Canton Land Conservation Trust Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

Our 50th anniversary celebration was a huge success at Ski Sundown . The food and beverages were divine. Who knew you could consume “martinis” with a spoon.

The music and dancing were entertaining.   The video and photo contest showcased our properties and a winner was crowned at the end of the night. But best of all was the chance to connect with with old friends and neighbors and to meet new ones. Many who share a deep love for the woods in our town and believe that we can make a difference one acre at a time.

We are the Canton Land Conservation Trust, the officers, directors, volunteers and members working together to conserve, play (recreate) and educate for the sake of our children’s children’s children. And to end the night, the full harvest moon appeared from behind the mountain to shine a light on us all.

Many Thanks!

To Karen Berger and Ann Duncan who coordinated the many pieces and herded cats

To Kristie Gansalves who behind the scenes knew who to call and how things should be done

To Karen Manternach for overseeing the pre-party logistics, sourcing the plants and arranging the fleet of trucks and drivers both before and after the event

To the crew of drivers and hands who moved plants and arranged tables and chairs (and then  rearranged them again) - John Pech, Jan & Doug Tanner, Jim Carpenter, Bryan Adams, Anne Duncan

To Betsy Fitzgerald for her master plan to decorate and to her flock of floral arrangers - Sally Albrect, Nancy Alford, Karen Berger, Theresa Sullivan-Barger, Sandy Weintraub, Anne Duncan

To Phil Philbrick for the grand vision to mark our 50 anniversary

To Matthew Vinick for masterfully compiling a 50 Year historical video

To Sarah Faulkner for coordinating the reservations, greeting our guests and making sure we had our appropriate name tags

To Harold and MaryEllen Mullins for collecting, prejudging and hanging our photo contest gallery. And for a stellar tabletop award ceremony to announce the top three winners

To Holly Hambleton for the invitation and tree stand welcome banner

To Holly Hambleton, Karen Berger and Theresa Sullivan-Barger for the native plant bouquets

To Ken Fischer for the cocktail hour piano tunes on the patio

To Amy Paterson for engaging the crowd and asking us the question “What do you love about the Canton Land Trust”

To the Russel Catering servers for the tasty treats, the mixed martinis and buffet of delights

To the bartenders for keeping everyone in good spirits

To Eight to the Bar for some great dance tunes

To Jane Latus for getting the news out - multiple times - both to our membership and to the town through her local connections

To Christian Winkler for setting up online reservations and for writing checks and paying the bills

To our local plant providers -  Riverside Nursery, Tower Farms, Twin Gardens and Warner Nursery - for lending plants for the night

To Ski Sundown for the slop side venue and for getting the new patio done just in time

To Bremar rental for fairy lights  (and real dishes, flatware and glasses)

To Collinsville Bank, Miner’s Inc, Mitchell Auto Group, Shop Rite owned by the Joseph family

To Suburban Sanitation for their monetary donations

And to all the members and volunteers that contributed to the success of the night.