Board of Selectmen

Bob Grindle: Leadership in small town Eastern Connecticut has a lot of different models, and a short drive through our beautiful corner of New England reminds us all of how privileged we are to call this region “Home”. After several years as part of Hampton’s leadership team, I am proud to point to our well maintained roads and roadsides; the improved, and always improving, condition of our town’s public buildings; our increased commitment to preserving open space and to improving the space we have, and certainly to the fiscal prudence that has positioned Hampton well as we look to future challenges. There is a certain “magic” that can occur when public engagement and focused leadership work together to iron out their inevitable differences in order to benefit the community. I think Hampton has been well served by its leadership these past several years and I look forward to continuing to serve.

John Tillinghast: I am asking for your vote for a third term as selectman here in Hampton. As a member of the board, I have helped town government improve infrastructure, recreational opportunities, and emergency preparedness. We have also helped the town adapt and react to the changing environment. In the future, we will need to navigate the uncertain future of federally based state funding. I hope to have your continued support in allowing me to help guide Hampton into its future.

Town Clerk

Kaye Johnson: I am pleased to seek re-election as Town Clerk. From land records and vital records to dog licenses and absentee ballots, the Town Clerk’s office is a busy and crucial part of town government. This last year I earned designation as a Certified Connecticut Town Clerk and have worked to improve access to the town’s historical records. With your vote of support on November 4th, I will continue to provide competent and compassionate service to residents and visitors to our beautiful town.

Town Treasurer

Ellen Rodriguez: I have proudly served as Town Treasurer since 1991, bringing over three decades of dedicated experience to the role. My responsibilities include managing payroll, paying bills, overseeing audits, preparing financial reports, attending meetings, and handling all town banking. I am committed to accuracy, accountability, and transparency in managing the towns’ finances, and I would be honored to continue serving our community.

Board of Finance

Frances Gustavesen: I am currently an alternate on the Hampton Board of Finance seeking to become an elected member of the Board. Prior to my current career as a Speech and Language Pathologist in educational settings, I served for nine years as a town official in CT responsible for a budget up to $750,000. I believe these experiences provided me with the qualifications to be a positive, contributing member of the Board of Finance.

Kate Donnelly: Our beautiful community must continue to rise to the challenges that face small towns in Connecticut. We need to be vigilant in maintaining our vibrancy and commitment to all our residents from newborns to seniors. My experiences as a former First Selectman, business owner, former Board of Education member, as well as chair of the Green Energy committee, have given me the insight needed to work with other town boards serving our citizens while maintaining accountability for our finances. I would appreciate your vote.
Donnelly is also running for the Board of Assessment Appeals

Board of Education

Stephanie Bora: Hampton has been my home since 1994. As a former Hampton Elementary student, a teacher who taught 14 years, a mom of three children who attended our schools, and the current President of Parish Hill High School’s PTA, I’m dedicated to ensuring our children receive the quality education they deserve. I’ve served one year on Hampton Elementary’s Board of Education and I am asking for your vote to continue advocating for our amazing school and community.

Elizabeth Lindorff: My experiences with the Hampton Elementary School include 11 years as a parent of students, 18 years as the HES art teacher and current member of the Board. I have seen the school’s challenges from many perspectives. My experience has shown me how the arts can support the entire curriculum inherently, as well as through coordination with other staff. School climate is enhanced when parents and kids see student artwork in the hallways. If elected, I promise to be a strong advocate for the arts at HES.

Herlande Castillo-Reyes: I recently moved to Hampton and hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. With a strong passion for education and community development, I am eager to contribute to shaping the future of local schools. Driven by a desire to enhance educational opportunities for all students, I aim to bring a fresh perspective, evidence-based insights, and a commitment to student well-being to the Board of Education. Dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment for every child.

Zoning Board of Appeals

Marc Cardwell: I greatly appreciate the lovely environment and strong sense of community that the town of Hampton provides us all. If elected to the Zoning Board of Appeals, I will endeavor to address proposed changes in a way that both protects and enhances the quality of life in our town.

Planning & Zoning Commission

Kevin Grindle: I look forward to continuing to serve Hampton by protecting our rural agricultural character, promoting responsible patterns of development and encouraging land preservation using our Zoning and Subdivision Regulations along with our Plan of Conservation and Development. I bring 25 years of professional consulting to our Commission and am confident that my experience in the fields of landscape architecture, permitting, planning and engineering combined with over two decades of continued service on the PZC provides me with a diverse understanding of the past, present and future goals of this community.

Constables: Jeffrey Smith Jr & Adam Sheridan

First Selectman

Allan Cahill

It is a privilege every day to serve the town of Hampton as First Selectman. My ongoing goal is to keep our community safe, sustainably affordable, and protect our quality of life “That is Hampton”. I look forward to collaborating with the State, all Boards and Commissions, neighboring Towns, and the Northeast Council of Governments to keep pace with the escalating costs of running and maintaining Hampton’s positive financial position. We live in an evolving, mutating world. It’s critical to assess and evaluate all functions and responsibilities of our Town to adequately address the future. Since 2011 I have relied on critical thinking, structural reforms, and the skill sets of all hired, elected, or appointed Town Officials and volunteers to keep Hampton the tranquil haven we aspire to keep. We are fortunate to live here. There is still much to do.

Board of Selectmen

John Russell

Our family moved to Hampton in 1971. My dad’s work brought us here. I attended Parish Hill High School and graduated in 1977. I’ve served this country from 1977 to 1984 and from 2011 to 2015, coming out of the service in a staff sergeant position. I served on the Board of Education, and attend meetings of the Boards of Finance and Selectmen regularly as well. I’m semi-retired, coming from the construction- transportation field, so I bring a lot to the table with my practical experience and knowledge of the goings on in our town.  I am always looking out for the members of our community.

Town Clerk

Kaye Johnson

I thank the Republican Town Committee for endorsing my candidacy as Town Clerk. From land records and vital records to dog licenses and absentee ballots, the Town Clerk’s office is a busy and crucial part of town government.  This last year I earned designation as a Certified Connecticut Town Clerk and have worked to improve access to the town’s historical records.  With your vote of support on November 4^th, I will continue to provide competent and compassionate service to residents and visitors to our beautiful town.

Board of Finance

Kathy Donahue:  I’ve served on the Finance Board for seven years, and for the last five years as Chairman. I’ve also served as Vice-Chairman of the school board and on multiple committees, including Human Resources, Fiscal and Procedure, and Ordinance Committee. The BoF is now receiving financial reports from both school boards, and I attend their meetings and those of other boards to stay informed, as well as meeting with public officials regularly.  I’m a fiscal conservative and have worked to maintain a reasonable mill rate. I want to see the BoF work towards providing detailed budget documents for the schools, available to taxpayers, including historical data and projections of financial revenues and school enrollment.

Board of Education

Juan Arriola: I’ve served on the school board for six years. During my tenure, I’ve advocated for following State laws and board policies, for improved academics, and for budgets that taxpayers will pass, often as the lone voice. I’ve also personally raised funds for Nature’s Classroom, and given presentations, upon request, to students on Mexican and Native American heritage. Above all, I listen to my constituents. I ask for your votes, including the seniors’, to keep serving the students and the community.

Laura Barrow: I’ve lived in Hampton since 2011 and in Windham county since the 1980’s. I have two children, both are Parish Hill graduates. For the last twenty five plus years, I’ve worked in legal positions for the State; I’ve also worked for nonprofit programs that serve Hampton. I’m very familiar with the small town values we cherish, including strong family values. The relationship with the school board and parents should reflect those values and strengthen the ties between both; allowing parents to play a big role in their child’s educational aspirations is paramount to successful students.

Tim Studer: My wife and I have lived in Hampton for around 30 years. I have always thought that our school holds a special place in our community. Though it may be small, the individual attention our children receive from the teachers and staff is something which we need to cherish. I love children and I want our children to have the best opportunity to succeed in life. It would be a great honor for me to serve the community in this manner.

Planning and Zoning Commission

Gary DeCesare: As a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission for multiple terms, my mission is to safeguard our town’s cherished rural character and growing small businesses, while staunchly defending the property rights of our tax paying citizens, whose contributions fuel our community’s progress. I firmly believe the Commission’s role as a regulatory body is essential, yet I advocate for minimal regulation to preserve our rural identity and uphold ALL individual freedoms. By balancing thoughtful oversight with respect for property owners, we can ensure our town thrives as a vibrant, independent community.

Zoning Board of Appeals

Zachary Burdick-Chapel: My experience working as a land surveyor for large engineering firms has provided me with insight towards many regulations that other towns have in place as most of our clients are municipal groups, whether it’s small towns or state projects. My experience also includes residential designs for lot layouts, septic designs, and boundaries. I have worked on many projects including utility improvements, boundary disputes, road design, bridge layout and zoning for wetlands and flood zones.

Jo Freeman: I have been on the Zoning Board of Appeals for four terms and would like to continue to serve Hampton in this capacity.  I have always considered each presenting party before the Board with an unbiased, informed and fair decision based on the facts before me. Serving this town has been a pleasure.

Zoning Board of Appeals

John Berard

Constables

Wanda Willard: Wanda is seeking a second term in the role of Constable, serving as the Town’s first female in this position.

Ralph Brand: Familiar to most, Ralph is the Supervisor at the Transfer Station and is hoping to expand his service to the Town.

Board of Education and Planning & Zoning Commission

Matt Rivers: With two children attending HES and an active sponsor of youth programs, I’m deeply invested in our community’s growth and success. I run a successful small business, so I understand the importance of fiscal responsibility and smart, strategic planning. My experience in these areas will allow me to advocate for balanced budgets, efficient use of resources, and investments that benefit both our students and our town’s long-term development

Adam Sheridan: I’m running for the HES Board of Education. A Georgia native with a B.A. in Communications, I’m a proud parent of two HES students. While I support the school’s mission, I believe that stronger parental representation is needed, as well as fiscal responsibility and accountability. My father-in-law, Dan Meade, served Hampton with dedication for many years, and I hope to honor his legacy by serving and supporting the continued success of HES.

Nick Brockett: I am a lifelong Hampton resident, a former EMS volunteer of nearly 15 years, a youth soccer coach, and a proud parent of two school-age children. I am dedicated to supporting the growth and improvement of our schools in a fiscally responsible manner that benefits all Hampton residents. Strong schools are the foundation of a thriving community, and I will work to ensure ours continues to flourish. Thank you for considering me for the Board of Education.

Constable

Patrick Navin: Fellow Hamptonites, my name is Patrick J. Navin. In 1973 at the age of 18, I became the youngest Constable in the State of Connecticut, nominated by Anna McDermott. I am currently an appointee Constable. As a fourth generation Hamptonite, I feel a special allegiance to my town and its residents, as I am familiar with every nook and cranny. I take this position most seriously. As a Peace Officer in the Town of Hampton, I hope for your consideration.

The Registrars of Voters have completed the Preliminary Registry List to be used in the November 4, 2025 Election and removed electors who have died, become disfranchised, or confirmed in writing a move out of town with a cancellation form or notification from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The names of electors removed since the November, 2024 Election are posted at their office at Town Hall, as well as the remedies for restoration to the list.

Absentee ballots become available at the Office of the Town Clerk beginning on October 3 during regular Town Hall hours. Completed applications and ballots may be mailed, or delivered, to the Town Clerk or placed in the secured deposit box at the top of the ramp at Town Hall.

The Registrars of Voters will hold a registry session on October 17, from 9AM to 8PM in their office at Town Hall for the purpose of registering voters who appear in person. The deadline for mail-in applications is also October 17. Hand-delivered mail-in registration applications must be received by the Registrars of Voters, or a voter registration agency such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, on this date, and mail-in registration applications must be post-marked by this date, in order for applicants to be entitled to participate in the November 4, 2025 Municipal Election.

Early Voting and Same Day Registration will occur on October 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 and 31, and November 1st and 2nd, between 10AM and 6PM, and on October 28 and 30 from 8AM to 8PM, in the Registrars’ Office at Town Hall. Electors may vote during this period, and individuals may register and vote in person if they meet the eligibility requirements of electors.

Dayna McDermott-Arriola and Sulema Perez-Pagan

In Discovering Hampton, Janice Trecker aptly called Hampton at the time of its incorporation in 1786, “a collection of villages with evocative names”. This fall, we’re focusing on the section originally known as Appaquag, or Apaquag, or Appaquage, for every source spells it a little differently.

In 1763, the town was divided into “school districts”, each responsible for educating its neighborhood’s children in its own one-room school house. The Appaquag schoolhouse, built in 1774 and originally situated on the west side of Pomfret Road, still stands today as a residence, though it was re-located to the corner of North Bigelow and Windy Hill. We shared the many memories of former students in the last issue.

While all districts cherished their own “character”, each with distinct and important features, some sections had their own stores and post offices and mills, eventually depots. Though Appaquag had none of these, it is one of the oldest developed parts of Hampton. Whereas the Center grew from the establishment of the Congregational Church in 1723, Rawson and Clark’s Corner with the railroads, and the Bigelows and Howard Valley with the mills, Appaquag’s growth stems from the town’s original roots: agricultural.

Situated in the northeastern corner of the town, Appaquag, which means “swampy area” in the language of the Nipmucks, the people native to Hampton, was also called ‘Cady Hill’, “after the Cadys who had lived there”, Harold Stone relayed in Alison Davis’ Hampton Remembers. “Once a long time ago there had been a house on the left going up the hill to the farm. I can just see those red single roses and the beautiful iris — that was all that was left in my time. Then they put that road through there,” Route 97, completed in 1934 to include the stretch from the center of town to Abington now known as Pomfret Road, and “that state road finished ‘em off,” Harold wrote, though, “We still called that Cady Hill.” The Cady farm, identified in both the 1869 map and the turn of the century map included in Hampton Remembers, was located on the west side of Pomfret Road, between the Abington line and Lewis Road. Occupied by cows now, this was also the location of the Hopkins farm, which, largely due to its structure, ‘Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn’ succumbed to fire. Harold recalled:
I remember when Lucy Lewis’ house burnt – she was Lucy Hopkins then. I was getting ready to go out to do the chores one morning and my sisters came running down the stairs with “Hopkins house is afire!” They could see it from their bedroom window. So I ran out to the barn and told the menfolks and then we went down and met Lucy on the way up… The house went, and the horse barn that was attached to it. And they never rebuilt.

Some folks still refer to the area as “Grow Hill”, for the Grow Family. One of the first settlers in Hampton, Thomas Grow arrived here in 1730, and the original Grow farmhouse, which still stands as one of the oldest in town, was built between 1730 and 1748. Appaquag was one of a few sections with its own cemetery, the Grow Burying Ground, circa 1740, perhaps the oldest in town. Though the stones are too weathered to read, members of the Grow family rest there, including Grow’s sons, Thomas and Ebenezer, who served in the Revolutionary War.

For over a century, Appaquag also had its own church, the Grow Baptist Church, according to Susan Jewett Griggs’ “Folklore and Firesides”. Grow’s son Deacon Thomas Grow “whom our grandsires remembered as furnishing doughnuts and gingerbread, made his home a favorite haven in the cold seasons”, opened his home for services prior to construction of the Grow Meetinghouse, the remnants of which are reportedly still visible south of the Grow homestead. His son, William, “studied for the ministry, and was the first ordained pastor of the Grow church” from 1776 to 1783, and James Grow, a cousin, was the pastor from 1788 to 1805.

The Grow Farm was purchased by the Stone family in 1876. Harold Stone wrote of growing up there:
When I was a small boy my day started about ha’ past five or a little earlier than that because we had to have our milk cooled and down to Elliot station by seven o’clock. We had the stables to clean and the milking and we had to pitch out the silage after we got a silo and pitch down the hay, and feed ’em the grain…We had to pump the water and turn the cows out into what was the horse barn there because that’s where the pump was and one boy could pump and keep pumping, steady if two cows were drinking. We had, as a rule, somewhere around twenty cows, but at the same time it had gotten down so it was less. All of us children, that is the young three, all learned to milk on a cow named Dora…. I had a milking stool that had a little platform in front where you could rest the pail instead of having to hold it tight with your knees the way you do when you use an ordinary three-legged milking stool. It was quite a help!

The farm would later become known as “The Stone Brothers” when Walt and Clarence Stone took over for their father, Elmer, in 1954. Phyllis Stone recalled that there were plenty of buildings to accommodate daily operations, “a big, black barn, a small garage serving as a tool shed and an oil shed, a garage for vehicles, a pig pen, another large barn, and a pole barn for the cattle.” Along with the Heifer calves which were raised on the farm, and the bulls which were sold, there were pigs and chickens.

Along with the Grow, Cady, and Hopkins farm, the 1869 map identifies a number of other farms – Elliott, Lewis, Lincoln, Clapp, Congdon, Butten, Hubbard, Hammond and Holt. The later map identifies the same amount, with many of the same names, and a few different names, more recognizable to us now – Stone, Fitts, Stetson, Kimball, and the legendary “Aunt Josie” Smith described in Hampton Remembers by her neighbor Helen Hammond Mathews as “rather an unusual character, very much liked but a little queer”.

Because of its proximity, many of the residents of Appaquag went to Abington for Church, the oldest in Connecticut, with our own Congregational Church claiming the distinction as the second oldest in the state. “We went to Abington Church ‘cause it was nearer, four miles up to this church and three miles up there. We used to go in a two-seater wagon, two horses, and there’d be six of us, three in front and three in back,” Harold Stone recalled.

“Without a store of its own, Appaquag was served by the grocery in Elliot, a village just over the line in Abington,” Trecker wrote. “The storekeeper, Mr. Clapp, was a welcome visitor in the area. He went from house to house collecting orders, news and gossip, and returned the next day with the groceries”.

“If you lived in the north end of town, you maybe sold huckleberries to Theron Clapp at his store in Elliot,” Alison Davis relayed in Hampton Remembers, where Helen Mathews recalled: “Beyond all the foods we made at home we had to buy a few things at the store like flour and sugar and molasses. Mr. Clapp from the store in Elliot went to all the houses in the north end and one day he’d take the order and another bring it to you. He always leaned against the sink in the kitchen and waited for you to decide what you wanted and told the news. ‘Twas a real visit. When my mother paid the bill he had in his pocket a little grocery bag, the smallest size, and in the bag were some little white peppermints, and sometimes pink and sometimes green, and it was for a child in the family – and I got it because I was the only child.”

Above all, Appaquag was a neighborhood. From Hampton Remembers:
We used to get a group together and we had a long, long double ripper that we’d slide on down the hill right straight on through the middle of the road, Grow Hill and go on down to Elliot Station almost. There’d be twelve or fifteen of us on one long plank, about fourteen foot long with a sled under each end of it. Then we’d turn around and drag it back up. There was no traffic on the road – if there was, they turned out for us with their horses and sleigh. But we used to go up there moonlight nights when the sliding was good, a big group of us would go up there, and slide for two or three hours in the evening. …There was a very good skating pond on the Hammond Farm used by the school children. Several local farmers got their summer supply of ice from this pond.

Arthur Kimball

The ladies would have a tea – my mother would go – everybody would be invited down to Gramma Lincoln’s or some other home just here in the neighborhood, and they’d all have tea there, not often y’know, but maybe once in a while.

Lucy Lewis

When I was twelve years old I started peddlin’ papers afoot all over the north part of Hampton. They had no Sunday papers at that time, but I had four Saturday papers that I got in the mail in bundles. They included The Saturday Evening Post, The Pennsylvania Grit, The Chicago Blade and the Ledger and the Utica Saturday Globe. I used to send the order in on Tuesday and on Thursday the bundle of papers would be delivered at my house by mail. I peddled ‘em …I always stopped at Josie Smith’s and she bought a paper just to talk with me and she always had doughnuts and milk for me to enjoy.

Arthur Kimball

Josie Smith washed the milk cans for the Lincolns and the Hammonds and I don’t know how many more. That was her job and they paid her. We took them to her house where she washed them. Usually one person collected the milk from all the farms in the neighborhood and took it to the station. For a while George Kimball picked up the milk probably from Buttons, Clapps and Lincolns and Hammonds.

John Lewis

What united this little community, along with proximity and neighborliness, was farming. True to its agricultural roots, Appaquag boasts the only remaining dairy farm in town.

Dayna McDermott

When we got our first telephone up at the farm we had to put in the poles ourselves. We had seventeen beautiful chestnut poles from the Lewis Road up to our house on top of Grow Hill. The company supplied us with special long-handled shovels for digging the holes and pike poles for leverage to topple the telephone poles into the hole.

Harold Stone

Hampton Elementary School organizes its improvement efforts around ACE—Academic achievement, Climate and community, and Enrichment and engagement; these goals are explained below.

Academic Achievement
• Early Literacy: We will strengthen oral language and knowledge building in PreK, continue high-quality foundational skills in K–2, and expand evidence-based writing instruction (ThinkSRSD) in upper elementary.
• Targeted Interventions: With our full-time interventionist, we will provide short, focused cycles of support in reading and math, with progress checks every 6–8 weeks to monitor growth and adjust instruction.
• Clear Communication: We’ll continue to refine our standards-based reporting so families understand what students know and can do—and how to help at home.

Climate & Community
• Restorative Practices: HES staff will be diving in feet first into restorative practice work. This will do more than address conflict or behavior. It’s about building a strong, connected community. Through regular circles, conversations, and shared problem-solving, students learn to listen, express themselves respectfully, and take responsibility for their choices. This approach helps repair harm when it occurs, but just as importantly, it strengthens relationships, creating a school culture where every student feels valued and supported.
• Assemplays and Spirit Days: We will continue hosting monthly assemplays, where our students are able to develop a school wide community through celebrating accomplishments, shared music, and play. Please be on the lookout for more information before assemplays and special spirit events.
• Let Grow: Let Grow is a national nonprofit (co-founded by Lenore Skenazy) that helps families and schools rebuild kids’ independence, resilience, and free play. The core idea: when children get age-appropriate freedom to try things on their own — for example, walk to a friend’s house, make a simple purchase, or organize a game — they grow more confident, responsible, and socially skilled. Please watch for more information shared by your child’s classroom teachers.

Enrichment & Engagement
• Arts Access for All: Our art, music, and PE/health specialists are collaborating to increase access to the arts across all grades. This year, every student in grades 3–6 will participate in our drama program, giving them the opportunity to build confidence, creativity, and teamwork.
• Intergenerational and Community Connections: We’ll deepen partnerships with Hampton’s seniors and community organizations, including the fire department, historical society, and conservation commission, through shared events and student service projects.
• Library Partnership: Our monthly Second Wednesday Story & Craft at Fletcher Memorial Library (4–5 p.m.) welcomes children ages 3–5 and their adult helpers for read-alouds and hands-on fun.

How You Can Get Involved
• Volunteer or Share a Skill: From reading with students to guest-speaking about local history, we love welcoming community expertise into our school. Please call the office for volunteer opportunities and guidelines.
• Donate Supplies or Materials: Please contact the office or your child’s teacher if you have materials or donations for our school.
• Join Us at Events: Look for concerts, exhibitions, and service event dates from the school and on the Fletcher Memorial Library calendar. We are looking forward to sharing our amazing students with our community.

If you have questions or would like to get involved, please contact the Hampton Elementary School office. Here’s to a year of learning, connection, and community pride!

Victoria Smith, Principal, Hampton Elementary School

Since I cultivate an entire yard of gardens, I’m always impressed with what can be accomplished in a small space. Such is the garden of Kaye Johnson, where an arch of flowers greets visitors from the property’s entrance, flows into a floriferous pool, circles the porch, and frames a stone patio, all visible from the street. There’s always something absolutely beautiful in Kaye’s garden.

In earliest spring, hellebores burst at the entrance, ivory petals speckled raspberry and creamy ones tinged green and pink. A frill of daffodils serves as a ruffle across the front of the garden and underlines the terrace fence. Clumps of yellow and white trumpets are interspersed with sprinklings of squill, providing a sapphire carpet, followed by a river of lily-of-the-valley, the stalks of little bells scenting the air, a pool of pale blue vinca, and a surf of chartreuse creeping jenny to contrast with creeping veronica, the diminutive variety with petals of pale violet. The daffodils are replaced with a multitude of tulips in myriad colors, along with wands of bleeding heart cascading along the fence, a mound of perennial geranium with magenta blossoms floating over bronze foliage, and the chartreuse bracts of euphorbia, a magnificent garden siren, a beacon partnering perfectly here with perennial bachelor buttons, spidery, indigo petals circling crimson centers.

The season of azaleas is next. Two white azaleas in the front of the house sparkle against the gray paint, the symmetrical planting forgiven with the asymmetrical structure of a Victorian house. Another two reign at the property entrance, white with pink tipped petals, and a magenta anchors the porch. In this, the season of flowering shrubs and trees, ‘Summer Snowflakes’ viburnum graces the garden with its ivory lace-caps, infertile saucers surrounding clusters of tiny fertile flowers, and a ‘Kousa’ dogwood’s greenish bracts will mature to cream to sprawl across and form the patio’s ceiling.

The season of iris follows, and there’s a wonderful collection of them. An iris of a gentle, china blue gracefully lines the patio. A coupling of sparkling white and deep purple iris border the barn, echoing another splash of white iris at the porch and a smaller clump of deep purple in the garden, where a purple iris with deeper purple falls and yellow throats rims its front. Meanwhile, poppies dance along the patio fence, where a tropical-looking scarlet honeysuckle vine rambles and perfumes the air.

Next is the season of peonies. Saucers of deepest red, another of silvery pink ruffles, a frilly, powder puff of softest pink, and ‘Festiva Maxima’, the old-fashioned standard, large, pure white petals surrounding a crimson flecked center. These are strategically placed throughout the garden, where their foliage contributes a glossy, shrub-like quality throughout the growing year. Though their flowers are unparalleled, the peonies are beautifully partnered with the contrasting forms and complimentary colors of baptisia’s indigo wands, and the diaphanous clouds of coral bells, airy, pink sprays delicately floating above clumps of marbled foliage.

And then there are the roses, all with the wonderful fragrance of genuine roses, starting with a hardy ‘rugosa’, a bright pink bud opening to a blush pink, another deeper rose, and another the color of red lipstick. While roses reign supreme in the garden, their season is also one of the most floriferous. Here the ivory fronds of goatsbeard serve as a canopy over the pink and white feathery brushes of astilbes spurting from fern’s and hosta’s foliage. Violet Canterbury bells rise in the garden, along with stalks of purple liatrus, pairing with pale yellow ‘Moonbeam’ coreopsis and serving as vertical reprieve between the raspberry plates of two spirea shrubs. Hollyhocks climb along the porch, one a palest lavender, another a whisper of pink rimming a white blossom with a yellow throat, and another, a deep violet, underlined with the golden rays of coreopsis.

The roses, the liatrus, the hollyhocks, the coreopsis linger into the season of lilies, which will bloom radiantly throughout the month of July and most of August. Trumpets the color of tangerines and cantaloupe, pumpkin and peach, dark maroon, scarlet, a brilliant red, burnt orange, brick red, and every hue of yellow – gold, canary, banana. The flowering stalks of hosta bear lavender bells to cavort with the violet spears of salvia, indigo globes of balloon flowers, and the deep purple bells of campanula. Raspberry pink astilbes take the place of their smaller, paler versions, and monkshood provides a focal point in the garden’s center with its unique form, dusty, plum “hoods” rising from dramatic, toothed foliage.

In late summer golden composite petals of coreopsis skirt the porch and the garden rim, echoing those of the rudbeckia, whose form is echoed with the mauve rays of echinacea. A sparkling white liatrus, taller than the purple varieties, forms exclamation points on the corner where the garden meets the porch and in the garden’s center where it couples with a white phlox. Helenium provides structure, a five-foot variety with burnt orange petals surrounding a gold center, and another, sun-flower type, a stalk reaching seven feet. A hydrangea smothered with cream colored panicles tinged pink at the stem frames the patio, lined with an enormous clump of lavender, and nicotinia dangles its fragrant white blossoms. Green flowering hydrangea command the garden, one at the garden’s entrance, the other in the center paired with pink phlox. The cups of a large, old-fashioned purplish pink Rose-of-Sharon open at the small building that served as the Town Clerk’s Office so many years ago.

Autumn is ushered in with white flowering hostas and anemones, tall, sprawling unbrellas of cream and mauve petals, fluffy tufts of violet-blue ageratum, the deepening plates of sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, from green tinged pale pink to dark raspberry, and dahlias — those unparalleled focal points of the season — scarlet challises rising from black foliage, a ruffle of tangerine, and those the size of dinner plates with layers of ivory petals, and another rippling from cream to pale peach to apricot. Pink and red roses and orange and yellow lilies are re-blooming, the grass is tasseling with purplish brushes and feathers, hydrangea racemes are maturing to deep pinks, the starry petals of ‘Sweet Autumn Clematis’ is scrambling across the fence, and the garden is speckled with the remains of blue balloon flowers and lavender pink phlox. These are followed by the red bristly fruit of kousa dogwood, the holly beginning to berry, and bushels of fall-colored chrysanthemums.

I would be remiss in not mentioning the most important element of the garden: foliage. These include ferns and a variety of hosta at the garden’s margins, enormous puckered leaves of green, some with chartreuse edges, chartreuse, some edged with blue, powder blue, mint green rimmed with cream, and the focal point that is ‘Sum and Substance’. There are also grasses, a pennisetum, a small tussock with wheat-like tassels, and three clumps of a taller fountain grass with blades tinged crimson and purple plumes. Interesting foliage is also supplied with evergreen trees and shrubs, bristled conifers, boxwoods, azaleas, and glossy hollies, as well as the bronze foliage of smoke tree; an enormous pine delineates the garden’s entrance to its south, a large maple, igniting in fall, framing the north entrance. After the variety of foliage from the flowers — the blades of iris and lilies, the fine needles of coreospis, the toothed mounds of geraniums and chrysanthemums, the fleshy pads of sedum — these remain, carrying the garden through all seasons.

There’s not a moment of time or a sliver of air that is not filled with color in Kaye’s garden. The space exemplifies the notion that it is not necessary to cultivate a large garden to realize one that is spectacular throughout the year. Particularly as we age and our gardens grow beyond us, it’s important to minimize the area which requires our attention. All that is really necessary is careful planning. Keep a record of seasonal plants to ensure seasonal interest. Rely on the structure of trees and shrubs and foliar plants. Limit plants to those that are neither too fussy nor too rambunctious. And, above all, make certain to include your favorites.

Dayna McDermott

After the deserts of New Mexico, our next destination was another iconic landscape: the Rocky Mountains. There we rested, indulging in a day trip on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, riding in a gondola behind the historic steam train which has operated for over 150 years. Even more impressive — the beautiful scenery along the Animas River, Spanish for “Ghost River”, as one climbs into the Rockies. This was not our first trip on this relaxing voyage, but it was Felix’s, and he enjoyed it even more than the Polar Express as he bounced from one side of the train to the other, observing the river at its base and watching it grow smaller, become a sliver, as we climbed the Rockies. He equated Colorado with elevation, and its beauty, which amazes you anew every time you round a bend, didn’t escape him.

We left early the next morning for Mesa Verde, the pre-Columbian settlement built under the mesas and cliffs. This is Dayna’s favorite, and although she’s visited a number of times, she “still can’t believe it”. Cliff Palace settlement is enormous with kivas, towers, storage areas and homes. These people built from the ground up to the back of the mesa, three to four stories from where they began. But smaller dwellings are everywhere, and Felix became adept at finding them, camouflaged against the rocks and tucked under the ledges. The native Anasazi knew what they were doing when they settled here. Their cliff dwellings offered them security and protection from the forces of nature, and one is simply overwhelmed by the architecture and engineering employed by the ancestral people of the southwest. And their view was incredibly beautiful. We’re in awe as we sit where the first Americans were able to enjoy America the Beautiful.

The next part of our journey was one of the long ones, to and through Monument Valley. Before you drive through the southeast corner of Utah you should always remember to carry two things: water, and a map. No one told us we would lose cell reception and GPS services. We relied on highway signs in this remote part of Navajo Nation, until a detour put us on a road with no signs, no buildings, no cell towers, no other vehicles – with only an ever-changing view and a desire to find some form of civilization and ask — where the hell are we, and how far is it to Monument Valley? Eventually we spotted one of those small gas stations and convenience stores which (thankfully!) dot the landscape occasionally, and the Navajo store keeper assured us we were on the right road, and informed us of landmarks (literally, marks on the land) to look for on our way.

After traveling along a road to seemingly nowhere, we eventually found ourselves along “The Valley of the Gods”. My first views of Monument Valley as a kid were from old cowboys movies. Now one can view it on episodes of “Dark Winds”. Monument Valley is breathtakingly beautiful. Mother Nature has done her job with much artistic enthusiasm in this wild, unspoiled sandstone territory of sculpted buttes, mesas and spires. It is not a government owned park; it is owned and operated by the Navajo Nation, and visitors should take advantage of touring the area with a Native guide, not only because the terrain is very rough and your guide will know how to navigate it, but because you will hear Native lore, and of the people who still live there. Yes, Native people live in Monument Valley. People notice the poverty which exists here, and in Kayenta. But Native people know of the wealth — the view — and prefer this, sometimes harsh life, to selling their lands to developers who would destroy the raw beauty of Monument Valley.

Everywhere we went, there was an opportunity to meet the Native people, Native artisans, the Navajo selling the turquoise and silver jewelry they craft, members of the Ute Nation selling such light fry bread, people at Welcome Centers who speak of their connection to the past through food, ceremony and song. As a native person, I always make contact with the first nation people in the area, and was happy that India had an opportunity to talk with these people, her people, too.

With the sun setting over the Valley of the Gods, our family performed a ceremony of thanks to the Creator for family, friends and a safe day of travel. We left Taos, Chaco Culture, Mesa Verde and Monument Valley with a much clearer understanding of what places like this should mean to all Americans. For me, it’s coming “home”, to the land of my ancestors, and at a glance explains our attachment to the land.

If you haven’t experienced these places, you should. Put them on your bucket list of places that exemplify the beauty of our country, places to visit on your journey through life on this planet.

Juan Arriola

…to be continued