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-Studio Paradis Client
October 3 - November 1, 2025 Opening Reception Friday, Oct 3, 5-8 pm
hat started as a modest open studio weekend in 2001 has evolved into a staple of Connecticut’s Arts T cultural life—celebrating artistryy, , forging community connections, and spotlighting the Shoreline’s creative pulse each fall.
The Shoreline Trrail was founded by a handful of professional artists from Branford, Guilford, and Madison aiming to foster community engagement. They opened their doors to neighbors, inviting the public into working studios and showcas-
bers, Open Studios W photography pg ing a range of media—painting, ceramics, wood, glass, textiles, printmaking, collage, y, , sculpture, and more.
Now in its 25th year and with over 40 memWeeekend, November 15 & 16, has become a much-anticipated annual tradition which attracts hundreds of art lovers who come to meet the artists, learn about the processes, and purchasetheirart.
eflections within it.” Reflections might be a family member for five years. T ravaglino (painter NikkiT purchase their art.
Tr r, , Guilford) has been an SAT membe Trravaglino’s work is a bit different in that “you don’t come across that many automotive artists.” She special izes in “capturing the beauty of the automobile and also the r r, , someone walking by with their dog, or another automobile. r -
Y
V Viisitorsfrom Connectic Yoorkcometothetrail andT cut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Trravaglinolovesengagingwiththem
ork come to the trail, and Travaglino loves engaging w “There have been art patrons following this particular years,” she says.
“Every year they look to see who the new artists a r existing artists have that’s different. The website g i the opportunity to read up before they make their m where they’re going to go. They come already kno w you or your most recent work, and they have ques t theprocess.It’svery interactive and lots of fun.”
u’ with them. trail for 25 re and what ives them map of wing about tions about ou feel ’rre creating get out and workthat’
Travaglino finds t validated when y o ’s s the sou share with others.” Y
he Trail inspiring “because y o u’re creating your work. “ Yoou u l inside of you that you need to
The big benefit for patrons, she says, is “the special mementos to give to loved ones. Also, unlike a museum, the artists are right in front of you and you can interact with them and ask questions.”
Her advice: “It could be overwhelming because there are so many talented artists included in the Trail. Go to the website to really get to know the different artwork that’s available and locations. Map out what speaks to you before you even get into the car. You only have two days and so many awesome choices.”
“If you can’t squeeze it all in, you can always contact the artist directly and set up a private meeting,” she notes.
Travaglino attributes the longevity and success to “the quality of art that’s available in such a tight proximity. Artists are juried in by their peers to ensure a professional level
of work. It’s only three towns yet there’s amazing artists that are so diverse. And the members are dedicated.”
Martha Link Walsh
(paper artist, Branford), a member since day one 25 years ago, reflects on in the Trail’s early days when someone thought “wouldn’t it be neat if we could all be open at the same time.”
“Meeting the people making the art and talking with them about how and why they do it” is a big plus for visitors. “It’s not just walking into a gallery and seeing the finished piece.”
Walsh’s advice: “Plan out where you’re going ahead of time rather than having to backtrack. Pick out four or five places you really don’t want to miss and figure out how to get
there so you’re not wasting time. Maybe one town one day and two towns the next.”
The Trail’s longevity, she believes, is due to “the community of artists and their desire to share what they do.”
Mike Bower (woodturner, Guilford) has had a long love affair with wood. Bower started out building furniture and built-ins for his home. His focus on wood turning began about 15 years ago when he purchased a used lathe.
“My wood turning is a balance/dance between the wood and my designs. Some-
times the piece of wood completely dictates the design as it wants to become a specific shape. Other times the wood will lend itself to my design. Often a piece of wood will sit on a workbench for weeks until it becomes clear what needs to happen.”
For the Trail, Bower cleans up his studio and makes it into a display space rather than a working wood turning shop. He says he’s a bit of an introvert so marketing his work is not appealing but he loves talking about his work and showing it to others.
“Every piece I turn has a story—what the wood is—why it grew as it did—how the design emerged and the challenges of transforming a piece of wood into my mental image for it. So, the weekend is an opportunity to engage with people about my passion of wood turning.”
“If someone is interested in wood turning or any of the other arts, it’s an opportunity to talk to artists and hear how they see their work. It’s an invitation into a world that can seem exclusive.”
Bower’s advice: “Have fun. It’s really about the art and not the selling so don’t feel that there’s an obligation to purchase.”
Jan Vanderburg (printmaker, Guilford) moved to Guilford from New Mexico in 2022. In her first year in Connecticut, she visited the Trail and was highly impressed with the work exhibited in the studios.
Vanderburg looked for a group of artists who were creative, skilled, and experimental, and believed that the work she saw during her first tour met these criteria.
“Showing my studio visitors the stepby-step process through videos and the equipment used helps me explain the printmaking techniques and makes it much easier for someone not familiar with the process to understand,” she explains.
“The Shoreline ArtTrail is a perfect venue as I can explain the process much more easily by having my press, inks and tools readily available.”
Susan Roberts (jewelry designer, Branford) designs pieces inspired by nature and selects semi-precious stones herself. Roberts shares the excitement with visitors when they walk into her studio and draws inspiration from their enthusiasm.
“Each piece is unique so it’s great to come by and see all the different options,” Roberts says.
Roberts invites visitors to schedule an appointment if they were unable to visit as many studios as desired during Open Studios Weekend.
Robert Parrott (potter, Madison) has been a member for 23 years. Parrott’s pottery is mostly high temperature stoneware or porcelain. Occasionally he uses native clay from the Connecticut River.
Parrott usually works alone in his studio but collaborates occasionally with his wife, Anita Griffith, who works in an adjacent studio.
“The event offers an opportunity for the public to see where and how our pottery is created and to speak directly with the makers.”
Parrott suggests visitors “Plan ahead, review the map on your computer at home. Select the studios that most interest you and build your route.”
Anita Griffith (ceramic artist, Madison) has worked in clay for over 50 years.
“My pieces need to be whimsical and colorful, but the serious potter in me insists everything be functional. That’s always been the core of my approach to making things. Fun with function, bright, and perhaps sometimes ironic. I like to think up visual puns,” she says.
Griffith has her own studio, materials and kilns. “My husband Robert Parrott is in his studio, we are side by side, yet our work
is completely different from one another’s. Bob’s work is serene, designful, and ultimately functional,” explains Griffith.
The Weekend, she says, “is exciting with anticipation of new clients, presenting new work and, hopefully, getting their enthusiastic responses. It’s a terrific opportunity to test our market, with the bonus that we beautify our workspace for guests. We are proud of our workspace and how we’ve built it up over the years. Turning our studios into a gallery once a year is fun and rewarding, despite the toil!”
“It provides a unique, once-a-year invitation into the private workspace of artists. Meeting the artists, learning about and purchasing their work gives unique meaning to the experience. More importantly, we hope we are teaching people about our
specific medium and hope they can see and feel how a career in the arts brings meaning and wholeness to the artist’s life. Artists have strong connections to their subject matter and their daily disciplines and practice, and visitors can’t help but see and feel this when ‘doing the Trail!”
Griffith’s advice: “Do not feel self-conscious about staying just a short time in each location or be bashful about engaging the artists. Remember, we invited you in and will be very happy to see you.“ We’d love to think you spend both days discovering art along the Shoreline!
She believes the Trail “continues to thrive on the variety of media and creativity of our artist participants. It’s a big effort, and we embrace it with enthusiasm. It’s become an event regular customers plan to attend with family and friends as a very special, annual weekend.”
During Open Studios Weekend, the colorful yellow “Open Studio” signs point visitors to the artists and studios. The Weekend runs November 15 & 16 from 10am to 4pm, is free, and allows art lovers to meet artists,
explore their workspaces, and purchase unique, handmade art, making it ideal for holiday shopping or home decor. Trail maps are available at libraries, town halls, and businesses in Branford, Guilford and Madison.
“For details on the Weekend, special events celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary, a printable map and artist profiles, visit www.shorelineartstrail.org or their Facebook page.”
There really isn’t any downtime between holidays anymore. Scarcely has Santa parked his sleigh in the North Pole garage before the Easter hare hops into view offering two-for-one sales on egg dye and 4th of July explosive devices!
And Christmas is now omnipresent! We’re talking to you, Hallmark, cranking out a new holiday film every four days!
So it goes with arguably the finest of all holidays, Halloween; as I type this, pumpkins and corn stalks are popping up at farm stands and costumes and plastic skeletons are already on display in local pharmacies and grocery stores.
If there’s anything positive about this premature, ah, saturation, it’s that it’s OK to jump into a Halloween reading program now. Around early October, writers always publishing “Ten horror novels you must read for Halloween!” – overlooking the fact that you’d have to read a book every three days to make the deadline.
So here’s my list of recommended seasonal reading, in early September, giving you plenty of time to dive into the eldritch greatness. And, because he doesn’t need any recommendations, no Stephen King.
Sorta classic but also sorta obscure
Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon – Ted and Beth Constantine, a Manhattan couple looking to embrace a more sedate lifestyle, are welcomed into Cornwall Coombe. It’s an isolated, quaint New England town where traditions tend towards agrarian in an almost pagan fashion. As the calendar twirls toward the celebration of the titular Harvest Home Festival, Ted wonders – too late? – if there are rituals in play designed to appease a dark god of antiquity.
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – Forget all the cutesy witchery flooding the shelves. The ghastly crone at the spider-webbed heart of this tale, wandering the streets of a small contemporary town in upstate New York, has the entire citizenry in her cold grasp. The seductive story segues from convivial normalcy into A-fib-inducing anxiety, and Heuvelt’s structure is immensely clever – he’s anticipated any and all“but what about?” possibilities – and he pulls it all off with delicate literary grace.
Song of Kali by Dan Simmons – This is a cruelly atmospheric tale of American scholar Robert Luczak, hired by Harper’s to go to Calcutta and investigate rumors of new work surfacing from famous poet Das – long missing and presumed dead. Hoping to enjoy a bit of a working vacation, Luczak takes his wife and their infant daughter. Hmm. Not sure that was a great idea. First, though, Luczak, guided by a rep from the local writers’ guild – source of the new Das material – hears a bizarre tale about a cult dedicated to the Goddess Kali, the Hindu deity of death and destruction. Details suggest the corpse of Das was resurrected in a grotesque ceremony and, when a subsequent search for the poet is successful, the American is kidnapped by the cult for truly creepy reasons. You’ll feel the humidity, squalor and escalating dread with every page. Recently published
Ecstasy by Ivy Pochada – Lena, a newly widowed socialite, whose husband built and oversaw a string of luxurious hotels, accompanies her son, taking over the family business, to a Greek island. It’s the site of their soon-to-be open five-star property, and the scion, eager to build on Dad’s reputation, could care less that the new resort encroaches on a beach and cave with connections to an ancient Mystery Cult. Lena is emboldened by her newly liberated status from a marriage based on wealth, embarrassed by her own shallowness, and irritated by her son’s snobbery. She’s eager to recapture her wild youth – as possibly represented by fascinating tribal commune of women homesteading on the about-to-open resort’s historical beach. The Kid’s efforts to have the women removed are frustratingly futile, allowing Lena to gradually integrate herself into nighttime bacchanals by the sea. What if these inebriated revels aren’t just … parties? What if they’re pathways? Pochada’s writing is gorgeous and utterly bewitching, and this tale of female wrath and power is brutally good.
The Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs – A delicious new entree in the catalog of haunted ship/locked room recipes. Narrator/sailor Samantha Vines, near destitution and battling alcoholism, manages to secure a gig on a crew delivering a 100-year-old sailboat from Seattle to England. Is the vessel indeed a repository of lost souls or being piloted by adherents of an ancient brand of dark alchemy – or is Sam losing what’s left of her mind? Jacobs fluidly fuses evocative scenes with a compelling cast of characters, and Sam is a witty and mordantly charming guide. The pace accelerates with a sense of briny dread as the natural laws of the sea and reality itself seem to render the boat sodden with rot and dread. Bonus: The Night That Finds Us All is officially out on Oct. 7 – just in time to run the anchor leg on your sprint to the finish line of this list.
House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias – Despite elements of noir and the supernatural – as well as a very intense real-time setting in which Hurricane Maria is about to slaw Puerto Rico – House of Bone and Rain is at its heart a coming-ofage story of friendship and, ultimately, revenge. Five best pals are just out of high school when one of their mothers is shot and killed working at a nightclub in Old San Juan. The“brothers”vow to find the culprit and they begin negotiating the savage streets – unearthing and extracting information any way they can. The friends gradually realize they’re approaching a level of cruelty indigenous in the city’s criminal underground that, growing up, they’d always vowed to avoid in a collective desire to escape the neighborhood’s ruinous pattern of poverty. When their investigation is temporarily stymied by the hurricane, a sea-borne, otherworldly presence comes into play – with a surprise connection to the mythos of the island itself. Iglesias splashes fresh and terrifying new characteristics onto the canvas of horror and crime fiction – and, happily, this is typical of all his work.
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ntertaining people. No other passport needed but fun. A passport for a few hours to another place. What do you call that, anyway?
Y
Yooucallthat“theatre,” which is sensory magic all in itself; and around that piece of Connecticut geography that’s known as “the river towns,” they call that, The Ivoryton Playhouse.That’sthe place where the walls have history embedded within, where for 111 years, audiences of all stripes have been made gladbythechance to be transported to another place with no passport needed other y. .
than a ticket to launch the journey
Not only is there great history within these walls, but there is great
distinction as well since the Ivoryton Playhouse is the oldest, continn-uously running, self-supporting theatre in the nation. Still, there are many who have not heard of The Playhouse nor even know exactly where Ivoryton is! Let’s disabuse you of that right this minute!
ol Channing, Sid Caesar es of Shelley W esidency
cutting factory and even Phyllis Diller
Ivoryton is one of three small villages located within the bucolic town of Essex. Its historic district was actually added to the National Register of Historic Places less than ten years ago, and that’s precisely where The Ivoryton Playhouse takes up r y....and why should it not? This was the place where Helen Hayes strode the boards, where Alan Alda and Gene Hackman and Old Saybrook’s own Katharine Hepburn played. It was here that audiences cheered the performancWiinters, Car r, , Marlon Brando, r. . This theatre was a major stop on many actors’ paths to stardom. Their photographs still hang here, looking longingly out at new audiences at every matinee and every evening performance. Their names are emblazoned forever on the walls, an integral part of the building itself that in another life was a community recreation center for the employees of the local ivory y, ,
a major part of the piano industryy. . When it was later vacated and disr r, , it was saved by an actor who happened tobespending in ghis
epair
Ivoryton Playhouse House Front 2020
summer vacationing in in the old space, and af was born, and the ghos
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n Essex. He saw the possibility of a theatre fter extensive remodeling, The Playhouse st light was lit.
enotfamiliar
Ghost light? Ah, if you ar r, , let us school y on just another of the many superstitions that haunt th world, and there ar y. A ghost lig bulb that is left burning whenever a th dark. Some say its sole function is to c unwanted spirits; others will argue tha the way for the ghosts who inhabit vir theatre on the planet. Whatever you m to believe, the ghost light serves as a v measure, allowing both actors and sta ff f and into the orchestra pit.
e many
Per navigate the space without falling of
rhhaps the brightest light in The Ivoryto is the one that shines from Jacqui Hubba bard, who serves this community as both and Executive Director of The Playhouse totownsome34yearsago.Shewasana
to town some 34 years ago. She was an a teacher and was not planning to put dow r, , for the “sh
you a bit he theatre ght is a single heatre is chase away at it lights rtually every may choose valid safety gehands to the stage on Playhouse rd. Hubh the Artistic e, first came actor and a wn roots in horttime” town for very long. However
she planned to be around, Hubbard joined the board of the theatre in 1991 and stayed until 1999 when she assumed the two directorial positions. The Playhouse had previously operated strictly as a summer theatre and was empty the other nine months. Hubbard thought this was a shame, so using her considerable talents, she began producing children’s theatre and community theatre productions. Her children’s theatre was an active workshop where kids didn’t “playact” from old, worn children’s theatre scripts, but told their own stories. “I’ve always thought as theatre being a place wher r,,” she said, “and this was a way of getting to young people.”
e you could bring people together
er
acqui Hubbard has done yeoman’s ty and reputation of the theatre,
Since accepting the positions, Jacqui Hubbar work in lifting both the visibility and of the theatre, making it an artistic force with which to be reckoned. Now the community was beginning to take note of The Ivoryton Playhouse, but the building had once again fallen into a state of disr r, , so this one-woman self-starter whose love of theatre arts powers her actions, created the Ivoryton Playhouse Foundation in order to mount a total building renovation. By 2006, it had become an Actors’ Equity (union) professional theatre operating from early spring until Christmas. “Theatr hr,,” Hubbard said, and she was and still is, looking for ways to accomplish that.
e is a place to bring people togeth epair
From thanking local firefighters for their service with admissio performances at no cost, inviting some of the locals who freque the former hangout across the street, to anyone who wants to w
the former acreet, to who wants to wit ness the transformative experience that theatre can be, Jacqui Hubbard is ready to oblige. She is, without a doubt, a true cheerleader for her art. It is obvious after meeting with her just how intent she is about bringing the community together to share experiences in this great place. “If you love the theatre, you just have to get back to your community and convince them to come in,” she adds.
eopened, they not only did so compliantly n to nted itr y, , carefully but she made sure that the season had light, enjoyab r, , so audiences would leave the the out feeling better than when they came in. My focus
plenty of laughter
so stay tuned T
af , and safely Jacqui always looks for and finds a way
Hubbard not only knows theatre, but she also knows her audiences, carefully crafting each season by choosing plays and musicals that tantalize ticket buyers into returning again and again. Although COVID may have been the largest challenge The Ivoryton Playhouse had to endure since closing during WWII, y. When the theatre finally y, y, , e enjoyable fare with , so audiences would leave the theatre, “going out better than when came in. My focus was to lift everyone’s spirits, and I think we did. I wanted audiences to know this is a safe place we all can share, a place where we all connect.”
on sale shortly
Knowing her audience and matching their moods and preferences with the present temperature of the country and world fffairs, the season for 2026 will be comprised of six shows which Hubbard characterizes as, “A uniquely American season through theatre.” Offering more than a nod to America’s 250th Birthday in 2026, this British-born Artistic Director is planning a wonderful testament to America’s independence and freedoms, Tiickets for this very monumental season will be y.
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to me. T
There is a kindness and gen permeates from audiences t everyone connected with Th professional Actors’ Equity people in each cast who are To o me, every cast is to everyone in that show is tre
ntleness about Jacqui Hubbard that o actors to stagehands to virtually Weeare a (union) theatre, but we also have not union. That doesn’t matter otally professional, and therefore, y..”
t joy ry Y ated and paid equally he Ivoryton Playhouse. “W
So, there you have it. Big pr in a 111-year-old theatre, a b lage with a population of ju over the years to laugh, to c and to be swept into anothe of hours. It’s a place of great place where two lights cons light that never goes out...an Jacqui Hubbard!
ofessional shows being produced beacon of history set in a tiny vilst 2600. Yeet thousands have come y, , to marvel, to be entertained, er place, even if just for a couple y, , a place of local pride, and a stantly remain shining. The ghost nd the light that shines within
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Now playing: “Incide comedy that appeals t come ready to laugh a
rd,Summer2025
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ent at Our Lady of Perpetual H to people of all faiths. Yoou need and applaud. Running: Oct. 3rd
Then celebrate the h much-acclaimed, Ho Barton and Ben Hop like the Grand Old Op for 24 years. Running:
t of Playhouse Good Morning America 2024 pry
olidays with the Playhouse’s oliday Jamboree created by K pe. It’s an homage to live radi y, , and it’s been a Playhouse tra November 20th - December 21 le family! yg sure to bring the whol
Help,” a d only d - 26th Katie io shows adition 1st. Make
istoric Essex, Connecticut has a lot to offffer— shopping, dining, art, music—but one thing it has never had is a film festival. That changes this fall, when the inaugural Essex Film Fest takes over the town November 14–15.
Festival director A.D. Calvo moved to Essex eight years ago and immediately saw its potential as a destination for film lovers. “Our picturesque Main Street felt like
“Essex’s own film history
the perfect backdrop for a destination-style festival,” he says. y, , from the 1971 cult horror Let’s Scare Jessica to Death to the gothicTV classic Dark Shadows, made that vision feel like a perfect fit. I’m particularly excited that we’re abbletoincludeatour of the house that Jessica was filmed in as part of the festival.”
between leaf-peeper season and the December r ed him. In mid-November a
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Calvo thought, was the perfect time for something new: a weeke that would draw people into theaters and conversation.
Over time, the vision for the festival evolved from simply celebrating Essex’s setting to creating a people-focused
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There is an old expression I remember my grandparents tossing around during my idyllic childhood along the shoreline of southeastern Connecticut: If you do not sow in the Spring, you will not reap in the Autumn. After they had driven back from their snowbird season on Anna Maria Island in Florida, one of the first order of events was to get the expansive home garden ready for planting. My grandfather would be out there treating the soil, mapping out what and where to plant, and (if the remnants of years past found deep in the soil were any indicator) having a few bottles of beer after a hard day's work outside. From the state of some of them, maybe the grandkids should have pooled our allowances and bought him a proper bottle opener, because the amount of bottle necks alone seems to point to him being driven to a more inventive process of getting at the amber liquids inside! Inspired by the changing of seasons and the subsequent shift in seasonal beer flavors, I offer a review of Headless Oarsman, a pumpkin ale brewed by the good folks at Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, RI.
Full disclosure, I am not often drawn towards the fall-flavored beverages, may they be a libation for morning awakening or happy hour decompression. It is probably a by-product of my incessant obsession with the summer months to which the coming of ‘pumpkin spice latte’ season and the unfurling of blankets and sweaters marks the end. Yet if ever there was a time to expand my palate to allow for some of the fleeting trappings of New England’s banner season promoting one of the region's best breweries is as good as it can get! Grey Sail Brewing has been, for the people of southeastern New England, a true feel good success story. Alan and Jennifer Brinton came to Rhode Island by way of New Jersey. They had been dreaming of brewing beer, but had four children come first, so you know they have the patience for pilsners. Drawing inspiration for their name from the many sailboats spotted along the horizon of all of the iconic beaches that help give Rhode Island the Ocean State nickname credentials, they have kept their operation focused and fun since their 11/11/2011 first brew day.
Alan and Jen were gracious enough to send over a few October offerings, and although stylistically I might be more drawn to the Autumn Winds fest beer, it seemed more fun to go after the definitive flannel weather trend and get after the gourds instead. It is a true pumpkin beer in that it is brewed with puree and pumpkin spices. The biggest concern I have when I get anything that is this seasonally driven is that the flavors will be played up to the most extreme notes available. In general, less is more, and in this particular pumpkin beverage, you get much more in the way of clove and cinnamon than sweet pumpkin pie. The ale is a vibrant orange hue that could awaken the sleepiest of hollows. The nose is rich and draws the earlier-mentioned clove to a warmer place. At 6.5% it will not have you losing your head like poor Ichabod. This is a beer that is more treat than trick and deserves to be in your cooler rotation while it lasts.
Grey Sail is best known for a beer that put not just their Westerly digs on the map, but really Rhode Island’s craft beer scene in general: Captain’s Daughter. A delightful combination of powerhouse hops Citra, Mosaic, and Chinook, it is floral and bright to the nose and palate with a 8.5% ABV that could take the steam out of even the most mutinous crew. They also have a coffee stout that partners with a Narragansett, RI small batch roastery named Dave’s, which is my wife’s favorite stout not being poured in Ireland. They even had the fortitude to expand in 2018 by adding a 300-gallon hybrid copper still to found South County Distillers!
The tasting room is a whimsical and winding path past handpainted Italian murals and common spaces that spills out to a bona fide oasis in the otherwise industrial- heavy section of Westerly in which you find yourself. Complete with a pizza oven, a fountain, and a traditional bocce court, it has everything you need for an afternoon of Westerly leisure that requires no beach traffic to enjoy!
Gregory Post is a manager at Saltwater Farm Vineyard, affiliated with Kingdom of the Hawk Vineyard.
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