Stairway to Heaven: The FVCT Father & Daughter Dance

Changing of the Guard at Isabella Freedman

After a four month search, the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center has hired a new executive director, Ellen Carton, who brings a lot of high-powered experience to her post. She replaces the well-liked Adam Berman who expanded Camp Freedman's offerings. Welcome to FV, Ellen!

Dry Times

Update Tuesday morning: Last night at 9 PM, Denny Jacobs called and left a message letting me know that I would have water at my house soon (I do!) but they were still trying to figure out this major break.

It seems that all of us who are fortunate enough to have town water are not so fortunate today. There is an unsolved water main break, according to Town Clerk Mary Palmer, which is leaving many townspeople high and dry (though Palmer said that the Town Hall for some mysterious reason does have water.)

The Very Clever Mr. Brien

Joe Brien is one of those quietly creative souls who make Falls Village so special. Two years ago, a television crew from Home and Garden Television (HGTV) in Hollywood, CA, came to his studio on Point-of-Rocks Road to film him as he created a five-foot-tall polyfoam crocodile mask for the “That’s Clever!” craft program. (The producers discovered him on the internet.) For some mysterious reason, it took over two years for the episode to air, but you can see a six-minute clip here which features some sweet shots of downtown Falls Village.

How Sweet It Was!

Maybe it was because everyone was having a simultaneous sugar high, but all the guests seemed giddy at tonight's second annual Chocolate in the Village fundraiser for the David M. Hunt Library. There were all types of chocolate treats to taste and plenty of good things to drink, but the best part was seeing how many smart, funny, generous and interesting people come out on a cold night to support our beloved library.

Dads & Daughters Dancing Together

The World's Sweetest Library

Bibliophiles and chocoholics will converge at the D. M. Hunt Library on Saturday, February 28, for the second annual “Chocolate in the Village” fundraiser. The party will feature chocolate desserts and confections served in hors d’oeuvres -sized portions to encourage sampling of the area's best chocolates and complementary savory treats. There will be drinks for every taste: champagne, wine, liquors, stout, coffee and gourmet hot cocoa. Chocolatier Mark LaPolla of Life By Chocolate will be creating and hand dipping molded chocolates on site. Joshua Stone will present “Name That Sweet Tune”, and there will also be a live and silent auction of sweet treats.

Tickets are available at the library for $20 in advance or $25 at the door. For more information or to reserve tickets call 824-7424.

Celebrating the Inauguration

Falls Villagers Zoe Fedorjaczenko and Mary Elling (and their husbands George and Sergei) were among the 600 ecstatic people who watched the inauguration at the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington.

Be A Hero; Thank A Hero

To quote my friend Mary Elling: "UNBELIEVABLE---the time and money volunteers (aka good people) spend to save strangers' lives.Forgetting my aversion, dread, etc. of blood, etc-----I could never commit so much time, THANK YOU--FVFD!!!!!!!

Learn to Save A Life

The Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department will be offering a Heartsaver Adult/Child CPR/AED course on Saturday, January 24, 2009, from 9 AM - noon. The course will be held at the Falls Village Firehouse, 35 Railroad Street

Pre-registration is STRONGLY recommended to ensure there are enough course materials for ALL participants. Materials will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for walk-ins.
$5 if you live or work in Falls Village
$10 if you live or work elsewhere
Call 824-9882 to pre-register by 01.21.09.

Back to School (and New Teachers, Too)

This is registration week for the Falls Village Children's Theater winter classes and workshops, and there are two new teachers: Joe Brien, who is offering a Marionette Workshop, and Rob Nellson, who will lead a jazz and beginning improvisational workshop for musicians with at least one year of experience. Lanny Mitchell (who directed a dazzling production of The Wiz in Sheffield last weekend featuring five familiar FVCT faces) will be back to offer kids classes in Dramatics, Hip Hop, Musical Theater Dance, as well as Jazzercize for Adults (on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7 - 8 PM).

For details and registration: FVCT.com or 860.824.4303

FVCT Auditions January 10

Every child who lives in Falls Village or attends the Lee H. Kellogg School is invited to audition for the Falls Village Children's Theatre's spring musical, Alice in Wonderland, at 2 PM on January 10 at the Senior Center.

Every child should bring a piece of music if they want to sing with piano accompaniment, and every child should be prepared to sing, dance and act out lines in a scene. Every child who wants to be in the show will be given a part. There is no fee to participate, but children must make a commitment to attend rehearsals every weekend through the end of March.

There will be a mandatory 10-minute meeting for parents at 2 PM to sign release forms. Information: FVCT or 824-4303

A Great Guy

Yes, that is our own Guy Rovezzi featured in Rural Intelligence this week. And, yes, that is our Lanny Mitchell in Rural Intelligence, who is directing The Wiz in Sheffield the first weekend of January, with our very own Dominic Sanchez, Emma Cohn and Rebecca Rovezzi.

Children First!

Christmas is really for children, and the best gift you could give the children of Falls Village is a donation toward the Falls Village Children's Theater spring production of Alice in Wonderland. One of the hallmarks of the FVCT since its founding three years ago has been the spring musical which every child in Falls Village can participate in for free. The "No Child Left Behind" doctrine is the spirit of the spring musical (and though it was conceived for the kindergartners through 8th graders several Kellogg alums who are now in high school plan to participate again this year. Where else do you see five-year-olds and 16-year-olds dancing and singing together in a small-town play with professional production values?)

Making this possible requires that local residents and businesses support this fourth spring musical (continuing in the tradition of The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella and Annie.) If you can, be an angel and write a check to the FVCT (and mail it to 25 Deer Road, FV CT 06031) to make sure that the show can go on.

The House That Jason Built*

Our elfin town baker, Jason Young (*with a major assist from Santa Sharon Hamilton), has built a spectacular gingerbread house that his Sweet William's Bakery donated to the David M. Hunt Library. You can buy a chance at the Hunt Library ($2 a piece) to win this wonderful and totally edible house. Even if you don't win, the library does.

Tree Lighting & Town Holiday Party, Nov. 30

The annual town Christmas Tree Lighting and community Christmas party takes place this Sunday, November 30, at the Senior Center at 5 PM.

Follow the FVCT to Torrington

FVCT "Rocks" Housy This Weekend

The Falls Village Children’s Theater Company will present the musical School House Rock Live Jr, on November 15 at 7pm and November 16th at 2pm, in the HVRHS auditorium. Like the classic television series, Schoolhouse Rock Live! Junior is a hip, entertaining and educational treat that shows young people that learning can be as fun as you choose to make it. Tom, a school teacher nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV. Suddenly, the Schoolhouse Rock bunch appear in his rec room and proceed to show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs that cover a variety of subjects: math, science, history and grammar.

Directed and Choreographed by Lanny Mitchell, this show is sure to please. It will be performed by 25 kids from all across the Northwest Corner and beyond. It will include the hit songs ““I’m Just a Bill”, “Great American Pot”, “Three is a Magic Number” and who could forget “Conjunction Junction”? Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. For more information please call (860) 824-4303.

Support Our Fire Department

Yes We CANaan!

Yes we did. Falls Village (aka the town of Canaan) overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama with 429 votes (68%), while John McCain got 189.
According to the Hartford Courant, 69% of supported Chris Murphy with 408 votes and 166 voted for Cappiello.

Scenes From A Scarecrow Contest

A highly arbitrary selection of entries in the second annual Scarecrow Contest sponsored by the Falls Village Community & Cultural Center and the Falls Village Children's Theater--especially arbitrary because I accidentally erased two dozen photos from my camera. (And thanks to Ed Herrington for donating the lumber for the crossbars.) If you click on an individual picture, you can see a slightly larger version of it.

RAIN DELAY: Scarecrow Contest Rescheduled for Sunday Oct 26

If you click on the poster you can make it bigger and easier to read. You can start the day with the Falls Village Day Care's Pancake Breakfast at the Senior Center and spend the afternoon judging scarecrows, dancing in the street and chowing down on chile and donuts.

Donate Your Leaves to Chubby Bunny

Give your fall leaves a second life at Chubby Bunny Farm. Tracy and Dan Hayhurst (above) are currently accepting all of our backyard fall foliage for their leaf drop at the farm. They'll mix your leaves with manure in the magical composting process which will give them a fantastic local source of nutrients (known in some circles as Black Gold) come springtime. Their fields, animals and veggies will thank you. Come any time. There are signs on Undermountain Rod leading you to the farm and0 also signs at the farm to show you where to drop off your leaves.

Calendar Dinner Dazzles

Not all the tables for Saturday Night's Falls Village Fire Department Calendar Dinner fundraiser were set early on Saturday morning when I stopped by, but here are pictures of those that were by, in order, Toymakers Cafe (July), the Falls Village Historical Society (May), Falls Village Day Care (November), the Falls Village Children's Theater (January), and the Sweet William's centerpiece, his new jumbo gingerbread man for Christmas.

The Scarecrow Contest Returns

It's not too late to register. Call 824-5961 to find out how to get a crossbar and hay.

Christo in Connecticut?

I thought these new orange road signs were some sort of conceptual art project that I hadn't heard about. Well, I was way off base. Yesterday, when I crossed the Amesville Bridge, I discovered that they are detour blazes for the Appalachian Trail, because the Route 7 bridge is now closed to all foot traffic.