Photo by Lester Smith
Suffield on the Green kicked off fall with residents and energetic town employees contributing to its success.
Melissa Mack
Suffield on the Green kicked off fall with residents and energetic town employees contributing to its success. Thanks to many including Julie Oakes, Facilities Director, for the Eversource light bulb exchange with 200 plus participating, and Kris Lambert, Assistant to the Board of Selectmen, for presenting Town information in style. Congratulations to the Friends of the Library on another successful book sale; Parks & Recreation, for a fantastic road race and Vic Mathieu for annually organizing the important 9-11 parade and remembrance ceremony.
We strive to make Suffield an enjoyable, healthy and safe place to live. On September 16, over 75 attendees recognized efforts made by many, especially the Highway Department, over the summer to restore Babb’s Beach to full working order. Suffield Parks & Recreation, Kent Memorial Library, Senior Center and Youth Services announce the first Scare-it-up-Suffield scarecrow contest. All are invited to enter a one-of-a-kind creation with awards for most Creative, Funniest, Prettiest, Spirit of Suffield, Youth, Teen and the grand prize, People’s Choice. The crowning takes place at a Halloween harvest themed event at the Senior Center on Saturday, October 22. Healthy endeavors include Suffield’s redesignation as a HEARTSafe Community from the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the American Heart Association. Towns with this designation meet requirements, including offering CPR training and providing defibrillators. The Town will utilize a grant for environmentally sustainable projects offered by the North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) by offering community gardens in collaboration with Hill Top Farm and the Senior Center. Also, through the NCDHD, the Town received two donated bike racks to promote wellness by encouraging biking, possibly to be located at Babb’s Beach and Kent Memorial Library. Bikers will appreciate the 16 plus miles in recently paved roadways, one of the most expansive paving projects in recent memory accomplished by Town Engineer, Gerry Turbet and the Highway Department. Road safety is in the process of being improved by the State with the addition of rumble strips throughout Town. A final safety note, the Town of Suffield has changed to a new emergency notification system enabling residents to receive both town and state alerts. We strongly encourage residents to sign up at http://www.ctalert.gov/ or at the link on the Town website to ensure that we are able to provide timely information in an emergency.
The Town Hall renovation continues to move forward requiring additional space as the building is vacated. Our goal is to use available space without incurring additional rental or build-out expense, meet state statutes for safekeeping of records and keep in mind ease of resident use. We have made the difficult decision to move the library to the Senior Center in early 2017. This solution enables us to keep library doors open and maintain staffing levels as environmental issues at KML are resolved. We feel fortunate to have negotiated flexibility with the state in regard to the Senior Center as grant money received for that past renovation included limitations on its use.
Football, falling leaves, pumpkin treats! Enjoy Fall… my favorite season!