Photo credit: Alex Cypher special to CTNow

On prior occasions I have written about the inventive prowess of Anne Cubberly so I awaited my first experience of “Nightfall” with great anticipation.  I was not disappointed! As darkness descended a packed audience in Colt Park was treated to giant monkeys seeking to capture an elusive banana, frogs, long stemmed flowers, dancers, singers, a Latin rapper who lead us in a chant about Hartford, a parade of well-known buildings and rhythmic music to keep us in constant motion.  Sam and Elizabeth Colt dropped by to give us the history and description of their backyard of 170 acres.  What was once and still remains a public park for all to enjoy created to benefit citizens who worked hard in creating Colt Firearms one of the biggest manufacturing complex in the world.  All work and no play was not a maxim for Sam.  So play we did on Saturday night with dance, song and a panoply of visual effects.  It amazes me to watch the signature Cubberly puppets enchant with articulated movement wearing expressions only to realize that the magic happens through people who bring them to life.  All came to a grand finale when an enormous illuminated goddess appeared bidding us all to be well and come again next year.  She was then joined by a totally clever parade of lanterns created from cast off plastic bottles and jugs.  Simply a magical evening of fun, entertainment and enchantment to which we are all invited, Hartford Has It!

I want to make a challenge to all who attended and populated the hill overlooking the park.  Please make a commitment to bring at least one person who does not live in Hartford to witness an evening of fun and creativity.  We, the Cubberly acolytes and steadfast Hartford cheerleaders, need to bring along folks who have little access to such wonder because they do not live with the diversity and excitement we find in urban living.

photo courtesy of iQuilt

My blog title refers to one of the posts on the wall, at EnvisionFest, asking “My vision for Hartford is….”.  An all-day event to celebrate what is terrific about this city in which we live; EnvisionFest is one of the signature programs of The iQuilt Plan whose objective is to create a walkable city taking advantage of the historic and cultural vibrancy of Hartford.  And so it did on a fine Saturday as any people from the Hartford Region ambled about downtown to engage in such wide ranging activities as going to the top of the Travelers Tower or to chat with” Morgan Bulkley” on the steps of City Hall or take a walking tour with HPA’s intrepid tour guide, Mary Falvey!  Food was most evident as was the beer provided by Hooker Brewery, one could even find gluten free, vegan delights….  Do not fail to understand that Hartford was founded by a Hooker, Thomas that is.  Bushnell Park was thriving with booths including our very own Hartford Prints where one could write a love letter to the City and have it mailed.  On my way to the Old State House I paused to talk with the poor woman whose husband had died in the 1700’s, she lost the family farm and was accused of being a witch.  She was the first to be hung in New England.  What one can learn from talking with people on the street, no?  The Hartford HodgePodge, an outdoor “marketplace for ideas” located on State House Square was alive with people.  This is to be its home for Saturdays during the fall (through Oct 18) as a weekend destination for many who want to witness a thriving downtown.  At the Old State House we saw a collection of historic bikes and picked up a card which led to an historic scavenger hunt.  All this witnessed in my first two hours of the day which then carried on into the night.

Jackie Mandyck and her committee are to be congratulated for the vision to establish this event and to coordinate all the moving parts which made the day such a success.  Indeed we who live and love this city want more chalky space to write the future for Hartford.  Please feel free to post on this blog or on Facebook what your ideas, thoughts and wishes for the City might gain a voice.  I for one hope to sample more of the wonderful beer from Hooker……..

A reader to our website asked if we had a picture of the detail on the old Masonic Temple now undergoing its 2nd renovation and reuse since being built in 1894. Happy to oblige.

A Hartford Courant article from March 9 1983 by Blair Kamin does a much better job of describing this section of the elaborate architectural detail than I ever could:

In its center section, which consists of wood carvings, the architect set, in descending order, an all-seeing eye, the Masons’ square and compass, a Masonic cipher in Hebrew letters acknowledging God’s power, the date of construction and an imaginary Greek temple containing the five classical orders (from left to right, Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite). [1]

Putnum Phalanx Armory 1879

September 17 has been a special day of remembrance in Hartford since the Civil War. Four Connecticut regiments suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Antietam in 1864 – many of these casualties were Hartford’s sons. In 1879, September 17 was Battle Flag Day, a day of great celebration in Hartford as veterans just 14 years away from the “War of the Rebellion” gathered to parade their tattered and war-ravaged regimental flags from various armories to the Hall of Flags in the newly built State Capitol Building.

Just seven years later veterans from across the state would converge on Hartford for the dedication of the Hartford Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch, the first triumphal arch built in the country. Dedicated to the 400 Hartford sons who died in service during the Civil War, the Arch has stood not only as a monument to our war dead but as sentry to the historic Bushnell Park, the first publicly-funded park in the country.

One hundred and twenty eight years after its 1886 dedication, the Arch was again rededicated today in celebration of restoration work undertaken by the Bushnell Park Foundation. Since its founding in 1981, the Foundation has served as the preservation advocates for the park and have continuously raised the necessary funds to restore and maintain the park and its monuments. The Foundation will next start the work of raising funds for restoration of the Spanish American War Veterans monument located on the south side of the park near Elm Street.

At the re-dedication ceremonies, Mayor Pedro Segarra commented that Hartford, though only 18 square miles in area, is more complex than cities many times its size. We have many organizations who sometimes work alone and sometimes work together to affect change in the city. And this complexity is also our strength.

We applaud the Bushnell Park Foundation, a past winner of a Hartford Preservation Alliance Preservation Award, for its continued stewardship of this historic treasure.