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Elias Weiss Friedman, aka The Dogist, photographing adoptable pup Petunia from the Little Guild at Troutbeck.
Leila Hawken
Elias Weiss Friedman, acclaimed canine photographer and creator of "The Dogist," brought heart and humor to Troutbeck's Luminary Series in Amenia, sharing stories that celebrated the enduring bond between humans and their dogs.
The event, held Sunday, Aug. 24, was paired with The Little Guild of Cornwall, giving attendees the chance to meet and greet a small selection of dogs available for adoption. Friedman is passionate about organizations that advocate for canine welfare and service training, making The Little Guild a natural partner for the event.
A best-selling author, Friedman brought along his latest book, “This Dog Will Change Your Life,” that was greeted with brisk sales and the chance to obtain a signed copy. His Instagram postings have amassed a loyal following of more than 11 million and growing. To date, he has photographed more than 50,000 dogs.
“Dogs complete every aspect of human life,” said Charlie Champalimaud, Troutbeck owner, who served as interviewer for the event. “I just love dogs, and I’m very excited to see people come together,” she added. Her own family dog, Rocky, accompanied her and charmed the audience with exemplary behavior.
“I’ve been following you for years,” said Priscilla McCord of Lakeville, speaking with Friedman before the event began. McCord also serves as a board member at The Little Guild.
“You are an artist and storyteller,” said Champalimaud, introducing Friedman to the audience of more than 100 dog lovers gathered in Troutbeck’s pole barn.
Elias Weiss Friedman signing books after his talk.Leila Hawken
Friedman said he has been developing The Dogist concept and brand for the past 11 years.
“I had an understanding of the cultural phenomenon of dogs,” he said. “Dogs are a source of joy. I wanted to write about that,” he added, noting that dogs are also hilarious.
“I was a shy kid with a dog,” Friedman recalled. “Dogs are generous with their eye contact.”
“I’ve moved the needle a bit in how we appreciate our dogs,” he said of his role as The Dogist. Over the years, his work has included helping dogs find homes or receive service dog training.
Asked about recent advances in artificial intelligence in learning to communicate with animals — particularly current research into communicating with whales — Friedman noted that we already communicate with dogs, though often through our own ego. “There is no shortage of communication,” he said.
He added that some dog owners might not want to know their dogs’ honest opinions about their circumstances or lifestyles.
Looking ahead, Friedman will be international in scope, exploring how different cultures view their relationships with dogs. He expects to find meaningful differences and insights across borders.
Next in the Luminary series at Troutbeck will be a talk by Mark Ronson on Sunday, Sept. 7. He will speak about his book, “Night People,” pairing the talk with a DJ session. For more information, go to www.troutbeck.com.
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Housationic varsity golf tees off
Aug 27, 2025
Landon Cooper calculates a putt in the match against Lakeview Aug. 21.
Simon Markow
LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School took on Lakeview High School for the first golf match of the season Thursday, Aug. 21.
Hosted at Litchfield Country Club, six golfers from each team faced off.
HVRHS coach Peter Vermilyea was thrilled to see his team tee off for the first time this season.
Daniel Moran represents Housatonic Valley Regional High School in the season-opening golf match against Lakeview High School in Litchfield Thursday, Aug. 21. Simon Markow
Litchfield coach Robert Gollow said the rain from the day prior would not affect players. “Being the first rain of August, the grass soaked right in. It shouldn’t affect them.”
It was about 67 degrees at tee time, cloudy with calm wind.
As the game went on, the wind died down and the sun peaked out, heating up the air as well as the game while the sun went down in the afternoon.
Moran led HVRHS with a score of 48. Jonas Johnson, below, shot 53.Simon Markow
Lakeview won the meet with a team score of 183 to HVRHS’s 225. Player scores from the meet will contribute to the season totals for state rankings.
Lakeview’s Ryan Blasavage led with a score of 40. Julian Salvietti shot 45, Connor Aldrich 49 and Chase Reynolds 49.
HVRHS was led by Daniel Moran who shot a 48. Jonas Johnson shot 53, Jacoby Reeve 60 and Ava Humes 64.
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Scoville wraps up summer reading
Aug 27, 2025
Kyla DeRisi drew winning tickets for prizes at the Scoville Memorial Library’s end-of-summer reading celebration.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — The summer reading program at the Scoville Memorial Library was wrapped up Saturday, Aug. 23, with prizes, games and bubbles.
Lots of bubbles.
Kyla DeRisi, the Children’s Services Coordinator, and Julia Hobart from Circulation Services led the way.
Children and parents wandered in and out, taking advantage of the popsicles on offer.
There were ice cream sandwiches at the end as well.
On the bubble front, there were two bubble-making devices that churned out small but serviceable bubbles.
But they functioned as an appetizer. The main course was whacking the big bubbles that could be realized with a steady hand, proper blowing technique, and infinite patience.
The procedure was as follows: The aspiring bubbler grasps two rods which have a length of absorbent cord attached, forming a rough circle.
The cord is dipped in a tub of bubble solution, and carefully lifted out. If all goes well, there is a latent bubble within the circle, waiting to be formed and released.
It’s tricky. A sudden move, however slight, causes the thin sheet of bubble material to vanish, and it’s back to the tub.
Isabella and Audrey Yoo, who have been fixtures at the library since childhood, took the lead on the bubble-making.
Anna Schaufelberger, age eight and a determined child, kept at it until she too cracked the code.
Forrest Beattie, age nine and his sister Tessa, age seven, had a vinyl globe that needed inflating.
That took some time, but it was worth it, as the Beattie children, with their mother Susie and young Anna,improvised a game of “Bat the Globe Around in the Air” on the library lawn.
At 3 p.m. it was raffle time, and the eager readers crowded around DeRisi, who read off the names and the children picked their prizes.
There were books and more books and tickets to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts and gift cards to local businesses and kazoos.
But mostly books.
Gus Tripler, age 13, walked away with an armful of Dungeons & Dragons items, including the unique dice used in the game, a character notebook and a spell card organizer.
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Shoppers browse silent auction items at AugustFest to support programming at Hunt Library.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE The Hunt Library’s AugustFest fundraiser on Sunday, Aug. 24 featured bratwurst, live music, a silent auction and a relaxed atmosphere.
Karl Munson and Lou Timolat, sporting aprons and tongs, were already busy in the bratwurst tent as things kicked off at 4 p.m.
Vance Cannon and Friends warmed up with an arrangement of Bob Marley’s “Don’t Worry About a Thing” before the start of the first set proper, with “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay.” Later on they took on the tricky syncopation of Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken.”
An arbitrary sample of the silent auction items included a cooking class at Hillsdale Home Chef; gift cards for Jacobs Garage and Off the Trail Cafe, one acre of organic tick spraying from Nature’s Way, and a beef sampler from KM Cattle Co.
Bill Beebe and Terry Blass sat on a stone bench and observed the crowd. They were asked if it was the “regular guy” bench.
They shook their heads.
Another person approached and inquired if it was the “old fogey” bench.
Nope, that didn’t resonate either. Blass thought about it.
“The Originals Bench. That’s what it is.”
“Yep,” said Beebe.
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