Long-shuttered Geer Lodge café reopens with fresh focus
Chef Gina Trivelli-Young recently opened Manna Catering at the public café space at Geer Lodge in North Canaan.
Debra A. Aleksinas
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Parents push back on proposed Sharon Center School budget cuts
Alec Linden
Apr 28, 2026
Sharon resident Veronica Betts posts flyers around Sharon to raise support for Sharon Center School.
Madi Long
SHARON – In a last-ditch effort to avoid a proposed $70,000 cut to the Sharon Center School’s 2026-27 budget, local parents are mobilizing – packing meetings, posting flyers and warning that reductions could undermine the school’s future. Sharon resident Veronica Betts plastered the town with posters earlier this week, urging residents to attend town meetings to voice support for the Board of Education, which determines the SCS budget.
“We shouldn’t be talking about defunding the school,” said Betts, who has a young daughter en- rolled in Sharon Daycare, part of SCS. “These are kids, this is so short-sighted and ridiculous.” The cuts, if adopted, could affect the staff salary line, supplies and even the cafeteria, which would require premade lunches to be delivered from HVRHS.
With a daughter at Sharon Daycare, Betts said her hope is to stay in the public school, but if support isn’t given to SCS, she and her family are considering a move to Indian Mountain School, the Lakeville-based pre-kindergarten through ninth grade private school where tuition ranges from $31,250 to $88,385.
Meghan Kenny, whose children are fourth-generation students at SCS, said she worries about the future of the school. An avid supporter of SCS, Kenny said she has seen some improvements between the BOE and the parent-teacher organization, but noted, “these proposed cuts represent a step in the wrong direction.”
She said the proposed 0% budget increase has driven her to start looking for property in nearby Salisbury to send her children to a different school. Kenny and Betts also spoke out at a packed Town Hall on Friday night, April 24, where local parents voiced nearly unified support for more funding in the elementary school budget.
The meeting was intended as the hearing for both the school and municipal budgets, but its nearly two-hour runtime was almost entirely dedicated to reviewing the BOE’s 2026-27 spending plan, which was subject to a last minute cut of $70,000 by the BOF to keep the bottom line flat from last year. If approved, it will be the fifth straight year of zero increase to the BOE’s budget.
Due to a state law known as the minimum budget requirement or MBR, towns in Connecticut are not allowed to spend less on education than any previous year. The BOF has repeatedly stated the rationale for keeping the bottom line flat is to keep the MBR stable. BOF member John Hecht defended the cuts during Friday’s hearing stating that the per pupil amount, totaling some $48,000, is the highest in the state and third highest in the country.
Still, residents were not swayed.
“Who cares,” said William Betts of the per pupil costs, affirming that his motivation as a taxpayer is to invest in education. He advocated to put funding back into arts and school supplies lines which had been cut, saying the arts are often the first to go when budgets are trimmed. “I think we have to rethink that,” he said.
BOE Chair Phillip O’Reilly and BOE member Peter Birnbaum said that the reality of the school’s student body and environment is not reflected by the per pupil costs, which don’t account for tuition students, of which there are projected to be 14 next year, or the 60 daycare students that use the school’s facilities. “We need to understand that Sharon Center School is more than K-8 – we have a daycare,” O’Reilly said.
SCS Principal Carol Tomkalski, who pushed back on the cuts, said students’ needs are “broad” and “complex,” which also accounts for the high per pupil cost, noting that approximately 18-20% of students have disabilities. Further, “we support our students as whole children,” she said, noting that the cost “is not inefficiency, it is investment.”
Still, both Tomalski and O’Reilly stated that they are confident that students will receive the education and services they need with the proposed budget. Parents remained wary, though, and many spoke out in favor of reinvesting funds into the budget and bringing it back above the MBR.
Community activist Jill Drew has been openly outspoken in past years about raising the budget beyond the flatline, and reaffirmed that opinion Friday evening. “We have a very special school and the costs are high,” she said, saying that with rising operational costs across the region, a flat budget for next year doesn’t make sense. She requested the BOF to allow the BOE to return to its budget before the required $70,000 cut.
The vast majority of the public testimony followed a similar sentiment. “I haven’t heard a rationale for why [the budget increase] is zero,” said Nancy Birnbaum. “It seems like everyone who’s spoken wants an increase,” she said.
Several days after the hearing, BOF Chair Thomas Bartram said that while he understands the concerns of parents and residents and appreciated the public engagement, many who spoke on Friday night seemed to lack context on the BOF’s decision to flatline the MBR.
“Several years ago, we put capital expenditures for the school building in the Board of Education budget, which was in essence a mistake on our part,” he said.
Since then, the BOE has been operating on an “inflated” budget due to that capital that was included, and the MBR which doesn’t allow the removal of funds from the previous year’s education budget. He said that the tone of Friday’s hearing departed from previous years, where residents this year have been more scrutinizing of education spending and SCS’s per pupil costs. The BOF’s goal was to account for what it thought was taxpayer concerns while supporting an operable budget for the school.
“It is the belief of the majority of the Board of Finance that the budget they presented is what they can run on,” he said.
The Board of Finance is expected to review whether there is any feasible way to shift available funding into the Board of Education operating budget, including tuition revenue currently included in the Board of Selectmen budget or savings from the regional school assessment, which is lower than last year’s.
Bartram said that while he awaits the outcome, both options are essentially “not spendable” money under normal circumstances as they come in the form of credit or grants that don’t impact bottom lines.
He said that the conversation of where tuition funding goes is a worthy one moving forward, though, as the school accepts more non-resident students. In previous years, he said, the number was much lower than this year’s proposed $41,000, or even zero.
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Artist Alissa DeGregorio brings her work to Roxbury and New Milford
Robin Roraback
Apr 22, 2026
Alissa DeGregorio, a New Milford -based artist and designer, has pieces on display at Mine Hill Distillery.
Agnes Fohn
When I’m designing a book, I’m also the bridge between artist and author, the final step that pulls everything together.
— Alissa DeGregorio
A visit to Alissa DeGregorio Art, the website of the artist and designer, reveals the multiple talents she possesses.
Tabs for design, commissions, print club, and classes still reveal only part of her work.On the design page are examples of graphic and book design, including book covers illustrated by DeGregorio, along with samples of licensed products such as coloring pages and lunch boxes, and examples of prop design she has done for film.
The commissions tab includes samples of her pet and house portraits, as well as a new endeavor: wedding bouquet portraits.
“I love painting flowers and it’s a great way to forever preserve such an iconic part of a bride’s special day,” she said.
A shopping tab offers paintings, prints, and calendars for purchase.
Other tabs highlight the classes she teaches at the New Milford Public Library and another new venture:
“I’m starting a print club called ‘Root & Wing’. Each month, I’ll release an animal - or plant-themed – painting as a mailable 5-by-7 print with an accompanying information sheet, meditation and herbal recipe. People can purchase just one month or subscribe for the year,” DeGregorio explained.
DeGregorio considered a career in music.“My dad was a musician, always playing trumpet, piano, guitar or saxophone. As a teenager, I took quickly to the guitar and began writing my own songs, performing on my own and with a band. I thought music would be my path until my mid-twenties, when my focus switched to art.”
She recalls a childhood surrounded by art. “My mom was also an artist, creating detailed pen-and-ink drawings. Artist was the first thing I knew I wanted to be when I grew up and it was never discouraged. As a little kid, I would draw beside her, sculpt with homemade play doh, craft, crochet or paint.”
After graduating from high school in New Fairfield, Conn., and attending Naropa University in Colorado to pursue fine arts and Buddhism for a time, she returned to Connecticut to finish her degree at Western Connecticut State University. “When I was close to completing an illustration BA, a professor encouraged me to stay the extra year and double major in graphic design.”She said the extra time gave her “a strong foundation in design and storytelling. Experience in so many different creative fields has guided my practice and allowed me to pursue many avenues of art-making.”
Her mother, besides being an artist herself, runs Storybook Arts, an agency representing children’s book illustrators. DeGregorio has sometimes helped out. “I’ve always loved children’s illustration; there’s nothing better than a beautifully illustrated story. I had an insider’s eye to the nuts and bolts of the illustration business early on, and that taught me about pricing, contracts, the illustration process and also how to be business savvy but kind.”
DeGregorio likes working with authors who self-publish.She has done this both as a designer and an agent. “When I’m designing a book, I’m also the bridge between artist and author, the final step that pulls everything together. A good agent not only keeps track of timelines and contracts but is a supportive and encouraging ally to the artists they represent.”
An interesting aspect of her many talents is creating props. “I’ve done some prop work for TV and movies, such as handwritten lyric sheets for the upcoming Michael movie, or document and book props for Stranger Things. Those are fun for the wow factor!” she explained.
Of the classes she teaches, she said, “Teaching is enjoyable in that I’m helping to inspire people to have confidence in their own creativity. Watching students leave my classes feeling more joyful is its own reward.”
“I’ve been teaching adult painting classes at the New Milford Public Library for about four years now. I recently taught a series focusing on painting emotions. We talked about what the emotion meant to us, and how to represent that visually. For kids, I try to focus on process art and skill building through an activity, like designing a mythical map or board game, or Herve Tullet-style workshops.” DeGregorio has several classes ongoing through the summer.
DeGregorio’s paintings are on display at Mine Hill Distillery in Roxbury, with an artist reception on May 2 from 5 to 7 p.m. Her husband’s band, Gumbo, will play at the reception.
From May 15 to 17, DeGregorio will be at Goat Days in New Milford, where she will have art for sale.
To find out more about Alissa DeGregorio Art and all that she offers, go to alissadegregorio.com.A link to sign up for classes is also available on the site.
DeGregorio feels fortunate to have followed a path to being an artist. “I love it all and can’t believe some of the things I’ve gotten to do. I look forward to what the future may hold.”
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Agnes Martin at Dia:Beacon
D.H. Callahan
Apr 22, 2026
Minimalist works by Agnes Martin on display at Dia:Beacon.
D.H. Callahan
At Dia:Beacon, simplicity commands attention.
On Saturday, April 4, the venerated modern art museum — located at 3 Beekman St. in Beacon, NY — opened an exhibition of works by the middle- to late-20th-century minimalist artist Agnes Martin.
Martin, the Canadian-born New York and New Mexico resident who died in 2004, made the kind of ambiguous abstract art that inspires countless imitators and interpreters.
At first glance, most of the pieces in the new show, “Painting Is Not the Act of Painting,” (on display until June 22) are variations on simple lines and grids painstakingly applied by the artist’s own hand using paint and pencil.
Despite their relative simplicity, it took Martin years of rejecting her own artwork to reach this level of pure abstraction. She would often take knives to paintings she didn’t like, literally slashing work that didn’t live up to her expectations. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s that she began making the work she would become known for.
That evolution is reflected in the exhibition’s 24 works.
Dia:Beacon seems like a perfect place for them. The museum is a monument to simplicity. Even the most complicated pieces are abstractions in their own ways. A straight, unpainted plywood wall with diagonal backing by Donald Judd suggests a room under construction. Michael Heizer’s singular ovoid boulder embedded into a gallery wall strikes unease into visitors.
Subtle grids and softly layered lines by Agnes Martin draw the eye at Dia:BeaconD.H. Callahan
Martin’s pieces feel at home here. In the context of such visual, if not conceptual, simplicity, her art seems louder than it might in almost any other setting. Faint blue and peach stripes gain vibrancy when compared with the all-white canvases of Robert Ryman or the large gray mirrors of Gerhard Richter, both a few rooms away. By comparison, the visibly human-drawn lines of pencil or etched-out paint seem almost complicated, and technically masterful.
It’s enough to make you ponder the name of the exhibition, “Painting Is Not the Act of Painting,” pulled from a quote by Martin: “Painting is not making paintings; it is a development of awareness. And with this awareness, your work changes, but very slowly.”
In a world where studio assistants and fabricators contribute to the output of many artists, Martin relished the act of painting. She painted nearly every day of her adult life. For her, the process was an integral part of the work, and it’s hard to look at these pieces without appreciating her hand.
This repetitive study is also demonstrated across the hall in a gallery dedicated to a single work by Andy Warhol. The piece, “Shadows,” is a study of variations on a single subject. Warhol took photos of shadows in his office and, using a silkscreen process, painted them 102 times on identically sized canvases.
Walking into the room, it may seem like the same image repeated. On closer inspection, the canvases vary widely in color and composition. The work suggests that repetition can produce unexpected forms.
Agnes Martin has become enshrined as one of the leaders of the minimalist movement of the 1960s and ’70s. Her work and artistic philosophies have inspired countless admirers. This exhibition displays a selection of important pieces from nearly 50 years of practice.
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Falls Village exhibit honors life and work of Priscilla Belcher
Robin Roraback
Apr 22, 2026
Hunt Library in Falls Village will present a commemorative show of paintings and etchings by the late Priscilla Belcher of Falls Village.
Lydia Downs
Priscilla Belcher, a Canaan resident who was known for her community involvement and willingness to speak out, will be featured in a posthumous exhibition at the ArtWall at the Hunt Library from April 25 through May 15.
An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 25. The show will commemorate her life and work and will include watercolors and etchings. Belcher died in November 2025 at the age of 95.
Christian Allyn, a close friend, said Belcher largely kept her creative work private. “Priscilla was a very private person. She kept her painting and writings to herself and only a few close family members,” he said, noting that she was self-taught.
After Belcher suffered a fall in 2024, Allyn and her neighbor, Gail Sinclair, prepared her home for her return. “During this process is when Gail and I began to uncover the volumes of art that Priscilla did throughout her life,” he said.
Belcher was born in 1930 in the Huntsville section of Canaan, the youngest of 10 children. Her family struggled during the Great Depression. “She could remember the entire family splitting one cabbage for dinner,” Allyn said. Her father died when she was nine.
She graduated from Lee H. Kellogg School, when it was still located at the Hunt Library building, and went on to graduate from Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS).She married John Belcher, foster son of local landowner Dorothy Haven, and moved in 1952 to a house in South Canaan that Haven gave them, near the South Canaan Meeting house, the “Little Red House.”
Years later, Belcher sold the home to help cover legal expenses for her neighbor, Peter Reilly, who was wrongly accused of killing his mother while a student at HVRHS in the 1970s.
Allyn described Belcher as part of a generation shaped by hardship. “Priscilla was one of the last living examples of the greatest generation,” he said. “Through that struggle, her tenacity and character were formed, which helped shape Canaan and the wider region into what it is today.”
He added that her advocacy ranged from pushing for pollution controls at the Falls Village landfill to calling for reforms in Region One schools. “Her willingness to put her house up to pay for Peter Reilly’s legal expenses, consistent advocacy of pollution controls … and reform to Region One in 2010 led this area into a far better place,” he said.
Belcher worked as a bookkeeper for the Lakeville Journal and Geer Nursing. After 1978, she devoted her time to gardening, documenting local history, refinishing furniture, attending town meetings, supporting people in recovery, and developing her painting and writing.
“She had a very hard life and often upset other people while she was intending to do good,” Allyn said. He recalled a conversation near the end of her life: “She said to me in her last days, ‘You know, I think I went a little too far with what I did in Falls Village,’” referring to her outspokenness. He added that after reflecting, “her entire outlook changed.”
The opening reception will be a celebration of Priscilla Belcher’s life, art, and legacy. All are welcome.
For more information visit www.huntlibrary.org/art-wall
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Crescendo’s 'Stepping Into Song' blends Jewish, Argentine traditions
Ruth Epstein
Apr 22, 2026
The sounds of Argentine tango and Jewish folk traditions will collide in a rare cross-cultural performance April 25 and 26, when Berkshire’s Crescendo presents the choral program “Stepping Into Song.”
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s founding artistic director, described the concert as “a world-class, diverse cultural experience” pairing “A Jewish Cantata” with Martin Palmeri’s “Misa a Buenos Aires.”
For Gevert, who was raised in Chile, the program fulfills a passion for bringing Latin American music to the region.
Palmeri will travel to the Berkshires to conduct and accompany his own works in collaboration with Gevert. Born in Buenos Aires, he is not only a composer but also a conductor and pianist known for integrating tango rhythms into classical choral and orchestral forms.
Billed as the biggest concert of Crescendo’s season, “It is not your traditional choral concert,” Gevert said, describing it as monumental. “The two main works on the program are a fusion of sacred, traditional choral music and the dramatic, pulsating rhythms and lush harmonies of Argentine tango. ‘A Jewish Cantata’ is a unique new work that merges Yiddish and Hebrew folk songs with traditional choral writing and Piazzolla-style tango.”
The messages presented go beyond current political ideologies, she said, and are instead universal. She said she commissioned the work to honor her roots and connect to Jewish people.
The performances will feature the Crescendo Chorus, the Manchester Community College Chorus, and Mexican-born soloist Nadia Aguilar, a soprano, scholar and educator.
The two main instrumental soloists are Argentine bandoneon player Rodolfo Marcelo Zanetti and Alexander Kollias, principal clarinetist with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra.
An ensemble of strings led by New York City-based Brazilian violinist Edson Scheid, along with piano performed by both Palmeri and Gevert, will provide the instrumental accompaniment. Palmeri and Gevert will share the conductor’s podium.
Gevert formed Crescendo in 2003 to bring high-level choral music to a region that lacked the offerings found in larger urban areas. The group combines 20 to 30 chamber chorus members with a strong pool of paid professional musicians.
“Stepping Into Song” will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at Trinity Church, 484 Lime Rock Road, Lakeville, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Saint James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington. Tickets and workshop registration are available at crescendomusic.org.
Crescendo’s concerts are partially funded by support from the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development, WMNR Fine Arts Radio and NBT Bank.
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Salisbury Rotary brings Derby race-day flair to Noble Horizons for community fundraiser
Debra A. Aleksinas
Apr 22, 2026
Salisbury Rotary Club President Bill Pond and his wife, Beth, dressed for the occasion during last year’s Kentucky Derby Social.
Provided
SALISBURY — As millions tune in to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2, a spirited local tradition unfolds in Salisbury, where the pageantry, fashion and excitement of race day are recreated — with a community purpose.
For the past six years in the Community Room at Noble Horizons, all eyes turn to the big screen as the crowd settles in, drinks in hand and anticipation building. Women in elaborate Derby hats — bursting with oversized silk flowers, feathers and playful cutouts — mingle with men dressed for the occasion in crisp jackets and bow ties, fedoras and the occasional red rose on a lapel.
As post time nears, the room quiets, then hums with nervous energy. When the horn finally sounds, the crowd erupts. The next two minutes determine which thoroughbred will be ceremoniously draped in a blanket of roses.
“They definitely take it to heart,” said Salisbury Rotary Club President Bill Pond of the local revelers. “It’s just tile and bricks here, but when they’re waiting for that horn to go off, it feels like the real thing in Kentucky.”
The club’s annual Kentucky Derby Social has become the Rotary Club’s signature fundraiser, blending high-spirited fun with a deeper purpose: supporting neighbors across the Northwest Corner.
Proceeds from the event support local food banks, student scholarships, backpacks and clothing for back-to-school programs, as well as nonprofit groups serving residents in need.
Between sponsorships, a silent and live auction, ticket sales and monetary donations, the organization is hoping to raise about $6,000 this year.
“Rotary members volunteer their time, and all the money raised goes back to the community,” said Pond, who is also the administrator at Noble Horizons Senior Community, whichprovides the event space, food and refreshments.
Over the past several years, said Rotary treasurer Susan Dickinson, the organization has donated more than $50,000 locally — helping stock food pantry shelves, support families preparing for the school year and provide scholarships to area students.
“All the money raised comes from local people, so it goes back into the community. We try to help those that are most in need,” said Pond. “Everybody’s hurting.”
Planning for the event starts many months in advance.
“A lot of time and effort goes into it,” Dickinson said of the volunteers who take care of the many details, from soliciting donations and sponsorships, to planning the menu, selling tickets, creating the gift baskets and transforming the community room into a festive, Derby-worthy space.
On a recent weekday in April, while planning was in full swing, Dickinson noted that Fran Chapell, the club’s secretary, was busy assembling donated items into themed gift baskets for the silent auction, a highlight of the evening’s fundraising efforts.
There is one element to the Salisbury social, however, that consistently steals the show.
“It’s all about the hats,” said Pond. “Women show up in hats with gigantic pink or red flowers and all kinds of decorations on them.”
Gentlemen, too, often dress to the nines. “There’s a gentleman who wears an authentic suit that somebody at the track would wear. It’s a lot of fun.”
Organizers are optimistic this year’s Derby social will draw a minimum of 100 attendees. “Last year’s turnout was closer to 75,” Dickinson said, citing competition from other local events on that same day.
But if the energy inside Noble Horizons is any indication, the crowd will once again rise to its feet when the starting horn sounds — proving that even miles from Churchill Downs, the spirit of the Derby, and the generosity behind it, runs just as strong.
For details and tickets, email salisburyctrotary@gmail.com or call 860-671-1676 or 860-671-1415
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