April 8, 2023
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North Green, North Woodbury
Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand Eleanor Anderson Memorial Garden Events |
WOODBURY CT The North Green and the Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand are located at 11 Main Street South. They are owned by the Town of Woodbury. The Woodbury Lion's Club built the bandstand in 1986. The Pomperaug Valley Garden Club installed and maintains the Eleanor Anderson Memorial Garden surrounding the bandstand. The North Green and adjacent buildings are all within Woodbury's Historic District No. 1 and are on the National Register of Historic Places. The North Green is a triangular Park/Green along Route 6 in what was historically known as North Woodbury.Google Maps: North Green, Woodbury + Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand
Historic Districts |
The North Green is located at 11 Main Street South in Woodbury, Connecticut. The green is bounded on the West by US Route 6 (Main Street), on the North by Pleasant Street, and on the East by Green Circle. The North Green is owned by the Town of Woodbury and is situated within Woodbury's Historic District No. 1. The green and the surrounding properties within the Historic District No. 1 are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The North Green is 1.88 acres in size and is listed on town records as a public use "Green/Park" with a Unique property ID # 406300; map range #105-157/1.1 Its geographic coordinates are 41.550429 North Latitude; 73.204952 West Longitude. The North Green marks the end of the Trolley line which ran from Waterbury to North Woodbury from 1908 to 1931. Numerous 18th and 19th century houses surround the North Green. 1
The North Green is a triangular greensward along Route 6 in a relatively quiet, residential/commercial/civic area in what was historically known as North Woodbury. Trees are planted along all the borders and more thickly where the terrain rises toward the Pleasant Street/Green Circle intersection. There is an octagonal memorial bandstand (1986) at the north end of the green near Pleasant Street. Near it to the east is a large flagpole and near the flagpole are three benches. Poles for electrical wires and an electrical box are on the green at the edge of Pleasant Street, but wires supplying electricity to the bandstand are underground." 2
The North Green retains a high degree of historical integrity in that the structures along its borders are representative of the evolution of Woodbury from colonial times to the present. It is bordered by several late 19th century commercial structures still in use as commercial structures, and by 18th and 19th century dwellings and a 19th century church." 3
Numerous historic buildings surround Woodbury's North Green. Immediately to the North of the North Green at the corner of Pleasant Street and Main Street North is Canfield Corner. Canfield Corner is the center of North Woodbury. The Canfield Corner Pharmacy is a classic American drug store, complete with soda counter. The pharmacy is located in a Mansard-roofed building at 2 Main Street North in Woodbury. The building was erected in 1876 as Strong's Block by Nathaniel M. Strong, who had begun his drug business across the street in 1867. In addition to the drug store, the building contained a number of other businesses over the years and had a hall on the third floor used for meetings by various community groups. Henry H. Canfield (died 1949), who had been Strong's head clerk, took over the business in 1900. Pharmacist Curtis Martiny and his wife Vera took over the pharmacy in 1950. After her husband's death in 1954, Vera Taylor Martiny became a licensed pharmacist and continued the business. Vera's daughter Mary Elsenboss Tyrell purchased the pharmacy in 1987. The building was restored after a fire in 1998. 4
To the Northwest of the North Green is the North Congregational Church at the intersection of CT Route 47 (Washington Road) and Main Street North (Route 6). The North Congregational Church was built in 1816 by the Strict Congregational Society. The belfry tower on this church is said to be the only example of Asher Benjamin influence in Connecticut. The pilastered porch and spire reflect Hoadley influence. 5
The Methodist Episcopal Church is located to the West of the North Green at the intersection of Church Street and Route 6 (Main Street). The Methodists organized in 1792 and built their church in 1839. The Methodist Church represents the late Federal Period with a pleasing simplicity of line and proportion. 6
The Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand on Woodbury's historic North Green was built by the Woodbury Lions Club in 1986. 7 The West Point Military Academy Band, with Lt. Col. Ronald O. McCown, Commander, conducting, gave a concert on the North Green on September 14, 1986 as part of the dedication ceremony to honor Leroy Anderson. Several hundred people attended the concert and the dedication.8
The West Point Military Academy Band performed: "Woodbury Fanfare" (Anderson), "The Star Spangled Banner" (Traditional), "Ticonderoga March" (Anderson), Four movements from "Irish suite": "The Irish Washerwoman"; "The Minstrel Boy"; "The Rakes of Mallow"; "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (4 movements arranged by Anderson), plus nine compositions by Leroy Anderson - "Promenade", "Bugler's Holiday", "Clarinet Candy", "The Syncopated Clock", "Song of the Bells", "Horse and Buggy", "Blue Tango", "Serenata" and "The Phantom Regiment". The band concluded the concert with "The official West Point March" and "Sleigh Ride" by Anderson.
The Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand is owned by the Town of Woodbury. Maintenance of the bandstand and of the historic North Green is the responsibility of the Woodbury Parks and Recreation Department. The family of Leroy Anderson is grateful to the Woodbury Lion's Club and to the Town of Woodbury. Please join the Anderson family in thanking the Lions Club and the Town for all they do to keep the bandstand and the North Green in such good condition.
Pomperaug Garden Club dedicates Garden
The Pomperaug Valley Garden Club is pleased to announce that the renovated garden surrounding the Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand on Woodbury's North Green will be named "The Eleanor Anderson Memorial Garden" in honor of Mrs. Anderson, the widow of composer Leroy Anderson and a longtime member of the garden club who died in 2014.
The garden will be dedicated in a ceremony on Saturday, June 16, at 2 pm, at the Bandstand on the North Green (at the intersection of Route 6 and Route 47/Pleasant Road). The ceremony will include brief remarks, the dedication of a memorial plaque, and a short performance of music by Anderson and others. The club will provide light refreshments following the ceremony and performance.
Mrs. Anderson first joined the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club in 1975 and was an active member until 2010, when she was given honorary membership status. She was active in maintenance of the award-winning Botany Trail at Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust, and co-chaired, with Adeline Cox, the club's Botany Committee from 1983 to 1987, and again from 1991 to 1994.
The public is invited. There is limited seating available at the park; those planning to attend may wish to bring folding chairs. For additional information, contact the club at info@pomperaugvalleygc.org. 9
Andersons Thank Garden Club
The family of Eleanor Anderson would like to thank the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club for dedicating the perennial garden at the Leroy Anderson Memorial Bandstand to the memory of Eleanor Anderson. The ceremony on Saturday, June 16, 2018 was attended by approximately 30 people on a warm and sunny day.
The Pomperaug Valley Garden Club has worked hard to make the gardens on many of Woodbury's town greens and parks some of the most beautiful in Connecticut. The garden club was awarded the "HISTORIC, MEMORIAL, AND PUBLIC GARDENS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE" by the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc. in 2016 for a "...significant installation at the Leroy Anderson Bandstand in Woodbury" on Woodbury's historic North Green. 10 It is this garden that was dedicated to Eleanor Anderson.
As a member of the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club for over 40 years, Eleanor Anderson was devoted to the Botany Wildflower Trail at the Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust. Her son Kurt Anderson of Roxbury thanked the garden club for the honor of the garden dedication and spoke of his mother's other volunteer work in Woodbury. Lili Wadsworth, formerly of Woodbury, and Eleanor Anderson's dearest friend attended the dedication along with many other friends and neighbors.
Thanks also go to Selectman Bill Butterly for arranging to have the bandstand receive a fresh coat of paint in time for the dedication.
Please join the Anderson family in supporting the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club and their work "to promote an interest in gardens, horticulture, floral and landscape design, to cooperate in the protection of wild flowers, trees and birds and to encourage public plantings, beautification and conservation." Send a donation and/or become a member of the garden club by visiting their website at: www.pomperaugvalleygc.org. 11
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