About Saving the Farm; A Journey through Time, Place, and Redemption
Saving the Farm; A Journey through Time, Place, and Redemption by James T. Powers tells the story of how a small group of concerned citizens were able to save and preserve an important cultural and historic farm in North Guilford, Ct. to connect with and preserve their community's link with its agricultural past. It powerfully portrays how important it is that communities regain and retain a sense of their cultural and historic identity within the context of growth and development in order to keep, through a sense of place, an understanding of who they were and still are. Saving the Farm is a story that transcends that local community and mirrors the struggles of others reeling from the impact of sprawl brought about by unrelenting development during the late 20th and early 21st Centuries and how they can relate to and appreciate what happened in this small New England community.
Saving the Farm documents ten generations of the Dudley family that helped settle what became North Guilford in the early 1700's, how they thrived despite tremendous odds, and how their farm 290 years later become a community treasure and legacy. Saving the Farm also chronicles how the Dudley’s farm became a reflection of their hopes and dreams within an ever changing world while capturing what their 200 year old home came to mean to those who came to love and cherish it.
In the struggle to preserve the Dudley’s farm by creating a late 19th century farm museum, an eclectic collection of people who spearheaded that effort rekindled within North Guilford and beyond a spirit of community . In the process they were able to create a sense of collective identity with the past that helped them regain for themselves and future generations a connection that transcended time and place and thus understand who they were, are, and still might be.
Saving the Farm is a history of the Dudley family and the ways in which their farm evolved to meet the demands of an ever changing world. It is also a reflection by Powers; as a teacher, volunteer member, president, officer, and curator of the non-profit Dudley Foundation that worked to save the farm with fictional representations of the lives of the Dudley’s and essays about 19th century farm life.
Finally, Saving the Farm; A Journey through Time, Place, and Redemption is the story of the farm itself and the magical quality of what has been preserved. It is about how people feel when they stroll the grounds or tour the buildings and the smiles on their faces that reflect their sense of comfort and belonging. As a window into a time long gone, the Dudley Farm is an island in the midst of our modern world that exudes the very essence of who we once were and still are. It is there we find a sense of being home, a sense of place.
Saving the Farm documents ten generations of the Dudley family that helped settle what became North Guilford in the early 1700's, how they thrived despite tremendous odds, and how their farm 290 years later become a community treasure and legacy. Saving the Farm also chronicles how the Dudley’s farm became a reflection of their hopes and dreams within an ever changing world while capturing what their 200 year old home came to mean to those who came to love and cherish it.
In the struggle to preserve the Dudley’s farm by creating a late 19th century farm museum, an eclectic collection of people who spearheaded that effort rekindled within North Guilford and beyond a spirit of community . In the process they were able to create a sense of collective identity with the past that helped them regain for themselves and future generations a connection that transcended time and place and thus understand who they were, are, and still might be.
Saving the Farm is a history of the Dudley family and the ways in which their farm evolved to meet the demands of an ever changing world. It is also a reflection by Powers; as a teacher, volunteer member, president, officer, and curator of the non-profit Dudley Foundation that worked to save the farm with fictional representations of the lives of the Dudley’s and essays about 19th century farm life.
Finally, Saving the Farm; A Journey through Time, Place, and Redemption is the story of the farm itself and the magical quality of what has been preserved. It is about how people feel when they stroll the grounds or tour the buildings and the smiles on their faces that reflect their sense of comfort and belonging. As a window into a time long gone, the Dudley Farm is an island in the midst of our modern world that exudes the very essence of who we once were and still are. It is there we find a sense of being home, a sense of place.
