Year in review: Quiet change and enduring spirit in Falls Village

Year in review: Quiet change and enduring spirit in Falls Village

Matthew Yanarella shows children and adults how to make cannoli at the Hunt Library on Sept. 12.

By Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — The year 2025 saw some new faces in town, starting with Liz and Howie Ives of the Off the Trail Cafe, which took over the town-owned space at 107 Main St., formerly occupied by the Falls Village Cafe.

As the name suggests, the café’s owners have made a point of welcoming Appalachian Trail hikers, including be collaborating with the Center on Main next door on an informal, trail-themed art project.

The Center on Main also welcomed a new face in 2025, with Britta Sallik joining the organization as its community connections manager.

Farther up Main Street, the David M. Hunt Library brought on Anna Pattison as its new assistant director and youth programming coordinator.

At the Congregational Church, parishioners marked the end of an era as the Rev. Rich Reifsnyder presided over his final service on Sunday, Oct. 12. Reifsnyder, who began his tenure in February 2018, said the position was initially intended to be short-term.

“A couple of Sundays here and there,” he said. “Then it sort of developed.”

In 2025, Hunt Library kept its calendar full with a wide range of well-attended programs, many of which spilled outdoors during the warmer months.

Highlights included a cannoli-making workshop with Matthew Yanarella, who wisely took the somewhat messy demonstration outside.

The library also hosted a series of outdoor summer concerts, culminating in an entertaining and unexpected open mic night on Aug. 8.

Programming extended beyond the arts and culinary pursuits as well. On April 16, Pat Campbell of Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD) visited the library with Titan, a golden retriever–Labrador mix, offering a demonstration of how service dogs are trained.

On March 22, Zarifa Adiba, a musician from Kabul, Afghanistan, and the author of Playing for Freedom: The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl, spoke at the library about her journey from the dangerous streets of Kabul to a new life in Flushing, New York.

Titan, a four-month-old service dog in training, greeting the Sher brothers, Eli and Noah, at the Hunt Library Wednesday, April 16. By Patrick L. Sullivan

Vehicles of all sorts filled the downtown streets twice over the summer. The Falls Village Car and Motorcycle Show on July 13 attracted more than 600 entries and more spectators than ever, according to organizer Judy Jacobs.

And the vintage race car parade on Aug. 28 wound through Salisbury and Lakeville before finishing up in downtown Falls Village. Featured this year were vintage vehicles from the early 20th century, courtesy of the Rag Time Racers, a California-based group of race car enthusiasts specializing in very early vehicles.

A heavily modified 1951 Ford F1 pickup truck on display during the Car and Motorcycle Show in July. By Patrick L. Sullivan

Over at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, work began on a “land lab” for the Agricultural Science and Technology Education Department when students cleared brush at the newly acquired, two-acre plot of open field and woodland a half mile up Warren Turnpike on Sept. 22. The area is planned to be a native forest management area meant to teach students about the health and maintenance of an ecosystem.

The Emergency Services Center hosted a special Planning and Zoning Commission meeting with the Falls Village Housing Trust and Habitat for Humanity on Nov. 5. The two housing groups provided an update on the status of affordable housing developments on River Road, with the Trust’s Jandi Hanna saying she expects to break ground in 2026. Bob Whalen of Habitat said his organization will be filing an application for either houses or duplexes some time in 2026.

Meanwhile, First Selectman Dave Barger responded to resident complaints about the town’s electric vehicle charging rates by pushing the device’s supplier for a reduction.

By the end of July, the price per kilowatt-hour had fallen from $1.45 to between 45 and 49 cents.

Latest News

Cornwall board approves purchase of two new fire trucks following CVFD recommendation
CVFD reaches fundraising goal for new fire trucks
Provided

CORNWALL — At the recommendation of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, on Jan. 20 the Board of Selectmen voted to move forward with the purchase of two new trucks.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was chosen as the manufacturer. Of the three bids received, Greenwood was the lowest bidder on the desired mini pumper and a rescue pumper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robin Lee Roy

FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.

She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie A. Vreeland

SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.

At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael A. Porro

SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.

Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.

Keep ReadingShow less