All was calm (sort of) in 2012

CORNWALL — It was a much-needed year without any catastrophes. For Cornwall, though, 2012 was not about putting up its feet. The town continued to look for ways to be better prepared, from options for communicating and helping neighbors to more work to stabilize the Mill Brook shoreline in the center of West Cornwall.Just some of the newsmakers for the past year, in no particular order:Ground was broken on the town’s first senior housing complex, Bonney Brook. Trinity Conference Center closed, with owner Trinity Wall Street promising it would give considerable thought to the future of the large and unique property.The Verizon cell tower, approved for a site above Popple Swamp Road, hit a snag with ownership of the access road mired in historical mystery.The Cornwall Conservation Trust celebrated 25 years by continuing to develop a trail system on conservation land.Maybe not as exciting, but with potential for a better future, was a continued focus on energy issues, from a series of hands-on gardening workshops to home energy audit incentives and work toward a fuel oil consortium.Emergency preparedness continued with the training of a Civilian Emergency Response Team and continued efforts by the Cornwall Association toward communication and educating the public.The Republican Town Committee was revitalized and began offering workshops explaining what’s involved in serving on various town boards, committees and commissions.An effort was launched to renovate the North Cornwall Meeting House.The Cornwall Historical Society offered a diverse look at the history of local forests with its summer exhibit, Out of the Woods.An economic development commission and the Cornwall Committee for Seniors (a name updated to remove the word “aging”) were created.The quasi-park next to the Covered Bridge, a victim of the replacement of the Lower River Road bridge at the end of 2011, was turned into a real “pocket park” thanks to the efforts of local businesses and the town.The Cornwall Foundation donated four defibrillators to the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance, giving Cornwall the status of a “heart-safe community.”The mill rate rose by 2.1 in response to a large drop in property assessments. But tennis great Ivan Lendl took the town to court, seeking relief from a nearly $4 million boost to his property assessment.Extensive improvements to Great Hill and Great Hollow roads, paid for mostly with stimulus funding, were finally started, and finished.The new school year brought all-day kindergarten and a wonderful stage performance of “Honk! Jr.” In March, a barn at Stone Wall Dairy on Route 7 was hit by a car (not the first time).The foundation was moved about an inch.July brought the controversial firing of Amelia de Neergaard, children’s librarian at Cornwall Library. It became an opportunity to work on a solution to acknowledge the value of community relationships and the desire to keep the library a central part of Cornwall. She was reinstated in a new role that focused on her artistic talents.Yelping Hill Association opened its enclave and revealed its “secrets” from its colorful past at an open house.August brought the recognition of a young hero, seventh-grader Sky Trapella, who was given the key to Medford, Mass., after saving a toddler who nearly drowned in a pond there.A lupus fundraiser and the annual Agricultural Fair in September set the tone for the sharing of Cornwall’s homegrown bounty.The community spirit carried over in October, with the Cornwall Consolidated School Walk-a-thon. The end of the month brought a big sigh of relief as yet another “Halloween storm” approached — but left only some downed trees and a week of power outages for some but not most customers. Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department volunteers headed to Fairfield County to help search homes for victims of Superstorm Sandy.A parade and blessing of pets was held in the village, and Olympic swimmer Tyler Clary, the significant other of Cornwall’s Caroline Kosciusko, visited Cornwall Consolidated School students, bringing along his gold medal and letting them pass it around.In November, a slew of workers and volunteers at the Little Guild animal shelter rescued, fostered and worked on the adoptions of dozens of cats and dogs from storm-ravaged West Virginia. The effort would continue through the weeks ahead — and weather the theft of a cash box full of donations and adoption fees.In November, voters cast their ballots for president and legislators at the remarkable rate of about 84 percent.