Date: Fri 26-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Newtown-Forest-Association

Full Text:

Newtown Forest Association Takes Title To Newtown's Highest Point

(with photo)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Ever wonder what it's like to stand atop the highest point in Newtown? You

need not wonder anymore.

The 830-foot peak off Great Hill Road is now the property of the Newtown

Forest Association and is open to the public. The 86-acre site was willed to

the association by Josephine H. Holcombe, who died this past January.

The Forest Association held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon,

celebrating the acquisition. According to the association's honorary director,

Doug Rogers, the Forest Association has acquired nearly 1,000 acres of open

space in Newtown.

"Other towns have had to buy land. Newtown is fortunate to have people who

want to preserve the space for the birds and the bees and the animals."

The Holcombe property is full of trails, has a pond, and boasts some of the

best views in Fairfield County. It would make a great place to star gaze, Mr

Rogers said.

Mrs Holcombe's gift helps to conserve Newtown's open space for the future, and

forest association members say her charitable actions put her into the

category of some of Newtown's other great philanthropists like Glover, Edmond,

Hawley, Strook and Nettleton.

"I'm not sure if there's anyone left with that ability. Not many towns can

boast of that many people who contributed to the form of a town," he said.

Mrs Holcombe, who lived on the hill since 1938, also gave acreage to the

forest association in 1967 (14 acres) and 1987 (66 acres). The association was

also given $25,000 and the buildings on the property, which it will use for

its headquarters, maintenance equipment storage, as well as security.

"Mrs Holcombe has given the Forest Association land in the past. This gift is

the icing on the cake," said president Wes Gillingham.

Mrs Holcombe's husband, the late William Holcombe, was a first selectman

during the 1940s and served the community in many ways until his death in

1983.

Mrs Holcombe also gave 26 acres of land to the Danbury Hospital Trust Fund,

Inc, including 8.1 acres fronting Great Hill Road and another 18.2 around the

corner on Birch Hill Road (at a depth of 300 feet back). According to John

Hoffer, trust fund president, there is a plan to move the land to an anonymous

buyer, who has no intention of developing the land.

"The property has a great deal of value as contiguous use for the forest

association. We are taking the position that we would like to move the

property to somebody that feels the same way that we do," he said Tuesday. "It

seems like it would make a beautiful resource to the community."

From the top of Holcombe Hill, an observer can see New Milford and the

Litchfield Hills to the north, and to the east, Newtown's landscape with

Southbury and the Oxford Airport off in the distance.

At one time, Holcombe Hill featured a glimpse of Long Island Sound to the

south, but an overgrowth of trees over the past 50 years has obstructed the

view.

The Holcombes once offered a large building on the property to the town, but

were turned down and the building was eventually torn down.

The Newtown Forest Association is a non-profit, tax exempt corporation

established to collect and hold donations of land as open space. It is the

oldest land trust in Connecticut. Several conservation-minded residents formed

the NFA in 1923, setting an example for several other towns to follow. There

are currently about 95 land trusts in Connecticut.