Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago ­— May 1922

LIME ROCK — A party from Waterbury has rented Rocky Dell Hotel.

LIME ROCK ­— Quite a fire has been raging on the mountain for the past few days.

SALISBURY — Herbert Beebe has purchased the William Dunn place at Lincoln City.

Gratis — Beginning Monday May 8th, we will distribute, free, from our village office, one thousand gladioli bulbs. These bulbs are ready for planting and will bloom this year. We offer not more than one dozen to any one family. Bell and Wagner.

50 years ago — May 1972

The Salisbury Village Improvement Society expects to begin construction on a new market this fall, Executive Director Jeffrey P. Walker disclosed Tuesday.

— Walter P. Palmer Sr. of Farnam Road, Lakeville, retired on April 28 from his job at the Connecticut state maintenance garage in Winsted. He had been employed by the state as a mechanic for 20 years.

— Two Kent teachers with a combined total of nearly 70 years of service will be honored at a testimonial dinner on June 2 at the White Hart Inn, Salisbury. The guests of honor will be Miss Dorothy Sault, who has spent most of her 38-year teaching career in Kent, and Miss Constance Tracy, who has taught for 30 years.

25 years ago — May 1997

CANAAN — With a hall full of well-wishers and the moving candlelight ceremony of the Court of Honor, Canaan’s Troop 22 heralded this week its first Eagle Scout in 37 years. Scott Zinke was presented with his Eagle badge by his parents, Bruce and Petey Zinke, Tuesday evening.

CANAAN — In his few weeks short of 90 years spent on this earth, Fred Hall has seen a lot, much of it through his camera lens. The photographs he has taken over the course of his 63 years in Canaan serve to document the town’s history, a subject that is as much a passion for Mr. Hall as is photography. On Friday an exhibit will open at the Douglas Library showcasing his photographs of Canaan and his own life over the decades.

Latest News

'Gather' at Troutbeck

'Gather' at Troutbeck

Romane Recalde speaking about her new business at Gather.

Natalia Zukerman

Hosted by Jason Klein and Sascha Lewis, an ongoing series called “Gather” at Troutbeck in Amenia brings together a curious crowd of local entrepreneurs, artists, and others with a story to tell for an intimate midday chat. On Thursday, Jan. 16, floral designer Romane Recalde, owner of the newly opened Le Jardin in Amenia, took center stage to share her journey from modeling in Miami to cultivating flowers in the Hudson Valley. Gather is a place to share stories, swap advice, and celebrate some of the unique businesses that make our area vibrant — all with a delicious lunch on the side. The gatherings are unconventional in the best way, with no agenda beyond good conversation and community building.

Recalde’s story isn’t just about creating a flower shop; it’s about a complete reinvention of self. “I hated Miami so much,” said the French-born Recalde, recalling her time in Florida before moving to New York. She worked as a model in New York, and eventually met her husband, James. Their pandemic escape to Turks and Caicos turned into a six-month stay, which in turn led them to Millbrook and finally to their home in Amenia, where Recalde’s connection to nature blossomed.

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Mad Rose opens ‘Assembled’ exhibition

Mad Rose opens ‘Assembled’ exhibition
Mad Rose Gallery director Michael Flowers contributed to the gallery's "Assembled" exhibit with a series of collaged landscape photographs
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Mad Rose Gallery’s “Assembled” exhibition opened Saturday, Jan. 18, with a public reception.

The eclectic exhibition — on view until March 2 at the gallery on the intersection of Routes 22 and 44 in Millerton — gathers together work from a group of diverse artists with decades of experience between them. The exhibition itself is true to the name, featuring photographs, sculptures, drawings and mixed media works in all shapes and sizes.

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The fragile bonds of family: a review of Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters'

The fragile bonds of family: a review of Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters'

Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters' is written with such verve and poetic imagination that it’s hard to fathom how it could be the author’s first novel. Ms. Lerner, 64, has worked for three decades as a literary agent, editor, and non-fiction writer, but at some point during the Covid pandemic — without any forethought — she sat down and typed out the first line of the novel exactly as it now appears in the book, and then completed it without telling anyone what she was up to.

The novel takes place over twenty years — from the 1970s into the ’90s — and is a kind of guide for that era. It reads like a memoir accompanied by some bouncy dialogue, but is actually a work of what’s called autofiction in which Lerner mixes her own experiences — including her own struggle with mental illness — with things she simply makes up. The fictional narrator is Amy Shred, the younger of two sisters in an upper-middle-class, secular Jewish family living in the suburbs of New Haven, Connecticut.

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Lazy, hazy days of...winter?

Lazy, hazy days of...winter?

This small stream is fishable, despite the wintry conditions. It probably won't be a pleasant or productive experience, but it can be done.

Patrick L. Sullivan

When syndicated columnists run out of ideas they do one of two things.

First they collect the last couple year’s worth of columns and call it a book. These are published to great acclaim from other syndicated columnists and show up in due course in gigantic, ziggurat-shaped mounds at Costco for $4.98 a pop.

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