Anita Dinwoodie Goes Back to her Roots with Lachat Town Farm

“The farmhouse was in complete disrepair and really in bad shape,” says Mrs. Anita Dinwoodie, executive director of Friends of Lachat, an organization that was initially formed to help prevent the building. “At that point, the town was managing the property, and they didn’t want the farmhouse to be torn down.”

In 2012, the circa 1770s homestead located on the Juliana Lachat Preserve in Weston, Connecticut was in danger of demolition. Now, almost 15 years later, the building stands tall and is an integral part of Lachat Town Farm, one of the most important pillars of Weston’s community. 

Anita explains how a group of people who supported the restoration of the farmhouse banded together and created a 501(c)(3) which is a charitable non-profit organization. “That’s how Friends of Lachat was formed.”

The organization raised funds and created a vision for the newly restored farmhouse. Now, it acts as a gathering space for events as well as providing room for a tenant on the upper floor. 

“Lachat is very special in all it offers,” says Anita. The 3 acres of land owned by Lachat Town Farm are home to a number of different amenities in addition to the homestead including a barnhouse, a community garden, goat and rabbit pens, and the Offutt Center, an indoor facility with a kitchen, bathrooms, and a classroom. 

“I am most proud when we give back.” Anita references several community service projects including Thanksgiving community lunches, MLK days of service, and Green Gardens. These are only a few of the many events and programs Lachat offers.

Where it began

Anita moved to Weston 14 years ago. After living in Manhattan for 13 years, Anita stated that the Weston lifestyle was a big change. 

“I knew all my neighbors in the city. I had a really tight community with everyone around us,” Anita says. “So when I moved to Weston, you know, being two acres away from everyone, I actually don’t know my neighbors here, was hard.”

In order to get more involved with the community, Anita began volunteering at Lachat and getting involved with things with her kids.

Both of Anita’s parents grew up on farms, her mother on a dairy farm in upstate New York and her father on a farm in Guyana. “ I knew that I had a strong connection to that part of my life,” she says. “ I said, ‘you know what I want? I’d love to get involved in this beautiful farm’ because I would drive by it all the time to take my kids to preschool.”

Anita’s mother also spent a great deal of time giving back to her community. She participated in things like helping out at soup kitchens, handing out meals, and volunteering for child abuse groups. 

“She was very much an advocate in her community, and I saw that my whole life. So that was definitely an inspiration to me, and she was always giving back, and that brought her joy.”

“So for me,” Anita says,  “when I can give back, when I see people coming together, it brings me a lot of joy. My mother has inspired me in a lot of my drive to bring community together.”

Anita’s mother has since passed away, but her values and passion for helping others are carried on by Anita.

Starting at Lachat

Anita began working at Lachat seven years ago after being an active volunteer. “I got involved and met a woman named Ellen McCormick,” she said. Ellen McCormick is one of the most influential members of the Lachat family, and has been contributing to the farm for over 15 years. “She got me more and more involved to the point that it became like a full-time job.”

Having had managerial and event planning experience at her previous jobs, Anita was placed in charge of coordinating events at Lachat. Then, about three years later, she became the executive director of Friends of Lachat, which meant her duties extended past simply event planning to managing staff, overseeing Lachat’s many programs, and handling the financial and fundraising aspects of Lachat.

“My favorite event was a concert we had on April 19th,” says Anita. “It was songwriter Billy Mann, who lives in the area. I had asked him for a while if he would consider performing at the farm, and he so graciously did.”

Both American singer-songwriter P!nk and Reneé Elise Goldsberry, Angelica Schuyler in the Original Broadway cast of Hamilton, took the stage and performed at the concert as well. Goldsberry lives in the area and has attended Weston events before, and P!nk agreed to perform because of her connection with Billy Mann.

“That might have been the pinnacle of my adult career, not just my time at Lachat,” Anita remarks. “It was a secret I had for a little while, which is really really exciting.”

In addition to concerts, Anita says that one of her favorite parts of working at Lachat is getting the chance to work with teenagers. 

“I think sometimes teens get a bad rap, and there’s so many amazing teens that give back to the community that are hard workers that could be doing so much other stuff with their lives, and they choose to help at the farm.”

Lachat Town Farm is always open to new ideas for events or programs. It is very much an establishment for the community, run by the community. 

“If teens feel passionate about something, come to me, have a meeting, and maybe we can harness that and make that happen at the farm.”

In order to contact Anita about anything regarding Lachat Town Farm, contact her using this email: anita@lachattownfarm.org