LIFE

Despite the inherent risks, there’s nothing as magical as an open-air concert on a perfect summer or fall evening. In what is likely the ideal setting, The Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center (SMPAC) shows will be enhanced this year by ongoing facility upgrades, national acts like the Indigo Girls and Jason Blaine, and the return of community staples like the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Talcott Mountain Music Festival.

It’s that 152-acre landscape that draws me in, especially that pastoral view of the old farm from Route 4 – always a welcome break while usually stuck in that Route 4 traffic. But on this day, I sailed through and decided it was time to check out that pastoral view up close.

After speaking with Mick Ferraro of the New England Mountain Bike Association, we contacted Jan Bolland Tanner of Benidorm Bikes to get her thoughts on mountain biking in the Farmington Valley, including her picks for the best trails at various levels. Benidorm, Spain, is where Jan won a gold medal at the road cycling world championships in 1992.

On the second floor of the Simsbury fire station on Hopmeadow Street (Main Station), you’ll find the studio for WSIM, which has been broadcasting at 103.5 FM since 2015. Most of the time you’ll hear a very eclectic rotation of music, but there are also six live shows, and in an emergency it’s where you’ll listen for news and updates. When microbursts tore up parts of town in August 2024, it was a crucial link.

Simsbury resident “Brynn” Oliver, age 23, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 5 months turned her world of disability upside down: Athlete. Teacher’s Assistant. College grad.

He met me with a smile. “I’m so glad you stopped.” As if answering my unspoken question, he turned to show me the picture pinned to his backpack. “I do it for them,” he said. That night, Stephen Lewis, whose name I later learned, was walking in honor of Branden F. Oberleitner, BCO, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, KIA Fallujah, Iraq, 5-3-03. “Because he deserves to be remembered,” he added.

With moments that ranged from a soul-stirring “Call Him Up” by the Gertrude Banks Gospel Choir to a reflective version of U2’s MLK from Combined Ensembles, Simsbury High School’s Choral Collage was pure musical bliss.

"Mountain biking isn't punk rock anymore," says Mick Ferraro of the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA). "It's a very mainstream sport now. You show up prepared, you go on group rides, you hang out afterwards. The vibe is: I'm here to raise my cortisol levels, talk to people, be outside, hear the sounds, maybe see a bear. It's 'let's have fun.'"