All that the Round Hill Association accomplishes is due to the generosity of its members and its volunteer board. They do even more by working with other groups.
This newsletter and the website, www.RoundHillAssocn.org, inform readers of events and issues that may interest and affect them.
The Civic Improvement fund, supported by member contributions, is used to help keep traffic circles and roadsides beautiful. Board members Ines Kingsley and John Conte work with Green and Clean and a small landscaping crew to clear litter and plant shrubs and flowers.
On behalf of our members, we have contributed to the RHVFC fire trucks, the generator for the Community House where the Recharging Center will operate, the new sign for the Round Hill Store, and restoration of the Greenwich Land Trust’s Mueller Preserve.
In the centrally located Community House, the Round Hill Association hosts forums for its members and those of the other BackCountry associations, NWGA and NEGA, In March this year we heard about Educational Opportunities in our area, with talks by Bryan Nixon, Head of Whitby, Patty Allen, then Principal of Parkway School, and Mindy Dudley, Director of the Round Hill Nursery School. No candidates’ forum was held this year because our state representative, Livvy Floren, was unopposed. o
The forums usually focus on serious topics such as airport noise, safety, property taxes, and zoning, but they also have a social dimension as members mingle before and after the programs. This was true at the annual Halloween Party on October 30, when the Community House was at capacity. Children were the focus of the party, but adults also enjoyed dressing up, playing, and meeting others.
In May we gave a bus tour of historic places in north Greenwich in cooperation with the Northwest Greenwich Association. The tour, first conducted for the Historical Society’s celebration of Greenwich’s 375th anniversary last year, included several Great Estates, historic churches, the Audubon Center, the 1798 Field-Griffen house and horse farm on Bedford Road, the Boy Scout Reservation, and the Old Mill for which the road is named.
The RHA weighed in on moving the cell tower from the proposed site at the RHVFC to the Round Hill Community Church property. It also opposed the state’s proposal to build a bike lane along the Merritt Parkway.
The board wants to hear from residents when they see problems. When residents on North Porchuck Road noticed a suspected zoning violation, BackCountry Wellness, in their neighborhood, they called our president, Janet MacKenzie. She attended the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to support the neighbors, The RHA went on record asking the board to enforce the zoning laws, and the use was denied.
RHA board members wear other hats in volunteer work. Lloyd Hull, Larry Larson, Nancy Gray, and Louisa Stone are longtime members of the Representative Town Meeting. Lloyd also served on the Historic District Commission, and Larry is a member of the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals. Larry Larson and Janet MacKenzie are members of the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company board. Our members include leaders in many other civic organizations and government at all levels.
