June is graduation month, the time to celebrate achievement. Students across the Northwest Corner are receiving diplomas and celebrating with their families and friends as they mark this rite of passage. Who can count how many photos are being snapped by iPhones clutched in the hands of proud parents and grandparents?

The next step for these graduates is more learning—college, high school, trade school or on-the-job training.

As we have done in the past, in last week’s edition we celebrated the graduates from Housatonic Valley Regional High School by running class photos of everyone. This week, right on schedule, we report on the ceremony under the big tent as those high school seniors say goodbye to HVHRS. Not to be overlooked, our reporters also attended graduation ceremonies at North Canaan Elementary School, Salisbury Central School, Lee H. Kellogg School in Falls Village, Sharon Center School, Cornwall Consolidated School and Kent Center School, where eighth graders stepped up. This fall, many of them will navigate the bigger landscape at HVRHS. For others, a private high school may be the next destination.

The community always has embraced this June graduation tradition. Our many organizations and foundations have been generously contributed to furthering the education of our youth. This year, approximately $420,000 worth of scholarships has been awarded to Housy graduates. Think about it, almost half a million dollars.

For all the graduates, these weeks in June become a milestone in their educational lives, a time when they store up memories from their primary and secondary school years to be recalled  in the years ahead, whether on occasions with friends or at the recurring school reunions.

 

…And a tragedy

 

Tragically this year, the Class of 2023 lost one of its own after a car accident the day after graduation.

Brandon Chiacchia, 18, from Kent, was described by HVRHS Principal Ian Strever as a “kind-hearted friend and a cherished member of our school family whose academic interests spanned across every department.”

Strever said the school’s counseling team and support staff are available to provide comfort and guidance to any student, teacher, or parent who may need assistance.

The Underclass Awards Ceremony, scheduled for Monday, June 19, was postponed until the start of the 2023-24 school year “out of respect for the family.”

The Lakeville Journal joins Strever and the entire school community in mourning the loss of this member of the school community.

Latest News

Cornwall board approves purchase of two new fire trucks following CVFD recommendation
CVFD reaches fundraising goal for new fire trucks
Provided

CORNWALL — At the recommendation of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, on Jan. 20 the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with the purchase of two new trucks.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was chosen as the manufacturer. Of the three bids received, Greenwood was the lowest bidder on the desired mini pumper and a rescue pumper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robin Lee Roy

FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.

She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie A. Vreeland

SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.

At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael A. Porro

SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.

Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.

Keep ReadingShow less