WEBUTUCK — The Millbrook girls varsity soccer team faced Webutuck on Monday, Oct. 17, and secured a win in the second half.The scoreboard was blank at halftime, but Millbrook was able to make the winning goal off a free kick in the second half, making the final score 1-0.The game brought Webutuck’s overall record to 7-3-2. Its league record is 4-3-2 and its division record is 3-1-1.On Wednesday, Oct. 12, the Webutuck girls played against Coleman to earn a 3-0 victory.Victoria Cullinan made the first goal of the game off a corner kick. Briana Bailey made the second and third goals, with assists by Jeanne Boyd and Cullinan.This was goalie Leslie Robertson’s seventh shutout of the season.
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Rain and wind fail to deter Salisbury CROP Hunger walkers
Patrick L. Sullivan
Sep 30, 2026
Rev. Erik Karas of Christ Trinity Church in Sheffield addresses the participants before the CROP walk.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — More than 100 people turned out on a blustery, wet afternoon for the CROP Hunger Walk in Salisbury and Lakeville on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Organizer Patricia Palmer said she had been watching the weather forecast and decided Sunday morning to go ahead with the walk.
Participants came from Salisbury and nearby towns, with sizable contingents from Salisbury School, Indian Mountain School and The Hotchkiss School.
The event, now in its 43rd year, supports Church World Service’s international efforts to end hunger and poverty, as well as local food pantries. Individuals and teams register for the walk, and donors sponsor them.
Palmer said she wouldn’t have a final amount raised for a week or so, but added that last year’s walk raised $49,571.
The walk began at the Congregational Church, followed the Rail Trail to Patco in Lakeville, then returned along Main Street to Brook Street, where walkers rejoined the trail and headed back to the church.
Adam Smedberg of Church World Service gave an example of how donations are used.
In a rural part of Cambodia, he said, the rainy and dry seasons each last about six months. Children in one village must cross a river to get to school, which requires a boat during the rainy season.
After a boat capsized and sank one year, villagers were reluctant to send their children to school despite the boat being replaced.
Church World Service provided life jackets and training in how to use and store them so they would last for years.
Smedberg said that gave the villagers the confidence to send their children to school again.
Palmer noted that 25% of the money raised goes to local food banks.
The Rev. Erik Karas of Christ Trinity Church in Sheffield said the CROP Hunger Walk is part of an ongoing effort to end hunger worldwide.
“It’s easy to forget when everybody has enough,” he said. “We’d like it to be one and done and the world is fixed. But it doesn’t work that way.”
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Kent town officials get first look at Emery Park’s proposed master plan
Alec Linden
Sep 30, 2026
“The goal here is to get the pool open.”
—Timothy Cermola, Cardinal Vice President
KENT — Bringing public swimming back to Kent remains the top priority for planners of a major upgrade to Emery Park, which took a step forward last week with the completion of a highly anticipated master plan.
Meriden-based Cardinal Engineering presented preliminary designs to the Parks and Recreation Commission at a special meeting Sept. 22.
The town commissioned the plan in May to guide improvements to the hillside park and make it more accessible.
Cardinal’s Roy Seeley, who oversaw the master plan, said it quickly became clear that reopening the swimming pond, which has been out of use for six years, would also require broader improvements to the park’s infrastructure.
The engineers recommended addressing accessibility early to avoid problems and added expense later.
Landscape architect Phil Barlow outlined a design featuring a reconfigured parking lot with an adjacent picnic area, an upper level with a redesigned playground built mostly from wood, and a lower level with an oval walkway encircling a lawn and a pavilion with room for 50 people.
The plans also call for two new buildings: one to house a Parks and Recreation Department office and another for pond-related facilities, including restrooms.
Since the site is hilly, the work would require grading to keep walkways at a slope of less than 5% for accessibility.
“Everything would be accessible,” Barlow said.
Cardinal Vice President Timothy Cermola, who also attended the meeting, said the swimming pond remains the focus despite the broad scope of the proposed improvements.
“The goal here is to get the pool open,” he said.
“And to make sure everyone can use it,” added Parks and Recreation Commissioner Heidi Wilson.
Architect Michael Fortuna outlined his proposal for the swimming pond. A natural brook feeds a smaller pond just above the approximately 8,500-square-foot swimming area.
“The more naturalized a filter you have the better,” he said. Fortuna suggested converting approximately 2,500 square feet of the deepest part of the swimming pond into a “regeneration zone,” where native wetland plants would filter the water in place of mechanical filtration or chemical treatment. The swimming area would have a maximum depth of five feet.
“If you can have a couple thousand less feet of swim area, this is your better way forward because it gives you cleaner water,” he said. “Aesthetically it would be very nice too.”
Fortuna said keeping the swimming area a pond rather than turning it into a pool would give the town more flexibility in its design and use. “The goal here is to keep it naturalized … keep it a pond,” he said.
“The idea of losing the entire deep end is disheartening,” Wilson said, “but the concept of natural filtration is a good thing.”
Earlier in the summer, the engineers were concerned that the pond’s entire foundation would have to be replaced. A subsequent investigation found it was sound and would need only resurfacing of the concrete shell.
Still, the overall project carries a substantial price tag: Cardinal estimates it would cost approximately $4 million. Cermola said the work would be phased, with reopening the swimming pond the first priority.
The plans remain general, Cermola said.
The next step is to submit them for review by regulatory agencies, including the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission and the state Department of Public Health. Details will be refined as that process moves forward.
The park remains open while planning continues. Beyond the central area covered by the proposed improvements, Emery Park has fields, other recreational areas and a rugged trail system with views over the village and the Housatonic River Valley.
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Salisbury School tunnel under Route 44 nears completion
Patrick L. Sullivan
Sep 30, 2026
The tunnel under Route 44 at Salisbury School is nearing completion.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — Construction of a tunnel beneath Route 44 connecting Salisbury School’s north and south campuses is nearing completion.
Vafa Vahid, the private boys’ school’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, said Monday, Sept. 28, that the tunnel will likely be ready for use by mid-November.
He did not have a date for the removal of the temporary lane barriers on Route 44.
Vahid said construction began in May but stopped in June while the school awaited state permits.
Dayton Construction Company of Watertown is the contractor.
Vahid declined to give a specific cost but confirmed that it is “a multi-million dollar project.”
The tunnel will allow students, faculty and staff to walk between the campuses without crossing busy Route 44.
The north campus includes faculty and staff housing and athletic facilities.
Currently, pedestrians use a crossing marked by signs and a cone, sometimes with a crossing guard present.
Vahid said the primary reason for building the tunnel “is the safety of the kids.”
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Sugar maple replaces memorial elm outside Academy Building
Patrick L. Sullivan
Sep 30, 2026
A crew from Whitetail Landscaping and Excavation plant a new tree in front ofthe Academy Building in Salisbury.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — A new tree stands outside the Salisbury Association’s Academy Building on Main Street, continuing a memorial to Susan Getzendanner, the town’s only victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Princeton American elm planted in her honor fell during the July 4 storm. Its accompanying plaque remained, but the loss of the tree left a gap in front of the building.
Getzendanner was a vice president at Fiduciary Trust. She was working on the 97th floor of 2 World Trade Center when the South Tower was struck on Sept. 11. Getzendanner divided her time between New York City and a cottage near Mount Riga, where she enjoyed hiking and gardening.
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, a crew from Whitetail Landscaping and Excavation of Salisbury came to the Academy Building to remove the elm’s stump and plant a 20-foot sugar maple donated by Old Farm Nursery in Lime Rock.
Whitetail Landscapingand Excavation donated its services.
Removing the stump left a sizable hole. The crew enlarged it to make room for the maple, then worked with shovels and a small excavator to set the tree in place.
Salisbury Association director Chris Abeel said he consulted members of Getzendanner’s family before replacing the elm. The original plaque honoring her will remain, he said, and the association will add a second plaque explaining why the memorial tree was replaced.
The new tree restores the living part of the memorial. After the crew had settled the maple into place, the association’s Lou Bucceri stepped back to take a look.
“It looks like it’s been there for years,” he said.
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Dahlias fill Sharon Historical Society for Best in Bloom festival
Ruth Epstein
Sep 30, 2026
Organizers of the Best in Bloom Dahlia Festival held at the Sharon Historical Society and Museum on Sept. 26 and 27 are, from left: society director Abbey Nova, Allison Chase and Stephanie Chase.
Ruth Epstein
SHARON — Dahlias filled the Sharon Historical Society and Museum for the inaugural Best in Bloom Dahlia Festival on Sept. 26 and 27.
Every room was filled with flowers that featured the brilliance of color, the uniqueness of shape and the sheer beauty of the blossoms.
Abbey Nova, the society’s executive director, came up with the idea for the festival. “I’m a dahlia grower myself and we’re always looking at ways to expand our mission and get people into the building. I was thinking of something other than pumpkins for the fall.”
She was surprised at the response when the call went out to bring dahlias to the festival, where they would be judged and put up for sale. Forty-two participants came forth bearing more than 210 blooms. They were placed in seven categories: dinner plate, ball and pompom, decorative, water lily, cactus and semi-cactus, junior growers and a collection of single, peony flowered, anemone and collarette.
Nova said most entries came from Sharon residents, but the competition did draw growers from other local towns, as well as some who came from a distance.
Helping to organize the event were Allison Chase and Stephanie Chase of Dahlia Daughters. Their late mother, Amanda Chase, had a dahlia business, which they took over upon her death. Allison Chase explained there are a number of varieties. “They are really event flowers used for weddings and parties because there are so many colors, shapes and sizes.”
One tuber can yield a great many flowers and they can also be hybridized. Once the flowers are gone, the tubers are dug up and placed in dark cool places to be ready to plant the next year.
But dahlia growers often have to battle the elements, Chase said, noting one year she was faced with an invasion of Japanese beetles.
She is grateful that this year was a great one for her dahlias, which she sells from a stand outside her home on Amenia Union Road.
Nova said dahlias bloom later in the growing season, often in late July or August. “They like the cool nights and will remain right up until frost.”
A cocktail party took place Saturday evening which filled the museum with hundreds of guests. Steve Ketterer, Allison Chase, Sarah Coon of Paley’s Farm Market and Lynden Miller, noted author and garden designer, were tasked with awarding ribbon winners.
Best in Show went to Betsy Ennis. First place winners in their categories were: Linda Sloane (dinner plate), Juliet and Leila Bell Scimeca (ball and pompom), Kathleen Fanning (decorative), Kathleen Fanning (water lily), Betsy Ennis (cactus and semi-cactus), Myra Plescia (collarette) and Adelaide Lee (junior grower).
On Sunday, local artist Colleen McGuire helped youngsters paint pictures of dahlias, while guests viewed all the submissions and made purchases.
Also on Sunday, the People’s Choice Award was given to Steve Ketterer for his dinner plate entry.
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Salisbury voters to decide how to fund Lakeville station move
Patrick L. Sullivan
Sep 30, 2026
The former Lakeville Train Station on Ethan Allen Street.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — Voters who have already approved moving the Lakeville railroad station building will be asked to vote again, this time on how to pay for the project.
At a Sept. 16 town meeting, voters authorized spending up to $650,000 on the move.
The Board of Finance held a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 22, to discuss funding for the project.
Comptroller Joe Cleaveland said the town’s debt reduction account has about $725,000 available. He said the balance includes money set aside for a construction project at Salisbury Central School that has not gone ahead.
Cleaveland said a town meeting must approve redirecting those funds to the railroad station project. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19.
The board also considered tapping the Bauer Fund, created through a bequest from Frederick Bauer in the early 1950s for the purpose of “maintaining a park and recreation center in Salisbury and to further the work of the Salisbury Welfare Association.”
The original Bauer bequest also included funds for the town’s purchase of the Lakeville railroad station, according to the 1950-51 town report.
The Board of Finance controls the fund, which has a current balance of about $3 million. It has been used for the Town Grove, Bauer Park and to support Salisbury Family Services, the successor to the Welfare Association.
Ultimately, the board took the Bauer Fund off the table for the railroad station project. It appointed two members, Michael Voldstad and Emily Vail, to meet with Cleaveland and determine whether the legal language governing the fund needs an update.
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