Future journalists

Our summer experience with journalism interns is coming to a close as high school and college schedules summon a return to the classroom. The assignments from our editors have sent these budding journalists right back into the community where many of them have lived most of their lives — but in some cases not really knowing what goes on in town.

The resulting stories from all our interns has greatly exceeded our expectations. Last year, The Millerton News and The Lakeville Journal hosted four interns. This year, the number grew to nine. The big screen TV in our newsroom that we use for weekly story conferences (for those in the office and others Zooming in) almost wasn’t big enough to suitably fit everyone.

We wondered whether it would be too much to handle nine interns, but we decided that we just couldn’t turn anyone away. Last year, in an effort to attract interns, we cast a net, attending workshops at the University of Connecticut in Storrs and reaching out to the journalism department at Marist College in Poughkeepsie where we found Colleen Flynn, a Marist intern last year who upon graduation in May became a full-time staff reporter for The News covering Millertion and North East.

The student interns this year, who are paid, include high school students from public and private schools and college undergraduates. We are proud to have hosted four high school students and even more proud of the work they have produced this summer. Simon Markow from Cornwall is a rising junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Copey Rollins, from Sharon, is a rising junior at The Hotchkiss School. Ira Buch, also at Hotchkiss who previously attended public schools in Kyiv, Ukraine, will enter her senior year. Kayla Jacquier of East Canaan graduated from HVRHS in June and is headed for Northwestern Connecticut Community College. Gavin Marr, from Millbrook, attends Boston University. Josie Duggan, also from Millbrook, is a rising junior at Bucknell University. Ruby Citrin, from Great Barrington, will be a sophomore at California Polytechnic State University. Chloe Kolakowski, a summer resident of Norfolk and a rising senior at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., joined the intern team in August after spending the first half of her summer interning for Sen. Charles Grassley in Washington. Mia Barnes of Sharon, a Housy grad, is a rising junior at Skidmore College.

Each year Salisbury’s Rotary Club presents a Lakeville Journal intern with the Bob Estabrook Intern Award in honor of our late editor and publisher. On July 16, Simon Markow received the award for his accomplishments over the summer. Past recipients have included Sadie Leite of Simsbury, who will attend graduate school at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in the fall, and Emma Benardete, from Amenia, a student at Oberlin College who was Opinions Editor and Editor-in-Chief at The Oberlin Review. Sadie and Emma are also back this summer, making a reprise covering the news for our readers — not as interns but as young professionals —until academia calls them back.

When the interns started, we advised them that there was a lot to learn. We also said we expected to learn from them, and we have. Most of all we draw inspiration from their energy and desire to be witness to history — and write about it. Whether they pursue a career in the field or not, their experience will benefit journalism overall. We salute them — and thank them.

Latest News

Crescendo’s upcoming tribute to Wanda Landowska

Kenneth Weiss (above) will play a solo recital performance in honor of Wanda Landowska, a harpischord virtuoso, who lived in Lakeville for many years.

Provided

On Sept. 14, Crescendo, the award-winning music program based in Lakeville, will present a harpsichord solo recital by Kenneth Weiss in honor of world-renowned harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. Landowska lived in Lakeville from 1941 to 1959. Weiss is a professor at the Paris Conservatoire and has taught at Julliard. Born in New York, he now resides in Europe.

Weiss will play selections from “A Treasury of Harpsichord Music.” It includes works by Baroque composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Handel. It was recorded by Landowska at her Lakeville home, at 63 Millerton Road, which overlooks Lakeville Lake. Weiss said, “I am honored and excited to play in Lakeville, where Wanda Landowska lived.”

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Silent cinema, live magic

The live audience at Music Mountain takes in a silent film Sept. 7.

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On Saturday, Sept. 7, Gordon Hall at Music Mountain was transformed into a time machine, transporting the audience for a 1920’s spectacular of silent films and live music. Featuring internationally acclaimed silent film musicians Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton, the evening began with a singalong of songs by Gershwin, Irving Berlin and more. Lyrics for favorites like “Ain’t We Got Fun,” “Yes Sir That’s My Baby,” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” were projected on the screen and Sosin and Seaton lead the crowd with an easeful joy. The couple then retreated to the side of the stage where they provided the live and improvised score for Buster Keaton’s 1922 short, “Cops,” and his 1924 comedy, “Sherlock Jr.”

Joanna Seaton and Donald Sosin, a husband-and-wife duo, have crafted a singular career, captivating audiences at some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals—New York, TriBeCa, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Telluride, and Yorkshire among them. Their performances have graced venerable institutions like MoMA, Film at Lincoln Center, the AFI Silver Theatre, and Moscow’s celebrated Lumière Gallery. Their melodic journey has taken them to far-flung locales such as the Thailand Silent Film Festival and the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in South Korea. Notably, Seaton and Sosin have become a fixture at Italy’s renowned silent film festivals in Bologna and Pordenone, where they perform annually.

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Desperately seeking Susan Seidelman

The cover art for Seidelman's memoir "Desperately Seeking Something."

Photo Provided

On Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m., Haystack Book Talks will present a special evening with director Susan Seidelman, author of “Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls.” Part of the Haystack Book Festival run by Michael Selleck, the event will take place at the Norfolk Library, featuring a conversation with Mark Erder after a screening of the 1984 classic, “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

Susan Seidelman’s fearless debut film, “Smithereens,” premiered in 1982 and was the first American indie film to ever compete at Cannes. Then came “Desperately Seeking Susan,” a smash hit that not only solidified her place in Hollywood but helped launch Madonna’s career. Her films, blending classic Hollywood storytelling with New York’s downtown energy, feature unconventional women navigating unique lives. Seidelman continued to shape pop culture into the ’90s, directing the pilot for “Sex and the City.” Four decades later, Seidelman’s stories are still as sharp, funny, and insightful as ever.

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Annual Tritle organ concert at Smithfield

Kent Tritle at the organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.

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An anticipated fall favorite event at The Smithfield Church is the now-annual virtuoso organ performance by Kent Tritle, organist for the New York Philharmonic, this year to be joined by Arthur Fiacco, Jr. on Cello. The concert will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Oratorio Society of New York where Tritle serves as Music Director.

For the past ten years, Tritle has performed an annual concert on the Smithfield Church’s historic tracker organ, a favorite of his. The program will include a variety of selections, from classical to modern, along with Tritle’s incomparable commentary on each. Selections will include organ solos and duets with cello, interpreting the works of Bach, Vivaldi and Mendelssohn, with two works by modern composers.

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