A ghostly adventure befalls Fountains residents in latest radio production

A ghostly adventure befalls Fountains residents in latest radio production

The Fountains Radio Workshop performed their new radio play, “Strange Encounter,” for an enthusiastic audience of residents and visitors on Friday, May 2.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Building on the success of their first performance in August 2024, The Fountains Radio Workshop rolled out another mystery to capture the imagination and provide a few laughs at their latest production on Friday, May 2.

“Imagine the setting,” playwright, project director and Fountains resident Marge Wardrop told the over-capacity audience, introducing the radio play titled “Strange Encounter.” The performance was interrupted periodically by authentic old-time radio commercials, sparking nods of recognition throughout the audience.

This workshop performance added improvements such as live piano interludes by Lucy Bonaquist, computer sound work by Janet Robinson, and three people on live sound effects, Shelia Attlesey, Judy Buttinger and Pat Carr.

The six scenes of plot involve about 12 Fountains residents returning in a Fountains bus from an Albany conference on aging when a surprise snowstorm and mechanical failure interrupt their trip. The onset of chill in the bus and the spotting of a distant isolated farmhouse inspires them to hike through the snow to be taken in by an accommodating, although spooky, old Dutch farmer who offers shelter in his equally spooky farmhouse. They encounter the ghostly presence of an ancestor bemoaning the past loss of a piece of family jewelry that happens to be hanging around the neck of one of the Fountains visitors, a fancier of antique jewelry.

Undaunted by the spookiness of their situation, the Fountains residents accept the farmer’s offer of cider drinks and promptly doze off. Refreshed by their naps, they welcome the arrival of the State Police who have brought a luxury bus to see them home to The Fountains. Before leaving, the jewelry is generously returned to the ghostly ancestor, clearing the way for the state trooper to let everyone know that there was no house there at all, or any Dutch farmer, or anything.

Judging from the hearty audience approval, cheers and applause, The Fountains Radio Workshop will likely be encouraged to create more radio adventures for residents and visitors.

Latest News

Test MN Newsletter - CH

Keep ReadingShow less
Summer Nights of Canaan

Wednesday, July 16

Cobbler n’ Cream
5 to 7 p.m.
Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery | 324 Norfolk Rd.

Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park

Keep ReadingShow less
When the guide gets it wrong

Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.

Dee Salomon

After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.

At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Remembering Glenn the Trout Spotter

The late Glenn May on one of his favorite rivers, the San Juan in New Mexico, circa 2010.

Photo from Facebook

My nomadic attorney Thos is planning a fishing and camping trip of major proportions later this summer, starting in New Mexico and working his way north through the Rockies into Canada.

So I wanted to reconnect with a fellow named Glenn May, who was my main fishing buddy for several years in the 1990s when we both lived in Albuquerque and worked at the same bookstore. Last I heard he was living in Colorado, which is on the itinerary, more or less.

Keep ReadingShow less