FALLS VILLAGE — The two-hour memorial service held in his honor on June 10 was a snapshot of everything that mattered most to John Leo Mahoney, known to all as Jack, who died May 14, 2011, at the age of 73.Of course tears were shed by many in the audience and on the stage of the auditorium at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. But overall, it was a service that, like Mahoney, was fun, funny and filled with references to the Boston Red Sox — including a “seventh-inning stretch” about three quarters of the way through. Everyone in the audience stood up and sang along to “Sweet Caroline,” which has been the official seventh-inning stretch song at every Red Sox game since 2002.Fenway Park would, arguably, be the only other place that Mahoney might have chosen for a memorial service in his honor. But, really, no place was more appropriate than Housatonic Valley Regional High School, to which he had devoted so much of his life. The downstairs of the auditorium, which seats 406 people, was full. The front seats were filled with family, including Mahoney’s mother, Florence.Ed Kirby was the master of ceremonies, taking charge of the stage and proceedings as he had done so many times during the years when he was a top administrator at the school and in the school district, and when Mahoney was (first) an English teacher and (later) the high school’s principal. Kirby was also one of Mahoney’s closest friends and (along with another close friend, Barclay Prindle) a member of the National Outlaw and Lawman’s Association. His commitment to exploring the Wild West, his devotion to tennis, his annual almost mythic visits to the Red Sox training camp in Florida and his joy in other such pleasurable activities were recounted in many of the tales shared by the 14 guest speakers.But much was also said about his extraordinary commitment to the high school (and, especially, its students), the nearby D. M. Hunt Library, the Democratic Party and many other nonprofit and charitable organizations.Each of his four children spoke, sharing stories that were amusing and tender, sometimes choking back tears at memories of the many ways their father supported them, guided them and loved them.“The two words that sum him up are teacher and father,” said Nancy (Mahoney) Soper, the youngest child (known affectionately by her dad as Number Four). “He was always right beside me, with a hand on my back, giving me a gentle nudge.”His colleagues from his years in education spoke reverently of him as a mentor and someone who set an example that they could and still do follow. David Bayersdorfer was an early protege of Mahoney’s and has filled many roles at the school (including a recent stint as interim assistant principal last fall, after he officially retired). He referred to Mahoney as “mentor and tor-mentor” at times because he set a high standard and was unwavering in his expectation that the standard would be met. Grammar and clarity in thinking and writing were areas of particular concern. Several people, including his children, recalled the way he wielded a red pen like a sword, ruthlessly correcting errors in spelling and syntax.Many of the speakers referred to Mahoney’s love of the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. And, yes, several mentions were made of his devotion to the Red Sox. Mahoney’s companion on his Florida baseball trips was always his cousin, Mike Groom, who shared some of the highlights of their travels. He talked about how thrilled they both were to be able to stay in the same hotel as their baseball-playing idols, and stopped to ask, “Do you remember the last time you were just thrilled?” The biggest thrill of all came when the cousins came upon legendary Sox player Nomar Garciaparra at the hotel: “We instantly turned into two 12-year-olds.”After he received word that Mahoney had died, Groom said he sat down to watch the Yankees and the Red Sox play each other. The Sox won. And they swept their rivals in that series. Groom said he is sure that those victories and similar wins on June 7, 8 and 9 were a tribute to one of the team’s most devoted fans.Fred Baldwin was one of the final speakers, and he reminded audience members that there will be a Jack Mahoney Memorial Tennis Tournament at the high school tennis courts (named in honor of Mahoney and former high school Athletic Director Roland Chinatti) on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. In Mahoney’s memory, everyone will play with everyone and play will rotate every 20 minutes. All proceeds from the tournament and the sale of refreshments at the courts will benefit the 21st Century Fund.The finale to the evening ceremony was the reading of a letter from John Perotti, who is chairman of the 21st Century Fund. The letter explained that Mahoney got the idea for the fund while traveling across America to study “best practices” in education. A California school was using a mix of public and private funding to pay for programs. Mahoney returned to Connecticut to create the 21st Century Fund (with the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation), which sought private donations for all the seven schools in the Region One School District.At present, the fund is trying to raise $5,000 to finish the new science and technology center in what was formerly the Clarke Wood agricultural education building at Housatonic. Memorial donations in Mahoney’s memory may be sent to 21st Century Fund for HVRHS, 246 Warren Turnpike Road, Falls Village, CT 06031.For information on the tennis tournament, email Cynthia Hochswender at cindyinsharon@gmail.com.
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Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.
“I was a library kid. I walked to the library after school,” she said.
For Sher, the library is as much about the people as it about the books.
“Part of the job I love so much is that running the library is such a community,” she said.
She treasures the relationships she has built, whether recommending books, celebrating accomplishments or helping patrons through difficult times.
“I am thankful that our community is so supportive of the library, unlike what is happening in some other places where librarians are villainized,” Sher said.
Sher takes pride in the Hunt Library’s reputation for being “open and welcoming to everyone. People come in and see things and get pulled into things they weren’t expecting. Our library is seen as a positive force.”
Sher came to Falls Village after being awarded a fellowship at Adamah Farm, then a program of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. She worked at pickling, in the greenhouse and later in the development office. She also worked as a nanny.
At the same time, “I was in the library all the time,” she recalled. “I’m a voracious reader. The library is where I met a lot of my first friends in Falls Village.”
She became assistant librarian at Hunt and worked in that position for almost a decade before becoming the executive director four years ago.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino
Sher met her husband, Adam, while working at Adamah. They had their wedding there in 2012. He now emcees many events which she co-organizes with the Falls Village Recreation Commission.
Sher and her family live near the library.
“It’s an easy commute,” she said with a smile. “My kids run back and forth. I can go home to walk the dog if I need to.”
“My kids have grown up here.” Her oldest son, Eli, “loves volunteering. He helps with Augustfest and often helps set up chairs for ArtWall gatherings.” Her younger son, Noah, is often at events and was eager to taste cookies at last year’s holiday cookie swap.
When she is not at the library, Sher likes to hike with her family. Bella, their Portuguese water dog, often accompanies them.
Sher enjoys seeking out people to offer events at the library.
“I do a lot of different community programming. It is one of my favorite parts of the job.”
Augustfest, featuring food, music and an auction, is the library’s biggest fundraiser.
“This summer we had a record 152 attendees, which was pretty incredible.”
Yonah Sadeh, a filmmaker from Falls Village, inaugurated the VideoWall this year, Sher explained.
“I’ve known Yonah since he was two. It’s wonderful to work with him as an adult.”
The VideoWall complements the library’s ArtWall, which showcases a new artist each month. Sher praised the ArtWall committee for its work and highlighted December’s popular “12x12 Show,” featuring works by local artists, each measuring 12 by 12 inches and priced at $150.
Sher added that some of the artists who exhibit at the ArtWall offer workshops to students at Kellogg School, next door to the library. In September, artist Danielle Mailer worked with the children. Vincent Inconiglios taught a class last November.
Being next to the school, said Sher, is a great advantage.
“Kids are coming after school, to see friends, work on projects, find a great book. Kids that love the library end up using the library as grownups.”
This past year, in partnership with Adamah, the library and school created a garden, with excess produce made available at The Center on Main.
This year is Sher’s second year participating in the Troutbeck Symposium in Amenia with James King, director of the library at Salisbury School. The Troutbeck Symposium is “a gathering of a year of student historical inquiry across the region” in which students “uncover stories that have been overlooked, forgotten, or never recorded.”
Last year, Sher and King began a project with a group of students researching Irish immigrants in Falls Village, exploring ancestry and creating small magazines about their findings.
They continued this year, visiting St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery on Dublin Road, cleaning seven gravestones and even righting one with the help of stonemason and gravestone restoration expert Karl Munson. Paul Kozeazny, a representative of the Catholic archdiocese, helped secure access to the site.
A film documenting their activities will be shown at the symposium in spring 2027.
A full schedule of programs and events, ranging from tech help to ceramic mug-making, can be found on the library’s website.
Despite spending her days surrounded by books, and a busy schedule of programming, Sher still loves to settle in with a book at home.
For more information on library programs and events, visit huntlibrary.org
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Touré was born in northern Mali in 1981. His father, the renowned guitarist Ali Farka Touré, came from a family of soldiers and wanted his son to join the army. The younger Touré studied drums and the calabash and practiced guitar in secret. He earned his father’s blessing to pursue music shortly before Ali died in 2006, and they played two tracks together on Vieux’s debut album.
Touré is known for his deft, polyrhythmic playing, and his songs grow out of riffs that repeat and layer to hypnotic effect. He draws on rock, blues, Latin music and various African traditions. This distinctive blend builds on his father’s work adapting the sonic traditions of Mali’s arid north to the guitar.
Vieux’s album “Mon Pays” (“My Country,” 2013) honored Mali’s culture after Tuareg separatists and extremist groups seized the north in 2012. “Samba” (2017) was recorded before about 50 listeners in Woodstock, New York. In 2022 came “Les Racines” (“The Roots”), a return to his father’s desert blues, and “Ali,” on which he and the trio Khruangbin reworked eight of the elder Touré’s songs.
Touré leads the Ali Farka Touré Foundation, which focuses on cultural and educational work in Mali. Around the anniversary of Ali’s death, it holds a festival in Bamako, Mali’s capital. Bamako has been under blockade for much of the past year, besieged by JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Against this backdrop, Touré continues to carry the music of Mali to audiences abroad.
At the Nov. 5 concert, Touré’s desert blues will share the bill with Gnawa, the music LanGus plays, which developed in Morocco among West Africans who were brought north across the desert as enslaved people. Gnawa is religious music traditionally performed at all-night healing ceremonies called lila, intended to carry participants into trance.
Samir LanGusProvided
LanGus was born and raised outside Agadir, Morocco, and began learning Gnawa from its masters at age 8. He plays the sintir, a three-stringed bass lute made of wood and camel skin. The player strikes a low string with the thumb to create a deep, resonant pulse. Iron castanets clatter over the sintir’s bass line, and vocalists trade call-and-response refrains.
LanGus infuses the tradition with jazz and improvisation. In New York, he founded the ensemble Innov Gnawa. His first solo album, “Gnawa Love,” came out in February.
Touré and LanGus’s Nov. 5 concert is one of the last public events at Race Brook Lodge, which is for sale and ended full-service operations at the end of 2025. The lodge’s final scheduled event, on Nov. 6, is an evening of Rumi’s poetry with translator and vocalist Haleh Liza Gafori, cellist Isabel Castellvi and ceremonial bard James Bird.
For tickets, visit rblodge.com.
James FitzGerald is a student at Yale Law School, where he focuses on ecological restoration and international environmental cooperation. He splits his time between Lakeville and New Haven.
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