The Suffield Observer (https://thesuffieldobserver.com/page/252/)
Trees have both common and scientific names, such as Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus).
The Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association (SVAA) has been recognized on the national stage as the 2026 EMS Agency of the Year by the National EMS Management Association.
In recent years, the news has spread that our local flora, including essential food crops, is threatened by the shrinking population of pollinating bees. So on March 3, about 50 people interested in doing something about it gathered at the Second Baptist Church at 3 p.m. in a program sponsored by the Green Team of the church, the Friends of the Farm at Hilltop, and the Suffield Land Conservancy.
The following table has been adapted from data provided by the Suffield Police Department.
Officer Peter Osowiecki has retired from the Suffield police force, but he has not retired from duty—not at all. On the contrary, his career has morphed into a new phase. Now he has the time and energy to pursue his greatest passion, which is the training of police dogs for the K-Nine Corps, something he has been doing here in Suffield, and also on a larger scale, since 2005. At the moment he has three highly trained dogs that serve the Suffield police but live at Osowiecki’s home. Officer Osowiecki is certified by the North American Police Work Dog Association as a master trainer, one qualified to teach others this important skill.
There was this place in my hometown of Monroe, N.Y., that one summer was the rage among the “in-crowd.” By “place,” I mean an outdoor bar in the middle of a dusty parking lot, and by “in-crowd,” I mean the stereotypical popular types.
On May 11, the kids ride again…. The 2019 Suffield PMC Kids Ride, presented by First Suffield Bank, will be held at the McAlister School in Suffield.
Suffield and area Masons of Composite Lodge # 28 recently visited The Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield. Lodge Master John Ledoux led a group of Masons and family members to the hospital to present Melha Shriner Donald Carberry a jar filled with soda can ‘tabs’. These tabs are then converted into cash as a donation to the hospital. What is not often known is that all Shriners are Masons! There are 22 hospitals throughout the United States.
The editorial carton reflects the view of the creator and is not necessarily endorsed by The Suffield Observer.
“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” – Winston Churchill
The Suffield Observer Board of Directors will sponsor two scholarships to Suffield residents who will be entering an accredited two or four-year college in September. The two scholarships are in memory of Samuel S. Fuller, the founder of the paper, and Robert O. Y. Warren, a former chairman of the board.
The Suffield Knights of Columbus runs a Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament on the first Friday of the month from October through April. The game is hosted by the VFW Landry Sic Post 9544 located at 972 Sheldon St. in Suffield. $5 of the $30 entry fee is donated to Suffield Community Aid and directed to help veterans in need. The 2017-18 season generated a donation totaling $1,500.
During 2017 and 2018 the remaining amount of the $9 million of bond funding from 2015 plus all pavement management and drainage funds were exhausted to complete 2.4 miles of road improvements (1.2 miles milled and paved, 1.2 miles reclaimed and paved). In addition, in 2018 pavement work was completed on the Thrall Avenue Road Reconstruction Project (1.2 miles) as the final part of construction on the $1.1 million LOTCIP funded project. Proposed 2019 Road Projects (Tentative)
While there is no funding available for road projects at the present time, $700,000 of the $900,000 pavement management funds requested in the budget process for road work would be available after July 1. This funding, if approved, would be used for a combination of mill and pave projects and crack sealing. A little over two miles of mill and pave projects proposed would include the roads listed in the table below.
The month of March may have come in like a lamb weather-wise, but for Town business it’s been more like a lion! As outlined in my last two columns, there’s been a simultaneous focus on Kent Memorial Library, economic development of Ffyler Place/ the Town Garage/ Town Center Village District and Town Hall.
UL is the upper level conference room at Town Hall, otherwise Town Hall meetings are in the lower level meeting room. Check the Town’s website, suffieldct.gov, for schedule changes.
We will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Suffield Observer in May. We have located over two thirds of the original volunteers and are seeking your help to contact the following volunteers whose names appeared on the masthead of the very first edition so that they can be included in this special celebration. Please email inbox@thesuffieldobserver.com or call the office at 860-668-7442 with contact information. Thank you! Dick Labouchere, Scott Sylvia, Michael Gilbert, Elizabeth McGuire, Skip Morell, Joan Treiber, George Unruh, Joe Cadieux, Jessica Drew, Nancy Hall, Henry Hallas, Louise Hallas, Betsy Hedden, Mike Cooper, Anna Ferry.
Do you like to write? Do you enjoy finding out what’s happening in Suffield? The Observer is looking for people who would like to write articles for the paper. We can help you with ideas and mentor anyone who is interested. The articles are typically between 350 and 500 words and due by the 15th of each month.
One Saturday evening this past March, I sang with the other 80 members of the Springfield Symphony Chorus (SSC) in Springfield’s beautiful Symphony Hall. It was a concert filled with well-known music from 16 Broadway classics including Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Chorus Line, and Phantom of the Opera. The hall was filled with appreciative Broadway music fans entertained by Springfield Symphony’s (SSO) amazingly talented orchestra directed by Maestro Keven Rhodes and the SSC. The SSC tends to sing primarily classical music (our Mahler concert is in the spring), but the Chorus has been invited to sing in a variety of non-classical concerts over the past few years, which, as a diverse music lover, has been a hoot! In 2017, I was lucky enough to be part of a group of 30 SSC singers who got to work with the SSO to sing “background music” as part of a Video Games Live concert, which is dedicated solely to music from video games.
My family and I moved to Suffield in late 1984. By the time we arrived in town, residents had attended many town meetings and participated in many discussions regarding installing sewer lines on the East side of town. At one time, the federal government would have paid 80% of the installation costs. Ultimately the taxpayers had to pay 80% of the costs rather than the Feds. This decision cost the town considerable dollars and prevented us from being able to afford future bonding.
What can be going through someone’s mind who will put a dog on a leash and tie it in the woods in cold and wet weather or in any weather? And even worse to have obviously been abusing him for a long time. A couple who were hiking in Stony Brooke Park on Route 75 saw him and called the police, who sent Dog Warden Ryan Selig there. What he found was so cruel on someone’s part. Not only was the dog trapped, but his leash was caught around his leg which was painful, his fur was so matted on his feet that it made it difficult to walk, his toenails were severely overgrown and the mats of fur all over him were covered with frozen water.
Jamie Deenihan was a teacher and has always loved children and writing. She babysat for my grandchildren, and they loved her. A few years ago she decided to put those loves to work. She did not just start to write though, but did her homework. First she took a free course taught by Dawn Mitchell who gave her some good advice.
We will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Suffield Observer in May. We have located over half of the original volunteers and are seeking your help to contact the following volunteers whose names appeared on the masthead of the very first edition so that they can be included in the celebration.