CORNWALL — A 17-year-old girl was rescued from the Housatonic River Sunday afternoon, May 8, with what appeared to be serious injuries, including head and back trauma and a possible broken ankle but which turned out to be just bad bruises.Cornwall Rescue Chief Skip Kosciusko said she was airlifted to the St. Mary’s Hospital Level 1 Trauma Center in Waterbury. The teen was able to walk out of the hospital later that day, according to Nancy Wolf, who is head of school for the Darrow School in East Lebanon, N.Y. The young woman was one of a group of students on a canoe trip from the school. Wolf responded to questions from The Lakeville Journal in an email that praised the work of local volunteers. She said all the faculty members on the trip also have first aid and/or wilderness responder training. She credited their expertise, combined with the “speedy, quality care” provide by the local responders, with preventing what could have been a tragedy. Wolf passed along a description of the incident, provided by a chaperone. The canoeists had just passed under the Covered Bridge and were heading through a river bend a little before 2 p.m. As they negotiated some rapids, the girl fell out of a canoe and hit her head on a rock.Two chaperones in a support canoe keeping track of the students and helping them through the rapids were able to get to her quickly. One of them stabilized the girl against the canoe and brought her to a beach on the eastern shore of the Housatonic (near Trinity Conference Center). Another stabilized her neck as she was lifted out of the water. A call went in to 911. Zach Sawicki, an EMT who lives near the scene, climbed down a steep hillside to get to the injured girl and assess the situation. “It was obvious we needed to get her out of there fast, but we weren’t going to be able to do it from that side of the river,” he said shortly after the accident.The Cornwall Fire Department’s Zodiac rescue boat was launched from the opposite side and she was taken downstream to a spot where she could be brought out more easily.About two miles downstream from the incident site, the Housatonic Valley Association was setting up for its 70th anniversary picnic at Housatonic Meadows State Park. The scene changed briefly, but dramatically, as the field on the edge of Route 7 was turned into a Life Star helicopter landing zone. A short time later, the school’s bus, loaded with students and escorted by Department of Environmental Protection police, left the park at the spot where they had ended their trip.The emergency services volunteers also responded within the hour to two boaters who had capsized in Cornwall Bridge. One was hypothermic upon rescue. Both were treated at Sharon Hospital and released.
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Hungry Reaper Farm founders and managers Will O’Meara and Jill Verzino
Both O’Meara and Verzino have extensive experience growing food. Verzino grew up helping her grandmother tend her quintessential Italian vegetable garden. O’Meara started working on farms when he was just 16, got a degree in sustainable food and farming from UMass Amherst and managed other farms before the couple, who have been dating since high school, decided to start their own.
Part of their decision to strike out on their own was based on a desire to do things differently. Local organic food can often feel like a luxury reserved for the privileged and budget-blind. They wanted to bring their produce to a wider audience. Since starting on one acre of rented land, they’ve worked with food pantries, local municipalities, schools and other nonprofits to get their fresh produce in the hands and mouths of people who don’t traditionally have access to such high-quality food. They also landed on a pretty provocative name, with edgy branding to boot.
Verzino, who trained as a visual artist, is responsible for all of the branding. She seems to have an affinity for the medieval and macabre. But more than just a personal preference, it’s a way for them to stand apart from the standard farm branding, which, though often adorable, can start to blend together. Nobody forgets a bag of organic lettuce with a grim reaper sticker on it. After all, Verzino says, “farming is all about sex and death.”
That preference for the weird and unique doesn’t stop with their brand. The couple, who both grew up in the area, used to see a lot of live music. They reminisce about the now-closed Cafe Napoli in Watertown, where they could see a new band with a new sound every week. To them, the small, independent acts seemed to speak the same language as their approach to food and farming. They wanted to find a way to bring that kind of experience to their community.
As they worked their fields, three stately hickory trees towered over the crops. “We like experimental music. We like creative people. We like trees,” Verzino said.
This, they decided, was where they would harvest their next offering — live music.
Will O’Meara, Jill Verzino and the three hickories.D.H. Callahan
Playing the first show at The Three Hickories are a couple of experimental acts indeed. The headliner is Old Saw from Ripton, Vermont. Led by composer Henry Birdsey, the ensemble makes experimental ambient music using a wide variety of unexpected instruments. More than songs, each piece feels like a weathered tapestry cloaking the whole scene in haunting textures. A larger-than-life sound emerges from their instruments like an ancient giant awaking from its gothic slumber.
Opening the show is the Knife Kickers from right down the road in Thomaston, Connecticut. Singer and guitarist John Zacarria is the nucleus of this rotating lineup. Sometimes he plays by himself, and sometimes he brings his friends. Rumor has it he’ll be joined by the cellist featured on his last release, “an acoustic album.”
November might seem like an odd time to launch a DIY outdoor concert in Connecticut, but O’Meara and Verzino aren’t just relying on the hearty nature of New Englanders. To warm the audience and musicians, they’ve enlisted the help of pop-up coffee cart Backdrifter Coffee. Still, a sweater and some gloves might be a good idea, just in case.
For tickets and more information about the farm, visit hungryreaperfarm.com.
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