First Selectman's Reports
June 16, 2025
Jun 16, 2025
A public record published by the Town of Simsbury (simsbury-ct.gov). mySimsbury indexes it and makes it readable; it is not the official copy. View the original file.
First Selectman’s Report June 16, 2025 SHS Girls Lacrosse Congrats to the SHS Girls Lacrosse team for winning Simsbury’s first CIAC Championship. Yay Trojans! Congrats to all SHS Graduates – Class of 2025! I want to send out a big congratulafion to all the graduates from Simsbury High School in the class of 2025, along with one to your parents, for being part of this big milestone. The Board of Selectmen were invited to aftend, and the speeches and music were really incredible. I honestly sat and reflected on how lucky all of these young adults are to have their whole lives ahead of them. Also, to the parents – the college experience from your perspecfive is a fun fime, too. I had the good fortune of aftending Big Ten Football tailgates and games in Madison WI, along with frequent visits to Boston as a side benefit of my kids college years. Enjoy it all!! An addifional Thank you to Board of Ed for invifing us to parficipate. We had 3 BOS members with graduates (a record? ) and seeing them present Johnny, Macie and Reesa with their diplomas was something they will never forget…it was also heartwarming to watch. Hometown Heroes The Simsbury Hometown Heroes for 2025 were honored tonight in a ceremony preceding our meefing. Here they are: Rachel Blazer Cheryl Cook Jason Gilbert Jerry Lintner Joshua Moon Margery Winters The ceremony was captured on Simsbury Community Media if you have fime to watch and listen to the great things these 6 volunteers have done for our town. Here are the blurbs from the program: Rachel Blazer (Introduced by Selectman Yeisley) Ms. Blazer is nominated for her impact on the Simsbury community by volunteering with the Girls on the Run program. Her volunteerism helps empower young girls in the community to teach them confidence, resilience, and the importance of sefting and achieving goals. Ms. Blazer's program helps improve the physical and mental health of those who parficipate, and her impact can be seen on the over 200 people who have parficipated over the years. Ms. Blazer is seen as a role model and mentor and makes sure everyone feels valued and supported in the program. Cheryl Cook (Introduced by Selectman Beal) Ms. Cook is nominated for her acfive roles in the Simsbury community. From volunteering with the local Girl Scout Troop, to her fime on the PTO at Squadron Line and Henry James, to serving on the Simsbury 350th Commiftee, to serving as a commissioner at the Simsbury Housing Authority, and much more! Ms. Cook has worked firelessly to advocate for the Sims-bury community and make it a place for all. Ms. Cook has played a part in renovafions to the playground on Hoskins Road; she assisted in establishing the Medical Loan Locker and parficipated in sensory-friendly events. Ms. Cook is best known for asking "How can I help?" and is sfill a very acfive member in the community today. Jason Gilbert (Introduced by Selectman Goetz) Mr. Gilbert has been nominated for his service to the community that includes 25 years with the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company. Mr. Gilbert's volunteer service has provided compassion and commitment to the Simsbury community. Throughout Mr. Gilbert's service he has inspired countless members of the community to volunteer their fime to the Town. He has mentored many and created a strong sense of community spirit. Mr. Gilbert can be seen at Touch a Truck events to engage with residents and teach about fire safety. Jerry Lintner (Introduced by Deputy First Selectman Antonio) Mr. Lintner is nominated for his over 40 years of making an impact to the Simsbury community. He has served on the Board of Directors for SCTV and volunteered to make programing. Mr. Lintner spent almost 20 years interviewing, producing and edifing the "Out and Abou"" series interviewing Selectman and staff to inform the community of current topics. He has also been an acfive parficipant on the Board of Directors for the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge and was instrumental in helping to shape the Flower Bridge into what we know it as today. Joshua Moon (Introduced by Selectman Looney) Mr. Moon is nominated for his fime as Simsbury Liftle League President. During his fime, he oversaw the construcfion of Field 5 through fireless fundraising. His dedicafion to the project turned Field 5 into the best field in the district. Mr. Moon has also advocated for and worked on for improvements to the town's softball fields, softball clinics, and even announcing games when needed! During Mr. Moon's dedicated service to Simsbury Liftle League has made the organizafion a befter place than when he started. Margery Winters (Introduced by First Selectman Mackstufis) Ms. Winters is nominated for her volunteer fime in the Simsbury Garden Club, Simsbury Land Trust and much more. Ms. Winters has advocated for environmental stewardship and community engagement for our Simsbury community. Ms. Winters has assisted in growing the Land Trust's volunteer base to oversee and maintain its 1,100 acres to enhance the experience for residents. Ms. Winters is dedicated to preserving the nature of Simsbury for all to enjoy! Pawmeadow Fundraiser Sharing informafion from Erin Breft, the new volunteer manager of the Pawmeadow Dog Park. I plan to stop by with Mabel to check it out! “As the new volunteer manager of the Simsbury's dog park, I wanted to let you know about this upcoming fundraising event! It will be held outside of Paw Meadow Dog Park on Sunday, June 22nd from 10am-2pm: we will have a vendor fair with 12+ local vendors, a pet photo contest with PMDP prize baskets, and are strongly encouraging attendees to bring pet-related donation items to our donation truck where all donations will be given to The Simon Foundation. I have been working heavily with Tom Tyburski on this, and we are super excited to bring more faces (and paws!) down to the park! If you have time to announce this event at the next board of selectmen meeting, I would greatly appreciate it; that would be tremendously helpful to promote this event! I have attached the official flyer being used for the event as well if needed. Much appreciation in advance!” Simsbury Soccer Club Hearing At the 6/16 BOS meefing, we set a public hearing to hear from the public on a request from the Simsbury Soccer Club to fund improvements to Curfiss Park with the intent of having exclusive use of the fields during the soccer season. We will be discussing the contents of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Simsbury and SSC, and sefting this hearing to make sure the public is aware of it and to get your feedback into the agreement. This hearing gives everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts on the project. If this is approved by the BOS, it will move on to any other board or commission that would be required for any permifting needs. July 14th Board of Selectmen meefing at 6:00 PM at Town Hall. Be there to be heard. Flower Bridge Ribbon Cufting On Wednesday 6/18 at 5:30PM, we will be holding a special ribbon cufting to acknowledge the complefion of the much-awaited renovafions to our beloved Flower Bridge. Members of the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge Commiftee will be there, along with the Board of Selectmen, members of town staff and other local dignitaries and friends. Please join us as we celebrate gefting this large capital project – and great asset to our town – in the books. Tariffville Pickleball Courts Thank you to the public, and specifically, our local pickleball players, for being pafient as we waited for these courts to become a reality. With a change in plans to get this completed, they are up and running…and look fantasfic! These are a great addifion to Tariffville Park, with more improvements on the way. Reservafions for the courts can be made on the P&R registrafion site, just like for courts at the Farms. There are 6 numbered courts available for use. Reminder that parking may be limited during Simsbury Coed Softball games. Scenes from Saturday There were many events around town this past Saturday, June 14th, so here are a few scenes from all of them. The Grange Fair judging with State Rep Melissa Osborne and Selectman Yeisley (we got to judged BAKED GOODS- yumm!), MadebyPam ribbon cufting (with Pam, Dani, Steve, Diana and Curfis - where we got to sample BAKED GOODS again!), Touch-a-Truck at the Farms (Selectman Looney and I trying out the Kubota) and Juneteenth from the High School (Simsbury Public Library). Mabel Update By the fime I write my next First Selectman’s Report, Mabel will have celebrated her 1st birthday (July 5th). It’s hard to believe how fast she has grown and how quickly this year has gone. It’s been almost a year (July 13th) since we lost our beloved boy, Sarge. Mabel has really taken over his job as First Selectdog. Is she perfect? Nope! I’ve lost many shoes since October. But we lucked out with such a sweet girl. Then… And now… Summer is finally here! The weather is being ridiculous, but I’m hoping we get a good streak of nice weather soon! Enough with the rainy Saturdays! Feel free to reach out if you want to talk or meet for office hours. Wendy