Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — July 1923

SALISBURY —  E.R. Smith has sold his garage to R.G. Marston. It is understood that Mr. Smith and family expect to go to California later to make their home.

 

Fire completely destroyed the barn at J. Wisoski’s place at Lincoln City on Friday afternoon. It is thought the blaze was started by spontaneous combustion caused by hay not thoroughly cured before being stored in the building. The barn and its contents proved a total loss as there was no insurance on them.

 

For some reason the fire siren went wrong last week and at times emitted all kinds of sounds from a growl to a moan. It is thought there was some trouble with the wires or switches and efforts have been made to locate the trouble.

 

Over a hundred fight fans got the news of the Willard-Firpo battle on Thursday night over Merrill Fenn’s radio. Mr. Fenn’s yard was full of autos and his lawn full of fans, and while there was some static the radio worked well and was greatly enjoyed by all.

 

50 years ago — July 1973

The Lakeville Journal has won the 1973 Golden Quill Award for the best editorial among 1500 submitted to the International Conference of Weekly Newspaper Editors. The editorial, “A Boy’s Toes,” appeared in the issue of March 15, 1973, and was written by Editor-Publisher Robert H. Estabrook. It accompanied a news story by Barbara Buccino and concerned the plight of a northwest Connecticut youth who nearly lost three toes to frostbite because of a lapse in state supervision. Released from a state training institution, he was living in an unheated shed after arrangements for him to attend school elsewhere had fallen through.

 

A crowd of almost 1500 campers, parents and staff members attending a Visitor’s Day program at Camp Sloane on July 15 were excited over the announcement by Theron C. Hoyt of Pleasantville, president of the Camp Sloane YMCA board of directors, that a capital funds drive is planned for $127,250 to construct a swimming pool. The T-shaped pool will measure 83 by 45 feet in one direction and 75 by 35 feet in the other and will vary in depth to permit instruction and safe recreational swimming for all ages.

 

Exposed chestnut post and beam construction of a corner of the Abel Lee house on the Millerton Road shows the careful and sturdy building practices of the late 1700s. The house, now being readied for aluminum siding, was for a period the home of Daniel Cook and thought to also be the home of a Mr. Eldridge, a layman sympathetic toward Methodism. Freeborn Garrettson, an early Methodist circuit rider from New York, conducted services here in June, 1789. That date, if correct, would possibly make Lakeville the oldest continuous congregation in New England.

 

25 years ago — July 1998

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday his office is currently reviewing the issue of former Sharon Hospital President James Sok’s severance agreement to determine whether an investigation would be justified. Blumenthal conceded he has received “various calls, complaints and correspondences about this matter. We are reviewing them to determine what our authority is and whether further action is warranted.”

 

Pat Pallone said he has been approached by Brooks Drug every year for the past eight years. But he had no reason to sell the Canaan Pharmacy that he has put so much of himself into for the past 18 years. This year, however, he and his wife Martha decided to give it serious consideration. For the past year, Mr. Pallone has been fighting an aggressive form of myeloma. A stem cell transplant earlier this year was successful and his doctors believe he has gone into remission. He said he didn’t want to wait until someone else had to make the decision for him. The sale of the store will be finalized July 28.

 

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.

Latest News

Fallen trees injure man, destroy fences at dog shelter

Two uprooted locust trees still lie in the yard in front of Animal Farm Foundation’s original kennels where they fell on a fence during a storm on Thursday, June 19.

Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Fallen trees, uprooted and splintered during a thunderstorm, injured a man, destroyed fences and damaged a dog kennel at the Animal Farm Foundation facilities in Bangall.

Isaias Nunez was cleaning along a road on the property with Marco Ortiz, another employee of the dog shelter, when the storm rolled in on the afternoon of Thursday, June 19.

Keep ReadingShow less
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit millertonnews.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less