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‘No Kings’ protest
Jul 09, 2025
L. Tomaino
About 100 individuals gathered in Salisbury Sunday, July 6, to protest the presidential administration.
Lake Waramaug is situated on the borders of Kent, Warren and Washington
Alec Linden
KENT — At its July 2 meeting, the Board of Selectmen changed the voting format for the proposed Lake Waramaug wakesurfing ban from town meeting to a referendum, which is to be held July 31.
The switch comes after an unexpectedly robust turnout forced the postponement of a June 27 town meeting where the contentious ordinance was set to be voted on alongside three fire safety related ordinances that have received considerably less public attention. At the July 2 meeting, First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer told the Board that he felt conducting the vote as a referendum, separately from the other ordinances, was the best way to accommodate all the voters. The Board enthusiastically agreed.
Over three motions, the BOS rescheduled the town meeting for July 11, removed the wakesurfing vote from that agenda and set the vote to go a July 31 referendum. An additional motion established the wording of the referendum so that Warren and Washington may be consistent in their own referendums.
Lindenmayer explained that one utility of the July 31 referendum route is that it enables the other towns, who also have to approve the ordinance in order for it to be adopted, to conduct their own votes on the same day. Lindenmayer reported that he had spent several hours earlier that day with the town’s attorney Randy DiBella and the Warren and Washington first selectmen devising the solution. “That’s what we thought is fair; it brings all three towns together,” he said.
Selectman Glenn Sanchez thanked Lindenmayer for coordinating with Washington and Warren in devising the referendum plan. “I think that’s very important.”
As the three towns govern the lake jointly, any ordinance regulating lake activity must be approved by each voting bloc.
The referendum will allow for absentee voting, explained Lindenmayer. Absentee ballots will become available to residents to pick up beginning July 14.
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Salisbury marks Fourth of July
Jul 09, 2025
Lou Bucceri, dressed as Heman Allen, recited the Declaration of Independence at the Salisbury Town Grove in honor of Independence Day, Friday, July 4.
Patrick L. Sullivan
LAKEVILLE — The Salisbury Association hosted the traditional Independence Day celebration at the town Grove Friday, July 4, with a reading of the Declaration of Independence and a concert by the Salisbury Band.
The official start of the program was noon. At 11 a.m., the Grove’s lot was mostly full, and it was already difficult to find a parking space on the immediately adjacent streets.
Grove manager Stacey Dodge was manning the ticket booth. She said she was glad the day was cooler than the previous few days, all scorchers.
“My seniors won’t come out if it’s really hot,” she said.
A group of children — Hal and May Brzyski, and Frankie and Kolby Chou — were selling lemonade at a dollar a cup.
Asked if they used a mix or concentrate, the lemonade experts recoiled in horror. Hal Bryzski explained patiently that the lemonade was made from lemons the children squeezed themselves, plus sugar and water.
This is the sixth year for the lemonade experts, but the first year at the July 4 event. They usually sell the lemonade to the hot and thirsty users of the tennis courts at Community Field in Lakeville.
The proceeds go to the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service.
EXTRAS, the afterschool and summer program at Salisbury Central School, had hot dogs, chips, soda and water for sale. Business was brisk.
After brief remarks by Salisbury Association Cynthia Walsh, there was a drum roll and Heman Allen (as played by Lou Bucceri in period costume) made his way through the crowd to the small riser in front of the band.
He then read the entire Declaration of Independence, which took about 11 minutes.
Upon completion, the band played the national anthem, and as far as the eye could see were citizens standing with hands and/or hats over their hearts.
The band conducted by Brian Viets, then commenced the program, starting with Alex Lithgow’s “Invercargill Match.”
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Author Peter Vermilyea teaches history at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Jules Williams
FALLS VILLAGE — The heroes of the Civil War were not found just on the battlefields, but on the home fronts as well. And many of those helping in the Union cause can be traced to the local area.
In his talk titled “All Honor to the Ladies: Litchfield County Women and the Civil War,” Peter Vermilyea described the role women played during that period.
“It’s a local story, but also a national story,” he told those gathered at the South Canaan Meetinghouse for the second installment of the “First Tuesdays at 7” series put on by the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society.
Vermilyea is a familiar figure in the Northwest Corner, heading up the social studies department at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, as well as an author and speaker on local history.
Using three old newspapers as major sources, the Housatonic Republican, Litchfield Enquirer and Winsted Herald, he was able to glean a great deal of information on the topic. Since there was a long tradition of women in Litchfield County being activists back to the Revolutionary War, it followed that ladies aid societies would become popular. “They give us a glimpse of how they exercised agency and expressed their own beliefs,” he said.
In the 1830s, many traditional responsibilities were replaced by machinery, so women were looking for something else besides their “moral obligation” to raise children. The war provided a purpose for women to get together. The aid societies took root in Bridgeport, primarily filled with well-to-do women. But they grew to more than 20,000 chapters across the north and saw expanded memberships.
Vermilyea elicited laughter when he said at first, “The primary purpose for women was to ‘remain cheerful.’”
When it was discovered women were very capable in several areas, such as recruitment of soldiers, they were tapped to perform certain duties. But as Vermilyea emphasized throughout the talk, they were welcomed “as long as they remained in the women’s sphere and didn’t try to do the work of men or else they were pushed back.” Handling money was not something with which women were entrusted.
Hartford became the clearinghouse for the societies, from where information was disseminated about what the troops needed. For example, the women of Norfolk made flannel shirts for soldiers in Missouri. A large number of items were collected from Bethlehem, where a huge rally to protest the war was held and a slogan saying, “Let it no longer be said Bethlehem is a secession town,” was displayed. The women of Kent knitted socks designed with tiny images of Jefferson Davis with a noose around his neck.
Vermilyea spoke about calls going out across the nation for lint, but it couldn’t be that from cotton because the fabric contained acid. Only lint from linen was usable for making bandages. He shared the long list of items that the women gathered and sent to the troops.
The talents displayed by the ladies aid societies can be traced to the start of several women’s movements, such as suffrage and temperance, Vemilyea said.
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