This excellent video by Phil LeMontagne shows close-ups of some, but not all, of the backyard birds commonly found in northern Middlesex County in the winter. Most are year-round residents, but two of them, the Slate- colored Junco and the White-throated Sparrow, tend to move a little farther north in the summer. How many of these birds can you name? Keep watching until the end of the video to see why they are all constantly looking around nervously!

For a list of birds in order of first appearance, see below. Continue reading →

A Message from Krishna Winston, Jonah Center Board President

As a Jonah Center follower and, we hope, supporter, you may have noticed two things.

First, our advocacy and work on behalf of the natural and human environment has grown wider and deeper over the years. Tree-planting, sidewalk improvements, planning and construction of multi-use trails, home energy efficiency, climate action, removal of invasive aquatic plants, litter cleanup, and waste reduction have all been significant areas of effort. Add to that John Hall’s leadership in keeping track of and intervening to affect legislation, policy, and action—or lack thereof—locally and at the state level, and the myriad tasks involved in administering a non-profit organization of any size.

Second, in 2024 the Jonah Center celebrated its twentieth anniversary. The Center has gained an enviable reputation as a responsible, engaged, and effective representative of multiple environmental interests. Our founder, John Hall, now admits to being twenty-one years older than he was when, at the age of 56, he got us started on this venture. The scope and complexity of the Jonah Center’s work has grown primarily as a result of his indefatigable volunteer labor over the years, and he recognizes that the time has come for him to begin stepping back and turning the burdens—and the rewards—over to leaders who will be appropriately remunerated for maintaining the organization’s momentum.

Recognizing these realities, the Jonah Center applied for and received from the City of Middletown a Community Development Block Grant of nearly $25,000 that will fund two part-time employees from January through August of this year. We are seeking funds to take us beyond this initial period. John Hall remains very much involved as we make the transition to a new phase in the life of the Jonah Center,

The Jonah Center  Board of Directors has hired John Shafer as Associate Director, and Kristen Colombo as Community Organizer and Advocate. We are very excited about the skills, experience, and enthusiasm they bring to our organization. Continue reading →

Evening commute back-up on Route 9 southbound at Hartford Avenue

The Connecticut Department of Transportation and the City of Middletown have essentially agreed on a conceptual plan to remove the Route 9 traffic signals. While the proposal is not ideal, no one has proposed viable ways to improve it. CT DOT is in the process of federal and state environmental reviews of the plan to determine whether it can be built and, if so, what modifications, if any, will be required. Only when this review process is complete will actual design begin. Construction will not begin until 2027 at the earliest, according to DOT. Below are links to plan details. Continue reading →

On November 20, 2024, planning/engineering company VHB presented the results of the 2^nd study to determine the best route to connect the Air Line Trail in Portland with the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Cheshire. (A previous study of the Meriden section was conducted several years ago.) Completion of this 23-mile connector trail shown in the purple and green sections in the area circled below will be a boon to recreational and commuting bicyclists and to walkers in our area. It will also go a long way to completing a 111-mile loop trail: the Central Connecticut Loop Trail (CCLT).

The entire slideshow presented on November 20, 2024 can be viewed here.

We offer our readers here the results of the study of the Middletown and Portland sections, shown in lime green within the oval above. To enlarge these images, right click on the image and then click on “open image in a new tab.”  This summary starts at the west end (i.e. the Meriden-Middletown boundary) and works east. Continue reading →

By Chris Donnelly

The City of Middletown’s Urban Forestry Commission is conducting a street tree inventory. This effort is being funded by a grant from CT DEEP. Professionals have been contracted to inventory the trees. However, we need volunteers willing to survey potential street tree planting sites. Are you interested in helping? Here are the basic details:

Continue reading →

Mike Thomas (the rower standing in this picture) prepares to receive plants from a paddler. Photo credit Phil LeMontagne.

The Jonah Center is looking for able-bodied individuals who have or are willing to obtain a CT Safe Boating Certificate to provide motorboat support for work parties removing invasive water chestnut plants (Trapa natans) in the Floating Meadows (Mattabesset River) next summer. Motorboat operators pilot our 14-foot flat-bottomed Jon boat equipped with a 6 hp motor. Taking the bagged plants from kayakers and canoeists greatly increases the productivity of the work party. Motorboat operators dispose of the plants on shore where they quickly die and dry out. Continue reading →

If you are in favor of preserving historic buildings, then pay attention to the ballot questions on the Middletown and Portland ballots. In both cases, the future of beautiful stone schools will be affected. The re-use of such buildings is beneficial environmentally, culturally, and often financially. Continue reading →

This 1-minute video was recorded by Phil LeMontagne on the Coginchaug River on September 6, 2024.  Each year in late summer, Red-winged Blackbirds feast upon the ripening wild rice in the Floating Meadows of Middletown and Cromwell. The Meadows, a rare freshwater tidal marshland, provides habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals, and nutrition for these wonderful migrating birds. Click on the image above or here to view.

This summer, the Town of Portland constructed almost 1 mile of new sidewalk along Main Street, replacing the uneven and broken sidewalks between Arvid Street and Gildersleeve School. Before construction began, John Hall expressed concern about the danger that excavation would present to the roots of a majestic pin oak tree. With the support of residents Beau and Holly Doherty, Portland’s First Selectman Ryan Curley, and Director of Public Works Ryan O’Halpin, the original construction plan was modified to save this historic shade tree.

Shown above is Patch C in Pecausett Pond, before and after our evening work party in June,

This summer, Jonah Center volunteers and field workers removed approximately 24,000 pounds of invasive water chestnut plants from the Floating Meadows (Mattabesset River), Pecausett Pond, and the Connecticut River between Rocky Hill and Middle Haddam. Continue reading →

The Jonah Center Board invites you to help celebrate our 20^th Anniversary at our Forest and Garden Party on Saturday, June 22 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the South Middletown home of Jon Morris and Pam Frost.

Over the past 14 years, they have transformed their thirty-acre property into a beautiful and inspiring model of sustainable living, with highly productive vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a woodlot that they harvest selectively and keep free of invasive plants, a solar-heated swimming pool, perennial borders, solar panels, and decorative use of stone and wood. Continue reading →