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

North Canaan brings aid to storm-torn south

North Canaan brings aid to storm-torn south

Supplies for the south was collected at North Canaan Town Hall. More than 500 individuals and businesses contributed to the cause.

Provided

NORTH CANAAN — On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 20, First Selectman Brian Ohler, North Canaan resident Ron Carpenter and Carpenter’s dog Remi set off from Town Hall in a truck and trailer packed with several thousand pounds of supplies destined for the mountains of western North Carolina to aid in the relief effort for Hurricane Helene.

The contents of the truck and trailer were donated by “over 500 individuals, families and businesses” from the Northwest Corner over the course of a relief drive on Sunday at Town Hall, another at North Canaan’s Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, and earlier contributions. The truck and trailer were provided by Richie and Chris Crane.

A Dollar General in North Carolina acts as a staging ground for rescue vehicles. Provided

Supplies of all types made the journey south, comprised of “the basic necessities to live,” in Ohler’s words. Cold weather clothing and equipment were especially vital with winter approaching.

“It was really heartwarming to see such support,” Ohler said. This generosity “is something that the Northwest Corner has always been known for,” he added. “Whether it’s North Canaan or North Carolina, we’re always here to help.”

Ohler, a veteran of war, first responder and emergency management professional, said he knew where the supplies needed to go to avoid being trapped in a large collection point. The team’s goal was to get supplies directly into the hands of civilians.

The trailer was filled with supplies that had been donated by the people of the Northwest Corner. Provided

With washed out bridges and roads leaving people no way to get to larger relief distribution points, Ohler said getting supplies straight to residents was paramount.

Ohler had been deployed with the Army to New Orleans to aid in the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina, but he said the destruction in North Carolina was “just so much more obvious.” The devastation was “simply unfathomable,” he said in a statement on the Town of North Canaan Facebook page.

Supplies were delivered to residents of North Carolina.Provided

Despite the monumental task of rebuilding, Ohler said residents in these ravaged towns would take the time to stop what they were doing and extend their thanks. “The towns that we were in will always be connected to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut,” he said, adding that he hopes to continue relations and relief efforts in the future.

In North Carolina alone, Hurricane Helene has likely caused at least $53 billion in damages and recovery needs and claimed 96 lives at the latest count, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

Alec Linden

Latest News

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, Tallamy will bring that conversation to Windacre in Millerton for “Work in Progress: Toward Native Fields,” an outdoor gathering exploring both the possibilities and the complications of restoring private land for biodiversity.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton\u2019s Main Street in 1985.

Provided
No matter what I’ve done, I’m trying to be useful to the communities I’m associated with.
— Dick Hermans

When Dick Hermans receives the Estabrook Community Leadership Award on Oct. 11, he will accept it for a lifetime of work that has taken many forms: bookseller, radio host, school board member, advocate for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, business owner, volunteer and, perhaps most importantly, a person who has consistently looked for ways to be useful to the communities around him.

The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News will present Hermans with the 2026 award at the annual Jubilee celebration at the Sharon Playhouse. The award honors outstanding leadership in community service and was inspired by Mary Lou and Robert Estabrook, former owners of the newspapers who believed that strengthening a community extended well beyond the work of publishing a newspaper.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Tending the Fire: Homelands PowWow brings Mohican culture home to the Berkshires

Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people, the Berkshires are not simply a place to visit. They are ancestral homelands.

Keep ReadingShow less
community
google preferred source

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

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity
Ledbetter (left) and Wojda (right) on the set of “A Number” at Ancram Center for the Arts.
Jeff Mousseau

How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

Dispatches from the Farm

Dispatches from the Farm

Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

Janna Siller

“Dispatches from the farm” is a new, periodic column offering a firsthand look at the rhythms, challenges and rewards of farming through the eyes of a local farmer.

The thing about plants is that they can’t get up and move. When a storm like last weekend’s nor’easter threatens to roll through, you can’t just round everybody up and settle them safely on the sofa for movie night.

Keep ReadingShow less
dispatches from the farm

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

Cheryl Mazak

The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

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