Racism is not a new plague.  Yet my parents, who observed the Civil Rights Movement unfold in the 1960’s – my mother on her family’s television screen, my father in his family’s backyard — hadn’t considered that 50 years later we would be dealing with issues of racism as severe as we have these last few years, from Nazis marching in the university town of Charlottesville, to the instances of police brutality which have sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.  Though our “Quiet Corner” has not seen the violence occurring elsewhere, we are not immune from racial epithets and crimes – racially motivated acts of vandalism and theft are no longer permitted to be reported on the Hampton Neighborhood Watch Group due to the racially charged responses. Most disturbing are reports of racism at our local high school, which have alarmed and distressed several families.

“Due to confidentiality laws, I can only say that several students were disciplined for violation of the Parish Hill Student Code of Conduct dealing with harassment and comments that were racial in nature,” Superintendent Kenneth Henrici confirmed. “The students who engaged in these highly inappropriate behaviors were dealt with swiftly.”

Although the language used is too vile to publish here, student text messages forwarded to the Gazette reveal repeated use of unconscionable racial slurs and derogatory references to the LBGTQ community. Sexist language was also evident. Vulgar suggestions made to one female student, who responded with “disgust”, was met with “there’s a reason (girls) don’t have rights.” Reportedly, the students involved, at least one of whom is related to a district teacher, were suspended for five days. Henrici would neither confirm nor deny that the student who reported the bigoted language to an instagram account that was exposing racism and homophobia at the school was also suspended for five days.

Though students interviewed alleged that instances of racism, homophobia, and sexism have occurred in other social settings at the school for a number of years, administrators were quick to respond to this latest accusation.  According to Henrici, the inappropriate student behavior, and the school plan to address the issue, was discussed with members of the Board of Education, which delegated the response to the district’s administration. “We are addressing this issue in a variety of ways,” Henrici reported. “We have weekly Student Advisories for all students. I have directed the administration to devote the weekly Advisory periods for students to address diversity, intolerance, racism, and cultural competence until further notice.” Henrici added that all departments met immediately “to plan lessons, incorporate curriculum-related articles, share anecdotal stories, and plan other activities that address” these issues. In addition, the Curriculum Review Committee (see page xx) will meet to incorporate the advisory and departmental activities and lessons developed into their classrooms “on a regular basis.”

Henrici also noted that in the recent past, the NAACP led a school assembly and met with students in individual classes to address racism from historical and contemporary perspectives. The school has also utilized organizations such as the “Hero Center” and “The Sandy Hook Promise”. Extracurricular clubs, such as Gay Student Alliance and Model UN address diversity and equity as well.

“The very small number of students exhibiting unacceptable behavior is not reflective of the core values of the Parish Hill student body,” Henrici said. “I am very confident that our plan will address these important issues with the utmost attention and urgency that they deserve. I am also certain that our student body will respond to this issue in the manner that we expect—head-on, with commitment and with no acceptance of intolerance.”

We hope so. This would be gravely disturbing even if there weren’t any children of color attending Parish Hill, but there are. Fifteen percent of the students there identify as members of a minority group. And that’s what makes all of this all the more tragic.

India Arriola

Tucked into a part of northeastern Connecticut labeled “The Quiet Corner”, Hampton has been a rural sanctuary for many years.  Tadpoles may break the silence in spring and coyotes at any time. Those who chose Hampton are scholars, farmers, writers, environmentalists, teachers, musicians, and skilled artisans. Tolerance of differences is a keystone of the town although it isn’t rare for opposing opinions to be heard at Town Meetings.

Into this mix came a new community within the community.  The Mennonites became part of a blended group of people who call Hampton home. They have farms and houses, seniors and newborns, they are active in town activities, and most important, they demonstrate in every action the joy of caring for those in need.

During a time of pandemic, the world is aware of the necessity of social distancing. The Mennonites demonstrate the need for helping others regardless of the rules. Isolation may stop the spread of a virus but other hazards can add to the troubles of life. A recent storm is just one example of an event that requires a more hands-on approach to survival without power for light, water, refrigeration, TV, air conditioning/heat, or even cell phones. On Tuesday, August 11, the wind blew through Hampton for hours. The heavy thud of falling trees and branches continued as the velocity of the gusts grew. By morning, the town was without power and the loudest sound was from properties lucky enough to have working generators.

Vernon King is a member of the Mennonite community and teacher for the older children in their school. He posted a message on the Next Door page of the neighborhood website and found the need for generators was high. Vernon has long assisted CAM, a Christian Aid Ministries that is international in its reach. CAM’s volunteers number 65,849, and they are ready to help through disaster response services from house rebuilding to major property clean-ups. As a member of CAM’s North East response team, Vernon was able to locate generators at the warehouse in Tennessee. Joe Nicholes was attending a meeting in Illinois. When Vernon reached him, he left and made the six-hour drive to the Tennessee warehouse. There he picked up a trailer of generators, ready for use. Joe drove the sixteen hours home as quickly as possible and 14 of the power outages in Hampton were ended on Saturday. Vernon’s dad, Andy, brought three generators from his own tool trailer on Thursday adding up to a grand total of seventeen working generators.

This storm is history for Hampton.  On August 27, another rush of wind and rain hit Connecticut causing damage and power outages. On Saturday the 29^th. CAM was in New Haven with its volunteers.

This is a story with warmth and good will. We all need help at some time and hope it will be there. The aftermath of the August storm should reassure folks. There is no doubt of the good will around us. As Vernon King put it, “The labor is voluntary and is a gift of love from God sent through us to those we are able to help.”

And on a Hampton note, thank you, Mike Chapel, for convincing the Mennonite community to settle here.

Jean Romano

In 1993, James and Janet Robertson, an historian and a novelist, published a book about the property they purchased here. All Our Yesterdays, A Century of Family Life in an American Small Town was the result of a “treasure trove” of papers –letters, bills, catalogues, newspapers, pamphlets, receipts, invitations, documents, deeds — some of which came with the home’s attic, and most of which were the “piecemeal” offerings of previous owner, friend and neighbor, Wendell Davis, whose family had lived in the homestead since 1804. Pouring through the papers and piecing them together, the items illustrated the “private lives in a world that no longer existed,” the Robertsons wrote in the Prologue. “These relics from a long-ago past were not so mute as the house itself, or the stone walls and fields in the town.” Indeed, All Our Yesterdays provides us with as thorough a glimpse of the agricultural life of the Taintor family, and of the town at large, as we could hope to find.

On June 8, 1804, Roger and Solomon Taintor purchased the property, which included the home built in 1790 by Thomas Stedman, Jr., and eleven acres. Roger and Solomon were primarily sheep farmers, selling animals and wool from their flock. The Taintors earned several hundred dollars annually as wool producers and brokers and from the sale of sheep, lamb, mutton, sheepskins, and ram stud services. They provided food, shelter, and pasturing space for the sheep, accruing more than three hundred acres for farming here and in neighboring towns and hiring men to plant and hay and shear the sheep every year.  The Taintors also purchased produce from Hampton farmers to export. In their role as merchant farmers, they processed products on their own farm, which included a distillery for apple cider, applejack, and apple brandy, and a cheese press.

Solomon and Judith Taintor’s third child, Henry, carried on the family’s agricultural tradition. He and his wife Delia lived in the homestead all of their lives, and all of his life, Henry called himself “a farmer”, attending to the daily feeding of the animals and toiling seasonally in the fields. The only difference between Henry and his less affluent neighbors was his ability to afford hired help for the more laborious months. These would include weeks of sheering sheep, plowing and sowing in spring, haying throughout the summer, cradling, shocking and threshing grains – hay, rye and buckwheat, and in the fall, “sledding” apples and digging potatoes. Henry also retained a hired man “in residence” who was responsible for most of the routine chores throughout the farming months, approximately eight a year — six full days a week and essential tasks on Sunday — in return for food, a place to sleep, and a small stipend, $12 per month was recorded in 1838, for example, $15 per month in 1847.

For the most part, Henry farmed the way of his father, though his methods were undoubtedly influenced by his subscription to The New England Farmer, which he started in 1833. This periodical contained articles reporting scientific information as it pertained to improvements in agricultural techniques, such as crop management. Henry’s accounts verify that he did purchase commercial fertilizer and commercial seeds. The rhythm of the work, however, remained the same: summer was for mowing and haying, followed by   harvesting the grains – “cutting the rye”, “cradling the barley”, “thrashing the oats”, “husking the corn”;  fall was for apples and harvesting potatoes and other root vegetables; and the winter revolved around wood – cutting, splitting, chopping and hauling. The year began a new with rock picking, plowing, planting, animals giving birth.

Though Henry did not maintain a daily journal, Wendell Davis came into possession of such a record when someone who once lived here happened upon the journal of Benjamin Brown, who farmed on the Hampton-Brooklyn border, in an antiques shop in California. A sample of farming in April:

• Cleaned out East stables in South barn. Cut wood in Woodhouse. Went to mill.
• White-washed kitchen. Boys finished picking stone in North lot & began in 10 acre lot. Plowed in orchard & began in old house lot.
• Sowed hayseed in lower East lot & bushed it. Sowed 2 acres in lower lot, oats & hay seed. Took sows out of hog pen.
• Sowed North East lot east mowing. Plowed with two teams in middle lot in PM. Boys picked stones in 10 acre lot in PM.
• Plowed in middle lot with horses. Plowed with oxen in old house lot. Boys picked stones. White faced cow calved.
• Finished plowing in middle lot. Plowed in lower lot. Plowed in orchard. Carted stones from old wall in orchard.
• Carted stones off hog pasture & made wall. First sow had five pigs last night.
• Finished plowing in orchard. Began to plow in hog pasture. Plowed in lower lot with horses. Albert picked stone in 10 acre lot. Second sow had 7 pigs last night.
• Finished plowing lower lot. Finished harrowing hog pasture. Carted manure on the garden & commenced plowing it.
• Finished plowing garden & planted corn, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, peas, saffron, peppers, lettuce, peppergrass, cabbage, tomatoes.
• Set out cabbage stumps, beets & carrots. Made fence to shut up sows & pigs. Furrowed some in hog pasture.

Sugar beets were a new crop in northeastern Connecticut, and the fact that he grew them shows that Farmer Brown was an abolitionist. Opponents of slavery started growing beets to produce sugar in order to avoid purchasing sugar produced from slave-grown cane.

Though Henry Taintor listed his occupation as “farmer” on censuses, his political career consumed much of his time. “He made a political career for himself in Hampton for which his being a farmer was essential,” the Robertsons wrote, “because he shared the work as well as the values of his neighbors.” Henry was among many farmers in Hampton referred to as “the town fathers”, a phrase which the Robertsons rightfully pointed out is “still used to describe the people who manage public affairs of the town”. Henry was first elected to public office in 1836 as a Town Constable. He was elected to the Board of Relief, today’s Board of Assessment Appeals, in 1842 and in 1847, and from 1842 to 1844 served as a “fence viewer” and “highway surveyor”. He was elected Selectman in 1856 and served as a Justice of the Peace, which made him a local magistrate, from 1848 to 1858 and from 1865 to 1882.  He also served on the State level, as Hampton’s representative to the State Assembly in 1843 and in 1863, and was elected State Senator in 1851. His last State office was as Treasurer in 1866.

After the Civil War, Henry started to treat the farm like an investment, “share-farming” with Henry Jackson and Cyril Whitaker, leaving the management of the farm to them in return for the use of his land, buildings, animals, and tools, and splitting the profits.  Investment farming was a national trend. In the south, share-cropping replaced slavery, and in the north, other sorts of tenancy grew, along with the realization that “land was capital”. In 1850, nearly all adult males in Hampton listed themselves as farmers, as young men working on someone else’s land viewed themselves as potential farmers; in 1860, many listed themselves as farm laborers, realizing their situation as hired hands.  In 1880, 140 men were listed as farmers and 100, farm laborers.

None of Henry and Delia Taintor’s four children continued to farm here, though all four shared the summer home they christened “Maple Terrace” after the fifteen sugar maple trees Roger Taintor planted in 1829, all but two of which remaining when the Robertsons purchased the property in 1967. Their youngest child, Mary, born in 1860, and her husband Frederick Davis, would eventually purchase the siblings’ shares, arriving in spring, and “remaining until the apples were ripe on the trees”. Their son, Roger, his wife Helen Merriam, and their three sons – Roger, Merriam and Wendell – summered in the house north of their grandparents – “Sunny Acres”.

There must have been a large barn on the property to shelter the sheep, and there was a store for merchant farmers Roger and Solomon next to the Congregational Church where a chapel was later erected. The barn that remains was probably built in the 1820’s and served as a carriage house.  But it was not without its livestock.  In the series “Boyhood Recollections”, which Wendell Davis contributed to the Gazette, he wrote, “At one time, in the early fifties, Charley Peeples, the minister, and I went in together to raise sheep and cattle. We kept them in the barn which is now the Robertson’s garage and for several months built a manure pile practically on top of the chapel well. No one commented and we quickly removed the pile before there were any serious problems.”

Alison Davis’s recently published “Remembering 97 Years” adds details. “When we were living in Maple Terrace, Wendy became the farmer he had always wanted to be, although only part time. With the minister, Charley Peeples, he raised turkeys, two beef steer, and two ewe sheep which each delivered a lamb…Wendy and Charley had some troubles with the pregnant ewes. Across the street from us was the parsonage, kept in good condition by the ladies aid of the church. The minister’s wife, Dottie Peeples, was expected to keep the house clean and neat. The ewes lived in our small barn, but because the winter was so cold, Dottie was persuaded, with difficulty, to let the sheep be housed in the warm parsonage cellar. ‘They’ll be due any day now’, Charley promised. But the days went on and on – with no change except for an odor that was picked up by the furnace and distributed throughout the house. Dottie complained more shrilly every day, afraid that the church ladies might call. Finally, after three weeks of a deteriorating marriage, the lambs were born.”

When Wendell Davis “farmed” at Maple Terrace in the 1940’s, farming in Hampton was on a continual decline. In 1900, only half of the men in town listed themselves on the census as farmers. Articles published in the Gazette recalled 28 dairy farms in the 1930’s, 21 dairy farms on the 1957 Grand List and only four listed in 1978.  Today, only one remains.

This summer, a community garden sprung up on the property, cultivated by members of the Mennonite community with the permission of present owner Mark Barnard, restoring some of the field’s acreage to its original purpose: agriculture.  The farms of yore are no longer, but in their place, are the vegetable gardens and fruit orchards of our local farmers’ markets, horse ranches, sheep farms, and chickens everywhere. Our rural roots are stirring.

Dayna McDermott

One of the silver linings that has come out of the cloud of Covid is a new-found appreciation of our outside spaces and the beauty, safety and solace our state parks have to offer.  We are blessed to have Goodwin right here in Hampton alongside several other near-by parks that make for a wonderful outing in a time when activities have been very limited.

Goodwin State Forest

Our hometown treasure, Goodwin, offers up a wonderful history, a beautiful outdoor environment and many educational opportunities.  Goodwin was gifted to the people of Connecticut in 1964 when James Goodwin, one of Connecticut’s earliest conservationists, gifted the land and buildings upon it to the state.  In addition to the hiking and biking trails, boating, youth group camping, fishing and cross-country skiing, Goodwin has a wonderful educational center and museum located on Potter Road.  While activities at the park (and all state parks throughout Connecticut) have been significantly limited by Covid restrictions, there are still webinars and online learning opportunities including the Backyard Naturalist and Master Naturalist programs.  These provide an opportunity to pair your time in the park with the chance to learn more about the environment and wildlife that inhabits it.  For more information about Goodwin or these programs, visit the website www.friendsofgoodwinforest.org.  Our local Friends group is a great supporter of the park and its programs.

The Air Line Trail State Park

One of the great features in Goodwin is the Air Line trail. The trail was originally part of a train line running from Boston to New York.  Construction of the rail line began in the 1860’s and met many challenges largely due to the hills and valley of the North Eastern Connecticut terrain.  By 1872 the line was in use and traffic continued to build until, in 1876, the first passenger run was scheduled.  The line was active continually until disastrous flooding in 1955 combined with the construction of an interstate highway sealed the fate of our rail traffic.

Today the trail offers a fabulous and well-maintained path from Thompson to East Hampton, passing through twelve towns, including Hampton.  The Northern Gateway to the trail is Thompson, an easy 25-minute drive from us, and offers several popular sites including the Tri-state Marker and the site of the Great East Thompson Train Wreck where, in 1891, four trains collided at Thompson Station.  Thompson’s Trails Committee has formed a partnership with the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program to develop a permanent interpretive park on the trail.  Online workshops for the public to contribute to the final design of the park are coming this fall and all interested trail users are invited.  More information will be coming soon, but in the meantime you can find out more by contacting the Director of Planning & Development for Thompson, Tyra Penn (planner@thompsonct.org).

Tyra is also heading up a plan which includes member towns of the trail communities including Hampton.  This plan involves the production of a series of double-sided trail maps which feature the trail sections specific to each town in addition to the full trail map.  Coordinated by the CT Rural Conservation and Development Area, partner towns are seeking a match funding from the Eastern Region Tourism District to bring the project to fruition. These handy maps fold down to a sturdy credit card sized piece that easily fits into a wallet or pocket.  If the project succeeds, these wonderful maps will be available at the various towns along the trail including here in Hampton at Goodwin.  For more information on how you can support this project, please contact Tyra Penn (planner@thompsonct.org).

Pachaug State Forest

A third natural wonder that is an easy 40-minute drive from Hampton and offers a fabulous day trip for anyone seeking an out-of-town jaunt as well as a gamet of outside activities is Pachaug State Forest. Pachaug is the largest state forest in Connecticut and encompasses almost 27,000 acres, and includes the towns of Voluntown, Griswold, Plainfield, Sterling, Preston and North Stonington.

Established in 1928, the park was added to with land purchases during the Great Depression. Today it offers a stunning example of Connecticut’s Northeastern coastal forest ecosystems. Featured at the park is a Rhododendron Sanctuary as well as Great Meadows Swamp which is considered one of the finest examples of Atlantic white cedar swamps in the state.  Activities offered by the park include hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping hunting, fishing and swimming in designated swimming areas.

Like here at Goodwin, Pachaug has a Friends Group that is involved in activities and conservation in the park.  Their website, www.friendsofpachaugforest.org , is an excellent resource for anyone looking to visit the park with information ranging from the trail system to upcoming events.

These are just a sampling of the many wonderful state parks in our immediate area.  There is no time like the present to show your support for the parks by visiting them, taking the time to enjoy the many opportunities they offer, getting involved in the groups that support the park systems, or even volunteering time to help keep these parks beautiful and accessible. October is perhaps one of the most scenic months here in New England, and if ever there was a time to enjoy our outdoor spaces it is now.

Laura McCabe

At Goodwin:

October 3 Mountain Bike Tours of Goodwin Forest 9 – 11AM

NEMBA will lead two guided adult mountain bike rides through the forest’s trails.

October 3 Goodwin State Forest History Hike 2 – 3PM

Join us for a narrated tour through the forest to learn the history of Pine Acres Farm.

October 9 Beginner Nature Photography 4 – 5PM

Please bring your camera to this class on photographing nature.

October 17 Paddle on Pine Acres Lake 2 – 4PM

Families are invited to an afternoon canoeing on Pine Acres Lake.

At Trail Wood:

October 21 Bird Walk 8AM

Bring binoculars for this bird-watching expedition. Register at arzeznikiewicz@ctaudubon.org.

Every year, I visit a garden in town, and its gardener, for a narrated tour to feature in our newspaper. Given that Covid 19 precluded those meanderings through private gardens, I decided to take this opportunity to describe Hampton’s public garden – the garden at Fletcher Memorial Library.

When the library was faced with the necessity of facilitating an accessible entrance and increased parking, board member and landscape designer Anne Christie developed a plan to bridge the library and the parking lots with a garden filled with native plants to attract butterflies. The miraculous result was a communal effort: Selectman Mike Chapel coordinated the installation of paths and plants with the assistance of the town crew, community members purchased selected trees, shrubs and flowers, benches were donated, board member Stan Crawford built a trellis and most recently, a water garden was installed, the generous contribution of patron Roma Dupuis. Opening to the public in 2013, this Certified Butterfly Garden earned distinction the following year from the American Society of Landscape Architects in the educational category for its instructiveness in planting for winged wildlife, yet with its aesthetic appeal, the garden is a paradise not only for birds, bees and butterflies, but also for patrons.

The garden welcomes approach from the front entrance and lawn, and from the parking lot and rear entrance, a plant-lined walkway inviting visitors. Inkberry hedges partially enclose the area, providing a garden “room”. A gravel path circles the original garden, a tribute to former librarian, Eunice Fuller. Remnants of her flowers remain – in the hosta fringing the porch, the spring bulbs carpeting the lawn, the extensive lily collection, and the native plants she protected to nourish the butterflies. The path branches around an island of flowers and to the field stones leading to a water garden. The library itself, lined with foliar interest, serves as the southern wall and to the north, a row of purple-black ninebark; a berm rises to the west where a tapestry of seasonal foliage includes red-twig dogwood, inkberry holly, Korean lilac, western arborvitae, amsonia and spirea, and the east spills to the library’s terraced slope.

Spring begins with the pearly umbrella of a weeping cherry at the garden’s entrance, honeybees abundant amidst the delicate, cascading flowers. In the lawn which sweeps to the garden, an assortment of squill, chinodoxa and glory-of-the-snow is scattered beneath the pink, rose and white bowers of crab apples. Purplish-pink blossoms of redbud and ivory bracts of dogwood also usher in the season, and racemes of the lilac “Miss Kim”, deep purple buds opening to lavender flowers, perfume the air.  The pale blue stars of amsonia and the indigo wands of baptisia partner, their foliage contributing textural contrasts throughout the season coupled with the slender, silvery blades of the ornamental grass, “Little Bluestem”. A few stalks of pink, purple and white “dame’s rocket” bloom, reminiscent of Mrs. Fuller’s meadow which hosted a sea of hesperis.

As spring progresses, catmint blooms in the center garden, a billowy border of lavender clouds, a sea of the fluorescent, lemon-yellow plates of “Moonshine” yarrow lights the floral island, and the ninebark appears coppery, dusted with beige-pink flower clusters. these blossoms provide a bee haven, visitors surrounded with their symphony.  In summer, Mrs. Fuller’s exquisite lily collection glows along the bronzed ninebark – trumpets of pumpkin and apricot, scarlet and lemon, marmalade and watermelon, ivory and rust.  Shasta daisies cheer the garden, and bottle-brushes of purple liatris rise above bright orange clusters of butterfly weed, yellow blossoms of hypericum, and echinacea’s contrasting petals of lemon-lime and dark cranberry.  Scarlet and crimson annual zinnias invigorate the garden, while gentle notes are contributed by pastel crests of pink and purple phlox and grape-colored blossoms dangling along stalks of lady’s bells. The garden path is infused with the honey-scented “summersweet’s” delicate, white flowers, and enlivened with cushions of golden rudbeckia, which will linger well into fall. Along the library wall, a clump of cardinal flower sprouts from a carpet of marbled heucherra, where a bench is backed by a trellis of the “pipevine” which provides larval food for the swallowtail.

As autumn approaches, the bronze fronds of fennel sport their mustard-colored umbels. Mauve tufts of towering Joe Pye weed float in the island, along with bushels of the vibrant purple blossoms of “ironweed” and sprays of butterfly bush’s magenta racemes. Mounds of plum-purple New England asters rim the path, and saucers of sedum “Autumn Joy” adorn the center garden, beginning pale pink and maturing to raspberry and eventually their winter brick to surround the “winterberry”, its sparkling crimson fruits the garden’s focal point in winter. Berries, and the evergreen foliage of laurel and arborvitae, provide interest in winter, as well as the variety of trees and shrubs whose shapes gain significance with their winter silhouettes – the frosted fountain of weeping cherry, the ruby branches of shrub dogwood, the twiggy brooms of blueberry, their stems flushing crimson in earliest spring.

The newest element is an intimate cove where water gently trickles along mossy rocks and spills into a small pool. Water lilies float on the surface, hosting flowers of cream and pale yellow flushed pink, and frogs plunge from the falls and nudge their faces through the camouflaging, aquatic plants. Field stones lead to the water garden and an iron bench, where one can read in solitude in the shelter of oak leaf hydrangeas, their panicles of ivory flowers opening in late summer, their foliage igniting in autumn with burgundy, rust, amber, orange and scarlet leaves. It’s the perfect place to read on a fall afternoon, with the music of falling water, and the butterflies that validate the garden’s promise with their presence.

This gem is nestled in our village amid the surrounding gardens of our neighbors and our nature preserves. With plenty of public spaces to appreciate, as well as our own backyards, birds and bees and butterflies, untouched by this virus, benefitted from our devotion, and wildlife, from bunny rabbits to bears, ventured more frequently into our lawns. And Fletcher Memorial continued to enrich us, its garden providing a space to gather for lawn concerts, and a quiet sanctuary.

Dayna McDermott

Dear Auntie Mac,

I’ve lived here a few years, and this month my vocabulary increased to include words like ‘jake braking’, ‘fully loaded tri-axles’, ‘trailer dumps’, and ‘forage harvesting’.  All I really want to know is — why are the trucks that transport silage following the course of seemingly all vehicles and treating our roads like an Indy 500 race track? Barreling by bicycles and strollers, rattling our houses, obliterating our conversations, and scattering silage all over the road!?!  There’s an awful lot of discourse on social media over this issue – is there anything we can actually do regarding vehicles at large, and farm trucks in particular, racing through town?

Concerned Citizen

My Dear Neighbor:

Auntie Mac has several friends in the center of town who, when they feel that first warm spring breeze, do not welcome the venerable season with open arms and cheery heart, but rather they put on what Lars calls a “puss,” slit up their eyes, and commence grumbling about what they know will be a banner summer of noise, speeding, and uncivilized commotion through the heart of town. Auntie Mac is ill-equipped to deal with these marauding speed demons and their incessant need to wreak havoc at high decibel levels, but Main Street at least is the purview of the State Police, who should be called and called often, in protest and entreaty to perhaps send a nice officer to park quietly near the library and distribute tickets.

But let us not lump all these lumpkins into one sack, shall we? I do believe that Lars has a point when, after returning from some errand with his truck covered in what looks like bright green confetti, he suggests, in a manner unsuited to polite company, that the owners of the silage trucks would do well to invest in covers for the top of the load. That, I believe, would go a long way to keeping farm vehicles out of the crosshairs of overly distraught citizens. As for their speed, however, Auntie Mac offers an alternative view. Hampton prides itself on being a rural community. But it is one that is rapidly losing its rural nature. Those hardy souls who still work the land and raise animals must venture farther and farther afield for materials they need, including silage, having had to sell some of their own fields to pay for increasingly high taxes, the astronomical cost of machinery, and the myriad perils of trying to make a living providing food for the rest of us. So more and more they must rely on products from other farms, which are under economic pressures of their own. A silage truck racing through town is not always some hot-headed joyrider intent on ruining your day. It is the product of misplaced value that puts more and more farmers out of business, and of a fervent desire to keep those few farms operational, and get as many truckloads out to as many surviving farms as possible. Could they slow down a bit so as not to frighten children, cyclists and pets? Certainly. We would do well to go visit those places from whence the silage, hay, manure, etc. comes. We should talk to all farmers. We should ask them politely to slow their trucks down a bit, and in return we should pledge to support them by buying their local products. Above all, we should thank them. It is, after all, possible that these trucks are driving as if people’s lives–and livelihoods– depend on it.

Your Auntie Mac

Our request for recipes using apples yielded several. We’re featuring one sweet and one savory this month. Enjoy!

Chunky Apple Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 cups chopped peeled tart apples

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well (batter will be stiff). Stir in apples until well combined. Spread into a greased 13”x9” baking dish. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until top is lightly browned and springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 30 minutes before serving.

Butterscotch Sauce:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Gradually add cream. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Serve with cake.

Bobbi Harrison Blair

Grilled Apple Gouda Quesadillas

8 eight-inch flour tortillas

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2-4 green onions, chopped whites and greens

2 red apples, cored and thinly sliced

2 cups Gouda cheese

Preheat grill to high heat. Brush one side of tortilla with oil. Place oil side down on a plate. Spread with mustard, and top with apple slices, onions, and cheese. Top with a second tortilla and oil the top. Brush grill surface with oil, and grill quesadillas for about 3 minutes until bottom is crispy, flip, and grill another 2-3 minutes. Remove from grill, cut into quarters, serve warm.

Perry Mandanis

In spite of the flexibility of teachers and the resilience of children, the field of education usually meets with notorious resistance to change. My father, a school principal, when introducing an educational innovation would recall the dire predictions of behavioral and academic ramifications sparked by students switching from fountain pens to pencils! As schools face unprecedented changes this year, “Our Rural Heritage” reviews the metamorphosis of our local schools over the course of the last century.

According to “Connecticut Genealogy: Windham County”, prior to Hampton’s incorporation in 1786, a committee formed to divide the Society into school districts. Perimeters were established in 1763 with the Burnt Cedar Swamp serving as a major demarcation as well as residents’ properties, similar to the boundaries found on old deeds. School houses were built “in the northeast district near Deacon Griffin’s house, and two in the northwest…one nine rods south of William Holt’s, another eight rods west of John Fuller’s.” Eventually, seven districts — Appaquag, Rawson, Boston Hollow, Bigelow, Howard Valley, Clark’s Corner and Hampton Hill — were recognized villages, the seven one-room schoolhouses serving students in grades one through eight.

In “School Days”, Charlie Halbach recounted: “Our school day started outdoors. We formed a semi-circle around the flagpole and then recited the Pledge of Allegiance. School started at 9:00 am and ended at 3:00 pm. The building had only one room and all eight grades were in it together. The most students I ever remember being at Goshen were fifteen. Everyone packed a lunchbox. We were allowed to bring fishing rods, bow and arrows and 22 rifles to school if we were planning on hunting or fishing after school.” And almost as though he knew we would someday wonder, “We had two weeks when school was shut down because of a scarlet fever epidemic. Pauline Vickers was hired to wash the entire building with Lysol.”

“We all joined in the Lord’s Prayer,” Arthur Kimball reminisced of the start of school at Appaquag, recalling the curriculum in Hampton Remembers. “We were anywhere from fifteen to twenty children ranging in age from six to sixteen and graded strictly according to ability. A fourteen-year-old and a nine-year-old would often be using the same book… Every day we had assignments in reading, writing and arithmetic, history and geography and twice a week spelling and physiology. We had penmanship fifteen minutes every day.”

Margaret Easton, one of the few left to tell us of life in the original schoolhouses, relayed what recess consisted of at the ABC Schoolhouse: “There was no place to play games, no place for baseball, only room for something like jump rope. So the older kids would take us for a walk up and down the road at noon time.” With no ball fields or playground equipment, students from that era remembered the games played at recess: ‘Duck on the Rock’, ‘Haley Over’, ‘Red Light’, and chasing games – tag and ‘Fox and Geese’ in the snow. John Hammond, who began at Bell School in 1897, recalled in Hampton Remembers, “We didn’t have a playground but we used to get over in the lot on the east side and play in there some until we were told to get out…We done a lotta sliding. We’d go right up the hill there and go clear up to “Hovihi”, then slide down the hill, turn the corner and go right down to the grist mill…Will Jewett had a cranberry bog that flooded every winter. We used to go up there skating at noon time.”

Schools then, as now, experienced census fluctuations. In Hampton Remembers, Helen Whitehouse relayed the family “went to school down to this Bell School and there was no school. Because there was only two children!” John Hammond remembered, “There wasn’t enough scholars to keep North Bigelow School and Bell School both open so…three of the youngest Fuller children come up to school there.” And Wendell Davis lamented, “When I was in the fourth grade at the Center School, I was the fourth grade, lock, stock and barrel.”

In 1899, residents from each of the districts formed a committee to deliberate whether it would be “advisable to abolish one or more school districts”, and in 1909 a town meeting voted to assume responsibility for all of the schools, supervised by a committee of nine elected members with rotating terms, a precursor to our current school board. Efforts to further unify the schools were thwarted, however, with the following 1927 resolution:  “That we are irrevocably opposed to further consolidation of our schools whereby such consolidation means a furtherance of the whims of state paid supervisors.” In spite of this staunch resistance, the seven schools eventually consolidated into three – Bell School for the primary grades, Center School for grades four, five and six, and Clark’s Corners for seventh and eighth graders. Barbara Fitzgerald O’Connor relayed that the census sometimes dictated where the children were placed, with third grade, for example, at Bell or Center School, depending on the student count.

Peggy Fox, who attended the Bell School, confirms that reading, writing and arithmetic were the core subjects. History and geology were also taught, and penmanship was very important.  Books and blackboards were the main materials, and children gathered their chairs in a circle at the front of the room for their lessons. The Center School also housed the Town Hall, and Jane Marrotte recalled that when the teacher taught Civics at Center School, she would bring the students upstairs to learn about the roles of government.

Modern conveniences, or lack thereof, particularly with regard to plumbing, is an often visited recollection. At Bell School, George Miller wrote that the drinking water was from a spring at the edge of the swamp, and Jane Marrotte added that students used a dipper to pour water from the pail into  little paper cups. At Clark’s Corners, Barbara Fitzgerald O’Connor recalled, “When we ran out of cups we used arithmetic paper, and there was a way of folding it to make a flat, pointy cup.” More primitively, at the ABC Schoolhouse, Margaret Easton relayed that “we had to get a bucket of water from the family across the road and we all had to drink out of the ladle – dipped it in, drank from it, put it back in.” Collecting the water was an arduous procedure. Charlie Halbach explained: “We would fetch the water from the Jewett property across what is now Route 6, using a couple of pails…The crankshaft had a sprocket over which a chain traveled and small buckets were attached to the chain. When the crank was turned the small buckets dipped into the well water below and were filled with water. When the buckets reached the top, they tipped releasing the water into a sluiceway and into our waiting pails. Probably 24 to 30 buckets holding about two cups each were needed to fill our pails”.

Every schoolhouse contained a woodstove, and according to Barbara Fitzgerald O’Connor, “If you sat close to it, you roasted. If you sat a distance from it, you froze.” In Hampton Remembers teacher Anna McDermott recalled: “I had to build a fire every morning and eventually learned how to bank it at night so there would be some live coals the following morning. Of course over the weekend the building became icy cold. I always went to the school Sunday afternoon, started the fire, swept the floor, dusted, did the board work and prepared my lesson plans for the week.”

And then there were the dreaded outhouses. George Howell explained: “We had outhouses in the back of the school house, the girls on the right and the boys on the left. In the winter, getting there presented several problems, deep snow and snow drifts. Older students helped small children dress for the trip to the outhouse and cleared a path for them by shuffling their feet through the snow.” And though there were tales of walking for miles to school, many students traveled on a “democrat wagon”, as Harold Stone described, with “seats going along the sides front to back instead of sideways…an early school bus!”

The era of the one room school house ended in 1950 with the construction of the Consolidated School. The Parent Teacher Association, whose members, among other things, scrubbed the outhouses, eventually ran for the school board and worked toward building a modern school. Kathleen Fitzgerald, who began at Bell School, went to the new school for sixth, seventh and eighth grade. There were still so few students, however, that the three grades were in the same room, with teacher Sophie Jenkins also serving as the school’s principal. Things weren’t much different, except that the school, and the schoolyard, were much larger, and of course, there was the indoor plumbing and school buses. A cooperative kindergarten was also organized in 1950 by Alison Davis and Leila Ostby in the chapel at the Congregational Church.

Not long after its completion, the consolidated school’s population increased exponentially, and classes filled with twenty to thirty students.  An auditorium, with a stage for performances and an enormous screen for movies, doubled as a cafeteria at noon and a gymnasium for physical education. The playground was huge, with slides and swings, asphalt spaces for jump rope and hop scotch, fields for baseball and hills for sledding. We walked to the library once a week. Programs grew along with the population. Special education, remedial reading, music and art class, kindergarten. The necessity of additional classrooms partitioned half of the auditorium, and placed a portable classroom where the tennis courts are now. The stage served as the library. Though seventh and eighth graders transferred to Parish Hill when the regional middle/high school was completed in 1968, the consolidated school was crowded.

Responses to a 1987 survey revealed that most residents favored new construction. A committee was appointed, a parcel of land selected, an architectural firm hired, and a 292-256 vote in May of 1988 approved the building of a new elementary school with a cost to the town of approximately 1.5 million. In the winter of 1991, staff and students, with the help of community members, “paraded” to the new school, where an original one-room-schoolhouse bell was displayed in the lobby. The student count swelled to almost two hundred, with many grades divided into two classes, and in the last decade, the population has dwindled to less than a hundred, and grades are, once again, combined.

This spring, the pandemic forced extraordinary changes, as our schools closed and learning, thanks to technology, was delivered on-line. Here’s a sample, compliments of Parish Hill, of virtual learning: “In response to the current pandemic, World Affairs Council reached out to high school students across the state and provided them with the opportunity to participate in virtual Model United Nations debates. Students who signed up received their country appointments and prepared their debate topics.  These two hour simulations, hosted via Zoom, put students in the middle of the action debating some of today’s most pressing global issues while giving them an opportunity to develop an argument, research global issues, and defend their research based resolutions.” We’re not sure how our schoolhouses handled the pandemic of 1918, but it’s doubtful they would have imagined this!

As staff and students return to school to face changes more significant than any in their lifetimes, we hope some comfort is found in the knowledge that children have always thrived here, and that the community wishes them all well.

Dayna McDermott

A referendum vote on August 13 approved all four questions on the ballot: the 5-Year Capital Plan with a vote of 153-26; the transfer of $97,000 from Capital accounts to the General Fund with a vote of 128-51; an application for a Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant, 117-62; and the appropriation of up to $150,000 for the purchase of a back hoe with a vote of 96-82.

The close vote on the equipment for the Department of Public Works was not surprising as the purchase was the only item which generated significant discussion at the July 31 Town Meeting that preceded the referendum, where both First Selectman Allan Cahill and DPW Foreman Don Sholes spoke of the necessity of a “larger and stronger” machine to address drainage work in town and to clear the parcel of land along the Little River that the town purchased last year. While the demand for better equipment was not questioned, those in attendance wanted options for addressing the need.  Finance board Chairman Kathy Donahue suggested that a less costly machine could be purchased for the purposes described instead of a brand new backhoe. She also voiced concerns over future costs associated with additional equipment needed in the near future, coupled with concerns over Covid-related expenses and probable cuts from state and federal grants. Donahue was not alone in her concerns on the financial future of the Town and its residents. Linda Fasake asked if spending that amount at this time was necessary given the financial difficulties some families are facing. She specifically inquired as to whether the town has established a relief fund for families in need, similar to the fuel fund. Cahill said that while taxes have been deferred per the Governor’s executive order, no such relief is available to residents at this time.

With less than the 50 people allowed at a gathering per restrictions imposed by the Governor’s orders, the business of the Town Meeting was conducted in less than an hour with most items, procedural matters such as authorizing the Selectmen to borrow money if necessary and to accept funds from the State, passing unanimously and without discussion. Voters also authorized the Selectmen to approve and support the Connecticut Audubon Society for their application with a Neighborhood Assistance Program grant for $9,080. Cahill briefly described the 5-Year Plan and explained the transfer of $72,000 from the ambulance reserve, and $25,000 from an account for accumulated interest, to the General Fund where it can be used if needed. He also detailed a plan to municipally match a STEAP grant of $128,205 to use, if received, to rebuild the tennis court and to make repairs and improvements at the Community Center, repair of the sills, replacement of the roof, installation of a central air system, kitchen improvements, and a barbecue pit. Ms. Fasake expressed the view that the tennis courts might not provide for youth, noting that there are few recreational opportunities for young people in town. Acknowledging her concern, Ed Adelman said that when the tennis courts were usable, youth lessons were offered there.

Dayna McDermott