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Hoarding With Style: Sarah Blodgett’s art of collecting
Kerri-Lee Mayland
May 20, 2026
Sarah Blodgett has turned her passion for collecting into “something larger.”
Photo by Sarah Blodgett
There is something wonderfully disarming about walking into a space where nothing feels overly polished, overly planned or pulled from a catalog — a place where history lingers in the corners, where color is fearless, where the objects on the shelves have stories to tell and where, if you are lucky, a cat named Cinnamon may be supervising the entire operation.
That is the world of Sarah Blodgett.
Now part of the creative orbit inside Liz Macaire’s sprawling gallery in West Cornwall, Blodgett’s “Hoarding With Style,” tucked into the upstairs space, feels less like a shop and more like an unfolding conversation about aesthetics, storytelling and the art of living with things that matter.
Born in Manhattan, Blodgett spent weekends and much of her childhood in Gallatin, New York where her family owned a late-1700s farmhouse on a property that once housed an antique store, leaving the barns packed with treasures and forgotten finds.
“I was dusting off antiques instead of playing with toys as a child,” she said, laughing.
In sixth grade, she recruited friends to venture into an abandoned house, move things around, style found objects and create little vignettes while her mother supervised from a nearby chair. Looking back, it seems inevitable that Blodgett would eventually build a business rooted in collecting, storytelling and visual imagination.
Photography came first. Her father was a professional photographer in New York, and Blodgett followed him into the field, eventually building a career photographing wildlife, sports and portraits while simultaneously collecting antiques and pieces that fed her layered aesthetic.
For years, she joked about turning her passion into something larger. She trademarked the name “Hoarding With Style,” a process that took nearly two years. Once it finally came through, she laughed.
“Well, I guess I should use it.”
As photography rapidly changed in the age of cellphones and artificial intelligence, Blodgett began rethinking what creativity could look like moving forward.
“We also realized we had too much stuff,” she said. “So we started selling pieces on Facebook Marketplace.”
Only Blodgett could not help elevating even that process. Inside her Greek Revival home in West Cornwall, she created styled moments around the things she was selling. People responded not just to the objects, but to the feeling behind them.
Her philosophy is approachable, with affordability in mind. She believes homes should evolve slowly over time, layered with meaningful objects, history and personality rather than stripped down into sterile perfection.
“That’s what gives a home a soul,” she said.
Creativity runs throughout the family. Her husband, a German comedian and juggler, performs internationally, while their 22-year-old child, Badger, is heading to the Maryland Institute College of Art this fall. One of the couple’s four children in their blended family, Badger has even sold some of their own pieces through Sarah’s shop.
“My mom has been such a rock star at supporting me,” Badger said.
Working with clients, Blodgett describes herself as less decorator and more “creativity facilitator,” helping people uncover their own instincts through objects that already reflect who they are.
That is exactly what Sarah Blodgett does: She invites visitors not only to explore her journey, but perhaps to begin uncovering their own.
Hoarding With Style is located at 406 Goshen Turnpike, West Cornwall and is open Friday-Sunday 12 to 4 p.m. or by appointment.
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Dr. Paul J. Fasano
Lakeville Journal
May 20, 2026
SHARON — Dr. Paul J. Fasano DDS, of Brewster, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully after a long illness on May 10, 2026, in Boston.
Born in Boston to Philip and Laura (Stolarsky) Fasano on Dec. 13, 1946, he grew up in Dorchester with his two brothers Philip and William.Paul attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Boston College in 1968.He later completed Dental School at New York University in 1972.
He had a successful dental practice in Sharon, Connecticut and enjoyed coaching basketball at Housatonic Valley Regional H.S in Falls Village. After retiring to Brewster, he taught at the Dental Hygiene program at Cape Cod Community College.Paul was a passionate Boston College Eagles fan following all of their teams and his devotion to the Red Sox never faded. He delighted in coaching his three sons in basketball and cheering them on during their football games.
Paul leaves behind the love of his life, Judy, whom he married on Dec. 31, 1973.He is survived by his three sons; Christopher of Alexandria, Virginia, Peter of Orleans, Massachusetts, and Matthew of Kennebunk, Maine, along with his four grandchildren Jack, Lily, Zoey, and Chase whom he loved very much.
Visiting hours will be Wednesday, May 20, 2026, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Chapman Funerals & Cremations.678 Main Street Harwich, MA 02645.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at Our Lady of the Cape Church at 11:00 a.m, 468 Stony Brook Road Brewster, Massachusetts 02631.
In lieu of flowers, the Fasano family requests that a donation may be made to the Peter Frates ALS Foundation on Paul’s behalf, as well as his close friend and late brother-in law, Tom Kane.Peter Frates was a BC Baseball Player and founder of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.Donations can be made at www.petefrates.com.
Notes of comfort may be made to his family at www.chapmanfuneral.com.
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David Niles Parker
Lakeville Journal
May 20, 2026
KENT — David Niles Parker, 88, of Middletown, Connecticut, passed away at home on May 6, 2026.
Born January 20, 1938, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the first child to Franklin and Katharine Niles Parker, David graduated from Wellesley High School, received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, studied at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and earned his master’s in education from Harvard.
David met his future wife, Borngy Hammer, at a college mixer, and in 1962 they married at her family home in South Kent. Together they raised four children and were married nearly 64 years.
He taught English in the Boston public schools, and at the New Milford, Connecticut High School, and took on extra work as a stringer for the Waterbury Republican, covering Kent and Gaylordsville, thereby launching his lifelong career in journalism. In 1968 he took on the job of running a small-town paper, The Millbrook Round Table in Millbrook, New York, where he worked as a reporter, managing editor, photographer, circulation manager and ad sales representative and everything in between. He went on to work at the Lakeville Journal, the Waterbury Republican, the Litchfield County Times, the Torrington Register-Citizen, and the Kent Good Times Dispatch. He also taught journalism courses at UConn, Torrington and took on diverse freelance writing projects, including articles for the New York Times, and a biography of Revolutionary War figure, Dr. Thomas Young. During the Vietnam War he participated in peaceful protests with his fellow Teachers Against War.
Never one to speak of himself, his family would find out by other means of his many talents, awards, and accomplishments. He did not belong to a religion, and considered himself an agnostic, but was a most fine example of a moral, ethical, honest, humble, kind, and good human being; he truly treated every person he ever met with kindness and respect.
He was a great lover of poetry, including that of Richard Wilbur, William Yeatts, Dylan Thomas and Carl Sandburg. He was especially fond of reading aloud poems by A. E. Housman. Literature was such an integral part of his life, and he would often explain himself by quoting a passage or referencing a literary character.
He had a lifelong love of singing and enjoyed doing so for children when they were young. He was especially fond of folk and classical music. In his later years one of his pleasures was to remember and share songs he had learned many decades earlier. When his children were young—and not so-young, each night he would let his children choose the songs he’d sing them, many songs he learned from his father (which his children went on to sing to their children, and their children to sing to his great-grandchildren.)
He also sang in various choirs, including the Kent Singers of which he was a proud and a beloved member.
For eighty-seven years, he spent every summer at his beloved family’s cottage in West Falmouth, Massachusetts. Many summer mornings were spent reading the paper at West Falmouth Market, followed by swimming at Chapoquoit Beach. There he spent many evenings sitting on the porch, singing and looking out onto West Falmouth Harbor.
He was also known to many as an avid sports fan, closely following the Boston Red Sox and UConn Women’s Basketball, a passion that he closely shared with his daughter, Caitlin.
Family was very important and dear to him, and he is remembered fondly and in high regard by family, both close and extended.
David is survived by his wife Borgny of Middletown, his children Stephen of Brattleboro, Vermont; Rolf also of Brattleboro, Vermont; Abigail of Kent, Connecticut; and Caitlin of Durham, Connecticut; grandchildren Julia Holly of Portland, Oregon; Madeleine Holly of Salem, Connecticut; Lily DiTota of Falmouth, Massachusetts; Emma Bournival of Watertown, Connecticut; Allison Mullins of New Haven, Connecticut; Finn Bournival of Durham, Connecticut; and Morgen Parker-Houghton of Brattleboro, Vermont; and great grandchildren Klaus and Grant Schubel of Salem, Connecticut; siblings Anne Schmalz of Bedford, Massachusetts; Theodore Parker of Wellesley, Massachusetts; John Parker of Yarmouth, Massachusetts; as well as many nieces, nephews and family friends.
Services include a private burial at Bulls Bridge Cemetery, at 1 p.m. on May 31, which will be followed by a Celebration of Life at the Kent Community House at 2 p.m.
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Janet Andre Block is ‘Catching Light’
L. Tomaino
May 20, 2026
Artist Janet Andre Block in her studio in Salisbury.
L. Tomaino
What do Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos and a quiet room have to do with Janet Andre Block’s work? They are among the many elements that shape how she paints, helping guide her into the layered, luminous worlds she creates on canvas.
Block makes layered oil paintings in rich, deep, misty colors. She developed her technique as an undergraduate at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and then at New York University, and also time spent in Venice earning a master’s degree in studio art.
Block speaks warmly of her printmaking teacher, the well-known artist Kiki Smith.
“She was incredibly kind and generous,” Block said. “What I learned in art school is what I want to do.”
During the pandemic, she painted in a world of swirling colors that suggest another world just within this one.
Block’s work will be on display at “Catching Light, 75,” at David M. Hunt Library from May 23-June 19. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. and she will give an artist talk Thursday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m.
The exhibit features 75 small paintings representing her varied painting modes.
“I’m offering these as a gift to the library,” she said. “Each donor who gives $75 can choose a painting.”
The paintings are 2-inch squares.
Janet Block discusses painting.L. Tomaino
Block has worked with nonprofit groups in the Northwest Corner for many years. She has been a volunteer for Project SAGE, the Lakeville-based organization committed to ending relationship violence, for many years. She has also served on Trade Secrets Underwriting Committee — the annual garden event that serves as Project SAGE’s largest fundraiser — for 25 years and remembers the first meeting around her dining room table. She served on the board of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation from 1991 to 2000 and was chair of the Fund for the Northwest Corner.
She has stepped back from her work with nonprofits to devote more time to painting, though she still helps where she can.
“I enjoy the early starts of anything. That’s why I like art, where I can start with a blank palette.”
“There is something about picking colors,” she said, describing it as “really a kind of creation — just the pleasure of mixing up a color, finding the next purple,” along with the immediacy of “the feeling of the brush on canvas.”
Block commends Hunt Library’s Art Wall team: Garth Kobal and Sergei and Zoe Fedorjaczenko.
“I think so highly of them,” she said. “I can’t say no to Garth, who is such a sincere, talented and generous person.”
Block is guided by the thought, “You are what you focus on,” and says this, along with the natural world and music, helps her bring herself to “light and beauty” through painting.
For more information about Block and the exhibit, visit huntlibrary.org and janetandreblock.com
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Memorial Service — Huntington Williams
Lakeville Journal
May 20, 2026
CORNWALL — Beloved and greatly respected Cornwall resident Huntington (“Hunt”) Williams, surrounded by family, died April 10, the result of an injury sustained from a fall. He was 95 years old and had lived in Cornwall, a town he loved deeply, for the last 45 years.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, May 31 at 1PM at the North Cornwall Meeting House, burial is private.
A full obituary may be found on https://www.kennyfuneralhomes.com/obi
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John Edward Calhoun
Lakeville Journal
May 20, 2026
CORNWALL — John Edward Calhoun died peacefully at home on the evening of April 30, 2026, at Cathedral Pines Farm in Cornwall, Connecticut, surrounded by family. He was 86 years old. Born March 20, 1940, in Torrington, Connecticut, to parents Francis “Frank” Ellinwood Calhoun and Mary “Polly” Everett Swift Calhoun, John was the fourth of six children who grew up on the family’s dairy farm located in Cornwall’s Coltsfoot Valley. His family’s multi-generational presence in Cornwall dated back to 1792, fostering in John a deep sense of stewardship for the valley that stayed with him throughout his life.
John attended Cornwall Consolidated School through the eighth grade and graduated from The Hotchkiss School in the class of 1958. He attended Colby College in Maine for one year before graduating from Windham College in Vermont in 1964. At Windham, he met and married Elizabeth “Timme” Quay and had two sons, Nathan and Christopher, before divorcing in 1968.
As a young man, John ran the family dairy farm, taught English at the Rectory School, and ran a successful landscaping business with his first cousin John “Denny” Frost. In 1970, John married Nancy Clark Gray at her family’s summer home on Yelping Hill in Cornwall before immigrating to New Brunswick, Canada, in 1975. There, John and Nancy built Shikatehawk Farm in Glassville, began raising llamas, and had two daughters, Caroline and Sarah.
After eight years of farming in Canada, John and Nancy returned to Cornwall in 1983 as their daughters began their schooling. Together, on a treasured piece of Calhoun land, Nancy designed and John built their 18th-century style farmhouse. There they established Cathedral Pines Farm, set on a hillside apple orchard overlooking Cornwall Village and bordered by its 200-year-old namesake—a 42-acre grove of old-growth white pines recognized as one of the largest, most significant remaining stands east of the Mississippi River.
This historic forest was a testament to the family’s legacy of conservation. The Calhouns originally purchased the preserve in 1883 to prevent logging, later donating it to The Nature Conservancy in 1967. The land was ultimately deeded to the Cornwall Conservation Trust in 2020. Decades before that final transfer, however, a tornado decimated most of the ancient pines in July 1989. The destruction created years of daunting cleanup—a monumental task for which John was uniquely suited, given his penchant for the outdoors and his prowess with a chainsaw.
At Cathedral Pines Farm, John and Nancy spent the next 40 years building a life as hardworking entrepreneurs, breeding and selling llamas and running a bed and breakfast; raising their daughters; and contributing to Cornwall’s civic life. John served as Cornwall’s first Zoning Enforcement Officer for 15 years; as a trustee of The Cornwall Library for 17 years; and as treasurer for the Cornwall Cemetery Association for nearly 20 years. But it is perhaps his unofficial role as steward of Coltsfoot Valley for which John will be best remembered. As part of an intergenerational team of Calhoun family members, John worked alongside his relatives to navigate the legal complexities of subdividing the family land and incorporating the Coltsfoot Valley Association in 1989 to permanently protect and conserve the valley. Well into his retirement, and despite living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia for twenty years, John spent countless hours bush hogging the valley and trimming Birdseye Brook—a labor of love that kept Coltsfoot Valley the natural focal point of Cornwall Village.
John found his greatest peace in nature, relishing its colors, sounds, and especially the birdsong. Often, he took in this natural world while wielding a maul, methodically splitting and stacking firewood—a source of pride right up to the end of his life. A lover of history, literature, classical music, and language, John possessed a sharp wit and sense of humor that belied his quiet reticence. His facility with words often shone through in memorable puns, witty jokes, and well-timed quips delivered from the head of his hand-hewn dining table—much to the delight of family and friends enjoying dinner and drinks on the hill. Cathedral Pines was a hub for those in John and Nancy’s orbit, and together they were the ultimate hosts, providing a seemingly effortless hospitality fueled by Nancy’s home-cooked meals, John’s well-provisioned bar, and his masterfully built, roaring fires.
John was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Polly Calhoun; his paternal grandparents, John Edward and Marjorie Ellinwood Calhoun; his maternal grandparents, William Everett and Mable Alice Runner Swift; his siblings, David Swift Calhoun, Gordon Swift Calhoun, and Susan Gordon Calhoun Heminway; and his brother-in-law, James Callender Heminway, Jr.
He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 56 years, Nancy Gray Calhoun; their daughter, Caroline Claire Calhoun and her husband, Declan Patrick Curtin; and their daughter, Sarah Clark Calhoun and her fiancée, Emily Claire Garlough.
He is also survived by his siblings, Theodore Warner Calhoun (Karrin) and Faith Jade Calhoun; sister-in-law, Mimi Kentta Calhoun; sons, Nathan John McKay (Kate) and Christopher David Calhoun-McKay (Susanne); grandchildren, Colby John Calhoun McKay, Mackenzie Elizabeth McKay, and their mother, Dawn Marie Clark; grandchildren, Jonathan William Calhoun McKay and Liv Christine Calhoun McKay; step-grandchildren, Ryan Patrick, Brayden Michael, Collin Phillip, Brennan Blake, and Ronan Allen Curtin; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended Calhoun relatives, and dear Gray family members.
John’s passing leaves a larger-than-life hole in the fabric of the Calhoun family and the Cornwall community. He will be dearly missed.
The family held a private celebration of John’s life on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Cathedral Pines Farm. To honor John’s deep Cornwall roots and lifelong love of local history, memorial gifts may be made to the Cornwall Historical Society or The Cornwall Library.
Online expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family by visiting www.thurstonrowefuneralhome.com
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