Letters to the editor - September 3, 2015

Let me tell you about the GoodBrain Project

First, to The Lakeville Journal, thank you for publishing a summer’s worth of robust news! Every issue of the last nine weeks, especially, has deepened or changed a thing or two about what I thought I knew. The local reporting and refreshed formatting has also reminded me of things I forgot I wanted to learn and have yet to do. A regional newspaper that brings us together through shared news and also succeeds in illuminating different sections of the globe proves to be an invaluable resource for education, environmental preservation, and economic sustainability for a population of our size and diversity.

Over the past year, The GoodBrain Project has been fortunate enough to partner with two local banks, Ascendant Compliance, Flood’s Sanitation, On The Run and several other local merchants to produce art and athletic events designed, developed, and implemented with the purpose of: 

• Growing great local talent of all ages

• Reconfiguring learning and teaching time in order to allow every learner and solution finder opportunities to access, seed, and grow their creative, psychic and physical greatness

• Track our progress towards growth by gathering data that demonstrates direct impact on our students, clients and autonomous staff members.

The GoodBrain Project was founded in Salisbury to serve Region One intentionally and, initially, with what has felt like massive support from sponsors who are interested and invested in creating economic and environmental legacy and committed to building the stewardship required to preserve it. Last fall, we were recruited to direct SOAR with honest and open willingness to research and address the gaps in access to enrichment opportunities that exist between the descendants of the very few but mighty affluent and the many more mostly lower and middle class service workers who maintain the lifestyles of those very few. We have been serving in this capacity for 32 months, and we are honored with your support to continue this fall as the area’s premier secular ministry. We wish the students, teachers, administrators, and parents of Region One an extraordinary year, and look forward to growing greatness wherever we go.

Please see our website and join our mailing list for updates and to share your ideas for Fall Festival and Veterans Day! Until soon,

Athena Demetra Fliakos

The GoodBrain Project

Salisbury

Save the river, save West Cornwall 

The viability of the village of West Cornwall has been declining at an accelerated rate during the trailing 20 years due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, and left on its current path, could be expected to deteriorate out of existence in the next 20 years. 

We are losing the use of one building after another due to the lack of a village septic system. Today we call these Water Treatment Facilities, and they are housed in small buildings near where the treated water can be recycled (next to a river for instance) and given the new technology, the facilities are affordable for any small village along the Housatonic.

Since returning from my time in the service in the late ’60s, I have watched as West Cornwall has been left unattended and one service after another has disappeared from our village, leaving us without many of the necessities needed to support the densely inhabited village.

Back in the early 1970s, when soap bubbles could still be seen in both the Mill Stream and in the Housatonic River, the state of Connecticut dye-tested our laundromat. The results revealed the purple dye could be observed flowing into the river and the laundromat was given a cease-and-desist order. So, it disappeared. 

The testing started and ended there at that time, but one can be sure the laundromat was not the only source of contamination to our river. Since then, we have continued to lose businesses and the use of individual buildings for housing and other related uses due to the inability to conform to the state-mandated standards as applied by the Torrington Area Health District. We have subsequently lost our grocery store (Yutzler’s), which could no longer be expected to reopen due to the absence of adequate septic. We have lost our General Store (Bierce’s) and a number of restaurants (The Deck/Freshfields and Sue Coachmen’s businesses on Railroad Square) all of which could no longer legally exist because of the lack of septic facilities. Many businesses have had to pass us by in the meantime due to the lack of facilities, leaving our buildings either out of use or underused. One can only wonder if it’s just a matter of time for RSVP and The Wandering Moose, neither of which have enough land to create a backup system when their current systems fail. 

During the same period, we as a village have continued to leach our effluent into the Housatonic River, increasing the nitrogen levels to the endangerment of the river plants and animal life. 

Addressing these issues is long overdue and fortunately, given the affordable cost of the new technology, there is an achievable solution that the Torrington Area Health District and the state of Connecticut would assist us in achieving should we as a town decide we want to save our village and our river. If one were in favor of having a study made of this situation, now would be a good time to mention it to our elected officials. 

Ian Ingersoll

West Cornwall 

Great ER team at Sharon Hospital

This is a letter of gratitude to the staff at Sharon Hospital. When I got myself from Mudge Pond to the ER, before I gave my name, and way before I realized how sick I was, the ER team recognized the severity of my situation and took me in tow. The ER staff promptly, calmly and efficiently treated and stabilized my condition. My wife later reported that the call that came to her (she was eight hours away in Chautauqua, N.Y.) communicated my situation with complete honesty and simultaneously offered comfort and reassurance. My wife, a clinical social worker, said it was the most professional phone call she had ever received.

My entire family and I thank Dr. Mark Goldstein and ER Nurses Julie and Mindy, along with the other members of the ER team for their immediate and follow-up care.

While many policy and financial questions have dogged Sharon Hospital for all of our weekender years, I urge everyone to keep in mind how important the hospital is for each of us in Sharon and the surrounding communities. There is no question in my mind, the hospital saves lives.

Stuart Fisher

Sharon

A harpsichord story from WWII

Denise Restout and Wanda Landowska were both harpsichord players who fled from dangerous wars in Europe. First Denise was a pupil, then a secretary, assistant, and a companion of Landowska for 26 years.  

When the bombs dropped in World War II, both musicians fled to the United States, and by chance ended up living together in Lakeville for 12 years. After the war ended in 1945, a friend searched for Wanda’s extremely valuable and beloved harpsichord, buried in Europe. There were many months of digging, due to rubble still in ditches made from German bombs. Finally, there was a glimpse of something that shined in the mud, so with special care workers uncovered Landowska’s name in the thick gold letters that appeared on her famous harpsichord. 

After many more months, this much-valued treasure arrived by special ship to the New York City harbor. The two musicians chose to live in a house with many outdoor steps, on top of a hill with a lovely view of Lakeville Lake. On days when Wanda Landowska demanded silence for concentration on Route 44 below their home, the road was temporarily closed. The two women spoke only French, so Bob Hawkins, a teacher from The Hotchkiss School, helped Wanda Landowska make the English version of her commentaries on Mozart, Haydn and others. She died at the age of 79, but her music was documented worldwide. 

Bob Hawkins also helped Denise Restout receive a grant from a foundation so she could publish a biography of her friend Wanda Landowska in 1964. Denise lived alone after her friend Wanda died. She was also ill for years, but I knew her as she had made friends with many people in Lakeville. She died at the age of 89. Their home with the many steps is still on top of the hill close to the main street of Lakeville. As we look up and drive past the spot each day, it sends us musical memories. 

There is a nice hard copy book of “Landowska” at the Scoville Library in Salisbury. 

Heather Kahler

Lakeville

Thanks to those who came to my aid

I live in Lakeville. I was in an accident on July 25, 2015, on Route 41 in Salisbury. My car went off the road and I suffered several fractures and other injuries. I wanted to publicly thank the local residents who came to my aid.

While I was still in the car and could not get out, two people came down and helped me get out of the car. One opened the door on the passenger side and helped me out, and the other had a fire extinguisher with him because my car was smoking.

I asked them for their names but I cannot remember them. I know that one of these two gentlemen lived in Sharon. I wanted to publicly thank them and the other people who stopped. It renews your faith in your fellow citizens when something like this happens. 

If they see fit to do so, I would love to know their names so that I can personally thank them. If not, thank you very much.

Michael Nachwalter

Lakeville