Sheepherding dogs’ skills put to the test

DOVER PLAINS, N.Y. — Finality Farm in Dover Plains hosted its second annual sheepdog trials last weekend, May 20 to 22.Sheepdog trials are generally competitions for border collies (although in the 1995 film “Babe,” a pig had aspirations of winning the competition). Organizer Michele Ferraro, an equine vet and partner at Millbrook Equine, and herself an owner of border collies, said 99 percent of the entries were border collies, but there was a kelpie or two thrown into the mix as well. Ferraro had three of her dogs entered in the trials: Moss, a proven winner (as a 3-year-old, he won the Scottish Nationals) took a sixth place, out of 77 runs, in the open competition on Friday, May 20.Competitors came from as far away as Virginia and Canada and the judge, Frank Cashen, hails from County Wexford in Ireland. He is a former winner of the International Sheep Dog Society World Sheep Dog Trials. Sheepdog trials are intended to test the natural abilities of the border collie. They are, said Ferraro, “the one breed that truly uses their eyes to move the sheep.” In fact, points are deducted if the dog nips at the sheeps’ flanks, heels or throat. The only contact between sheep and dog that is allowed is a brief bite and release to the face, “because head wounds heal very fast,” Ferraro said. Over three full days of competition, 85 dogs competed at the advanced levels on Friday and Saturday and 120 dogs competed on Sunday, in the intermediate and beginner levels. A dog and handler worked three or four sheep at a time depending on which class they were entered in. Sheepdog trials have been on the wane, as open land and sheep become more scarce. The 90 head of sheep were trucked in from Pennsylvania, and were “undogged,” meaning they hadn’t been used in competition before, making them more of a challenge to the competitors.For more information on sheepdog trials in the area go to the Northeast Border Collie Association website at www.nebca.net.

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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