“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!” ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie
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Bee Intelligencer AN INDEPENDENTLY OWNED FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown
www.bee-news.com
Volume XII, No. 13
December 2016
Holiday events start Saturday By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Middlebury’s holiday events start Saturday, Dec. 3, with Breakfast with Santa from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at St. John of the Cross Church at 1321 Whittemore Road in Middlebury. Attendees can enjoy a Continental-style breakfast, games, and crafts and have their pictures taken with Santa. This event is free. The Gingerbread Village at St. George’s Episcopal Church on Tucker Hill Road, also a free event, opens Saturday at 10 a.m. and will be open until 7 p.m. In addition to touring the Gingerbread Village, visitors can buy lunch and purchase crafts, gingerbread cookies and more.
The annual tree lighting on the green will start at 4 p.m. In addition to the tree lighting, it will feature performances by Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and the Brass City Ballet, along with caroling around the green. Santa will arrive on a fire truck around 4:35 to 4:45 p.m. He will visit with children in the Middlebury Congregational Church social hall, where hot chocolate will be served. Santa’s post office box is in place on the green, too, and children may place their letters to Santa in the box. Later in the month a menorah will be erected on the green and on Saturday, Dec. 24, at 3:30 p.m. the first candle of the Hanukkah holiday will be lit and blessings will be sung.
The highlighted area on this map defines the two Tranquility Road parcels proposed for use for a winery. Developer Dean Yimoyines is asking for the CC to declare the land use unregulated. (Google maps image)
Conservation Commission hears winery proposal By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The tree on Middlebury’s town green is decorated and ready for the tree lighting. The town’s pewter ornament (inset) celebrates the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department’s 75th anniversary (Marjorie Needham photos)
The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its Nov. 29 meeting heard plans for a winery and vineyard on the grounds of the former Whittemore estate on Lake Quassapaug. This is the second winery proposal to come before a Middlebury commission this year. In June, the Economic and Industrial Development Commission discussed a proposed winery on town-owned land on Nichols Road. That proposal came from Jon and Ana Bosman, who live on Shadduck Road adjacent to the Nichols Road property. It included winery operations, wine tastings, tours and more. The new proposal for a winery follows the Oct. 4 acquisition of two properties on Tranquility Road by Dr. Dean Yimoyines and his son, Alexander, from the estate of John Howard Whittemore and his granddaughter, Thyrza. The property, in the family since 1895, was known as Tranquility Farm, a gentleman’s working farm, and was designed by the prominent American architectural firm, McKim, Mead and White. Set on a crest and overlooking gently rolling meadows leading down to Lake Quassapaug, it was the site of a summer house for John Howard Whittemore, a successful industrialist and philanthropist.
Tuesday night’s standing-room-only meeting was attended by approximately 50 people who quietly listened to the description of the proposal but were not permitted to comment. Chairman Mary Barton told attendee Alice Hallaran, who asked to speak, “We can’t take public comment unless there is a public hearing.” Attorney Edward S. Hill of Cappalli and Hill LLC in Cheshire told commissioners Yimoyines had committed to the Whittemore family he would restore the property to the farming use it formerly had. “This is really the start of an application for the determination that the activities that are being conducted are not regulated because they are farming and they are exempt,” Hill said. He told Barton he knew the Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) holds conservation easements on both properties and said, “Our view is if we don’t need a permit then we don’t need to have the land trust involved. “So this application is really a determination that no permits are required, and if no permits are required, then there is no permit to deny based upon any alleged violation of conservation restrictions.” Hill said Yimoyines plans to show the MLT what he has in mind and solicit their opinion. “We don’t believe that any of our activities violate the arrangements,” Hill said.
Environmental Scientist George Logan of Rema Ecological Services LLC in Manchester used an aerial map to show the two parcels and the approximate location of wetlands and watercourses on the combined 33 acres. He told Barton the next step would be to develop a farming plan to map the wetlands and determine what farming goes where, mentioning fruit trees, blueberry patches, and a nursery. Barton instructed him to delineate the wetlands in a survey to assist the commission in determining whether it should be regulated. She also questioned tree cutting and was told by Logan diseased ash trees would be removed for safety. Logan then showed historic photographs of the farm taken over the years starting in 1931. “This is the farm that Dean (Yimoyines) committed to put back to honor that legacy,” he said. Barton said Wednesday the CC has asked that more information, including a more detailed site plan, be provided at its next meeting. She said flags also are to be placed on the wetlands areas over the next week or so and then commission members will walk the land to see these areas. Yimoyines is the developer of Middlebury Consignment, widely advertised as “The
– See Winery on page 3
Spotlight on Middlebury Land Trust properties – Tuttle Preserve By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY ment, 1,099 of them in Middlebury. That is roughly 9 percent The Spotlight column in the of the total acreage (11,840) of November Bee featured three our town. photos and corresponding hikes. The entrance is on South The correct photo/hike pairings Street not far from its intersecare: The top photo is Sperry Pond tion with Sandy Hill Road. in the Juniper Hill tract, the mid- Flanked by two stone pillars at dle photo is of Lake Elise and the its start, the short trail winds genbottom photo shows the new erally north (parallel with Sandy path into Larkin Pond. Hill Road) except for an s-shaped For an interesting short hike, jog. The preserve was pastureconsider this month’s property, land before 1950, but is mostly shown in the photo to the right, forested now, with a plantation the Tuttle Preserve. This is actu- of white pines. ally made up of three parcels If you walk through, you will (Nos. 5, 19 and 25 on the Middle- notice an unusual number of bury Land Trust [MLT] map). fallen trees in the woods. That They were deeded to the land represents human, not storm, trust in 1977, 1982 and 1987 by activity. The pines were thinned Donald S. Tuttle – the last with when it became apparent that James E. Kernan. Together they they were too thickly planted to are about 55 acres. These are part thrive. The thinning was done by of the 1,891 acres the MLT owns a process called girdling, where and/or protects through ease- a strip of bark is removed all the
It Happened in Middlebury... 5 Sports..........................6 Library Highlights........2 Sporting View...............7 Obituaries...................5 To Your Good Health....6 Paws Corner.................8 Veterans Post..............4
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Here’s a Tip...........................8 Senior News Line.........3
and leaves are gone, and the snows of winter are beginning. This is a nice short trail, but be cautious farther in from the entrance because it gets rocky. If you venture off the trail to the west and north, you still will be on MLT land, but it is pretty much impenetrable due to thick growth of non-native invasive plants such as bittersweet, multiflora rose and barberry. This illustrates why it is better to never select nonnatives for your garden as, once they get into the wild, their “easy to grow” characteristics translate into “invasive.” The deer don’t eat them, so they end up out-competing our native shrubs. That holds true for the lovely but also highly invasive burning bush. We hope you are able to enjoy The many fallen trees at the Tuttle Preserve are pines that were inthis or another of the MLT prop- tentionally killed because they were too thickly planted to thrive. erties as the snow starts to fly! (Curtiss Clark photo)
Annual Tree Lighting on the Green
Inside this Issue Classifieds...................7 Puzzles.......................7
way around the trunk, causing the tree to die. The dead trees – both standing and fallen – are important habitat for birds and wildlife. Notice a dead tree snag near the entrance with multiple holes made by woodpeckers. These cavities are valuable as they later can be adapted and form nesting places for other birds and wildlife. The fallen trees provide cover and open areas when the forest floor is under snow cover. With the natural succession process, hardwoods have now grown tall among the conifers. There are several tulip trees near the trail. They are a native species that is an important source of nectar for honeybees in spring. If you hike there in summer, take a moment to smell the leaves of the native spicebush that is abundant along the trail. Now the bees
saturday
Dec. 3
What: When: Where:
St. George’s Church Annual Gingerbread Village (Runs through Saturday, Dec. 10) What: When: Where:
saturday
Dec. 24
Tree lighting, entertainment by Middlebury Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts and carol singing. Enjoy hot chocolate at the Middlebury Congregational Church. 4 p.m. Middlebury Town green on Whittemore Road
See the gingerbread village and purchase gingerbread delights. Dec. 3, 10 am – 7 p.m.; Dec. 4, 12 – 8 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 5, to Friday, Dec. 9, 2 - 4 p.m. and 6 - 8 p.m.; Dec. 10, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. St. George’s Episcopal Church on Tucker Hill Road.
Menorah lighting for Hanukkah
What: The first light on the menorah on the town green will be lit and blessings sung. When: 3:30 p.m. Where: Middlebury town green on Whittemore Road.
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