There’s a Pond. And a Meadow.
Pond Meadow, East Granby
April 2019
This is a Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy property. References to “EGLT” below refer to the East Granby Land Trust which became part of the Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy in 2023.
What is Pond Meadow? Pond Meadow is a short little trail around another little pond alongside a suburban road. Its existence is owed to the pond, because developers couldn’t built houses on the pond or the surrounding wetland.
As per EGLT-usual, there’s a nice sign and a memorial bench near the pond. This bench is the Tom Howard bench, and it’s a nice bench in memory of a nice guy:
Thomas taught history at Suffield High School for 33 years and was very active in his community. He served as Regional Executive Vice President of the Jaycees and served with the Democratic Town Committee in Windsor Locks and in East Granby where he was chairman. He was President of the East Granby Land Trust and was instrumental in its reactivation, and twice served as President of the East Granby Historical Society. He was Chairman of the Historical Society’s committee responsible for the renovation of the old stagecoach and he and his wife assisted in the restoration of the historical Small Pox Cemetery in East Granby.
My man. As the person mostly responsible for the EGLT trails, the EGHS’s carriage display, and the smallpox cemetery’s restoration, his fingerprints are all over CTMQ. RIP, Mr. Howard, RIP.
Mr. Howard and his wife, both now deceased, have a newer trailed property named in their honor The Tom and Ginnie Howard Preserve.
The trail here is wide and mowed. This trail is definitely a dog walker’s trail. Surely 99% of its walkers live on the road I along which I parked who do a loop walk with their pooches here. Which is all well and good.
There’s a little bridge to cross the little stream that feeds (drains?) the pond. I found a side trail that took me over towards some houses – which I can’t really recommend. However, year after year, the EGLT puts on a “Fairy House” building workshop and then brings kids out into these easily accessible woods to place their houses. Evidence remains:
Not sure you need to go find this, but hey, maybe you’re totally into this stuff. As for me, I had seen enough and completed the trail around the pond. It took me back out to the road and alongside the pond.
Whereupon I saw a painted turtle chilling out. While this may seem like a silly little trail – and it kind of is – I enjoyed it for what it was. So I did a little fairy dance as I made my way back to my car.
Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy
CTMQ Hikes Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy’s Trails
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