The Middlesex Land Trust
This field off Route 66 near St. Clements, donated by Prudence Palmer, is now part of the new 80-acre Taylor-Palmer Preserve in Portland.
Dear Friends of The Middlesex Land Trust,
We need your membership support! In these tough economic times, we realize that everyone is looking for places to cut back. Our work continues, and we need your help to make it happen. Our volunteers and your donations have been hard at work over the past year. Please help us continue preserving and providing stewardship for open space by becoming a member for the first time or renewing your membership with The Middlesex Land Trust today!
[PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE MEMBERSHIP FORM]
The Trust had a very busy and successful year in 2008. We culminated several years of work with the closing on the $418,000 purchase of the 50-acre Kruger Farm Preserve in Haddam Neck with strong support from the Haddam Neck Spirit, the state of Connecticut, the town of Haddam, the local community and our members.
In addition, there is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done every year to provide stewardship for our properties and administrative support required to maintain a viable organization. We conducted maintenance and enhancements on nine preserves and addressed serious encroachment or vandalism issues on several preserves.
We met with several potential donors to walk their properties and talk about their options. We have been fortunate to receive one of those parcels, a donation of a roughly 10-acre parcel in Portland from Roy and Jeff Serra. We meet federal, state and town tax and charitable organization filing obligations every year, secure insurance, and perform all the administrative work associated with running a growing organization.
We held our annual meeting in April on the Cassa Preserve in Middletown. In August, we sponsored a public event to celebrate the release of “Letters to Harry,” a book by TJ and Prudence Palmer, who generously bequeathed much of their estate to us, including the 70-acre Palmer Preserve.
All of this would not have been possible without the operational funding donated by supporters like you. Thank you for your continued support of our mission.
Sincerely,
Stuart Winquist, Chairman
The Middlesex Land Trust Inc.
27 Washington St.
Middletown, CT 06457
Since 1987, we’ve been dedicated to the preservation of land for all to enjoy. Working in East Hampton, Portland, Middletown, Middlefield, Durham and Cromwell, we currently own and manage more than 600 acres.
A Land Trust work team celebrates after clearing the Palmer barn in April 2008 in preparation for making it into an activity/meeting center for the Land Trust. From left are John Shomsky, John LeShane, Jeremy Stone, Bruce Livensparger, Art Johnson, Nancy Livensparger, Natasha (John’s dog) and another dog.
8.05.08
Welcome to our new website! We’ll try here to keep you up-to-date with our preservation efforts, from fundraising and acquisitions to work parties, hikes and get-togethers.
Collected here you’ll find a guide to the places we’ve preserved, which we’ll be expanding in the weeks and months ahead with more directions, maps and photos. You’ll find news of our coming events and reports of projects in the works, and also links to the broader land trust and preservation community.
We also continue to appeal for help, both for new members and for contributions to help accomplish our goals. With the commitment of our members and our friends, we’ve been able to do great things — and we plan much more!
Stuart Winquist, chairman
East Hampton
MLT Chairman Stuart Winquist, left, and Jim McHutchison of Haddam Neck Spirit at MLT’s new Kruger Farm Preserve in Haddam Neck.
Support Our Mission
Help Wanted!
FALL STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES: Please come to help out and learn more about our preserves. Click here for more!