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FRIENDS OF TOPSMEAD STATE FOREST
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  • Projects/Volunteer
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    • Topsmead State Forest Map
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Friends of Topsmead State Forest

Discover a hidden treasure in the Litchfield hills of Connecticut
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Quick Links
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> Projects/Volunteer Opportunities
> Visitor Information & Trail Maps 
​(State Forest and Ecology Maps)
> Memorial Tree Program

​> Project Wish List
> CT Dept of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP)
​> Covid-19 Guidelines for State Forests
​
> Frequently Asked Questions
> Friends of Topsmead Board 2021-2022
Your donations to Friends of Topsmead will help preserve Topsmead's past for the future by:
  • Expanding/maintaining the butterfly and cottage gardens
  • Monitoring and maintaining of the songbird nesting boxes
  • Building a boardwalk over the wetlands on the Ecology Trail
  • Cleaning and restoring furniture in the Chase Cottage
  • Hiring a restoration specialist to repair the large painting over the mantle in the Cottage living room
  • Adding benches to the Welcome Center and trails
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If you enjoy our newsletter and Topsmead, please consider becoming a member or making a donation. We rely on these funds for our projects and programs.
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Rear view of Chase Cottage. Drawing by Schell Lewis 1924
In 1917, Edith Morton Chase received a gift from her father, 16 acres of pristine woods in the Litchfield hills.  Today, Topsmead is a 510 acre state forest, gifted from Ms. Chase in 1972 to the citizens of Connecticut to enjoy and preserve. Her legacy includes diverse landscapes, including bike and nature trails, formal gardens, unique bird habitats, and a meticulously crafted English Tudor style cottage well appointed with her international collection of art and antiques.​ ​...more
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Our Mission
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Friends of Topsmead State Forest  (FTSF) is a volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to work with the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to provide programs and activities to promote, preserve, protect, and maintain the history, heritage and environmental integrity of Topsmead, thereby supporting the wishes of Edith Morton Chase as put forth in her will.
Become a Friend of Topsmead

Topsmead Events &Activities

REMEMBERING TOPSMEAD

Conversations with
Bob Orintas
Robert Orintas


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​​
​Some Lifelong Friends

​ Miss Edith had some lifelong friendships, a few of which began during her years at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington from 1907 to 1910.
 
DOROTHY WETHERALD
She attended Miss Porter’s. She lived in NYC with her mother. After her mother’s death, she moved to Beach Bay, Mass., then later to Marblehead Mass. She would stay at Topsmead for about one week each summer, usually came around the time when Miss Porter’s School would be holding their annual reunions. Later in life, Miss Wetherald adopted a daughter and would also bring her to Topsmead. She was about the same age as my brother and Barbara Abramson, my future sister–in–law whose family rented the Buell cottage at the farm; she would be a playmate of ours during her stay.
 
Miss Edith, Miss Lucy, and Miss Mary would also travel to Massachusetts each summer to visit Miss Wetherald and tour the area.    
 
KYLLIKKI POHJALA
She also attended Miss Porter’s and came from Helsinki, Finland. During their 1935 tour of Europe, the ladies stayed with her for about a week before they visited Russia and then again on their return to Helsinki. Miss Pohjala was interested in health care and social politics in Finland.  She was called the mother of the Finish Health Insurance Act. She started out as a newspaper reporter but then received a nursing degree and served in the 1918 Finish Civil war and the Estonian war of independence of 1918-1920.
 > read more
Musing from Top o' the Meadow
by Margaret Hunt

Making Tracks | March 2023
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Photos by Margaret Hunt


Trying to make up for our tame winter, March roared in like a lion on the heels of a winter storm and dropped eight to ten inches of snow across our northwestern CT landscape.  Two days after the storm, I made tracks over to Topsmead to play in the snow.  No such luck.   March, with its moody temperatures and increasing hours of sunlight, was already warming things up. The snow was disappearing fast.  Blame it on the approaching vernal (fresh/new) equinox (equal night) that arrives March 20 and marks the turning point when daylight hours equal darkness hours. 
 
When I arrived at Topsmead, the dirt surfaces of Chase Road and the parking lot were already snowless and softening in the midday sunshine.  Clearly this wasn’t going to be a glorious afternoon of tromping through the snow.  Nevertheless, I struck out across the fields en route to the butterfly garden to look for tracks that would tell the story of who had been traversing the Topsmead landscape.
 -read complete Musings essay-
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Ways to Support Topsmead

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Provide or Sponsor an Item on our
Project Wish List!

Plants, mulch, benches, cleaning supplies, etc.
​ see entire list here
Topsmead in winter photo by Tom Holzel
  • Home
  • Events
  • Donate
    • Friends of Topsmead General Fund
    • Memorial Tree Fund
  • Projects/Volunteer
  • History
    • Remembering Topsmead
  • Membership
  • Contact
  • Musings
  • Visitor Info
    • Topsmead State Forest Map
  • FAQ
  • Chase Family Holiday Cards