Everybody is familiar with the concept of spring cleaning, but residents of Cheshire will also have chances in October to further reduce clutter in their homes.

There will be an electronics recycling event on Saturday, October 14 at the Darcey School. Residents and business can dispose of  computers, televisions, copy machines, stereo systems, small appliances, telephones, small appliances, light bulbs and gaming systems.

Smoke detectors, car batteries and any appliance containing freon will not be accepted at the recycling event, which will be held from  9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The other recycling event the town will be hosting is for the disposal of mattresses. The event is scheduled for October 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Town Hall.

Mattresses. box springs and crib mattresses will be accepted. Mattresses from other types of bedding will not be accepted.

Other items that will not be accepted include mattress with bed bugs or those that are wet damaged or excessively soiled.

Staff members of the Cheshire Public School system and families of students in the district have raised over $10,000 for the Hurricane Harvey relief effort.

The money was donated to the American Red Cross, Superintendent of Schools Jeff Solan said Monday. A check for $10,836.13 was presented to Red Cross officials on Sept. 21, Solan said.

“I’m not surprised by the outpouring of compassion of our school community, but I am exceedingly proud of their unified effort," ” he said.

Other disaster relief fundraising efforts are continuing in the schools for victims of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, according to Solan.

A lightning strike knocked out power to over 1,400 Eversource Energy customers in Cheshire Tuesday night and caused significant damage at a Blacks Road home, according to a utility spokesman and Fire Chief Jack Casner.

Fire fighters were called to 436 Blacks Road at about 9:30 p.m., Casner said Wednesday. Lightning had struck a utility pole and knocked down an electric distribution line, which was burning on the ground, he said.

The electric charge from the lightning made its way from the distribution line to a light outside the home and followed the wiring inside, Casner said. That in turn caused "a significant number of electrical components inside the home" to catch fire briefly until crews from the utility de-energized the distribution network work in the area, he said.

The energy surge from the lightning that made its way into the home also ruined some copper piping that was part of the plumbing in the home, according to Casner.

Mitch Gross, an Eversource Energy spokesman, said a total of 1.423 customers in Cheshire lost power because of the lightning strike. Service was restored to 556 of those customers by 11 p.m. Tuesday, according to Gross.

Another 292 Eversource customers in Cheshire had their power restored by 1:25 a.m. on Wednesday, he said. The remains customers who were still without power had their service restored between 4 .a.m and 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to Gross.

For those who grew up in Cheshire, Richard H. Chapman is best known as the owner of a chicken farm that operated on Route 10 for many years.

But for newcomers to town, Chapman will probably be remembered as the man who sold his family's 10-acre farm to the town for $3 million. Chapman died Aug. 16th at the age 80, according to an obituary posted by the Alderson Funeral Home.

Richard Chapman

Cheshire voters approved the land purchase in a September 2016 referendum. The town had tried to buy the farm, which is located adjacent to Bartlem Park on Route 10, earlier in the current decade, but a deal never came to fruition.

 “They had what old-timers like to call ‘fishhooks in your pocket,’” Chapman told the New Haven Register, when asked to describe the town's previous offer for the property. “I wasn't going to give it away for nothing.”

Some residents objected to the price of the property, but town officials successfully argued that if the referendum failed,  a developer might purchase the land and build high density housing on it. Traffic along that stretch of Route 10, near Cheshire High School, is already quite heavy.

Chapman was a regular morning visitor to the One Stop Convenience Store on South Main Street, where he would socialize and discuss local issues with friends.

Richard is survived by his children; Richard Chapman Jr. and his wife Carol of Canajoharie, New York;  Sandra Beyerle and her husband Paul of Cheshire; Gunnar Chapman Sr. and his wife Kathleen of Cheshire and Heidi White and her husband Kevin of Cheshire. He is also survived by his grandchildren; Colton, Patricia, Ty, and Gwendolynn White, Rhiannon, Christian, and Faith Beyerle, Gunnar Chapman Jr. and Katherine Chapman, and Sara Chapman

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the First Congregational Church of Cheshire, 111 Church Dr.  Burial will follow in Cheshire Hillside Cemetery.

Franklin Johnson Museum

A century and a half of silver making in Connecticut will be explored during an upcoming open house at the Franklin Johnson Museum in Wallingford.

The September 17th open house, which is being put on by the Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust, will focus on the impact that silver industry had on Wallingford, Meriden and other surrounding communities, Volunteer tour guides show off examples of locally produced silverware products like platters, trays and plates.

The mansion is located at 153 South Main Street in Wallingford. The open house will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

A voluntary $5 entry fee to support the museum is suggested.

Summit Technical Services, a company that provides staffing for high technology and engineering companies, has added an office in Wallingford on Barnes Road.

A company official, who declined to give her name, said the new office is actually a relocation from the space that Summit Technical Services had at 1157 Highland Avenue in Cheshire. The new Wallingford location is at 1062 Barnes Road, where the company leased 1,700 square feet office space, according to officials with
Pearce Real Estate's commercial division.

Summit Technical Services provides its clients with mechanical, electrical, software and manufacturing engineers, CAD designers and drafters. It is part of a larger staffing services organization, The Reserves Network, which is headquartered in Ohio.

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Okay, so it has snowed a lot in New Haven area. You might as well make some good use of it, right?

The Cheshire Land Trust is doing a snowshoeing trip on Saturday. The trip will leave from Ives Farm, 1585 Cheshire St., at 1 p.m. The hike will include a walk along the banks of the Quinnipiac River.

Members of the Land Trust hope to have cleared a small parking area near the farmhouse so that those who attend will have some place to park.


Land Trust members recommend that you dress warmly and wear sunglasses. You should also bring water and a snack

Those who wish to take part in the winter hike must bring their snowshoes.

For more information on the Cheshire Land Trust,
visit the organization's web site.