SHARON, Conn. — There will still be snow again (possibly on Friday, April 16), but spring is officially here and with it has come the opening of area garden centers — many of whom opened for business on the first day of spring, Saturday, March 20.
Some of the markets and garden centers, such as Freund’s in East Canaan and McEnroe Organic in Millerton, stayed open through the winter.
Kent Greenhouse and Salisbury Garden Center and Paley’s in Sharon both opened March 20.
The plan for Paley’s this year was to open a little later than normal, on March 27 (although the fine weather encouraged them to have an early “soft” opening).
They could have been forgiven for wanting a slow start this year, after an unusually rough year in 2020 for owners Sarah and Chris Coon (who begin their third year running the market this year; Sarah is the younger sister of founder Charlie Paley, and she’s been working with him since they were both teens).
As much as we hate to look back at 2020, it’s worth remembering the odd squeeze that all our garden centers experienced in the early months of COVID-19: There was an influx of new residents to the area; and everyone was nesting heavily and wanted not only to spruce up their interiors but also to plant a garden. Edibles were especially in demand, as there were concerns about the safety of the food supply system.
Garden centers order their seeds in the prior autumn, and most were unprepared for the boom in their business. But too many customers can be a good problem — if it’s possible to get supplies.
Which was not possible. Seed companies were also hit by unusually high demand at a time when they had to reduce production so their workers could safely social distance.
Sarah and Chris Coon were at their garden center on Thursday morning, March 18, to talk about the completion of their new greenhouses, and during the conversation they summarized some of the challenges that will be facing all Tri-state garden centers in the coming weeks.
Once again, there probably won’t be enough seed packets for everyone who wants to grow at home. In addition to the expected increase in demand, many of the seed companies were working under COVID-19 restrictions and didn’t have enough workers to properly save and dry the seeds in large quantities.
“We put in our order with Burpee last November and when the packets arrived, we were like, Where is everything?” Sarah said. “They sent us 75% fewer seeds than we ordered. And we’ve been doing business with them for 38 years! There were hardly any cucumbers or tomato varieties in what they sent us. We got a lot of beans and peas.”
Which are a little drab compared to tomatoes, of course. But those are the retail seed packets (Sarah promised that she was able to secure a shipment of some particularly nice seeds from the Hudson Valley for home gardeners).
Chris said the companies seemed to have put commercial growers at the head of the priority list. As a result, his wife and partner said, Paley’s this year is planning to sell more vegetable “starts” (many of which are already growing in the new greenhouses).
It isn’t only the seeds that are coming in limited quantities, though. What happens in the rest of the world does still impact this little rural region. Deliveries of soil have been delayed, not because there isn’t enough dirt on the planet but because there isn’t enough plastic. The reason for that is open to speculation but Chris has heard one theory that the sturdy plastic used for soil bags is made with a byproduct of airline fuel and people are flying less so there’s less fuel … It all eventually comes back to COVID.
Plastic sacks,
seedling pots
A similar problem is holding up the production of plastic plant pots.
Some solutions are available in the region. McEnroe Organic, for example, makes its own soils and composts. Even if there aren’t enough bags to sell them in at retail, it’s possible there and at some other garden centers to purchase soil and compost by the truckload.
At Freund’s in East Canaan, it’s possible to buy the farm’s famous CowpPots plant starting containers, made from the manure of the dairy cows on the farm.
And of course Freund’s and McEnroe’s also will have their famous tomato starts, as well as herbs, vegetables and fruits.
Business is very good
(and busy)
And back to the flip side of the supply problem, the Coons at Paley’s anticipate that most of their employees from last year will return. Farm markets and orchards have traditionally been a popular spot for young people to get first jobs.
Those who started last year certainly got a taste of what it means to work very, very hard.
“We normally have a lull in the middle of the week,” Sarah said. “We didn’t get that last year, which made it hard to keep up. But we met a lot of nice new people, too. Overall, 2020 was very good for us, although it was stressful and exhausting.”
Most stressful, of course, was the tornado that hit the Northwest Corner in August, with winds that toppled the weather vane on the farm and took down three of the six greenhouses.
As with everything else farm related last year, there was a delay in getting parts for the rebuild of the greenhouses. The Coons were full of praise for their greenhouse builder, Paul Harrison of Cheshire, Conn. — who was also overwhelmed with orders and new customers last year.
While they were waiting for Harrison to custom bend the metal supports needed to rebuild the greenhouses, the Coons made lemonade from lemons by adding a concrete center strip in the greenhouses and widening the aisles.
The parts finally arrived around Thanksgiving last year, but Harrison was unable to come and install them, to his chagrin. But he offered detailed instructions and the Coons (with help from family and friends, including farm founder Charlie Paley) were able to build the structures themselves.
“We got the poles back in place and then put the plastic up with almost no problems,” Sarah said. “We got lucky, there wasn’t any wind; because, as we know, this is a windy spot.”
In addition to the six “grow” greenhouses the retail greenhouse is also up and being filled with plant products for shoppers.
“We’ll be open seven days a week from 9 to 5 through April,” Sarah said, “and then we’ll be open from 8 to 6 starting in May.”
There is always a crush of customers waiting to shop here and at other area garden shops.
Even before the centers opened last month, Sarah said, “Everyone was ready. They were champing at the bit.”
Edward Aparo passed away peacefully at his home on January 7, 2026 surrounded by his loving family.
Edward was born on May 10, 1936 in New Britain, CT. He was the beloved son of the late Anthony and Rose Valenti Aparo and attended New Britain schools. On April 7, 1958 Edward married his school sweetheart Jean Ackerman beginning a devoted marriage that spanned 67 years. Together they built a life rooted in family, hard work and love.
Edward began his career working in the family business, Aparo’s Electric Motor Service Inc. where he learned the trade alongside his father. Following his father’s passing, Edward became the owner of the business, carrying on the family legacy with dedication and pride. Edward is survived by his loving wife Jean Ackerman Aparo, his sons Stephen Aparo and his wife Marie of New Britain, CT and Craig Aparo and his wife Valerie of Naples, Fl, his sister Arlene Aparo StGermain and husband Joseph of Hobe Sound FL and his cherished grandchildren Danny Aparo and wife Nicole, Tyler Aparo and Morgan Wilson and Jared Aparo all of New Britain.
Services with be private.
Dr. Mark Marshall, an internist at Sharon Hospital, said, “The statistics suggest it’s the worst flu season in 30 years.”
A severe and fast-moving flu season is straining health care systems on both sides of the state line, with Connecticut and New York reporting “very high” levels of respiratory illness activity.
Hospitals, schools and clinics are seeing a surge in influenza cases—a trend now being felt acutely across the Northwest Corner.
“The statistics suggest it’s the worst flu season in 30 years,” said Dr. Mark Marshall, an internist at Sharon Hospital.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respiratory illness activity is currently classified as “very high” in both Connecticut and New York. Emergency department visits for influenza are very high and increasing, the agency reported, while COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity remain at low levels but are also trending upward.
Health officials say the holiday season created prime conditions for the virus to spread, as people gathered indoors in close quarters and traveled more frequently, increasing exposure and transmission.
Hospitals, schools, nursing homes and primary care providers across the Northwest Corner are also reporting unusually high flu volumes.
Dr. Sarah Humphreys, chief medical officer at Community Health and Wellness Center in North Canaan, said influenza has dominated patient visits since the holidays.
“We’re seeing a ton of influenza. People are coming in with body aches, fever, congestion and gastrointestinal issues,” Humphreys said.
She noted that clinicians are also seeing many infected children, particularly those connected to boarding schools. One private school in the region, she said, shut down prior to winter break after reporting more than 100 flu cases. “At boarding schools it spreads like wildfire.”
At Sharon Hospital, emergency department physicians are reporting a sharp increase in influenza cases, with more patients requiring hospitalizations than in a typical winter.
Between Dec. 1 through Dec. 9, “Our emergency department saw 100 patients who tested positive for influenza A,” said Marshall. Of those patients, he said, 11 required hospitalizations.
The Sharon Hospital physician said clinicians have seen an uptick in flu cases since the COVID-19 pandemic eased, which he attributed in part to people becoming less vigilant about preventive measures such as staying home when sick, masking when appropriate and hand hygiene.
He also noted that a mutated strain of influenza A, H3N2 subclade K, which is associated with more severe illness, particularly among older adults and individuals with preexisting health issues, is contributing to higher hospitalization rates.
That local experience mirrors what health officials are reporting across New York.
The New York State Department of Health announced Jan. 2 that the state recorded the highest number of flu-related hospitalizations ever reported in a single week.
“We are having a more severe flu season than prior years,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. “Almost 12,000 more people were admitted to a hospital during this most recent seven-day period compared to the prior week.”
The department’s most recent data shows a total of 4,546 flu-related hospitalizations statewide, nearly 1,000 more than the previous week.
Marshall said the impacts of the flu season extend beyond Sharon Hospital and the Northwest Corner, with mounting pressure within the broader Nuvance/Northwell health network, underscoring the pace at which the virus continues to spread.
He described what clinicians refer to as “surging,” a rapid influx of patients arriving with respiratory illness, many of whom require hospitalization, which leads to backups as patients wait in emergency departments for inpatient beds.
“We’re seeing a little of that in Sharon, but at Vassar, they are seeing severe surging,” Marshall said, referring to Vassar Brothers Medical Center, a 349-bed, acute care hospital in Poughkeepsie.
The North Canaan Community Health and Wellness Center has been inundated with flu-infected children in recent weeks, and officials advise families to isolate sick children from older adults and others most at risk for serious illness.
The facility’s chief medical officer emphasized that clinicians continue to recommend the seasonal flu vaccine, despite misinformation suggesting this year’s vaccine is ineffective because it was distributed before the emergence of the H2N3 strain.
“The flu vaccine will decrease the severity of the illness. Unfortunately, it has not stopped spreading,” said Humphreys, who also advised people to protect themselves by wearing a mask in waiting rooms or while moving through health care facilities where the virus may be airborne.
Public and private schools across the region have also been affected by this year’s brutal flu season, particularly in the weeks leading up to the holiday break.
On Dec. 19, the last day before winter break “about 12 percent of the high school’s population, 39 students, were absent,” Nichols noted. Teachers, too, caught the flu, with about 36 staff members falling ill prior to the break.
However, once students returned to class after break, flu cases declined.
“When you don’t have 200 to 300 kids in the same space, you lessen the transmission,” said School Superintendent Melony Brady-Shanley.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if in the next couple of weeks to 10 days, between COVID, RSV and Flu, that the numbers go up.”
Brady-Shanley stressed the importance of keeping children home when sick until they are fever-free, and reinforced basic hygiene.
“If you can get kids to wash their hands three to four times per day, they are less likely to get sick.”
Ed Sheehy and Tom Taylor of Copake, New York, and Karen and Wendy Erickson of Sheffield, Massachusetts, traveled to Salisbury on Saturday to voice their anger with the Trump administration.
SALISBURY — Impassioned residents of the Northwest Corner and adjacent regions in Massachusetts and New York took to the Memorial Green Saturday morning, Jan. 10, to protest the recent killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good at the hands of a federal immigration agent.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot at close range by an officerwith Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, on Wednesday, Jan. 7. She and her wife were participating in a protest opposing the agency’s presence in a Minneapolis neighborhood at the time of the shooting.
The incident sparked protests and vigils nationwide, both in remembrance of Good and in opposition to what demonstrators described as a broader pattern of government overreach.
In Hartford on Thursday evening, Jan. 8, two vehicles that authorities believe were operated by ICE officers drove through a crowd that had gathered in memory of Good. Connecticut Public Radio reported that at least one person had been struck by the vehicles and that police are investigating potential charges.
In Salisbury, the protest unfolded calmly but with a palpable sense of urgency. Just before noon, roughly 160 demonstrators lined Route 44, holding signs and cheering as passing motorists honked their horns.
Organizer Sophia deBoer stood alongside her husband, Lee deBoer, and fellow activists Kathy Voldstad and Amy Lake to greet demonstrators as they arrived. Along with Al Ginouves, the group has organized weekly protests against the Trump administration since April 2025’s nationwide “Hands Off” movement.
“It’s time that people stood up to this lawless administration,” Sophia deBoer said as the crowd waved their signs.
Local immigrants’ rights advocate John Carter echoed that sentiment. “I need to put my body where my soul is,” he said.
Attendees cited a range of emotions for turning out, from anger and fear to cautious optimism
Joan Gardiner said it was “outrage and fear” that brought her to the protest, while Christine Clare said, “Being out here today, this makes me hopeful.”
Calls for justice dominated many of the messages displayed on protesters’ signs. Asked what motivated him to attend, Salisbury resident Louis Tomaino pointed to the words on his sign: “We all saw Renee Good murdered. And we all saw murder excused.”
Area ambulance squad members, along with several first selectmen, attend a Jan. 5 meeting on emergency service providers hosted by Nuvance/Northwell.
FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. — Paramedic coverage in the Northwest Corner is continuing despite concerns raised last month after Sharon Hospital announced it would not renew its long-standing sponsorship agreement with Northern Dutchess Paramedics.
Northern Dutchess Paramedics (NDP), which has provided advanced life support services in the region for decades, is still responding to calls and will now operate alongside a hospital-based paramedic service being developed by Sharon Hospital, officials said at a public meeting Monday, Jan. 5, at the Falls Village Emergency Services Center.
“We haven’t missed a beat; we’re still taking calls,” said Andrea Downs, president of the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department and an employee of NDP, speaking at the meeting, which was attended by ambulance squad members, first selectmen and representatives of Sharon Hospital.
Sharon Hospital announced Dec. 11 that it would not renew its annual agreement with NDP, ending a 28-year relationship and initially stating that service would cease Jan. 1. Hospital President and CEO Christina McCulloch said the decision was based on compliance concerns tied to the hospital’s role as sponsor.
“Being a sponsor is a big deal,” McCulloch said. “Our concerns were big enough that we couldn’t sign. It was a difficult decision.”
She said the hospital had discussed the issues with NDP representatives and cited unmet state requirements.
Without a sponsoring hospital, NDP could not operate in Connecticut. That issue was resolved when NDP finalized an agreement with Stamford Hospital, allowing it to continue providing services in the Northwest Corner.
At the same time, Sharon Hospital is establishing a hospital-based paramedic service through Nuvance/Northwell, owner of the hospital. Under the current model, the service consists of a single paramedic, who begins the day at New Milford Hospital before traveling to Sharon, prompting concerns from some volunteer ambulance crews about response times while that paramedic is in transit.
Addressing those concerns, hospital officials said while the new paramedic service covers a wide area, so too does NDP, which is based out of Rhinebeck. Some volunteer ambulance crews also said their concerns relate to the transition to two providers, with Sharon Hospital’s service still being built out and not yet fully stationed in Sharon.
Falls Village First Selectman David Barger asked whether more than one paramedic service could operate in the region.
“There could be more than one,” McCulloch said.
Matt Cassavechia, director of emergency services for Sharon Hospital, said Litchfield County Dispatch, which handles all ambulance and fire dispatching for the region, will call whichever paramedic service is available at the time of an emergency.
He acknowledged that the current arrangement could be improved and said the hospital hopes to expand on-site paramedic coverage in Sharon. Doing so would require state approval through a need-for-service application, which Cassavechia said would benefit from letters of support from the community and area first selectmen.
Several volunteer ambulance representatives expressed concern about how changes could affect basic life support services and volunteer operations. Cassavechia said the hospital does not intend to replace volunteer squads.
“We’re not snapping up patients,” he said. “That’s not what we do. We are deliberate and purposeful. We have zero intent of putting volunteers out of business.”
Questions were also raised about possible delays in transferring patients from Sharon Hospital to other facilities.
