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Around 9 a.m. every Wednesday morning a 26-foot box truck from the printer backs up to a storage garage behind The Lakeville Journal’s office in Falls Village to unload copies of the week’s Lakeville Journal and Millerton News.
Between then and about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, it’s up to the Journal’s own drivers — AAdam Williams, Brian Murphy and me — to deliver these new papers to six realtors, 18 post offices, and 46 retail outlets within a 30-mile radius of the office.
To accomplish this feat, we travel about 260 miles through 28 towns and villages in three states in our white 2016 four-cylinder Ford Transit Connect van. Our itinerary takes us as far north as Great Barrington, Massachusetts; as far south as South Kent, Connecticut, as far east as New Hartford, Connecticut; and as far west as Millbrook, New York.
Over the two days we schedule our deliveries into three “runs.” Each run is a circuit, beginning and ending at the office. There are two runs on Wednesday and one on Thursday. Each day we work in teams of two. Adam and I work together on Wednesday. Brian and I work together on Thursday.
Wednesday is the more arduous of the days. There’s more to unload and load, more to organize and arrange. Along with an additional run, there are almost twice as many stops to make, six times more papers to deliver, and more than three times as many plastic containers to drop off.
While the van’s drivers support each other in many ways, once we’re en route, each has their primary role. It’s the job of the person behind the wheel (usually Adam or Brian) to get the van safely to the next designated delivery stop; it’s up to his companion (usually me) to manage the paperwork and function as the company’s representative.
A small family store in an outlying area might receive only 5 copies. On the other hand, a high-traffic account in a nearby area, like the La Bonne’s supermarket in Salisbury, might get over 125 copies.
At post offices we drop off the plastic containers (or “tubs” as post offices refer to them), usually leaving them on a loading dock. The size and shape of file folder boxes, they contain newspapers destined for our newspaper subscribers, some of whom live as far away as New York City, Albany and Hartford. Typically, we’ll drop off two to four containers at a single post office location; however, in the case of the Lakeville Post Office, the Falls Village Post Office and the Millerton Post Office, we drop off between six and nine! At the beginning of our Wednesday runs we cram 18 or more of these containers in the van, giving us very little rearview visibility until our first post office stop.
We deliver to many more retail accounts than we do to post offices. For every one of our stops at post offices we stop at 2.5 retail accounts. At these establishments (e.g., convenience stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, small grocery stores, delis, cafés and restaurants) we bring in bundles of new papers and carry out old unsold papers, using the difference in number to calculate how much money the client owes us that week. We present an invoice for this amount, initialed by the preparer, to the account’s cashier or manager for their signature and payment. Our work is concluded when we’ve entered the number of newspaper “returns” for that client that week into a logbook (which gets passed on to the Accounting Department).
For me, the highlight is the warm, tasty, cream cheese-slathered bagel I get at On the Run Coffee Shop.
Most accounts receive either The Lakeville Journal or The Millerton News. However, almost a quarter receive both papers. Dual-paper accounts tend to be in areas in or near Millerton and Lakeville. The quantity of papers we deliver to any account varies considerably.
A small family store in an outlying area might receive only five copies. On the other hand, a high-traffic account in a nearby area, like the LaBonne’s supermarket in Salisbury, might get over 125 copies.
On Wednesday our first port of call is Sharon. There we stop at Sharon Post Office, Sharon Pharmacy, J.P. Gifford, Sharon Package Store and XtraMart. At the pharmacy the challenge is to get in and out of the tight vestibule where the newspaper rack is located before a customer tries to. At the wine and liquor store the trick is to get in and out before Kirsten melts us with her sweet charm and Dylan completes his thoroughgoing analysis of the New York Jets’ prospects for the next NFL football season!
After Sharon we proceed to Lakeville. For me, the highlight there — and of the Wednesday morning run in general — is the warm, tasty, cream cheese-slathered bagel I get at On the Run Coffee Shop. I’ve had many bagels but this one hits the spot like no other.
After I’ve inserted the new Lakeville Journals into the wall rack near the door and given Suzanne, the cashier, the count of returns, I order “the usual.” There’s no need to say another word. In about ten or 15 minutes, after Adam and I have delivered papers at the Patco service station/convenience store across the street, I’m back to pick it up. This pattern has become so ingrained that the other day Rita, one of the food preparers at the café, was waiting for me on the On the Run doorstep with a grin on her face and my bagel and a napkin in her hand.
A quarter of the way into our second run on Wednesday, when we’ve completed all our deliveries in Millerton, Adam and I switch roles and I take the wheel. The first thing I do is pull the seat forward, adjust the mirrors and put on a podcast. I’ll usually give Adam a couple of options and let him choose.
If the podcast is a bust we’ll discard it and try something else. A lot of times we’ll pause the podcast to discuss a key point.
If the podcast is a bust we’ll discard it and try something else. A lot of times we’ll pause the podcast to discuss a key point. It’s amazing how quickly the afternoon whizzes by when we are engrossed in a good podcast! Two of our favorites are “The Ezra Klein Show” and “The Gray Area” with Sean Illing.
We recently reorganized the Wednesday runs so that we get to high-volume accounts like LaBonne’s in Salisbury, Stop & Shop in North Canaan, and Freshtown in Amenia earlier in the day. With the harder work out of the way, by the time we finish with the Salt Point Market in Millbrook we can pretty much coast. By the time we are finished with the Pine Plains Pharmacy I can pretty much close my eyes.
Next: Thursday’s run.
Turning Back the Pages
100 years ago — March 1924
The mysterious disappearance of Lawrence Travis, 20 years old, in a Star Sedan belonging to A.S. Martin, was solved at 5 o’clock last Thursday afternoon, when the car containing the young man’s body was drawn to the surface of the lake, after hours of hard and dangerous work. The search for the body resulted from the discovery of a patch of black oil under the surface of the ice by William Bassett, a fellow worker of Travis at Martin’s Garage. Mr. Bassett had never been fully satisfied in his mind that young Travis had gone very far away and he believed that some accident had befallen him. On Thursday John H. Garrity’s small derrick was taken to the lake and block and tackle installed. By this time a crowd of between two and three hundred people had gathered, and many hands laid hold of the rope to draw the car out. Soon it was resting on the ice, and a moment later Michael P. Flynn entered the car and brought forth the remains of the unfortunate young man. An autopsy conducted by Medical Examiner Bissell was done immediately after recovery of the body and death was found to have been due to drowning. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. John Travis, father of the young man, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Owen Travis, with whom the lad had lived. There is a great feeling of sadness throughout the community over his untimely death.
LIME ROCK – John Eggleston has moved to the Frost farm which he recently purchased.
A.C. Roberts who has been indisposed, has been spending the week in Sharon Hospital to rest and recuperate. Physicians are of the opinion that a run down condition coupled with overwork made a period of rest and relaxation necessary.
50 years ago — March 1974
Baby chicks were hatched recently by members of Robert Snyder’s fourth grade class at North Canaan Elementary School. The class hatched the little chickens as part of their science classes. Twelve of the students who have brooders at home took the chickens to raise, each student receiving seven or eight of the birds. The students injected vegetable dyes into the eggs before the chickens hatched so many of the birds emerged with brilliantly colored plumage.
Three years ago the formation of a Housing Authority to establish housing for the elderly in Canaan was a burning political issue. The politics have been removed from the situation, but the burning resumed this week. It was revealed Tuesday that while the town crew was busy clearing the site for the housing project, a small fire got started in the old banks of coal left over from the railroading days. The coal has impregnated the soil and the fire went underground. A trench has been dug around the smoldering area and the fire company has drenched the soil with water to extinguish the fire.
Andrea Gandolfo, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Gandolfo of East Canaan, took third place this week in the 15th annual statewide competition of accordion players. The competition is sponsored by the Accordion Teachers of Connecticut. Miss Gandolfo, a seven-year-old who has studied for only one year, is a student of Gary Ross at his Lakeville School of Music.
An unusual double ceremony on April 6 will mark a renewal of the wedding vows for two couples, Mr. and Mrs. William P. Starr of Kent and Mr. and Mrs. Stephen R. Squires of Goshen. The ceremony will take place at the First Church of Christ, Cornwall. Mr. Starr and Mrs. Squires, who are brother and sister, are great-grandchildren of a former minister of First Church.
A mailbag containing all copies of The Lakeville Journal for Norfolk mail delivery and newsstand sales went astray in the postal system last Thursday and was not located until Monday afternoon. Consequently Norfolk subscribers received their papers late and would-be newsstand purchasers were disappointed until Saturday morning when The Journal supplied extra copies.
25 years ago — March 1999
Ruth Epstein, editor of The Lakeville Journal, has been named to the board of directors of the New England Press Association. The vote was taken during a retreat held by the board this past weekend in Hanover, N.H.
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
Letters to the Editor - 3-28-24
The Dominican/Haitian border looking at Anse-à-Pitres, Haiti, from the Dominican Republic side.Peter Halle
Letter from the Haitian border
‘The world is going to hell in a handbasket.” It’s a sentiment most of my friends are feeling, and to be frank, so am I. The newest addition to the list of countries with seemingly intractable violence is Haiti. It is a place I know something about. Along with Louise Lindenmeyr and Helen Scoville from Salisbury, we are directors of Hispañola Health Partners (HHP), a nonprofit that supports a health clinic deep in rural southeast Haiti. Louise and I have been traveling to this ever-struggling country several times a year for the last decade, watching Haiti descend further and further into political chaos.
In the last year, gangs have taken over the capital Port-au-Prince, but that city has been unsafe for us since 2020. We now travel to our clinic through the Dominican Republic, bypassing the gangsters in Port-au-Prince — a longer passage, but so far, a safe route. And that is what I want to report on.
Louise and I have just returned from a week at the Haiti/DR border. The news media have rediscovered Haiti in the last month with Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s blocked return and subsequent resignation. For the first time in years, Western reporters have ventured to Haiti to report on the growing violence, starvation, and insecurity. We here at HHP have been tracking this descent for years, wondering when the big news providers would take an interest. And now they have — finally!
The news media, and the U.S. State Department, have reported that all of Haiti is unsafe and desperate, in every town, at every border crossing. I am here to tell you that in the last few days Louise and I crossed into Haiti in the south at Anse-à-Pitres to meet our clinic staff and hand over duffle bags of medicine and supplies. Louise also spent a day screening women for cervical cancer, a major disease in Haiti. The border town is safe, with somewhat less commerce due to the political strife and the mostly closed border.
For those of us who have had personal experience with news media, including such respected publications as The New York Times, reporters often get the story wrong.
The purpose of this letter is to show another side of this unfolding story, much of which is an utter nightmare.
If you would like to know more about Hispañola Health Partners, please visit us sat www.hispanolahealthpartners.org
Peter Halle
Salisbury
Thankful farewell after 41 years of practice
This week brings to conclusion more than 41 years of my practicing Ophthalmology in Lakeville.
There are many people I wish to thank for making it the experience of a lifetime. My parents were always encouraging. By paying for my education, they allowed me to complete my training unencumbered by student loans, making it possible for me to borrow the money I needed (at a 16% interest rate!) to start my practice. My wife, Sue, had more confidence in me than I had in myself that we could move to the area after my residency and start a practice. Along with our daughters, she put up with my coming home from work late many nights, being called away on weekends for emergencies, and the occasional eye surgery video on our TV (long before personal computers and tablets). Sue, our daughters, their partners and our grandchildren have given more joy to my life than I ever imagined.
I will always be grateful for the wonderful people I have worked with at the office. They have been more like friends and family than employees and have created an environment that I have been happy to return to every day. I was very fortunate to be able to bring Dr. Avinash Tantri into the practice. He has been a pleasure to work with, and his excellent medical and surgical care of our patients has allowed me to retire knowing that I am leaving the community in good hands.
I thank everyone at Sharon Hospital for the excellent care provided to our patients for so many years. The last four decades have seen many changes in the field and the staff have always quickly adapted to new procedures and techniques. There have been a few different administrations during that time, but each one has always provided the equipment we needed to provide state-of-the-art surgery.
I have had the pleasure of working with skilled and caring colleagues — optical, optometric, ophthalmologic and medical — and I thank them all for working with me for the benefit of our mutual patients.
Most of all, I am grateful to all the people who came through the door and entrusted me with the care of their most precious sense. I know I kept many of you waiting, and I know I was often too busy to get to know you personally as well as I wanted, but I always tried to do my best for each of you. It was an amazing experience.
While I am leaving the practice, we are staying in this wonderful area, and I hope to still seemany of you. Thank you all!
William M. Kirber, MD
Lakeville
Grateful for Sharon Hospital and the staff
Where can I go! To get excellent medical care, It was a question that many of us thought about. About 4 years ago I moved to Sharon, Connecticut. It’s a beautiful small town with lovely scenery and great people. And an outstanding hospital, I had the pleasure of being there a week from a tick bite. However about 3 months ago I had a terrible pain in my left hip and went to see my doctor in Amenia Dr. Dweck and he sent me to Sharon Hospital to get an x-ray. And to my shock the X-ray was not what I expected. I needed a new hip! I did not know where I could turn, so I called my family and they told me to go to a New York city hospital to have the replacement. They felt that I can get the best care there. However I know that you can get excellent surgeons but I am not too sure about the care. So I decided to call Sharon hospital and I was told to see doctor John Mullens in Sharon. He is an Orthopedic Specialist. I was skeptical so I made an appointment. When I met Doctor Mullens I was very impressed with his bedside manner I said to him what hospital will you perform the surgery and he said Sharon hospital. I was delighted because I love Sharon Hospital and I know I will get the best care there. The surgery was in February and they were very careful with me because of my heart condition and Doctor Mullens was especially careful to keep me infection free. I will always be grateful to Doctor Mullens and the staff at Sharon Hospital for the great care I received and one last thing: the food at Sharon hospital was fantastic.
Angelo Prunella
Sharon
Preserving Housatonic scenic shorelines
In May 2022, the U.S. Senate passed a bill creating the Housatonic River’s National Wild and Scenic River designation from the Massachusetts—Connecticut boundary (in western area of the state).
Just to let you know, the Housatonic River Commission meets occasionally in the Cornwall Consolidated School regarding the Housatonic River and its future in Northwest Connecticut and the lower reaches.
More land could be purchased on the west and east shorelines for preservation. If not government (National Park Service) then perhaps private donations of land or private (individuals or business) buying land and giving to National Park Service.
Christopher G. Redington
West Hartford
Anticipation
The ‘billionaire’ is so broke
Now we see through the smoke
The con man was exposed today
I’ll wait before I say hooray
The day will come for me to cheer
And toast the jailer with a beer
Then follow with a bourbon shot
What will he do? What has he got?
Michael Kahler
Lakeville
The year was 1973: Two roads diverged
In 1973, Donald and Fred Trump were engaged for two years in a battle with the DOJ: “..specifically a case that charges Donald Trump, Fred Trump and their company of race bias in housing rentals. …It was one of the largest cases of the time.”
Michael Kranish
Washington Post
At 26, in 1973, Donald J. Trump commenced his lifelong legal battles — federal and state suits and countersuits numbering 4095 before he assumed the office of President in 2016 and 90 since assuming then losing the office in 2020. Of these 90 post-presidency suits (12 pending) Trump has won but one against his niece, Mary.
Trump legal suits over five decades range from Casino to contracts, employment, personal injury, campaigns, taxes, defamation, obstruction of justice.
Also in 1973, the New York Times (NYT) in a published profile of the younger Trump birthed a myth of Donald Trump as first in his Wharton graduating class (BA in Real Estate, 1968) – a myth fully debunked in a 1988 NYT investigative article that found few members of his relatively small class knew or knew of Trump, the class commencement program did not list him with any distinction, the self-declared “super genius” was found on no Wharton dean’s list. Trump has restricted any educational institute from making public his grades or test scores. Donald J. Trump has never received an honorary degree from any academic institution or acknowledgement of generous gifting (including Wharton).
In contrast, in 1973, Joe Biden, at age 30, was elect to the U.S. Senate sticking his arm out to all he encountered: “Hi, I’m Joe Biden — the new senator from Delaware.”
One month after his election, Biden’s wife and one year old daughter were killed in an automobile crash that spared his two toddler sons. Biden took his Senate oath of office in the Wilmington hospital chapel. He served in the Senate for six terms.
Biden’s first year in the Senate, the 93rd Congress, was replete with major events and governmental action: the passage of Roe vs Wade, Kissinger appointed Secretary of State, LBJ’s death, Nixon to China, Paris Accords/Church Amendment ending the Vietnam War, VP Agnew resigned, replaced with Ford, Endangered Species Act passed as was the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Saturday Night Massacre led to first steps toward a Nixon impeachment (Nixon sidestepped impeachment with his resignation in 1974). Oddly the Roe vs Wade Scotus decision of 1973 was also scandalously leaked however back in 1973, the culprit, a Scotus clerk, was identified.
1973, was a significant turning point in the lives of two prominent Americans for their choices, their character and their occupation of the Oval Office. Trump’s 2024 rhetoric is of a third-world U.S. status, demise and resentment are the tone, projections, and unrealities — his vita is replete with court cases, TV ratings, bankruptcy, screaming false headlines, brand surges and plunges, declarations of personal exceptionalism. Biden, in stark contrast, has 2024 rhetoric, acts and deeds that bespeak pride, promise, progress by the nation, peoples of talent and will. Biden’s vita — outcomes of his life choices — has a plethora of domestic and international honors, steadfastness and accomplishments. He isn’t perfect, not flawless — yet Biden, in raw contrast to Trump, doesn’t promote bullying, urge foul play, threaten intentional harm of others.
Time to turn the lights back on a nation with many shortcomings but scores of decades of betterment — of talent and achievement. In the turmoil of an election year, 2024, can we still hear succinct wisdom: twelve score and six years ago “...our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.
Abraham Lincoln
The Gettysburgh Address
Kathy Herald-Marlowe lives in Sharon.