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12/29/2021 06:00 AMThe year started with months of pandemic uncertainty before primaries, elections, education, pickleball, and a murder gave residents new focus, though the end of 2021 has returned pandemic concerns to the fore. Here are some of the top stories in 2021.
January
The Witness Stones Project, Inc., which had already seen significant expansion since retired Guilford social studies teacher Dennis Culliton and therapist Doug Nygren launched it in 2019, is set to grow even more in 2021 as conversations on race begin to foment.
Guilford Public Schools is moving forward with the transition to the new Guilford High School (GHS) mascot, the Grizzlies, with an unveiling of the logo and other branding planned for next month.
Vehicle break-ins continued to occur in Guilford and other shoreline times, putting a spotlight on juvenile crime.
In Guilford, State Representatives Vinnie Candelora (R-86) and Sean Scanlon (D-98) want to show their constituents that bridging the chasm can begin—and indeed, has to—with simply sitting down and listening to each other, as national political divides grew further.
February
As the Board of Education (BOE) moves toward a final budget recommendation, residents are rallying against the reduction of a full-time music teacher at Adams Middle School. The school administration said the decision is a response to declining enrollment.
At the tail end of a long winter and in what may be the waning months of an even longer pandemic, the mental health pressure of isolation and stress has for many grown, not lessened. Local officials are particularly concerned for young people, who are already more likely to struggle with many types of mental illness.
The Guilford Safe Streets Task Force (SSTF) is asking residents to begin a new dialogue regarding roads and safety at a public meeting that will also unveil a new virtual mapping tool that allows people to provide specific feedback.
The BOE approved five capital expense items for this year’s proposed budget totaling a little more than $6.2 million. Most notably, the GHS turf field and track were marked for renovation.
March
A handful of GHS students who claim they have been denied the ability to form a mental health-focused club at the school are speaking out and taking their concerns to the broader community, as mental health struggles have hit young people particularly hard during the pandemic.
Certain additions to the school budget this year have sparked an emotional debate around issues of equity, race, and mental health as some community members protested investments in educational and structural moves by the district aimed at addressing inequality.
The Board of Finance pushed forward on approving a final $105,169,759 budget proposal for fiscal year 2021-’22, an increase of $1,726,508 or 1.67 percent over current spending.
After about six weeks of clinics, more than 90 percent of residents over the age of 65 have received at least one vaccine dose in Guilford. Because of this, next month the Community Center will finally open its doors for seniors once again.
April
Despite their both passing, Sue and Lou Weady will remain a presence in the town, as their legacy of philanthropy, service, and love for Guilford lives on in a nearly $1 million bequest to the Guilford Foundation, the largest ever single gift, according to foundation Executive Director Liza Petra.
Though the shadow of COVID has yet to lift, town officials are forecasting a clear summer—with summer fireworks and the popular summer concert series getting a green light. First Selectman Matt Hoey said he has authorized the town to move forward “in accordance with the governor’s guidance.”
Though almost perfunctory in nature, Guilford marked one more pandemic milestone by successfully holding its first town meeting in a virtual format last week as voters sent the budget to referendum via Zoom.
Just over a year after it was originally scheduled and 18 months after its grand opening, the Guilford Disc Golf Course hosted its first official tournament, drawing almost 100 professional and amateur competitors from around the region as Bittner Park looks to become a regular destination for the rapidly growing sport.
May
Reaffirming support for Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman’s work over the last year in the realm of racial equity, the Board of Education also explicitly pushed back against a number of criticisms levied by parents over the last few months as they approved a strongly worded statement committing “to meet the challenges that racism and injustice present to our students and our community.”
In what is being called a long view investment, Guilford made a significant change in how it funds certain retiree benefits for town and school employees with the establishment of an Other Post Employment Benefits Fund.
FUSE Theatre company this week is debuting a unique performance piece that marries the bizarre world in which we now live with one of history’s perennial comedic tales: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This winter, Guilford High School student Alissa Chen felt compelled to help those whose pandemic struggles went beyond disruptions to routine. Partnering with local businesses, Chen spent weeks of her own pandemic lockdown gathering donations and essentials, which she helped deliver to a New Haven soup kitchen.
A newly combined Guilford and Madison commission thath oversees the transfer station used by both towns is asking residents to start thinking about how they create waste after many recycling or reduction initiatives were suspended during the pandemic.
June
The Board of Selectmen kicked off discussions about the possibility of passing an affordable housing tax abatement ordinance that would allow the town to waive all or some of the property taxes owed by certain types of affordable developments.
For more than a decade, Eunice DeMond has run Little Rascals Rescue and Rehabilitation from her house on Old Whitfield Street, nursing injured or abandoned wild animals back to health. That work is currently on hold, however, as the town, faced with complaints from a neighbor, struggles to reconcile the widely praised service with zoning regulations that appear to prohibit such a use.
On June 11, the Guilford Police Department responded to a report of a man and child on the railroad tracks near the train station off Old Whitfield Street, where officers determined the man was trying to harm himself and the child. No one was injured.
Work continues on the construction of a modern roundabout at Route 1 and Route 22 at the town lines of Guilford, Branford, and North Branford.
July
Protestors, both for and against, lined up at a Board of Education meeting, sparking more debate about attempts to address inequality in Guilford Public Schools’ curriculum.
The Board of Selectmen approved grant requests through the 2021 Neighborhood Assistance Act Program, a state tax incentive program that allows non-profits and community organizations to receive up to $150,000 a year in tax credits.
After hours of drenching rain, Tropical Storm Elsa rolled off, leaving a handful of downed trees, power outages, and flooded roads, but seemingly sparing the town from significant damage.
The Guilford Police Department is currently investigating a homicide, the first in Guilford in 21 years, after discovering a woman suffering from blunt force injuries at her home in the Quonnipaug Hills condominiums following a welfare check.
August
It has been a long time since the Jewish shoreline community has been able to gather and wish each other a hearty Chag Sameach (“happy holiday”). That all changes Aug. 1 on the Guilford Green, when Chabad of the Shoreline re-launches its Jewish Festival summer bash.
Truth in Education (TIE), a group opposing many of Guilford Public Schools’ efforts toward teaching inclusivity and race, and its messages appear to have taken hold in a much more significant and institutional way, as three incumbent Republican Board of Education members were ousted in favor TIE-affiliated candidates at the Republican Town Committee caucus.
The Board of Selectmen approved a contract for inspection services on the Route 77 sidewalk project, which will extend pedestrian access from Adams Middle School up north past I-95 to Hubbard Road.
In the face of the Republican Board of Education slate sweep by local grassroots advocates who oppose what they describe as race-based education, the Independent Party puts forward its own alternate slate of candidates.
Despite an overwhelming outpouring of support in favor of local wildlife rehabilitator Eunice Demond, the Planning & Zoning Commission votes 4-2 against allowing her to continue housing wild animals on her Old Whitfield Street property.
A virtual forum featuring an expert on the academic concept of Critical Race Theory, which has become a hot-button issue in Guilford as well as around the country, drew significant participation as residents appear to be very engaged in the topic that has upended local politics in recent months.
September
Saturday, Sept. 11 will mark the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that rocked the nation and forever altered life as we knew it. To commemorate the day, the VFW and American Legion will hold a ceremony on the Guilford Green.
Burglaries in Guilford, Madison, and Branford in which the perpetrators entered unlocked homes and stole keys and then a vehicle has prompted area police departments to remind residents to remain vigilant and lock their property.
Town officials are pleased to announce that despite some minor delays, the Saw Mill Road Bridge project is on track to re-open in late November or early December.
The Republican primary for the town’s Board of Education held Sept. 14 delivered a jolt to town politics as the Row A candidates trounced their establishment Republican challengers, including three BOE incumbents.
October
The third annual Disc Golf Tournament for Meals on Wheels kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 2.
First Selectman Matt Hoey said that he sees both sides of the legal cannabis issue and thinks that a slow but steady approach may be the best fit for the town. He believes the Board of Selectman will implement a temporary moratorium, which he hopes will provide valuable breathing room so all aspects of this complicated issue can be evaluated.
The town’s new pickleball courts at Bittner Park are completed and ready for use.
Guilford police arrest Robert Faison 45 of West Haven, who is charged with the July 22 murder of his wife, 43 year-old Lindsey Hopkins, at her home in the Quonnipaug Hills condominiums.
Accusations of elections fraud by a campaign volunteer for the Republican Row B candidates for Board of Education levied against the Democratic and Independent BOE candidates and their campaign manager are dismissed by the Secretary of the State’s Office.
November
A proposal for a 100-unit apartment complex in Guilford has been filed. The proposed plan is sited on Hubbard Road near I-95, behind the Guilford Police Station and Guilford Racquet & Swim Club.
In a contentious and sometimes vitriolic campaign that garnered national attention due to the Board of Education race that centered on controversial racial issues and school curriculum, the endorsed Republicans, or Row B-ers, were soundly defeated in their quest to obtain even a single seat on the BOE.
The newly formed Shoreline Interfaith Resettlement will co-sponsor an Afghan refugee family with Integrated Refugee Immigrant Services in the coming months, helping them resettle along the Connecticut shore.
Detect, Inc., of Guilford, founded by National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipient Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, has created an accurate, fast, over-the-counter, PCR-quality molecular COVID-19 home test, that arrived just in time as COVID cases are rising
December
The former Fisherman’s Nook fish and event camp located on Route 77 just south of Route 80, is the site where a local couple is mulling over plans to reopen the camp as an ecology and education center.
John and Sarah DellaVentura relaunched their Wishing Wheels Bike drive this year, collecting, assembling and donating 300 bikes to and helmets to area youth.
A new non-profit was created to honor beloved life-long resident, Paul Dostie, and gather much needed funds for those suffering from glioblastoma-The Paul Dostie KARE Foundation.
The year ended with a disturbing vandalism incident that occurred in late November at six downtown homes, when someone launched projectiles that broke and damaged a number of windows. Police are still investigating.
As the year came to a close, Guilford was among the majority of Connecticut municipalities listed in the red zone for COVID cases as the state encountered its highest-yet rate of positive tests since the start of the pandemic.