An article in the Sept. 1 issue about a celebration of Sam Busselle’s life omitted the names of three founding members of what became the North East Community Center. Besides Sam Busselle and Wendy Curtis, others who were founding members were Bob Riemer, Mike Rindsberg and Bob Quinlan.
Latest News
HELP WANTED
Carpenters Wanted: Local established company looking for qualified carpenters. Segalla's TurnKey Housing, LLC is looking for a few carpenters with varying levels of expertise to join an established team. Must be able to work well with others performing a varied list of tasks from siding and framing to finish trim. Competitive wages, 401K, paid holidays, vacation and health insurance offered. Please contact us at 860-824-0019.
Wanted: a mechanic to service my small Husqvarna Z254F zero-turn lawn mower. I'm in Lakeville. 860-435-2660.
Full-time Warehouse and Office positions available in Sharon, CT. We're looking for dependable, self-motivated individuals who are ready to work and take pride in doing a good job. Pay is $22 to $30 an hour, depending on experience. Applicants must have reliable transportation, be dependable and on time every day, be self-motivated and able to work independently, have a positive attitude and good work ethic. Interested? Call Mike or Greg at 800-245-8222 for more information.
TAG SALES SALISBURY, CT
ESTATE SALE 76 Factory St. Salisbury, CT. Furniture, Rugs, Household items, Art, Books, & More. Friday-Sunday October 9, 10, 11. 9-3 pm. No Early Birds.
TAG SALES LAKEVILLE, CT
ESTATE AND FAMILY TAG SALE 27 Indian Mountain Rd, Lakeville. Saturday, October 10, 8 am-4pm. Rain Date, October 11. Lots of arts and crafts supplies plus artwork old and new, jewelry, games, household items, and furniture. Many items are one of a kind. Everything priced to sell. Cash, Venmo, and credit/debit cards accepted. Easy parking.
HOUSE FOR RENT
2 Bedroom House. Millerton, NY. Quiet. 4 miles from town. No Dogs. $2400 monthly, plus utilities. 518-567-8277.
Awaiting the start of the planning event for the sixth annual Troutbeck Symposium (2027) were Owen Schnepf, a Junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, speaking with Judy Bucklin, a history and philosophy teacher at Arlington High School in New York.
Photo by Leila Hawken
Collaboration that brings independent school students and educators together with strong public school programs in a common experience is one of the consistent strengths of the program now in its sixth year, explained Troutbeck owner Charlie Champalimaud.
Continuing his commitment to the goals of the annual symposium since its inception, Hasan Kwame Jeffries attended the planning event. Jeffries is an Associate Professor of History in the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University in Columbus.
Jeffries teaches courses including Civil Rights and the Black Power Movement, all directly connected historically with Troutbeck where important progress was made toward the formation of the NAACP, an effort that took decades to bring about.
During an interview before the start of the planning event, Jeffries spoke of the program’s expansion, measured by standard metrics of success like numbers of participating school and students and their projects. Over the years, harder to quantify but observable, has been the students’ educational growth as they created their presentations.
Stressing that progress has been brought by a host of people, Jeffries said that the ultimate goal of the symposiums has always been toward creating a replicable model that can be distributed and adopted by school districts throughout the U.S. A packaged symposium model is easier to find funding for.
Michael Morand, Director of Community Engagement at Yale’s Beinecke Library, has been active with the symposium since its beginning. He spoke of the existing commitment and relationship between Yale and northwestern Connecticut. He said that students often visit New Haven to do archival research for their projects, looking at original documents.
Owen Schnepf, a Junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, said that his team of six students is planning to create a short film for the 2027 symposium, exploring the topic of women in the whaling industry. To gather information for the film project, the students will visit Mystic Seaport for research and interviews with historians.
“We are asking students to become historians,” Troutbeck owner Charlie Champalimaud said in opening the event.
“No one knows what the next step in education will be,” said Rhonan Mokriski, history teacher at Salisbury School, looking ahead to an age of A.I. Mokriski played a large part in the founding of the Symposium project.
“You know the stories; they are out there,” Mokriski told the students.
“Why is this important,” asked Prof. Jeffries. “It is not just to study history, it is to become historians.”
“What is democracy,” Jeffries asked the students. “It is knowledge and access to knowledge. Democracy means asking the difficult questions, learning about the past; how we came to be here at this particular time. History is important to self-governing. History is where the knowledge is.”
“How far can we go as a country,” Jeffries asked. “Look at the aspects of the past that make us uncomfortable in our present.”
“We are preparing kids to lead in the future,” Jeffries said of the symposium.
“We’re taking the classroom out of the schools,” Jeffries said, speaking of the value of students visiting a cemetery, or researching in archives or interviewing someone in South Carolina as students have done, using Zoom. “That’s when rich learning takes place.”
The 2027 Troutbeck Symposium will be held Wednesday, April 28 through Friday, April 30. For information, go to www.troutbeck.com.
About to open the planning event for the sixth annual Troutbeck Symposium on Sunday, Oct. 4, Troutbeck owner Charlie Champalimaud spoke with guest speaker Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University, who has been a vital participant in the program since it began in 2021.Photo by Leila Hawken
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
U.S. rider Isabel Coxe navigates the fences in the Discovery Land Co. Grand Prix on Sunday, Oct. 4. The Grand Prix is a showjumping competition that sees riders clear 1.5 meter tall fences in a tight arena.
Photo by Kirsten Edlund-Tunkel
The biggest of the weekend — the 1.5 meter Discovery Land Company Grand Prix — is rated at a 3-star difficulty level by the Federation Equestre Internationale, the governing body of equestrian sports. Competitions of this level draw equestrians and their horses from all over the world, and the Masters is no different, with riders from Panama, Egypt, Israel, and more.
Horses are flown in and stable on site, with a number of them opting to stay the week in between the Masters and the Highlands Cup — also hosted by DLC at Keane Stud on the following weekend, Oct. 7 to Oct. 11.
The show also boasts riders from across the country, many making the trek from equine hub Wellington, Florida, including Kent Farrington. Farrington took home the $116,500.00 pot after winning the Discovery Land Co. Grand Prix jump off, with a blazing time of 34.23 seconds, on his horse Rexton. Second and third places were claimed by the U.S.’s Sloane Coles and Jaqueline Ruyle.
Alongside the competition, the Masters boasts an array of shops, art, and places to sit and enjoy the show. The shopping section is arranged alongside the back end of the arena, complete with a concession tent and a picnic area, where guests can pay $50 to enjoy the competition ringside, and a free kids area with a bounce house, face painting and pumpkin painting.
The shops are wide ranging in wares — boutique clothing and accessories, home goods, tack and equestrian essentials. One vendor, Natasha Tarasov, has had a pop up of her tack shop The Horse Connection in attendance at every Masters since the first in 2024.
Based in Bedford, New York, Natasha has been running the shop for 30 years. “This year has been a great experience” Tarasov said. “they’ve really blown it out of the park.”
She echoed a number of other shop owners in their praise of the Masters, especially Millbrook’s own Jessie Smith, coordinator of the event and owner of local pop up The Fizzy Filly. Tarasov voiced her thankfulness to the event for bringing in local tack vendors in an era where small tack shops are rapidly disappearing.
“I’ve been super lucky,” Tarasov said. “I have a great customer base, and I’m not going anywhere.”
There was also an installation of art within an enclosed gallery, at the event for its second year, curated by Brendan Murphy and advised by upstate New York-based Aphra Williams.
“I am blown away by the organization,” Williams said. “Everyone has been so lovely, and it’s been a lucrative weekend.”
Silo Ridge’s charity, the Silo Ridge Community Foundation, will receive portions of the proceeds from the artwork and auctioning of a 15-foot-tall bear sculpture resting atop the hill between the barn and the arena.
Meandering through the shops and grounds, two people stood out more than anyone else. The Hudson Valley’s own Pierre the Mime and Meatball the clown brought a comedic air to the event.
A Sunday exclusive, the pair played pranks on unsuspecting attendees, with Pierre tickling the unaware with a feather, and Meatball donning a loud Scottish Brogue.
“It’s my first time at a horse show, it’s been a lot of fun,” Meatball, who has been clowning since 2011, said. “Good kids and a quiet mime”.
Pierre proved difficult to interview solo, but a representative on site translated for the mime. The representative said Pierre had also never been to a horse show, but was delighted by how playful everyone was. A mime about town, Pierre has worked with the Ringling Bros., John Oliver, and the Kardashians, and has spent decades with the Big Apple Circus in the Clown Care Program. Before the Grand Prix class at the end of the day, Pierre could be seen entertaining riders during the course walk, popping between fences and galloping around like he was meant to be jumping the fences himself.
Photo by Kirsten Edlund-Tunkel
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
