Home Care In Roxbury, CT

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ROXBURY – Maple Bank Farm has always held a place in the heart of Kirby Peters, 27, who grew up next to the farm and began managing its operations at the start of 2022.

The farm, at 57 Church St. in Roxbury, is closed for the winter, yet Peters started planning for spring by securing a $5,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DOAG) to purchase new cultivating equipment to enhance the farm’s field operations.

Maple Bank Farm received $5K under the state grant program’s new "farmer project category" to purchase a tine weeder and a three-row cultivator kit.

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Peters said both items will be used in weed management since weeds reduce crop yields. The tine weeder will be dragged through the farm’s fields to disrupt the weeds growing in the fields, particularly the weeds that have just sprouted, he said.

Peters said he’s looking to transition the farm’s field operations from a single row bed system to a three-row bed system using the three-row cultivator kit. He said some of the farm’s existing crops have been planted in full rows set three feet apart, resulting in “wasted space you could potentially use.”

“My idea was I wanted to be able to do a three-row bed system – condense them to 15-inch spacing, which would save a lot of space,” Peters said, adding the three-row bed system will also reduce tractor usage since the tractors would only go over the fields once instead of three times.

Honoring the farm's history

Maple Bank Farm is one of the country’s oldest family-run farms and has been in the Hurlbut family since the late 1700s. Jonathon Hurlbut established the farm as Maple Bank Farm in 1730, and the Hurlbut family began growing products for the food market in the early 1900s.

Cathy and Howie Bronson began operating the farm in 1980. Peters said he and the Bronsons are in “a transitional period” of the Bronsons handing “the reins of operation” to Peters.

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Peters worked at the farm throughout high school and into his freshman year at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He said he fell in love with agriculture while he was on the farm working as a field crew member and at the farmstand.

Peters earned his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science in 2017. He moved to Austin, TX shortly after his graduation, where he worked in the greenhouse of a 200-acre vegetable farm and then for the hydroponics company Lettuce Grow.

Peters said he would visit Cathy and Howie Bronson during his visits to Roxbury. It was during one of his visits, Peters said, that the three of them started talking about the future of Maple Bank Farm and having Peters manage the farm.

Peters now leases the farm from the Bronsons and runs the farm’s business while the Bronsons provide Peters with guidance and mentorship.

“I definitely feel a responsibility,” Peters said, on taking on the family-run farm. “This has been in the Hurlbut family for so many generations and Cathy and Howie ran this farm so well that I just want to make sure I honor the history of the farm and continue to have this farm flourish and continue to be a staple of the community that people enjoy coming to.”

Peters said in the future, he’d like to increase the farm’s “pick your own” fruit operations as a way to bring more people to the farm and organize activities in the farm’s apple orchard.

“It would be great to have people on the farm and more connected with the food they’re eating,” Peters said.

Maple Bank Farm will reopen this spring and will be open from the end of April to Dec. 23.

Farm grants

The CT DOAG distributed over $549K to 30 projects on Feb. 10 through the department’s matching reimbursement Farm Transition Grant program to assist state "agricultural producers and cooperatives seeking to expand, diversify and improve their existing operations," said the CT DOAG in a release.

The Farm Transition Grant program’s goal is to strengthen the economic viability of Connecticut farmers through four categories to address gaps in funding and support the farmers in times of growth and change. The categories are innovation and diversification projects, infrastructure projects, research and development projects and new farmer projects.

As polo season kicks off in Connecticut, there are plenty of games that Nutmeggers can tip their hats to.

President of the Simsbury Polo Club Alison Patricelli said playing polo has benefited her both physically and emotionally. During the games, which are often held starting in June in the summer season, teams on horseback use mallets to attempt to knock balls into their opponents' goals.

"I play polo because I find it to be challenging, physically, mentally and sometimes emotionally," Patriceii said.

Patriceii also said she often finds that horses seem to enjoy the game, as they are known to be active animals. However, the animals have been known to occasionally get hurt during games, with tendon damage being the most common injury, according to a study published by the National Library of Medicine in 2014.

"It is the ultimate partnership between person and horse," Patriceii said. "The best polo ponies seem to enjoy playing the game as much as you do ... it's the entire process of winning the battles for the ball, going up against the other horses, they love it."

While the Simsbury club is not currently active because Patricelli is focusing her efforts on managing other parts of Folly Farm in Simsbury, she continues to play at the Farmington Polo Club. The Farmington club is one of the few locations in the state, alongside the Greenwich Polo Club and the Giant Valley Polo Club in Hamden, that offers the public a chance to watch the players in action throughout the summer. Hats, like fedoras and boaters, are traditionally worn by guests watching the games in order to block out the sun.

"Polo will always be a passion. I will continue to follow it year to year," Patriceii said.

Farmington Polo Club representative Hunter Jelsch said Connecticut's polo scene often pulls in players from a diverse range of age groups.

"Our players are a mix of young stars, traveling professionals and lifelong horsemen and women," Jelsh wrote over email.

Here are the places in Connecticut you can watch a polo game this summer season:

Greenwich Polo Club

Greenwich

The Greenwich Polo Club was established in 1981 and has seen professionals like Mariano Aguerre, Facundo Pieres, Hilario Ulloa and Nacho Figueras playing on its fields, according to the club's website.

The club is also the home of the White Birch Polo Team, which has won over 30 tournaments, including several U.S. Open Championships, according to its website.

The polo matches are held from 3-5 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 24.

From Oct. 5-8, the club will also be hosting the CSI Greenwich showjumping event, in which horses and their riders will jump over obstacles.

Game tickets are on sale starting at $50 for a carload of guests. The club recommends that visitors bring picnic blankets and lawn chairs.

The club sells picnic boxes, which must be ordered one week ahead of games, filled with items like sushi, shrimp and sliced meat.

Farmington Polo Club

Farmington

The Farmington Polo Club was established in 1929 and offers both indoor and outdoor event spaces. While it has gone through periods of being closed and changing ownership, it has been active on a consistent basis since 2016, according to the United States Polo Association's website.

The club is hosting games on Saturdays through Sept. 30, according to its website. Matches start at 5 p.m. in June through August and at 4 p.m. in September and typically last around two and a half hours.

Single-person match tickets are on sale starting at $20. Children 12 years old and under are free. Guests can buy food at the club, however, outside food is not permitted.

Giant Valley Polo Club

Hamden

The Giant Valley Polo Club in Hamden became a member of the United States Polo Association in 1995, according to the association's website.

The club hosts games from 3-5 p.m. on Sundays through Sept. 10, according to its website.

Guests are allowed to bring their own food for a picnic. After the games, guests can have dinner served by Mexican restaurant Aunt Chilada's while they listen to a jazz performance.

Tickets begin at $25 per carload of guests.

ROXBURY — A weak tornado touched down in the fields along Minor Bridge Road on Saturday, causing damage to two trees but no injuries or other property damage, weather officials confirmed.

In a tweet, the National Weather Service's office in Albany, N.Y., said the results of a storm survey near Roxbury "revealed a short-duration EF-0 tornado" that occurred Saturday night.

The EF or Enhanced Fujita Scale is used to categorize tornadoes based on estimated wind speeds. For an EF-0 tornado, winds are predicted to have hit 3-second gusts between 65 and 85 mph.

The tornado touched down along Minor Bridge Road in Roxbury around 9 p.m., producing estimated peak winds of 80 mph, the weather service said. For five minutes, it traveled uphill to the northwest, covering a distance of a little more than three-quarters of a mile, and with a path width of 30 yards. It ended near Town Line Road in Roxbury.

A video of the tornado was recorded on Town Line Road between Bridgewater and Roxbury, said Patrick Roy, Roxbury's first selectman.

“The only way we knew it was a tornado was from the video provided,” Roy said. “We didn’t find out about it until after the fact. I was down the road, and the winds picked up and the rains were torrential. You could tell a storm was coming.”

No injuries were reported, the weather service said.

The twister broke limbs off two trees, but that appeared to be the extent of the damage — "as most of the path was over open fields," the weather service wrote in its report Tuesday.

The National Weather Service said its staff met with witnesses, who included "a farm manager and a drone pilot who overflew the area."

"Eyewitnesses provided video and photographs of the tornado as well as geographic locations and movement," the report stated. "The drone pilot confirmed that little damage occurred along the path or to nearby areas."

Last month, the National Weather Service said a suspected tornado in northeastern Connecticut turned out to be a funnel cloud, which did not reach the ground.

(Article content and photos provided by MN native Ron Faanes, founding member of the Old Crabs Hockey Club in Danbury, CT)

Earlier this summer, the Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury, CT sponsored a Summer Concert Series featuring the famous hockey band, The Zamboni’s.

Few rock bands have appealed to fans young and old, but the quirky 100% hockey-rock Zambonis have somehow prevailed as the most popular sports-rock band in North America. The Zambonis formed in Bridgeport, CT, in 1991 when singer/guitarist Dave Schneider envisioned a group that played nothing but songs about hockey. Songs like Breakaway, Referees Daughter. Grezsky Twist, Penalty Box and many others entertained the crowd.

The band has been featured in Billboard Magazine and on ESPN and performed in stadiums around the world including Madison Square Garden.

In 2002, The Zambonis made their most memorable appearance to date: an on-ice performance during the 2002 NHL All-Star Game at the Staples Center in L.A., where they performed alongside such notable mainstream acts as Jewel, Five for Fighting and Unwritten Law.

Some of their other hits are: “Hockey Monkey”, “Boom Boom Boom”, and “I Wanna Drive The Zamboni” which was featured on the soundtrack of “Blades Of Glory”, a film starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite).

The Zambonis feature: Dave Schneider, Jon Aley, Shawn Fogel, Mat Orefice, Tom Andrukevich, Cary Pollick, Tarquin Katis, Peter Katis, and Matt Gonzales.

Guitarist and Zambonis’ producer, Peter Katis, has made quite a name for himself off the ice. In addition to releasing his band The Philistines jr album in 2010, Peter has gained acclaim for his recent recording/production work with Interpol, The National, Jonnsi (Sigur Ros), Swell Season, Mates Of State, Frightened Rabbit, Guster, Get Up Kids, Von Bondies, Spoon, and much much more. Each act faced off with Peter at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the home recording facility of The Zambonis.

The New Yorker writes: “The Zambonis may sound like a simple novelty act, but it scores repeatedly with a bunch of snappy little power-pop songs. Even if you wouldn’t know what a slapshot was if it hit you in the face, you’ll cheer.”

Time Out New York: “They’re actually funny and actually rock!”

Question is: When are they coming to Minnesota?

Related TopicsConnecticut hockeyDanbury ConnecticutHockey Rock MusicNCHCOld Crabs Hockey ClubRoxbury ConnecticutThe Zamboni's

ROXBURY, Conn — As severe thunderstorms moved through western Connecticut Saturday night, producing damaging wind gusts, prolific lightning and heavy rain, one storm caught the eye of spotters in Litchfield County.

Around 9 p.m., Dale Barchi spotted what appeared to be a rotating funnel cloud, illuminated by the lightning in the storm.

This was spotted from Town Line Road in Roxbury, near the border with Bridgewater, looking south.

At the same time, Doppler radar was showing an area of rotation within the line of storms, passing through the same area.

Appears there was a funnel cloud or possible tornado in Litchfield County near the Roxbury/Bridgewater line around 9:00 Saturday night. These are screenshots of videos taken from Town Line Road, looking south, when and where there was clear rotation on the radar. pic.twitter.com/DRSa8AVt1K

— Ryan Breton (@RyanBretonWX) August 13, 2023

According to Barchi, this was passing over a cow farm, with very few buildings or structures in its possible path. She returned Sunday morning and could not find any clear damage, other than some limbs and leaves downed by the storm.

The National Weather Service in Albany, which covers Litchfield county, received additional reports of damage Sunday. As a result, they will be surveying it to determine whether or not there was a touchdown.

This is a fairly rural area, so if there was any damage, it's possible it was in the middle of a forest or field where it would go unnoticed.

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Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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