Sunday, August 22, 2021

Frightened Horses on Greenwich Avenue, Fundraising for Teddy Roosevelt's Birthplace, St. Roch's Feast in 1921, Greenwich's First Woman Real Estate Developer and More!

 






Well, it is August -and many people I know are away on vacation. Are you one of them? Safe travels and good health to you wherever you are.


On the August 16, 2021 show, we’ll have news of upcoming events and happenings at the Greenwich Historical Society and elsewhere. 



Greenwich Avenue has been the heart of the town’s shopping, dining and business district for generations. In May, 1907, a prized horse belonging to William G. Rockefeller was startled, causing quite an exciting scene that made headlines in the local press.



Were you at St. Roch’s Festival in Chickahominy this years? I hope so! One hundred years ago what was then called ‘The Feast of St. Rocco” was held at what is now St. Roch’s Church on what was then Grigg Avenue -now St. Roch’s Avenue near Hamilton Avenue School. 


We’ll send a shout-out and congratulations to the Byram Fire Department as it celebrates both its 130 years and the reopening of its firehouse. 


Have you ever been consumed by a project, one that turned out to be more then you thought it was when you started it? I can certainly attest to that. I’ll share some family history about the creation of the Caroline Mills Smith Mead Memorial Garden in Cos Cob -a great-great grand aunt of mine who turned out to be Greenwich’s first woman real estate developer. 


Did you read about an initiative I launched in March of this year to acquire, restore, preserve and open to the public one of my family’s ancestral farms in the backcountry -the Benjamin Mead II farmstead dating from Year 1728? I’ll share an update. 



For generations the people of Greenwich, Connecticut have successfully embraced a cornucopia of worthy causes, raising generous sums of money and resources. It was one-hundred years ago in 1921 this month when over 500 area residents gathered at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. George Griswold off Lake Avenue (at the Lake Avenue Circle) in Rock Ridge. 



On the night of this party with brass bands, movies, swimming demonstrations  and more, Greenwich society and World War I veterans raised funds for the restoration of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City through the Woman’s Roosevelt Memorial Association. 


We once again send our thanks to Mr. Peter F. Alexander of Site Design Associates for title sponsoring the show. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Planning Association. He is the principal of Peter F. Landscape Architects since 1979. Learn more about Peter F. Alexander at SiteDesignAssociates.com, or call (203) 869-8632. 


We also welcome the Long Island Sound Institute (LISI). At Long Island Sound Institute, maintaining Long Island Sound is its goal. Join LISI as it reaches out to students and professors whose studies have to do with water bodies of Long Island Sound. The maintenance and research of our national parks are subjected to budgetary uncertainty year after year. LISI aims to bring long-term stability and avoid the uncertainty inherent to budgets and the political process. Learn more at LISIStudy.info or call (475) 897-5444. 



Learn more about the Greenwich, A Town for All Seasons Show podcast hosted by Historian Jeffrey Bingham Mead at GreenwichATownForAllSeasons.blogspot.com. Contact us at GreenwichATownForAllSeasons@gmail.com


We’re always looking for guests to be on the show to share their stories about the history and culture of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut -one of America’s premier communities. 


You’re invited to advertise and underwrite future shows! Go through our GoFundMe site or email us for rates. 

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