Master Plan for Lachat Property To Be Presented at Kiwanis This Saturday

This Saturday, Nov. 23 at Norfield
Parish Hall, the Kiwanis Club of Weston will host Carol Baldwin, founder of
Friends of Lachat.  Carol Baldwin will
speak about the plans for the Lachat property. 
She will be joined by Ellen McCormick, chair of the Town appointed
Select Committee for the Oversight of the Lachat Property, as well as Amy
Kalafa, also a member of the Committee.  Saturday’s
meeting begins at 8:30 a.m.  Breakfast is
served and members of the public are welcome.

Carol Baldwin will present the
Master Plan for the property and discuss potential partnerships with
Kiwanis.  “The property offers a perfect
match with the Kiwanis Club’s mandate ‘to change the world, one child and one
community at a time.’”  Ms. Baldwin
stated. “A town farm at Lachat will bring our community together and
benefit the whole town - gardeners, historians, artists, locavores, Nature
Lovers, seniors and especially the young people of our town.”

Friends of Lachat was formed when
Ms. Baldwin learned that the Town had plans to demolish the pre-Revolutionary
homestead on the property.  “I just
couldn’t sit back and watch a rare piece of Weston’s earliest history be
erased,” said Ms. Baldwin.  The group has
been raising private funds, applying for grants, and hosting events to raise
awareness about the plight of the house and generate excitement about a town
farm on the property. Ms. Baldwin also serves on the Board of the Weston
Historical Society, on the Weston Historic District Commission, and on the Town
Lachat Oversight Committee. Professionally she works as a documentary film
producer. 

The former dairy farm of Leon
Lachat, the 40 acre property on Godfrey Road West, is co-owned by the Town and
the Nature Conservancy.  Currently the
Town is leasing a 19 acre portion of the property that includes the pastures
and farm buildings from the Nature Conservancy. 
The David Godfrey Homestead (circa 1770) at the Lachat property was
recently awarded historic designation by the State and put on the Register of
Historic Places.  Plans for the property
include community garden plots, a production garden and farm stand, art and
gardening classes, children’s day programs, etc.  A farmer would live on the second floor
of the homestead once restored. 

The Kiwanis Club of Weston
sponsors a variety of programs and events to raise money for local
organizations.  The club’s membership is
open to all men and women residing or working in the area. For more
information, visit westonkiwanis.org.