the score sheet.The Chiefs, however, kept their bats moving through the fifth. A hard line drive came back at LaChance and momentarily shook her up long enough to allow a run to score. The play continued and an unfortunate mistake by the Jackets cost them another run, cutting their lead to just one heading into the bottom of the fifth.Keeping with the fluctuating nature the game was beginning to develop, Gilbert’s Jen Fritch opened the fifth with a long double. Shannon Tuozzo followed suit and doubled to drive in Fritch. Carissa Tuozzo kept Gilbert’s hitting streak alive with a fly single, and Zamis Fernandez knocked in a run off a ground out at first. Nonnewaug made a quick change at the hill, sending hurler Sarah Broderick in to close out the inning.The thrills continued as Nonnewaug countered the Jackets’ scoring efforts with a strong sixth inning. After allowing the Chiefs to add two, Rachel Wendell closed out the inning with a strong play to snatch a slow roller down the line to make the throw to first. Nonnewaug continued to close on the Jackets’ lead, now trailing just by one (5-4) in the bottom of the sixth.Seemingly thwarted by Broderick at the mound, the Jackets were unable to generate much of a response, save another long double by Fritch in the sixth. Nonnewaug worked a two-out single in the top of the seventh, then drove in the tying run with a triple. A hard line drive caused some trouble for the Gilbert infield, opening the door for the Chiefs to score the go-ahead run.Gilbert, down by one in the final inning and looking to tie or score a walk-off game winning run, started the seventh with another walk worked by Shotwell. Wendell came up with a colossal base hit that drove Shotwell in to tie the game at six apiece. The Jackets managed to stay alive but were unable to capitalize with runners on and sent this emotional, hard-fought game into extra innings.LaChance, still standing strong at the mound, induced two easy pop outs and recovered from giving up a walk to induce another lazy pop out to keep the Chiefs from scoring in the eighth.At the bottom of the eighth, with game tied at six, Carissa Tuozzo battled at the plate and worked out a walk off a seemingly frustrated Broderick. Fernandez slapped a single over third base to put Tuozzo in position to score, but LaChance hit into a fielder’s choice that prevented Tuozzo from reaching third. Shotwell worked out her fifth walk of the game to load the bases with one out.Hoxie hit into another fielder’s choice, this time at home to keep the winning run from scoring. Wendell, with bases loaded and two outs, seemingly unaffected by the immense pressure of the situation, quickly added to her seventh-inning heroics by ripping a hard line drive over third base, driving in the game winning run.Gilbert unceasingly battled through all eight innings and earned the very well-deserved, plucky 7-6 win at home. The Jackets’ lively bats tallied 15 hits through the outing, receiving solid offensive efforts throughout their line up. Shotwell produced a single and five walks, while Hoxie, Russo, Fritch, and Tuozzo all added two hits of their own. Rachel Wendell earned two hits, and two RBIs, including the tying run and the game-winning run.The Jackets improve to 6-4 with their win at home.
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Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.
“I was a library kid. I walked to the library after school,” she said.
For Sher, the library is as much about the people as it about the books.
“Part of the job I love so much is that running the library is such a community,” she said.
She treasures the relationships she has built, whether recommending books, celebrating accomplishments or helping patrons through difficult times.
“I am thankful that our community is so supportive of the library, unlike what is happening in some other places where librarians are villainized,” Sher said.
Sher takes pride in the Hunt Library’s reputation for being “open and welcoming to everyone. People come in and see things and get pulled into things they weren’t expecting. Our library is seen as a positive force.”
Sher came to Falls Village after being awarded a fellowship at Adamah Farm, then a program of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. She worked at pickling, in the greenhouse and later in the development office. She also worked as a nanny.
At the same time, “I was in the library all the time,” she recalled. “I’m a voracious reader. The library is where I met a lot of my first friends in Falls Village.”
She became assistant librarian at Hunt and worked in that position for almost a decade before becoming the executive director four years ago.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino
Sher met her husband, Adam, while working at Adamah. They had their wedding there in 2012. He now emcees many events which she co-organizes with the Falls Village Recreation Commission.
Sher and her family live near the library.
“It’s an easy commute,” she said with a smile. “My kids run back and forth. I can go home to walk the dog if I need to.”
“My kids have grown up here.” Her oldest son, Eli, “loves volunteering. He helps with Augustfest and often helps set up chairs for ArtWall gatherings.” Her younger son, Noah, is often at events and was eager to taste cookies at last year’s holiday cookie swap.
When she is not at the library, Sher likes to hike with her family. Bella, their Portuguese water dog, often accompanies them.
Sher enjoys seeking out people to offer events at the library.
“I do a lot of different community programming. It is one of my favorite parts of the job.”
Augustfest, featuring food, music and an auction, is the library’s biggest fundraiser.
“This summer we had a record 152 attendees, which was pretty incredible.”
Yonah Sadeh, a filmmaker from Falls Village, inaugurated the VideoWall this year, Sher explained.
“I’ve known Yonah since he was two. It’s wonderful to work with him as an adult.”
The VideoWall complements the library’s ArtWall, which showcases a new artist each month. Sher praised the ArtWall committee for its work and highlighted December’s popular “12x12 Show,” featuring works by local artists, each measuring 12 by 12 inches and priced at $150.
Sher added that some of the artists who exhibit at the ArtWall offer workshops to students at Kellogg School, next door to the library. In September, artist Danielle Mailer worked with the children. Vincent Inconiglios taught a class last November.
Being next to the school, said Sher, is a great advantage.
“Kids are coming after school, to see friends, work on projects, find a great book. Kids that love the library end up using the library as grownups.”
This past year, in partnership with Adamah, the library and school created a garden, with excess produce made available at The Center on Main.
This year is Sher’s second year participating in the Troutbeck Symposium in Amenia with James King, director of the library at Salisbury School. The Troutbeck Symposium is “a gathering of a year of student historical inquiry across the region” in which students “uncover stories that have been overlooked, forgotten, or never recorded.”
Last year, Sher and King began a project with a group of students researching Irish immigrants in Falls Village, exploring ancestry and creating small magazines about their findings.
They continued this year, visiting St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery on Dublin Road, cleaning seven gravestones and even righting one with the help of stonemason and gravestone restoration expert Karl Munson. Paul Kozeazny, a representative of the Catholic archdiocese, helped secure access to the site.
A film documenting their activities will be shown at the symposium in spring 2027.
A full schedule of programs and events, ranging from tech help to ceramic mug-making, can be found on the library’s website.
Despite spending her days surrounded by books, and a busy schedule of programming, Sher still loves to settle in with a book at home.
For more information on library programs and events, visit huntlibrary.org
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Touré was born in northern Mali in 1981. His father, the renowned guitarist Ali Farka Touré, came from a family of soldiers and wanted his son to join the army. The younger Touré studied drums and the calabash and practiced guitar in secret. He earned his father’s blessing to pursue music shortly before Ali died in 2006, and they played two tracks together on Vieux’s debut album.
Touré is known for his deft, polyrhythmic playing, and his songs grow out of riffs that repeat and layer to hypnotic effect. He draws on rock, blues, Latin music and various African traditions. This distinctive blend builds on his father’s work adapting the sonic traditions of Mali’s arid north to the guitar.
Vieux’s album “Mon Pays” (“My Country,” 2013) honored Mali’s culture after Tuareg separatists and extremist groups seized the north in 2012. “Samba” (2017) was recorded before about 50 listeners in Woodstock, New York. In 2022 came “Les Racines” (“The Roots”), a return to his father’s desert blues, and “Ali,” on which he and the trio Khruangbin reworked eight of the elder Touré’s songs.
Touré leads the Ali Farka Touré Foundation, which focuses on cultural and educational work in Mali. Around the anniversary of Ali’s death, it holds a festival in Bamako, Mali’s capital. Bamako has been under blockade for much of the past year, besieged by JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Against this backdrop, Touré continues to carry the music of Mali to audiences abroad.
At the Nov. 5 concert, Touré’s desert blues will share the bill with Gnawa, the music LanGus plays, which developed in Morocco among West Africans who were brought north across the desert as enslaved people. Gnawa is religious music traditionally performed at all-night healing ceremonies called lila, intended to carry participants into trance.
Samir LanGusProvided
LanGus was born and raised outside Agadir, Morocco, and began learning Gnawa from its masters at age 8. He plays the sintir, a three-stringed bass lute made of wood and camel skin. The player strikes a low string with the thumb to create a deep, resonant pulse. Iron castanets clatter over the sintir’s bass line, and vocalists trade call-and-response refrains.
LanGus infuses the tradition with jazz and improvisation. In New York, he founded the ensemble Innov Gnawa. His first solo album, “Gnawa Love,” came out in February.
Touré and LanGus’s Nov. 5 concert is one of the last public events at Race Brook Lodge, which is for sale and ended full-service operations at the end of 2025. The lodge’s final scheduled event, on Nov. 6, is an evening of Rumi’s poetry with translator and vocalist Haleh Liza Gafori, cellist Isabel Castellvi and ceremonial bard James Bird.
For tickets, visit rblodge.com.
James FitzGerald is a student at Yale Law School, where he focuses on ecological restoration and international environmental cooperation. He splits his time between Lakeville and New Haven.
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