As you may have noticed, our national government has utterly failed to provide leadership in the face of the global climate crisis. Once we get through the Covid-19 pandemic — another area of failed leadership — we will still face this even more threatening, though slower moving, crisis. Regardless of what you hear on the evening news lately, climate change has not been put on pause. What are concerned, climate-conscious citizens to do? In addition to reducing our individual carbon footprints, we need to take political action at the local level. Continue reading
Tag Archives: middletown
Is your garden producing more than you can use?
It is that time in the season when you may have more cucumbers and zucchini then you can eat or put up. If you find yourself in this situation, consider donating your excess produce to our local food pantries and put it to good use. Details for Middletown and Portland are below:
Middletown
Amazing Grace Food Pantry, 16 Stack Street, Middletown, CT
Drop off on Wednesdays and Fridays 9 am – 5 pm
Bring produce around back
Questions? Call Kathleen Kelly at 860-347-3222
Portland
Portland Food Bank, Waverly Center – 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT
Drop off on Mondays 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Bring produce to Food Bank, door at the bottom of ramp. Please wear a mask.
Questions? Call Ruth Maio at 860 342-0527
Water Chestnut Control Efforts
For the past 4 years, the Jonah Center has organized work parties of 20-30 paddlers each to remove invasive water chestnut (trapa natans) from the Floating Meadows, the 1000 acre freshwater tidal marshland formed by the Mattabesset and Coginchaug Rivers.
The map above indicates the primary location of plants in the previous few years. This year, plants are visible upstream from this area, where the “Mattabesset River” label is seen, and still father upstream from there, where the river turns sharply to the right at the top of the map. These are the areas of primary focus.
Due to the pandemic, the Jonah Center has not organized large work parties. We have encouraged paddlers to go out solo or in small family groups. Bring a large plastic bag, gently pull up plants by the roots, place them in the bag, and deposit the plants near the informational kiosk in the boat launch parking area.
If you are able to pull more plants than you can carry, please place them on one of the floating drying rafts anchored in the area. The plants will drain, dry out in the sun, lose most of their weight and volume, and become easier for others to bring back to the launch site by motor boat. We will ask the Public Works Department to dispose of them when plants have accumulated. Please contact us if you have gone out to remove plants and let us know what you have found in terms of location and number of plants. We will all do the best that we can.
This plant drying raft was designed and constructed by Jonah volunteer Mike Thomas.
Middletown Budget Adds $50,000 For Trees
The Jonah Center’s campaign to add at least $50,000 to the City of Middletown’s tree planting budget has been successful. The new budget amount for tree planting is $58,500.
We wish to thank Mayor Ben Florsheim, Majority Leader Gene Nocera, Minority Leader Phil Pessina, and all members of the Common Council who supported this increase. We are delighted that Middletown’s elected leaders recognize the importance of reversing the loss of approximately 100 trees each year.
This successful campaign is proof that citizens can make a difference if we are organized and act in unison. Many thanks and congratulations to all who wrote letters to the Mayor and Common Council. “Replace Our Trees” was a joint effort by the Jonah Center and the Urban Forestry Commission of Middletown.
Raising A Roof Crop
Submitted by Jane Harris
The Middletown Garden Club has begun its eighth season of gardening on the rooftop of the Community Health Center. For the past seven years, our partner has been MARC, but Covid-19 has put that relationship on hold indefinitely. With approximately 500 square feet of irrigated raised beds, the rooftop garden has been highly productive. The carefully engineered soil and water-recapture system work to make the beds ideal for vegetable and root crops. Each year, we “open up” the gardens by removing any weeds that may have germinated over the winter, and begin to plan a new lay-out for the crops. We rotate plant locations to avoid any possibility of disease build-up in beds, especially where tomatoes are grown. Continue reading
Issues Involving Arrigoni Bridge, St. John Square, Main Street, & Spring Street
While the project to repair and replace the approach ramps and sidewalks of the Arrigoni Bridge is underway, controversy about the work continues to swirl. Apparently, CT DOT’s original plan was approved by the previous Middletown administration with no public hearing or citizen comment. The stated goal of the project, according to CT DOT, was to improve the efficiency of Main Street between Washington and Hartford Ave. and the entrances to Route 9 and the Arrigoni Bridge. DOT’s interest in reducing congestion in this area is probably related to future plans to remove traffic signals from Route 9, which will involve some changed traffic patterns in the downtown area, especially near the bridge. Here are some of the issues and concerns surrounding the project. Continue reading
Linden Tree Planted In Honor of Krishna Winston
Photo by Laurie Kenney
Photo by John Hall
The linden planted on November 15 near the corner of High St. and Wyllys Avenue honors Krishna Winston’s fifty years at Wesleyan as a professor of German Studies, an administrator, and, for the last ten years, also a professor in the College of the Environment. The Jonah Center celebrates this tree planted adjacent to a public street because Krishna has been an environmental leader in our wider community for many years. She has served on the Jonah Center’s Board of Directors since 2012 and as its president since 2014. Wesleyan’s replacement of lost trees along High Street, once renowned for its thick elm tree canopy, supports the Jonah Center’s Replace Our Trees campaign in Middletown. Continue reading