Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
tennis

New tennis courts bring imperiled team back from the brink

New tennis courts bring imperiled team back from the brink

The HVRHS girls tennis team consists of 17 players this year. Teammates credit the brand new tennis courts built in Summer 2024 with renewing interest in the sport.

Provided

One short year ago, the Housatonic girl’s tennis team forfeitedmultiple matches a week. With just seven girls, they couldn’t fill a full roster of 10 players. As two of those players graduated, it left the team wondering what the next season would look like, if girl’s tennis would have another season at all.

But this season the girls have taken on full sweep victories, without forfeiting a single match. What happened? Thanks to the school’s investment in the team and an onslaught of freshman players, the Housatonic girl’s team was able to go from the brink of extinction to an accomplished and close-knit group of 17 players.

This year, HVRHS installed brand new courts after taxpayers approved improvements to the school in January 2024. That upgrade brought renewed interest in the team.

While the girls only had a few wins in their Berkshire League competition, this was a huge building year for the team, captain and first-singles player Victoria Brooks said.

But Girl’s Tennis isn’t the only sport making a comeback this year. Cheerleading has returned to Housatonic for the first time since 2005, and that’s just the beginning. The 2025 spring season has been filled with major wins for Housatonic athletics. Boy’s tennis had two players become Berkshire League all-stars, and the track team has been breaking records set decades before. Boy’s Baseball and Girl’s lacrosse are on their way to states after a great season.

Provided

“It has been student driven 100%. The kids do the leg work and I just do what I can as an athletic director to support that,” said Housatonic’s athletic director Anne MacNeil. “Education-based athletics is not just about wins and losses. We are an extension of the classroom, so we base ourselves on life lessons.”

With the resurgence of so many Housatonic sports this year, it begs the question of what’s next? Could Boy’s Lacrosse or a Field Hockey team make a comeback? Or maybe something new is on the way.With a small school like HVRHS, it can be difficult to fill new teams, according to MacNeil. “If they come to me with enough numbers that make sense, then let’s go for it.”

However, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing anything new upcoming. “Unfortunately our numbers do not really allow for new sports,” MacNeil said. “We struggled to fill JV spots – if we’re going to add sports, it takes students away from teams already established.” Despite its size, HVRHS has managed to excel athletically, largely thanks to its dedicated and determined student athletes.

Mia Dirocco
tennis

Latest News

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

Sharon voters approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds at an Aug. 27 town meeting.

Alec Linden

SHARON — Sharon voters unanimously approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds between the town’s ambulance service and a regional fund supporting addiction prevention, harm reduction and mental health services.

The decision Thursday, Aug. 27, came two months after voters rejected an earlier Board of Finance-backed proposal, 27-11, at a June 18 town meeting. Residents had expressed concern about directing all the money, which must be used for opioid remediation, to a regional organization rather than supporting the town’s emergency medical service.

Keep ReadingShow less
municipality

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided

Last month, James Boehmer and Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” wearable art sold exclusively at their store in the Kent Barns section of Kent, Connecticut.

The two fashion industry veterans opened Peggy Mercury more than two years ago, and a quick visit will tell you that people are finding what they’re looking for at the beauty and lifestyle store. But what they’re looking for is never standard.

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

“Girlbomb” at 20

“Girlbomb” at 20
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
—Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of “Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made” is one of thefeatured authors at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Mirissa Neff

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday
“Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman,”will be screened Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan.
Provided

On Sunday, Sept. 6, Lime Rock Park will host a screening of the documentary “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan at 7 p.m.

Newman was one of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, known for films including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” His 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” also began a decades-long friendship with co-star Robert Redford.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

Steven Tayler

On Sunday, Sept. 6, PS21 in Chatham, New York, will host a celebration of community through dance at its second annual Dive Barn performance at the organization’s Dance Barn.

Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

Keep ReadingShow less
dance
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.