Springtime In Southington: A View From The Air

John McDonald, the founder of CT Photo Pro and a sponsor of the Southington Outsider, took advantage of the nice spring weather last Sunday, April 26, to shoot some drone footage of Southington. The movie he put together features panoramic views of the downtown area, Southington High School, and Panthorn Park. For the best viewing experience, watch this video on a laptop or desktop - the resolution is high enough that you can make out a pickleball as its being served on the Panthorn Park pickleball courts.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/abd89a_2fd752faea6548e6a8a2421179bd0773/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Youth Fishing League Kicks Off At Sloper

Landon hauls in a sunfish at the Youth Fishing League's first derby. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTOS

“Hey, look at that!” shouted Jeff Barton, founder of Southington’s new Youth Fishing League. Where he pointed, a young child, half as tall as his pole, was reeling in an orange-bellied sunfish from the waters of Sloper Pond. “Someone knows how to fish over there,” he said.

A strong wind blew puffy clouds overhead Sunday morning as dozens of children with parents in tow stood patiently on the shores of Sloper waiting for the tell-tale tug on their lines. Barton beamed with satisfaction at the turnout for the League’s first event, a fishing derby. He was a child himself when he first learned the sport. “My father taught me,” he said. “We used to go deep sea fishing to catch bigger fish.”

Jeff Barton at Sloper Pond

The idea for a youth league came to him after he spent a day casting lures with players from the Blue Knights Football team, which he helps coach. “I’m a football coach,” Barton said. “I brought the players out to go fish, and seeing the fun that they had, I said we’ve got to figure this out.”

The derby was designed to add an element of fun and competition to the mix: “Today we’re doing prizes for biggest catch, most catches, and winner of the casting competition. Mt. Southington and other businesses donated prizes, and we’re going to package them up. There’s about $200 value in all the prizes.”

Jordan shows off his catch.

YFL volunteers man the tent

While the event had a $35 registration fee, the fee was waived for the first 75 kids to sign up thanks to a generous donation from the family of the late Jhonatan Jiron of Bristol.

Now that the first derby is in the books, Barton is planning to hold them on a regular basis. “We’re trying to do one a month,” he said. “I’ve been waiting to announce other events until this one was over with. Now that I know people will come, we can book out the schedule.”

Asked whether Sloper Pond is his favorite local spot, Barton said it was one of several. “Sloper, yes. Crescent Lake is great too. I’m also working with Aqua Turf, they have a pond that is stocked where they let us fish. Lymans Orchards is another. The Town of Southington wants us to do events through Recreation Park, so we’re working the details out for that.”

Barton observed that dredging of the bottom of Sloper a few years ago has improved the experience for fishermen. “Dredging really helps it. Pond weed in Connecticut is a big problem right now. The more shallow it gets, the more weedy it gets. So dredging helps with that, it helps with the fish population.”

He recalled attending Camp Sloper when he was young, and learning the legend of the giant snapping turtle said to inhabit its depths. “Since I was a kid there’s been a legend of Mama Cass, a big snapping turtle out there. I remember that since I was a kid here. They’d tell the story of Mama Cass coming out of the water. Every kid was terrified.”

On Sunday morning, however, the only bites were from sunfish, crappies, pickerel, and bass that sparkled in the sun before being returned to the water.

Once the derby ended and the results were tallied, three winners were announced. Dylan Donaruma received the award for most catches - an impressive 31. Chase Marcy won the award for biggest catch. Finally, Grant Ramey went home with a certificate proclaiming him the winner of the casting competition:

Dylan Donaruma, Jeff Barton, Chase Marcy, and Grant Ramey. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF BARTON

The Youth Fishing League Facebook page can be found here. The League's Instagram account offers detailed fishing reports for Southington, updated each day.

American History Passes through a Local Tavern

A reconstruction of a room in Asa Barnes' tavern, based on list of items that Barnes owned. IMAGES COURTESY OF CHRISTINA VOLPE

Christina Volpe, Director of Southington’s Barnes Museum, is enthusiastic about sharing her love and knowledge of local history with the community. The author, curator and educator has picked a good point in history to carry out her work. With the America 250 celebration picking up steam in towns across the United States, including Southington, and with works like Ken Burns’s recent PBS documentary The American Revolution opening up more topics for debate, a growing desire on the part of the public to understand the country’s origins is evident. On the evening of April 21, Kinsmen Brewing Company hosted Volpe in its Clark Hall for a public talk mixing beer, pizza, and a crash course in how the Revolution unfolded in the area.

As Volpe put it, America has been characterized by a “dichotomy” from its early days. While today that might take the form of Team Red vs. Team Blue, at the time it was Patriots seeking a free America vs. Tories still loyal to the British Crown. That split played out in early Southington as well, with some residents fighting for the American cause and others retaining allegiance to the Crown. Prior to the Revolution, timber was harvested from Connecticut forests, such as the woods around Crescent Lake, to serve as ship masts for the Royal Navy in its wars against Spain. Those that profited from cooperation with Britain weren’t always keen to defy one of the world’s preeminent military and imperial powers.

But once Southington officially became a Town in 1779, several prominent residents declared their allegiance to the American project. Among them was tavern-keeper Asa Barnes, whose hospitality became internationally recognized and celebrated, making the modern pub a perfect spot for this event.

Volpe explained that, as the fighting intensified in the colonies, Benjamin Franklin went to France with the hope of securing military assistance for the Continental Army. King Louis XVI offered the services of  Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, the Count of Rochambeau, for what was called the “Particular Expedition.” Rochambeau, for whom a local strip mall is now named, possessed a military expertise from several French wars that proved pivotal in defeating British forces on behalf of Americans.

“To understand history, you have to touch it sometimes,” Volpe said. To that end, she brought with her a rifle from the era, which would have been carried along with other necessaries of wartime as soldiers marched through the Connecticut countryside in the summer heat. Rochambeau’s forces were on their way from Providence to Yorktown, Virginia, to lend their numbers to one of the Revolution’s crucial campaigns.

The tavern provided a merry scene, according to Volpe, with a cotillion dance for the “prettiest” young ladies of town and soldiers to enjoy. So memorable was the experience that Rochambeau returned on his way home in the fall of 1782 to drink again with Asa Barnes as the country was on the cusp of victory. While Asa Barnes was “too old and portly” to carry a rifle himself, his support for the troops surely helped during their long march down the east coast.

The Asa Barnes Tavern in Marion, a.k.a. the Levi B. Frost House, together with a list of items owned by Barnes that was made after his death.

One theme of modern Connecticut history is the growth of private property and the loss of public spaces. Today, the tavern, known as the Levi B. Frost House, is on the National Register of Historic Places, but lies in private hands.

Also on the site, per Volpe, is a monument of another kind. Irish soldiers fought with Rochambeau and a monument to their sacrifices was erected on French Hill back in 1912, in a ceremony that involved Governor Simeon Baldwin, among other honored guests. The monument was the gift of the American-Irish Historical Society. Traffic and safety concerns mean that visitors to the site today need the owners’ permission.

For those interested in digging deeper into the area’s rich history, more events with historical focus are coming up over the coming months. A Jane’s Walk through historical sights in downtown Southington starts at the Barnes Museum on Saturday, May 2, at 10 a.m. A talk about the life of Hannah Woodruff will be held at the Southington Public Library on May 21, at 6 p.m., also sponsored by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, named after Woodruff. On June 20, a Revolutionary War walking tour sets out from Oak Hill Cemetery at 10 a.m. More information — including a link at which to order Volpe’s new book — can be found at the Barnes Museum website: https://www.thebarnesmuseum.org/.