Digging the Dig

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all your help with the Cranbury Park Excavation. We did enjoy ourselves while learning a bit about archaeology and the history of the park. I am happy to hear that all of you look forward to more excavations. Your work in the field was excellent. Everyone recovered meaningful artifacts and/or uncovered significant features that will be analyzed.

We’re enormously grateful to Professor Ernie Weigand and members of the NCC Archaeology Club for contributing their time, equipment and expertise to a site that has special importance to all of us who are interested in the history of Cranbury Park. They are the ones who know how to make sense of what we found.

Some of the artifacts are now on display at the new Gate House, the park’s museum and gift shop. Others artifacts will be added as they are cleaned and catalogued.

Most of what is now Cranbury Park was once owned by Dr. Edwin Everett Smith. Dr. Smith’s Kensett Sanitarium and his adjoining home, built in 1888, both burned to the ground in 1912. Outbuildings on the property—a cottage, a stable and a bowling alley--were used to house the sanitarium’s inmates after the fire. Many of the artifacts we found, the melted glass, charred wood and features of fieldstone foundation with adjacent brickwork suggest that our location is the site of the Dr. Smith’s cottage and sanitarium.

I will update you on the progress of the research as well as any new information that we may find with further research. Let me know if you would like to be involved.

Connecticut’s State Archaeologist, Nick Bellantoni, has put our site on the schedule for GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) in April. If he becomes available before that, I will let you know. GPR should give us an indication of how expansive the buildings were and their location in the field.

It was a pleasure to work with all of you.

Till next time

Holly Cuzzone

Summer Classes & Programs at Cranbury

Relaxation, creativity, disc golf and training – for dogs and people - are on the schedule for this summer at Cranbury Park.

The Parks & Recreation Department has put out a huge directory of summer programs to be held at all the city parks. Click here to see what’s on tap for our park.

You can download a registration form at http://www.norwalkct.org/parksrec/2007ProgramRegistration.pdf.

You also can register online at https://www.norwalkct.org/Registration/index.html.

HOSPITALITY VOLUNTEERS are needed to staff the Gate House for short (2 hour) shifts during the summer. You would meet and greet, mind the merchandise, and so forth. Note: this does not involve gate-keeping or monitoring cars.

Contact FCP at info@friendsofcranburypark.org

2nd Annual Holiday Sale a Smash!

We’ve got to stop kidding ourselves. Calling this a bake sale is like calling the French Revolution a shaving nick.

By Sunday morning over 35 Friends and other supporters, including several admiring city officials, had dropped off more than 70 contributions. Then everybody returned to buy like crazy along with folks from everywhere, including quite a few first-time park visitors. (Hint for next year: the smart money shops early, though there was hardly a lull between noon and four.)

Click the image to see more pictures

Our sales success was brilliant (see below) but, as in all we do, we accomplished a lot more. It’s a great thing when new visitors—and former critics--come bearing compliments. My favorite moment was when a Frisbee golfer came in with a hot apple pie he had gotten his mom to make for us. That’s what we’re all about.

The mansion was even more unbelievable than last year, thanks to the magical skills of those Designing Divas Shulins & Coughenour (better known as Nancy and Janet). The elegant decor drew gasps from all who entered. Thanks, you two, for a year of planning.

Margee Rogers, Marti Coleman and Dianne Gilmore presided over the popular Cranbury Café, where shoppers sat down to linger over coffee and sweets before setting out for a second tour of the goods. Amy Phillips, Jeff Coleman, Sue Garland, and Mark Berns—math whizzes all --worked the front desk, while Leslie Vincent signed up more than 20 new members at the FCP merchandise desk. Welcome, new Friends.

Copies of Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, all signed by the author, were a popular non-food item. Laurie Brown’s generosity allowed us to offer the 2007 bestseller at half price. We have a few remaining copies, so let us know if you would like one put aside for you. A perfect gift for the literate dogs in your life, or for their reading-enabled humans.

When I tell you that Marion Ainsworth, who supervised the raffle table, was also the lucky winner, you’ll think a fix was in. Not so, I swear. Her ticket was drawn by an unaffiliated passer-by, and Marion went home with a big basket of doggie paraphernalia donated by Recreation & Parks director Mike Mocciae. Now all Marion needs is a dog.

Speaking of Recreation & Parks, the restored Gate House was officially open for business for the first time on Sunday, decorated and fully stocked with Cranbury Park jackets, shirts, hats and dog items, along with art from the mansion and a fascinating exhibit of historical artifacts assembled by Holly Cuzzone. FCP merchandise will be on sale there as well. You’ll definitely want to stop by.

And now for the bottom line: we netted over $2,000. That’s up about 18% over last year. Out of the gross came expenses for decorating supplies, a good deal of which can be recycled for next year, keeping our overhead down. The impressive $2,000 we cleared will help us move toward our next project—something great in the Orchard.

Thanks again to all of you who baked, worked, shopped, joined and did all you do to keep supporting our wonderful park.

Fall FCP Meeting Highlights

The top news from the fall meeting is that FCP will receive a $3,000 state grant, recognizing and rewarding our good works. Thanks to Senator Bob Duff for recommending our application.

The Carriage House Theatre will receive $500 of that. As most of our attention so far has gone to the trails and other parts of the park, we’re all in accord that the remainder of our bounty shall be spent on improvements to the orchard. Among the most popular suggestions: A circular bench around the big tree under which the picnic table (sometimes) stands. The balance will go toward plantings and possibly a shelter/arbor of some sort.

Other orchard updates:

• Members were interested in the idea of a dog-rinse station. Because this project depends on the city extending the water line, the station — a simple pipe stand - would need to be as close as possible to the water fountain. The water source would also be handy for any plantings we may add to the orchard. Good drainage is an important consideration. A dog rinse is more practical than beautiful, but we could make it more interesting, and more our own, by using commemorative bricks to pave the platform. The individually inscribed bricks would be purchased by subscription. Numbers are limited, so please let us know of your interest ASAP. We have received a contribution for maintenance of the water fountain itself from the fountain's generous donor, Patricia Woglom. Sanding and repainting are on the docket.
• The long-awaited FCP kiosk should become a reality—soon, very soon.

Elsewhere in the Park

• The long-anticipated trail map might finally have caught a break. A problem has been getting reliable GPS imagery from which a map can be designed. A recent event organized by an orienteering group might, with a little luck, provide us the data we need to finally complete this project.
• Holly Cuzzone, FCP member and archaeologist, is seeking permission from the city to stage a small preliminary dig at the foot of the Great Lawn (near the thicket) to investigate the stonework visible there. Could it be our missing sanitarium, or something even cooler? She would like to make the occasion an opportunity to introduce school children to archeology.
• We have a lead on a Scout in need of a merit badge to take on the wooden walkways we need to bridge a few delicate wetlands and otherwise just plain muddy areas along the trails. Thanks, Jerry Lerner.

Possible FCP Park Programs

FCP promotes good citizenship programs and events in the park, provided that they meet the city's criteria for suitability and liability. Two possibilities were suggested, and we'd very much like to know how many members would enjoy and use these orchard programs:

• Dog obedience classes by professional trainers (Sue Beagley of Good Citizen Dog Training has stepped forward).
• A Dog fungility course. Fungility is just-for-fun, non-competitive dog exercise using a tunnel, jumps and maybe some weave poles or other simple equipment. If only a few people use it in a day, it would help promote positive orchard behavior and good socialization for both dogs and humans.

THE CITY'S PLANS FOR CRANBURY PARK

Members at the meeting requested the city's attention to several issues in the park:

• One was more careful scheduling of events so that several large ones don't occur simultaneously, overstressing parking capacity.
• Another was setting the automatic lights so that the theater/mansion outdoor areas remain reliably lit.
• More attentive security within the mansion during theatre and other events. Someone should be visibly on premises to discourage people wandering through the rooms.

Parks and Rec's capital budget items and additional plans for the year include:

• Paving the new entry road
• Installing directional signs for various park areas (some of these are already in). By popular demand, a small realtor-type sign will be added to mark the easy-to-miss entry gate, as well as a road marker for drivers approaching on Grumman from the north.
• Cutting the two trees on the shoulder of Grumman Avenue at the park exit. These trees, already marked for removal, obstruct the sight lines for cars leaving the park.
• Constructing a small pavilion on the site of the old stable on the edge of the small field northeast of the mansion. This smaller pavilion reportedly will not include an additional parking area, and tree removal will be minimal. The pavilion will be niched into the edge of the woods, much as the stable is now.
• Adapting the broad main trail through the park for handicapped access.
• Adding an awning to the front of the mansion so that the mansion can accommodate larger events without the continual up-and-down of temporary tents. This practical improvement requires some serious aesthetic consideration.
• Adding more of the black iron lampposts that stand along the roads near the mansion to the pedestrian road separating the Great Lawn and the orchard, and along the bottom edge of the Great Lawn. Those of us who visit the orchard on winter afternoons will appreciate a little post-4PM light.
• Continuing the same low fencing that now exists along the entry roads to the orchard side of the Great Lawn. This fencing is in and ready for installation when city manpower allows. It will provide a low-key visual separation between dog-friendly and off-limits areas and will make a nice accent for future planting.

Formal Garden Restoration

The long-awaited restoration of the formal gardens has provided a major improvement to the park landscape. The restoration plan derives from the original 1930 design of P.F. Fowler, the architect of Gallaher's mansion. The landscape architect for the restoration project is Frank Strauch, formerly of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and now a City of Norwalk employee. His colorful design represents the best of both worlds, marrying the look of a formal country house garden of the era with the maintenance concerns of those who, unlike E.B. Gallaher, lack a full-time gardening staff. The garden, which should be fully established by July 2008, will provide a lovely and elegant backdrop for teas, weddings and quiet enjoyment.

The 1930 plan shows a low arbor vitae hedge along three sides of the garden's perimeter. After 80 years of neglect the low hedge has grown into the rangy trees we see there now. The removal of the arbor vitae "hedge" might seem alarming at first, but don't worry. It will be replaced with a border in keeping with the original design, one that won’t block the sunlight the garden requires. The large cedars, hemlocks and other specimen trees will be given a healthful pruning and will remain intact.

The initial planting will be part of a corporate volunteer project. That generous effort will get the garden off to a good start with shrub roses, hydrangeas, reed grasses, Lady's Mantle, viburnum, Koura dogwoods and other plantings appropriate to the period.

Grand Opening!

The grand opening of the new entrance to the park and the unveiling of our history exhibit on May 20 was a huge success. Nearly 300 people visited Cranbury Park and Gallaher Mansion to help the Friends and Norwalk Parks and Recreation celebrate what's new and what's old at the park. And we gained 30 new members.
Click here to see more pictures

New Park Signs

FCP and the Parks Department have joined forces on new signs outlining best behavior for dog owners and etiquette for Cranbury Park visitors using the trails. The new signs went up in December in 17 spots around the park. The signs are posted at eye level and are simpler than the existing signs, so hopefully people will see them, understand them and follow the park rules so we all have a better experience in our park.

Bulb Planting

We've set the stage for the official spring opening of the park's new driveway by planting daffodil bulbs along it. On Oct. 21, about four dozen Friends planted about 5,500 donated bulbs along the new driveway.

Picturing 5,500 daffodils blooming as Cranbury Park emerges from the Winter blahs, Norwalk Parks Director Michael Mocciae predicted it would be "overwhelming." Mocciae and City Councilman Rick McQuaid joined in the planting.

The bulbs were donated by Colorblends bulb company and Tarantino Landscaping, both of Bridgeport; and by L&L Ever-Green nursery, Reynolds Farm Nurseries and the Main Avenue Wal-Mart, all in Norwalk.

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Butterfly Garden

A suggestion hatched at a brain-storming session on the night of FCP’s birth back in May became a showy reality on one of the hottest days of July. That’s when nearly thirty Friends showed up with garden tools, sun hats, bug spray, and good humor to install our inaugural project, a Butterfly Garden in front of the public restrooms at the park. Under a searing sun in record heat, FCP members planted more than ninety perennials and shrubs, pausing only for water, muffins, and photo ops.

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