Berkshire Mountain Distillers’ New Locale

By Babs Perkins Seven years ago Chris Weld bought a farm that would become home to the first legal distillery in Massachusetts since prohibition, Berkshire Mountain Distillers (BMD). Last fall he upped stakes and moved his award-winning operation out from the shadow of East Mountain in Sheffield and set up shop in a brand-new, custom-built […]

The Christmas Bird Count

Citizen Scientists Make Their Mark By Susannah Wood On December 14, in the dark and cold of 4 a.m., Ray Belding is going to be in the woods calling to owls. For the next 10 hours or so he and his team will be counting every bird they see for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird […]

Norfolk’s October 2014 Weather

Warmer and wetter than normal By Russell Russ This October saw nearly four more inches of rain than last October. Temperature-wise it was very similar to our last two Octobers. There were six days this month with scattered frost in the area, but the first frost of the season at the weather station did not […]

Botelle Beat—December 2014

Student Harvest of Awards and Trophies By Ann DeCerbo Sixth grader Kendra Link was awarded the 2014 Botelle Superintendent’s Award at the November Board of Education meeting.  The award, presented by Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli, is based on “community service and service to others, academic success and leadership service to the school community.” Botelle traditions […]

Botelle Beat

A Busy Month! By Kim Crone The school year is in full swing, and the students, teachers, administration and volunteers are working hard to make this a great year. On October 2, as part of the Cultural Enrichment Program, Caryn Lin brought her electric violin to the Hall of Flags. Using innovative looping techniques, she […]

Whiting Mills Draws Visitors to Winsted

Renovated Factory Houses Art and Craft Studios By Colleen Gundlach Tucked away on a street behind the Winsted campus of Northwestern Connecticut Community College is an outwardly nondescript old factory building that is anything but nondescript on the inside. Driving up to the parking lot behind the building and walking inside will reward the visitor […]

The White Hart Inn: A Litchfield County Classic Comes Back to Life

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo On a recent sun-kissed autumn day, every porch table at the White Hart Inn was filled to capacity by 12:15 p.m. Not bad considering the tap room doesn’t start serving lunch until noon, and it was a Tuesday. Safe to say, a lot of people are happy the iconic inn on […]

Norfolk’s September 2014 Weather

Driest on Record By Russell Russ From June through September this year, three of the four months were below average for rainfall. September was the driest September on record since regular recording began at the weather station in 1932. Many locations in Connecticut were in drought conditions for a good part of the summer into […]

Botelle Beat—October 2014

By Ann DeCerbo Botelle students and parents celebrated the beginning of the school year at a Welcome Back Ice Cream Social sponsored by the PTO. The event was held on the playground and ice cream was served by the school’s new administration, Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli and Principal Matt O’Connell. The school children have also […]

Lone Oak Campsites: 50 Years

The Browns of East Canaan celebrate semicentennial of family farm turned campground By Colleen Gundlach There was an air of excitement, friendship and festivity on August 16 in East Canaan as Lone Oak Campsites celebrated its 50th anniversary by throwing an all-day party for the people who have been a part of the business over […]