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Untold tales and images of history

You don’t have to be a teacher or a student to explore the state’s new history website for students in grades three, five and eight and high school. In addition to fairly obscure but fascinating history tidbits, there are also historical photos and documents such as the exquisite maps the Dutch used while exploring the region in the 1600s. The Teach It curriculum-enhancing resource is available online at no cost. 

There are even history lessons that relate specifically to the Northwest Corner, such as a unit on the tools and weapons invented by the Hotchkiss family of Sharon.

Teach It is an ongoing collaboration between educators, historical societies and leading cultural institutions across the state, including The Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Mystic Seaport Museum, the Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library, The Amistad Center for Arts and Culture in Hartford, the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, the Fairfield Museum and History Center, the Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield, the Pequot Library in Southport, the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, and the New Haven Museum, among many others.

The website can be found online at www.teachitct.org. It is a project of Connecticut Humanities, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the state affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress. 

Lakeville Journal

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Doug Tallamy’s work in progress: saving the planet one backyard at a time

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Windacre, a 25-acre property in Millerton will be the site of “Work in Progress,” an afternoon with acclaimed entomologist, New York Times bestselling author and Homegrown National Park co-founder Doug Tallamy.

Provided

For nearly three decades, Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, has studied the intricate relationships between native plants, insects, birds and the ecosystems that sustain them. His books, including “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” have helped shift the conversation about conservation from something that happens primarily in parks and preserves to something ordinary people can practice on the land around them.

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Celebrating Dick Hermans’ life built around community

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Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton\u2019s Main Street in 1985.

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No matter what I’ve done, I’m trying to be useful to the communities I’m associated with.
— Dick Hermans

When Dick Hermans receives the Estabrook Community Leadership Award on Oct. 11, he will accept it for a lifetime of work that has taken many forms: bookseller, radio host, school board member, advocate for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, business owner, volunteer and, perhaps most importantly, a person who has consistently looked for ways to be useful to the communities around him.

The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News will present Hermans with the 2026 award at the annual Jubilee celebration at the Sharon Playhouse. The award honors outstanding leadership in community service and was inspired by Mary Lou and Robert Estabrook, former owners of the newspapers who believed that strengthening a community extended well beyond the work of publishing a newspaper.

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Members of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe at Homelands PowWow in 2025.

Joeseph Plante New Media Storytellers
Our goal is to continue building an annual gathering that honors the history, culture and traditions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans in their original Homelands.


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Ancram Center’s “A Number” doubles questions of identity

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Ledbetter (left) and Wojda (right) on the set of “A Number” at Ancram Center for the Arts.
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How would you feel if you found out you weren’t the only you — if there was an exact replica of you? What if you found out that you’d been cloned? Would you believe that you’re the real you? Would you suspect you might be a copy of the original? How could you be sure anything about your life was real? These are some of the questions posed in Caryl Churchill’s play “A Number,” opening at the Ancram Center for the Artson Oct. 1.

Churchill was born in London in 1938 and has been hailed by the theaterl world as one of the strongest voices of her time to take on sexual politics and feminist themes. Her works garner pointedly considered analysis from the highest levels of theatrical intellectualism. Basically, it’s about as far from “The Lion King” as you can get. While she’s experimented with dance theater in the past, “A Number” is much more stripped down, highlighting Churchill’s chosen themes and the skills of both actors on stage.

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Adamah Farm crew members planning out the day’s tasks on a late September day.

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Pinchas Zukerman brings an all-Beethoven program to Hotchkiss

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Pinchas Zukerman to perform at Hotchkiss Oct. 4

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The passion, drama and energy of Beethoven will fill Katherine M. Elfers Hall at The Hotchkiss School on Oct. 4, when world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman is joined by pianist Shai Wosner for a special recital.

The 4:30 p.m. program at the Esther Eastman Music Center will feature three of Beethoven’s celebrated violin sonatas: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30.

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