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Northeast Greenwich Association Publisher's Note
By Albert Huang
What makes [Greenwich] the best place in the greatest country, in the world, is the people. That’s our ultimate resource.
Leaders and residents of Greenwich are fired up over state-wide planning and zoning legislation that attempts to change Connecticut in a one-size fits all approach. Members of the Northeast Greenwich Association filled the Greenwich Country Club ballroom for their 93rd annual meeting to engage with town leaders about these legislative proposals and actions. Speakers for this annual meeting included: First Selectman Fred Camillo, State Senator Ryan Fazio, Greenwich Association Board of Realtors President Bryan Tunney, and Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Margarita Alban. Legislation such as House Bill 6611 and State Statute 8-30G have become hot topics in Hartford. The bills are attempting to geographically desegregate Connecticut by implementing generalized planning and zoning goals for the entire state. “There were a whole slew of bills aimed at tak ing away aspects of zoning and local control,” said Camillo. “[Hartford] wanted to take away things like single family zones within half of a mile of the main train station. That
would’ve taken out Belhaven, Steamboat Road, Indian Chase, and Indian Harbor.” “They wanted to take away the town’s right to require off-street parking. They wanted to take away your right to have a public hearing, talk about undemocratic, your right to even oppose it. Now they’re going after four-acre zones, and possibly one and two-acre zones.” Camillo says a bill they most recently passed hardly did anything, but that it’s what legislators in Hartford do. “They’ll keep doing that, and adding a little bit more each time, and that’s what you don’t want.” “Everybody, democrats, republicans, unaffiliated, independents. We all believe in local control and zoning and we do a great job here.” “ We h a d 59,0 0 0 p e o p l e h e r e i n Greenwich 52 years ago. Today we have 63,500. That’s up 1000 probably in the last year. So there are people coming here,
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The FEMA Disaster Relief Center is open for business at the Glenville Fire Station, 266 Glenville Road, Greenwich, CT. If you need assistance with damage sustained from Storm Ida, visit the center. The center is open Monday thru Friday from 8am to 6pm, and Saturday & Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Assistance can also be applied by visiting https://www. disasterassistance.gov/ or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Please have the following Please turn to page 6 i n for mat ion ava i la ble when applying:
• Your address with zip code • Directions to your property • Condition of your damaged home • Insurance information, if available • Social Security number • Phone number where you can be contacted • Address where you can get mail D i s a s te r a s si s t a nc e m ay include financial help for home repairs along with other programs to assist families recover from the effects of the event. For the latest information visit fema.gov/disaster/4629.
Thousands of people enjoy the beauty and sanctuary of Tod’s Point, yet few are aware of its connection to the veterans of WWII. From 1946 to 1961, the former mansion of Mr. and Mrs. J. Kennedy Tod, the original owners of Tod’s Point (known now as Greenwich Point), served as a residence for WWII veterans and their families. The home was demolished in 1961. In 1981, the Oral History Project published, “Tod’s Point, An Oral History,” a complete history of Tod’s Point from its earliest times populated by Indians. Sixty-seven narrators were interviewed for this extensive project, and it is from this rich trove that the stories of the WWII veterans are excerpted. In 1945, the Town of Greenwich purchased the 148-acre property of Tod’s Point from Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, to whom it had been bequeathed upon Tod’s death, for the sum of $550,000. The mansion on the property had not been used as a residence since Mrs. Tod died in 1939. Concurrently, w it h t he end of W W I I, vetera ns were returning home to a severe housing shortage. Approval was given by the Town of Greenwich to lease the mansion to 13 veteran families for one dollar a year. The 13 families planned to move into the mansion in 1946. First, however, its 39 rooms had to be converted into 13 apartments. They formed an independent nonprof it corporation called Vetaptco (Veterans’ Ap a r t ment Cor p orat ion). Each fa m i ly Please turn to page 5
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1. We do not normally publish a paper d u r i n g th e w e e k of Thanksgiving but we decided to this year to see how our subscribers like it (please let us know) and as a service to businesses in town
Tod’s Point and WWII Veterans
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but it hasn't increased much. Could you imagine 5000 more on top of that in a short period of time?” Camillo went on to discuss f looding and damage from Hurricane Ida saying that an increase in construction for homes would exacerbate drainage issues many areas of Greenwich already have. Fa zio stepp e d up to t he pod iu m afterwards and added to Camillo’s words on zoning and local control. “Who do you think does a better job of governing in the state? Is it the state government and it's politicians and bureaucrats, some of whom have been up there for 30 years or more in the same position leading the state senate? Or is it your local representatives on the board of selectmen, planning and zoning, the RTM, the BET, and so on, where you can see them at the grocery store.” Fazio says that Connecticut is “dead last, the worst,” in the country and has
This issue is unusual. Here's why:
that wanted to highlight weekend, and a lot of p o s t-T h a n k s g i v i n g puzzles. shopping specials. 3 . We n o r m a l l y 2. You will note that deliver on Thursday there is less news, real n i g h t / F r i d a y b u t e sta te i nfor m a t ion , that was impossible obituaries, etc. in this with the holiday so issue than we normally we are delivering to print because of the o u r s u b s c r i b e r s o n schedule - these things Wednesday instead. will return next week. 4 . I t h a s e x t r a This issue is meant to be distribution. one which you can read Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy for the entire from our family to yours. weekend with extra We are very grateful for feature story content, you, our readers. things to do over the
Veteran tenants renovating the mansion. Courtesy of Life Magazine, June 17, 1946.
A Place at the Table And while there are many things that I am grateful for this time of year, having family and friends and a place and a belonging in their lives top the list.
By Icy Frantz The Thanksgivings of my youth were big - really big - bursting with relatives and friends, many of whom I did not know, or only encountered annually at my great grandmother’s farm in Chestertown, Maryland. We gathered for a feast that consisted of roasted turkeys (that my sisters and I had chosen and named before their heads were chopped off in the backyard) baked yams topped with browned marshmallows, and a large ramekin of creamed onions. We wore party dresses and shiny shoes and played hide and seek with cousins - lots of cousins - in the boxwoods that surrounded the house on the edge of the Chesapeake River.
When it was time to sit down, most of the adults found their seats at the long, antique table in the formal dining room; overflow would be relegated to a side table in an adjoining room. The kids gathered at, yet another table (“the kids’ table”) created out of a few folding card tables that were pushed together and covered with white linen. But no matter the table that your age or status determined, there would always be a place card at your seat, with a small seasonal decoration on it and my great grandmother’s scripted handwriting; on mine: Icy. And finding my name seemed to indicate that I belonged to this large crew, however unfamiliar they were,
and that someone cared enough about me to include me at the table. While millions of families were celebrating this holiday across our country, there was a place for me right here in a small town in Maryland. It was always reassuring to feel a part of something much greater than myself. And while there are many things that I am grateful for this time of year, having family and friends and a place and a belonging in their lives top the list. I am aware that this is a luxury that not everyone has. For some, belonging can feel nonexistent, and having a place - let alone a table - can be hard to find. This is a privilege that has been afforded me my entire life, and I am grateful.
We n o l o n g e r g a t h e r o n t h e C h e s a p e a k e R i v e r. M y g r e a t grandmother has long since passed, and my family has scattered across the country. Our Thanksgivings are smaller, there is not as much fanfare, they are far more casual, and we don’t name the turkeys that we plan to eat. But we set the table carefully, bringing out our f inest china that spends most of the year tucked away in a cupboard, and trimming the tabletop with Thanksgiving décor that has been passed down for generations. We watch football and play it, not in party shoes but sneakers that are more practical in the sometimes-muddy backyard. And when it is time to sit down,
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we congregate around our formal dining room table, looking for our seat. And no matter who has joined us for our Thanksgiving dinner, there is always a place card, not in my great grandmother’s script, but in my less legible scribble. And there it is – my name- Icy- I have found my place. What a privilege and luxury it is to know that I belong right here, and I am grateful for my seat at this table, in a wonderful town In Connecticut on the banks of the Long Island Sound. Happy Thanksgiving Icy Frantz is the author of the Icing on the Cake. Visit her at www.IcyFrantz.net.