November/December 2019

Hello Everyone, Brrrrrrrr,
Winter is certainly sweeping in quickly here in New England and Jani Golding and her crews have been working hard to get Topsmead ready for this. She has had some help recently from some students (and their teacher) from Explorations Charter School. Some hardy FTSF volunteers (as ably orchestrated by Marylou Gottler) have organized and been overseeing the work by this student group on Friday mornings at Topsmead. You may have seen them there?  The students are learning some landscaping skills, such as how to plant trees, and gaining school credit while they do so.

In this and other ways we have been busier than ever this fall, even though I thought things would calm down after the summer season! Other FTSF happenings in the past month or so include:

• A very lovely and successful evening with our Journey Through Time event at Wisdom House this past weekend. Thanks to Jenny Riggs and Meg Begley and their extensive support crew for throwing this great party! With ticket sales and a silent auction, the un-official result is proceeds of over $3,000.00! 
• The proceeds from our fundraiser will help support our "Bob Orintas Remembers Topsmead" Oral/Video project. Our professional historian, Christina Volpe has already recorded over 25 interviews with Bob Orintas about his summers at Topsmead and his memories of not just Edith Chase but the people who lived with her and worked with her to manage Topsmead as a working farm. Through this project we will get a broad historical record of the times and the people who helped make Topsmead what it is today. Costs for this effort include professional editing and production of the interviews and creating a video that can be widely shared with visitors to Topsmead as well as the general public
• Our Annual Meeting in October was well attended, and the proposed slate of 2020 officers was approved/voted in. Everyone truly enjoyed the presentation by Christina Volpe about our oral/video history project and what we will gain from this that so enriches the information we have about Edith Chase and Topsmead.
• Several FTSF volunteers were also out at Topsmead recently helping the CT DEEP collect data on attendance there. DEEP has been counting cars throughout the past year. Our efforts will help them more accurately understand how many people there are per vehicle and thus actual visitors to Topsmead. We are eager to see this data too!
• In the ‘last but not least’ department, IF all goes well, DEEP will install some new railings at the Chase House near the dovecote and the back veranda before the year is out. This will create a safer, more stable walking environment for everyone visiting there.  FTSF has been advocating for this improvement throughout the year and we are optimistic it will be completed soon.

Stay warm!  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We have so much to be grateful for.
Carol Gould, FTSF President