Holiday fairs draw crowds to Winsted

WINSTED — An array of holiday fairs and events took place in town on Saturday, Dec. 3. From Christmas wreaths to dolls, music and cookies, even the stingiest Scrooges should have been able to find something to please them. At the Beardsley and Memorial Library, located at 40 Munro Place, The Jerrod Cattey Trio performed holiday songs, including selections from “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” at the library’s holiday party. Many of the library’s staff and volunteers attended the party. At the same time, The First Church of Winsted, located at 95 North Main St., celebrated its 91st annual Christmas Fair. The fair included various crafts and a bake sale. Seller Laura McCaw dressed like an elf for the occasion.Carol Goeway along with her daughter-in-law, Diane Goeway, got up-close and personal with the various dolls sold at the event. Lisa Nanni liked the gingerbread cookie ornaments that were sold, along with the various other ornaments. Joan Turrell adored the various stuffed animals sold at the event, including Clifford The Dog. The United Methodist Church, located at 630 Main St., held a Christmas Fair. Charlene Stark and Candy Williams were seen viewing the lush Christmas wreaths sold at the event, while Marilyn Telenski appreciated the selection of dolls at the fair. Norma Jones and Jean Frink sold a wide variety of Christmas Cookies and Marion Miller, wife of church pastor Albert Miller, participated in the holiday festivities. Meanwhile, St. Anthony School, at 55 Oak St., held its annual Christmas Bazaar. Outside the bazaar, members of Winsted Area Childcare Center sold Christmas wreaths. Ellie Gunn, Paige Corey, Nancy Kinsella, Theresa Padin and Shannan Fields helped with the event. Inside the school, Lindsay Stovall and Constance Chatfield sold holiday hats while Liza DiMartino and Sarah Landi sold chocolate candy apples. Pat Masucci represented the Highland Lake Watershed Association while sisters Jane and Lila Krohner visited to show their support.

Latest News

Walking among the ‘Herd’

Michel Negroponte

Betti Franceschi

"Herd,” a film by Michel Negroponte, will be screening at The Norfolk Library on Saturday April 13 at 5:30 p.m. This mesmerizing documentary investigates the relationship between humans and other sentient beings by following a herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle through a little more than a year of their lives.

Negroponte and his wife have had a second home just outside of Livingston Manor, in the southwest corner of the Catskills, for many years. Like many during the pandemic, they moved up north for what they thought would be a few weeks, and now seldom return to their city dwelling. Adjacent to their property is a privately owned farm and when a herd of Belted Galloways arrived, Negroponte realized the subject of his new film.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fresh perspectives in Norfolk Library film series

Diego Ongaro

Photo submitted

Parisian filmmaker Diego Ongaro, who has been living in Norfolk for the past 20 years, has composed a collection of films for viewing based on his unique taste.

The series, titled “Visions of Europe,” began over the winter at the Norfolk Library with a focus on under-the-radar contemporary films with unique voices, highlighting the creative richness and vitality of the European film landscape.

Keep ReadingShow less
New ground to cover and plenty of groundcover

Young native pachysandra from Lindera Nursery shows a variety of color and delicate flowers.

Dee Salomon

It is still too early to sow seeds outside, except for peas, both the edible and floral kind. I have transplanted a few shrubs and a dogwood tree that was root pruned in the fall. I have also moved a few hellebores that seeded in the near woods back into their garden beds near the house; they seem not to mind the few frosty mornings we have recently had. In years past I would have been cleaning up the plant beds but I now know better and will wait at least six weeks more. I have instead found the most perfect time-consuming activity for early spring: teasing out Vinca minor, also known as periwinkle and myrtle, from the ground in places it was never meant to be.

Planting the stuff in the first place is my biggest ever garden regret. It was recommended to me as a groundcover that would hold together a hillside, bare after a removal of invasive plants save for a dozen or so trees. And here we are, twelve years later; there is vinca everywhere. It blankets the hillside and has crept over the top into the woods. It has made its way left and right. I am convinced that vinca is the plastic of the plant world. The stuff won’t die. (The name Vinca comes from the Latin ‘vincire’ which means ‘to bind or fetter.’) Last year I pulled a bunch and left it strewn on the roof of the root cellar for 6 months and the leaves were still green.

Keep ReadingShow less
Matza Lasagne by 'The Cook and the Rabbi'

Culinary craftsmanship intersects with spiritual insights in the wonderfully collaborative book, “The Cook and the Rabbi.” On April 14 at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck (6422 Montgomery Street), the cook, Susan Simon, and the rabbi, Zoe B. Zak, will lead a conversation about food, tradition, holidays, resilience and what to cook this Passover.

Passover, marked by the traditional seder meal, holds profound significance within Jewish culture and for many carries extra meaning this year at a time of great conflict. The word seder, meaning “order” in Hebrew, unfolds in a 15-step progression intertwining prayers, blessings, stories, and songs that narrate the ancient saga of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. It’s a narrative that has endured for over two millennia, evolving with time yet retaining its essence, a theme echoed beautifully in “The Cook and the Rabbi.”

Keep ReadingShow less