SALISBURY — Live music, lobster rolls, face painting and a mix of local nonprofit organizations filled Academy Street in downtown Salisbury on Saturday, Aug. 8, for the fifth annual street fair hosted by The Lakeville Journal.
The decision to highlight nonprofit organizations is one that Lakeville Journal Publisher James Clark feels strongly about.
“Part of what makes this region so special is the number of people who give so freely of their time and resources,” Clark said. “As a nonprofit ourselves, we know that work isn’t always visible, and the Street Fair gives us a chance to celebrate the work these organizations are doing and the people behind them.”
Audrey Cole of the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging (WCAAA) was on site with information on the often-bewildering subject of Medicare.
Cole, who lives in Sharon, said the WCAAA is a nonprofit serving 41 towns in Western Connecticut with Medicare counseling, Alzheimer’s care, caregiver support , meals, transportation, chore assistance and more.
Medicare is always a hot topic, she said, in part because figuring out which program to choose — and when to sign up — can be difficult.
“There are lots of deadlines, lots of programs,” she said.
The advantage in asking WCAAA for help, Cole said, is its independence.
“We work for the taxpayers. We don’t steer anyone in any direction.”
In the parking lot of Johnnycake Books, Linda Ciano, director of community engagement for Project SAGE, greeted visitors beneath a large tent.
The Lakeville-based nonprofit domestic violence prevention agency has two fundraisers currently underway.
“The Bling’s the Thing” offers jewelry donated by supporters at bargain prices, while a five-dollar bill gets shoppers an extra sturdy, large blue Project SAGE tote bag.
Project SAGE is also sponsoring a community art project and inviting anyone to participate — no artistic skills required. The results will be displayed at an event at the Scoville Memorial Library on Sunday, Sept. 13.
At the Salisbury Association, Lou Bucceri discussed a range of local history, from Salisbury’s iron industry and the role of its cannons in the American Revolution to the Holley knife collection and Ethan Allen’s insistence on being inoculated against smallpox by his friend Dr. Thomas Young of Amenia Union.
The idea of deliberately injecting a healthy person with a small amount of a disease was very new and, to many, seemed unwise if not downright evil. Allen got his smallpox inoculation on the steps on the Congregational Church on a Sunday, for maximum publicity.
“And he was hauled into court ona charge of blasphemy,” Bucceri said.
Allen subsequently beat the charge.
During the fair, musician and educator Danny Tieger set the tone in front of a crowd of youngsters eager to hear live music. He asked them to brainstorm about what kind of animal they’d like to hear a song about.
The children came up with a combination of a lion, a bird and an alligator.
Tieger immediately launched into a song, made up on the spot.
“What’s our alligator-bird-lion’s name?” he asked.
“Chomps,” said a little boy.
“Chomps it is,” Tieger replied.
Around 1 p.m. John Keilty of Litchfield took over the live music duties. He set up a Bo Diddley beat on one note, turning it into a repeating motif recorded electronically. He then soloed over it, soaring off in unexpected directions before bringing it back to the riff.
Keilty’s primary job is running a guitar repair business. He plays in a couple of bands, including Shake the Dust out of Litchfield.
21st Century Fund for HVRHS
Berkshire Taconic
Community Foundation
Community Health & Wellness
Congregational Church of Salisbury, UCC
Crescendo
East Mountain House
Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut
Housatonic Child Care Center
Noble Horizons
Northwell Health
Project SAGE
Salisbury Forum
The Corner Food Pantry
The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News
The Salisbury Association
Western CT Area Agency on Aging
Aly Morrissey
Children show off their balloon unicorns.
This fish took a Wooly Bugger in basic black, with rubber legs. Always get the rubber legs.
Then I hit on a succession of inflatable pontoon and belly boats, powered by oars and/or swim fins, and there I have remained.
Did I forget to mention that no motors are allowed on this lake? Well, no motors are allowed, and it’s no good arguing that a small electric trolling motor couldn’t possibly hurt anything. Ask me how I know this.
It’s a quiet, rejuvenating few weeks. The phone gets enough signal on one end of the deck to receive messages and maybe make a call if the wind is right. If something comes up, it’s only 15 minutes to so-called civilization.
When not fishing, I read, visit assorted cousins, listen to baseball on the AM radio and/or stare blankly into the middle distance.
Bassing with a fly rod in still water is a different game than chasing trout in streams.
A medium-fast-action rod, 8 to 10 feet, in line weight 7 or 8 is the starting point. The flies are big, and the wind is constant, so the angler needs some power, tempered with a bit of finesse.
I usually bring two rods. One is rigged with a floating line with a heavy front taper for turning over surface flies such as poppers.
The other has either a sink-tip or intermediate line. The lake is not all that deep, and the Woolly Buggers, Clousers and other streamers are heavy. The idea is to stay out of the vegetation while getting close to where the lunkers are hunkered down.
I use short nylon leaders, 7.5 feet with 1X tippet out of the package, and modify them constantly with additional sections of fluorocarbon tippet, snaps and droppers.
Surface action is usually minimal during the day unless it’s overcast. The lake runs east-west, so the angler can track the midmorning and late-afternoon shadows and work those areas.
Or the angler can wait until about 6:30 p.m., when things start to pick up.
Or get out there at the crack of dawn, which is best if surface action is the goal.
For subsurface fishing, some experimentation is required to find the right combination of flies, leader and sink rate. The angler also has to decide whether to troll.
There are a few places where a dry-dropper rig is appropriate, the dry being an extremely buoyant popper with a piece of stout fluorocarbon tippet tied to the bend of the hook and something heavy and wiggly at the end, like a stonefly nymph with rubber legs. (Always get the rubber legs.)
If this sounds like a bobber, it’s because it is. Don’t tell anyone. The purists don’t like it.
A net with a long handle is necessary. There is no leverage when sitting in what amounts to a floating chair.
I do not bring my phone for fish pictures. I will drop it into the depths. Ask me how I know this.
Instead I bring a small point-and-shoot camera. These get lost too, but perversely I have better luck keeping the cheap gear safe than the expensive items.
Sunscreen is applied liberally and frequently. After 50-odd years of being outside, I now have to visit the dermatologist every so often to have my face edited, and I don’t enjoy it.
A baseball cap does nothing for the ears and neck. I have a hat with a wide brim and a vented top, so it doesn’t get too hot. It looks stupid, but this is an acceptable risk.
Finally, a word about the quarry. Largemouth bass are not picky eaters. When engaged they usually dive and tug. Once in a while they leap. They are easily discouraged, however, and after a minute or two come meekly to the net.
Smallmouth, not so much. These aren’t especially big, but every smallie I’ve ever met thought it was much bigger than it actually was. Expect acrobatics.
Perch usually grab my fly when I don’t want them to.
Perch are in the August mix, usually when I don’t want them to be.Patrick L. Sullivan
Panfish are everywhere. They are extremely cooperative. Chasing sunnies is a good way to get a newcomer started.
And then there are the pickerel. These are nasty fish. Very antisocial. I keep a pair of long-handled pliers handy to get the fly out of their mouths safely while admiring the large number of very sharp teeth. They will bite the pliers. Do not use your fingers. Again, ask me how I know this.
Upon release, it’s not unusual to observe the pickerel hanging around a few yards away, glaring and plotting hideous revenge.
So this is the August routine, occasionally leavened with a scramble into a brook trout stream if conditions allow.
It’s peaceful. Kind of boring, in a good way.
And then in the fall the game shifts back to rivers and streams for trout.
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The pavilion-style theater at Hudson Valley Shakespeare.
During a recent performance of “King Lear” on a spectacular July evening, actors materialized from and faded into the stunning backdrop as if it were no longer the Hudson Highlands, but the wild hills and dales of Celtic Britain.
The company opened its satisfyingly direct rendition of Shakespeare’s dark and expansive meditation on love, family and human nature on June 12, and will run the show through Sept 17.
A much lighter Shakespeare classic, “As You Like It,” is also running through Sept. 18, as is the non-Shakespearean late-20th-century classic “Les Misérables,” which runs until Sept. 28.
In “King Lear,” the audience was not so much transported as localized by the performance, which takes place on the floor-level stage and expansive lawn behind it, both of which boast one of the best views lower New York State has to offer.
Alec Linden
The pavilion-style theater, with naturalistic curves and a low profile, mirrors the topography of the prominent hill it sits atop. The landscape that frames it all, centered on the dramatic passage of the Hudson River as it meanders between peaks of Storm King Mountain and Breakneck Ridge, serves not just as a background, but as a living, breathing part of the action as Lear and his kingdom descend into madness. When darkness fell across the ridges in the distance, the body count rose.
It’s not all doom and gloom at Hudson Valley Shakespeare, though. Just hours before the murders and betrayals, the same lawn hosted dozens of happy picnickers enjoying the evening in true high-summer fashion, complete with live music. As is tradition at the theater, which was previously hosted at nearby Boscobel House and Gardens for 34 years under a tent, guests are invited to arrive early and enjoy the grounds with a meal.
For those who’d rather not pack their own food, pre-made picnic sets are available for advance order. Alternatively, theatergoers can dine at the expansive, regionally-sourced buffet offered at the venue’s restaurant, aptly named Folio ($35 for adults, $25 for children 5-12 and free for children under five).
For schedules, tickets and more information, visit hvshakespeare.org.
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