Kent motorcycle crash claims lives

KENT — Two residents of Kensington, Conn., died after a motorcycle crash on Saturday afternoon, May 1, on Segar Mountain Road (Route 341) in Kent.

Mark and Linda Fongemie were riding a 2000 Harley Davidson along a steep, curved stretch of road on a sunny afternoon that attracted many two-wheeled tourists to the scenic Northwest Corner. They were part of a group of five bikers.

As he was negotiating a downhill sharp left curve, Fongemie, 55,  lost control of the motorcycle, according to a press release from the State Police Troop L barracks in Litchfield. The trooper on the case was Mark Jesudowich.

As the group came around a sharp descending curve, the Fongemies’ motorcycle apparently slipped off the right or north side of the road and fell into a bed of traprock. Both Mark Fongemie and Linda Fongemie were ejected from the bike. Although they were wearing protective clothing, neither had on a helmet. They both sustained serious head injuries.

They were transferred from the scene of the accident to a landing zone in Kent, where they awaited transport by LifeStar helicopter.

Linda Fongemie was pronounced dead prior to the arrival of the helicopter.

Mark Fongemie was transferred to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury by LifeStar and was subsequently pronounced dead.

According to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Web site, ct.gov/dmv, motorcycle riders who are 16 or 17 years old are required to wear helmets; and riders who are 18 years or older and are driving on a permit are required to wear helmets.

Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams said he was saddened by the news of the accident, but said that motorcycle safety is not a major concern of the town.

“The only concern the town has with motorcycles is the noise level that motorcycles make,†Adams said. “We’re not concerned about bad driving. I don’t think we’ve had any serious motorcycle accidents like this one here before. I’m sorry that the accident happened, but as a first selectman, the noise is my concern. There is a fine line between welcoming motorcycles in town and them driving around town.â€

Motorcycle tourists have generated quite a bit of controversy in the town. Kent is a mecca for the visitors, who often come into town in large groups and stop for coffee or lunch. Although merchants welcome the business, there is also concern about the choppers lining the street.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less