Letters to the Editor - The Lakeville Journal - 6-17-21

Manners are at a premium now

It has been suggested that Realtors could perhaps coach new area residents on how to behave. While  I think this is placing an unnecessary burden on these increasingly busy individuals, something needs to be done!

Yesterday as I was trying to depart LaBonne’s (still Shagroy to some of us) in Salisbury I was  forced quickly to step aside and was jammed against the wall as a grim-faced stranger unapologetically rammed her shopping cart into my path. Other new residents have been heard referring to local workers lined up at the deli as “riff-raff.” Indeed. Heck, that’s not even a matter of country manners. Both are examples of rudeness and unkindness in any setting.

And a note to the woman who nearly gored me with her spurs: if you’re a good enough rider to be wearing spurs you should know that one removes them after dismounting. You don’t go jangling around town and into restaurants like a fighting cock!

I think the real answer to this is to bring back Robert Osborn. While that is impossible, alas, it might behoove the current management of The Lakeville Journal to look in the archives back to the autumn of 1979 and into the next year where a number of his cartoons commented on exactly this situation.

Marietta Whittlesey

Gallatin, N.Y. and Lakeville

 

Making good choices matters

With each new season of the year and in life, we may reference moving on, letting go and launching into ventures with a new people, places and projects in mind. Let’s not forget the hard-won lessons from the past as we transition and make the next set of choices including how we use our voices.

“On to the next but not too fast, take time to upgrade with lessons from the past.”

How might we share wisdom from P.C.E. Times (Pre-COVID and Earlier Times)? There are ever more laws  regulating more aspects of parenting, schooling, relationships, business, mental health and drug issues, aging and caregiving.

The gap between the laws for relationships, parents or others in custody or divorce court and those not involved in formalities is too great. Everyone needs to tune into the idea of teamwork, integrity,  and accountability. 

Saying one thing and doing another, or not following through is a theme for individuals, pairs of people and larger groupings to explore. Ideally everyone could check off boxes about what their life routines and safety entails so a few others would be aware of the game plan and gray areas to prevent conflict, danger and death.

Everyone in their own families or social groups as well as in a special community group could be ready to  provide support, and keep ongoing reports and reviews of allegations, injuries, neglect and fatalities. When our teen son Kaelan Palmer Paton drowned on June 16, 2009 on his last day as a freshman at Housatinic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, no reports from parents, teachers or other students were completed. If that had been a workplace fatality in the U.S. a report would have been required. 

The gratitude our family and community has for all the rescue and support people in our towns is deep. Fire chiefs gathered for an annual meeting in Falls Village on Monday, June 14th. The thanks is extended in all directions and the inspiration to gather and review every aspect of a safety and living set of plans for each age and stage of life can prevent more harm and danger. 

That is a way to honor one another and those who have journeyed on to the next realm and who may be looking out for us still with inspiration and more. I am happy to network and share ideas in many forums and hope more people will opt in to being team players for a better ball game of life. Hats off to all the school and community groups one season to the next. 

Catherine Palmer Paton

Falls Village

 

Help for the Fire District

In 2019, the Canaan Fire District learned that certain commercial personal property on its annual Grand List had been exempted from taxation by operation of law, and that as a result of that exemption, the District would lose more than $140,000 (a third of its annual tax revenues) in the coming fiscal years.

In 2020, and because I  believed that the District residents should not be forced to pay  a more than 30% tax increase in their annual property taxes, I sought the help of Maria Horn, our state representative (D-64).

As a result of her hard work, the state budget that was passed this week in Hartford included a payment in lieu of taxes of $200,000 to the Canaan Fire District in the form of installments of $100,000 annually for each of the next two fiscal years, with the possibility of seeking further PILOT Payments should they be necessary in coming years.

In the interim the combination of the $100,000 PILOT payment and a $35 increase in the annual Sewer User Charge will enable the District to meet budgeted spending for next year that will be $44,000 less than this year. 

The residents and electors of the Canaan Fire District are very grateful to state Rep. Horn for her very timely and effective work.

The District’s annual budget meeting will now be called for later this month at a date and time that will be posted on the Town Bulletin Board next week.

Anthony J. Nania. Esq.

Warden, Canaan Fire District

North Canaan

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Plane crash lands at Lime Rock Park

A Cessna 172 experienced mechanical failure, forcing an emergency landing at Lime Rock Park Saturday, Sept. 20.

Photo by Alec Linden

LIME ROCK At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, a small aircraft with two individuals on board crashed after performing an emergency landing at Lime Rock Park after a reported mechanical failure.

As of 4 p.m., the area remained closed for investigation and the containment of a small fuel leak.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sharon Dennis Rosen

SHARON — Sharon Dennis Rosen, 83, died on Aug. 8, 2025, in New York City.

Born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, she grew up on her parents’ farm and attended Sharon Center School and Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She went on to study at Skidmore College before moving to New York City, where she married Dr. Harvey Rosen and together they raised two children.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between’ at the Moviehouse

Claire and Garland Jeffreys in the film “The King of In Between.”

Still from "The King of In between"

There is a scene in “The King of In Between,” a documentary about musician Garland Jeffreys, that shows his name as the answer to a question on the TV show “Jeopardy!”

“This moment was the film in a nutshell,” said Claire Jeffreys, the film’s producer and director, and Garland’s wife of 40 years. “Nobody knows the answer,” she continued. “So, you’re cool enough to be a Jeopardy question, but you’re still obscure enough that not one of the contestants even had a glimmer of the answer.”

Keep ReadingShow less