Durham Fair begins today!
Volume 16, Issue 24
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Durham’s Herzig Farm celebrates 100 years, trying for 100 more By Trish Dynia
As anyone who’s ever visited the Ellis Island National Park and History Center in New York knows, the island serves as a living testimony to the courage, hopes, fears and tragedies of a nation of immigrants. And the American story of the Herzigs, owners of the 100year-old Herzig Family Farm on Maiden Lane, begins there. In 1899 Rosa Herzig, a widow from Bern, Switzerland, debarked at Ellis Island with her 18-year-old son Otto. Her younger son, Walter, age 16, was left behind in an orphanage. Such a scenario seems harsh to us in the 21st century, but it was a desperate time, and Rosa was determined to seek out a better life for her young family in the United States. And at the turn of the 20th century, pursuing that better life often meant leaving
family members behind and sending for them once money could be saved up for their passage. Otto came with his mother because, as the older son, she knew he could find work. While Rosa and Otto settled in Patterson, New Jersey, Walter lived in an orphanage in Switzerland and was apprenticed to a local baker. In 1905, the now 21year-old Walter joined his family in America and worked as a baker in New York City. One year later, when rheumatic fever left him weak and asthmatic, the family doctor recommended that he move to a place with fresh country air. Rosa bought a farm on South End Avenue in Durham and moved there with her two grown sons, thus trading the smog of the big city for the See Herzig Farm, page 20
Friday, September 25, 2009
Setting up for the Durham Fair
Above, Cindy Satton, of Durham, works on her mural of llamas for the annual Durham Fair mural competition. The murals are placed along the wall of President’s Hall, and the winner of the contest will be determined by fair attendees who vote for their favorite. At right, the Killingworth Lions work on their new permanent booth. Town Times photos by Stephanie Wilcox
Durham Planning and Zoning closes public hearing on District 13 athletic project By Chuck Corley Special to the Town Times The Planning and Zoning Commission continued a
In this issue ... Photo by Kate VanDerzee-Glidden
Current owners of the Herzig Family Farm on Maiden Lane in Durham are sister and brother Joyce Herzig Hansen and Warren Herzig, grandchildren of the original farmer. A 100-year celebration was held earlier this summer and was well-attended by friends and neighbors.
Calendar............................4 Durham Fair ..............21-24 Durham Fair food map ..25 Mini Pages..................35-36 Obituaries .......................28 Sports ..........................33-34 Town Briefs ................13-17
public hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 16, on renovating Regional District 13’s athletic facilities along Pickett Lane. The hearing was split into two parts, with one part of the hearing focusing on a regulation amendment to allow the school to put 80’ light poles on the proposed fields. The rest of the hearing went over the project as a whole. Attorney Tim Hollister spoke on behalf of the school and explained the need for 80’ light poles on the fields.
He noted that the higher poles will allow the lights to focus on the fields with less light spilling out into the sky and neighboring properties. By reducing light glare, Hollister also claimed the lights make it safer to play on the fields. He further noted that similar lights are used at Sheehan High School as well as by Wesleyan University. In a letter to the town, Wesleyan athletic director See Durham P&Z, page 13