Presorted Standard Non-profit Permit #19

Salisbury, CT 06068—0553

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What’s Inside ?

Coming soon: Salisbury Village in Miniature—page 3

Art Inspired by Nature: Opening October 7—

page 5

Preserving our Cherished Vista; The Twin Oaks/Mudge Pond project—page 1

Jazz Trio at Holley House—page 6 Two new bird “finds” at

Schlesinger Preserve—page 4

The Salisbury Association Academy Building 24 Main Street Salisbury CT 06068

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Preserving Our Cherished Vista

to the Salisbury Association Land Trust for sub-stantially below the appraised value, and Bob and Jane Keiter are willing to donate a conservation restriction on 6 ½ acres at the southwest corner of Long Pond Road and Route 41, vital to preserving the view.

Protecting the view may be the most compel-ling interest in the public’s mind. With this vista conserved, there will be views of over five miles in each direction reaching to Massachusetts to the north and New York State to the southwest. But the Blum/Keiter lands have other impor-tant conservation values as well. Preservation will link together a significant corridor of protected farmland and other preserved open space. The soil of these parcels scores highly for agricultural crops, forestry, and support of wildlife. With a his-tory of farm fields at different stages of reverting-toward-forest, the land provides a diverse habitat for uncommon birds and for animals that utilize grassland and shrubland for food and cover. An abundance of calcareous wetlands adds to the rich ecology. Preservation will also help protect the water quality of Long Pond Brook and subse-quently Mudge Pond, the Ten Mile River, and the Housatonic River.

The Salisbury Association Land Trust and the Sharon Land Trust have teamed up with landown-ers and generous donors in their two communities to protect the cherished Twin Oaks/Mudge Pond viewshed from development. The view from Route 41 and Long Pond Road, near the town line with Sharon, is dramatic and awe-inspiring. In fact, this is the most painted landscape in our towns. The vista overlooks Mudge Pond and the Twin Oaks field, with views to the protected Selleck Hill hayfields and the Ta-conic Range to the north. Its location along well-traveled Route 41 makes it a view enjoyed fre-quently by all of us.

In 1997, when the Twin Oaks field, with its two signature trees, was subdivided for development, the Land Trusts worked together to raise the nec-essary funds, with help from a concerned and gen-erous public, to buy the field. Now we have the opportunity to protect this larger, more complete viewshed, of which Twin Oaks is a significant part. In the fine tradition of local landowners who have protected special property from develop-ment, the Blum family, which owns 53 critical acres in the viewshed, has agreed to sell their land

Twin Oaks/Mudge Pond Viewshed

An Awe-Inspiring View

Trusts and Landowners Work Together

Important Conservation Values

Continued on page 2

The Salisbury Association Newsletter Fall 2006

Salisbury Association

Officers

President: William Morrill Vice President:

David Sims Secretary:

Roberta Olsen Treasurer:

John Arnold

Trustees

Val Bernardoni Richard J. Boyle

Digby Brown Louis Bucceri

Katherine Chilcoat Jim Dresser

Richard Dunham Louis Hecht Dave Heck

Ronald D. Jones Tom Key

George Massey Barbara Niles

Jacqueline Rice Carl H. Williams

Ex Officio

Norman Sills

The Land Trusts have applied for a matching grant from the state’s Environ-mental Protection Open Space program and are reaching out to local conserva-tion-minded donors for help in raising the necessary funds. Preservation of the Twin Oaks/Mudge Pond viewshed is one of the most important conservation projects under-taken by the two Land Trusts. As the Newsletter goes to press, this is a work in progress. The generosity of the Sharon and Salisbury communities can make it happen. If you would like more information about this on-going project, feel free to call the Salisbury Land Trust co-chairs: George Massey (435-6543) or Lou Hecht (435-9739).

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone . . . .” These words by songwriter Joni Mitchell ring true for all those interested in conserving the natural landscape.

Seeking an Open Space Grant

George Massey and Elaine Hecht review the Land Trusts’ application for a Connecticut Open Space

grant which, if awarded, would provide partial funding for the Twin Oaks/Mudge Pond project.

Background The proposed Upper Housatonic Valley Heritage Area is the watershed of the upper Housatonic River, extending 60 miles from Kent, Connecticut to Lanesboro, Massachu-

setts. It includes nine towns in Connecticut, one of which is Salisbury, and 20 in Massachusetts. The Berkshire and Litchfield Hills that bound the watershed share a distinct regional culture and provide natural borders for the proposed Heritage Area. At the direction of Congress, the National Park Service has completed a study of the area and determined that it qualifies for designation as a National Heritage Area. Authorization bills are presently before Congress.

Where Are We Now? At press time, all indications are that Congress will approve the designation of the up-per Housatonic watershed as a National Heritage Area, a major step forward in preserving and celebrating the very special cultural, historical and natural heritage of the area. The 2005 Senate bill was recently passed, with minor amendments, by the House of Representatives and is now on the Senate calendar for final approval. “Designation would not only bring funding and technical assistance, but also an increased sense of identity in the bi-state area," noted Ward Belcher, a Director of the non-profit management entity. Ron Jones

Heritage Area Update

The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 2

Newsletter Editor

Elaine Hecht Design & Production

Lou Hecht

Boxed set of 8 note cards with 4 different Salisbury scenes

$13 or 2/$25

Salisbury— Historic Impressions history and archival photos of Salisbury

$25

The Central New England Railroad

1867-1967 $8

Holly Knives 1915 catalog

$9

Arsenal of the Revolution

$15

Salisbury—From Primitive Frontier to

Flourishing Town by town historian

Norm Sills $20

Short Walks Around Salisbury

and A Guide to Birding

in the Northwest Corner $3 each

Publications of Local Interest Available at the Academy Building, Salisbury

Weekday mornings or by phone 435-0566

A Short History of Salisbury $9

The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 7

It was déjà vu all over again at the Holley-Williams House outdoor jazz concert. Two years ago in August--same time, same place, same musicians--a battering rainstorm, driven by gusty winds, chal-lenged the evening’s performance. Audience and musicians took quick defensive action: hanging flaps on the tent, pushing chairs to the center, wrapping instruments in plastic bags (except for the piano), and bringing out the towels.

Trio “Jazz It Up” at Holley House

When he performed

Venuti’s “Wild Dog,” Stan

Kurtis demon-strated his jo-vial virtuosity

by playing four strings at once, wrapping his bow, upside

down, around the violin. Alan Simon, who has recorded and

toured extensively with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, performed two

solo jazz selections.

When not playing oboe in the jazz trio, Judith Dansker performs

chamber music at the Library of Congress, Alice Tully Hall, and

Carnegie Recital Hall.

The rain continued, and so did the lively con-cert, with compositions by Alec Wilder, Benjamin Britten, Astor Piazzolla, George Gershwin, and Joe Venuti, performed with sensitivity and verve by Alan Simon on piano, Judith Dansker on oboe and English horn, and Stan Kurtis playing jazz and classical violin. Between numbers, the trio related personal stories, often humorous, about their early band experiences. Elaine Hecht

Salisbury Association president Bill Morrill (right) joined Bill Binzen at the opening of

Mr. Binzen’s spring photography exhibit at the Academy Building.

Holiday Events The Holley-Williams House Museum will celebrate fall and winter holidays with several traditional programs. Lou Bucceri will regale the youngsters with his Halloween stories. Watch for the date. The Friends of Scoville Library and the Holley-Williams House will offer Christmas readings on December 2 at 4:00 in the library’s newly renovated commu-nity room. Selections will include excerpts from Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and Stanley Wein-traub's "The Story of the World War One Christmas Truce," among others. Various members of the Salisbury community will participate in presentation of the readings. December 16 will see the annual Victorian Christmas Concert, led by renowned oboist Judith Dansker. Refreshments will accom-pany the last two events. Macey Levin

Photo Show

The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 6 The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 3

A model of old-time Lakeville has been on dis-play at the Academy Building for several years and many visitors have enjoyed the detail and charm of this miniature village. In the near future, the Lake-ville model will be replaced by a diorama of the vil-lage of Salisbury. The Salisbury model was created over a period of years by Don Buckley, Dave Heck, Jack Rogers, and Joanne Taber. The tiny buildings were made from scratch, mostly from styrene plastic, a few from wood. Don Buckley built the beautiful build-ings of the Town Hall, the Congregational Church, the Academy Building, Scoville Memorial Library, the CNE Railroad structures, and others. Jack Rogers made the model of the Episcopal Church,

Salisbury in Miniature

complete with stained glass windows, as well as other buildings. Dave and Joanne completed the remaining structures. The diorama depicts turn-of-the-century Salisbury, with some license taken as to exact dates. For example, the White Hart Inn (previously known as the “Lawn Cottage”) changed around that time and we modeled its “old” configuration with the present “tap room” and the rest of the original structure. In another “stretch” of time, we modeled the Town Hall based on its reconfiguration in l913, when it changed from a Vic-torian building to the white one with columns, with which we are more familiar. When the Salisbury diorama is in place, we hope visitors of all ages will stop by the Academy Building to see it and enjoy it. Dave Heck

A portion of the new diorama of Salisbury village; miniature figures to be added

Saturday morning, June 3: With a steady all-night downpour continuing into the morning hours, it appeared that the Land Trust’s annual bird walk at the Schlesinger Bird Preserve was in jeopardy. As luck would have it, shortly before 8:00 a.m., the scheduled meeting time, the rain took a time-out, and a small collection of assembled boots,

rain jackets, and binoculars wended its way along the preserve’s newly mown path. Under the eagle eye of Land Trust member Tom Schaefer, birders spotted and/or heard quite a few species, including the Gray catbird, Veery, Cedar waxwing, Scarlet tananger, Red-eyed vireo, Blue-winged warbler, Prairie warbler, Chestnut-sided warbler, American redstart, Common yellowthroat, Indigo bunting and, for the first time at the preserve, the Chipping sparrow and the Black-billed cuckoo, which is declining at one of the highest rates of any bird that nests in Connecticut. About an hour into the walk, the showers returned in earnest, and the small group headed to the nearest dry spot for coffee, cookies, and conversation. Elaine Hecht

Rained Out—Almost

The spring work party included

(standing, left to right) Jerry Jamin, Claudia Jamin, John Landon, Jaye Landon,

Tom Key, Bill Morrill, Jim Dresser, and Dave Heck;

(kneeling, left to right) George Massey, Gloria

Miller, and John Arnold; (behind camera) Lou Hecht.

On a beautiful spring morning, twelve volunteers participated in the Salisbury Land Trust’s continuing effort to eventually rid the Dark Hollow property of invasive plants. Invasive species can have a direct impact on an ecosys-tem by reducing or eliminating a native organism that can’t cope with the new species. This year, the spring clean-up targeted Asian bush honeysuckle in the vicinity of Dark Hollow Road. Removal was accomplished with the help of shovels, digging axes, come-a-longs and just plain brawn to get the plants out by their roots. The uprooted plants were collected and piled up for removal to a remote spot on the property. More work parties will certainly be needed, as will enthusiastic volunteers.

Work Party at Dark Hollow

Black-billed cuckoo

The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 4

October brings a new art exhibit to the Academy Building on Main Street in Salisbury. Seven out-standing area artists will show their work at the Salis-bury Land Trust’s Invitational Landscape Painting Ex-hibition. The paintings are for sale, and some of the proceeds benefit the work of the Land Trust. The public is invited to a meet-the-artists recep-tion on Saturday, October 7, from 4:00 to 6:00. The exhibit runs through October: viewing hours are 9:30-12:30 weekdays and 11:00-1:00 weekends. Margot Trout, who organizes the show each year, has selected a group of landscape painters whose work is new to the Land Trust exhibit.

Making his first appearance in Salisbury, John Mulcahy has exhibited his paintings widely in Massa-chusetts and Connecticut. He works exclusively from direct observation of the landscape. Francis Cunningham’s work has been seen in solo and group exhibitions at major galleries in New York, Washington, and Copenhagen. Premier coup paint-ing—-a work completed in one sitting—is of particu-lar interest to him, and several will be included in the exhibit.

Art Inspired by Nature

Lennart Swede Ahrstrom, who studied with artists Ed Fales, Margot Trout, and Curtis Hanson, has pre-sented his work in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Nora Rivkin, who lives in Millerton, paints the landscape of her surrounding area. Her work has appeared in galleries in Housatonic, Millerton, and Salisbury, and recently in New York City. Also new to the Land Trust exhibit is Sarah Savier Pike, whose art education includes an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her work has been seen at the Berkshire Museum and in juried shows in Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. Jane Rubin, who exhibited in the Land Trust show in 1999, is having a return engagement. Ms. Rubin’s paintings have appeared in juried shows in Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey. She uses brushes, oil sticks, pencils, twigs and fingers to create a tapestry of nature with all its color and light. Reza Pike has shown his work in the New England area, including in Vermont (his home state) and in Massachusetts at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. His work has appeared widely in juried shows in the Philadelphia area.

John Mulcahy Reza Pike

Artists in the Show

Land Trust Art Show Opens October 7

The Salisbury Association Newsletter/page 5