The September 2014 issue of The Hampton Gazette was almost entirely devoted to an important observance: the 50th anniversary of James L. Goodwin’s donation of Goodwin Forest on September 14, 1964. “50 Years of Forestry, Wildlife and Conservation Education” served as an invitation to a ceremony commemorating the occasion. And on the front page, Jean Wierzbinski’s article titled, “The Heart of the Tree – Remembering James L. Goodwin and His Forest” offered a history of the forester – who followed his future wife, Dorothy Wendall Davis, and his dream of developing land “according to the best forestry principles” to Hampton in 1913 – and his forest, which grew from 28 to 2000 acres and included a timber operation, a small farm, apple orchards, Pine Acres Lake, and the ultimate gift to the State of Connecticut, and especially to Hampton. In the same issue, Jean contributed an article on “Nipmucks, English Settlers and a Governor: the Forest before Goodwin” which described the “Burnt Cedar Swamp” of the Native American Nipmucks, the importance of the area to the earliest settlers, and Governor Chauncey Cleveland’s island. All the coverage was enhanced with a wonderful variety of Pete Vertefeuille’s photographs of Goodwin Forest.
In the April 1984 announcement, “Goodwin Celebrates a Birthday”, Bert Inman described Goodwin as “a gift of incalculable worth to all who value our shrinking natural resources” and listed the challenges of fires, insect infestations, and the Hurricane of ’38 that the forest endured to mark “the twentieth anniversary of the State Forest and the seventieth anniversary of the first tree planted… at Pine Acres Farm”. In August 2013, a collage of Pete Vertefeuille’s photographs graced the “Goodwin Forest Celebrates 100 Years” front page, “Children and Goodwin” detailed activities such as the Discovery Trail’s fairy houses, and Steve Broderick’s, “A Gem in our Midst” listed other attractions: acres of forest and wildlife habitats, three ponds, the Conservation Education Center, the Goodwin Nature Museum, a camping area and picnic pavilion. To this was added a reproduction of a charcoal mound after the discovery of remnants of this “historic forest use”, which Jean Wierzbinski explained on the April 2016 front page in “A Slow Burn – the Ancient Art of Charcoal Making”.
The Gazette has also reported Goodwin’s news, like the June 1979 article “Goodwin Gets Its Lake Back” announcing the slow return of the water to the basin that was drained to remove weeds and repair the dam, Glen Newcombe’s October 2014 article “Blazing a New Trail…and Running It” which explained the process of installing trails, and Pete Vertefeuille’s article and depictions of the recent “Timber Harvest” in February 2017.
We’ve also listed the monthly events, a column that continues to expand with programs as diverse as beekeeping, using a chainsaw, viewing constellations and identifying edible fungi, and Goodwin’s participation in the State’s “Trail Days” with activities such as canoeing, nature walks, garden strolls, hikes, marathons, and native plant sales. A few employees, and many more volunteers, bring these opportunities to us. The Friends of Goodwin was established to “advocate, enhance and support education, recreation and conservation activities”. Their roles include serving as special event volunteers, adult and youth program presenters, and Goodwin ambassadors, gardeners, and trail managers and monitors. We’ve been fortunate in their efforts and expertise, and in the Directors and Naturalists of Goodwin. This month we say farewell to Jasper Sha and welcome Lena Ives. Many of us will remember Richard Haley, Juan Sanchez, Jim Parda, Steve Broderick, and Lois Kelley, who was the first director from 1970 – 1986.
Lois wrote so many articles for the Gazette, starting in the very first issue with “The Bear Truth”, an article which researched the rumors of bear sightings in town. She wrote several articles on Goodwin Forest including “Three Chapters about Pine Acres Pond” describing the “primordial feeling” of its “October Sunrise”, “Fishing” on the lake, and canoeing in the “Wildlife Marsh” within fall’s flame of “russet, dusty rose, yellow ochre, burnt umber, sienna”. She also applied her exceptional skills as a naturalist and as a writer for other preserves and protected places. Her articles on the Little River included the June 1978 “Little River, not so Little Anymore”, the February 1991 “Easements to Help the Little River”, and in July and August of 1990, she listed “Arguments for Re-Naming the Little River”, advocating the name the Native Americans gave it, “Appaquag”, which translates to “the place where flags grow” for the cattails they wove into their mats to cover their wigwams, and noting that there’s another “Little River” in nearby Putnam; however her primary reason was that the “big use” of the river “earned a bigger name” and she detailed the function of the waterway that “built the town” by powering a saw mill, a brickyard, gristmills, a corn cracker, a bolting mill, cider mills, a cottin mill, a tannery and a wool and satinet mill. She also wrote articles on Trail Wood, penning the important announcement “Connecticut Audubon Society Acquires Trail Wood” in 1981, “Making Tracks” and “Making Friends” at Trail Wood, and the June 1997 “A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm”, announcing the reprinting of the 1974 book. Lois wrote of nature in general – on building bird houses, answering the question of “Where are all the Mocking Birds?”, conservation advice, setting the record straight in “Don’t Blame the Goldenrod”, and identifying “Notable Trees of Hampton”.
Lois Kelley was, indeed, one of Goodwin’s earliest and greatest “friends”.
Says another one of its greatest and most recent friends, Stan Crawford, “Goodwin Forest has been a ‘natural’ fit for my bucket list in retirement, recruited by the first Trails Manager, Fran Zumpano, whose vision was to create the 19 miles of multi-use trails we enjoy today. His persuasive manner has drawn many of us to ‘step out and step up’.”
We have been very fortunate in the gift of Goodwin Forest and in the gift of its “Friends”.