Griffith June Bequest
The land trust is the recipient of a generous bequest from Griffith June, who passed away last September. An avid hiker, June left his home on Durham Road across from Lake Quonnipaug to the land trust. The land trust, in keeping with the terms of the bequest, plans to sell the property and use the much-needed proceeds for land acquisition.
“Griff,” who was born in 1912, served on the trails committee of the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association, maintaining the Blue Blazed Trail. He was an active member of the Keyart Klamberers, and walked with this shoreline hiking group as long as he was able. Griff’s land trust legacy includes the alternate trail up Bluff Head, which he established in the early 1990s. This mile long trail, known as the “Orange Dot Loop” because of its blazes, provides easier access than the blue-blazed Mattabesset Trail to the Bluff Head escarpment and its spectacular views. If you have never climbed Bluff Head, or find the steeper blue-blazed trail daunting, Griff made his trail with you in mind. With his bequest, Griff joins Effie Good and Preston Kampmeyer among honored benefactors who left their homes to the land trust after already making an important mark during their lives in the effort to preserve open space in their town.
– Tom Conroy