Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Letters to the Editor - 8-22-24

Thankful for care at Noble

My heartfelt thanks to all of the wonderful people at Noble Horizons who took such good care of Olivier Benjamin throughout his illness. To Julie, Serena, Korrine, Jamie, Ruthie, Carrie, Turquoise, Shelley, Jeanette and to all the team on the second floor in Wagner Terrace, your kindness, compassion and professionalism was shown each and every day. Thank you to Front Desk Reception Kelly and Marge and to the Rehabilitation Therapy, Social Services, Dietary, and Housekeeping Departments for helping Olivier and I guide through his transition from home, to hospital to nursing care.

Many thanks to Marsha, Joyce and Lisa of the Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Litchfield County and to the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Association. We are so fortunate to live in a community that provides all of these invaluable services.

I would also like to extend a huge thank you to Dr. David Kurish for always being there for Olivier, no matter the day or time.

Patricia Walsh

Lakeville


Justin Potter has earned our support for office

Along with our unmatched physical environment, it is nonprofits that make the Northwest Corner the special place it is. In my town, the library, the land trust and affordable housing shine because of the engaged, smart volunteers who donate hundreds of hours to their respective boards.

Justin Potter has been leading the nonprofit Kent Affordable Housing and is now running to become our State Senator. I have been a witness to his productivity and energy — earning him our support for office.

Justin is engaged for the long haul because adding affordable housing is a multi-year event. Bipartisan and forging consensus, Justin gained a town vote of approval for the transfer of town land that will accommodate 10-12 new rental units. He understands the role of private developers as well as nonprofits to meet our need for housing. He proposes that the state offer grants to homeowners who choose to convert extra space into an apartment to rent.

Justin serves on environmental nonprofit boards and passes his love of nature to his children while having grown up as a responsible gun owner. A big picture and no nonsense guy, he will be an informed and vocal Senator on behalf of the people of our region.

Bill Bachrach

Kent

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Seeing isn’t always believing. Sometimes it’s the lack of a defined picture that can be the most compelling. And when Alex Harvey of Shinbone Alley sings his supernaturally charged sea shanties and street ballads, the unseen will be downright scary. On Oct. 30, the historically inclined storyteller and performer will create a spooky evening of forbidden tales and yarns through a carefully chosen series of songs at Spencertown Academy of Arts.

The repertoire for the performance is a bit fraught. Over the years, Shinbone Alley has explored the world of folklore through music. Though the group usually features two musicians, Harvey, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, will be performing solo. That is, of course, unless you include the spirits.

Keep ReadingShow less
Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield
Vieux Farka Touré
Proivded

Desert winds rarely blow into the Berkshires, but on Nov. 5, they will carry the Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa music to Race Brook Lodge.

That evening, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, often called “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Moroccan musician Samir LanGus will play at the lodge’s Event Barn in Sheffield, Massachusetts, at a benefit for the foundation Touré directs.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.