Sidelines shine with reborn Mountaineer cheer team

Sidelines shine with reborn Mountaineer cheer team

The Mountaineer cheer squad amps up team spirit in front of a pink-themed student section during rivalry night against Lakeview High School on Feb. 5.

Photo by Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School basketball games this year had more spirit than in years past thanks to the return of courtside cheerleaders.

Founded by senior captain Taylor Terwilliger, the Mountaineer cheer team was reformed this winter for the first time since 2005. When asked what inspired her to bring the squad back to life, she said, “I found my voice last year.”

From left, Taylor Terwilliger, Vi Salazar, Elizabeth Allyn and Soren Trivelli make up the newly reformed cheer squad at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.Photo by Riley Klein

Terwilliger began her cheer career two years ago, teaming up with Gilbert School and Northwestern Regional High School cheerleaders on the sideline of Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic co-op football games. She attempted to form a cheer team for HVRHS basketball games last year, but there was not enough interest in the school.

“We didn’t have enough and according to coach, she said that they’ve been trying to start one since my freshman year, which was 2021,” said Terwilliger.

Cheer coach Melissa Colman cheered on the last school squad in 2004-’05. She now teaches at Salisbury Central School.

This year HVRHS junior Elizabeth Allyn and freshmen Soren Trivelli and Vi Salazar joined the GNH cheer team. When the football season ended, Terwilliger kept the group together to bring back Mountaineer cheer.

“We practice twice a week,” Terwilliger said. “And before games too,” added Allyn.

Aspects of competitive cheer, such as vaulting, were incorporated into the group's routine.Photo by Riley Klein

The team began cheering for boys and girls basketball during the recent season. They performed halftime shows at home games and created new chants and choreography with some help from their coach, the GNH squad and the internet.

“We also had some influence on the themes,” said Trivelli, referring to coordination of themed outfits in the student section such as neon, pink-out and Hawaiian. “We made the themes really pop off,” said Terwilliger.

Cheerleading is a varsity sport in Connecticut with a minimum team size of seven needed to compete. Berkshire League schools will participate in a season of cheer meets next year and HVRHS is hopeful to take part.

Allyn mentioned an upcoming summer clinic with cheerleaders from across the region. It will be held at Northwestern Regional High School.

“It’s to recruit and let people get the feel of it,” said Allyn. “And just to get more experience,” Salazar noted.

Contact HVRHS Athletic Director Anne MacNeil at amacneil@hvrhs.org for more info.

Halftime shows returned to HVRHS basketball games this year.Photo by Riley Klein

Latest News

Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

Keep ReadingShow less
Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less