Director’s Corner
Love in the Library
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Love is all around me since my daughter got engaged on New Year’s Eve. We have visited wedding venues, tasted food, kissed and sighed over happily ever after.
Suffield’s History and Notable People Honored
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Trees have both common and scientific names, such as Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus).
Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association Receives Prestigious National Honor
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.
Organizations
Polish Heritage Society
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The Polish Heritage Society normally meets in the morning on the first Wednesday of each month from September to June. Unfortunately that is an inconvenient schedule for second and third generation Polish Americans who work, but would like to participate in the goal of learning about and perpetuating our Polish Heritage. This month there will be an evening meeting in addition to the morning session. On Wednesday, February 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the library, Sara Zak will talk about the evolution of the Polish community in Suffield which started in the 1890s. She will share her findings from the Federal Censuses taken in 1900, 1910 and 1920 using her Zak-Kreczko Family as a theoretical example of a typical Polish immigrant family.
Organizations
Workshop: Researching Suffield Homes
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Art Sikes will hold a workshop at the Suffield Senior Center on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. He will explain what resources are available, review work that has been done dating old homes and look into how you can find additional information about our old homes and the people who lived in them.
Organizations
Ice Harvest
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The annual ice harvest sponsored by the Historical Society, Suffield Land Conservancy and the Noble & Cooley Museum will take place at the Mill Pond on Water Street in Granville on Saturday, February 2 from noon to 3 p.m. (providing there is ice). Storm date is February 3. Dress warmly and learn how to cut ice. Call Bob Stewart at 860 668-2928 for ice conditions.
History
A Moment in Time: Old Photos Invited from Our Readers
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Members of the Suffield Recreation Commission and staff pose for a group portrait in about 1978.
History
100 Years Ago in Suffield
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Selected from the pages of the Windsor Locks Journal and lightly annotated by Town Historian Lester Smith.
People/Business
Stonegate Takes Shape
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Stonegate, the subdivision being developed off North Main Street, was first announced at the September 2017 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, when Ray Daddario described his plans in a pre-application conference. The project then worked its way through Conservation Commission and Historic District Commission approvals and finally the Planning and Zoning Commission public hearings, deliberation, and final approval on February 28, 2018. As the property includes two notable homes in the Town Center Historic District that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Stonegate elicited considerable local concern and some opposition. The development comprised two parcels. The first is the 20-acre property at 480 North Main.
Government/Town
SSC and KML Collaboration
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We’re getting AMP-ed Suffield! The Aging Mastery Program® (AMP) is designed to inform, encourage, and support older adults as they take steps to improve their lives and engage with their communities. AMP is all about feeling better today and staying healthy for the future. Small steps can make big differences in our health and well–being. Even modest improvements can make life more fun and meaningful.
Government/Town
Farmer’s Market
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The Suffield Agriscience Center is hosting the final Suffield Winter Farmers Market of the season on Saturday, February 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Large Animal Facility. The Farmers Market vendors will have an array of items including vegetables, apples, eggs, baked goods, jams and preserves, soaps, jewelry, plants, winter wear. Check our web site or Facebook for an updated list. Also included are: the Cupola Hollow store, signmaker Shabby Abby’s Attic, Julie the Garden Fairy, and the Suffield 350th Anniversary Committee’s tee shirts and aprons. As a special feature for this market, two Suffield Girl Scout troops will be selling dog and cat treats to raise money for rescue dogs and a sign for the dog kennel on Ffyler Place.
Government/Town
The 350th is Cooking
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The 350th Anniversary Committee added an apron to their fashionable “All Things Suffield” apparel line. Celebrate Suffield in style with a royal blue apron or a navy blue short-sleeved tee! The Committee will be selling these good-looking items, and an assortment of other long and short-sleeved tees, at the Valentine Farmers Market at the SHS Large Animal Facility on Saturday, February 9 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The short tee is $10, long-sleeved tee is $15 and the apron is $20.
Government/Town
Suffield Trivia Contest
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The first Suffield Trivia published in the Observer in the December 2018 issue was an easy challenge for you because the answers were given. It will not be so easy this time. It’s a contest! You could be a winner! Send your answers by email to suffield350@gmail.com or by regular mail to the attention of Jackie Hemond at Kent Memorial Library, 61 Ffyler Place, Suffield 06078.
Do You Have a Suffield Story to Tell?
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Many non-profit groups and individuals have been contacted over the past two months in order to get their Suffield histories included in a book which will be one of the projects for Suffield’s 350th anniversary celebration. Suffield native Robert Alcorn wrote The Biography of a Town – Suffield, Connecticut 1670-1970, published in 1970. Our plan for the 350th is to republish Alcorn’s book along with a Volume 2, which would be a compilation of Suffield stories from the last 50 years that brings us from the late 1960s, when Alcorn’s book left off, through the past 50 years to 2020. Our tentative idea is to call it 50 Stories for 50 Years. We are still looking for residents (or former residents) who have a story to tell.
Government/Town
350 Anniversary Committee Unveils New Logo
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The new logo, designed by Windsor Marketing Group, reflects Suffield’s agricultural heritage. It features the sun rising behind a tobacco barn, with a plowed field and tree. The tree evokes Connecticut’s Charter Oak. A descendant of that famous tree stands in front of the Suffield Town Hall.
The image is consistent with the vision of the 350th Anniversary Committee that Suffield is a community of farms.
By coincidence, the new logo is similar to the reverse of a medallion that was pressed for the 300th anniversary of the town. There a tobacco barn dominates the image, with rows of tobacco planted on its side.
Organizations
Don’t Miss Fire and Ice!
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Preparations for the Suffield Foundation for Excellent Schools (SFES) dinner dance auction gala to be held on Saturday, March 23, beginning at 6:00 pm are well under way and you can be part of the fun! This year’s theme is Fire and Ice and with lighting from Dave Camera’s Shoreline AV, a platinum sponsor, the ballroom at the Sheraton at Bradley promises to be magical. Chris Kellogg, of 94.7 WMAS Kellogg Krew fame, will handle the DJ/ emcee activities for the evening and auctioneer Tom DeCosma, will keep the bidding fast and furious during the live auction. Mobile bidding for the silent auction items will be used for the first time and promises to be a lot of fun as the competition for the many desirable items heats up. Patriots tickets, jewelry, dinners, firetruck and police car rides to school as well as front row seats to graduation and concerts and a 6 month flower subscription to Feather & Bloom are just a few of the items that will be offered.
Government/Town
Warning about Scams
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Every once in a while I remind everyone, but particularly seniors, about all the scams we receive on our phone. I too am a senior and even though I am careful, once in a while I almost fall for one. Just remember if it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t. And you will never be called on the phone by the IRS, your insurance company, for anything about your health, or for any personal information. If it is from any of the above, they will send you something in the mail.
Food for Thought
Food For Thought
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Facebook Is Launched
February 4, 2004
“If you can’t stop thinking about someone’s update, that’s called ‘status cling’.”
– Jessica Park
“All I know is that I carried you for nine months. I fed you, I clothed you, I paid for your college education. Friending me on Facebook seems like a small thing to ask in return.” – Jodi Picoult
“It’s almost bed time, so I’ll just check my email, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and watch a season of my favorite show on Netflix. Real quick.”
– coolfunnyquotes.com
“If Facebook has taught us anything, it’s that a lot of people aren’t quite ready for a spelling bee.”
– coolfunnyquotes.com
Chinese New Year
February 5
Year of the Boar
“Happy New Year! Always welcome the new morning with a new spirit, a smile on your face, love in your heart and good thoughts in your mind.”
– sayingimages.com
First Barbie Doll Sold
February 12, 1959
“If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?” – Steven Wright
“Little girls love dolls.
Government/Town
Suffield Police Activity Report December 2018
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The following table has been adapted from data provided by the Suffield Police Department.
Government/Town
Town to Hold Free Small Business Seminars
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The Economic Development Commission (EDC) of Suffield and East Granby’s EDC will hold a series of four, free small business seminars over the next four months. These hour-long “best practice style” seminars are for the small business owner, to offer advice and guidance on challenges they face with limited resources. Topics will include: Financing, Marketing, Hiring Practices and Technology. The first session: “Financing for the Small Business” will show how to access capital to begin or grow a business. It features a panel of business financial experts from the CT Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC), Community Investment Corporation (CIC), local commercial institutions, and a local entrepreneur who successfully utilized funding to take his business to the next level.