Phillips Farm Campaign Nears Deadline (CT)

SOUTHBURY, Connecticut, 9/9/02: The Campaign to Save Phillips Farm is heading into the home stretch. Last week, the Southbury Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land sent a fundraising appeal to every home in town asking for gifts to help close out the campaign to permanently protect the scenic 97-acre farm on Sanford Road as open space.

“This project has taken a big step forward with the funds raised so far, and we are grateful for the terrific support it has already received. Now, we want to encourage everyone who cares about Phillips Farm to make a final gift and help bring the campaign across the finish line,” said Southbury resident Tom Crider, who is both chair of the Campaign to Save Phillips Farm and president of the Southbury Land Trust. Tony Cusano, M.D. and Anne Colby of Southbury are serving as vice chairs of the Campaign.

“The Campaign to Save Phillips Farm has cleared its first hurdle by raising $850,000. This reflects tremendous support from the Southbury community, but we still have a ways to go to meet our goal by the end of the month,” said Elisabeth Moore, project manager for the Trust for Public Land.”

To date, more than $850,000 has been raised from public and private sources for the campaign, and a federal grant of approximately $80,000 for the property’s purchase and permanent protection looks promising. The Southbury Land Trust, the Trust for Public Land, and the campaign committee are now working to meet the fundraising goal of just over $1 million. The agreement to purchase the land expires at the end of September.

Last April, after nearly two years of negotiations, the Southbury Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land reached an agreement to purchase Phillips Farm and launched a fundraising campaign to raise funds for the project.

The Town of Southbury seeded the campaign with a commitment of $250,000, and the State’s Department of Environmental Protection announced an award of nearly $440,000 from the Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program. Contributions to the Campaign to Save Phillips Farm are tax-deductible and can be sent to: The Southbury Land Trust, P.O. Box 600, Southbury, CT 06488. Donations can be made by credit card on the Internet at www.tpl.org/phillipsfarm by clicking the ‘ Click to Donate’ button. For more information about making a gift, contact Karen Huber at (203) 264-4441.

A traditional small New England farm since the early 1700s, Phillips Farm is one of Southbury’s few remaining tracts of undeveloped open space. The farm includes panoramic ridgeline views, extensive hiking trails, pastoral meadows, old-growth forest, and habitat for rare plant species.

Author and columnist Gladys Taber, who lived at neighboring Stillmeadow, frequently wrote about Phillips Farm in her best-selling books and essays. Taber, who wrote over 50 books in all, is best known for her popular series of books and magazine columns describing life in Southbury from the 1930s through the 1970s, and Taber fans travel from all over the world to visit the tranquil beauty described in her writings. In addition, the farm is integral to the Sanford Road Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. T

he Southbury Land Trust, founded in 1978, is a private nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Southbury’s natural resources for the enjoyment of all present and future residents. SLT currently has 650 acres under its stewardship.

The Trust for Public Land is a national conservation organization dedicated to protecting land for people to enjoy as parks and open space. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 1.4 million acres nationwide, including nearly 3,000 acres in Connecticut. For more information, visit www.tpl.org/Connecticut.