Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

TEAM kicks off the season right

WEBUTUCK — The fall sports season might be winding down, but it’s always the season for community service, and Webutuck High School’s Teens Encouraging Athletes to be Mentors (TEAM)  recently traveled to Astor Head Start in Millerton for a morning with the children there.

This is TEAM’s 10th year of service, explained advisor Mark Moren, who coaches the girls varsity soccer program at Webutuck and first organized the group. Any students in grades nine through 12 who participate on an athletic team this year are eligible. This year 42 students enlisted; officers include Katie Ruppel, president, and Alicia Flinn, vice president.

“It’s our way of showing how our athletes can have a positive effect on the community,� said Moren.

TEAM coordinates several events with Astor Head Start, and last Thursday, Oct. 29, the group hung out with the children at the day care, reading with them and working on arts and crafts projects, just in time for Halloween.

“The kids love it,� Moren said. “It’s an all-around positive for the community.�

“They were wonderful,� said Mariley Najdek, executive director at Astor Head Start. “It’s a really nice collaboration that we have with Webutuck. We went on a walk through town and it was the cutest thing. The kids are always very excited to have company.�

Flinn joined TEAM in the ninth grade, saying that she wanted to show the community that athletes can be good role models for other students. With a possible career in teaching ahead of her, the trips to Astor are her favorite TEAM events.

“Going there with the environment and the atmosphere is a lot of fun,� she added.

“I love the field trips and being with the kids,� said Ruppel, who has been with TEAM since seventh grade. “I think it’s a good way to show that athletes can be great role models.�

Heading to Astor before the trick-or-treating holiday is a staple of TEAM’s annual event schedule. Before Thanksgiving, the group will work with the food pantry at the Presbyterian church in town, and head back to Astor before Christmas to spend more time with the children.

“I think it’s a good thing to work on their self-esteem,� Moren added. “They know they’re helping out and not expecting anything back from it. It’s nice to see them in a noncompetitive situation. It’s about helping out the community and feeling like you’re giving back.�

Lakeville Journal

Latest News

Beatrice Humes Bunce

Beatrice Humes Bunce

NORTH CANAAN — Beatrice Humes Bunce, 89, of Brooksville, Florida, formerly of North Canaan, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on Sept. 13, 2026.

Born on July 29, 1937, in North Canaan, to Douglas E. Humes Sr. and Claudine Goodsill Humes, Bea grew up in Clayton and graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

Keep ReadingShow less

David L. Davis

David L. Davis

NORFOLK — David L. Davis, 84, of Norfolk, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on Sept. 15.

Born in Nottingham, England, David was educated at Bromsgrove School and later graduated from hotel school in Birmingham, England. His education and natural talent for hospitality became the foundation of an extraordinary career that took him from England to some of the finest hospitality establishments in the United States.

Keep ReadingShow less

David A. Godding

David A. Godding

WINCHESTER — David A. Godding Sr., 82, of Winchester Center, Connecticut, passed peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. He was the loving husband of Cheryl Godding for 36 years.

David was born Oct. 17, 1943, in Sharon, to the late Leonard and Gladys (Robertson) Godding.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

James D. Gold

James D. Gold

WEST CORNWALL­ — James D. Gold IV, age 37, of West Cornwall and Brooklyn, New York, passed away peacefully on Sept. 21, 2026 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City following a three-year battle with melanoma.

James was born Sept. 11, 1989 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton where he spent his childhood. A child with unique and diverse interests, he twice represented his elementary school in the Massachusetts State Geography Bee, performed in numerous high school drama productions and competed on the ski team. From an early age, James had a passion for imaging and drawing buildings often sketching many versions until just perfect. He attended Middlebury College in Vermont graduating with a degree in architectural design. As a junior, he studied at the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture in Paris, became fluent in French and worked on the restoration of an historic chateau.

Keep ReadingShow less

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.

Jay Ballesteros

Fast fashion has made it possible to buy the latest trend almost as quickly as it appears on social media. The environmental cost, however, is anything but fleeting. Fashion production accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, consumes enormous quantities of water and energy, and an estimated 85% of textiles end up in landfills each year. Synthetic fabrics also shed microplastics when washed.

So what would happen if we slowed things down?

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
It’s a joyful process. —Susan Schneider

A beautiful September morning found Susan Schneider of Shandell’s working in her Ashley Falls home studio, while linen cocktail napkins she had marbled the day before hung on a line outside her back door. Her helpers, dogs Daisy and Stubbs, are never far from her.

“Marbling,” Schneider explained, “the art of floating paint on a liquid and printing it on a medium, has been around for hundreds of years.”

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.