Lynn Taborsak - Interview

34 mins

Lynn Taborsak (Hooton) discusses her life and writing about Candlewood Lake in the 1960s.

2016

0-10min: Went to UConn; Coming to WestConn; 1965-1967; Came to WestConn for teaching education; Hamlin house near Candlewood Lake; Hawley, Moody and Lockwood - Danbury families in the area; Discovered a cabinet of Hamlin Family records including an assessment record; fueled her interest in the Lake and the families around it - Great Plain District; Kubicek family - Tommy Kubicek rode the bus with her; Of English and Irish descent; Her father started a sign business in Danbury; Arthur Hooton; Fernandez name; liked the teachers at WestConn; Truman Warner, Jack Leopold; Eric Roman; Warner was a fantastic individual - excited about students; Received an HEW Education Fellowship; Went to Washington DC and taught US History 1968; Master's in Urban Education; Taught in NYC; Raised a family; Became a plumber in her 30s;

10-20min: Would approach Candlewood Lake topic today from a more progressive viewpoint; what would the impact be if CL&P let the lake go; served in the legislature for 8 years?; State Rep 1984; Communities end up paying for; the corporation that benefits passes on the expenses to the tax payers; land owners were bamboozled and ripped off; a lot of the people didn't benefit from sales unlike Pickett, Bronson and Keating; All the parcels were transferred to CL&P in very quick succession; straw man policy; straw man has no right to eminent domain; power generation in CT; amount of electrical output inconsequential to current needs; Nuclear power is the only option left;

20-30min: Bibliography of paper; Sanford family; Knew families in the area; In Mrs. Sanford's Girl Scout Troop; Mr. Lewis from CL&P; Didn't tape interviews; Didn't keep the notes for the paper; CL&P were cooperative; Story isn't quite finished; More information about the Native Americans in the area; Danbury over-development; Quick buck; Other towns did a better job with development; Bronson, Pickett and Keating; Candlewood lake in poor condition; still on the Hamlin property; Geese poop; Milfoil; Established a grant program for lake eutrophication; New Fairfield withholding funding for the Lake Authority; First Light has a big responsibility; Environmental concerns in the Lake early on;

30-40: Dirty water turns a turbine; Edwin Dahill; Roraback;