McCarron wins silver at state meet

HVRHS track runner won the Berkshire League 1600-meter race Feb. 7, pictured above, and qualified for the Class S state meet in New Haven Feb. 15, where he won silver.
Provided
HVRHS track runner won the Berkshire League 1600-meter race Feb. 7, pictured above, and qualified for the Class S state meet in New Haven Feb. 15, where he won silver.
Housatonic Valley Regional High School senior Kyle McCarron’s 1600-meter time of 4:30.31 earned him second place in this year’s indoor state meet. He was within two seconds of first-place finisher Matthew Kraszewski from Nathan Hale-Ray High School.
McCarron was one of eight runners to represent HVRHS in the 2025 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S indoor track meet at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven Feb. 15. In addition to his 1600-meter silver medal, McCarron placed sixth in the 3200-meter run.
For the HVRHS girls, Mia Dodge placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles. Dodge also placed fifth in the sprint medley relay with teammates Gabi Titone, Harper Howe and Kenzie Lotz. Howe placed eighth in the 600-meter race. Titone placed 10th in the 1600-meter race.
Patrick Money placed 10th in the boys 55-meter hurdles and 25th in the long jump. Money, Kyle McCarron, Silas Tripp and Peter Austin placed 12th as a team in the sprint medley relay.
At the Berkshire League golf all-star tournament Tuesday, Oct. 14, Housatonic Valley Regional High School golfer Jonas Johnson hit the longest drive. Coach Peter Vermilyea reported Johnson’s drive landed “about 300 yards” down the fairway. “And it was uphill.” The postseason meet was held at Fairview Farm Golf Course in Harwinton. Johnson is a junior at HVRHS.
"No Kings” protesters gathered on Main Street in Kent on Saturday, Oct. 18, in opposition to the Trump administration.
The Northwest Corner was well represented among the 7 million nationwide who took to the streets Saturday, Oct. 18, for “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration. Rallies were held in Salisbury, North Canaan, Cornwall and Kent with hundreds carrying signs, chanting messages and bonding with one another toward a common cause.
In Salisbury, the lawn of the White Hart Inn was filled to the brim as people from many towns gathered to voice their concerns and listen to a group of speakers. Here, as in the other local rallies, the energy level was high with participants loudly cheering for the messages being given.
Sophia DeBoer, one of the organizers, began by quoting Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who said rallies express the love of America. “We will not let Trump and his administration turn this into an authoritarian society,” she said.
Andrea Downs of Falls Village, who with her family has hosted 31 students from 19 countries through the AFS program at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, said such initiatives serve to break down barriers of prejudice and bring peace and understanding to communities. Housatonic has been in the forefront of hosting students and sending others abroad. For many years it held the record as the school with the longest, continuous hosting in the country, she said.
Signs lined the edge of Main Street in North Canaan.Tom Zetterstrom
“Sadly, the numbers of students and families participating in exchanges has dropped dramatically over the last few years,” said Downs. “Connecticut and western Massachusetts had traditionally hosted between 21 and 23 students each year. This year their number was zero.” She said it is almost impossible to get families to commit to hosting when they have to worry that their students will be targeted by ICE, or stopped at airports.
Downs said, “These are not the principles the United States has stood for in the past. We celebrated diversity and considered the rights of all individuals. We need to find a way to promote programming that emphasizes people-to-people connections. These are the types of values that make us stronger as a nation and a world. By making these sorts of connections we grow, mature and evolve.”
Twelve-year-old Jackson Maygar spoke about how this government is affecting youth. “Students need to be educated and not just believe what they see on TikTok,” he said. The Salisbury Central School student said many of his classmates are experiencing homophobia. “When you have bullying in office, what can you expect from kids?”
He received loud applause when he said there should be due process “and that’s the end of the conversation.” He then gave some positivity, saying, “It’s not hopeless. Come to rallies. Listen to the news. Follow John Lewis’s message of good trouble.”
State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) said the importance of showing up for rallies such as this one cannot be underestimated. She lamented what is happening, saying what disturbs her most as a former federal prosecutor is the behavior of masked ICE members.
State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) speaks at the “No Kings” rally in Salisbury.Ruth Epstein
History teacher Larry Rand focused on the constitutional breaches of the administration. He called the rally “one of the most important protests in American history.” He said Trump is pushing every edge of executive power and listed all the actions he’s taken to violate the constitution, such as setting tariffs, which is up to Congress, and using the Department of Justice for revenge of his political opponents.
“Trump is a champion of lying,” Rand said. “He makes Pinocchio look like a Boy Scout. So what can we do? We need more movements like this. We need to run a candidate with charisma who listens to constituents. And we must get out and vote no matter how hard Donald Trump makes it.”
Some residents performed music, including the Berkshire Resilience Brass Band; a trio of Alice Yoakum, Jo Loi and Sharon Charde who made up their own lyrics to a few ditties and Louise Lindenmeyr, who led a group in a rendition of “Hit the Road, Trump.”
There was a large presence at the “No Kings” rally in Cornwall Bridge on Saturday.Ruth Epstein
In Cornwall, the triangle at the intersection of routes 7 and 4 was filled.
One of the organizers, Dick Sears, said, “I’m very happy with the energy and unity we’re seeing here. People want their democracy back.” Both sides of Kent’s Main Street were lined with protesters during its rally, waving and showing thanks to the legions of passersby who honked their horns.
FALLS VILLAGE — There will be a town meeting Friday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m. at Town Hall, in-person only, for the purpose of an additional appropriation to the waste management budget from the road maintenance budget for $6,315.89 to cover the overage in expenses for fiscal year ending 2025.
The Board of Selectmen called for the town meeting during the regular monthly selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, Oct. 14.
The selectmen voted unanimously to approve the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department’s request to use the town Green Saturday, Nov. 1 for the Ed McGuire Cannonball Run road race, and to close Main Street on Friday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. for the Recreation Commission’s Halloween trick-or-treat event.
The selectmen also accepted, with “deepest gratitude, the resignation of Emily Peterson as recreation director.
The selectmen signed a letter to Peterson, which ended with “Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and the positive changes you have brought to our recreation programs will be enjoyed by generations to come.”
The selectmen appointed Greg Marlowe, Eileen Kinsella, Catherine Wales and Chris Wadsworth to the STEAP Grant Implementation Committee, effective Oct. 14. The committee will serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Selectmen.
The selectmen received notice from Kathleen Kucka of Furnace-Art on Paper Gallery at the town-owned 107 Main Street (also home of the Falls Village Cafe) that she will be leaving the space as of Dec. 31.
Kucka’s email included this: “We have had the best time running a little art gallery in Falls Village.”
David M. Hunt Library and the Recreation Commission presented a Fall Festival Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Recreation Center. Above, Becky Mochak and her children Anna, Ivan, Marek, along with Henry Kinsella, enjoyed smores provided by the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department.