Mary Beth Lawlor, publisher/editor-in-chief of Litchfield Magazine, and supporter of Plein Air Litchfield, left,and Michele Murelli, Director of Plein Air Litchfield and Art Tripping, right.
For six days this autumn, Litchfield will welcome 33 acclaimed painters for the second year of Plein Air Litchfield (PAL), an arts festival produced by Art Tripping, a Litchfield nonprofit.
The public is invited to watch the artists at work while enjoying the beauty of early fall. The new Belden House & Mews hotel at 31 North St. in Litchfield will host PAL this year.
From Sept. 30 through Oct. 5, artists chosen from 100 entries around the country — representing diverse origins as far flung as Punjab, Berlin, and Peru — will set up their easels and spend the week recording the landscape, farms, historic buildings, and even restaurant interiors throughout the town. Artists such as Thomas Adkins, Yili Haruni, Katushka Millones, and Zufar Bikbov will participate.
“The French term plein air means ‘out of doors,’ referring to the practice of painting entire finished pictures in the open air. The plein air approach was pioneered by John Constable in Britain in the early 19th century,” according to The Tate Gallery in London.
Thursday, Oct. 2, is “Paint the Historic District Day,” when artists make paintings of early buildings.
Norfolk artist Sam Guindon will give a painting demonstration in the meadow by Tapping Reeve Law School at 82 South St. at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Nicole Carpenter, curator of the Litchfield Historical Society, will present “Landscape Visions: Artistic Depictions of Litchfield,” exploring the role artists play in documenting regional history, at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Oliver Wolcott Library at 160 South St. The talk is free, and all are welcome.
The public is also invited to the historic firehouse at Belden House at 6 p.m. for a free art show of the works created that day.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, Judge of Awards Eric Forstmann, a Litchfield County artist, will announce the winners at the Gala Art Show and Sale in the historic Firehouse property of Belden House & Mews, where all displayed artwork will be available for purchase.
Finally, on Sunday morning, Oct. 5,from 9 a.m. to noon, everyone is invited to a three-hour fun “Quick Paint” event. Open to artists of all levels, with additional prizes, the event will be held in the Tapping Reeve Meadow at 82 South St. Registration is from 8 to 9 a.m.
Art Tripping was founded in 2018 by Michele Murelli, whose mission is to create community art events and show how art enhances quality of life. Murelli and her team of volunteers have organized Plein Air Litchfield, 2025.
Visit the PAL website, www.pleinairlitchfield.com for information and to purchase tickets to the Gala Art Show and Sale.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — The bridge on Cobble Road over the Hollenbeck River is closed for an indefinite period.
First Selectman Dave Barger received a letter from the state Department of Transportation Wednesday, March 25 – one day after DOT personnel inspected the bridge.
“Based on the inspection findings, including section loss and bowing/bucking at several beam ends, the Department of Transportation is recommending the Town of Canaan close the bridge.”
The Cobble Road bridge is one of seven bridges in town in need of repair or replacement.
Barger said Saturday, April 18, that the bridge is eligible for full federal funding because the bridge is 120 feet long or more, which is the primary criterion for federal funding.
The other six bridges are well below the 120-foot mark in length.
Right now, the schedule has the bridge reopening in 2030, but Barger said that date might get moved up.
Signs and barricades were placed at both ends of the bridge on Monday, March 30.
The town is working with Cardinal Engineering on a plan for the other six bridges. That plan, which will include possible grant funds, will be presented to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance in May.
Barger said the work is necessary.
“Like a lot of towns, our infrastructure needs attention,” he said.
The six bridges under review are: Undermountain Road over Ledgy Brook, Undermountain Road over Deming Brook, Barnes Road over Wangum Lake Brook, Canaan Mountain Road over Wangum Lake Brook, Canaan Mountain Road over unnamed stream, and Music Mountain Road over Flat Brook.
Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — Taxes and tariffs on tea were a political and economic issue in the period leading up to the American Revolution and, as one local tea expert noted, they still spark controversy today.
Mike Harney of Harney & Sons Fine Teas traced that history during a talk at the Scoville Memorial Library on Saturday, April 18, covering tea’s origins, production and its role in shaping colonial resistance.
Harney started with the establishment of the British East India Company in 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I granted a group of London merchants and explorers a charter to open up trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost part of Africa and west of the Straits of Magellan at the southernmost part of South America. This large area was known as the “East Indies” and the Spanish and Portuguese had established a significant trade presence there prior to British involvement.
Mike Harney of Harney & Sons Fine Teas speaks at the Scoville Memorial Library Saturday, April 18 about the beverage’s importance throughout American history.Patrick L. Sullivan
“The Queen set it up to make money,” Harney said.
Harney said there were two other reasons for importing tea and making it more widely available in Great Britain.
“People liked it, and it was better for people than gin.”
The British colonists in North America brought their tea habit with them.
Harney said the French and Indian War, while militarily successful for the British, left them with significant war debt.
The East India Company had its own financial problems at the time as well.
So Parliament enacted a tax on tea, a move that backfired when it proved hugely unpopular with the American colonists.
Harney said he has recently traveled to Mozambique and Kenya in search of new teas, in part because of tariffs on Chinese goods.
“So taxes were a problem then and now.”
He said green tea is the easiest to produce and that the tea thrown into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party in 1773 was almost certainly green tea from China. In response to a question, Harney said the British and Indian tea trade didn’t take off until the 1820s.
Following the talk, attendees gathered outside to sample a variety of teas, and receive a free tin of Harney’s Library Blend.
Lakeville Journal
The following information was provided by the Connecticut State Police at Troop B. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Pedestrian struck on Route 44
On the afternoon of April 13, Alexandra Weyerhaeuser, 29, of Lakeville was running on the shoulder of Millerton Road near the intersection with Indian Mountain Road in Lakeville when a Ford 150 driven by Peter Tuthill, 47, also of Lakeville rounded a curve in the southbound lane. In the process, Tuthill’s vehicle ran off the road, striking Weyerhaeuser and two mailboxes. Weyerhaeuser reported minor injuries and was transported to Sharon Hospital for evaluation.Tuthill was issued an infraction for failure to maintain lane and distracted driving.
Covered bridge height bar dislodged
Just before 5 p.m. on April 17, Tremaine Pettway Jr., 25, of Bridgeport tried to enter the West Cornwall Covered Bridge in a Hino L7 company truck. While advancing, the top of the truck made contact with the height bar, which fell from its support. Pettway turned around and detoured via Route 7. He was ultimately issued an infraction for failure to obey height requirements.
Forgery, larceny arrest
At about 11:40 a.m. on April 19, Antonio Scott, 21, of Sharon was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for two charges – first degree forgery and sixth degree larceny – relating to an incident on Nov. 25, 2025. He was processed and posted his $10,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear at Torrington Superior Court on May 1.
The Lakeville Journal will publish the outcome of police charges. Send mail to P.O. Box 1688, Lakeville, CT 06039, Attn: Police Blotter, or email editor@lakevillejournal.com
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Christine Bates
Built in 1989 and spanning 3,775 square feet, 24 Ore Hill Road recently sold for $885,000 — above the trailing 12-month median of $775,000.
SALISBURY — The 12-month trailing median price for a single-family home in Salisbury, excluding condos, was $775,000 for the period ending March 31, 2026 — significantly lower than for the same period a year earlier.
The $775,000 trailing median marks a 21% decline from the $975,000 median recorded for the 12 months ending March 31, 2025, and a 14% drop from $896,000 for the comparable period ending March 31, 2024. It was also the lowest 12-month rolling median recorded since October 2022, when it stood at $688,500.
Single-family home sales in Salisbury remained within a typical range on a 12-month rolling basis. A total of 51 homes were sold in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, compared with 48 sales in the prior year and 51 in the same period ending March 31, 2024.
Over the past three years, annual sales have generally ranged between 45 and 60 homes — although well below the more than 100 sales recorded during the peak market of 2021.
Inventory of listed homes increased slightly over the past 30 days. As of April 15, there were 19 single-family homes on the market. Of those, eight were listed above $1 million, while six were priced at or below the current $775,000 median.
Eight parcels of land — including two new listings — were also on the market, according to MLS data. Meanwhile, summer furnished rentals are beginning to hit the market, with seasonal asking prices ranging from $6,000 to $65,000. There were no unfurnished homes available for rent
March transfers
8 Tokone Hills Road – 3 bedroom/3 bath house built in 1995 on 5.26 acres sold by Candace Cuniberti Trustee, Kim Cuniberti Trustee, Francis B Cuniberti Family Trust to Bear Cliff LLC for $1,464,100
Tokone Hills Road – 4.96 acres sold by Candace Cuniberti Trustee, Kim Cuniberti Trustee, Francis B Cuniberti Family Trust to Bear Cliff LLC for $300,000
16 Sugar Hill Road – 4 bedroom/2 bath home built in 1812 sold by Jeremy Robin Dakin Estate to Lemon Properties LLC for $300,000
11 Deerfield Road – 2 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.17 acres sold by Judith Ann Belile Trustee, Judith Ann Belile Trust to Kristen Beth Kucha Trustee Kristen Beth Kucha Revocable Trust for $485,000
100 & 102 South Shore Road – 3 bedroom/4.5 bath lakefront home on 2.11 acres with guest house sold by Patrician Suarez to Sunset Holdings CT LLC for $5,300,000
24 Ore Hill Road – 4 bedroom/1.5 bath home sold by Laura Wright Estate to Samuel Lam for $838,000
9 Overlook Drive – 4 bedroom/4.5 bath home on 5.7 acres sold by Andrew Zobler to Sarah Humphreys and Steven Benjamin Chesner for $2,540,000
* Town of Salisbury real estate transfers recorded between March 1, 2026, and March 31, 2026, provided by Salisbury Town Clerk. Transfers without consideration are not included. Current market listings from Smart MLS and market statistic from InfoSparks. Note that recorded transfers frequently lag sales by a number of days. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in CT and NY.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Bill Beebe helps clean up the traffic island at Railroad and Main streets Saturday, April 18 as part of a community Earth Day cleanup effort.
FALLS VILLAGE — Falls Village residents fanned out on the town’s streets to clean up roadside garbage and clear out public garden spaces Saturday, April 18.
Sponsored by the Recreation Commission and the Village Gardeners, the event was designed to tie in with Earth Day, officially celebrated on Wednesday, April 22.
The garbage crew checked in at the Hunt Library starting at 10 a.m., where Recreation Commission chair Melissa Lopes was ready with garbage bags, gloves, sunscreen, safety vests and a clipboard listing town streets.
From 10 a.m. to about 10:30 a.m., four people checked in, received the assignments and supplies, and took off.
While the four volunteers spread out to tackle roadside litter, another group got an earlier start focusing on the village’s public planting areas.
The gardeners were also out in force in the downtown area, clearing out the traffic island at Railroad and Main Streets at 9:30 a.m.
First Selectman Dave Barger took Page Road. As he left, he said, “If I had a 10-cent deposit on every nip bottle I found, I could get rid of the national deficit!”
The library had an Earth Day craft activity for children, and at noon offered coffee and baked goods for the volunteers.
Lakeville Journal
SALISBURY — Nora “Eileen” Grey, 91, passed away peacefully on April 9, 2026, at Noble Horizons in Salisbury.
Born in Ireland on Aug. 15, 1934, in a farmhouse in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, 16-year-old Eileen Keane bravely moved to the United States in the early 1950s, according to daughter Bernadette Grey of Sharon. She settled into a Brooklyn brownstone with her aunt, uncle, and 7 boisterous cousins, all of whom treated her like another one of the brood.
Nora married in her 20s, raising her family in Queens and then Suffolk County. She got her driver’s license in her mid-30s and blossomed in a later-in-life career as a teacher’s aide for intellectually disabled students at West Suffolk BOCES.
A beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt, Nora is survived by her daughters, Bernadette (Bob Schwartz) of Sharon, and Barbara Grey of Carmel, New York; her granddaughter, Lili Gehorsam (Adnan Husain) of Seattle; and her grandson, Luke Gehorsam (Becca Endicott) of Chatham, New York. She was also the cherished “GiGi” to her great-grandchildren, Susannah and Raphael, the lights of her life.
Nora was predeceased by her son, Brian, as well as all of her siblings, sisters Bridget, Peggy, Kathleen, Sr. Mary Agatha, Nancy, and brothers, Michael and Patrick. Nora enjoyed many trips “home” to Ireland over the years to visit her siblings, nieces, and nephews. Many of them made the journey to visit her in the States as well.
Nora spent her final four years living at the Payn Home, a not-for-profit independent retirement residence in Chatham, NY. She thrived in the warm, social, family-like atmosphere, especially enjoying the proximity to Luke, Becca, and her great-grandchildren.
A Carrom player, Nora spent countless hours at the board with her best friend, Joyce. They also enjoyed playing dominoes and bingo with the other residents. While deeply feeling the loss of Joyce this past summer, Nora continued to be surrounded by love. She looked forward to regular phone conversations with her cousin Peggy Flammer of New Jersey until two weeks before her passing.
The family wishes to extend their deepest gratitude to the staff at Payn Home—particularly Jessica, Dina, and Mandy—who treated Nora like a cherished family member. We are also profoundly grateful to the nurses, CNAs, and staff at Noble Horizons for the tender care they provided in her final days.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
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