Original Founder of THE FARMS COUNTRY CLUB - HISTORY

Reprint of History printed in the 6/1/65 directory

In the middle of 1959 a Meriden businessman had a conversation with the Director of the Gaylord Hospital and Sanatorium. In the course of the talk the Director stated that the Hospital owned a sizable acreage of land which was not being used because they had discontinued the operation of their own farm. It was the objective of the Hospital, he said, to maintain a rustic atmosphere and therefore they were loath to consider selling any of this land to a building developer.

From this conversation, a thought occurred in the mind of the businessman, that there was a real need for a fine family club in the Meriden-Wallingford-Cheshire area and perhaps something could be worked out to use this land for such a purpose.

He spoke to some friends about the idea and late in 1959 a committee of five joined together to explore the possibilities. This committee consisted of the businessman mentioned above – Frank R. Ball, Craig A. Bossi and Charles M. Gearing, II (all of Meriden), H. DeForest Lockwood of Cheshire and John B. Stevens of Wallingford.

Temporary headquarters were set up in Meriden and a drive was started to recruit members. The idea was for the Club to negotiate a long-term lease with Gaylord for enough land for a championship golf course and to purchase around ten acres for the clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis court area.

It was decided to call the prospective Club THE FARMS COUNTRY CLUB and in addition to the five original founders, a second group was recruited to handle various aspects of the organization. A.E. Allen of Wallingford agreed to undertake the job of chairman of the building committee and Dee Lockwood accepted the responsibility of the golf course building committee.

Architect Derick Kipp of Montclair, New Jersey was retained for the designing of the clubhouse and Geoffrey Cornish of Amherst, Massachusetts was selected to design the golf course. A drive for charter members was instituted under the direction of Charlie Gearing.

The Financial requirements were established as follows:

1. A bond for membership of $1,200. Only one class of membership being designated – this is, a full family.

2. An initiation fee was established starting at $100.00 until a certain number of members were attained, up to a maximum of $300.00.

3. There were two classes of family membership – golfing and non-golfing. Full membership including golf was set at $400.00 per year plus tax and non-golfing membership at $250.00 per year plus tax.

In June of 1960 the Club hit its first real snag. Architect’s plans were submitted to three reputable contractors and in all classes the amount of the bid came in very much higher than the estimate, making the initial plans impractical. Thus started a long process of revision.

The first meeting of the membership was held on July 18, 1960 in Wallingford. At this meeting it was voted to authorize the Founders Committee to proceed with ground breaking but not to commit funds beyond $100.00 per membership until at least 320 members were enrolled.

Then began the painful effort to build up an adequate membership. An aggressive campaign was conducted in the fall of 1960 with questionable results. As of September 16, 1960, the Club membership stood at 274 or 46 short of the number prescribed by the members. During this period a minimum amount of construction work was done. A couple of wells were drilled with questionable results. Ground was cleared in the prospective clubhouse area and a limited amount of work was done on the golf course. However, the lack of members continued to plague the founding group.

In February of 1961 the Founders met with a group from Middlefield, Connecticut who were attempting to start a similar type of club and were experiencing the same kind of difficulties. It was hoped that the two groups might be combined; however, this did not materialize but as a result it did bring in members from this area.

In spite of the difficulties, work proceeded on the lease arrangement with Gaylord, with Attorney Robert Fay of Wallingford handling the details for the Club. A general agreement was reached whereby the Club would lease about 160 acres of land on a 100 year basis and pay for the leasehold . In addition, the Club was to purchase 10 acres from Gaylord at a price of $1,000 per acre in order to own the property that the clubhouse, pool and parking area would be located on.

In June of 1961, in spite of the fact that membership stood at approximately 200, the Founders Committee decided “on a wing and prayer” to proceed with the construction of the golf course and clubhouse facilities. Meanwhile, the firm of Damuck & Painchaud of Madison, Connecticut was retained as architects and C.F. Wooding Company was selected as the contractor. A budget of $700,000 was established.

The historic decision to proceed was unanimously voted at a meeting held at the International Silver Company on June 1, 1961 when the following motion was adopted – “Based on evidence of sufficient support, the Executive Committee of the Farms Country Club hereby authorizes the officers to execute whatever agreements are required to proceed with the Club”.

On September 18, 1961 an organizational meeting of the membership was held at Wallingford, Connecticut for the purpose of selecting a Board of Governors.
The first Board of Governors thus elected was as follows:

Alfred E. Allen, WallingfordFrank R. Ball, MeridenCraig A. Bossi, MeridenRobert B. Boyd, WallingfordJoseph F. Coogan, Jr., North HavenGuilford W. Forbes, CheshireCharles M. Gearing II, MeridenHoward B. Greene, CheshireHoward E. Houston, MeridenWilliam A. Hutchinson, WallingfordWallace L. Lewis, HamdenH. DeForest Lockwood, Jr., CheshireSeymour D. Pelz, CheshireJohn B. Stevens, WallingfordArthur W. Veronneau, Cheshire

The Club was officially launched. At its first meeting the Board of Governors elected the following officers:

PresidentJohn B. StevensVice PresidentHoward E. HoustonSecretaryGuilford W. ForbesTreasurerSpencer B. HirstAssistant SecretaryPaul V. HaydenAssistant TreasurerWalter J. Rawden

The Finance Committee was also designated consisting of:

Frank R. Ball, Chairman Howard B. Greene Arthur W. Veronneau

Chairmen of other standing committees were:

House CommitteeA.E. Allen Greens CommitteeH.D. Lockwood and Edward Nutile (co-chairman)Grounds CommitteeA.W. VeronneauAdmissions CommitteeG.W. Malerba

In order to properly finance the building of The Farms Country Club facilities, it was decided to borrow the money from the Waterbury National Bank and this required a group of guarantors to provide endorsements up to a limit of $300,000. Recognition should be given to the following members who provided such guarantees, thus enabling the complete program of the Club to be fully realized.

S. Henry ActonJames J. LaFeminaA.E. AllenWallace L. LewisFrank R. BallFred J. LittauerThomas BallH.D. LockwoodPeter BarberinoG. Wm. MalerbaR.B. BoydJohn F. MickelsonC.A. BossiCraig D. MunsonS. Bradford, Jr.Charles NovotnyEdward S. ClarkEdward NutileS.J. ClarkGeorge L. ParenteJoseph F. Coogan, Jr.Shirley D. ParisiL.D. D’AmicoWalter J. RawdenL.J. DeGeorgeJames P. RybeckFrank DykasL.T. SchakenbachRobert L. FayCharles S. SmithPeter FlaggJohn B. StevensJames GallagherP. Gordon StillmanCharles M. Gearing, IIRobert J. TiernanHoward B. GreeneLeopold TrifariStuart C. HemingwayA.W. VeronneauPaul V. HaydenCarlton H. WinslowHoward E. HoustonGeorge WilkinsonW.A. HutchinsonJoseph WiltonFelix R. HulickiJohn M. Wooding

On January 20, 1962, the lease with Gaylord was signed and at about the same time financing under a competitive rate to the extent of $300,000 was concluded with The Waterbury National Bank under the guarantee agreement previously referred to.

In April and May the Club Manager and the Golf Pro were hired. The Club’s first manager was William Van Stight, who came to the Farms from the Waverly Inn in Cheshire and the golf professional was Jim Hart, who had been assistant professional at the Scarsdale Country Club in New York.

The Club was plagued with a serious drought in the spring of 1962, which made the task of the golf course building committee extremely difficult. A remarkable job was done in spite of considerable handicap.

On July 4, 1962 the Farms Country Club was officially opened and at noon President Stevens and Vice President Gearing raised the flag and a brief dedication program was held. The drought had made the area somewhat like a dust bowl, but in spite of many difficulties, the club was officially launched and the dedicated work of many individuals had finally borne fruit.

There was still much to be done and the golf course presented a continuing problem for the first couple of years, primarily because of the drought condition which had existed. Dedicated volunteers removed millions of rocks from the fairways and gradually the beautiful championship layout took shape. In 1963, the Club was fortunate to be able to hire Ed Anderson as greenkeeper. He has done a commendable job in developing the greens and fairways.

Bill Van Stight left us in 1963 and was succeeded briefly by John Dailey of Armington, Connecticut. When Mr. Dailey left, his successor was Mr. Arthur Vesho, under whose management the Club has prospered.

The Golf Professional, Jim Hart, resigned in 1964 and was succeeded by his assistant professional, Fred Schamer.

Charles Gearing succeeded John Stevens as President in May of 1963 and under his leadership the Club continued to broaden its sound fiscal program. In January 1965, Howard Greene, who had completed an outstanding term as House Committee Chairman, succeeded him.

The Farms Country Club has become an outstanding family club with a fine group of members from the central Connecticut area. The championship golf course is one of which the Club can be very proud. The swimming pool ranks among the best in the state and the other activities: tennis, social, etc. have been of the highest caliber. The Club has been most fortunate in its chef and in the House personnel, all or whom have contributed immeasurably to the Club’s success.

The future of the Farms Country Club now rests with its membership. If it is to prosper, all members must resolve to participate in its meetings, its social affairs and its day–to-day use. If this is done, we can be assured of perpetuating one of the finest Country Clubs in New England.