Interview with The New Haven Register
May 27, 2013
RANDALL BEACH: Seeking a sense of place, these townspeople saved something special
Saturday, May 25, 2013
When James Powers walks around the barns, the fields and the rooms of the house at the Dudley Farm in Guilford, he is home.
Whenever he’s there, at the corner of Routes 77 and 80, he’s connecting to a special heritage. Powers is not the only one who has come to appreciate this connection. Over the past 22 years, a large group of community preservationists have worked together to save this farm, which dates back to the late 1700s. Powers wrote a book about it: “Saving the Farm: A Journey Through Time, Place and Redemption” (Homebound Publications).
When Powers appeared on a recent evening at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, he read from his book’s introduction, a description of how he was drawn to those 10 acres. “Sitting on a slight hill above the road, with its picket fence and stone walls, the farm calls the passer-by,” Powers read. “The regal house and weathered barn have a bearing of permanence and strength as they cling to the land like the Yankee farmers who built them.”
Powers continued: “At a time when farms are all but gone in Connecticut, the struggle to save the farm for future generations took on a crusade-like quality.” He noted that in Guilford, as everywhere else in America, ever-accelerating development and sprawl are threatening to destroy our “unique cultural and historical heritage.” “Is this what we want?” he asked.
A sufficient number of people decided, “No, that’s not what we want” for the Dudley Farm. And they were willing to work hard to make sure it was preserved. In chapter one, “Waving to David,” Powers recalls how he first noticed the farm in 1983 when he began teaching history at Guilford High School. As he drove by, he saw “a vision from the past.” There was a man dressed in blue denim overalls and a straw hat, standing by the porch of the old farmhouse. It was David Dudley, the last member of the six generations who had worked that farm. Powers didn’t know the man’s name but quite spontaneously he slowed down and waved.
Dudley didn’t wave back. This little ritual continued to play out over the next eight years during Powers’ commute. Powers kept waving, telling himself that if the old farmer ever returned the wave, Powers would stop and chat. He wanted to ask the farmer about his farm, his life, his family and the history of the property. Powers had been raised in Wallingford and as a boy had developed an affinity for rural land by playing in the farm fields surrounding the development in which he was raised.
Finally, one day in 1991, as Powers drove by the old farm and waved to the man, David Dudley waved back. Powers was in a hurry, so he didn’t stop. “Next time,” he said to himself. But there never was a next time. The man on the land disappeared. Powers learned Dudley had died. The farm began to deteriorate; Powers feared it would be bulldozed.
But Dudley had left a surprise parting gift to the community: he bequeathed the farm to the North Guilford Volunteer Fire Co. and the North Guilford Congregational Church. But what to do with it? Fire company representatives reached out to the town for ideas and the Dudley Foundation formed. When Powers and GHS wood technology teacher Tom Leddy were invited to tour the farm, they immediately saw the educational possibilities. What better way to teach students about life in the 1700s and 1800s? In addition to introducing youths to farm life, Powers became curator of the Dudley Farm Museum when the 1844 farmhouse was restored.
Last week, Powers and foundation vice-president Janet Dudley, distantly related to the original Dudley settlers, showed me the house. (Visitors are welcome: see www.dudleyfarm.com). Period furniture, such as the kitchen’s black cast iron stove (along with David Dudley’s hats), instill that sense of the past. Janet Dudley, her husband, Mark Dudley, and their son, Evan, tend the oxen, sheep, chickens and hens. A farmers’ market is held there Saturdays.
The newest structure is the Munger Barn, donated by the Munger Family of Madison. The barn was dismantled and resurrected in a spiritually uplifting community barn-raising in 2002. In his book, Powers describes that joyous all-volunteer effort as “an event transcending time.”
Contact Randall Beach at rbeach@nhregister.com
or 203-789-5766.
URL:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/05/26/news/doc51a147947efdf693377085.prt
©
2013 nhregister.com, a Journal Register Property
Saturday, May 25, 2013
When James Powers walks around the barns, the fields and the rooms of the house at the Dudley Farm in Guilford, he is home.
Whenever he’s there, at the corner of Routes 77 and 80, he’s connecting to a special heritage. Powers is not the only one who has come to appreciate this connection. Over the past 22 years, a large group of community preservationists have worked together to save this farm, which dates back to the late 1700s. Powers wrote a book about it: “Saving the Farm: A Journey Through Time, Place and Redemption” (Homebound Publications).
When Powers appeared on a recent evening at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, he read from his book’s introduction, a description of how he was drawn to those 10 acres. “Sitting on a slight hill above the road, with its picket fence and stone walls, the farm calls the passer-by,” Powers read. “The regal house and weathered barn have a bearing of permanence and strength as they cling to the land like the Yankee farmers who built them.”
Powers continued: “At a time when farms are all but gone in Connecticut, the struggle to save the farm for future generations took on a crusade-like quality.” He noted that in Guilford, as everywhere else in America, ever-accelerating development and sprawl are threatening to destroy our “unique cultural and historical heritage.” “Is this what we want?” he asked.
A sufficient number of people decided, “No, that’s not what we want” for the Dudley Farm. And they were willing to work hard to make sure it was preserved. In chapter one, “Waving to David,” Powers recalls how he first noticed the farm in 1983 when he began teaching history at Guilford High School. As he drove by, he saw “a vision from the past.” There was a man dressed in blue denim overalls and a straw hat, standing by the porch of the old farmhouse. It was David Dudley, the last member of the six generations who had worked that farm. Powers didn’t know the man’s name but quite spontaneously he slowed down and waved.
Dudley didn’t wave back. This little ritual continued to play out over the next eight years during Powers’ commute. Powers kept waving, telling himself that if the old farmer ever returned the wave, Powers would stop and chat. He wanted to ask the farmer about his farm, his life, his family and the history of the property. Powers had been raised in Wallingford and as a boy had developed an affinity for rural land by playing in the farm fields surrounding the development in which he was raised.
Finally, one day in 1991, as Powers drove by the old farm and waved to the man, David Dudley waved back. Powers was in a hurry, so he didn’t stop. “Next time,” he said to himself. But there never was a next time. The man on the land disappeared. Powers learned Dudley had died. The farm began to deteriorate; Powers feared it would be bulldozed.
But Dudley had left a surprise parting gift to the community: he bequeathed the farm to the North Guilford Volunteer Fire Co. and the North Guilford Congregational Church. But what to do with it? Fire company representatives reached out to the town for ideas and the Dudley Foundation formed. When Powers and GHS wood technology teacher Tom Leddy were invited to tour the farm, they immediately saw the educational possibilities. What better way to teach students about life in the 1700s and 1800s? In addition to introducing youths to farm life, Powers became curator of the Dudley Farm Museum when the 1844 farmhouse was restored.
Last week, Powers and foundation vice-president Janet Dudley, distantly related to the original Dudley settlers, showed me the house. (Visitors are welcome: see www.dudleyfarm.com). Period furniture, such as the kitchen’s black cast iron stove (along with David Dudley’s hats), instill that sense of the past. Janet Dudley, her husband, Mark Dudley, and their son, Evan, tend the oxen, sheep, chickens and hens. A farmers’ market is held there Saturdays.
The newest structure is the Munger Barn, donated by the Munger Family of Madison. The barn was dismantled and resurrected in a spiritually uplifting community barn-raising in 2002. In his book, Powers describes that joyous all-volunteer effort as “an event transcending time.”
Contact Randall Beach at rbeach@nhregister.com
or 203-789-5766.
URL:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2013/05/26/news/doc51a147947efdf693377085.prt
©
2013 nhregister.com, a Journal Register Property