Winter Solstice: A Letter from the Board President

Today, December 21st, at 11:28am comes Winter Solstice, "the rebirth of light," and a day of remembrance and appreciation for what has recently been accomplished in our outside world. With this day, we know, as our ancestors have for millennia, that for the next six months we will enjoy more sunlight daily until summer arrives in late June. As we begin to anticipate these longer days, we also reflect with appreciation the calendar chapter of our lives that is concluding.

For the New Canaan Land Trust, these recent months have been particularly gratifying to our members and to our Board. The official opening of the Sivermine Fowler Preserve in October was festive and well attended by all ages. This event was closely followed in early November by our 50th Anniversary Membership Meeting, graciously co-hosted by Grace Farms. We were fortunate to have a wise and relevant keynote speaker, Adrian Benepe from the Trust for Public Land, who stressed the importance of open space to our communities and to our health. We have just had completed a study of open space in New Canaan, by graduate students from the Yale School of Forestry, which promises to be a significant guidepost for the Land Trust and the town over the next decade. And we have recently elected four new Board Members, who are already helping strengthen our organization. In addition, we are fortunate to have a new very capable and enthusiastic Executive Director, who has been on board since this summer. We will continue our work as stewards for the future, as the need for open space for our town and for its citizens becomes ever more necessary and relevant today.

The "old ones" had their technology (see Stonehenge) and celebrated Winter Solstice; we do the same and appreciate what can be accomplished by volunteers, team work, public and private partnerships, insightful townspeople at non-profits, and increasingly, by our young people. The latter gives us perhaps the most satisfaction. It has been an outstanding fall for the NCLT and we strongly urge you to spend some time outside. You will be repaid in many ways.