![Discover The Pollinator Meadow Project](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/the-pollinator-meadow-is-located-on-the-campus-of-salisbury-school.jpg?id=50681198&width=980&quality=90)
The pollinator meadow is located on the campus of Salisbury School.
Photo by Alexander Wilburn
There is a curious hillside at the Salisbury School facing Route 44.
Students Sachem Ramos and Russell Judge are the minds behind what they have dubbed the Pollinator Meadow Project. The two spent their senior year at the high school working with the land to increase the biodiversity on their campus.
In the fall of 2022, Salisbury School science teacher Brooke Niermann debuted a sustainability course that relied on project-based learning. The open-ended class encouraged students to answer the question, “How do we make Salisbury School more sustainable?” with real-world projects instead of more traditional assessments.
Ramos and Judge wanted to create something for their school that would have a lasting effect. At first, they didn’t know where to begin, and simple brainstorming sessions with their teacher were the most informative exercises.
“It took a while, but we got to the idea of creating a meadow,” said Judge. “We had no idea how we were going to do it, but we knew that was the end goal.
“Then we went to this conference, and that’s where things really started to kick off.”
In early February 2023, Ramos and Judge attended a presentation hosted by the biodiversity awareness organization Silva et Pratum started by Jeb and Sabina Breece in Salisbury. Mike Nadeau, a published author and one of the leading authorities in the field of sustainable organic and ethical land care strategies, gave a talk titled as part of the Bad Grass symposium series at the White White Inn in Salisbury, expounding on issues related to European turf. This species of grass is regularly manicured, thus it becomes a monoculture — an environment that only supports one species of plant. Additionally, it consumes dangerous chemicals, maintenance time, and excess funds.
The solution is to transform turf into native meadows that grow many types of plants beneficial to local wildlife.
Ramos elaborated on his intentions. “I just wanted to plant native plants, thinking how we could increase carbon dioxide intake and increase oxygen on campus.Then, we went to that meeting and the project boosted off from there.”
To get their vision into practice, the two set up consultations with Nadeau and multiple administrators at the Salisbury School, including the head of school, the CFO, and the heads of the maintenance and grounds crews.
In the first week of March 2023, Niermann remembers Judge and Ramos trekking the hill and hand-planting flags with care. “Sachem just looked at the land slope. He had a natural eye for design. It was incredible,” she said.
The two had to flag the land to demonstrate their idea visually, “We flagged a little more than three acres, which wasn’t the entire hillside,” said Ramos. “Then our headmaster said, ‘Why aren’t we doing the whole lawn?’”
In May, the school scalp-mowed six acres of the hillside. It deep-cleaned the lawn, to revert it to a more original state, prime for a wildflower meadow. On July 11, the meadow had its last vinegar spray treatment, so it was ready for seeding on July 24.
There will be about 45 species of plants, and the meadow will be mowed once a year (starting in spring 2024) for maintenance. Students will participate in hand-weeding.
Judge described plans to put educational signage in the meadow so students can enjoy the space, either in an outdoor class setting or just for recreation, and learn about the project’s details. Ramos noted that a new chapel will be built in the coming years, so the thriving meadow and the completed construction will create an inviting scene.
Though the project came together in a condensed development period in the spring months of this year, Ramos and Judge have always had a slight awareness of its need.
Ramos said, “My junior year, [Hugh] Cheney, a science teacher at Salisbury, brought our class out to look at the meadow.”
They learned about its restrictive monoculture. He continued, “I never thought we would end up turning it into a wildflower meadow.”
Judge had a similar experience. “My junior year, we learned about what’s going on in the world with environmental science. It was super depressing to sit there and just listen, not being able to do anything,” he said. So, when he learned about Niermann’s sustainability class, he jumped at the opportunity to combine learning and project-based change.
The meadow will be a type of living lab for future classes of Salisbury students. Niermann is clearly proud of Ramos and Judge; she said, “I think a lot of the learning happened through the failures, but the boys worked their tails off and had a lot of great support.”
Dan Moran, left, and Wiley Fails, right, walk down the fairway to the green with a competitor from Lakeview High School, center. Moran shot 52 on nine holes and Fails shot 57 during Housy's first preseason golf match.
LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School took on Lakeview High School for a Berkshire League preseason match Wednesday, Aug. 28.
Hosted at Lichfield Country Club, the two teams put forth six official golfers to pair up in three foursomes with the lowest four scores contributing to team totals. Additional players from each side matched against each other for practice play.
HVRHS coach Peter Vermilyea was excited to see his team hit the links for the first time this season. Although the match did not count toward Berkshire League rankings, player scores from the meet will contribute to the season totals for state rankings.
The nine-hole course was recovering from recent heavy rains. Lakeview coach Rob Gollow described conditions as “very soft” because “it was pretty much half underwater last week.”
It was about 83 degrees at tee time with high humidity and no breeze. Mature trees provided a welcomed shade around the course.
Lakeview won the meet with a score of 163 to HVRHS’s 202.
Jonas Johnson chipping onto the green. Johnson scored 47 on nine holes Wednesday, Aug. 28 during Housy's first golf match of the new schoolyear. Photo by Riley Klein
Lakeview leader Ryan Blasavage medaled in the meet with a score of 38. John Gilbert shot 39, Vincent Salvietti 40 and Grace Thompson 46.
HVRHS was led by Jake Bosio who shot a 46 over nine holes. Jonas Johnson shot 47, Dan Moran 52 and Wiley Fails 57.
LAKEVILLE — Ann Marie Nonkin, 80, of Millerton Road, passed away Aug. 25, 2024, at Connecticut Hospice in Branford. She was the loving wife of the late Dr. Paul Nonkin.
She was born April 12, 1944 in Queens, New York, the daughter of the late John and Ann Vallen.
She was a medical technician for Manhattan Eye and Ear for many years.
She was an active Parishioner in years past at St. Mary’s Church in Lakeville, where she ran many activities. Alongside that, she was an avid gardener.
She is survived by one cousin, Joan Jalbert.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, Aug. 30 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church the Parish of St. Martin of Tours in Lakeville.
A burial will be on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island.
Memorial contributions can be made to The Little Guild, 285 Sharon Goshen Turnpike in West Cornwall, CT 06796.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
CORNWALL — Long standing tax collector Jean Bouteiller will step down at the end of her two-year term this November.
With no qualified residents stepping forward to run for the position, the Board of Selectmen discussed the prospect of making the role an appointed job at a meeting Aug. 20.
Tax collectors must pass several exams and serve in the role for three years before becoming certified. With two-year terms, it would take multiple elections for a newcomer to build up experience.
Many Connecticut towns have made the change to appointing professional tax collectors as opposed to electing residents. The selectmen motioned to add this proposed change to the agenda for the annual town meeting this fall. A draft of the ordinance was sent to the town attorney for review.
First Selectman Gordon Ridgway noted that Kent is in a similar position with its tax collector stepping down. It may be possible to collaborate with Kent to appoint a full time individual to cover both towns.
“It’s always good to partner with our neighbors when we can,” said Ridgway.
Bears
Encounters with black bears remain frequent in Cornwall. Joggers have been intercepted, farmers have lost crops, and trash bins have been ransacked.
The selectmen reported farms on Cream Hill have experienced heavy impact.
“Bears are definitely enjoying the sweet corn up there,” said Selectman Jen Markow.
Ridgway requested residents submit damage reports to Town Hall. The documentation will be compiled to show the extent of the issue to towns in the state that do not experience bear encounters.
“I think there will need to be an education program for places that don’t have as many bear,” he said. “The population is growing exponentially.”
Hans Pedersen, age 7, of Sharon, showed his Guernsey, Paisley, at the Dutchess County Fair on Saturday, Aug. 24. The calf was born Dec. 12, 2023, and is from Coon Brothers Farm in Amenia.
RHINEBECK, N.Y. — The Dutchess County 9th annual Agricultural Forum was held on Aug. 22 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.
Local farmers, elected officials, and representatives from conservancy organizations attended the forum to discuss agricultural history and how the industry is a critical component of the county’s economic success, generating over $45 million in sales.
A. Gregg Pulver, Dutchess County Comptroller and farmer, began the forum by introducing representatives of the agricultural community and elected officials who share the same vision: “the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, mechanical and domestic arts, fine arts, and allied sciences through education, instruction, display, and competition.”
The Agricultural Society is a non-profit corporation with 80 members and 16 directors on its board. The group oversees all aspects of the well-known Dutchess County Fair and handles all off-season events.
They receive no funding from Dutchess County or other local governments. According to their website, “All agricultural fairs in New York State receive premium money through NYS Ag & Markets. The money received from NYS Ag & Markets plus additional funds donated by the Society is given to the Dutchess County Cornell Cooperative Extension for 4-H premiums.” Three-quarters of their annual income comes from the Dutchess County Fair, yet all profits they earn from operations are returned to their facilities.
However, during the forum, many farmers discuss their struggles with maintaining support from local communities and residents.
“You can buy stuff from Amazon that you didn’t even know existed,” Eric Ooms, New York State Farm Bureau Vice-President, said. “There is stuff you can buy now that you never could get before, so you don’t have the local support that you once had, that, frankly, we all miss.”
Ooms discussed the death of dairy farms and how he has been seeing a major decrease in the industry. “It’s sad for me that there are fewer dairy farms, and there used to be a ton,” Ooms said. “But the positive is that people are doing things that would have been crazy to even think about trying 20 years ago, but we have those opportunities.”
The Agricultural Society has been very involved with the local youth and supports them in many different ways. First, they give out up to $25,000 each year in scholarships. Pulver also announced the creation of a Junior Fair Board, which establishes an environment for the youth to be more involved with the community.
“We have some of the junior board members here,” Pulver said, “Thank you for sitting up there and the work that you do and advocating for not only agriculture but the future of the fair.
“We were talking about that on the radio earlier. Making sure that this energy continues here, that the youth is involved with knowing some of the old, long-standing traditions and carrying them out, and learning how some of the tough decisions are made.”