Sally Swanson
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Lakeville bot-builder gears up for regional competition
Patrick L. Sullivan
Mar 18, 2026
William Sellery, of Lakeville, tests his robot ahead of the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional competition scheduled for April.
Patrick L. Sullivan
LAKEVILLE — During his spring break, William Sellery, a senior at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, spent hours inside the Methodist Church hall in Lakeville testing and troubleshooting a competition robot.
Sellery, the captain of Mercersburg’s robotics team, was preparing for the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional competition — a key qualifying event for the international championship scheduled for April in St. Louis.
On Thursday, March 12, he put the robot through its paces on a practice course that filled most of the church hall.
He directed the robot to a structure holding brightly colored, multi-sided objects slightly smaller than a softball.
The robot first gathered the balls using a complicated system of wheels.
“And a lot of rubber bands and zip ties,” Sellery said.
The robot then moved to the structure — an elevated, narrow rail — and deposited the balls.
Using an arm extending from the side, the robot pushed the balls along the rail and back to the floor.
Satisfied with the maneuver, Sellery turned to a laptop, explaining that he was fine-tuning the code that allows the robot to function autonomously.
Sellery said each team has four members. The drills last a couple of minutes, and team members have specific tasks — such as calling out directions to the person controlling the robot about where it should go next.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Regionals Sellery had been preparing for were held last weekend. Sellery said the competition “is the last stop before the international competition.”
Sellery also detailed the inner workings of the robot. He had an array of batteries charged and ready to go, each lasting about four minutes of nonstop use.
“There are eight motors in the robot, so the batteries go pretty fast,”he said.
The robot also includes two pneumatic devices that require air pressure. Sellery used a small, handheld air compressor to charge them to 100 pounds per square inch (psi).
Sellery said judges closely monitor the pressure. Going over the 100 psi limit results in disqualification.
Sellery has been interested in robotics since participating in a Salisbury Recreation LEGO robotics event at Town Hall in 2015.
He said the competition gets hectic, and that’s fine with him.
“The most stressful moments I enjoy the most.”
Sellery reported Sunday evening, March 15, that the team’s performance at the regional competition was “not amazing.”
“We ran into some mechanical problems” and placed 40th overall.
But there was some good news.
“We also got an interview from a major YouTube channel,” FUN Robotics, and the team found out they received a judges award after they left.
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Many Region One students can access school health care if enrolled
Patrick L. Sullivan
Mar 18, 2026
Housatonic Valley Regional High School
File photo
Community Health and Wellness (CHWC), based in Torrington, operates three school-based health centers (SBHC) in Region One schools, giving students access to medical health services during the school day. However, medical staff cannot treat students unless their families enroll them in the program.
Becca Malone,a nursewith the program, urged parents during an online discussion Wednesday, March 11, to sign their children up. She emphasized that participation in the SBHC program does not replace a child’s pediatrician.
“It’s just another layer of support.”
CHWC currently operates centers at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, North Canaan Elementary School and Sharon Center School. Both medical and behavioral health services are available at the high school and North Canaan. Sharon currently offers behavioral health only.
There are 276 children enrolled in Region One.
Malone said she believes the school-based model is especially effective “because I get to see the students in their natural habitat.”
When families enroll, anything from routine health procedures to emergencies can be dealt with promptly at school.
Malone said this takes pressure off parents, who otherwise have to miss work in order to get their children to and from medical appointments that often involve a lengthy drive. A prompt response can also preclude an expensive visit to the emergency room at a hospital.
The in-school staff can also coordinate quickly with the school nurse, administrators and teachers.
Raneem El-Ayoub, a licensed clinical social worker, spoke about how the school-based team can respond to signs that a student is experiencing a behavioral problem.
“Are they withdrawn, flat and sad? Or are they acting out, being verbally or physically aggressive?”
With behavioral health, parents tend to react when “something big” happens.
The in-school team can act before the problem gets to that point.
Malone said in the last couple of years she has seen more eating disorder cases at HVRHS than in 15 years at an outpatient facility.
Catching it early is critical. “By the time the parents bring the child to the pediatrician they’re really sick. With school-based health my kids are able to be honest about it so much earlier in the disease process.”
One young woman was in trouble with an eating disorder. Malone was able to get the student to open up about it, and set up a schedule for a twice-weekly check-in.
After six months of that, the frequency changed to once a week, and then once every other week. The child completed an intensive outpatient course of treatment as well.
All of this was done in coordination with the parents, the child’s primary physician, and the high school staff.
“If we hadn’t caught it, it would have been much worse.”
Malone offered another case, that of a young woman who got hit on the head playing volleyball.
She said she saw the child an hour later for what was “an obvious concussion.”
“The whole thing happened quickly and collaboratively,” with the parents, pediatrician and school nurse all involved.
And for follow-up, the pediatrician, who was going on vacation, asked Malone and her team to provide the follow-up.
“We are able to assess a situation and create a safety plan. The child is seen and heard. And we can do it all in a couple of hours.”
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Suzan Scott on wonder and seeing
L. Tomaino
Mar 18, 2026
Suzan Scott discusses color, words, wonder and seeing at the Hunt Library on March 12.
L. Tomaino
FALLS VILLAGE — Painter Suzan Scott’s comparison of words to colors explained the visual language she has developed over many years. “I love the thesaurus.” When she chooses a color, it is like finding a word in the thesaurus. And to her “words have color, and tone, and weight. Finding the right word, is like finding the right color.”
Attendees at her talk looked with interest through a notebook she passed around, a kind of catalog of color, two or three rectangles on each page which she painted in solid, subtle tones using gouache. This was one of her books of visual syntax, demonstrating how sets of colors come together into an image the way words do in a sentence. “My language is line and color and shape. They are my voice made visible.”
How has she built her visual language? She remembers her delight when, as a child she finally was given“ a pad, a book of blank paper!” “All of this is very personal to me.” “I paint wonder. It’s really a landscape, but I paint wonder.”
“There is so much more here than what we can see, if I can step back, maybe not try to name things but just experience them.”
She will often start a canvas in orange, her color for the earth under the grass. Her process becomes a meditation “about layers under the hill, layers of time, life lived there”, by “digging holes into hills with color.” And about clouds, trees, the seasons, weather, and the night sky. She has created a series of paintings on each. When she arranged in sequence 365 paintings she had done one year, she saw the sweep of color of the sky and earth over time.
She spoke of the artist Sol Lewitt with whom she had contact while organizing slides as Assistant to the Curator of the LeWitt Collection in Chester, Connecticut. She described him as a gentle, approachable man whose work with sequences, minimalism, and conceptual art deepened her realization of what can be represented in her work, “simplifying to get the essence of a thing.”
“Wonders are there — we just have to look. Each one of us has a specific view. Individual vision is a gift.”
Her show at Hunt Library, in Falls Village, This Beautiful Place, ended on March 13. Her website is www.suzanscott.com. Hunt Library: www.huntlibrary.org
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Read Aloud Day comes to Salisbury Central
Patrick L. Sullivan
Mar 18, 2026
Peter Becket reads at Salisbury Central School Friday, March 6.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — “Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great!” was the theme when members of the community came to Salisbury Central School for Read Aloud Day Friday, March 6.
The phrase is also the title of Sandra Boynton’s 2024 children’s book. Boynton, a bestselling children’s book author, led a school assembly in the afternoon.
Boynton also provided swag: t-shirts, bookmarks and stickers. The “Woo Hoo! Go SCS!” logo on the shirts was also on a banner hanging outside the middle school.
Janet Neary, a Salisbury resident, started off telling her group about Boynton’s early career making greeting cards with funny slogans like “Hippo Birdie Two Ewe.”
Peter Becket kidded around with his students before settling in with the book.
The event was scheduled for March 3 but was snowed out, so not all of the readers listed were able to make it. The readers were: Neary, Becket, David Valcin, Alex Harney, Lauren Brown, Lee Sohl, Kyla DeRisi, Elyse Harney Morris, Deb Orlup, Rita Delgado, and Lou Bucceri.
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Lakeville Journal earns top honors at New England newspaper awards
Christian Murray
Mar 18, 2026
Left to right, Christian Murray, Executive Editor; Nathan Miller, Managing Editor of The Millerton News; Natalia Zukerman, Arts & Lifestyle Editor; Thomas K. Carley, Chief Operating Officer; and James H. Clark, CEO/Publisher receive awards at the New England Newspaper and Press Association spring conference in Portsmouth, NH.
Melissa Ferrick
The Lakeville Journal earned several top honors at the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s annual spring conference on March 16 for its work in journalism, community engagement and audience outreach.
Among the awards, the organization received first place in the Community and Audience Engagement category for its high school journalism program. The program, launched in April 2025 with funding support from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 21st Century Fund and individual donors, teaches professional journalism to students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and launched the student newspaper HVRHS Today.
The paper also earned first place in the Human Interest category for Natalia Zukerman’s story, “Bearing Witness at Auschwitz,” a personal account examining the legacy of the Holocaust and the importance of remembrance.
Additional honors included second place for Fundraising Strategy, second place for Outstanding Newsletter for the paper’s “What To Do” newsletter, and second place for Newspaper Event for the community Street Fair.
Publisher James H. Clark said the awards reflect the organization’s belief that strong local news is the foundation of a strong community.
“These honors recognize the strength of our local reporting, our commitment to meaningful engagement and the deep connection we have to the communities we serve,” Clark said. “I’m proud of the work our team does every day to serve our readers and keep our communities connected.”
The high school journalism initiative was designed as a bottom-up program that gives students broad latitude to shape the publication’s voice, design and coverage. A team of five to six students plan each issue, pitching story ideas and reporting the articles independently.
Nathan Miller, managing editor of The Millerton News and program lead, said the recognition is shared with the students.
“The program’s success would not be possible without the amazing students who worked for the past year to create HVRHS Today,” Miller said.
Zukerman said she was grateful to see her work recognized. “I’m honored that this piece was recognized,” Zukerman said. “It documents not only a historic commemoration, but a deeply personal reckoning. For me, remembrance is not passive. In this time of rising authoritarianism and multiple ongoing genocides, I feel an unyielding responsibility to remember and to speak.”
The annual NENPA awards recognize excellence and innovation among newspapers and media organizations across New England, honoring work in reporting, audience development and community service.
The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News are published by LJMN Media, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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Legal Notices - March 19, 2026
Lakeville Journal
Mar 18, 2026
Legal Notice
Notice is hereby given that there will be a caucus of all enrolled Republican electors of the Town of Cornwall Bridge on March 26 at 7:00pm at The Cornwall Library, 30 Pine St, Cornwall, CT to select delegates for various Republican conventions.
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
DAREL S. MILLER
Late of Sharon
(26-00098)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated March 3, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciaries are:
Aiden Miller
66 East Main Street
Salisbury, CT06068
Evan Miller
66 East Main Street
Salisbury, CT 06068
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
THEODORE NED DRUMM
Late of Sharon
(26-00043)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated February 24, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciaries are:
Linda Ryan
c/o Janie Loraiene Mcdermott,
Carmody Torrance Sandak Hennessey, LLP, 50 Leavenworth St, P.O. Box 1110, Waterbury, CT 06721
Terrence W. Ryan
c/o Janie Loraiene Mcdermott,
Carmody Torrance Sandak Hennessey, LLP, 50 Leavenworth St, P.O. Box 1110, Waterbury, CT 06721
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
JOSEPH W. KILLMER
Late of Sharon
(26-00054)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated February 2, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciary is:
Helen J. Killmer
173 Knibloe Hill Road
Sharon, CT 06069
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
ROBERT A. WEBER
Late of Salisbury
(26-00056)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated February 26, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciary is:
Eric C. Weber
c/o Stephen K Gellman
Shipman & Goodwin, LLP
One Constitution Plaza
Hartford, CT 06103
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
JILL M. SCOTT
Late of Salisbury
AKA Jill Marguerite Scott
(26-00045)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated February 26, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciary is:
Edward E. Downey
c/o Douglas K O Connell
Howd Lavieri & Finch, LLP
682 Main St., Winsted, CT 06098
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
JOHN MICHAEL WALSH
Late of Salisbury
AKA John M. Walsh
(26-00086)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated March 5, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciary is:
Kathleen S. Walsh
c/o Laura Rose Capon,
Burnham Capon & Wimer, LLC, 124 Hebron Avenue, Suite 2-C, Glastonbury, CT 06033
Megan M. Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
ESTATE OF
ANDREA M. BARGABOS
Late of Canaan
AKA Andrea Bargabos
(26-00062)
The Hon. Jordan M. Richards, Judge of the Court of Probate, District of Litchfield Hills Probate Court, by decree dated February 26, 2026, ordered that all claims must be presented to the fiduciary at the address below. Failure to promptly present any such claim may result in the loss of rights to recover on such claim.
The fiduciary is:
Deryl D. Godshall
c/o Michael Peter Citrin
Drury, Patz & Citrtin, LLP
7 Church Street, P.O. Box 101
Canaan, CT 06018
Megan M.Foley
Clerk
03-19-26
TAX COLLECTOR
TOWN OF
SALISBURY CT
LEGAL NOTICE
Pursuant to Sec. 12-145 of the Connecticut State Statutes, the taxpayers of the Town of Salisbury are hereby notified that the fourth installment on the Grand List of October 1, 2024 is due and payable on April 1, 2026. Payments must be received or postmarked by May 1, 2026. If said Real Estate and Personal Property taxes are not paid on or before May 1, 2026, interest at the rate of one and one half percent (18% per year) will be added for each month or a fraction thereof which elapses from the time when such tax becomes due and payable until the same is paid. Minimum interest charge is $2.00.
Pursuant to Section 12-173 of the Connecticut State Statutes, unpaid Real Estate tax on the Grand List of October 1, 2024 will be LIENED on JUNE 3, 2026. Payment must be received by 12:00 p.m. on June 3, 2026 to avoid a Lien. Tax Office is open Monday, Wednesday 9am-4pm, Friday 9am-3pm. Closed 12:30 pm-1:30 pm.
Taxes can be paid by mail addressed to: Tax Collector, P.O. Box 338, 27 Main Street, Salisbury,
CT 06068. There is a drop box in the vestibule of the Town Hall which is available during normal Town Hall hours as well as a 24-hour drop slot at the rear of the building adjacent to the parking area. The Town is urging taxpayers to mail checks or use the option of paying by credit card or E-Check. Please see the Town website salisburyct.us for additional information. Dated at Town of Salisbury, CT this 6th day of March 2026.
Jean F. Bell, CCMC
Tax Collector
Salisbury CT 06068
03-19-26
04-02-26
04-23-26
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