The Planning and Zoning Commission at its January 24 meeting unanimously approved the Special Permit for a Farm Store at 147 East Old Route 6. Applicants Sam and Rosetta Fisher, who own “Organic Roots Farm at Popover Hill”, seek to expand their current operation, a farm stand selling “what is grown and baked at the farm”, to include other local products, such as honey, maple syrup, milk, and artisan cheese.  Mr. Fisher expressed the family’s intent to “involve the community and offer a wider range of products”.  As there is plenty of space on the property, the expansion will not alter the present conditions. “Only the offerings will change,” Mr. Fisher said.

Neighbors Mark Davis, Frank Lowe and Juan Arriola spoke in favor of the proposal. All three stated that they frequent the farm and remarked on the Fishers’ conscientiousness, echoing the sentiment that this will benefit other local farmers as well.  The stipulation that 75% of what’s sold must be a product of Connecticut is not an issue. Mr. Fisher only foresees the possible sale of the grain feed they import from Pennsylvania, as customers often ask what they feed their chickens.

The Fishers have been farming here since 2019 on the property formerly owned by the Ostbys, who operated a Christmas tree farm as well as a jewelry store where local crafts were also sold. The Fishers enterprise has been a perfect fit for the property, and for the town.

Few institutions have survived the test of time as successfully and continuously as our Fire Department. And few have known as many continual changes, with improvements in equipment, increasing facility requirements, and expanding responsibilities. Considering that first responders need to acquire significant skills, invest in substantial training, and subject themselves to life-threatening risks, it’s incredible that our small army of volunteers has dutifully and steadily provided emergency services for our town for a century.

Before the establishment of an organized fire department, a bucket brigade of neighbors responded to fires, the church bell sounding the alarm to townsfolk.

The fire department – that was the bucket brigade. Everyone went with their pails and their buckets…everybody come from here and yonder galloping away either on horseback or with their wagons full of pails and they dragged water from wherever they could get it – to put it out. We had no fire department. At that time they rang the churchbell to call everybody – later they called on the telephone and rang ten – that was the fire signal, ten rings on the telephone. And everybody picked up and they told where the fire was.

Gertrude Pearl from Hampton Remembers

In 1920, the Hampton Betterment Society was established to formalize a strategy to fight fires. The original plan involved a 40 gallon soda acid extinguisher, which was stored in a shed at the Congregational Church in the summertime and the cellar of the Chelsea Inn during the cold months.

The fire company had a two-wheeled fire extinguisher narrow enough to go through doors. That was the beginning. I think they had arrangements so it could be towed all right but it was hung pretty heavy on the lower end – kinda tippy. I don’t know as they ever used it. It was soda acid. What a mess that could make! If it got onto your clothes and they got into water they just disappeared!

Harold Stone from Hampton Remembers

The Fire Department was officially organized in 1929.  There were 32 members: Richard Burchnall, Stanton Burdick, Charles Burnham, Jesse Burnham, Edward Chapel, Robert Chapel, Roger Davis, Joseph A. Estabrooks, Joseph F. Estabrooks, Arthur Fitts, John Fitts, Ambrose Fitzgerald, Edward Fitzgerald, Francis Fitzgerald, Richard Fitzgerald, Joseph Gennette, George Gunther, George Hall, John Hines, Ray Huling, Haig Iskiyan, Lincoln Iskiyan, Carl Jewett, Elmer Jewett, Wallace Jewett, John Lewis, Clinton Oliver, William Oliver, Rueben Pearl, Leo Reeves, and Harold Stone. Robert McDermott was the first chief. Warren Stone was the “mascot”. The following year, the first firehouse was built near the corner of Old Route 6 and Main Street, and the first firetruck, an American LaFrance, was purchased.

My husband had been trying to get people interested in a fire department for quite a while but it was really when Mr. Fred Aldred got interested and the Streets and some other summer people that together they got things going. In 1930, we built a firehouse and then we needed money to buy a truck. Some large donations were given but we had to make a lot of money so we had all sorts of money-making affairs at that firehouse every week until we got our bills paid. We had whist parties, minstrel shows, clambakes, dances, auctions, plays, bake sales. It took a great deal of work to get that fire company started. At the end of 1930 we bought our first fire truck, a rebuilt American LaFrance. All the firemen rode on the truck, hanging onto a rail along the sides – but they were sometimes so cold they said they didn’t know whether to go fast and get home sooner or go slow because it was so cold. They were right out in the elements, always!

Anna McDermott

With the acquisition of a 1941 International Tank Truck and a 1953 American LaFrance Pumper, the need for a larger facility was growing increasingly evident. The original firehouse was sold to the Town of Hampton in 1960 and would serve as the Town Hall for the next thirty years.  The parcel for the new firehouse was purchased at its present site, and the building project was completed in 1961, through fundraising, donations of goods and services, and the volunteer efforts of many townsfolk who contributed their time and applied their skills to constructing the new firehouse. A testament to the talent and commitment of townsfolk, the building stores emergency trucks and materials and  serves as a meeting place, as well as a venue for private and public events, most notably the department’s “Annual Ham and Bean Dinner”, a perennial favorite.

Requirements and equipment continued to expand, and so did the building. In 1969, an addition was built, in 1987, a second story, and in 2005, a large door was installed to accommodate the five fire trucks, gator, trailer, and water rescue boat. As with all projects, construction efforts relied on the town’s volunteers. In 2018, voters approved $500,000 in funds for many improvements: the repair of the roof and the building’s siding, installation of energy efficient windows and doors, insulation, an updated electrical system, and most importantly, an addition to facilitate access to emergency vehicles, making all equipment readily accessible when responding to calls. This expense would prove its worth when the Hampton-Chaplin Ambulance Corps closed its doors in 2020, and the Fire Department would serve as first responders to medical emergencies, relying on its volunteers and equipment, with a local ambulance service providing transport when necessary.

Though the Fire Department was always State certified for R1 Response Supplemental, there were some changes required in order to provide the expanded services when the Ambulance Corps dissolved, including the need to add two additional officers, an Emergency Medical Services Captain and an EMS lieutenant. Currently there are eight Emergency Medical Responders who are required to take a college class and a State test, recertifying every three years. These members answer all medical calls and motor vehicle accidents with the Fire Department’s service truck, which is equipped with all necessary medical supplies. The EMRs treat the patients prior to the arrival of the ambulance, which is simultaneously dispatched. Other members of the Fire Department respond to emergencies in order to support the EMRs, often needed to lift patients, obtain supplies, and clear the scenes. The firetrucks automatically respond to all automobile accidents and structure fires; several members have attained Fire Fighter 1 and 2 Certifications, which also involves training and testing. Though recertification is not required annually, members must complete continuing education courses. These include cold water rescue, vehicle extrications, chimney fire management, the use of breathing apparatus, to name a few.

With the closing of the Ambulance Corps, most of the calls the Fire Department answers are medical emergencies. Last year alone, the department responded to 89 medical calls, nine fires, and 19 accidents, as well as removing hazardous trees and wires, pumping basements, providing mutual aid to neighboring towns, for a total of 174 emergency dispatches. That amount averages three or four responses per week for our crew. Recruitment was simpler when there were over forty farms in town and over forty farmers available to assist in emergencies. Now it’s much more difficult to attract and retain volunteers. Several of the 22 active members work full time and are not available during their own work hours. The sign in front of the firehouse, which frequently supplies us with seasonal safety reminders, currently, and every once in a while, announces the need for volunteers, sometimes humorously with messages such as: “Accepting Applications. Odd hours. No pay.” Though the commitment can seem enormous, any one of the members can attest that the rewards are enormous, too.

This series was originally meant to feature our town’s barns while they’re still standing, diverging as well into the history of our institutions and traditions. Though few barns remain, and even fewer farms, and many of the institutions and traditions have disappeared, or lessened, Hampton’s spirit of volunteerism is still, thankfully, with us, and no entity personifies it as consistently as our Fire Department. We salute the 250 members, past and present, for their century of service, for selflessly sacrificing their time, too often their sleep, their expertise, courage and dedication. They are a great source of pride for “Our Rural Heritage”.

The Fire Dance…

And a 1928 Chevrolet Pick-up Truck

In 1948, when I was 14-years-old, I was assisting Barney Pawlikowski putting in a new floor in the old barn at Bright Acres on Old Kings Highways, now owned by Richard Schenk. Barney was driving a beautiful (to me) 1928 Chevrolet pick-up truck he had made from a 1928 convertible. I said to Barney if he ever got a new truck, I would like to buy it. He said okay. Two years later, Barney called me on a Saturday afternoon and told me he had bought a new truck and I could buy the old 1928 Chevrolet for $25 and could pick it up Sunday morning.

One of the wonderful things growing up in Hampton was the Saturday Night Square Dance. On this Saturday night, the fire siren went off midway through the dance. The fire was across from the Little River Grange in the barn, which served as a workshop, owned by Fire Chief, Barney Pawlikowski. The members of the Fire Department arrived with the 1927 American La France, and all the square dancers formed a bucket brigade from George Howell’s well across the street to fill the fire engine.

My soon-to-be 1928 pick-up was parked in the barn and was moved out with the roof on fire. Barney called me the next morning to tell me about the fire and that the pick-up was saved, but the roof was burned off. He said if I still wanted it, I could buy it for $10. I bought it, repaired the roof, and enjoyed it for several years.

George Miller

A diary entry from “Hampton Remembers”:

Tonight the fire engine went screaming through town and Wendell dashed out, hailed a following car and went off to a fire. I lay in bed and listened to the wind tearing through the trees and I shivered with worry. I wondered whose house it might be, on this icy cold night. An hour later he was home, with red eyes and reeking of smoke. They had poured buckets of salt and sand down into a chimney fire way up beyond the railroad station. They had a terrible time putting it out – the fire kept rekindling – and finally they found that the lady in the house kept opening the drafts to build up the fire in her stove to make coffee for those nice helpful firemen!

from The Hartford Courant, June 22, 1960

Jerome Woodward, 8-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Woodward of Bigelow Road, has been awarded first state prize in the Juvenile Grange fire prevention contest. The contest was sponsored by the Patron’s Mutual Insurance Company… His entry was a shadow box divided in half. One side was the home of “Mr. Safe”, the other the home of “Mr. Sorry”. Mr. Sorry, a clay figure, was in bed with a cigarette, while Mr. Safe had put his safely out in an ashtray. Mr. Sorry burned his trash in the open, while Mr. Safe had a covered incinerator. Mr. Sorry had a penny in his fuse box, while Mr. Safe had extra fuses handy. Several other fire safety rules were similarly contrasted.

Jerry is the oldest of a family of seven boys, ranging in age down to 9 months. He is in the third grade at the Consolidated School. He has been a member of the Little River Juvenile Grange for a year and a half.

A request for a decadent chocolate dessert for Valentine’s Day was answered by Paula Dominique, who shares her recipes, and kitchen wisdom, in her personal blog, Real Cooking and Kitchen Hacks from Paula to You. Always a treat!

Chocolate Filling:

4 large egg yolks

½ stick butter

1 cup sugar

3 Tbs. Cocoa powder

3 Tbs. cornstarch

2 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Meringue:

4 large egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions for Chocolate Filling:

In heavy bottom sauce pan, beat egg yolks and sugar till smooth. Combine cocoa and cornstarch in a small bowl and add to egg mixture, beating well. Add milk in small amounts at a time, beating after each addition till smooth. Move saucepan to stove and cook over medium heat till mixture is thickened to pudding consistency while whisking constantly. Add butter and vanilla and whisk till butter is melted. Cool while you make your meringue.

Directions for Meringue:

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Beat room temperature whites and extracts till foamy. Add dry ingredients and beat till glossy with stiff peaks.

Transfer chocolate filling to pre-baked and cooled pie shell and top with meringue. Bake 5-8 minutes in 400°oven till meringue is golden brown. Chill thoroughly before serving.

Paula Dominique

Dear Auntie Mac,

A neighbor recently gave my cell phone number to someone we don’t know who wanted to tell us how much she enjoyed our Christmas lights.  A nice enough message, but when did this become acceptable? My neighbor became prickly when I objected, and lectured me on the need to communicate with one another because of Covid. Am I wrong? Is it all right now to provide someone’s contact information without their permission? Has the pandemic changed that rule, too?

Very Private People

My Dear Neighbor:

We are confronting multiple etiquette demons here, and from several corners. But first please accept Auntie Mac’s congratulations on what apparently was a fabulous holiday display—another of the many attributes for which Hamptonites are renowned. Indeed, they have caught the attention of a well-meaning passerby who seemed to forget how to write a short personal note and put it in your mailbox or hand it to your neighbor. Also apparently dismissed was the possibility of actually getting out of the car and seeing if you were home, to express bedazzlement in person. Quite probably, the stranger is like many of us these days, who are so attached to our electronic devices that we forget that not only are there other methods of acceptable communication, the reaching out by phone to a stranger is seen by the recipient as a much more alarming invasion of privacy than in previous eras.

It has been, for some time, customary for one to be asked if one wished one’s personal information be given to someone not known to one. I’m certain that your neighbor had both the best of intentions and good instincts as to who constituted a “risk” in this situation. It is also quite probably the case that they were delighted that someone wanted to compliment you and felt that if they did not assist, you would never hear from their lips (or keypad) the visitors’ thanks and praise. Auntie Mac hopes that your “objection” was delivered with kindness and tact, and appreciation for your neighbor’s wish to pass along a compliment. If it was not, the “lecture” you received might not have been so much about the need to communicate in the time of COVID as an embarrassed and hurt retreat after being stung by what they thought was a good deed.

So we learn many lessons from this encounter: 1) that strangers still want to let people know they are appreciated when they go above and beyond (in this case vis a vis holiday spirit), 2) that it is probably necessary these days to ask before giving out the personal information of others, 3) that if we put our minds to it we can suggest other ways of communication (see “written notes,” “personal visits,” above, or asking the stranger for their number so you can contact them), and 4) that a kind word, a gesture of appreciation, and a graceful request to please not repeat a well-meaning but potentially intrusive action will go a long way to maintaining the congenial relationship we wish to have with all our neighbors.

Your Auntie Mac

If you are young, you might not ever have heard of the term: hither, thither and yon.  But I am not young and did hear this occasionally from old people when I was young.  It was used in the old days.  You know, the “good old days.”  Do you really want to go back to the “good” old days?  When there were no antibiotic medicines, so if you got an infection, it could easily lead to widespread infection in your body and death. When if you got cancer, you died, but they gave you opium or morphine or lots of booze towards the end of your life?  What about good old-time language, like hither, thither and yon?  In case you wonder why I care about old-time language, I came across some recently on the website for the Windham Mill Museum.  Please look it up on your trusty computer.  Once you have the website go to the top of the screen (this is drafted for old people like me) and click on history.  Then click on A Historical Atlas of Windham, CT, a CT Mill Town.  Up will come page 15 of the 70 page history shown at this site.  Page 15 shows a map called Settling Joshua’s Tract/Windham, 1675-1700.  Under the map it says that this map comes from Ellen Larned’s History of Windham County.  I have that two volume publication, but the map is not in there.  I asked an historian, and he answered that only the original publication of Larned’s work in 1874 has it, not the modern publications.  Huh.  Is that because they changed the names of places on that map?  After all, on the map there is a place called Hither Place.  That is now known as Windham Center.  I checked the meaning of Hither.  It means here.  Apparently, the guy who drafted this map lived in a place not yet officially named, so he just named the place here/hither.  I asked an historian about Ponde Place.  He told me that’s now known as Mansfield.  I did NOT ask him about the place on the map named The Crotch, out of fear that this history treatise had been confused with a medical/anatomical chart.  Even if there was a geographical place called The Crotch, those Puritanical Congregationalists might well have drowned it with the Willimantic Reservoir, so no one could look for it anymore.

I want to know whether there was a place in Windham called Thither.  That means there.  And where is the place or person called yon?  Yon means that person or thing.  So in the 1600’s if you pointed to some guy in a line and asked your friend who is yon man, your friend might have answered with the guy’s name, if he knew. Today you would ask who is that, and your friend would give the name, and you’d yell, Yo Juan, not Yon.

Frankly, I think modern times with modern medicine and household appliances, like hot running water, washing machines and dryers, air conditioning and good heating systems, are much nicer than living in the old days. In the 1970’s I visited a place in Greene, Rhode Island that was for sale. It had been a dairy farm from the time it was built 200 years earlier and had been in the same family for all those years. The men in the family had never allowed any electricity to be installed. The water came from a type of well I had never seen before, called a well sweep. Instead of a bucket on a chain that you lowered into the well, there was a very long wooden rod with a bucket suspended from one end.  Can’t picture it?  Ask Google.  Anyway, the family that bought this antique farm were from Providence, and they informed the local natives that they would use it as a summer campsite. Hmmmm. I’d love to sneak back there and see if the women in the family insisted on electricity, flush toilets (not outhouses), heat, etc.

As for old-time language, I think here, there and everywhere is a lot more descriptive than hither, thither and yon.

Angela Hawkins Fichter

On a recent walk, I noticed a beautiful boulder in front of Tumel’s pond. A bulky rectangle of rust, cream and ivory striations with a basin on its surface. If Paulie was still with us, I would ask him to haul it to my lawn where a wooden stake would mark the place to put it. Of course, if Paulie was still alive, the boulder would have already been in my yard. He would invariably find interesting rocks during his excavation projects around town, and returning, stop to describe them to me. I never refused the offer. And what would I do with these boulders? Build gardens around them, of course! There’s the mica-flecked glimmering beneath the wisteria arbor, the gray giant sleeping among the prairie grasses, the white boulder anchoring the moon garden. This particular one, with its depression on top to hold water, is perfect for a natural garden.

“The natural garden” is frequently described as an eco-friendly area where native plants compete “for a place in the sun”. Though indigenous vegetation is the essential ingredient, it’s only part of the equation. And while the list of requirements is slim, the kinds of natural gardens are broad and varied, ranging from meadows of wildflowers to woodlands, a glade formed in a copse of pines, or a grotto of ferns and mosses in the crevice of a tree. Some yards provide the suggestion – a small stream, for example, invites a natural garden, a rock out-cropping, or a pond. What’s crucial is working with, rather than against, what’s already there.

One of our gardens sprung in a swampy area where I attempted to soak up the excess water with a pussy willow. When I realized its success in drinking the standing puddles, I planted three other types – the twisted willow, a black pussy willow, and “Coral Embers”, as well as a witch hazel and a dogwood shrub, an enormous maple offering a frame. What a riveting scene these natives present in early spring – the canopy of pearly pussy willows attracting the season’s first honeybees, the tall pillar of twisted willow with its corkscrew twigs rejuvenating in a celery haze, the broom of Coral Embers’ orange branches, the spreading sculpture of black pussy willow, its anthers flecking the catkins scarlet and gold, the crown of sulfur tassels on the flowering witch hazel releasing their astringent scent, the glow of the dogwood’s golden vase, and the rust flowers of the swamp maple providing the backdrop. The plants’ shapes and their subtle hues present a pleasing spiral of color, enhanced with the hum of honeybees and the hazel’s bracing scent.

Plans for the stone are more modest.  Since the rock possesses two important components – structure, and a basin for water — it lends itself to use in a natural garden. A small tree, a river birch or a shadblow, on one side, balanced with a shrubby bush, blueberry or clethra on the other, an ornamental grass across the back, and a sweep of perennials to mirror the circumference of the tree’s canopy – bluebells in spring, daisies and tickseed in summer, wild asters in fall.

The rules for natural gardens are simple, too. They should reflect the landscape, incorporating the view and blending with the surroundings, wide sweeps of flowers reflecting a distant hillside, a cluster of evergreens reflecting distant woods. A space that is not sympathetic to the environs will negate the naturalness sought. The principles of scale, balance and line apply as in all garden design. Trees are always the tallest structures, and the shrubbery or ornamental grasses used to balance them should be a little over half their height, yet substantially bulkier. Steer clear of symmetrical plantings which never exist in nature. One spruce tree is not balanced with another, but rather with a few sprawling junipers. Rely on curves rather than straight lines to delineate the garden’s borders. Plants should spill into the lawn, the garden melding into the yard and into the distance.

The most important component of the garden is, naturally, the plants. Start with native trees and shrubs which provide the frame. Wildflowers are preferable, though old-fashioned perennials and bulbs are also suitable. Quantities are key – one tree, a couple of shrubs, a multitude of flowers. Plant in clumps and in profusion. Limit the selection — compile a list of plants you wish to use and cut it in half. Plant drifts of flowers, and let them flow into the lawn and one another. Balance ornamental grasses with waves of visually strong flowers, such as rudbeckia or echinacea.

Rocks are always welcome in the natural garden where they provide structure and permanence. When employing a boulder, ensure that it’s in scale with other structural plants, trees twice its height, shrubs approximating its bulk, and grasses surrounding a third of its circumference. Stones are sometimes “planted” on a slope to resemble a natural outcropping in a rock garden; and rocks are often strategically “scattered” underneath stonewalls as though they tumbled from them. Our old stonewalls have existed here for centuries, and though they certainly aren’t natural in the strictest sense, they are natural to New England. Newer, rigid versions require transitions to blend with their surroundings. Use rocks found in our environs. This is especially important in the construction of a dry stream, a “river” of rocks spilling into a pool. Only stones like those in a natural stream bed will give the illusion of running water.

Water, though not essential, always enhances the garden. There’s nothing as natural as a brook with mossy stones or a pond with a couple of weeping willows. A fortunate few have these features; the rest of us must install them. Scale is particularly crucial; water must never appear imposed upon the landscape. Consider the vast pasture within which a pond rests, or the small sliver of a stream in the forest. Though stones with natural depressions are rare, they are available for purchase. Alternate receptacles include buckets, troughs or hollowed logs. Recirculating water with a simple spigot and a pail will provide the magical trickle of water.

The only other ornamentation a natural garden might require is a walkway to facilitate navigation through a large garden or a woodland. These should be visible, yet not obtrusive, and employ natural materials such as stepping stones, pebbles, woodchips. We have a path of shredded bark through our woodland garden that never fails to impress. Make sure the path isn’t straight, that it twists through the flowers that should infringe upon it. Natural gardens don’t preclude decoration – human intervention is already evident.  Use natural objects as focal points, like fairy houses in fallen logs, and nestle benches into the foliage.

Lastly, the garden must appeal to multiple senses, just like the places we are drawn to – the cool feel of the forest with its scent of pine, spring’s damp along the river’s edge, the musty rustle of leaves in the woodland’s fall. Yet even with the multi-sensory stimulation of these havens, we are still thrilled to glimpse a heron across the lake, turtles sunning themselves on a log, the flash of fish. Our own natural gardens must invite the honeybees on their quest for nectar, the skim of dragonflies across the surface of water, a visiting humming bird, because the loveliest element of a natural garden is, well, nature.

Dayna McDermott

Amos B. Fisher, 83, passed away at his home here in Hampton on July 1, 2021. Born in Gordonville, Pennsylvania, he was a dairy farmer, later working for Charles Poultry Company, and after retirement, he volunteered at Re-Use-It in New Holland, Pennsylvania. A member of the Old Order Amish Church, Amos is survived by his wife, Rebecca, two sons, Sam and his wife Rosetta, and Calvin, four grandsons, Maxwell, Adam, Spencer, and Ben, a sister, and several brothers. He was preceded by his grandson, Samuel, and his granddaughter, Savannah. Our condolences to his family.

Wayne Maheu passed away on July 1, 2021 in the 61^st year of his life. Born on May 22, 1960, the son of the late Romeo and Rita Mahue, Wayne lived in Hampton all of his life. Graduating from Windham Tech in 1980 and well-known as a “backyard mechanic”, Wayne worked for many years for F. W. Mayo & Sons and Willimantic Waste Paper. Predeceased by two brothers and one grandson, Wayne is survived by four children, Sarah, LeeAnn, Michael and Matthew, eight grandchildren, six sisters, and two brothers. Our condolences to all.

Thomas J. Marrotte, 70, passed away on October 2, 2021. Born in Willimantic in 1951, he was the son of the late Gerard and Elizabeth (Moran) Marrotte. He was the loving husband of his late wife, Ellen, and the beloved brother of Christopher Ivan-Marrotte, and his wife Murielle, and Daniel Marrotte. Our condolences to them. Memorial donations in Mr. Marrotte’s memory may be made to St. Joseph’s Church in Willimantic.

Sara K. Kelly passed away on October 7, 2021 in the 85^th year of her life. Born in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, she was a retired State of Connecticut employee and a member of the Red Hat Society. She was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Hobert Kelly, her daughter Shawn, and her brother, Kit. Our condolences to her daughters, Sharon Ballou and her partner, Terry Holbrook, and Michele Fontaine and her husband, Rodrick, four grandchildren, Sara, Katherine, Kristina, and Ethan; and one great grandson, Hunter. Memorial donation may be made in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Abigail “Abbie” B. Fenn, 70, passed away peacefully on November 12, 2021 at her home here in Hampton, where she and her husband, Bruce Kittredge, raised animals and vegetables on their small farm. Born January 25, 1951 in New Britain, she served in the U. S. Army as an x-ray technician, attended college and began a career in information technology, teaching students computer programming and system development and retiring from the State of Connecticut where she was a Systems Administrator. Our condolences to her family. Donations in Abigail’s memory may be made to The ALS Association Connecticut Chapter.

Evelyn A. McKenna passed away on January 8, 2022 in the 88^th year of her life. Born on March 31, 1933 in Washburn, Maine, she worked as an office clerk for Brand-Rex Company for 15 years. Predeceased by three brothers, she is survived by her children, Larry of East Hartford, Terry of Ashford, Edward of South Carolina, and Debbie of Hampton, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Our condolences to all. Donations may be made in her memory to the Alzheimers Association of Connecticut.

Sunday, December 12

As we continue to respect the limitations placed on public events by the COVID pandemic, this year the Recreation and Community Activities Commission is planning a different kind of December celebration.

Holiday Treasure Hunt 2-4 PM

In collaboration with Trail Wood, our nature preserve on Kenyon Road, families can enjoy a treasure hunt, following clues to find treats and prizes. Wear warm clothes and sturdy shoes. There will be a craft activity to create treats for birds and other critters, to be hung around the preserve.

Tree Lighting, Town Hall 4-4:30 PM

At 4 PM participants will adjourn to Town Hall on Main Street to light the town’s new evergreen tree, donated and planted by the Chapel-Burdick family in memory of Selectman Michael Chapel.

Seniors Salute 4:30 PM

We will forego the usual bus ride for carolers visiting seniors’ homes, out of respect for COVID limitations. But there WILL be a senior surprise, keep your eyes and ears peeled!

The Hampton Antiquarian and Historical Society (HAHS) has begun its annual membership and donations appeal, however this year we are making a special appeal for donations. Recently the HAHS experienced problems with the Burnham-Hibbard House’s boiler. Upon further inspection, we have been informed that the boiler needs replacement. The cost for the new boiler and associated work will be approximately $10,000.

As the case with many organizations, the HAHS has been closed to the public over the past 18 months due to the COVID pandemic. However, during this shuttered period the members of the Society’s Board of Directors have begun a complete assessment and cataloging of the many papers, photographs, and objects in the HAHS collection. This is a large undertaking and will continue for a considerable period of time. It is important to remember that the items held at the HAHS are the collective memories of the town and provide us with tangible connections to our past.

Considering this year’s special appeal, we find it appropriate to share a small work held by the Society which has been liberally modified from the 1969 original by Leila Ostby, a founder and past president of the HAHS.

A Letter to Santa, From the Historical Society

Dear Santa,

Our Museum, Santa, is in such a state,

The walls and the ceiling are in need of paint.

We need a few archival folders and cases

For research, and to put things in their places.

We fixed up the apartment

with paint and floor treatments

And now we must worry when we meet

Whether or not we shall have any heat.

Our emergency funds are running low.

So, Santa , we’re asking for people to help us grow.

Please consider becoming a member of the Historical Society, or making a donation.  Both are tax deductible.  A single membership is $10 per year and a family membership is $25 per year. Checks may be made out to HAHS and mailed to: PO Box 12, Hampton, CT. 06247.  Thank you.