Latest News
Local author recounts how royal statue was melted into wartime bullets
Patrick L. Sullivan
Apr 08, 2026
Peter Vermilyea, a social studies teacher at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and author of the newly published “Litchfield County and the American Revolution,” speaks at the D.M. Hunt Library on April 4 about how Litchfield residents turned a statue of King George III into 42,088 musket balls.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE – Litchfield County may not have been the site of major battles during the American Revolution, but its residents made their mark in other ways – including turning a statue of King George III into 42,088 bullets.
Peter Vermilyea, a social studies teacher at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and author of the newly published “Litchfield County and the American Revolution,” walked an audience through the story of Oliver Wolcott — a prominent Litchfield County citizen — and the fate of the King George statue during a talk Saturday, April 4, at the D.M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.
The statue, made of lead and covered in gilt, was erected in Manhattan’s Bowling Green on Aug. 16, 1770, to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Prince Frederick, the King’s father.
King George III was popular at the time, having signed the repeal of the hated Stamp Act.
The New York Sons of Liberty, however, saw things differently. Vermilyea said they had lobbied for a statue of William Pitt, who led the fight against the Stamp Act.
But Parliament balked at the cost, especially to honor a colonial.
So alongside the gilded equestrian statue of the king in Roman finery stood a pedestrian-standing-statue of Pitt.
“The imperial message was clear.”
That message would not last. On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud in New York.
The city was on edge anyway. The British occupied the harbor with about 32,000 troops, while George Washington and his army of roughly 20,000 shared the city with a civilian population of about 20,000.
Washington read the Declaration to the troops and assembled civilians.
The troops went back to barracks, but the civilians had other ideas.
They marched to Bowling Green and pulled down the statue of King George.
Among those watching was Litchfield’s Oliver Wolcott.
He was the son of a governor, a governor himself as well as a member of the legislature.
Vermilyea said Wolcott was a Puritan and a conservative in every sense of the word. He was the last man to approve of or join in any sort of mob action, such as destroying a statue.
Vermilyea said the American Revolution was essentially a conservative action.
The colonists had been left more or less alone by the Crown for 100 years, until the French and Indian War (1754-1763).
And the colonies had prospered.
After the French and Indian War, however, the British became far more involved in the colonies and imposed the various taxes and levies that sparked the Revolution.
Far from being radicals, the colonists “wanted to go back to 1762.”
But events were moving fast, and by April of 1776, Wolcott wrote in a letter to his wife that independence was inevitable.
“A final separation between the countries I consider as unavoidable.”
Once the statue had been toppled and broken into several big pieces, Wolcott and the sheriff of New York took charge.
Wolcott told the crowd that the statue could be melted down for musket balls in Litchfield, and the pieces were loaded into an oxcart.
The journey was not easy. Loyalists intercepted the cart and made off with about half of the lead. Still, Wolcott and the remaining fragments reached Litchfield.
In a shed in an apple orchard next to Wolcott’s home, the community got to work. The statue was reduced to 100 pieces, each weighing about 20 pounds.
Fires were built, and the lead pieces were melted in kettles and poured into molds.
Wolcott, methodical by nature, kept detailed records on who produced what.
A Mrs. Marvin produced 6,058 bullets – referred to as “cartridges,” although they were round lead balls, not modern cartridges– while a woman named Mary Ann led the effort with 10,790.
Washington later said the ammunition made from the statue had been “exceedingly useful.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Region One teacher mentorship program fosters idea-sharing
Patrick L. Sullivan
Apr 08, 2026
Kevin Papacs explained how he changed his approach to instruction.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE – First-year teachers in Region One have been working alongside veteran educators as part of the Teacher Excellence and Mentorship (TEAM) program, a statewide program required for teachers with an initial educator certificate. Local participating educators presented on how those collaborations translated into classroom practice on Tuesday, March 31.
Kevin Papacs, a new physical education teacher at Salisbury Central School, worked with longtime music teacher Rob Nellson.
Papacs said his initial tactic of using direct instruction on stretching and warm-ups worked well at first, but after the holidays he noticed less enthusiasm.
Working with Nellson and doing research, he came up with a strategy of allowing the students to design their own five- to seven-minute warmup plan.
Papacs said the tactic worked at first, “but then it faded a bit.”
To keep the ball rolling, he and Nellson had the students keep a journal, recording how much time and how many repetitions they spent on each exercise.
Four of the six classes showed improvement.
“So I brainstormed with my colleagues,” Papacs said.
Papacs had students lead the warm-ups, and instruct their peers. “So it wasn’t just me walking around, it was the kids saying ‘good job,’” he said.
Papacs said the new method allowed him to spend more time with students who needed additional support.
Papacs said he meets with Nellson once a week.
He was philosophical about what worked and what didn’t.
“Failure is information too,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be a home run every time.”
Asked if he is more confident than at the beginning of the year, he said “Oh, absolutely.”
Emily Piescki is the art teacher at Kent Center School. She worked with second grade teacher Ane Starr.
Piescki said she realized that the students needed a gradual approach, “instead of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.”
In a watercolor class, the children were “having a great time, but not focused.”
So she developed a template and took the students through it, step by step.
Once the students knew the names of specific techniques, they could ask specific questions rather than general ones.
The moment of truth came with hand-made ceramic bells.
“They all fired correctly,” Piescki said. “If you’ve ever worked with clay you know that’s a huge win.”
Starr and Piescki meet once a week.
Starr said “I think I’m learning as much as Emily. She’s a rock star. She doesn’t need me.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Cell tower approved for South Norfolk
John Coston
Apr 08, 2026
Approved site of a proposed 186-foot cell tower on a 40-acre parcel at 78 Goshen Street East.
Alec Linden
NORFOLK – The Connecticut Siting Council has approved a new cell tower for South Norfolk that will provide cellular coverage for customers who currently have spotty or no cell service along the Route 272 corridor between Norfolk and Torrington.
Last October, the council had approved the plans of Tarpon Towers III and Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, for a 186-foot tower to be located on a 40-acre parcel at 78 Goshen Street East. On March 13, its decision was finalized.
The tower site will be approximately 2,000 feet from the road between Goshen Street East and Estey Road and will be accessed from Estey Road. It is about 650 feet from the nearest residential structure on Estey Road.
An earlier proposed location drew significant opposition from residents of Old Goshen Road and Smith Road. At the time, residents organized an effort to potentially purchase the land from the owner, but the effort fell short. Last spring, Verizon instead selected the Goshen Street East site owned by Paul Chapinsky Sr.
“Luckily they decided to move on and go elsewhere,” said Sloane Klevin, of Old Goshen Road, who led the effort against the first location. “The big issue has always been emergency and town vehicles that have no cell service,” she added, noting that when town snowplows get stuck turning around on her property, they can’t call for help.
The plan to put the tower in its new location drew more than two dozen residents to an informational meeting in March 2025 at Botelle School in Norfolk, where they raised some opposition and concern about the project and its access off Estey Road. Later, at an August 2025 official Siting Council public hearing on the matter, no members of the public signed up to speak, but neighboring property owners opposed the project in written testimony.
Norfolk currently has four cell towers that service multiple providers. The new tower is expected to improve service for residents of Norfolk, Goshen and Winchester along Route 272. According to Cellco’s filing with the Siting Council, the company currently “has a coverage deficiency on Route 272 (4.9 miles in Norfolk and 2.1 miles in Goshen) and on Route 263 (0.4 miles in Goshen and approximately 3.0 miles in Winchester).”
“Based on a lack of reliable wireless service for Cellco in the Norfolk, Goshen and Winchester area, including Route 272 and Route 263 and surrounding areas, the Council finds a specific need for the facility,” the Council wrote in its findings of fact.
Last summer, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection found that the tower’s site is within the habitat area of the eastern red bat, a species of special concern, and within range of the northern long-eared bat, an endangered species on state and federal lists. As a result, the site work will avoid tree clearing from April 15 to Sept. 30.
Keep ReadingShow less
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Annual egg hunt provides fun for all ages
Patrick L. Sullivan
Apr 08, 2026
Children swoop and dive for Easter eggs during the annual Falls Village egg hunt.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE – Eager children lined up at the edge of the ball field at Lee H. Kellogg School Saturday, April 4, waiting for the start of the Easter Egg Hunt.
One youngster broke prematurely. The other children hollered at him, and he trotted back a bit sheepishly.
Matt Gallagher, director of programs and operations for Great Mountain Forest Corporation, delivered instructions through a bullhorn. “Take your marks, get set, GO!”
And they went.
Patrick L. Sullivan
In a whirlwind of activity, children ages six and up swooped and dove across the field to grab the plastic eggs filled with candy.
Younger participants between the ages of three and five had their eggs hidden on the playground, while the toddlers had theirs in the sandbox.
Recreation Commission head Melissa Lopes said the set-up ensures younger children have a fair chance without being overrun by older participants.
After collecting their candy, children placed the plastic eggs in a bin for use next year. Patrick L. Sullivan
Three “golden eggs” were hidden, with lucky finders winning larger prizes, including a big candy bar and a couple of gift baskets with toys.
The main event on the ball field lasted about five minutes.
Afterward, the Easter Bunny mingled with the crowd, and the children removed their candy from the plastic eggs and deposited the latter in a bin for use next year.
Keep ReadingShow less
Police Blotter: Troop B
Lakeville Journal
Apr 08, 2026
Median Prices Stay Above $700,000
Christine Bates
Apr 08, 2026
The property at 16 Upper Main St., located just behind Sharon Green, sold for $525,000 on March 23. The 0.15-acre parcel had been assessed at $261,700.
Christine Bates
SHARON — The median price for a single-family home in Sharon continued to climb on an annual basis, even as it edged down slightly from the previous month.
The 12-month trailing median price, excluding condominiums, reached $710,000 for the period ending March 31, 2026. That marks a 34% increase from $530,000 in the same period a year earlier and an 8% rise from $655,000 two years ago.
Sales activity remained steady within Sharon’s typical range. A total of 39 single-family homes sold in the 12 months ending March 31, compared with 44 sales in the prior year and 38 sales in the same period ending March 31, 2024. Historically, annual sales in town tend to fall between 35 and 45 transactions.
The seasonal spring surge of new listings has not yet appeared and inventory in all categories remains limited.
As of April 3, there were nine single-family homes on the market. Of those, seven were listed above $1 million and no residential properties were listed below the current $710,000 median price. Eleven parcels of land are listed for sale on the MLS ranging from $139,000 to $2,495,000. Furnished rentals account for six out of seven rental listings.
Sharon March Transfers
8 Mudgetown Road – 4 bedroom/4.5 bath home built in 1750 plus 600 square foot cottage built in 1989 was sold by Arete Warren to Robert Nestor and William Reynolds for $1,450,000
16 Upper Main Street – 3 bedroom/1 bath home on .15 acres built in 1870 was sold by Jeanne Xanthos to Peter and Nichole O’Reilly for $525,000
50 Dug Road – 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on .26 acres was sold by Laura Geer to Timothy Halle and Stephanie Saetta for $481,144.75.
* Town of Sharon real estate transfers recorded between March 1, 2026, and March 31, 2026, provided by Sharon Town Clerk. Transfers without consideration are not included. Current market listings from Smart MLS and market statistic from Infosparks. Note that recorded transfers frequently lag sales by a number of days. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in CT and NY.
Keep ReadingShow less
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
loading
