Happy Father’s Day!
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 10
Board of Ed cuts bus stops, recognizes departing members By Mark Dionne Special to the Town Times In their second attempt to pass the budget, District 13’s Board of Education (BOE) anticipated a $40,000 savings in transportation costs. How that savings will be achieved became a little less abstract at the BOE’s June 8 meeting at Brewster School. Board members considered three proposals and unanimously approved the one called “Alternative A.” Projected to save $47,000 per year, Alternative A will eliminate some bus stops and extend the distance students walk to their stops. According to a transportation study done by business manager Ron Melnik, Phil
Johnson of DATTCO, Eileen Bengston from Central Office and parent representative Karen Meiman, over 90 percent of students walk less than three-tenths of a mile to their current stops. Also according to the study, “a large percentage (27 percent) of students are picked up directly in front of their homes because the district has identified busy roads where curb-to-curb service is a desirable option.” Currently, according to Melnik, the district’s buses drive 354,000 miles per year, or approximately 84 miles per bus per school day. This won’t be the case next year as Alternative A
Friday, June 17, 2011
Old Home Days Parade in Middlefield Clockwise from top: The agricultural heritage boasts a vintage tractor collection; Brownie and Daisy troop #62199 marching through Middlefield; a group of teens enjoy a rootbeer float made by the Middlefield Parks and Recreation Department; The Pogmore Women sing a song during the Old Home Days opening ceremony; a piggy truck accompanies the Levi Coe Library float honoring
See BOE, page 39
It’s strawberry pickin’ time By Cheri Kelley Town Times There has been some talk about Lyman Orchards not having pick-yourown strawberries this year, but to everyone’s delight, the crops have cooperated and as of press time Wednesday, Town Times was told by John Lyman himself that there will be a limited amount of pick-your-own strawberries. Lyman stated, “We reassessed the fields over the
last week or so and now the fields are doing fairly well. The strawberries were planted a bit later than usual, and staff were worried, as they looked over the crop, that it wasn’t going to be ready. It’s looking much more encouraging than it did a few weeks ago. We think we will have strawberries for the next few weeks on a limited basis.” To avoid disappointment, the folks at Lyman Orchards are encouraging people to call the pick-your-own hotline at 860-349-6015 to make sure it’s a good day for the juicy summertime favorite.
Left, Tylan and Taylor Walwyn pick strawberries at the newly-opened strawbery fields at Lyman Orchards. Photos by Cheri Kelley
“Charlotte’s Web”; Peter Liljedahl, Christine Casciano and Lions Club president Bob Veeley pose after cooking and serving their pulled-pork dinners. See page 6 for more Old Home Days Parade photos. Photos taken by Cheri Kelley and Brian Mendoza