WEBUTUCK — Recognizing the importance of honoring the North East (Webutuck) Central School District’s (WCSD) dual language learners, its Board of Education (BOE) opened its meeting on Monday, June 13, to a Seal of Biliteracy presentation.
Starting at 7 p.m., the board met inside the Webutuck High School (WHS) library.
Pleased to present the Seal of Biliteracy to three WHS students, Monica Baker, an English as a Second Language teacher, explained the Seal of Biliteracy was approved by the New York State Legislature in 2012 and signed by the governor to recognize graduating seniors who are proficient in English and a language other than English. In order to earn the seal, she said students have to meet rigorous criteria, such as taking tests, giving presentations in English and their second language and meeting the coursework criteria.
Because Webutuck didn’t offer the seal beforehand, Baker reached out to the state’s education department to learn how to institute the program. She credited the language department and other individuals for making it come to fruition.
“It’s a simple accomplishment,” Baker said. “Biliteracy is something that is important. It’s an asset and with the school population of 20% English language learners, it’s time we really elevate our students and recognize that they are an asset to our school community, and language is something we really need to celebrate and praise.”
Presenting students Elizabeth Juarez, Karen Zempoalteca and Cristal Dominguez with the Seal of Biliteracy, Baker shared all three students started with her in kindergarten. She said it was a personal honor to recognize them.
“This is just the start of us being able to do this in the foreseeable future and being able to honor an increasing number of dual language speakers in our school district,” said a proud Baker, “so thank you for being our pioneers and doing it with us this year.”
SALISBURY — Hobart Clark Terhune peacefully passed away on April 2, 2024. He was born the only son of Elizabeth Hobby and Sidney Terhune.
Noble was a kind and thoughtful friend who lived life to the fullest. He enjoyed growing up in the Twin Lakes area in the town of Salisbury. Hobie was a graduate of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville where he started his love of skiing. He and his dad had many enjoyable skiing adventures together in several New England locations. Hobie won the Junior CT ski jumping championship twice and also won the slalom, downhill and cross-country state championship. Hobie enjoyed participating in the sports of football, skiing and golf. He was a true Giants fan, a lover of fast cars and he enjoyed having fun with friends.
Upon high school graduation from HVRHS, he joined the Navy and served in Newfoundland as a Petty Officer Second Class. He made his parents extremely proud by being named “Navy Man of the Year” in his division. Upon getting out of the service Hobie attended McPherson College in Kansas.
Hobie relocated to Vermont as a young man to join the ski scene. He married Doss and together they had a son, Shephard. Eventually he started his Mountain Excavation Inc. business in West Dover, Vermont. Hobie can be credited for the installation of many sewer lines in the area and later he became a general contractor for several homes. He also enjoyed completing the golf course design and turf management course at UMASS.
Hobie served his community on the North Branch Fire District Prudential Committee for 23 years and he also played a very active role in the Dover Manor Road Association. Hobie was a generous and proud supporter of the VFW, American Legion, Special Olympics, the Jimmy Fund, Salvation Army, USO and Boy’s Town.
Upon retirement, he found great enjoyment in golfing in Florida and Vermont. Later in life he reconnected with Betty Ann Patchen Poll, a friend from high school. They enjoyed relaxing and spending time together.
Hobie was predeceased by his son, Shephard Terhune, his parents and his sister Suzette Terhune Dakin. Hobie will be greatly missed by all and he will be remembered for his kindness, honesty and willingness to help others in need.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Hobie’s hometown of Salisbury. Memorial donations may be made to the Special Olympics in Hobie and Shep’s memories.
SALISBURY — George Arthur Mortenson of Leominster, Massachusetts, passed away on April 1, 2024, at the age of 91.
George was born on Nov. 26, 1932, in Great Barrington to Arthur and Bertha Mortenson. He was raised in Amesville in the town of Salisbury. He grew up the eldest of five children. George graduated from Indian Mountain School and Hotchkiss. He left RPI to join the Marines, later transferring to the Navy to become a pilot and flight instructor. Following his military service, George became a computer programmer and systems analyst.
George met his first wife, Mary, in Connecticut and they married in 1959. They lived in Florida and Virginia before settling in Lexington, Massachusetts, where they raised their three children. Later in life, George married Mary Anne Williams and they enjoyed many years together and settled in Leominster, Massachusetts.
George was a student of history, an avid reader and a stamp collector. He loved the Red Sox and Patriots. George was a very kind and loyal man. The world was a better place with him in it, and he is deeply missed.
George is survived by his wife, Mary Anne and his extended Williams family; his three children James, Peggy (and her husband Frank), and Evelyn; his siblings Bee Ann (Ward), Peter (Barbara) and Suzy (Michael); his sister-in-law Sandy, extended Carney family, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He is predeceased by his brother Robert.
A service will be held at noon on Monday, April 22, 2024, at the Trinity Lime Rock Episcopal Church in Lakeville, CT.
We were devastated to learn of Mary Graf’s sudden passing.
Shortly after Mary, a proud descendant of Sharon’s Hotchkiss family, and her husband Jack moved into the area some five years ago, she threw herself into the library. She volunteered at the Book Signing and at other events — never without a smile on her face. She underwrote holiday greenery for the library. She enthusiastically participated in any number of our programs and activities. Symbolic of her support is the wheelchair lift she donated. Thanks to Mary, the library, for which she had such affection, is now accessible to everyone.
The library wasn’t the only beneficiary of her time and energy. As House Manager, she was in charge of all volunteers at the Sharon Playhouse during the summer. She was an enthusiastic “Hillside Stoner,” cleaning gravestones at the Hillside Burying Ground where several of her family members are buried. She was also a benefactor of the Hotchkiss School and endowed the “Mary Graf Barn” at Hotchkiss’ Fairfield Farm.
She probably also gave of herself elsewhere, but we like to think that the library was first in her heart. Mary loved the library, and everyone at the library loved her right back.
We are so very saddened by Mary’s loss and will miss this warm, surpassingly generous and ever cheerful lady terribly.
The Board of Directors and Staff
The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon
Alex DuBois presented a lecture Saturday, April 13.
SHARON — Horace Greeley’s advice to the young man may have been valid later in the 19th century, but at the dawn of that century, when area families contemplated going west to the uncharted Western Reserve, mapped as “New Connecticut,” the going was not for the faint of heart.
During a talk titled, “To Certain Western Lands: Connecticut Stories from the Western Reserve,” Alex DuBois, Curator of Collections at the Litchfield Historical Society, described the realities faced by those who ventured west, leaving New England for a variety of reasons. The lecture was presented by the Sharon Historical Society on Saturday, April 13, following its annual meeting and election of officers.
Noting that his information about Connecticut’s role in settling of the Western Reserve has taken years to assemble, DuBois began the timeline with the original charter in 1666, when the state’s western boundary was undefined so that in theory the colony extended from the western border of the colony of Pennsylvania all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Due to the vast distance involved, the western boundary was eventually decided to be the Mississippi River, DuBois indicated.
After the American Revolution, DuBois said Connecticut gave most of its claimed western lands over to the new American government, but it “reserved” 35 million acres in the northeast of present-day Ohio from Pennsylvania to the lower tip of Lake Erie for its continued use and settlement. This area was named the Connecticut Western Reserve, also known as “New Connecticut.”
Sharon native and surveyor Amos Spafford was instrumental in the early surveying of those lands, not an easy task to map townships defined by precise single square miles arranged in blocks of 25 or 36, a concept know as five-by-five or six-by-six.
DuBois recounted that once the land was mapped, investors could either set about to farm the land themselves or they could sell to Connecticut residents who might move to the land. The Connecticut Land Company, specializing in speculation, was actively involved.
In the course of events, Ohio’s native tribes were being displaced. Numerous military actions were always ended by treaties that invariably called for the tribes to cede land.
“It’s harder to find their voices,” DuBois said of his work to uncover the tribal historical record. He spoke of Seneca and the Wyandot Nation.
As for the families who went to the Western Reserve as migrants, DuBois said that the ads promoted the idea as a good move, while in reality it may not have been so.
“When you went, and how much money you had predicted your outcome,” DuBois said.
People who sought freedom found their way to “New Connecticut.” Freed slaves found it to be a place of opportunity. Slavery was not permitted in Ohio, but the prohibition was not enforced, and slaves were regularly seen working the fields. Fugitive slaves were returned to their owners as a matter of course.
In time, however, the Western Reserve became aligned with the abolitionist movement.
“It’s an important story for Connecticut,” DuBois said.
Re-elected to their positions as officers at the historical society were Chris Robinson, president; Jodi Scheurenbrand, vice-president; Stephanie Plunkett, secretary; and Douglas Rick, treasurer.
