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Town vote set in Sharon to accept STEAP grant for River Road repairs

Town vote set in Sharon to accept STEAP grant for River Road repairs
Sharon Town Hall is located on Main Street.
Leila Hawken

SHARON — A town meeting is set to be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, to authorize First Selectman Casey Flanagan to formally accept the $1 million in funds the town received in the 2025 round of Small Town Economic Assistance Program, commonly known as STEAP grants.

The funds, matched by $700,000 from the town, are dedicated towards the repair of River Road, which has been limited to single-lane travel since the structural failure of the roadway in the summer of 2023.

Sharon’s award of $1 million was the maximum amount allocated to any one town in the program.

Thursday’s vote is to allow Flanagan to sign the agreement for the grant, and does not involve the additional movement of funds.

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Two artists, two Hartford stages, one shared life

Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo at home in Salisbury with their dogs, Petruchio and Beatrice

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"He played his violin, I worked on my lines, we walked the dog, and suddenly we were circling each other perfectly."
Caroline Kinsolving

Actor Caroline Kinsolving and violinist Gary Capozziello enjoy their quiet life with their two dogs in Salisbury, yet are often pulled apart to perform on distant stages in far-flung cities. Currently, the planets have aligned, and both are working in Hartford, across Bushnell Park from one another. Bridgewater native Kinsolving is starring in “Circus Fire,” the current production of TheaterWorks Hartford, while Capozziello is a violinist and assistant concertmaster of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. While Kinsolving hates being away from home, she feels the distance nourishes their relationship.

“We are guardians of each other’s confidence and self-esteem,” she said.

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Local filmmaker turns spotlight back on Hollywood’s Mermaid

Esther Williams in “Million Dollar Mermaid” (1952).

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For decades, Esther Williams was one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, but the swimming sensation of the silver screen has largely faded from public memory — a disappearance that intrigued Millerton filmmaker Brian Gersten and inspired him to revisit her legacy.

As a millennial, Gersten grew up largely unaware of Williams’ influential career. His teen years in Chicago were spent with friends who obsessed over movies, spending hours at their local independent video store,and watching anything that caught their eye. Somehow, though, they never ventured into the glossy world of synchronized-swimming musicals of the 1940s and ‘50s.

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Summer exhibition opens at Wassaic Project

Nate King, “When I Was Younger And Now That I’m Older,” 2026, Digital projection, digital animation, photography.

photo courtesy Nate King

The Wassaic Project, the 8,000-square-foot, seven-story former grain elevator transformed into a vibrant arts space, opens its 2026 Summer Exhibition, “Because, now is the time of monsters,” on Saturday, May 16, from 3-6 p.m. at Maxon Mills, launching a season-long presentation featuring 39 artists working across installation, performance, video and sculpture.

The opening celebration will include an afternoon of exhibitions and live programming throughout the historic mill building and its surrounding spaces. Gallery and Art Nest hours run from 12-6 p.m., with special presentations scheduled throughout the day.

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Hotchkiss to host inaugural International Piano Competition
Murong Yang ’08, a founding supporter of the Hotchkiss International Music Competition, helped establish the program through the Yang and Hamabata families to support young musicians and artistic excellence.
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The Hotchkiss School will launch a major new addition to its arts programming with the inaugural Hotchkiss International Piano Competition, a three-day event taking place May 15–17 in Katherine M. Elfers Hall.

The competition will bring together young pianists ages 10 to 18 from around the world, with participants representing the United States, Thailand, Korea, China, Canada, and Azerbaijan. Performers will compete across multiple age divisions, culminating in final rounds that will be open to the public, offering audiences the opportunity to hear a wide range of emerging international talent in performance.

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Open Studios by Upstate Art Weekend invites visitors inside 240 workspaces

“Untitled” by Christine Domanic, one of the 37 artists featured in “Earthen Plot,” opening Friday, May 15.

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Art lovers will have an opportunity to step inside working artist’s studios across the region next weekend as Open Studios by Upstate Art Weekend returns Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The annual event invites the public into the creative spaces of 240 artists throughout the Hudson Valley and Catskills, offering an intimate look at artistic practices across disciplines while fostering direct connections between artists and visitors.

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Trash or treasure? Choose your groundcover with care
Violets, a keystone groundcover, under a magnolia tree.
Dee Salomon

This brief period in the spring, before the mosquitoes and poison ivy proliferate, is irresistible to me. I want to do everything all at once: plant, remove invasives, examine what is coming into leaf and tend to plants that need protection, whether from deer or downy mildew.

Amid the nonstop gardening work, I recently made time to join a tour of two nearby gardens. Each had a fascinating history, and we looked at photos to see how much had changed and what was still there and flourishing, including a stand of large yellowroot with delicate brown-and-yellow flowers that look like a cross between an orchid and a lilac. It has been there for decades, a lesson in successful gardening with native plants.

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