Housatonic students of the week

The Lakeville Journal congratulates the honorees of the student of the week program at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. This week’s student portrait was taken by HVRHS 11th-grader Caroline Sullivan. In the interest of avoiding turmoil in the McGuire household, sisters Patricia and Gillian are both this week’s Students of the Week at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Joking aside, it would be difficult to choose one over the other. These two soft-spoken redheads admire and respect each other, and with good reason: They are both outstanding students, yet they each have unique talents.Patricia, a junior, is the consummate musician. She participates in band, jazz band, and the woodwind quintet, and she is currently in auditions for the Northern Regionals as a flute player, though she also plays the piano and saxophone. As if that weren’t enough, Patricia is auditioning for a role in the Housatonic Musical Theatre Society spring musical (in which she performed beautifully last year).Gillian, a freshman, prefers English and history. She is fascinated by people and how they once lived, and she is considering applying that curiosity to the field of journalism. She is more interested in athletics than Patricia, and plans on following up her cross-country season with basketball in the winter and track and field in the spring.These sisters have far more in common than not, though, and their politeness, deference and cheerfulness distinguish them in all of their interactions. They share their home in Sharon with their parents and two younger sisters, all of whom are glad to be done with the recent spate of bad weather. Who would not be tickled by Gillian’s response to the recent school “vacation”: She was glad to be back in school, where she could be challenged and engaged in meaningful work after so many days off. We are glad to have them and all of our students back under our roof.

Latest News

Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.

Natalia Zukerman

Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert Cray’s soulful blues coming to Infinity Hall

Robert Cray

Photo provided

Blues legend Robert Cray will be bringing his stinging, funky guitar and soulful singing to Infinity Hall Norfolk on Friday, March 29.

A five-time Grammy winner, Cray has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned The Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance. He has played with blues and rock icons including Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and many more.

Keep ReadingShow less