In Memoriam: Stephanie Timolat

Lara Mittaud remembers her lifelong friend:

It is a rare and precious gift to have a friend whom you have known for longer than you can remember, with whom you can laugh, confide, or run off to Europe with only a few weeks' worth of planning. Stephanie Timolat, who passed away yesterday morning from her 6-month fight with cancer at age 26, was that friend to me. I had the pleasure of first meeting Stephanie at her third birthday party, which was attended by most of the children at the Falls Village Day Care. From then on, whether it was burrowing through her trunks of dress-up clothes, sewing Renaissance dresses with her mother, Carol, so that we could attend a RenFair in proper attire, borrowing lumber from her dad, Louis, to build our 'house' for the Lee H Kellogg Colonial Fair in 8th grade, chasing down our train at the Paris train station, or laughing about our lives over a cup of chai tea, Stephanie was the source of so many wonderful and vibrant memories. Her many passions - art history, painting, guitar, her horses, vintage cars, just to name a few - were contagious. She brought such energy and enthusiasm to the things and people she loved that one could not help but love them too. I know she not only has touched my life in an indelible way, but the lives of so many others in this community. Her bright smile, sweet and gracious demeanor, and fervent energy for living will be so, so missed. My heart is with her, and my love goes out to her family during this time.
--Lara Mittaud

Fa-la-la-la-la Village

There is nothing like Christmas in Connecticut, and Falls Village is kicking off the season on Sunday, Dec. 2, with an afternoon of holiday happenings:
3:OO - "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" by The Falls Children's Theater Company at Geer Village
3:00 - Lessons and Carols at the South Canaan Meeting House (wear warm clothes.)
5:00 - "Twas the Night Before Christmas" performed at the Senior Center
5:30 - Tree lighting and caroling with the Village Voices under the direction of Joshua Stone on the Town Green. Hot cocoa donated by Mountainside Cafe; Hot cider and cookies donated by Toymakers Cafe
6:00 - Children's pizza party and presents from Santa Claus at the Senior Center

Thankful, Grateful & Blessed

I am thankful to live in a town where Norman Rockwell could have found inspiration.

I am thankful that seven years ago John Harney Jr. found me my log cabin on Dublin Road, which was the perfect house for me.

I am thankful that my neighbor Sievert McCabe has helped me clear some trees to give me a beautiful summer view of Sugar Hill and the Housatonic.

I am thankful that Annie and Greg Bidou opened Toymakers Cafe five years ago, which has become a home away from home for me and so many others.

I am thankful for Mountainside Cafe, which is always filled with familiar, friendly faces.

I am thankful to live in a town where you never have to eat breakfast alone if you don't want to.

I am thankful for Sweet William's Bakery, which has made gift-giving a no brainer and proven that a talented entrepreneur can operate a business on our Main Street.

I am thankful for Cookie and Erica, who oversee the happiest (and probably the most boisterous) library in New England.

I am thankful for being asked to serve on the board of the Falls Village Children's Theater, which has brought so many people together and given so many children self confidence and a belief that anything is possible with hard work.

I am thankful for Chubby Bunny Farm, which makes it easy to eat well from May until November.

I am thankful for Music Mountain, which fills our hills with the sound of music.

I am thankful for living so close to the Appalachian Trail.

I am thankful for living near a power plant that produces clean, green energy.

I am thankful to every person who makes a donation to the Falls Village Community & Cultural Center, which will be the crown jewel of a revitalized Main Street.

I am thankful that if I need to call 911 that I will know some of the rescuers (Jeremy, Andrea, Linda et al) coming to my aide.

I am thankful that Camp Isabella Freedman has made spirituality available just a bike ride away and brought young, idealistic organic farmers into our town.

I am thankful that I can buy healthy, delicious grass-fed beef from my friends Robin and Allen Cockerline.

I am thankful that I live within walking distance of Bunny Williams' so I could work with her on Sunday mornings on her latest book.

I am thankful that I can have my oil changed at Jacobs Garage and have a discussion about historic preservation while paying my bill.

I am thankful to live in town brimming with artistic souls whose creativity and ingenuity were evident at the first annual Scarecrow Contest.

I am thankful to live in a town where generosity of spirit is the rule not the exception.

I am thankful to call Falls Village my home.

The Sun Will Come Out . . .

The Falls Children's Theater Company
has selected Annie Jr as its third annual spring musical, which will be performed at HVRHS in April. As with its pioneering productions of The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella, any child who lives in Falls Village or attends the Lee H. Kellogg School can participate for free. Auditions will be held in early January and every child is guaranteed a part in the show, which has 33 roles and 24 musical numbers. Lanny Mitchell will again be the director and choreographer, and Joshua Stone will be the musical director.

It's Possible!

Last week, as workers began putting on a new roof and copper gutters at 103 Main Street, the board of the future Falls Village Community & Cultural Center (FVCCC) sent out its fall fundraising letter. In case yours got lost in the mail, here is what it said:
Dear Friend and Neighbor,

New England is filled with historic church buildings, and the one we are restoring has a quirky grace and unexpected grandeur. We invite you to help preserve this architecturally significant landmark in Falls Village, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.. The one-time Methodist Episcopal Church was built 106 years ago, and the elegant shingled structure is sadly showing its age. We need your support to save it.

Our goal for the building (which many of you knew as Emerson Booksellers) is to transform it into a year-round community and cultural center, where a variety of not-for-profit groups will be able to host art exhibtions, lectures, dances, concerts, meetings and parties.. The center will also be used by the Falls Village Children's Theater, which initiated this project, for classes and rehearsals.

To make this dream a reality and bring the building up to code as a public venue will cost at least $450,000. We have already secured and met our first $40,000 matching challenge grant from the Berkshire Taconic Foundation and we will be seeking others. But generous support. from individuals and businesses will be crucial to our capital campaign.

We will use the money we have recently raised to replace the roof this fall, so we can protect the historic interior, including original woodwork, chandeliers and stunning stained glass windows. But before we can open the doors, we have many expensive projects such as installing two mandated handicap-accessible bathrooms as well as re-shingling the exterior, restoring the stained glass windows, updating systems, and renovating the kitchen.

If you have never been inside 103 Main Street, call 860-824-5582 to schedule a private tour. The century-old structure is unlike any other in our region and a unique opportunity to create a much needed 300-person hall that will bring together residents of the Northwest Corner of Connecticut as well as nearby towns in Massachusetts and New York State.

We believe the Falls Village Community and Cultural Center will help enhance our region's quality of life. It is a big dream but with your help we know It's Possible!

Sincerely,
The Board of the Falls Village Community and Cultural Center

If you would like to make a donation, send checks to the "FVCT Fund"and mail them to the FVCCC, PO Box 93, Falls Village, CT 06031
The Falls Village Community and Cultural Center is supported by the Falls Village Children's Theater, a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit corporation

"This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land"

I woke up this morning to something very disturbing. "Anonymous" left a hostile comment on this blog about one of the Board of Education members, which I immediately removed. Since I started the Falls Village Blog last April, I have tried to make it a positive force in the community. Eventually, I realized that it would have to touch on politics and "issues" or it would just be a corny online bulletin board and a cheerleader for my favorite causes. I tried to contribute to the electoral process by running profiles of the all the Board of Education candidates so that voters would have something to base their decision upon besides party affiliation and hearsay. I did not consider this to be an open invitation for name-calling.

One of the miracles of Falls Village is that people with very different backgrounds and political philosophies can work together and get along. I saw this backstage last spring at the Falls Village Children's Theater production of "Cinderella." I saw this at the Ladies Auxiliary Calendar Dinner. I saw this at Community Day at Isabella Freedman. I see this at Toymakers Cafe, where people who seem to have next-to-nothing in common have breakfast together.

I pray that the Board of Education and the parents can find common ground. In a town this small, everything is personal. We are all names, not numbers. Falls Villagers feel a deep, visceral attachment to every inch of our town. I understand how difficult it is for the Kellogg parents to not be involved in every aspect of how the school runs. Many of them are there every week doing some sort of volunteer work that is integral to Kellogg's educational mission, and they cannot accept that they are limited participants in governing their school.

Most of the parents and board members have worked harmoniously on other causes. They have to come up with a way to do so at Kellogg. Most of them are amazingly committed, passionate, altruistic people. They have to figure out a way to feel and act like they are on the same team. They need to keep in mind the words of the great Woody Guthrie: "This land was made for you and me."

Win, Place & Show

Every vote really counted in the Kellogg Board of Education election. While incumbent BOE president Andrea Downs was the clear favorite with 118 votes, 93 voters chose Democrat Beckie Seney who bested challenger Republican Ross Grannan by just four votes. In the Region 1 Board of Education elections, Maggie Ruotolo decisively beat Gale Toensing 183 to 112. With a total of 321 voters showing up at the polls or submitting absentee ballots, First Selectman Pat Mechare proved more popular than her fellow BOS members: She got 229 votes while Chuck Lewis got 158 and Pete Lawson got 119. Ironically, the most popular candidate in Falls Village is our Tax Collector, Jean Bronson, who got 278 votes, which is more than any other candidate in either a contested or uncontested race.

Election Day or 'Groundhog Day'?

Where to elect there is but one,
’T is Hobson’s choice,—take that or none.
--Thomas Ward, English poet (1652-1708)

Do you remember Groundhog Day, the 1993 movie in which Bill Murray wakes up to find that he must relive the same day of his life over and over and over again? Well, that is what Election Day is like in Falls Village. (To refresh your memory, I have supplied a clip from YouTube.) It doesn't matter who you "vote" for or if you vote because no matter what you do First Selectman Pat Mechare will continue to run the town with support from the Board of Selectmen, Pete Lawson and Chuck Lewis. These dedicated public servants have been at this forever: Pete ran the town from 1979 until 1997, and Pat has been on the BOS since 1995. It's not just a non-election for the BOS. You can "vote" for Town Treasurer, Tax Collector, and the Board of Finance, too, but you have no choices. The only way to express your preferences is to vote and not vote judiciously, which would send a message to some candidates that they do not actually have a mandate from their fellow citizens. However, you do have a choice when it comes to electing constables (you can vote for four from a field of seven) and you do get a choice for the Kellogg and Region One Boards of Education, but the Kellogg election is fraught because you only get one vote although there are two open seats. (To review the BOE candidates see the blog posts of Oct. 30 and Oct. 24) How the Kellogg race will play out is anybody's guess. But for the most part, the election is a fait accompli.

Postcard from Pine Grove

Mark Alexander, the former Kellogg art teacher and extraordinary puppetmaker who lives year round at the Pine Grove Association, spent Halloween parading in New York City. Here's his report:

"Whewww! Pine Grove sure is quiet after last night's tremendous ear ringing NYC Halloween Parade! This year the parade theme was Wings, so I made sequined wings and cool hats with embedded lights. It was tremendous. Weather was perfect, about 60*, so crowds were the thickest I've ever seen. I admit I get all keyed up by the literally millions of viewers and TV lights. Very fast paced and high spirited stilt dancing and spinning for 22+ blocks of Avenue of the Americas. I think I'm finally getting better at arabesques. They were much more predictable last night, and I actually pulled a few of them out of pirouette-like spins. Katherine and I were assisted by a sherpa friend named Bella. She was also wearing sequined wings and colorful costume, but not being on stilts she was able to carry water and gear on the parade route for us, and about half way through she was able to help me quickly fix a problem with my stilt pants snagging and tripping up my stilts. I've moving much slower, remaining in my bathrobe most of the day, but I've been grinning ear to ear constantly. Here's a picture from last Sunday's performance at a church in New Jersey, added here just for the contrast. I love contrasts."
--Mark