Selectman DeStefano cuts the ribbon at theGristmill Market grand opening
Selectman DeStefano cuts the ribbon at the grand opening
Gristmill Country Market is now open in Higganum center.
Hours are from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. daily. The Market is providing a full service meat and deli department, along with fresh produce, dairy and frozen food. Also a wide variety of health and beauty products and groceries are available.
To contact the Gristmill, Email them at: gristmillcountrymarket@gmail.com or by phone at: 860-345-4500

For a short video of the ribbon cutting ceremony, please click on this link to our Facebook page


Support Haddam River Days

It is that time again for the Haddam River Days Committee to ask local businesses to donate to our 14th Annual event. While we know that the economy is such that advertising budgets are tight, we have made our rates to advertise in our booklet affordable. Just $20 for a business card size ad! What better way to get your name out to the residents of your community and support a good cause! Other ad sizes are available and priced accordingly.
The Committee has been working throughout the winter setting up an agenda for these years’ events. Shoreline Connection will be the featured band on Friday, September 10, for the “Concert at the Gazebo”. We will be selling hot dogs and drinks, so pack up the family and come enjoy the music!
On Saturday, September 11, at the Haddam Meadows there will be live entertainment, the family tent, rock climbing wall, crafters, organizations and food vendors throughout the day ending with a great fireworks display at dusk. A full schedule of events will be available as the date nears.
If you have a talent, skill, business or organization that would like to participate, “volunteer for the day”, or would like to advertise in our booklet, please call Dawn at 860-345-2211. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at these years’ events!

99th Annual Haddam Neck Fair

sheep shearing at Haddam Neck Fair
The 99th Annual Haddam Neck Fair will be held from Friday–Monday, September 3 through September 6, at the fairgrounds in Haddam Neck.

Rated as one of the Major Agricultural Fairs in Connecticut, the Haddam Neck Fair attracts over 30,000 people yet prides itself on being a small country fair. There will be the traditional contests and exhibits which a century ago constituted the skills necessary to raise and preserve food and handle the animals which did the work. Horse and oxen drawing contests, tractor pulls, exhibits of native-grown vegetables, sewing, quilting and many other contests skills necessary in daily life will take place.
For more modern times there will be a 5K Road Race, Lawn Tractor Racing, a Horse Show and two Truck Pulls. Of course there are rides for the kids of all ages and lots of food. Haddam Neck has never abandoned the tradition of serving beer, and we still have shade trees.
Since it began in 1911, the Haddam Neck Fair has been a volunteer operation, supported entirely by the funds it raises and by the hard work of its volunteers. The Board of Directors is proud to have maintained the friendly, small country atmosphere and worked to avoid becoming “too commercial.”
The fairgrounds are located on Quarry Hill Road in Haddam Neck, which is reached from Route 151. Admission is $7 for adults and children under 12 are free. There is free parking adjacent to the fairgrounds. Dogs and other pets as well as bicycles are not allowed on the grounds during the fair, and liquor and beer may not be brought in through the gate.
While the Haddam Neck Fair is apolitical, candidates for office are welcome to visit our fair and mix with our crowd provided they come as members of the public and follow our rules of consideration for others.
For information on the Haddam Neck Fair, call the Fair Office at 860-267- 5922 or visit the Haddam Neck Fair website at www.haddamneckfair.com.
Next year the Haddam Neck Fair will celebrate its 100th anniversary! To celebrate a pictorial history is being planned, covering all years from 1911 to the present. The book committee is seeking photographs, or other memorabilia, of any and all aspects of the fair that could be used in the publication. For more information go to their blog or contact Dianne McHutchison or Elizabeth Malloy via email.

Plan to Outsource Public TV Access Hearing

Submitted by Robert Zavod Haddam Representative, CATV Council

For many years Comcast has maintained a studio in the town of Clinton to supply public TV access to our service area (Haddam, Killingworth, Chester, Deep River, Centerbrook, Essex, Westbrook, Old Saybrook, and Clinton).
Recently, Comcast has been soliciting bids from third parties (non-profit) to assume management of the facility “in our service area” according to Comcast, but probably not in the present studio.
At the last meeting of the Comcast Advisory Council, several members of the public had pertinent questions regard- ing this plan. The following statement has been issued by our Council:
“At the June 15 Meeting the CATV Council recommended that Comcast notify all subscribers in the nine town service area via a notice on the next monthly bills of its intent to transition Clinton Community Access facility to a third party non-profit managed by Walter Mann from North Haven who will present his proposal to the Council and public for comments or concerns at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the CATV Council on August 24.”
The meeting will take place on August 24 at the Teresa Mulvey Town Hall, Boston Post Road in Westbrook at 7 p.m. Those interested should attend this meeting to ask questions and express concerns, if any, to the Comcast representative, the Council and Mr. Mann.
The minutes of the last meeting are available here