October 31st, 2006 - Bridge Dedication in Memory of Richard Noyes
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Center: Harriet Noyes, widow of Richard Noyes
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On Tuesday, October 31, 2006, the Rotary Club of Farmington dedicated a footbridge in memory of Richard Noyes, the first Executive
Director of the Farmington Land Trust. The 35 foot long bridge will complete a hiking trail first envisioned by Mr. Noyes. It will allow
for a walking trail from the Aqueduct Canal site, across town-owned property, eventually connecting with the Land Trust’s Walker
Parcel. The bridge traverses the Canal Stream and will eliminate the natural obstacle the stream caused walkers in the past.
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October 25th, 2006 - Handicapped Accessible Trail Dedication
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The Farmington Land Trust dedicated the new Handicapped Accessible
Trail on its Douglass Mount/Zipp Parcel, off Railroad Avenue in Unionville,
on October 25th at 10:00 a.m. Located on the picturesque Farmington
River (see photo), this unique trail and fishing pier was developed
specifically for the handicapped with the help of local businessmen Tom
Zipp, Jake Carrier, Jeff Sager, Peter Dunn and Architect David Eveleth.
At right, New Horizons residents Charles Hutchings and Adalberto
Cuadrodo cut the ribbon symbolizing the official opening of the trail.
Looking on from left to right are: Mike Shaw, Director of New Horizons,
Peter VanBeckum, past Farmington Land Trust President, Jan Kozlowski,
Admissions Director of New Horizons, Mike Clark, Chairman of the
Farmington Town Council, David Eveleth, Project Architect, John Vibert,
President of the Farmington Land Trust and Tom Zipp.
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The Farmington Land Trust is immensely proud of this accomplishment. We feel that it is an excellent example of intergroup
collaboration and awareness of the wide range of community needs which we meet through our stewardship and programming.
This spring the bike path and link to the fishing spot will be paved and safely wheelchair-accessible. Come fishing season, we
expect our fisherpeople from New Horizons to be there catching those big ones from the spring Farmington River trout release.
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October 21st, 2006 - Harvest Celebration
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On Saturday, October 21, 2006 the Land Trust held a Harvest Celebration
dinner-dance at the Pond House Café in West Hartford, Connecticut. The
event was successfully planned and orchestrated by Carol Presutti and
Maria Glickman. In addition to dinner and dancing, an auction of items
donated by local merchants was most beneficial to the Land Trust.
Congratulations to Jim Gould for his outstanding job as auctioneer.
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Special thanks to the Farmington Savings Bank, Inc., the Farmington Chamber of Commerce and Wine Cellars 4 for their generous
financial support.
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April 2006 - Cowles Property Work Party Report
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On Saturday, April 8, 2006, six volunteers ignored the cold, rainy weather and generously donated their time and energy to help
clean up the garbage on the shores of the Cowles property, one of the most heavily used parcels. A downed willow tree on the
Pequabuck River had been acting as a filter for every bottle, tire and piece of miscellaneous trash that anyone had ever thrown in.
Evan Cowles and Brie Quinby, the Cowles Parcel stewards, worked alongside the other volunteers, Kimberly Henry, Michael and
Tina Delaney, and Elin Centerwall collecting well over 400 pounds of garbage, including 10 tires with rims, two bowling balls, a
propane tank, multiple plastic containers and many other questionable items. Thanks to all the hard work, the natural beauty of the
Cowles Parcel has been restored.
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October 2005 - Green Team Work Party Report
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On a beautiful Saturday morning in October 2005, 91 IAR students -- members of IAR’s “Green Team” -- reported to the riverbanks of
the Farmington River to remove a year’s worth of debris from the riverbank and shallows in three heavily used sites within town
borders. Over a half-ton of debris was removed by the work crew, including several buckets worth of broken glass. (Not to worry,
moms: students were provided gloves). The work party was especially pleased to remove an abandoned gas tank and a twisted
“bicycle carcass” from the riverbed. Nine parent volunteers, three IAR faculty members, and eight high school students who are
starting up a student-run Green Team at Farmington High School also joined ranks for the Cleanup. Read more about this
energetic group here.
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October 2, 2005 - West District Preserve Work Party Report
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On Sunday, October 2, seven volunteers made up the "FLT working crew" removing invasive non-native plants on our West District
Preserve. We appreciate all the efforts of the volunteers to help manage these invasives, which, if left untreated, would overtake the
native plants and trees at this parcel and ruin its habitat value. This group contributed 14 hours to this effort and made a huge
impact.
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2005 News
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The Farmington Land Trust, Inc. has one mission: to protect open space in perpetuity through acquisition, stewardship, education
and advocacy. Since our founding in 1971 as a private, non-profit organization, tax-exempt under section 501(c)3 of federal law, we
have pursued this single goal. Our support comes from those concerned about the danger of over development, which has blighted
so many towns. The pressure to develop rural Farmington – its farmland, ridgeline and riverbank – is immense and increasing.
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Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Land Trust now shields 267 acres of fields, forests, scenic vistas, historic sites and
wildlife habitat from development. These 53 parcels will remain as open space forever, enriching the quality of life for Farmington
residents for generations to come. This acreage includes a new parcel: an outright gift of 0.75 acres donated by the Wadsworth
Family. We appreciate the commitment this gift represents for the future of Farmington.
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The Land Trust is governed by a 18-member Board of Directors elected by the membership at our annual meeting in May. Our
current membership (620 households) offers invaluable financial and volunteer support to the directors, who are responsible for
maintaining and preserving the property under our protection and for acquiring additional open space. We are encouraged by the
100 new households that joined this year.
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Officers for 2005-2006 are: President, John Vibert; Vice-President, Martina Delaney; Secretary, Beatrice Stockwell; and Treasurer,
Forrest Wright. Directors are Tom Brown, Kimberly Henry, Jeffrey Hogan, Deborah Klene, Charles Leach, Henry Mason Sr., Lucy
Michaud, J. David Morrissey, Carol Presutti, Brie Quinby, Lisa Solari, Joe Treggor, Katherine Wadsworth and Angham Zakko. The
Land Trust office is located in the Canal House at 128 Garden Street; it is staffed part-time by our Information Manager Margit
Bobman.
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John Vibert serves as the Land Trust representative to the Town Land Acquisition Committee. This committee recommends the
purchase of properties by the town for open space preservation, municipal purposes and active recreational use.
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We salute the Town Council for its commitment to open space acquisition, and we worked for a positive vote in the May referendum
to authorize $1.5 million for that purpose. We are pleased by the 61% vote in favor. We believe this vote was crucial to the town’s
future well-being.
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Please contact the Farmington Land Trust at 860-674-8545, or any director by email to FarmingtonLand.Trust@snet.net with
questions, suggestions or information.
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2002 News
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Acquired a property on Red Oak Hill, bringing the total Farmington Land Trust, Inc. acreage to 258 in 47 separate parcels town-
wide. These properties, all given by generous Farmington residents and businesses, vary in size, recreational use, natural
resources, wildlife habitat and historical interest.
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Announced completion of our first major capital campaign - The Farmington Landmark Fund - at the May Annual Meeting. The goal
was $500,000 for capital projects and to increase our endowment. The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving committed $140,000
for capital projects, the Farmington Savings Bank came forward with a leadership gift of $15,000 and businesses and individuals
added $311,000.
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1997 News
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In partnership with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the Farmington Land Trust, Inc. helped the town of Farmington acquire 53
wooded acres, including a 15-acre spring-fed reservoir that had once supplied drinking water to town residents. This project is part
of TPL's Connecticut Watershed Initiative, a statewide effort to protect land surrounding active drinking water supplies as well as
former and potential sources of clean drinking water.
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