Purely unique: Underdogs take center stage at Little Guild’s Great Country Mutt Show

Great Dane “Axel” with owner Sage Breyette in the Best Lap Dog Over 40 Lbs. contest.
Aly Morrissey

Great Dane “Axel” with owner Sage Breyette in the Best Lap Dog Over 40 Lbs. contest.
LIME ROCK — The Little Guild’s Great Country Mutt Show brought animal lovers together for a day of sunshine and smiles on Sunday, June 8, at Lime Rock Park.
Now in its sixth year, the “Westminster-style” dog show featured live music, food trucks, and furry friends competing in playful categories that celebrated both looks and talent.
Special guest judges included Scot Haney, meteorologist and co-host at WFSB Channel 3 in Hartford; Richard Schlesinger, an award-winning journalist; and Bill Berloni, famed animal trainer who worked on Broadway’s Annie with the original Sandy. The trio brought compassion and a sense of humor to the contest, keeping the audience entertained and the contestants wagging.
Heather Duffy of Wappingers Falls attended the Mutt Show for the first time and praised the family-friendly vibe. “I love how it’s so family-oriented and the kids are involved,” said Duffy, owner of Ledgewood Boarding in Millerton. She was joined by her son Deacon and their dogs, Rigby and Theo. Theo, a 2-year-old, stole the show with a win in the “Most Unidentifiable Mix” category.
Another crowd favorite was Rufus, a 10-month-old rescue pup entered in the Best Lap Dog Over 40 lbs. contest with his owner, Schuyler Samperton. Judge Bill Berloni noted the strong bond between the pair, who only met in April. “We love to see that kind of connection,” he said before handing over the blue ribbon to a visibly emotional Samperton.
The event’s competition categories included: Junior Handler (for humans under 12), Most Unidentifiable Mix, Sweetest Pair of Dogs, Best Ears, Best Trick, Best Lap Dog Over 40 Lbs., Best Senior, Best Kisser and Waggiest Tail.
The afternoon ended with the Best in Show Parade, where every pup had a moment in the spotlight. This year’s top honor went to George, a 2.5-year-old Pit Bull-Bloodhound mix who splits time between New York City and Sharon.
Karen Doeblin, President of the Board at The Little Guild, said she was thrilled with the turnout. “This is our major outreach event, and it’s about bringing together people who love their animals and celebrating the human-animal bond,” Doeblin said. She also pointed to growing scientific evidence that dogs have a positive impact on human happiness and well-being. One look at the smiling faces in the crowd was all the proof needed.
Sharon Center School
SHARON — A Sharon Center School staff member discovered a “facsimile firearm” behind a file cabinet around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, prompting an immediate response from State Police and a same-day notification to parents, according to police officials and an email obtained by The Lakeville Journal.
Melony Brady-Shanley, the Region One Superintendent, wrote in the email that, upon the item’s discovery, “The State Police were immediately notified and responded to the building.”
A canine team was brought in to sweep the building to confirm no additional items were present, “and the building has been fully cleared. The State Police consider this an isolated incident and not criminal in nature,” Brady-Shanley wrote.
State Police explained, “Troopers from Troop B - North Canaan were dispatched to the Sharon Center School for reports of a firearm located in a closet. The firearm was determined to be a non-firing, replica firearm... There was no threat to the school or the public.”
Brady-Shanley emphasized in the e-mail that “the safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority at all times. We will continue to follow and strengthen our safety protocols to ensure that our schools remain secure, supportive environments for learning.”
The Stone Round Barn at Hancock Shaker Village.
My husband Tom, our friend Jim Jasper and I spent the day at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A cold, blustery wind shook the limbs of an ancient apple tree still clinging to golden fruit. Spitting sleet drove us inside for warmth, and the lusty smells of manure from the goats, sheep, pigs and chickens in the Stone Round Barn filled our senses. We traveled back in time down sparse hallways lined with endless peg racks. The winter light was slightly crooked through the panes of old glass. The quiet life of the Shakers is preserved simply.

Originally founded in England, the Shakers brought their communal religious society to the New World 250 years ago. They sought the perfection of heaven on earth through their values of equality and pacifism. They followed strict protocols of behavior and belief. They were celibate and never married, yet they loved singing and ecstatic dancing, or “shaking,” and often adopted orphans. To achieve their millennialist goal of transcendental rapture, we learned, even their bedclothes had to conform: One must sleep in a bed painted deep green with blue and white coverings.
Shakers believed in gender and racial equality and anointed their visionary founding leader, Mother Ann Lee, an illiterate yet wise woman, as the Second Coming. They embraced sustainability and created practical designs of great utility and beauty, such as the mail-order seed packet, the wood stove, the circular saw, the metal pen, the flat broom and wooden clothespins.
Burning coal smelled acrid as the blacksmith fired up his stove to heat the metal rod he was transforming into a hook. Hammer on anvil is an ancient sound. My husband has blacksmithing skills and once made the strap hinges and thumb latches for a friend’s home.
Shaker chairs and rockers are still made today in the woodworker’s shop. They are well made and functional, with woven cloth or rush seats. In the communal living space, or Brick Dwelling, chairs hang from the Shaker pegs that run the length of the hallways, which once housed more than 100 Shakers.

In 1826, the 95-foot Round Stone Barn was built of limestone quarried from the land of the 3,000-acre Hancock Shaker Village. Its unique design allowed a continuous workflow. Fifty cows could stand in a circle facing one another and be fed more easily. Manure could be shoveled into a pit below and removed by wagon and there was more light and better ventilation.
Shakers called us the “people of the world” and referred to their farm as the City of Peace. We take lessons away with us, yearning somehow for their simplicity and close relationship to nature. One Shaker said, “There’s as much reverence in pulling an onion as there is in singing hallelujah.”
A sense of calm came over me as I looked across the fields to the hills in the distance. A woman like me once stood between these long rows of herbs — summer savory, sage, sweet marjoram and thyme — leaned on her shovel brushing her hair back from her eyes, watching gray snow clouds roll down the Berkshires.
More information at hancockshakervillage.org

Exterior of Lakeville Books & Stationery in Great Barrington.
Fresh off the successful opening of Lakeville Books & Stationery in April 2025, Lakeville residents Darryl and Anne Peck have expanded their business by opening their second store in the former Bookloft space at 63 State St. (Route 7) in Great Barrington.
“We have been part of the community since 1990,” said Darryl Peck. “The addition of Great Barrington, a town I have been visiting since I was a kid, is special. And obviously we are thrilled to ensure that Great Barrington once again has a new bookstore.”
The second Lakeville Books & Stationery is slightly larger than the first store. It offers more than 10,000 books and follows the same model: a general-interest store with a curated mix of current bestsellers, children’s and young readers’ sections; and robust collections for adults ranging from arts and architecture, cooking and gardening, and home design to literature and memoirs. Anne reads more than 150 new titles every year (as many as a Booker Prize judge) and is a great resource to help customers find the perfect pick.
A real-time inventory system helps the store track what’s on hand, and staff can order items that aren’t currently available. There is also a selection of writing and paper goods, including notecards, journals, pens and notebooks, as well as art supplies, board games, jigsaw puzzles and more. The owners scour the stationery trade shows twice a year and, Darryl says, “like to tailor what we offer to suit the interest of our customers in each market.”
The Pecks know what it takes to run a successful local enterprise. Darryl has a 53-year background in retail and has launched several successful businesses. He and Anne owned and operated a bookstore on St. Simons Island, Georgia, from 2019 to 2025. They are tapping into their local roots with both stores. They raised their family in Sharon, and their daughter Alice, a native of the Northwest Corner, manages the Lakeville store.

The family values the role that a retail store plays as a supporting partner in the community, and they prioritize great management in both locations, hiring and training talent from local communities. Their 10 team members across both stores are from the area, and two of the Great Barrington employees previously worked at Bookloft.
Darryl and Anne’s attention to customer service is everywhere apparent and adds to the enjoyable and irreplaceable in-store shopping experience. The books are in pristine condition, eliminating the risk of damage that sometimes occurs during shipping. This is especially important for books that will live on people’s shelves and coffee tables for years.
Darryl says, “People love the in-store discovery — you find books you didn’t know existed, which is very difficult to do on a website. Also, many customers depend on our recommendations when visiting. There is a saying about bookstores versus online ordering: We may not have exactly what you were looking for, but we have what you want.”
Lakeville Books & Stationery’s Great Barrington store is open 7 days a week, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is available in the lot behind the building and in the parking lot behind the firehouse. The entrance to the store is accessible from the store parking lot.
For more information, go to lakevillebooks.com., and sign-up for the Lakeville Books newsletter.
Richard Feiner and Annette Stover have worked and taught in the arts, communications, and philanthropy in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and New York. Passionate supporters of the arts, they live in Salisbury and Greenwich Village.