The Weston Kiwanis Club’s 15 Annual Millie Best Environmental Award will be presented to The Chauncey Belknap Family for its contributions to open space in the area. Chauncey Belknap’s grandson, Howard Giles Carter who is an avid birder and conservationist, will accept the award on behalf of the Belknap family. Aspetuck Land Trust’s very own David Brant. who worked with the Belknaps to acquire a 38 acre parcel in 2017 will also be present.

Recently, the family worked with Aspetuck Land Trust to preserve 38-acres in Weston adjacent to the land trust’s Honey Hill Preserve. This property increased the size of the Honey Hill Preserve to 119-acres and includes hiking trails for the public and wildlife like the Eastern Box Turtle which is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the state of Connecticut.  The newly preserved Belknap property is at the center of a forest preservation project being spearheaded by Aspetuck Land Trust to preserve a 705-acre forest block, the last frontier of unprotected wild open space that exists in the area. 

David Brant first walked the Belknap property back in 2010 with Barbara’s brother Bob who has since passed away. At that time a trail was just a line on a map. “Bob and I sat at his kitchen table and talked about how we could preserve this property and prevent it from being developed into residential homes.” says David. Together we wondered, “what if this all worked out?” Thanks to the Belknaps and Aspetuck Land Trust Supporters it did work out.

Recently, the family worked with Aspetuck Land Trust to preserve 38-acres in Weston adjacent to the land trust’s Honey Hill Preserve. This property increased the size of the Honey Hill Preserve to 119-acres and includes hiking trails for the public and wildlife like the Eastern Box Turtle which is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the state of Connecticut.  The newly preserved Belknap property is at the center of a forest preservation project being spearheaded by Aspetuck Land Trust to preserve a 705-acre forest block, the last frontier of unprotected wild open space that exists in the area. 
The Belknap Family originally came to Weston in 1927 when Chauncey Belknap purchased the 100+ acre Wilbur Sturges Farm on Wampum Hill Road. A partner in the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler, Chauncey was looking for a get-away for his family in the bucolic undeveloped landscape of Connecticut.

The property has been owned by only two families since it was granted to the Sturges family through a land grant from the English monarchy. The Belknap family has always been involved in local land conservation efforts. In 1999, the family sold 37-acres adjacent to the farm to the town of Wilton in a conservation bargain sale, creating the Belknap Preserve accessible from Wampum Hill Road.

Chauncey’s daughters Barbara Belknap, Louise Belknap Carter and the extended family still enjoy the farm and surrounding land to this day. Barbara, who was born in 1933, remembers the property fondly and recalls that her dad liked to walk in the woods and read.  “The property that we worked with the land trust to preserve was part of the original woodlot which went with the farm. It’s where the farmer would cut his wood for the long winter.  I’m glad the property is being preserved so the public can enjoy it as we have. My brother Bob especially loved this land and wanted it protected. He would be happy that the property is being preserved by Aspetuck Land Trust.”

The Millie Best Environmental Award was started in 2005 in honor of Millie Best, a Weston resident who started Green Up Day in the early 1970s in Weston to encourage volunteers to come out to clean up litter along roads in Weston. Her efforts through the years engaged thousands of volunteers in the annual clean up on the last weekend in April. Eventually, Ms Best was successful in getting Green Up Day declared in the mid 1990s an annual state-wide observance on last Saturday of April. After Ms Best death the Weston Kiwanis Club honored her memory by conferring the annual Millie Best Environmental Award. See the list of those honored through the years below.