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Pat Murphy becomes Millbrook Deputy Mayor

MILLBROOK — Mayor Tim Collopy began the Village Trustee meeting on Wednesday, June 12 by announcing that Pat Murphy is the new Deputy Mayor.

In other business, representatives from the fire department announced the addition of 7 new members. Mayor Collopy congratulated them, prompting all the trustees to show appreciation.

Fire Chief Dominic Boscardin raised concerns about new proposed OSHA guidelines that would require double the training of new recruits as well as expensive gear requirements.

Every member would be required to have two sets of in-date turnout gear, which would complicate their financial standing. Chief Boscardin urged Mayor Collopy to prepare letters as concerns are being brought to the state legislature.

Newly appointed Police Chief Keith Dworkin announced the department was awarded a $129,000 Law Enforcement Technology Grant after their initial application in December 2023.

“That money will be used for improvements and upgrades to the department’s infrastructure, including computers and computer servers,” said Dworkin.

Since Arbor Day the Shade Tree Committee led by Trustee Mike Herzog has planted 14 trees around the village. Herzog also pointed out that village members can inquire with the committee about having a tree planted in their own yard.

A proposal to switch street light bulbs with LEDs was made by Herzog.

Despite hesitation about the brightness and color temperature of the proposed lights the trustees agreed to a changeover, noting that electric bill savings would cover the cost of the project in three years.

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A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

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Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

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When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

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Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

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Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

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