Your guide to the heart of Litchfield County:
Discover local stories, hidden gems, and must-know events.

A Dog’s Wellness and Adventure Partner
By Clementina Verge
Photographs by Anne Day

Throughout their lives, dogs teach many lessons, from loyalty to embracing adventure and loving unconditionally. Their owners, too, must learn how best to foster a canine lifestyle that promotes health, happiness, and longevity—and Hunky Hound Handlers is their partner in doing so.

The North Canaan-based store and training facility provides comprehensive and personalized care, from socialization to human-grade food, holistic remedies including CBD products, enrichment toys, and grooming services. 

“Everything in my store is intentional,” notes Cody O’Kelly, owner and head trainer. “I have to research everything myself and believe in the product.”

It began with a personal quest for health and optimal nutrition, coupled with love for animals—in particular his Labradoodle Nikki. In a Jeep Cherokee nicknamed Hank, O’Kelly began delivering prepackaged raw meals for dogs; his commitment resulted in a 2,500-square-foot store and training facility.

Recently, after months of intensive study and rigorous exams, O’Kelly became a Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist, earning accreditation from the Feed Real Institute. Renowned for its commitment to promoting raw feeding and whole foods for pets, the institute aligns with Hunky Hound Handlers’ philosophy of holistic pet care.

“Commercially dried kibble is not a complete, balanced diet. It is full of carbs and dogs do not need carbs,” he explains, encouraging owners to do their own research.

Instead, O’Kelly advocates for a raw or homemade diet integrating cooked vegetables (suitable for canine digestion) like pumpkin, squash, and sweet potatoes, and a rich variety of meat protein. Single-ingredient treats, available at Hunky Hound and resourced locally, include rabbit ears with fur, pig snouts, chicken feet and necks, and marrow bones.

A proper raw diet is customizable, eliminates allergies, produces smaller stools, and provides a balance of vitamins and minerals. It is neither dangerous nor scary, because canine and human digestive systems differ, O’Kelly explains. 

“Eliminating carbs eliminates the nervous energy, replacing it with a focused energy level. Now we can train,” he explains. 

Specializing in enrichment and off-leash freedom, Hunky Hound offers basic and advanced training, e-collar training, and off-leash pack hikes.

You can find O’Kelly, a Sharon resident, and fellow trainer and nutritionist Ashley Haddon exploring trails with as many as a dozen dogs—ranging in age from a 5-month-old Weimaraner to a 13-year-old Goldendoodle, socializing, enjoying nature, and off-leash obedience.

“Socialization is imperative to humans and dogs, but the tendency is to over-socialize dogs with humans and not with other dogs,” O’Kelly observes. “This training in a group including all sizes and breeds, and all levels of training, allows them to take social cues from each other and to communicate within a pack.”  

Hiking is among the best adventures for dogs, providing multi-sensory experiences that satisfy the two canine motors: physical and mental, O’Kelly notes. It also offers opportunities for practicing recall, “the most important command that can literally save their life.” 

From socialization and training, to customized meals that can be delivered, O’Kelly and his Hunky Hound Handlers staff strive to provide “exceptional care and nutrition, making a healthier, happier world for dogs.”—hunkyhoundhandlers.com

Keeper of the Flame, Teller of the Stories
By Clementina Verge 
Photograph by Anne Day

Jean McMillen not only records and preserves stories, but has lived a compelling one.

Before becoming Salisbury’s town historian, she arrived in the neighborhood in 1967, a Keuka College graduate hired to teach fourth grade at Salisbury Central School. She held the position for 24 years—decades filled with inspiring experiences, including a land purchase in 1974.

With money saved for a down payment, she needed a $3,000 mortgage, which Litchfield Bank declined lending until her father signed a surety. Building a home while a single woman in the 1970s was a significant accomplishment—much like being the first teacher in the Region 1 School District to earn a sabbatical to the UK to study the British education system. 

Idleness was not in the books for McMillen upon retirement; in 2010, she became involved with the Salisbury Oral History Project, launched in 1981 by residents who believed it important to preserve first-hand vignettes of life in town.
McMillen expanded the project’s scope: Instead of collecting memories only from older citizens, she included those who work in and contribute to the community. She also created a reference index exceeding 30 topics, including Families, Farms, Railroads, and the Iron Industry. To date, 430 oral histories have been completed and transcribed. 

The tedious work requires long hours of conducting interviews, copying tapes, cataloging, and storing—originals in the library’s vault; transcriptions in the History Room.

Like fairy tales, the archives spark imagination. More importantly, however, they reveal history in ways that mere textbooks cannot. Cora Marion Belter, born in 1902, talks about a childhood without playmates, spent making mud pies, having picnics in the woods, and paying 10 cents to see “Pocahontas and John Alden” at a moviehouse owned by Bert Roberts in Lakeville. 

Bill Binzen reminisces about the devastating flood of 1955, when the Housatonic River rose about 150 feet. Born as World War I ended, Binzen became a prominent photographer and children’s book author before his death in 2010. 

Stories of he Stuart Theater burning down on Christmas Day 1958, and inns, telegraph stations, and ice houses erased by history are in fact preserved. These testimonies matter because “they’re about legacy, tradition, and connection,” McMillen explains. “People are less likely to destroy or neglect what they become part of.”

In March 2023, McMillen was surprised by a letter from Keuka announcing her nomination for the Effective Use of Retirement award. At first she thought it a prank, but the application was legit. She filled four pages with her volunteer experiences including after-school programs, being a Holley-Williams House Museum docent, and, of course, the Oral History Project. She won.

“It was truly an honor because it was the Oral History Project itself that was recognized, not just me,” she says. 

While roads and buildings make a town, humans weave its tapestry,. McMillen considers none more beautiful than Salisbury’s.

“From cradle to grave, this is a community where people care about each other,” reflects McMillen. “It’s a special place.”—salisburyassociation.org

Apothecary, Accessories, Art 
By Clementina Verge
Photographs by Ryan Lavine

Showcasing handcrafted, unique items connecting artists with the local community, Peggy Mercury is the kind of store where you’ll find something to change your appearance, mood, and perhaps even your perception.

Recently opened in Kent Barns, Peggy Mercury was founded by James Boehmer, an acclaimed makeup artist and former global artistic director for Shiseido, and Greg Fricke, a scout for some of the most renowned modeling agencies in the world.

Connecticut residents since 2021, the former New Yorkers had planned to tap into Litchfield County’s artistic legacy and “respectfully occupy a space” that gives community members a place to “challenge, elevate, and grow.” 

Thus Peggy Mercury was born. Part gallery, part retail, it fuses art and practicality, offering imaginative makeuap and accessories.

“We want this to be a playground of seeking and discovery, a safety net for trying beautiful, provoking things,” notes Fricke.

Boehmer agrees. “Makeup and accessories are inclusive, fun tools for self-discovery and escaping the mundane. Above all, they’re temporary, so why not try something new? The worst that can happen is that you don’t like it and you wash it off. But what if you do?” he asks. “Our mission is to question traditional definitions of beauty, and allow individuals to create their own.”

There’s plenty to experiment with at Peggy Mercury, where red lacquer shelves display “high-performance products designed to lift, firm, and radiate from the inside out.” 

Among them are essentials from Jillian Dempsey, one of Hollywood’s most trusted makeup artists; The Beauty Sandwich by Iván Pol—a wait-list only “secret sauce” that “sculpts the most beautiful faces in the world”; vibrant and eco-friendly makeup by Neen, and AMAZONICOIL, a face serum by Marco Castro that reduces signs of aging and acne scars while enhancing glow. 

Beyond the beauty products, you’ll find candles by The Maker Hotel; art by @cigarettesandkale; ceramics from Karen Levinson; artisanal leather goods by Brooklyn-based designer Adam Wade Wagner; Unravelled by Peggy Mercury crocheted totes and bags in candy colors; and innovative handbags by Puppets and Puppets. 

Later this year, the store will launch a knitwear line from the UK called Hades Wool, “giving a subversive edge to lambswool basics like cardigans and sweaters,” and a new line from makeup artist Quinn Murphy called SPATCH SKIN—an innovative powder concealer formulated for longwear on Quinn’s red carpet clients.  

The shop will also host an exhibition with artist February James and offer custom holiday ornaments. Ultimately, every meticulously selected brand merges art with fashion, which is Peggy Mercury’s mission.
The store is partially inspired by Peggy Guggenheim, the art collector and socialite who exuded luxury and extravagance. 

Mutual admiration for her initially ignited Boehmer’s and Fricke’s personal relationship, 

but her impact on their creative and professional lives cannot be denied. In a not-so-subtle nod to her influence, a 6-foot replica of Guggeinheim’s signature butterfly sunglasses welcomes patrons into Peggy Mercury.

“Peggy is a love letter to the institutions and references that permitted us to dream unapologetically,” reflects Fricke. “It’s a home for those who question their worth in a world that never tries to understand them, for those who have struggled, disguised, or made themselves smaller to find a seat at the table.”—peggymercury.com

Charlie and Barbara Robinson’s Zest for Landscaping and Life
By Charles Dubow
Photos by Ryan Lavine

In a town full of interesting people, few are more interesting than Charlie and Barbara Robinson. Residents of Washington since 1971, the Robinsons possess an appetite for life, sweat equity, beauty, gardening, family, and fun that makes most of the rest of us seem as though we are barely trying.

Why is that? Where to begin? Let’s take Barbara. A graduate of Yale Law School when relatively few women were earning their J.D.s, she went on to work at white-shoe Manhattan firm Debevoise & Plimpton. She became the first female partner ten years later, while raising two young children and, with Charlie, physically transforming—often by hand and frequently with the help of unsuspecting weekend guests—their once-modest weekend home, Brush Hill, with its wildly overgrown 20-plus acres, into one of the most beautiful and unique properties in Litchfield County. And that’s just the basic outline of her achievements. Along the way she also became the first female president of the New York Bar, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and enjoyed other honors and directorships almost too numerous to mention. She is also a successful author of three books on horticulture. Her latest, an ode to their home and life together, is “Gardening, A Love Story: Creating Brush Hill,” published in 2023.

Charles Raskob Robinson is no less accomplished and every bit as energetic as his wife. The grandson of the builder of the Empire State Building, Charlie was raised in Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley, and fell in love early with the outdoors, particularly the water. Already a skilled sailor, he rowed 2,000 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico and later soloed up 4,500 miles of the Amazon—all while still in high school. 

After graduation from Haverford College, he earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins, then began a successful two-decade career in M&A at Bankers Trust before quitting to become a highly respected marine and landscape painter, a passion he had nursed for many years. 

When he is not painting, he happily works with Barbara—she calls him her “Capability Brown”—to design new gardens, build follies and sheds, lay out walks and paths, devise an ingenious system of waterworks, and generally have a great deal of fun messing about on his backhoe. When these two find time to rest is a mystery.

The home itself, a 1752 Colonial that once belonged to the painter Eric Sloane, has also been the target of the Robinsons’ never-ending enthusiasms. When they bought it, the former saltbox had prehistoric plumbing and heating, and barely enough room to contain their young family. Over the years they modernized (there is a hilarious photograph of Barbara demolishing a broken ceiling while wearing a football helmet), and added onto it without sacrificing the house’s integrity or charm. It is as pure an expression of what two people with the right energy, vision, and love can accomplish as one could ever hope to see. Impressive indeed.

Finding Reprieve Through Art
By Michelle Madden
Photographs by Ryan Lavine

When you get to the top of the steep, white steps at the Village Center for the Arts (VCA), you are greeted by an imposing, glass-paned purple door that looks like you should pull on the handle, but you’d be wrong: You push. The sign says, “This is our Norman door. Google it.” A tone of play is set even before entering. Once you do enter, look for the large fish tank containing three resident turtles. If you wish, bring them some worms. You can feed them yourself. Delight and whimsy is at the soul of VCA, where children and adults are invited to dive deep into the ocean of possibility that art provides.

The husband-and-wife team of Jayson Roberts and Sharon Kaufman founded VCA 25 years ago. Sharon had previously run Escape to the Arts in Danbury, offering classes like Art for a Quarter, where at 2 am—yes am—she would drive around the projects, encouraging kids to step away from poverty, crime, or simply boredom, and join her to create art at her studio.

Serving community is at the core of VCA. One of the most magical experiences is Open Studio, where you grab a bucket and wander through the Corridor of Imagination, “shopping” for supplies. Floor to ceiling, shelf after shelf, box after box sit buttons, pom-poms, feathers and marbles, pinecones, woodchips, fabric, and yarn. Fill your bucket, grab a glue gun, and for as long as you wish, let creativity take flight. “If you can imagine it, you can create it here,” says Roberts with glee. Oh, and all this is yours for just $12.

The Unexpected Artist program allows a student to come in anytime for free and work on a school-designated project—science, geography, history—accessing any materials they wish.

Another drop-in opportunity, for those short on time or patience, is the off-the-shelf pottery. Select a premade ceramic piece (a bowl or a bird perhaps), paint it with acrylic, and take it home the same day.

An added delight for acrylic painters is that, when you’re done, you bring your palette to the Splat Wall, which is just like it sounds: a huge wall where you splat or smear the remains of the pallet. “How many layers are there?” I ask. “Thousands,” says Roberts. “One area got so thick, it broke off. I’ve kept it as a cross section of all the artists that have come through here.”

Ready for more than a one-off?  Take a class in printmaking, cartooning, creative writing, or pottery. “I come with my son every Friday after school to do pottery with a group of moms and kids,” says Brita Lombardi, who has been coming for two years with a group of friends. “Miss Sharon is exceptional at not only teaching but motivating and guiding.”  

“We believe children should be treated not as little kids making art, but as emerging artists who just happen to be kids,” says Kaufman—a sentiment that has changed the lives of thousands. —villagecenterarts.org

Photographs by Hagop Kalaidjian

Perhaps you’ve seen actor Caroline Kinsolving in one of the plays, films, and television shows that have featured her. Perhaps you’ve taken yoga with her in Salisbury, or met her out and about with her writer parents, William and Susan Kinsolving. No matter where she’s caught your eye, you’d remember it, as did concert violinist Gary Capozziello. 

As artists, there were many places where the two might have met, including at The Hotchkiss School, where Susan Kinsolving has been poet in residence for many years, and where Capozziello is a teacher—when he isn’t performing as assistant concert master with the Hartford Symphony.

Music was on the menu when the couple were married this past June in Salisbury: A 13-piece chamber orchestra played Copland’s Appalachian Spring. And as befits the wedding of a performer, the weather provided some drama—though the evening ended with a strawberry full moon and a symphony of fireflies.

Antique School at Antiques Museum
By Georgia LoPresti 
Photographs by Ethan Ash

The Connecticut Antique Machinery Museum houses a true New England relic: the schoolhouse of the Cream Hill Farm Agricultural School. Originally built in Cornwall, this one-room school and farmhouse was moved to Kent, piece-by-piece, in 1983. 

One of the oldest schools in the country, Cream Hill was founded in 1845 by Dr. Samuel Wadsworth Gold and his son, Theodore. Its innovative program appealed to families from the Northeast and abroad. For 24 years, the boarding school taught boys, ages 8-18, educational classics alongside scientific agriculture and the “ethics of manual labor.” 

Gold’s curriculum provided “the highest possible improvement of all the powers of the individual, physical, moral, and intellectual.” Students cultivated 100-square-yard plots, growing vegetables while also completing their academics.

A 24-by-24 foot classroom was where over 36 subjects were taught, for an annual tuition of $330. Glass bookshelves lined the wooden walls, displaying Gold’s collectibles and reference books. The upstairs had three large bedrooms that served as the students’ dormitory. 

The school closed in 1869 after the doctor’s death. Principal Theodore Gold then pursued work with the Connecticut Agricultural Society, edited The Connecticut Homestead, and served as secretary of the Connecticut  Board of Agriculture. He was also a trustee of the Land Grant College in Storrs, which evolved into the University of Connecticut.—camamuseum.org 

Destination: Morris Airport?
By Georgia LoPresti
Photo courtesy of Morris Historical Society

“Most people don’t know that Morris had an airport back in the day,” reports Morris Historical Society President Ed Dorsett. “We are learning more about it.” 

In the archive room of the historical society, Dorsett set aside two black-and white photographs of pilots alongside their Kitty Hawk biplanes—also known as taildraggers. Characteristically, these models have two wheels in front and one in the back, designed for landing on challenging terrain. 

Across from what is now the White Flower Farm, Morris once boasted a modest—yet significant—airfield known as the Morris Airport. It was established in the early 20th century, and served as a prominent aviation hub for the region. The airfield’s location was both convenient and picturesque, with a rural grass field and runway that were easy for take-offs and landings for private pilots with small aircraft.

During its most popular era, the airport was a buzzing area center, hosting recreational flying, flight training, and larger community events. Its popular fly-ins and airshows attracted area visitors and neighbors, which helped to bolster the local economy. 

Unfortunately, as aviation technology advanced and larger regional airports developed, the need for the Morris Airport waned. By the end of the 20th century, planes became larger, requiring more controlled terrain and space, making little airstrips obsolete. This resulted in the closure of the once-beloved Morris Airport. 

There is a play on words in the title for a new show of work by painter/printmaker Hugh Kepets, opening at Craven Contemporary in Kent on October 12. There will be a reception for the artist on November 2. 

The artist (who earned his BFA from Carnegie Mellon and MFA from Ohio University in the 1970s) has been fascinated throughout his career with zoning in on the small details of large buildings in urban environments, and helping the viewer to find beauty in ubiquitous and utilitarian objects—especially the fire escapes that are an essential part of nearly every building in New York City. 

The work on display at Craven makes viewers feel they’ve temporarily left Litchfield County and “escaped” to an urban environment. The paintings and silkscreen prints (created in the 1970s and 1980s) are also literal details of fire escapes.

“The focal point of my work embraces transforming simple familiar objects into highly evocative abstractions. With an emphasis on precise patterns and close-ups, the imagery can oftentimes lead to unexpected perceptions of three-dimensional space for the viewer,” the artist says of his work.

A resident of New York City and Litchfield County, Kepets’ work is in many prominent museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as corporate and private collections.—@cravencontemporary

Healing Power of Acupuncture and Chiropractic Care 

By Clementina Verge

Many pet owners are pursuing alternative and holistic therapies for conditions ranging from arthritis and soft tissue injuries to digestive issues, seizures, and chronic pain.

“People seek alternatives to Western medicine for themselves, for better results, without potential medication side effects, and they’re doing so for their pets, too,” notes Dr. Karmen Couret, a certified veterinary acupuncturist and chiropractor who sees patients in Bantam, Watertown, Goshen, and Southbury.

Couret, who resides in Litchfield with her husband, son, two dogs, and a cat, graduated from Columbia University and earned a veterinary degree from Cornell University. In 1999, her dog’s battle against cancer propelled her interest in alternative medicine, homeopathy, and physical therapy.

“We are vets first, but some of us sought additional training because we believe in integrative care and using all the available tools,” remarks Couret, who has exceeded 500 hours of training in Chinese herbal medicine and is a member of International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Association of Veterinary Anatomists, and American Veterinary Chiropractic Association.

From puppies who incurred birth trauma or sustained play injuries, to sporting breeds that “jumped an inch too far,” and aging dogs affected by incontinence, Couret uses adjustments, needles, and laser therapy at all stages of life.  “We look to fix any imbalance,” she explains. “It’s like a reset to factory settings, getting the dog back to health and optimal performance.”—karmencouret-dvm.com