Friday, January 22, 2021
www.towntimes.com
Volume 27, Number 4
Town data presented
CIAC UPDATE
‘Game on’ for most
By Nadya Korytnikova Town Times
By Bryant Carpenter Record-Journal staff
Compared to state averages, Durham has more households with occupants over the age of 60 and fewer with school-age children.
A Connecticut high school winter sports season is officially a go. While games will start a week later than expected and there will be no state tournaments and some teams won’t compete at all, last week a modified winter season was approved by the CIAC Board of Control for basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics and boys swimming. The board determined that practices could start Tuesday, Jan. 19. That’s the start date the CIAC had been eyeing since suspending the winter season in midNovember. Games can start as early as Feb. 8. That’s a one-week delay on the projected start of Feb. 1. The postseason, slated for March 15-28, will be staged by individual conferences. It replaces the traditional state tournaments the CIAC had hoped to run March 8-21. There is a casualty in the new dateline for winter, and that’s football. The alternative season that had been set up when the CIAC canceled football in the fall, expected to run Feb. 22 through mid-April, has been eliminated. With the winter season now extending through March 28 and the spring season slated to start March 29, CIAC Excecutive Director Glenn Lungarini said the window for the alternative season grew too small. See CIAC, A12
This and other town data were presented by Kimberly Fisher, a member of Sustainable Durham, during a Board of Selectman meeting last week. “Understanding who lives in our towns provides insight into the housing and service needs for each community such as accessibility, transportation, child care and education,” said Fisher. Lyman Orchards partnered with Bradley Mountain Farm to organize a goat stroll recently. Charlotte Ponganis is pictured feeding one of the animals. Photos by Nadya Korytnikova, Town Times
Ever strolled with a goat? By Nadya Korytnikova Town Times
Lyman Orchards has partnered with Bradley Mountain Farm in Southington to bring an unusual activity to town this winter — a goat stroll. “We’re happy to bring such a unique event and provide an opportunity for the community to get outside and enjoy the farm in a safe, socially distanced way,” said Becky Critchley, events & catering director at Lyman Orchards.
Fisher stated that out of the 2,694 units in town, only 64 are considered to be affordable, which equates to about 2 percent. “In the foreseeable future we need to provide new housing choices for our aging population,” she said during the Jan. 11 meeting. “We need smaller, denser, more affordable homes with services.” About 7,248 people reside in Durham. Roughly 18 percent of householders live alone. Sixty percent live with someone over the age of 60 and 29 percent reside with someone under the age of 18.
Oliver Orkney pets a goat at Lyman Orchards.
Bradley Mountain Farm event managers, Traci At a recent event, particiWood and Melissa Allard, pants strolled for about 30 said the goat stroll is a minutes with the goats great therapeutic activity. and then enjoyed some complimentary “You can’t be in a bad donuts and hot apple mood when you walk the cider. goats, they’re so cute,”
said Allard. “Also, petting animals has been shown to decrease stress levels and improve your mood.”
Town data shows that 24 percent of Durham households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
The farm offers other activities involving goats, in-
The hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Durham is $23.65. By comparison, a two-bedroom apartment in Hartford
See Goat, A9
See Data, A13