Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/page/7/)
Mark Williams spoke to the Men’s Breakfast Group on June 12, fascinating attendees with Granby’s history.
When I was a little girl, we had a black rotary dial phone. It sat on a little table by a lamp in the corner of the living room. Nearby there were several large telephone books containing local, state and business phone numbers. We got new books every year. I still remember my phone number.
There will be a Democratic primary at Granby Town Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 11, with early voting, also at Town Hall, from Aug. 3 to Aug. 9. That primary will include candidates vying for Governor and for the 1st U.S. Congressional district.
As of June 15, there is no Republican primary scheduled for 2026.
The Granby UNICO Chapter celebrated its first Mario Dei Dolori Memorial Golf Tournament on June 5.
The Granby Council on Aging Coffee Hour is a free program held on the second Wednesday of each month from September through June and open to all senior citizens. Granby seniors are welcome to share their views about the town and its services, the town’s ongoing course of development, to raise any questions we might help to answer directly or to share our knowledge to identify the right person or agency in town to provide answers.
Every June, foxgloves bloom on the GLT’s Katan-Ensor Preserve in West Granby.
The Open House held by Granby’s Department of Public Works on May 16 attracted some young recruits!
In my column for the October issue of the Drummer, I explained how Granby practices direct democracy. This means you, the voters through the ballot box, choose your elected officials, approve the town’s annual budget, and periodically are asked to go to the polls to approve spending and funding for large capital projects. The process where voters approve spending and funding for large capital projects is called “bonding.”
The 2026-27 budget, which starts on July 1, PASSED by a vote of 1,425 to 1,026. The 2,531 voters who participated in the machine vote on May 18 were 30.4 percent of registered Granby citizens.
Many thanks to all who volunteered their time and talents to hold three 12-hour referendum sessions for the Town of Granby!
Vien, Osterreich; Donnerstag Abend, 1976
I descend the concrete stairs and find myself in a large, dark basement room filled with women, smoke and conversation. It’s the weekly Frauenbewegung gathering where women congregated after dusk in Vienna in that era to offer each other support and camaraderie.
In recognition of the semi-quincentennial anniversary marking the birth of our country, residents and visitors of Granby will notice upwards of 40 banners installed on lampposts in and around the center of town. The Granby Celebrates America250 banners were installed on May 14, just one of many initiatives planned by the Granby America250 Committee leading up to July 4.
On May 9, thanks to Town Clerk Jen Espinal and Animal Control Officer Jen Abalan, the public was invited to an Open House at the Animal Shelter on Salmon Brook Street to view the recent upgrades in the facility. At the same time, dog and cat owners also got their pets vaccinated against rabies and/or renewed their licenses.
Granby Artists will present its annual All Members Show from June 3 to June 28 at East Granby Public Library. This show features work by your favorite local artists, as well as new member artists and GMHS students, which brings an exciting diversity to its exhibition of 2D and 3D art pieces.
On May 6, the Women’s Breakfast Group welcomed three-time Emmy winner Sarah Cody whose talk and slide show centered on her book, Around Every Corner of Connecticut.
The Salmon Brook Historical Society’s well-attended and historic annual meeting on April 21, highlighted leadership elections, major organizational changes and the public display of the Town of Granby time capsule for the first time.
Poultry: Chickens and Turkeys
Every Memorial Day for the past 14 years my husband and I have risen at dawn and made our way to the Over the Mountain Burial Ground in West Suffield (OTM) to watch the Marquis of Granby. We first entered the hallowed grounds 15 summers ago to consider final resting spots for our daughter and Marquis member, Jacky, and ever since the Marquis has kept vigil with us.
Construction progress continues, FOHF Annual Meeting is June 28 in the New Farm Store, News from around the Farm, Meet the Farm Crew: Farm Store Manager Melody Smith, and Coming events
If you’re not familiar with the Holcomb Farm Tree Trail located on the hill across from the entrance to the North Barn event facility, this would be a good time to check out its newest addition. It’s not a new tree—it’s a kestrel nest box placed 12 feet in the air, on the right a short way up the entrance trail.
June is bear season in Granby.
According to Connor Hogan, director of the McLean Game Refuge, there are currently at least three sows with cubs in the eastern portion of the Game Refuge and likely at least one more mother bear with cubs in the west.
There is a day in June celebrating yellow, appropriately named Yellow Day. In the psychology of color, yellow is linked to joy, and “the happiest day of the year” was started by psychologist Cliff Arnall to balance Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year, which occurs on the third Monday of January.
I always enjoy sharing tried-and-true favorites from my recipe box, and this one has become a longtime favorite for good reason. I first brought this salad to a friend’s Labor Day picnic years ago, and after several people immediately asked for the recipe, I knew it was a keeper!
Near the center of town, community gardeners work the soil in the tradition of Granby’s agricultural past. On Hungary Road, in Ahrens Park, kids enthusiastically play ball near the south entrance while gardeners use the next entrance for the Granby Community Gardens. Just as enthusiastically they plant, water and care for their little bit of nature.
“Companion planting” is a good way to think about relationships in the kitchen garden. This is a method of gardening where plants are situated alongside one another for mutual benefit: tomatoes and basil, marigolds and squash, cabbage and thyme, cucumbers and radishes for a few. Each relationship offers something different, whether it’s pest control or shading the soil, attracting pollinators or improving soil fertility.
More than 100 people volunteered their time to help clean Granby’s roadsides as part of the Granby Land Trust’s 2026 Earth Day Roadside Cleanup.
School Superintendent Burke and Town Manager Walsh will be issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking an independent consultant to examine how the Town of Granby and Board of Education (BOE) operations could benefit from a “Centralized Administrative Unit” (CAU) that would serve both the Town and BOE administrative functions.
The motion to approve the 2026-27 budget DID NOT PASS, with 1,166 YES votes and 1,539 NO votes.
The board of directors of Citizens for a Better Granby (CBG) is pleased to announce the hiring of Josh Anderson as the new managing editor of the Drummer. He began his duties on April 1, and he succeeds Heather Lockwood who will continue as a Drummer volunteer.