Volume 19, Number 39 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, Januar y 4, 2013
Welcome, 2013
Durham Garden Club members at a past formal gathering.
Garden club celebrates 80 years
Where will the New Year lead you? Are big life changes on the horizon in 2013? Are you simply hoping for more of the same blessings you enjoyed last year? Durham resident and Independent Day School student Katie Foster created this Papel Amate folkart called “Countryside” which brings to life rolling hills, running water, a shining sun, dusty roads, a small village and a flower or two, and it is beautiful. Perhaps that is all we need.
The Durham Garden Club has planned its year-long 80th anniversary celebration, beginning Jan. 1. The club, whose mission is to promote interest and activity in all forms of gardening, was formed on March 23, 1933 by 12 women in a meeting at the Durham Library. Beginning in January, club mem-
bers plan to provide weekly floral arrangements at the library. Club members have also planned a March display including the awards and projects in the PALS library display window. The club’s history shows a commitment to civic beautification, their first project being
See Garden, page 7
Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. - Hal Borland
Happy New Year! We hope you enjoy the second installment of your community’s creative arts in this issue.
Blight control issue takes new direction By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times
were all prior issues. When asked if an ordinance would solve problems brought forward in Durham, Francis said she felt it would mostly urge people who would be prone to comply. While Selectman John Szewczyk said he thought the ordinance should be brought to a public hearing, even if See BOS, page 2
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Rather than bring a proposed blight ordinance to a public hearing, Durham First Selectman Laura Francis said more research needs to be done as to whether or not an ordinance is the best way to handle blighted homes. At a Dec. 17 Board of Se-
lectmen meeting, Francis discussed the proposed ordinance, which was modeled after the Town of Portland’s blight ordinance adopted in May 2012. She reported that Portland has had trouble recruiting volunteers for its Citation Hearing Board. She also noted that Portland has received four to five complaints since the ordinance was adopted, most of which
The Durham Garden Club at a past annual wreath sale.
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