Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/life/page/41/)
On Aug. 27, a group of 16 hardy Granby Land Trust members met in complete darkness at the Katan-Ensor Preserve trailhead and hiked by the light of their headlamps to Scarlet Tanager Lookout on the GLT’s Schlicht Family Preserve. From there, they watched dawn break over Granby. Don Shaw captured the magical moment with this stunning photograph.
In the past year, while starting an online campus and navigating the challenges of serving the congregation and community during the pandemic, Valley Brook Community Church hired two new staff members. Peter Gove was hired as the new Facilities Manager, and Patrick Fitzgerald was hired as the new Worship Arts Director.
Helen Newman has been breaking barriers to help increase opportunities for athletes with disabilities at competitive events. The North Granby native and University of Hartford student will be honored for those efforts at the Eversource Hartford Marathon.
All current Granby Land Trust members are invited to the 2021 GLT Annual Meeting on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. on the GLT’s Katan-Ensor Preserve in West Granby. Refreshments will be served, and after the meeting we will conduct a guided hike of the GLT’s Old Messenger Road Preserves.
I was wondering if it is a myth that there was a COVID-19 effect of open kennels at animal shelters due to increased demand. So, I called the Connecticut Humane Society and spoke to Susan Wollschlager, the marketing and communications manager.
On Sept. 1 and 2, the West Branch of the Salmon Brook had a wild time in West Granby, washing aside the 15-year-old footbridge that provides access to the popular Holcomb Farm west side trails. During the high waters of Tropical Storm Ida, the bridge’s underpinning in the east bank caved into the brook, with the span ending up on the west bank.
In the June edition of the Granby Drummer, I wrote about Eva Dewey, the curator and archivist for the Salmon Brook Historical Society from 1959 to 1986, who saved much of Granby’s history. In her final nine years she had an invaluable assistant in the archives—Carol Laun, who would go on to transform the Salmon Brook Historical Society into what it is today.
Again this fall, South Congregational Church is hosting a Pumpkin Patch in October, and looks forward to welcoming visitors from the Farmington Valley and beyond. The Pumpkin Patch will be set up on the front lawn of the church, in full view of Rte. 10/202, and will be open from Oct. 3 until Oct. 31, unless we sell out of pumpkins first.
With another season of the seasonal flu and continuing COVID concerns, questions arise regarding when to immunize and general safety.
Eric Lukingbeal and Sally King recently purchased 11 acres of land at 172 Day Street and generously donated the parcel to the Granby Land Trust for the purpose of permanent preservation and protection. Eric and Sally are longtime GLT members and Eric serves on the GLT’s board of directors as well as the board of directors of the Friends of Holcomb Farm.