First Autumn Bazaar Highlights Organics, Education

By KENDRA BOBOWICK

Published: Sep 29, 2006 12:00 am

By Kendra Bobowick

Floral scents of lavender baths, rustling dried flowers, and the twang of blue-grass folk riffs will welcome guests to the townâs first Autumn Bazaar, an eco-symposium and harvest festival hosted by Holmes Fine Gardens. The bazaar will be on October 7, from 10 am to 6 pm, at 144 Mt Pleasant Road.

Organizer Dan Holmes, nursery owner and landscape designer said, âItâs a new slant on an old fall festival idea, and festive. It will be a farmersâ marketlike atmosphere.â The day promises vendors, merchants, and representatives of different groups, including Trout Unlimited, that can provide information and demonstrations for gardening, organic, and agricultural practices.

Pondering what guests will find at the bazaar that will fill the nursery grounds on October 7, Mr Holmes reached for a flyer from one of the merchants scheduled to attend.

According to the brochure, âLavender is a natural relaxant and stress reliever.â Herbal remedies and many other sources of information will be available. Local speakers and vendors will offer organic recipes, details to protect the garden from deer while attracting butterflies, and hints for growing plump vegetables.

Mr Holmes sees the bazaar as both community- and education-focused.

âI am trying to get some likeminded people together,â he said. âItâs a coming together of related businesses.â

The fall festival also satisfies some of Mr Holmesâs business vision.

He said, âFrom the start I wanted the nursery to be a hub for gardeners.â He hopes the bazaar will further support the services of local agricultural, ecological, and organic efforts, he said.

Other information intertwined with the childrenâs crafts and music will be tips about recycling practices and benefits, alternatives to pesticides, and conversations with local growers who will discuss deer-resistant plants and organic products including soaps. Also mingling with guests will be James Belden, representing both Trout Unlimited and the Pootatuck Water Association.

Sharing her excitement about the upcoming weekend, assistant nursery manager Carolyn Oggeri said, âThere is enough here for young families, someone with a new homeâ¦the highlight is organic education.â

Mr Holmes opened Holmes Fine Gardens in the spring. Next weekendâs Autumn Bazaar welcomes guests into his plant nursery and landscape center focused around a raw and weathered wooden cottage filled with terra cotta planters, dried herbs, and rafters adorned with rusted gardening tools

Visitors can enjoy live music, food, pumpkins and mums, and childrenâs crafts while picking up earth-friendly ideas from representatives from the organic industry and local agricultural merchants, including Shorttâs Farm, McLaughlin Vineyards, The Little Green Barn and Our Green House. Author Sydney Eddison will be signing her new book, Gardens to Go: Creating and Designing a Container Garden.

For more information about Holmes Fine Gardens and its other autumn outings visit the website, holmesfinegardens.com.

Reach the nursery by phone at 270-3331.

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It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Thank you for pointing out the trail access provisions included in the BOS motion—it’s an important clarification that deserves more attention in this conversation. If the development is, in fact, required to provide permanent free public access and commit to ongoing maintenance of this section of the Rochambeau Trail, that is a remarkably beneficial outcome for the town. oIt’s not every day that a private project shoulders the long-term burden of preserving and caring for a public historical corridor at no taxpayer cost—especially one that previously had no formal access, upkeep, or visibility. Let’s be honest: the idea that the only way to protect history is by preventing any development nearby is a rigid and unworkable standard. What’s being proposed here appears to strike a rare balance—historic preservation, public access, and smart development all rolled into one. That’s not a loss its a win. So rather than allowing a handful of voices to derail progress under the banner of “historic purity,” maybe it’s time to acknowledge the reality: this trail is better off with structured stewardship and visibility than remaining an overgrown ghost on old maps. Let’s move forward. Bring in the easement, bring in the public access—and yes, bring in the bulldozers!!! Progress and preservation can coexist. Let’s not let the NIMBY use fear or nostalgia keep us stuck in the past.

Discusses Rochambeau Trail And 6 Commerce Road

I've heard that several people are under the impression that the public might be banned from the Rochambeau Trail. Points 2 and 3 from the BOS motion (included in full below) make it clear that public access to the trail is part of the requirements for the developer. From what I understand, it requires free public access to the trail in perpetuity. Technically, this could be argued to be a "payment-in-kind," that attempts to balance public good with overall town growth. We can argue about weather that balance is acceptable and how the trail may be affected, but with the understanding that the trail is expected to be maintained as a publicly accessible trail regardless. July 15, 2024 Board of Selectmen approved motion: Discontinuance of Reservoir Road: Selectman Cruson moved the resolution: Resolved, that the Newtown Board of Selectmen, in accordance with Section 2-115(d)(8) of the Town Charter and Conn. Gen. Stat. §13a-49, and subject to the conditions set forth below, hereby discontinues an unimproved portion of Reservoir Road described as “Portion of Reservoir Road to be Discontinued “on that certain survey map which will be recorded on the Newtown Land Records titled “Map Showing Portion of Reservoir Road to be Discontinued” dated August, 2023 and revised September 15, 2023, and certified substantially correct by Gregory Szyszowski of SLR (the “Survey Map”), said discontinuance contingent and effective only upon the completion of the following: 1. The approval of an application for the development of land in the manner described in a letter from Attorney Thomas W. Beecher to First Selectman A. Jeffrey Capeci and Members of the Board of Selectmen dated May 30, 2024, pursuant to the “Residential Open Space Development” regulations of the Borough of Newtown by the Borough of Newtown Zoning Commission, and construction of that approval project within the timeframes required for special exception approval; 2. The inclusion of the discontinued portion of the road as part of the final Declaration of Conservation Restriction; 3. The conveyance of a mutually agreeable public easement to the Town of Newtown for pedestrian, bicycling, equestrian, and all other passive recreational uses (to exclude the use of motorized vehicles except as may be necessary by the Town or its designee to effectuate the purpose of the easement), and for municipal utility purposes; Be it further resolved, that Castle Hill Real Estate Holdings, LLC., its successors and assigns, shall not use any portion of the discontinued road as a vehicular road or access way to and from any developed portions of the property. Be it further finally resolved, that should any of the foregoing contingencies not occur, then the discontinuance contemplated herein shall not become effective and this resolution will become null and void. From: https://www.newtown-ct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif12216/f/minutes/bos_7-15-24_min-_att_final.pdf

Is this paper road (roads that only exist on paper map but not in reality) even owned by the Town? Many roads that predate the Town's road standards are privately owned and were never accepted by the Town, such as many of the nonconforming roads around the lake communities where the property owners own right to the center line. That is something we had to deal with when working on the Roads Ordinance a few years back. We also had to deal with a private road to run the utilities to the new SHS.

For anyone who wants to know, I cant post a link here, but Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority has an entire website. Look up "HRRA whats in whats out"

I Get It!

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First Autumn Bazaar Highlights Organics, Education

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