Meet Author Mary Atwood on Friday, September 9, at the David M. Hunt Library

The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village is pleased to announce a presentation by village resident Mary Atwood on her recently published book, I Drank My Tea: Family Adventures in Kyrgyzstan (2011, CreateSpace). The event will take place at the library on Friday, September 9 from 6 to 8 PM. A slide show will be featured and the author will sign copies of her book during a brief reception following the presentation.

Mary and Tracy Atwood have long traveled the globe and lived in some remote places while Tracy worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As newlyweds, the Atwoods went to Yemen in 1981 and were in Mali from 1987-1991. In 1999, after anchoring for eight years in Washington, DC to raise their three young children, the Atwoods were posted to Kyrgyzstan, part of the former Soviet Union, where Tracy would serve as the USAID Country Representative. Their teenagers, John, Joseph, and Catherine, would continue their education through correspondence courses. All of them would study Russian. Preparations were made for the big move including the purchase of consumables and the transportation of the family cats, Nibble Toes and Cloudy Spy.

Mary's memoir of four years in Central Asia contains stories of everyday life mixed with accounts of adventurous travel throughout the country. She makes a home in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, copes with the challenges of independent study, discovers a Baptist church on a snowy Christmas morning, entertains guests including her eighty-six year old mother, and makes trips into the mountains for encounters with local people, yurts, fermented mare’s milk, vodka and slaughtered sheep.

Though Mary found the Russian language to be her biggest challenge, she and her family nonetheless made many Russian and Kyrgyz friends. John, Joseph, and Catherine successfully completed their studies and went on to college. Kyrgyzstan was a wonderful experience for the whole family. Lasting ties were developed. The Atwoods helped a Kyrgyz friend Medina come to the US to study nursing, and brought home a new cat, Dudley, a native of Kyrgyzstan.

AUTHOR PRESENTATION:
I DRANK MY TEA: Family Adventures in Kyrgyzstan by Mary Atwood
David M. Hunt Library, 63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031, 860-824-7424
Friday, September 9, 6-8 PM
Refreshments, on-site free childcare; wheelchair accessible
Free

Last Chance Absentee Ballots

If you won't be around on Tuesday, August 23, to vote in person from 6 am to 8 pm for the referendum on the new emergency services center, you can pick up at absentee ballot on Sunday morning from 8:30 to 9:30 or on Monday. Here's what First Selectperson Pat Mechare told me when queried.


You have to come to Town Hall. You have to complete an application for an absentee ballot. Once that is completed and returned to Mary, then you are given the actual ballot with the directions for completion and then that is returned to her. If you appear in person the whole process can be done all at once. it is my understanding that Mary will be at Town Hall, tomorrow, Sunday from 8:30 AM-9:30 AM to accommodate those who might want an absentee ballot. If that is not convenient you can get a ballot on Monday during operating hours and do the process then. Mary usually takes her lunch between noon and 1 PM so you might want to call to make sure she is there if you thought you'd come somewhere around that time.

Shouldn't there be a big sign outside Town Hall reminding everyone about this important vote?

Can Falls Village Afford a New Firehouse?

That's the issue at the special election/referendum on Tuesday from 6 am to 8 pm at Town Hall.. There are supposed to be absentee ballots for weekenders who will not be here to vote. This is what is being voted.


SHALL THE TOWN OF CANAAN APPROPRIATE $2,500,000 FOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE FALLS VILLAGE FIRE DEPARTMENT EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTER, AND AUTHORIZE THE ISSUE OF BONDS AND NOTES IN THE SAME AMOUNT TO FINANCE SUCH APPROPRIATION?

TOWN MEETING TONIGHT

There will be a VOTE tonight at the town meeting at the Kellogg School at 7 pm on the new firehouse. I am told there will most likely be paper ballots so your vote can be confidential. If the proposal is not passed tonight, there will not be a referendum vote next Tuesday. If the proposal is passed, there will be a vote (with absentee ballots) on August 23.

What's the Future of Falls Village?

The Northwest Planning Collaborative is hosting two public forums. The June 27th forum will focus on housing issues (description below) and the July 11th forum will focus on "creating jobs and supporting local businesses" - both will be held at the senior center at 6:30pm and there will be pie & coffee for all.


WHAT Falls Village Pie & Planning Focus Group Session:
Encouraging age & housing diversity in Falls Village
Come hear about actions Falls Village could take to create housing options from community experts and provide your input about housing needs and strategies.
Pie & coffee will be provided.

WHEN Monday, June 27th at 6:30pm
WHERE Falls Village Senior Center (across from Town Hall, 2nd floor)

WHO Sponsored by the Falls Village Planning & Zoning Commission. All who live & work in Falls Village are welcome to attend.

DETAILS Through the Town Plan update survey (April 2011), respondents said that the town should pursue housing and job creation strategies that would bring/keep more young families with school aged children in town. Many respondents also agreed that there is a need for housing that young emergency volunteers and school teachers can afford.

The focus group session on June 27th will seek to identify community supported strategies for creating housing options young families, volunteers, and teachers can afford. Guest speakers include: Bill Bachrack, Kent Affordable Housing, Lea Davies, Sharon Housing Authority, and Pat Hare on Accessory Apartments.

Survey results on housing related questions:
74% of respondents agreed that the town should pursue housing & job creation strategies that would bring/keep more young families with school aged children in town.

80% of respondents agreed the town should do more to encourage and support housing opportunities for families earning between $50K and $90K. (only 59% agreed for families earning less than $50K)

80% of respondents would like to see Falls Village be a community with residents of all ages-

60% of respondents would like to see Falls Village be a community with a diversity of incomes.

64% of respondents agree there is a need for housing that young emergency volunteers and school teachers can afford (22% don’t know).


BTW- full survey results and more info on the Town Plan update is available on the website

The BIG Hunt Library Sale June 4 & 5

Remembering Christopher R. Morley on May 28 at Music Mountain

Christopher Morley, the Falls Village resident whose generosity and support of the arts was legendary, will be memorialized at a free concert at Music Mountain on Saturday, May 28, at 7 p.m. Morley died unexpectedly in April at the age of 58 at his home on Undermountain Road.

Two of Morley’s favorite organizations were the Falls Village Children’s Theatre and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, and each group will present performances in his honor. Every year, Morley paid for tickets so all interested children in Falls Village could attend a Shakespeare play in the Berkshires.

In his memory, four actors from Shakespeare & Company will perform at Music Mountain: Kate Abbruzzese and Sam Parrott will stage the great fight scene from “Hamlet,” and Dana Harrison and David Joseph will perform excerpts from “Shakespeare & the Language That Shaped a World.” The children of the FVCT will sing a selection of greatest hits from the first five seasons, and there will also be performance by Vance Cannon and Donald Sosin.

Morley was also a major benefactor of the D.M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, where he underwrote the new Art Wall, and the library will offer readings in his honor, too.

Friends and neighbor are invited to picnic on the majestic Music Mountain grounds beginning at 5 p.m., before the 7 p.m. performance.

Bingo for Scholarships: May 6, 2011

FVCT at Housy This Weekend Aprl 1 - 3

A Hot Night to Benefit the Library - Feb. 26

Banish the winter and heat up your taste buds!

The Northwest Corner’s hottest winter event is back. The D. M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will be sure to melt snow and ice with their annual fund raiser Chocolate & Chili in the Village on Saturday, February 26th at the Old Town Hall from 5 to 8 pm. This year’s event will be held upstairs in the Senior Center .

This popular event will feature a lineup of competing chili varieties prepared by local community organizations. Each attendee will have the opportunity to taste each chili and cast votes for their favorites. Some of the competitors this year include The Falls Village Inn, the Fire Department, Daycare Center , Historical Society, Great Mountain Forest , Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Toymakers Café, and Crossroads Deli.

Dozens of delectable chocolate creations from sweet to savory will be on hand for tasting and buying. Amazing baked goods, truffles, chocolate mice, chocolate granola, and chicken with mole sauce are just some of the treats that chocolate lovers can sample.

Joshua Stone, Falls Village ’s own Emmy Award-winning composer, will host “Name that Tune” a musical game with prizes which always draws a crowd after the chili awards are announced. A live auction featuring gift certificates for chocolate desserts, books and more will round out the event.

Tickets are $25 per person and include all the chocolate and chili you want, beer and wine, and ten tickets to vote for best chili. All proceeds benefit the library. For information and to reserve tickets call the library at 860-824-7424.

Chocolate & Chili in the Village
To Benefit the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village
5pm to 8pm, Saturday, February 26
The Old Town Hall – 107 Main Street , Falls Village , CT 06031
Tickets $25 / Information: 860-824-7424
Wheelchair accessible
Interest: Adult

Chris Murphy Is Coming to Town!

He will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on the economic future of the northwest corner on Monday February 7 at 5 pm at the Kellogg School.

The Fire Department's Future?

The Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department is hosting an open forum on Saturday, January 22, at 10 am at Town Hall. If you have questions about the new firehouse on Route 7 and the options for funding it, this session is a must-attend event.

Hallelujah! The Falls Village Inn Reopens

It's kind of like a fairy tale the way Bunny Williams stepped in to help redecorate the inn for new owners Colin Chambers and Susan Sweetapple. And everyone seems VERY happy with the results! You can read more about it on Rural Intelligence

Special Board of Ed Meeting December 7

From Andrea Downs:

The Board of Education will be having a special meeting tonight at 6pm to discuss the budget situation for FY 2011/2012. We are
currently looking at a significant increase in our portion of the high school tuition for next year. We have 47 in the high school. This is going to have an impact on both the local school and town budgets. We invite you come and be part of the process early. The Board of Education has already been in communication with both the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen and we hope to have several of their board members at the meeting tonight.

The meeting will only last one hour, we have our regular board meeting starting at 7pm. We hope many of you will come and be part of the process.

I do apologize to those of you who would rather not receive these e-mails. I have included everyone in my address book that has a connection to either Falls Village or Lee H. Kellogg school in hopes that anyone who wants to participate can. Please spread the word.

The FVCT Holiday Show - December 4

The Annual Tree Lighting

Halloween Party on Oct. 31 @ 4 pm

Our Hometown Fall Festival - October 23

Words & Music at Music Mountain Oct. 3

This year the D. M. Hunt Library’s free Words and Music Program is for and about kids of all ages at Music Mountain in Falls Village on Sunday October 3 at 2:00. Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras and video cameras to record their children's performance on the historic Music Mountain stage.

Falls Village native and Bennington College graduate, Jon Grusauskas, will direct his Millerton Knights Children’s Ensemble in traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms like samba and salsa to funky versions of Michael Jackson and more. The musicians, ranging from 8 years old to younger, know their music well and play trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, drums, percussion, and keyboards.

Hunt Children’s Librarian, Rita Delgado will ask children in the audience to join her on stage and teach them American Sign Language to tell Goldilocks and the Three Bears to the audience.

The program will close with a tribute to well-loved books for or about children that were turned into musicals. Broadway actress, playwright and author, Betsy Howie, will read short passages from Dicken’s Oliver Twist, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, and William Steig’s Shrek! Then Callie Carter, Lydia Downs from Falls Village and Brianna Hoyt of Salisbury will sing a song from each of the musicals inspired by these classic books.

Hunt Library Auction & Cocktail Party - September 25

It's the best party of the year, for the best possible cause: our beloved David M. Hunt Library.
And the live auction promises to be the best in memory!

Click on the image to read the details

Tuesdays at Six

The 12th annual speakers series sponsored by the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society is well underway at the South Canaan Meeting House. Here's the lineup for the rest of the summer.

July 20 Malcolm McKenzie, head of the Hotchkiss School, speaks of "International Aspects of Education."

July 27 Linda Ruggles, a historian at the University of Maryland, talks about "The Hartford Convention and the War of 1812."

August 3 John Demos, a professor emeritus at Yale, discusses "Cornwall's Heathen School-Hope and Betrayal in the Early Republic."

August 10 David Ward, an historian and assistant librarian at Hotchkiss, on the "Battle of Gettysburg: The Principle Commanders."

August 17 Alfred Dietzel, an historian, discusses "An Unfinished Journey: Women Who Changed America."

All sessions take place at the South Canaan Meeting House near the junction of Route 7 & 63. Admission is free. Musical prelude at 5:45. Program from 6 - 7.

Save the Date September 18: Annual Peddlar's Flea Market

FVCT presents "Cinderella" on July 23

These little kids will break your heart.

Happy Anniversary Jacobs Garage!

Jacobs Garage has been part of life in Falls Village for 80 years! More than taking care of our cars, Denny, Judy and Dave take care of our jangled nerves when our cars break down with their incredible kindness. And they take good care of our village with all their work for the Historical Society. Let's hope Jacobs Garage is around for another 80 years.

Commerce Comes to Main Street

The downtown revival has begun! Just a few weeks about the Falls Village Inn was purchased and it was learned that decorator Bunny Williams will work with the new owner on the inn's redecoration, Patricia Walsh has rented the old Town Hall space and will be opening a Country Store/Antiques Center any day....

It's Not Too Late to Join Chubby Bunny's CSA

Chubby Bunny, the wonderful farm on Undermountain Road, still has shares available in its CSA. If you want to eat the freshest, healthiest local produce and be part of a sustainable community, visit the Chubby Bunny website or visit Dan & Tracy Hayhurst at the farm.

"13" Comes to Housy on June 25

Cookie Day at the Hunt Library - June 12

The library will be serving food and asks that you RSVP so they have a head count: 860-824-7424

Downtown Sales Mayhem June 5 & 6

What a weekend it will be: Both a plant sale and a book sale at the Hunt Library, a tag sale and bake sale at the Congregational Church, and a mega-tag sale at the Kellogg School. Bring cash!
Volunteers organizing the plant sale on Friday afternoon.

The quiet before the storm at the Congregational Church.

The Annual Kellogg Tag Sale

Behind the Scenes with FVCT : A Video Preview of "13"

Click here for a video preview of the upcoming performance of "13" at Mt. Everett Regional School.

Free Concert at Music Mountain - May 22

FVCT presents the musical "13" in the Berkshires: June 4 - 6

The Falls Village Children's Theater (FVCT), the five-year-old northwestern Connecticut not-for-profit troupe, is expanding to the Berkshires, where it will present the Broadway musical "13" at the Consolati Performing Arts Center at Mt. Everett Regional High School in Sheffield, MA, on June 4 - 6.

A musical about contemporary adolescence, "13" is the story of Evan Goldman of New York City whose parents get divorced, and he must move with his mother to Appleton, Indiana, where he will have his bar mitzvah away from his family and friends. Evan's new best friend in Appleton, the nice girl next door, knows that her hometown is, as she sings, "The Lamest Place in the World." A classic fish-out-of-water story, Evan's songs include "Being A Geek" and "A Little More Homework." When it debuted three years ago in Los Angeles, Variety said, "If the prospect of watching an all-teen company enact an all-teen musical accompanied by an all-teen band makes you cringe: Chill, dude, "13" is sheer bliss...Librettist Dan Elish's simple narrative about middle-school outsiders tiptoeing their way through a minefield of cliques and gossip is the framework for a celebration of the kind of teen spirit that soars rather than smells."

Featuring a cast of 18 experienced actors from the tri-state area who range in age from 12 - 17 under the direction of former Broadway dancer Lanny Mitchell, "13" is a funny, buoyant look at a young man's culture shock in his own country on the eve of his becoming a man in the Jewish faith. It is a poignant, exuberant and universal tale about trying to find one's place in the world. A five-piece high-school band will perform the score.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students (the show is rated "PG"), and they are available at Tune Street in Great Barrington, MA, the Canaan Apothecary in Canaan, CT, the Falls Village Citgo or online at FVCT.org.
The show is a fundraiser for the not-for-profit FVCT.

Falls Village Children's Theater presents "13"
Consolati Performing Arts Center at Mt. Everett Regional School
June 4 at 7 p.m.
June 5 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
June 6 at 2 p.m.

Bingo for Scholarships - May 7

Take the Survey

Our neighbor Ruth Skovron encourages everyone to take this survey to have input into the economic development of the northwest corner and to save our village centers

At Long Last!

Are burgers and beer in our future?