cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 6, Number 49
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Council to talk merger of youth, human services committees
7TH ANNUAL ‘DAY AT IVES FARM’
By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
The Town Council, after having tabled a vote on whether to merge the volunteer committees overseeing youth and human services, scheduled the matter for a special meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 24.
Dan O’Keefe and 81 South play bluegrass at the Cheshire Land Trust’s “A Day at Ives Farm,” Saturday, Sept. 21. The free event saw close to 900 visitors who came by throughout the day to see live music, an owl show, a petting zoo hosted by Westledge Farm, local non-profits, antique tractors and pony rides. The day also featured Touch-a-Truck with vehicles and personnel from Cheshire’s police and fire departments. Cheshire Land Trust is a non-profit, all-volunteer conservation organization with approximately 600 acres in Cheshire that it protects and stewards.
Student creates ‘butterfly totem’ for community garden By Joy VanderLek The Cheshire Citizen
Cheshire West Community Gardens added a new element to the already eye-catching display of flowers at the West Main Street section of the Farmington Canal rail trail path. A newly-installed “butterfly totem” art installation was unveiled Sunday. “A small ceremony was held with family and friends of Cheshire West Community Gardens,” said Gary Richards, executive director of the gardens. The 6-foot tall totem was crafted and
hand-painted by Richards’ niece, 16-yearold artist Maliah Ryan, a junior at Southington High School. Ryan had previously created totem artwork at the Sleeping Giant State Park’s Butterfly Garden. Ryan said she had been volunteering at Ball & Socket Arts at the time and found herself See Garden, A3
Maliah Ryan poses with the butterfly and native plant totem she created for the Cheshire West Community Gardens. Gary Richards, For The Citizen
The proposed Youth and Human Services Committee would consist of seven members, with no more than five from the same political party. The panel, which would also include five student representatives, would be responsible for making recommendations to the Town Council on services for youth and senior citizens. The proposal was discussed, then tabled, during a Town Council meeting in July. Jim Jinks, a current member of the Youth Services Committee, said while he disagrees with the proposal it is a “good faith effort” to establish a functioning committee between two panels that often see meetings canceled because of a lack of a quorum. “We shouldn’t throw in the towel on having two committees,” Jinks said. Jinks, who is also a Democratic candidate for a Town See Merger, A2