The third in the series introducing the five new members of the Friends of Holcomb Farm Board of Directors.
Having had childhood jobs cleaning up after the cows and bringing in their hay on the award-winning Davis farm on North Granby Road, and weeding and harvesting vegetables at Hidden Acres on East Street, it is no surprise that when grown up and looking for places to volunteer, Mark Kennedy ended up at Holcomb Farm. He helped several years ago cleaning the trails and painting the Workshop when the Farm reverted to town ownership from UConn.
Intending to retire in a few years, Kennedy had been thinking about which organizations he might want to become involved with when Jenny Emery offered him a position on the Friends of Holcomb Farm board. He saw it as “an opportunity to get involved and learn.”
As a member of the Friends’ building committee overseeing the conversion of the Methodist Church to the new CSA facility, the Stewardship Committee and the Tree Trail, Kennedy has more than enough to keep him busy. When asked what he thinks he brings to the board, he replied, “I think I am learning more than bringing anything to the board. I am willing to jump in and help where help is needed.” He enjoys his roles in stewardship, keeping the trails and fields maintained, but with his career in process improvement, he applies his tendency to “think things through differently by questioning the impacts of decisions the board needs to make.”
A lifetime resident of Granby, Kennedy and his wife Deb have three boys, ranging in age from 15 to 20.