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short notes | will's weblog |
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| 13 oct 02 | open space preservation | little haddam | hunting season | "Smart growth recognizes the connections between development and quality of life | It's an efficient way to protect people and the environment by ensuring clean water, clean air and clean land ...and environmental justice for all citizens"
from the National Governor's Association Principles | 1999 
Many folks in our township recognize the importance of preserving undeveloped land for its integral value | For some years now, East Haddam has maintained a fund designated for the purchase of land with the intent that the land remain open and undeveloped | This year, the state awarded grants to aid in purchase of two such properties | The first site, part of the Cone farmlands, is approximately 28 acres with public access, off road parking and trailhead off Newberry Road to additional protected forest lands which abut on the Moodus Revervoir |The second, known as the Urbanick property, has frontage on Foxtown Cemetary road, a pond, and is approximately 89 acres in size | The town has been asked by Nature Conservancy to go in partnership in that land purchase | Recently, the town's Board of Finance approved putting the purchase proposals to an open meeting before the town, tentatively scheduled for the 7th of November at Town Hall | The town's Open Space Committee, is also working with the Board of Selectmen, Nature Conservancy, East Haddam Land Trust, and the town's citizenry to expand the  town's options for land acquistion and conservation easements so as to preserve its precious resource, namely, its open spaces |
Little Haddam, so named, is the old center of town | The photo to the left shows both the Town Hall [still heated with a wood stove and without indoor plumbing] where what some would consider "old fashioned" town meetings, elections and other public gatherings take place | The building to the right, the old Grange Hall, as been standing since the early 20th century | Now owned by the town, [and with indoor plumbing ] the Grange Hall serves us well for smaller meetings, social functions and the annual Lion's Club Auction, sometimes with the erstwhile Morley Safer as auctioneer |  East Haddam's First Church, Congregational, in the Little Haddam section of town, has been going through some growth and development of its own | Over the past year, a new addition has been built, which shall provide more space for the parishoner's needs as well as give more room for public activities, such as the annual quilt show held every Columbus Day weekend,  the child care center, AA meetings and the like | While much has been completed, the sandstone sur- face to the ground floor has yet to start | The history of the church is both architecturally and archivally interesting | Justine Cancryn, administrative support for the church, has promised me some material on the church which I'll add as a separate page in the future |First Church's cemetary is also the burial grounds for Venture Smith2 , a man who was captured in Africa, sold into slavery, eventually bought his own freedom, and became a prominent businessman in the area during the 1800s | I've added, below, some footnotes to sites about him | 
hunting season is upon us2 | Now's the time when we harvest the herds and get food for the winter | [for a jump directly to my own hunting,orienteering and field sports page click here]
Hunting may not be to everyone's taste, but then neither are Kosher slaughter methods, factory-style farming, lab experiments for cosmetics, keeping cats as pets, or a host of other practices, all of which have far more serious animal welfare consequences than hunting |
pix of the day | venison for supper
©1978-2002 | wbrady | -->
Working, as I do, in human rights advocacy, there are some who mistakenly believe that I would oppose this art, yet I speak for it with equal passion | Mind you, the anti-hunting ethos I encounter from many folks seems more born from a middle-class, urban cultural belief system than from some deeply rooted set of values or philosophical perspective | The whole anti-hunting sentiment seems more driven by the attitudes of folks who don't want to know how their steaks are brought to market, nor indicate any interest in how the forces of nature actually interact with one another | Kind of like once having bought the pretty photo calendar of wildlife, they now consider themselves environmentalists | Bad precendent to live by |
Similarly, such attitudes have gone far in shaping the devloped planet's opinions on the use of firearms | Now, urban/suburban folks would not in the least question the importance of teaching proper respect for, and learning the correct ways to use automobiles, for instance | Yet when it comes to encouraging the safe use of, and proper handling of firearms, the calendar enviornmentalists, eating their rump roasts, start screaming emotional verbiage, implying that adults ~and kids~ ought to remain ignorant of such tools and their use | Now, a strict vegan vegetarian, who opposes hunting and refuses to use any animal products, I can respect such a person | I may not agree with them, but I can see their perspective has a foundation in their personal values system | But the guy  or gal who denegrates hunter-gatherer life practices just 'cuz they harvest their meat in styrofoam packets? What's up with this? | When one's opposition to a way of life is based on one's own limited perspectives, the result is decisions made out of ignorance and, in the case of firearms use, fear | And decisions made in ignorance result in prejudicial decisions | And a society governed by prejudice, is an oppressive society |
The future of hunting and other food gathering arts should not be determined by those who do not understand this way of life | Teaching responsible use of any tool ought to be paramount | People do not learn responsible use on shoot-em up movies or MTV videos, but from folks who already handle firearms with thoughfulness and care | The International Hunter Education Association is one such starting point | The site is also a good one who wants to actually learn about the effort that goes into actually being a hunter, even if she or he does not personally wish to pursue the art | Other sites that can help toward conservation education, firearms safety and responsible hunting can be found below3 | site footnotes: 1- Venture Smith has been written about extensively | The Hartford Courant has published an article by Bill Daley, (with two decent links pages on renowned African Americans and historic accounts | One version about Smith, in French, was put up by a group that has recounts from a number of former slaves | Other sites simply quote Venture Smith's own autobiographical notes (for example, the University of North Carolina Venture Smith entry) and History Matters | 2- Hunting Essays: The homepage for Hunting for Tolerance; The Center for Rural Life and G S Smith's quirky essays 3- Firearms Safety and Hunter Safety Programs | Connecticut DEP's Conservation/Firearms Safety Education Program | directory of license and saftey courses by state from Shooters, Inc | International Hunter Education Association [North America] | weather: Sunny, crisp temps | Got the woodstove going but no frost yet where I live | e-mail changes | due to circumstances beyond my control, I have had to change one or two of my old e-mail addresses | New mail can continue to come to the @rondak.org address | A completely new address is now will-b@earthlink.net | Regrets for this inconvenience | other stuff || internet access tools || ECONOMIC TREASON: Do travesties like ENRON make your blood boil? There's a new discussion group on the Yahoo Groups website. It's still new, so the discussion has just begun. Participants are welcome. Stop by, sign up, and add your POV. |
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disclaimer notice: © 1999 - 2002 / Will Brady I hope you've found this site interesting, even thought provoking || Occasionally, images have been directly linked to source sites and others may come from commercial sources | They are reproduced here under fair use guidelines of US Copyright law | Don't write to me about the content of other peoples' sites linked from here || On the other hand, please let me know of any inactive links || Constructive comments, suggested links to add, are welcome. ABOUT THE "PIX OF THE DAY": Each "day" I present a new image from my own work. The image may or may not be relevant to the text the is next to it. The purpose is more to show off my work | Hope you like them |
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