Woodstock

grows

solar

program

WOODSTOCK — The town is planning to construct a “significant solar panel” program that will generate enough power to save the taxpayers in Woodstock an estimated $2.4 million over the next 20 years.  Work has already begun at the old landfill, where the approximately 4,000 panel, 1MW project will be located. 

First Selectman Allan D. Walker Jr. said, “I am so proud of the work our Board of Selectmen has done to get this project off the ground. These panels will allow all town electric accounts to purchase electricity at a deep discount over the next many years.  The greatest news?  This has all been done at zero expense to taxpayers—ZERO!”   The Woodstock Elementary and Middle Schools, the Town Hall, the Highway Garage, the Transfer Station, and the WPCA Pump Stations will all benefit from these fixed, discounted rates.

According to Walker, the Board of Selectmen has been working hard on this project since January 2014, when Green Energy Committee Chair, Jim Stratos presented the proposal to the Board.  The Selectmen were excited about the idea from the beginning, since using renewable and sustainable energy sources in Woodstock has always been a priority.  Woodstock was the first town in Connecticut to purchase 100 percent clean, renewable energy and has won awards from the Green Power Partnership, been recognized by the Clean Energy Communities Program, and received a Power of Change award from the State of Connecticut.  

During his budget presentation, Walker also detailed some of the other programs that have resulted in savings to Woodstock residents.  “Installation of wood-burning furnace at the Highway Garage has already saved over $5,000 each year in propane costs; crushing our own gravel has saved over $143,000 over a two-year span; and our participation in a shared equipment purchase program with Eversource has resulted in Woodstock being the proud owner of a roadside mower valued at $115,000. We are also certain that our ability to wash and shelter our trucks and equipment at the Highway Garage has significantly extended their life.” 

Other cost-saving measures mentioned at the Board of Finance meeting included ongoing efforts to replace full-time positions with part-time staff, collaborating with the public schools on various insurance programs, and partnering with area towns through NECCOG (Northeast Connecticut Council of Governments) on services such as animal control, regional revaluation, a GIS system, paramedic intercept service, and engineering. 

 

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Top photo: Tom Campbell of Pomfret’s Old Wood Workshop and Andy Quigley, a Chamberlin Mill, Inc, board member, with millstone recently donated to Chamberlin Mill by Campbell. 

 

 

Millstone

is coming

home

WOODSTOCK --- For several years, Andy Quigley and other Chamberlin Mill, Inc. volunteers  have been searching for a grist millstone known to have come from the Chamberlin site along the Still River in West Woodstock, and identified with the property’s early combined grist and sawmill operations.  While the site has become recognized today for its 19th century sawmill currently under restoration,  early deeds confirm that in the late 1700s, Manasseh Hosmer owned  both a grist mill and sawmill at this location. 

Andy Quigley and the Chamberlin family remember when the millstone was a feature of William Lonsdale and Pearle Chamberlin Tayler’s garden, across the river from the current Chamberlin Mill.  They also remember its sale at auction following the Taylers’ deaths in the mid-1990s.  But its location was uncertain, until last fall when, after following many leads, Quigley learned that the millstone might be among a collection of antique stones that had recently been sold to Tom Campbell of Pomfret’s Old Wood Workshop. 

Andy Quigley wasted no time in contacting Tom Campbell, whose  Old Wood Workshop (www.oldwoodworkshop.com) specializes in antique original 18th and early 19th century flooring, antique iron hardware, and antique stone.  Campbell had recently purchased the Woodstock grist mill stone from an Eastford collection of assorted antique stones.  An inscription on the reverse of a photograph taken by the prior owner positively identified the millstone as from the Chamberlin site.

“You can only imagine how happy I was to find this stone, intact, and available to Chamberlin Mill, Inc.,” said Quigley.  “I remembered it from the time when, as a young man, I helped the Taylers build a small outbuilding.  Bill Tayler told me about betting a fellow with a new tractor that he couldn’t retrieve the mill stone, then lodged in the river bed, and bring it up to his garden.  The fellow won the bet and the Taylers won the stone. “

Very generously, Tom Campbell offered to donate the massive millstone to Chamberlin Mill, Inc. for display at the Mill once it is fully restored.  In the meantime, the stone will remain in safekeeping. Chamberlin Mill, Inc. is extremely grateful to Tom Campbell for this important and irreplaceable gift.

“Andy’s timing on tracking down the stone was perfect because we had just listed it for sale on our website,” says Campbell.  The stone is large and in great condition even though it had been moved several times in the past 100+ years. I was happy to return the mill stone to its original location at the Chamberlin Mill. It’s a piece of local history that now everyone can enjoy.”

Andy Quigley, a Pomfret resident,  has been a stalwart member of the Chamberlin Mill restoration effort since its beginnings, and a board member of Chamberlin Mill, Inc., the non-profit corporation formed in 2013 to preserve and sustain the mill and its unique story for generations to enjoy.  Quigley brings a voracious native curiosity to this work, as well as expertise in the reconstruction and operation of antique circular saws. He owns and operates his own 19th century Lane #1 circular saw, very similar to the one belonging to Chamberlin Mill.

In the early years of European settlement of New England, grist mills like sawmills were common along many streams and rivers.  The central elements of grist mills were two matching grooved millstones, which rotated one atop the other, grinding corn and other grains into flour.   The recently located stone is one of such a pair.  The location of its mate remains a mystery, though there is speculation that it may now be part of the roadbed for Old Turnpike Road which runs by Chamberlin Mill.  The stone recently donated to Chamberlin Mill, Inc., will be in safekeeping until the Mill restoration is complete.

Three examples of early publicly accessible gristmills remain nearby in Pomfret and Storrs, and in the reconstructed gristmill at Old Sturbridge Village.   Besides Chamberlin, the only other accessible early sawmill in Connecticut is the Ledyard up-and-down operation.  Together with the reconstructed up-and-down sawmill at Old Sturbridge, the Ledyard and Chamberlin sites tell of 19th century technological development toward the greater efficiency of water-powered sawmills, and to the eventual displacement of water power by fossil fuels, in the form of Chamberlin Mill’s 1928 Studebaker engine, brought to the site following a major flood in 1936 to keep the sawmill operational through the 1960s.  These old small mills, each unique, have much to say about how earlier inhabitants of our region sustained themselves before the era of supermarkets and big box stores.

Anyone interested in being part of the effort to preserve Chamberlin Mill or with leads about Lane # 1 circular saw parts, or a Civil War era Muzzy shingle mill that may have come from the Chamberlin site, is invited to contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or860-428-0656.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Winner

Members of the Putnam Business Association present contest winner, Amanda Bennett with a $250 prize. Left to right: PBA Marketing Committee Chair Jennifer Beckett, PBA Treasurer Killian Frazier, First Fridays Committee Chair Sarah Mortensen, Artist Amanda Bennett, and PBA President Earl Rosebrooks. Courtesy photo.

 

 

Poster contest

winner

announced

PUTNAM — This year’s winner of the Putnam Business Association First Fridays poster contest is Amanda Bennett. PBA President Earl Rosebrooks, presented a $250 check to Bennett, an art student. 

Inspired by the 2016 theme, Art and the American City, Bennett’s work will serve as the cover art for the First Fridays program, which will see 5,000 copies printed and distributed throughout the state. 

For a third year in a row, the contest invited artists from around northeastern Connecticut to draw, paint, and digitally create an original piece of artwork, inspired by the 2016 First Fridays theme, Art and the American City: An Artistic Road Trip through the USA. This season’s poster contest challenged artists present work that embodied the art, music, cuisine, and architecture of six cities, including: New York, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Nashville, and New Orleans. Just under a dozen artists participated, and after a difficult deliberation, the First Fridays committee chose Bennett’s work to represent the 6th season of events. 

First Fridays Chairperson, Sarah Mortensen said, “Year after year, the work submitted for this contest continues to impress. For 2016, we had several bold, dynamic pieces that played with the theme and it made for a difficult decision. Miss Bennett’s work not only captured the iconic images of the six cities that this season will celebrate, but she also was able to capture the energy and color that embodies these urban areas.”

Bennett, a graduate of Tourtellotte Memorial High School in Thompson, is a junior at Lasell College in Newton, Mass. Bennett is currently studying communication with a focus on creative advertising, with minors in graphic design and studio art. In addition to her studies, Bennett is the illustrator for Lasell’s newspaper, “The 1851 Chronicle” and recently became a Global Ambassador. During the fall 2015 semester, Bennett studied abroad at the American College of Greece (DEREE) in Athens. 

Bennett said, “During my time in Greece, I realized that adventure is the best way to learn; studying abroad was an opportunity that allowed me to make friends for life, experience other cultures, and become much more independent.” 

The 2016 poster entries will be included in an online auction; art lovers will have a chance to purchase Bennett’s work as well as all of the 2016 posters, with proceeds of the auction to benefit the First Fridays committee. 

As the cover artwork for the First Fridays program, the winning poster will introduce a new look to the go-to-guide for the 2016 season. The program is the perfect companion to assist visitors to the monthly First Fridays events. The program gives a brief history of the annual event, as well as an overview of what to expect for the upcoming season.  Each First Fridays has something new to do and see, and the program gives a sneak peek of monthly entertainment, community art projects, and vendors. As well, the program previews events hosted by such downtown galleries as: Arts & Framing and the Sochor Art Gallery, Flying Carpet Studio, Sawmill Pottery, Silver Circle Gallery, and The Stomping Ground. Each season, the program has grown thanks to the generosity of local sponsors who recognize the positive impact First Fridays has on the community.

The kick-off to the sixth season of First Fridays is May 6. Visit www.discoverputnam.com for the latest information on First Fridays and the many other events happening in Putnam.