Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/author/shirley-murtha/page/13/)
The Board of Selectmen has gone to great lengths to ensure that all residents have had their say about the Strategic Plan that will eventually enumerate the values most important to the community to improve life in our town.
At its Aug. 15 meeting, the Granby Board of Selectmen approved the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for ventilation improvements at Wells Road School and ventilation and air conditioning at Granby Memorial High School.
The Granby Board of Selectmen held two Open House sessions on June 13.
In 1994, Bob Orr and Harry Fischer (the manager of Granby’s camera store at the time) decided that a camera club for people who shared a passion for photography—learning about it, creating their own style, and just plain enjoying the beauty of it—would be a good addition to the town’s social and artistic organizations.
Anyone who knows Granby resident Nancy Butler as a multi-talented artisan and goat whisperer would probably be amazed to know that, although having an artistic bent from childhood, her college degree was in geology with a minor in civil and environmental engineering and that her first career was as a paralegal!
The traditional purpose of the Granby Agricultural Commission’s Open Farm Day is to showcase the variety of farms that are found in our town, highlight their products and/or services and perhaps garner some income from sales. While one might be tempted to think that John O’Brien would approach the day with a thought to selling lots of hosta, that is not the case at all.
For years, Rick Orluk and Trish Percival maintained the vegetation on the little island at the intersection of Higley and Silkey Roads. Their vigilance kept it from being paved over, but the plants growing there were planted long before their time and included the invasive Japanese barberry and non-native forsythia.
A few years ago, Granby’s own Michelle Niedermeyer, owner along with Kevin Riggott of Lost Acres Vineyard, was instrumental in the formation of a Connecticut Wine Country Passport Program in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and the Winery Council.
The original Intra-Board Advisory Committee (IBAC) was established to study matters of common interest and promote efficiency between the Boards of Selectmen and Education. A modified IBAC was established in January 2022 to specifically study topics of importance for the town as determined by the First Selectman, the first of which has been the use of the federal Covid-19 funds.
Even as a child, Shannon Wilson knew she wanted to work with animals. As she passed through her school years, she discovered a passion for science. Veterinary medicine was an easy choice—a career in which she could pursue both.