Agricultural Commission Meeting: August 13, 2025
7:00 pm Annex (small) and Virtual
6 Town Hall Dr, Princeton 01541
Published on: September 23, 2025 at 1:51pm
Last modified: October 26, 2025 at 3:23pm
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“The listings of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair 48 hours before
said meeting, which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact
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LIST OF TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED
Agricultural Commission 8/13/2025 Meeting Agenda
1/ Review & accept 6/11//2025 meeting minutes
2/ Review 7/17 Unofficial Gathering & Farm Tour at Stimson Farm
3/ Updates/reminders/continued discussion & planning of 2025 presentations:
a/ Fall Presentations/Activities:
I/ Hey Day 11am – 4pm Sat, October 4 (rain date: October 5)
– volunteers attending
II/ Bee Keeping – 10/22 or 10/29
III/ Small Farm Shared Experiences Wed 11/5, 7 pm PCC
IV/ Herding Dog Demonstration ???
V/ USDA Grants Presentation – January 14, 28 2026
– need to determine a topic
4/ New Business:
a/ Volunteer needed to create/maintain a Friends of Princeton Ag
Comm email list
(Encourage the public to sign up at all presentations)
b/ Volunteer needed to take over maintenance of website from
Chad
c/ topics for future presentations:
(Solicit the public for other topics at all presentations)
Bee Keeping – Fall
Composting
Foraging
Horses
Back Yard Fruits
Annual USDA, NRCS, MDAR grants presentation – January
– need to determine specific topic(s)
5/ Next meeting dates:
– Wed 9/10, 7pm small room of annex
– Wed 10/8, 7pm small room of annex
– Wed 11/12, 7pm small room of annex
–
6/ Action Items for next meeting:
Commission Members present in person: Eddie Good, Chair, Vicki Braunhardt (alternate), Susan Connell, Marissa Connors (alternate), John Mirick, and Dylan Stimson
Commission Members remote: None
Commission Members absent: Dianna Gruber-Markley, Lisa Prozzo (alternate) and Chad Steiner
Public Participation in person/remote: None
Call to order: approximately 7:10 PM
Eddie reported that Chad is moving, and will resign as an Ag Comm member after years of making great contributions to the Ag Comm. We are sorry to lose him and wish him well.
Minutes
The minutes for the June 11, 2025 meeting were accepted. There was no meeting in July.
Social Gathering
The social gathering hosted by Dylan was great! Susan will host the next one, tentatively scheduled for September 23.
Programs for 2025
Hey Day. This will be Saturday, October 4 with Sunday October 5 as the rain date. John will do a chestnut demonstration.
Bee Keeping. Eddie is making arrangements for October 22 or October 29. Site will be the large room in the Town Hall Annex.
Small Farm Shared Experiences. This will be Wednesday, November 5 at 7:00 pm at the Congregational Church. Commission discussed how to market the program. “Backyard Farm” rather than “Small Farm” might be more descriptive and more appealing. We need to have several topics teed up, such as chickens, roadside stands, and preparing for winter.
Herding Dog Demonstration. This is probably a spring program. We need more specific information from Lisa.
Grants Program. January 14 or January 28 are target dates. We need to find out from USDA/MDARS what works for them. We should also give the presenters some specific points to cover.
Farm Day. May 9, 2026
Future Program Possibilities
Composting
Foraging
Horses
Backyard Fruits
Organization
With Chad leaving, we need someone to take over the web site. It may be that we do not need to maintain our own website and can just use the Town website
We need to keep compiling names and email aggresses for Friends of the Princeton Ag Comm
Next Meetings
Wednesday September 10 – regular meeting in small annex room
Saturday October 4 – Hey Day as Wachusett Meadows
Wednesday October 8 – regular meeting in small annex room
Wednesday October 22 (or 29) – Bee Keeping Program in large annex room
Wednesday November 5 – Backyard Farm Shared Experiences at Congregational Church
Wednesday November 12 – regular meeting in small annex room
Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:00 PM
.
Respectfully submitted,
John Mirick