The year was 1989. On a cold, rainy evening a small group of Kent residents gathered in a Skiff Mountain living room. The host’s wife put out a bowl of popcorn and a platter of cheese, one member of the group produced a bottle of wine, and the conversation began. They quickly discovered that they shared the same concern: the increasing threats to Kent’s rural way of life. It appeared that if nothing was done, runaway growth and development might soon spoil the town’s scenic beauty. By the meeting’s end, the participants had agreed that an organization should be created that would confront the problems head-on. Out of that gathering, Citizens For Controlled Growth (CCG) was formed.

 

The Executive Committee of CCG soon became convinced Kent needed a local land trust that would work actively to protect the town’s rural character. CCG members and other interested citizens met at the old town hall to continue the discussion. The participants expressed overwhelming support for such an effort, and the organization that grew out of that evening is the Kent Land Trust. “It is still ‘confronting problems head-on',” says Don Connery, who was a member of the first gathering. “We had big dreams and big ambitions that night,” he remembers. “But none of us could have imagined that something as history-shaping as the Kent Land Trust would eventually come into being. What’s been accomplished is simply mind-boggling.”