Our publishing year began and ended with the subject of budgets. Town and school officials submitted their spending proposals for fiscal year 2023-24 and 2024-25 to us, and we reported on the discussions at town meetings and the referenda results. These are not the pleasantest topics we report on, yet they are among the most important.

Budgets were not the only controversial subjects we covered this year. Schools’ Legal Expenses Alarm Town Officials detailed the amount Parish Hill spent on counsel for, reportedly, expulsions, and the amount the elementary school spent on complaints filed with State agencies. These included two allegations of racial discrimination, one resolved last year in the employee’s favor, the other pending; and two complaints filed with the Freedom of Information Commission regarding executive sessions. The first was resolved amicably with an apology from the school board; the second was explained in Hampton Complaint Draws State-Wide Interest when counsel representing the school, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and of Public School Superintendents argued jointly against the ruling, which favored the complainants who, in the end, prevailed.

We also delivered good news for the school and for the town. Patrice Merendina, the new principal and a Hampton Elementary School alumnus, introduced herself to the rest of the community on our pages, as did the school’s new superintendent, Andy Skarzynski, who splits his time between the elementary school and Regional District #11. We paid tribute to retiring principal Sam Roberson and retiring teacher Linda Sanchini, who each devoted forty years of their lives to the children of our town. We reported on the town’s purchase of a fire truck for our dedicated department of volunteers, receipt of a grant from the Department of Transportation to complete paving the Airline Trail, and the repair of the Fuller Brook Bridge through the use of federal infrastructure funds. Candidates introduced themselves to voters in the November issue in preparation for the municipal election – 25 of them, which in itself is good news — that this small town has so many citizens who are willing to volunteer their time and expertise to the often thankless roles of administering government.

We also announced Walktober events, our Arbor Day celebration, the annual Fall Fest and Christmas programs, which included historical music at the Congregational Church, caroling, a special holiday senior luncheon, tree lighting at Town Hall, a visit from Santa at the Burnham-Hibbard House, and after a long hiatus, the Community Center stage shone once again for “A Christmas Memory”, directed by Perry Mandanis, who portrayed author Truman Capote, complete with accent, and impeccable performances by thespians Mary Oliver, Anne Flammang, Marisa Bozza and Juan Arriola.

Local organizations also reported their news on our pages. The Connecticut Audubon Society, Friends of Goodwin Forest, and Joshua’s Trust kept us apprised of programs at their nature preserves. Firehouse Dog informed us of the department’s responses in “Smoke, Mirrors, and Spotlights”. We congratulated our local scholars for their accomplishments by publishing Honor Rolls, Dean’s Lists, the names of graduates, and award recipients. It was a year of transition for the Seniors organization. The senior luncheons, gastronomical delights for our older residents for several years, ended in February when Diane Gagnon and Peter Witkowski retired from the kitchen, the Agent for the Elderly’s informative column culminated in December after exhausting all possible topics, and “Baby Boomers” ended their columns of many years in July with a listing of the achievements of their brilliant generation. These voids have been filled with local activities and programs for seniors. Fletcher Memorial Library informed us of monthly events, Music at the Fletch summer lawn concerts, the arrival of new books, and the art and artists featured at Top Shelf Gallery. We also featured authors Lula Blocton, Jamie Boss and former resident Bob Chaplin, several of the library’s volunteers, and Deb Andstrum, our beloved librarian who is retiring this month. We also published the news of the Historical Society, the Congregational Church, and the Scouts, who were recognized in 2024 as “Our Citizens of the Year”, with a listing of their many contributions to our town through their packs and Eagle Projects.

The garden column continued with articles ranging from garden gates to pollinator lawns, included the perennial favorite, Our Neighbor’s Garden, Penny Newbury’s this year, and welcomed contributions from “the Reluctant Gardener” and Sam Fisher of Organic Roots Farm. Twenty people contributed to our Recipe of the Month, and Auntie Mac continued to deliver advice with wit and wisdom. We published our annual April Fools issue with humorous photographs and front page coverage of the “Discovery of Gnomes & 17th Century Working Gristmill” living beneath the bridge being repaired, complete with interviews with Ebenezar Bakker Button who shared memories of his two-hundred year relationship with town folks. We try to include some humor in every issue – including this month.

Commentary is a welcomed feature of our newspaper. Mary Oliver contributed several pieces on aspects of the kitchen, Angela Fichter wrote a number of relatable articles such as “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” and “When You Renew Your Driver’s License”, and Uncle Grumpus started a series, “The World We Live in”, which included a couple of humorous columns, such as “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Stuff”. And last August, Becky Burelle Gagne answered the controversial lyrics, “You Don’t Want to Try that in a Small Town” with a “list of some things that one really should try in a small town. Or anywhere, for that matter,” recounting the acts of kindness which characterize small towns such as ours. We published six other Letters to the Editor as well.

Pete Vertefeuille’s wonderful photographs of wildlife graced several of our issues, including two of our front pages, and nine of Hampton’s artists contributed to this year’s calendar “Peaceful Ponds”. We published several excerpts from Edwin Way Teale’s “A Walk through the Year”, which he wrote while he lived at Trailwood, and 11 poems from Hampton residents. Seventeen residents contributed to our community poem, “I Miss…” at our Fall Fest, where we also took a poll which revealed that the majority of Hamptonites want to see more community activities, namely concerts, dances, plays, game and movie nights, that our favorite “Staycations” take place in our own homes, with Connecticut’s beaches a distant second, and that our favorite states to visit are New England’s.

“Our Rural Heritage” focused on the village this year, starting with the history of the Congregational Church in June to commemorate its 300th year anniversary, and included the development of Main Street homes, relying on town historian Bob Burgoyne’s 2002-2003 series “This Old Hill”, and Hampton Hill as a summer destination. We wrote of the venerable village institutions, Center School, the Little River Grange, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, the post office, the fire house, the Burnham Hibbard Museum, and Main Street businesses, especially the General Store. We also wrote of “The Village People”, our town’s colorful characters, “Running our Town” on the establishment of local government and its various locations and maintenance of the roads, including the removal of snow with horses, sleds and shovels. This month we’re featuring Main Street parades, with the history of the Fletcher Memorial Library to follow.

Many of these subjects lent themselves to the monthly column “Remembering” with memories of the 200th anniversary of the Congregational Church, the Chelsea Inn, the Summer Colony, and the Center School. Seven residents remembered the Grange, nine parishioners remembered the Catholic church, and ten, the General Store. We also published a letter from post mistress Evelyn Estabrooks and the response from the Postal Chief of Procurement, and continued the lovely journal of Miriam Peabody, found in the attic of Gustavo Falla, detailing village life at the turn of the century.

Sadly, we said good-bye to 25 residents, with front page tributes to legendary neighbors Dan Meade, who volunteered in every conceivable way, as Selectman, on the boards of finance, education, and emergency management, and the conservation and recreation commissions, and Scott Johnson, who was, in every conceivable way, “one of us”.

And we honored our veterans on Memorial Day. Last year, with the passing of the last two veterans of World War II, Thomas Gaines and Clarence Thornton, we developed the Memorial Address from the writings of our World War II veterans, their words delivered by their relatives and neighbors. This year we developed the Memorial Day Address from information on our Korean War veterans, three of whom are still with us, Bob Gilroy, John Yanouzas, and George Miller, who was this year’s first speaker.

It is an honor to honor these veterans in this way for two years now, and we hope to continue in the future. In the interim, we pledge to bring you all the news that’s fit to print — the good, the bad, and the beautiful — of our lovely and loving village.

Editorial Board of the Hampton Gazette