Matt Young on the Parmelee Farm

My name is Matt Young, and I am honored to be running for the office of First Selectman for the town of Killingworth.

There are those who are reporting disturbing allegations again against the Parmelee farm and how bad it is for the town. We’ve heard those who are saying it’s a self serving waste of taxpayer money and it needs to be shut down, and we’ve heard those who are saying we’re owning and renting an empty farm for nothing. It is clear they are trying to convince us the Parmelee farm is something other than what it claims to be.

I will call it as I see it. These people are outright lying.

The Parmelee farm is one of the most wonderful things about this town. Not only does it exemplify the spirit of volunteerism that sets a town like Killingworth apart from cities such as Hartford or New Haven, it is rapidly becoming a focal point of the community where residents can come and congregate, promote youth programs, and even participate in holiday festivals. I fully support the efforts the organizers of the Parmelee farm have put into the project, and as a First Selectman for the town of Killingworth I believe it would have the grand potential of playing a much more integral role in putting the Town of Killingworth on the map. 

In Middlefield every year, Lyman Orchards sets up a corn maze, with questions at each junction giving hints to which direction visitors can go. Imagine a geocaching maze set up on the grounds of the Parmelee farm where visitors are directed to find “buried treasure” using hand held GPS systems to navigate through a network of hidden locations at the site. In Haddam Meadows State Park, American Indians host a historical rendezvous to share their culture and their stories every year. Imagine a similar event hosted at the Parmelee grounds with historical reenactors that teach visitors about what life was like in Killingworth in the 1800’s. This would certainly help our local businesses in town from the increased tourism it would create, as the events held at Hammonasset beach do for the local businesses in Madison. This is just a sample of the many ideas other towns are using which can be easily adopted to help our own town in this way, and the Parmelee Farm is the premier place to do it. All we need to do is to give it the helping hand it needs.

Claiming that the farm is just a waste of taxpayer money is being shortsighted, and demanding we need to dismantle the Parmelee farm after so much work and care has been put into it by so many residents is, quite frankly, disgusting. Such opinions are the viewpoint of a Bitter Choice I do not subscribe to.

Sincerely,

Matt Young
First Selectman Candidate, Town of Killingworth.