The Office of the Secretary of the State will be sending out applications for absentee ballots to all eligible voters from September 8 -11. Voters can check their registration status at myvote.ct.gov/lookup. All voters are eligible to vote by absentee ballot for the 2020 election by checking the COVID-19 excuse on the application. Absentee ballot applications are also available at myvote.ct.gov/absentee.

Given the well-publicized problems with the United States Postal Service, electors are encouraged to use the secure ballot drop boxes, located at the top of the ramp at Town Hall, to return their absentee ballot applications and the ballots themselves, in order to be sure that all critical mailings are received in a timely fashion.  As the absentee ballots cannot, by law, be distributed prior to October 2, it’s imperative that voters return their applications and their ballots as soon as possible, making it easier for town clerks to process both.

Dayna Arriola & Mary Oliver

Everyone who’s ever known Alison Davis, deeply or briefly, has been blessed.  Whether it’s through the books she’s written – “A Sense of Wonder”, “Beloved Companions”, or “Hampton Remembers”, or participation at one of the groups she’s organized, or caroling at her home, where miniature animals walk through a village lit with tiny candles to the Manger, and a fire glows on the hearth.  Even the smallest child stepping into this realm experiences, like a magical spell, a sense of grace and of peace. These are among the many gifts Alison has given us, which she attributes to the gifts she’s received. Her latest book, “Remembering 97 Years: A Spiritual Life”, chronicles the influences — people, places, events and spiritual encounters — of a life well-lived and well-loved.

The first of life’s gifts was her name: Alison Grace – “all is one” and “divine gift” – themes which run through her memoir. A love of literature was cultivated early in life.  Her mother, a voracious reader, would share the adventures she’d read of at the dinner table nightly. Her father, a professor at Brown University, read poetry to the family to “inspire us to be thrilled by its beauty”. The gift of imagination was also thus nurtured, along with art and music, and with a doll house her grandfather built for her as a Christmas present when she was seven, a gift which many Hampton children can attest “continues to give pleasure”.

Alison writes us of the interesting people she has encountered – Miss Longfellow, Robert Frost, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, Edwin and Nellie Teale. She describes distant places she’s visited – Swiss villages, cruising around the Mediterranean to Egypt, Palestine, Italy, and Greece, Austria and Germany, Bermuda; and the interesting places she’s lived – Frost’s writing cabin, Windmill House, purportedly a part of the Underground Railroad, the university towns of Cambridge and Perdue, and, most importantly, Hampton.  Alison discovered Hampton when her parents purchased a summer house here in 1937. The family fell in love with our fields, farms, village, the Little River Grange. Hampton is where her family sheltered two little Jewish refugee girls from Germany in 1942. And Hampton is where Alison met her future husband of 71 years, Wendell Davis, and where the couple eventually settled after his return from service in World War II. First in the Davis homestead with its “fascinating memorabilia from many generations” which inspired historians Janet and James Robertson to pen the best-selling book “All Our Yesterdays”, and then in the 1790 home where Alison still resides. Their contributions to our community are legendary, and include “Hampton Remembers” a collection of interviews Alison conducted with residents who were born here at the turn of the century.

Alison also details the “stepping stones” of her spiritual path, comprised of various religions, starting with the Quakers and the premise that “There is that of God in everyone.” She writes of the influence of Saint Frances when in Assisi, of the Passion plays of Germany, juxtaposed, in 1935, with Hitler’s reign of terror, of Scotland’s Findhorn, of Swami Satchidananda and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, the Friends of Omega, and finally, the Universal Third Order and its seven principles. An impressive resume, yet Alison also writes of simpler influences — of solitude and silence, of animals and nature, of precious places, like the porch — providing glimpses of the stepping stones to us, and the understanding that they’re all within our grasp. It’s a journey worth taking. Filled with positivity and the philosophy of “looking for the best in everyone”, you’ll find yourself on many pages, with a dawning, or where a light shines on your own worth, and you’ll find hope. Lots and lots of hope. At 97, Alison says, she’s “still growing”.

Dayna McDermott

Thanks to an anonymous donor, there will be a second Live at the Fletch concert this season. Claudia Schmidt, a folk, blues and jazz singer/songwriter will perform September 9th at 5:45 p.m. on the lawn at Fletcher Memorial Library. The rain date is September 16th.

Originally from Michigan, Ms. Schmidt, a resident of Pomfret, has been touring nationally and performing for 46 years. The 12 string guitarist and dulcimer player has released 14 albums of mostly original songs. Beginning as a folk singer, Schmidt has more recently explored jazz and blues. The versatile performer has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, scored music for plays, and starred in musical theater. Her 2020 release, Slow Steady Heart, contains new original songs in a Folk/ Americana vein.

Because of the pandemic, the library building will be closed and there will not be the usual refreshments, although attendees are welcome to bring their own picnics. To ensure social distancing, the concert space will extend to the south side of the Congregational Church and seating areas will be marked out by circles painted on the ground. There will be no seats provided, so bring your own chair or blanket from which to enjoy the show. To avoid a crunch, attendees are encouraged to reserve a seating circle earlier in the day of the concert. As with all Fletcher Memorial Events, the concert is free, although donations are always welcomed, either via the donation jar on the night or sent to FML, PO Box 6, Hampton. For more information, email Anne: annesgarden@aol.com

Janice Trecker

We have missed our monthly gatherings where we shared more than a wonderful meal, but also what’s important in our lives. While so much has changed, others have not; perhaps it is time we come together to share stories of how we’ve been navigating this year.

StoneHurst of Hampton Valley has offered us an opportunity to gather in their lovely outdoor dining area that seats 100 guests with social distancing. This event will be completely catered and served by the Black Dog Bar & Grill buffet style, which will include something for everyone to enjoy along with a cash bar. Our September celebration will take place Wednesday, September 16, from noon to 3PM, for folks 55years and older. Cost for Hampton residents is $5, and visitors $7. Please RSVP by September 9^th to hamptonseniorclub@gmail.com. Contact Lisa Grady at 860-428-965 with any questions or concerns.

Lisa Grady

The Historical Society annual meeting will be an outdoor event this year and will follow all COVID 19 guidelines. The meeting will be held at 6 PM on Saturday, October 17, under the new pavilion at Town Hall.  Immediately following the meeting there will be a Western Line Dance demonstration by Becky Demontigny and Jenny Cornell.

Membership dues for 2021 may be paid at the meeting.  The dues for a single member are $10, family membership is $25, and life membership is $150.  Checks may be made out to:  HAHS, PO Box 12, Hampton, CT. 06247.

We will elect a new Board of Directors and have a review of the year’s activities.  The meeting and demonstration are open to the public. Bring your mask and a chair and come learn about the Society, share your ideas for the future, and learn a dance.  We hope to see you there!

Susan Hochstetter

Do you wish you could join a group that thinks about open space, makes lists of important features in town like farms, rivers and stone walls, cares about birds and bunnies, vows to eliminate invasive plants, and maybe hugs a tree or two? Then the CONSERVATION COMMISSION is for YOU!

We’re tasked with keeping an inventory of open space in town, prioritizing important features, reviewing development plans and advising other boards regarding sensitive habitat and other features, and suggesting development set-asides–all for promoting orderly and appropriate growth in town in accordance with Hampton’s Plan of Conservation and Development. But in order to initiate the very cool and fun activities we have planned (fall and spring walks, hiking brochures, Earth Day cleanups, trail mapping at our new Town-owned properties) we need MORE MEMBERS!

Please come to our next meeting on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:30PM at The Town Hall Pavilion and see if you’d like to be part of our hardy little band of nature-lovers. We’ll have some information for you and answer your questions.  No experience? No problem! All it takes is a love of Hampton’s natural resources and a willingness to come to meetings and work on special projects. Need more information? Email Marcia Kilpatrick at kalmia1234@gmail.com, Penny Newbury at pennynewbury@gmail.com, or Everett Hyde at shelterllc@sbcglobal.net. We look forward to meeting you!

Penny Newbury

A mosquito caught in the Hampton reservoir on August 12 has tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). The positive result was found in one mosquito out of 3,447 tested from that location. The first symptoms of EEE are fever, stiff neck, headache, and lack of energy; some patients experience nausea or vomiting. These symptoms begin three to ten days after a bite from an infected mosquito. Additional symptoms may include difficulty speaking and weakness. EEE has been a reportable disease in Connecticut since 2000, with one case identified in 2013 and four in 2019. To avoid this deadly disease apply insect repellent, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, and stay away from waterways.

This world-wide pandemic continued to affect many facets of our lives this summer, prohibiting trips to the beach, vacations, fireworks. Covid 19 did not, however, prevent the grass from growing. Through most of the summer, consistent cycles of rain and heat insured a healthy crop. Ours is a large lawn, and time-consuming, for the lawn mower’s route is far from straight, circling around the serpentine edges of forty gardens. My wife thinks this makes navigating more interesting since there are flowers to view as I mow. Not so — for the objective of the lawn mower is singular – cut it. In spite of the slow and circuitous route, I like mowing the lawn – it’s a mindless, purposeful task that forbids other noises or interruptions. One is not obliged to answer a phone, for example, or run any errands.

The lawn mower, however, has a double-edged blade. Our tractor can be a tool of redemption — there is nothing that pleases the missus like a crisply cut lawn. Successful completion of the task could probably salvage even a missed anniversary — the freshly mown grass accentuating the gardens like a royal red carpet, only green. But the tractor can just as easily be a tool of condemnation. A belligerent bee, an incessant mosquito, an aggressive deer fly — might cause me to become distracted and commit the mortal sin of running over a flower. I take note of the location and after I finish mowing, return to the scene of the crime to remove the evidence. My wife is acutely familiar with every inch of her gardens. If she locates the victim before I can take care of it, I’ll hear the usual lament — why don’t’ you just cut them all down?!? I plead my case, blaming the yellow jacket, the wasp, the white-faced hornet, or whatever caused me to make the fatal cut – Would you rather I be bitten?  She questions why these insects only seem to annoy me when I’m rounding the sharp corners of her gardens. “Coincidence?” she deduces, “I think not.” I find solace in the fact that I’m not the only flower murderer in town. Returning home from visiting friends’ gardens she relays tales of their victims of lawn-mower blindness: “He dug the hole, he put the plant in it, he mulched it, he watered it – how did he manage to run it over the very next day?”

The ultimate lawn mower catastrophe occurred this summer – it broke. Irrevocably. This was less the consequence of at least a decade of cutting grass as it was of cutting rocks, roots, bones, fallen branches, lost toys, mud… you name it. The most ubiquitous symptom of lawn mower blindness: the endless supply of stones, courtesy of Connecticut’s glacial deposits and winter’s frost heaves.  Just when you think you’ve removed all of the rocks that could damage your blade, the mortal enemy emerges. Whenever I relax my guard, my lawn mower loudly informs me – you hit one. After a slew of curse words, I mentally mark the spot and return to dig out the stone, if possible, filling the hole, or gorge, with dirt. Of course, there have been those occasions when hours of excavation proved that the inch of rock protruding from the earth is actually connected to a boulder.

Another symptom of lawn mower blindness – tree roots. Those magnificent maples, pines, birches and oaks can knock my blades off kilter. I’ve shaved more roots than I care to think about, some to the extent that they’re no longer a problem! I have managed to stop the blades on the tractor from contact with the root. Disengagement then becomes the issue. Doing something you obviously shouldn’t have makes you an instant problem solver. Especially since you don’t want to advertise what you did; neighborly assistance, therefore, is out of the question. Of course, your mechanic, the keeper of your dark little secrets, reminds you — take it easy on that tractor…or it will cost you.  I even managed to get stuck in one of those quagmires disguised as a healthy clump of grass. Once stuck, you have to ask some non-judgmental individual to steer the tractor while you push on the receiving end of an old- fashioned mud splattering; and in a rushed effort to rid yourself of the soil you’re encased in, you leave the evidence of your mistake all over the floor.

At any rate, a new tractor was in order.  And true to Covid-form, there were none, tractors joining the ranks of soap and toilet paper. Of course, it broke during the season’s most productive growth, and when ours was finally delivered, the lawn was a virtual meadow.  Shortly afterwards, the storm changed our focus on getting the generator working, and getting in line for gas. And water.  So much for being “the master of my domain” and keeping the grounds orderly! And then the next natural occurrence Covid hasn’t prevented: drought. Now if I can get some rain, I’ll have an excuse to get back on the saddle and cut the grass. To proudly mount my new stead and proclaim – Peonies Beware — Away Silver!

Juan Arriola a.k.a. The Reluctant Gardener

A referendum has been scheduled for August 13 after a petition called for some items slated for a July 30 Town Meeting to adjourn to a referendum vote so that senior citizens, who represent 45% of the town’s electorate, can participate with absentee ballots. The petition, submitted to the Town Clerk on July 28, contained 177 signatures, well over the amount required to force a referendum which, by law, must be scheduled seven to fourteen days after the Town Meeting.

The referendum will ask voters to authorize $150,000 for the purchase of a backhoe, and to approve the 5 Year Capital Plan, the transfer of $97,000 from Capital Non-Recurring accounts to the General Fund, and to municipally match Small Town Economic Assistance Program funds. The Board of Selectmen decided against scheduling a vote on abolishing the Board of Finance and withdrawing from Regional District #11. At a July 9 meeting, First Selectman Allan Cahill proposed that the July 30 Town Meeting include the future of both the finance board and the education of the town’s middle and high school students. But Selectman Bob Grindle spoke against voting on these items at this time, convincing Selectmen Cahill and Dan Meade that “the gravity of these questions” warrants the full attention of citizens who are now focused on their health.

Residents in attendance also spoke in opposition to scheduling votes at this time, citing issues of safety and accessibility. Penny Newbury urged the Selectmen to delay the Town Meeting until it can accommodate “as many people as have the right to be there.” Board of Finance Vice-Chairman Kathy Donahue noted the precautions residents have taken to prevent the spread of the virus here. “People shouldn’t have to make a choice between voting and their health,” she said. Registrar of Voters Dayna McDermott reported that over 400 people participated in the Board of Finance vote in January and in the last vote on studying RD#11, far more than the Governor’s current restrictions on gatherings permit.

The need to vote on abolishing the finance board was also questioned.  Selectmen asked voters to rescind the ordinance that established the Board of Finance after the finance board sought legal advice regarding the Selectmen’s purchase of a bucket truck without the statutorily required approval of the board of finance and the legislative body. Residents rejected the Selectmen’s proposal in a 172-254 vote at a January 6, 2020 referendum; but in an April 10 announcement, Cahill stated that it was “time to vote to dismantle the board of finance” due to “debilitating dysfunction, political biases and ignorance”. At the July 9 meeting, Cahill pointed to the board’s alleged failure to discuss the most recent audit as a “dereliction of duties of past and present officers” as the reason to proceed with another vote. Donahue refuted that accusation, reminding Cahill that the finance board reviews the Town’s fiscal documents monthly.

Both Donahue and McDermott objected to conducting a study of withdrawal from RD#11 at this time of “uncertainty for students and parents, teachers and officials.” Donahue called it “inappropriate”; McDermott called it “cruel”. The last two decades have seen four studies on withdrawal from, and dissolution of, the school district, all generating much debate in many forums.

Juan Arriola

The polls will be open in the lower level of Town Hall on August 13 from noon to 8PM. All registered voters, and citizens named on the October, 2019 Grand List as owning at least $1000 of property, are eligible to participate in the referendum. Voters should contact the Town Clerk (860-455-9132) or the Registrars of Voters (860-455-0160 or 860-933-0186) for information on obtaining absentee ballots.

By now, most enrolled members of the Democratic and Republican Parties have received applications for absentee ballots for the August 11 Primary. If you have any questions on these, please call Town Hall (860-455-9132) to speak with the Town Clerk at extension #2 or the Registrars at extension #4. A locked drop-box to deposit applications and ballots is located at the top of the ramp at Town Hall.

There is still time for new and unaffiliated voters to register and enroll in a political party in order to vote in the Primary. Mail-in applications of new voters must be post-marked, received by a voter registration agency or the Department of Motor Vehicles by August 6 in order to be eligible to vote in the Primary; enrollment applications of unaffiliated voters must be received by the Registrars of Voters by August 6 in order to participate in the Primary. However, both new and unaffiliated voters may enroll in person up until noon on August 10, when the Registrars of Voters’ Office will be open from 9AM to noon to accept enrollment applications.

The absentee ballot applications have been sent by the State in order to accommodate voters during the Covid pandemic. However, the polls will be open on August 11 from 6AM to 8PM for those who prefer to vote in person. The State has also taken into consideration safety measures at the polls, which will be cleaned by a licensed company prior to, and after the close, of the polls. Voting booths, the tabulator, and all materials will be disinfected throughout the course of the day. We respectfully request that voters wear masks when they enter the polls to cast a ballot; masks will also be available for voters’ use at the polls. We thank you in advance for helping us protect voters and election officials alike.

Dayna Arriola & Mary Oliver