Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — May 1923

Roy Van Deusen was summoned to appear before Justice Tuttle on Tuesday by Officer Preston on charge of driving without an operator’s license. The fines and cost amounted to $20.27. Roy had expected to take out a license the following morning, but made the mistake of taking his car out a few hours too soon.

 

A.S. Martin is having a new brick chimney and fireplace added to the north side of his house on Main Street.

 

The mountains were white with snow this morning and overcoats were once more in evidence. Chicago may have some funny weather but it has nothing on us at present.

 

50 years ago — May 1973

The State of Connecticut, pledged to preserve the Berkshire Division tracks of the Penn Central from New Milford to Canaan, apparently has plans to build a half million dollar railroad bridge in Kent.

 

Author James Thomas Flexner of West Cornwall and New York City was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize citation this week for his four-volume biography of George Washington. The final work, “George Washington: Anguish and Farewell (1793-1799),” was published by Little, Brown and Co. last November. It received the National Book Award in April.

 

Mark Dickinson of The Hotchkiss School and Kim Fracaro of Housatonic Valley Regional High School have won first and second places, respectively, in the fourth annual Mark Van Doren Poetry Contest. The contest is open to students in area private and public secondary schools.

 

Judson Philips of Canaan, who has just celebrated his golden anniversary as a writer of mystery novels, was presented the Grand Master award last week by the Mystery Writers of America. The presentation was made Friday during the annual dinner at the Essex House in New York City.

 

Over 70 bags of litter were cleared from Canaan’s streets and parking lots Saturday by 25 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who took part in the Keep America Beautiful program.

 

25 years ago — May 1998

In almost every one of the last 500 issues of The Lakeville Journal, Tim Fitzmaurice’s by-line has been over at least one front page article. Most recently he has also been a weekly presence in Compass with his sharply written movie reviews. Now Tim is leaving the Journal to write screenplays for Miramax and to help manage The Moviehouse in Millerton. He will continue to live on Main Street in Lakeville.

 

Dr. Malcolm M. Brown of Sharon has spent 17 years on the town’s Sewer and Water Commission and is about to step down. To honor him for that long record of service, the town and commission will dedicate the new water filtration plant  to the longtime volunteer on May 30 at 2 p.m. at Town Hall.

 

Will the person who took four doll heads from the doorway of a Falls Village home please return them. No questions will be asked. The owner had them ready to give to a youngster when they disappeared from in front of her door.

 

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.

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

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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