Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/page/209/)
The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) has announced the 2023 Connecticut Neighborhood Assistance Act Program Proposal. This program provides tax credits to businesses that make cash investments in qualifying community non-profit programs.
Kathy Ungerleider and Carolyn Dittes
It’s no secret that our town is blessed with many talented and accomplished folks who work to make Granby a safe, comfortable and welcoming community. We know their names, we see their pictures, hear them at meetings, or even read about them in the Drummer.
By the end of April, or earlier in warm years like this one, common wild blue violets provide early spring color, both in our yards and on the forest floor. The yellow violet is an uncommon treat, like a tiny ray of sunshine amid the brown leaves and winter duff.
The Town of Granby offers several property tax exemptions and abatements/credits to reduce your tax bill. The Assessor’s Office can help you determine if you are eligible for any of the following programs. Contact the office at 860-844-5311 or visit Town Hall.
Inserted in this month’s Drummer you will find the Friends’ membership form for this year’s fund drive.
Please visit our website at granby-ct.gov/senior-services or check your Center Life Newsletter for a complete listing of our health services, support groups, clubs, and ongoing activities.
The Registrar’s office is compiling an email list of poll workers. Volunteer poll workers must be at least 16 years old and can choose to volunteer for a few hours, as desired to fit their schedules.
From the iPhone savant to the Nikon DSLR aficionado, the Granby Camera Club welcomes anyone and everyone interested in photography.
Granby 4-H sign-up night is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 6 at Holcomb Farm Workshop. This open house from 7 to 8 p.m. will introduce the youth-officer team, leaders and project groups available for the 2021-2022 program year.
Granby’s next Invasive Action Day to remove invasive plants and plant alternatives is Saturday, Oct. 9.
Fall Flea Market is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the society’s grounds, rain or shine.
The Friends of the Cossitt Library will hold its Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. The Friends’ president will give an Annual Report with an update on Friends projects and active Friends members will vote to elect Trustees for the next fiscal year.
On Saturday, Nov. 13, the First Congregational Church of Granby will host a food safety training class and certification exam. The ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification is recognized nationally and meets food service licensing requirements for the State of Connecticut.
The next Granby Men’s Breakfast e-meeting is Friday, Oct. 8. We are fortunate to have our friend Jerry Ledger discussing the Farmington Valley Greenway. Our speaker begins promptly at 9:30 a.m.
In 1900, Emma Reed Huggins of West Granby wrote her sister a letter describing the Granby Fair. “We are all well and for a wonder I went to the Granby fair yesterday.”
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.
The 50th running of the Granby Road Race went off without a hitch in perfect weather on Sept. 18. The race, founded by David Hildreth, David Bale and Dennis Lobo in May 1971, is one of Connecticut’s oldest race events.
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.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Granby Artists Association at its annual Open Studio Tour Oct. 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Meet the artists and see a wide range of artwork including glasswork, woodworking, painting, pottery, jewelry and more.
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.
The focus of the Social Services Department is to coordinate existing federal, state, regional and local services, to increase community awareness of these services and to develop new programs to meet the needs of Granby residents. For more information about any of the following programs, contact Director Sandy Yost at 860-844-5351.
Happy Fall Granby! The Youth Service Bureau is pleased to announce some of its Fall programming. If any of these programs are of interest, please call 860-844-5355 for registration information.
Wings Over Granby Land Trust’s Dismal Brook Wildlife Preserve: Tuesday, Oct. 5, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Holcomb Farm North Barn Pavilion. Despite its name, this new Granby Land Trust preserve is anything but dismal for lovers of winged wildlife.
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.
In the May 2021 Drummer, we spoke of the continuing drought conditions in our region and encouraged believers to embrace the practices of our indigenous peoples and do a rain dance. Well, that was then, and this is now.
The Friends of Holcomb Farm board president Bob Bystrowski opened the annual meeting on August 21 with the proclamation that the Farm has kept us all focused and stable as we head into the third calendar year of the pandemic.
Autumn Dinner: Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. Entertainment by East Chicago Joe. Sponsored by Home Helpers of the Farmington Valley. Join us for chicken potpie, mashed potatoes, vegetable and apple crisp for dessert.