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Take a hike
Discover local wilderness in series of winter walks By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
Outside of the charming historic village that draws visitors from far and wide, many people aren’t aware that Wethersfield has a lot to offer in its wilderness, too. East of the Silas Deane and southeast of the Wethersfield Cove are the Great Meadows, shared by the towns of Volume 53, No. 51
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Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Glastonbury. Several area groups work to conserve, protect and enhance this land, which contains naturally and historically significant wetlands, flood plain, woodlands and agricultural areas. In conjunction with the Eleanor Buck Wolfe Nature Center and the Audubon Society of Connecticut, the Great Meadows Conservation Trust will host a series of winter walks through these areas during the months of January and February. The next event is this Saturday at the “Wolf Parcel” where walk-
See WINTER WALK, Page 7
Benedetta Boccaccio and her son Tom, who lives in Newington to be close to his mom.
Erica Schmitt | Staff
Happy 105th birthday, Benedetta By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
When Benedetta Boccaccio turns 105 this Sunday, she will have more children and grandchildren than she has years on this earth. Family always came first for the Lawrence, Mass., native, who
now resides at the Newington Health Care Center on Church Street. She raised her four children during the Great Depression and her youngest son, Tom, now 69, is the only one who lives in Newington year-round to be close to his mom.
“She showed us early on you don’t have to have a lot of money to be kind,” says Tom, who always valued his mother for giving him a good upbringing, but now also for her spur-ofthe-moment insight and blunt sense of humor. See NEW YEAR, Page 9