A Memorable Evening

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After a rainy week, the sun broke through, and over 150 people were present for the dedication of Miss Carolyn's Reading Garden. Heartfelt sentiments were expressed by those who knew Carolyn. Her family, including her two grandchildren, helped us to release our butterflies who quickly became at home among the flowers.

Mayor April Capone Almon read a proclamation for the event; Mrs. Eileen DeMayo, chairperson of the library board of trustees, and Mrs. Betty Perito, president of the Friends of the Library, shared their memories of Miss Carolyn. The Reverend Amy Hayden, associate pastor of the Old Stone Church, asked for the Lord's blessing.

As the sky turned to dusk, we listened to music by the East Haven High School Marching Band. It was a perfect end to a lovely ceremony. Thank you to all who came and made this an occasion to remember.

Here is a transcript of the dedication ceremony:

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am Karen Jensen, director of the Hagaman Memorial Library, and I am honored to welcome you to our ceremony dedicating this garden to the memory of Carolyn Siedzik, children’s librarian from 1967-1973 and 1981-2008.

How we all miss her! Her laugh, her generosity and her kindness. I give my heartfelt thanks to Carolyn for her service, and for creating a caring and strong community as evidenced by all of you here tonight. Her inspiration was a gift, and this beautiful garden is a tribute to her and all of you who made it possible. A local children’s book author visited this week to donate a copy of her book which she had inscribed for today’s dedication. She could not be here today, but wanted to make sure that we knew how much she appreciated knowing Carolyn. In the short time I have been with the library, I have heard many stories like this because Carolyn helped to influence and enrich the lives of so many.

Miss Carolyn, as we knew her, was an avid gardener and always dreamed of a space on the library grounds where children could sit, surrounded by beautiful flowers, in the cool shade of a tree, and enter into another world through a book. When Carolyn passed away, a fund was started to make this garden possible. Many of you here tonight donated your dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels and even pennies to raise over $3,000 for this timeless memorial.

There are so many people who contributed to this project and deserve thanks. Carolyn’s husband Dick Siedzik, her son Eric Freeman, her brother Frank Andrews and his wife Marla took time to visit me at the library and communicate Carolyn’s preferences and dreams for the garden. Mary Polverari and Barbara Brow, both experienced gardeners, provided lots of technical advice, and together with Gretchen Schrader, gave our grounds the finishing touches this morning. Pat McDonald who serves on our library board was great moral support. And Elaine Sammarco, who worked with Carolyn for so many years also helped to ensure that Carolyn’s voice was heard.

Thank you to Rodney Hayes, master gardener and owner of The Weedin Woman, who planned and installed the garden. She even made a surprise visit this morning to make sure it looked its best for tonight. Because the garden should appeal to children, there are ornamental onion plants with blooms shaped like lollipops, lambs ear, balloon flowers, hens and chicks, black eyed susans, and a dwarf butterfly bush. Lavender and lilac will also attract the butterflies, and the ornamental plum will provide shade. Young visitors to the library this spring planted the seeds for our sunflowers that will grow on the trellis. And all of this is contained in a heart shape with a bench for resting, reflecting, and reading stories.

Thank you to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring tonight’s event. I am also grateful to the town’s parks department and public works for special attention to the grounds, and for the help of all of the library staff, especially Cindy Gwiazda, for her excellent work on publicity and details. Thank you to Sascha Gardiner, children’s librarian, for her vision in knowing that raising butterflies and releasing them today would not only be a community building and bonding experience for all of us but also a beautiful and symbolic piece of today’s ceremony.

I hope you will all enjoy the garden for many years to come. We hope it will become a place of remembrance, reflection and renewal.

Thank you very much."

Mayor April Capone Almon:

"Before I read my proclamation this afternoon, there are a few things I would like to say. The garden is beautiful, as was Miss Carolyn. I was too young for her first round in the children’s library and too old for her second. But I was a part of the story hour group as a school child and loved it so much that when I was in college I decided to come back and read at story hour and volunteer my time and that’s when I met Miss Carolyn. She was a wonderful giving loving woman who loved this library and loved this town. We are so fortunate here today to have her memory with us for as long as this garden will be here, which as far as I’m concerned is as long as this library will be here, and as long as this town will be here. I would also like to thank our library director, Karen Jensen, who never actually had the pleasure of knowing Miss Carolyn but took on this project as if they had been friends for life and I think that speaks well of Karen’s character and I think Miss Carolyn would have really appreciated that. So Karen Jensen certainly deserves a round of applause for her dedication.

Whereas, today we are here for a timeless memorial and to see Miss Carolyn’s dream come true,

Whereas, we honor Miss Carolyn Siedzik, better known as “Miss Carolyn,"

Whereas, Miss Carolyn was the children’s librarian at the Hagaman Memorial Library from 1967-1973 and 1981-2008,

Whereas, Miss Carolyn’s family and her Hagaman family worked together to create this beautiful reading garden in her memory,

Now, therefore, I, Mayor April Capone Almon, on behalf of the Town of East Haven, do hereby proclaim June 12 2009, a day to remember “Miss Carolyn,” Miss Carolyn Siedzik."

Mrs. Eileen DeMayo, chairperson of the library board of trustees, shared her memories of Miss Carolyn:

"Carolyn Andrews Siedzik grew up right there across the street from the library. It is rare that anyone in this day and age has a memorial on the grounds of her workplace and within view of her childhood home. I find it very touching to be here on the library lawn, remembering the young girl who never left home in a sense. It’s a happy memory on a sad occasion in many ways for all of us. But we must not forget the many happy memories stored in the minds of the hundreds of children she knew through the years. We thank her and will remember her always as we see and enjoy her corner."

Mrs. Betty Perito, president of the Friends of the Library also spoke of Miss Carolyn:

"Good evening. I was privileged to meet Carolyn during the second half of her tenure here at the library. I was a teacher at the Overbrook school and we consulted and decided every year as I would bring my class to the library for a field trip. Number one, all you needed was a permission slip and you didn’t need to hire a bus. So every fall and every spring I brought my third grade class up and those who did not have cards promptly got them. The last spring we came up, the children told Carolyn they had made a quilt. And she said “Well, what are you going to do with it?” And they really didn’t know. So she suggested we bring it to the library, which we did and she exhibited it for over a month, which was a wonderful thing to do for the children, for the school system, and for the library. It was just another way that Carolyn worked in her quiet unassuming way to magnetize relationships in our town. We were truly blessed to have had her."

The Reverend Amy Hayden, associate pastor of the Old Stone Church: "Please pray with me. Gracious God, we thank you for this day, we thank you for the sun that has broken through after a cloudy week. We thank you for the gift of community and for all the ways that Miss Carolyn touched the lives of everyone here. Loving God, we ask that you bless this garden, that it might be a sanctuary, that it might be a place where people find peace, and where they also find you. We thank you for Miss Carolyn and her many gifts. We thank you that you led her here and that you gave her gifts of reading to the children. God, we ask for your presence on this day and all days. In Jesus’ name, Amen."

Karen Jensen: "And now I would like to call up everyone with butterflies. Thank you to Elinor Slomba, and all of the members of the pet club at the Village at Mariner’s Point, for bringing their butterflies today. And as we release the butterflies today, please remember Carolyn, how she was involved in our lives, and how she helped us grow and become better people.

This concludes the spoken portion of the program, and I invite you all for refreshments and music by the East Haven High School marching band, led by band director Mike Martino."

Garden Angels

Thanks to some very good friends, our garden and grounds are looking beautiful and ready for this evening's ceremony. The ceremony is rain or shine, so let's hope the rain holds off! See you at 6:30pm.

Painted Ladies

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At last, today we saw the painted ladies emerge from their chrysalides. Their wings are still a bit damp at first, and it takes them a bit to begin flying and find food. So far there are five butterflies. Tomorrow probably more. They like to drink from orange slices and sugar water sprinkled on flowers or leaves.

Sunflowers

The sunflowers are ready to be planted this week. Great job everyone!

Chrysalides

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The caterpillars look like they have been eating all through the long weekend. They seem much bigger than when we left on Friday! You can see that two have already formed their chrysalides. Next step is to transfer them to their tents. Just a few days more...

Caterpillars are here!

Our caterpillars arrived on Friday, and they are settling in to their temporary home for the next few weeks. They came with their own food and containers, in which they will live for the next 7-10 days. During this time, they will make the fascinating change into chrysalides. They will climb to the top of their containers and hang down "head first." Within the chrysalis, the old body parts of the caterpillar will transform to the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly. Stop by and check them out!

Caterpillars

As the plants are planned and mostly installed in Miss Carolyn's Garden, we turn our thoughts to the creatures who might live there. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to attract butterflies, so to go one step further, we are going to grow them inside the library while we are waiting. Here are some photos of the habitat we have set up in our ground floor display case. Larvae and food will arrive by mail in the next week or so, and anyone who visits will be able to see them grow! To learn more about the life cycle of a butterfly, go to The Children's Butterfly Site.

What a Difference a Week Makes

We have some very thirsty sunflowers here! If you haven't planted yours, there is still time, but please stop down to the library soon. Do you know that sunflowers exhibit heliotropism? At sunrise, the faces of most sunflowers are turned towards the east. Over the course of the day, they follow the sun from east to west, while at night they return to an eastward orientation. Learn more about sunflowers at wikipedia.org.

Sprouts!

...and Plants!

Rodney Hayes and her staff will be working this week to install some of the plants for the garden. The ornamental plum, lavender, lilac bush, allium, hens and chicks, and lamb's ear will all be planted.

We have a plan!

Here it is, the design by Rodney Hayes, master gardener, for Carolyn's Garden. The garden is designed with plants and flowers to delight children, attract butterflies, reflect Miss Carolyn's preferences, and to thrive in our particular location. You can download a PDF copy on our website: http://www.hagamanlibrary.org/ We hope you will join us on June 12 to enjoy the garden and celebrate in person.

Seeds are being planted...

We are almost ready to share the plan for Carolyn's garden. The library board of directors approved the proposal created by Rodney Hayes, and she and her crew are preparing the site. Watch for lots of activity over the next couple of weeks.

Rodney thought it would be nice to include the children in the preparation, so she suggested that they start sunflower seeds in the children's room, to be transplanted when they are tall enough. Hurry in to the library to plant your seed and check back here for growth progress!

Thank you to anonymous donors

We had a great turnout for Amy Ziffer's program on Cottage Gardening on Saturday. Thank you to Cynthia Gwiazda, community services librarian, for putting the word out that we are still collecting donations for the garden. And thank you to all who donated generously, especially to the person who donated a 100-dollar bill!

Plans are moving forward. Frank Andrews has located a source for granite benches and pictures will be available soon. A drawing and proposal for the garden, created by Rodney Hayes, will be available in the next few weeks. We are on target for the June 12 dedication. Thanks for your patience with the updates!

Planning for Miss Carolyn's Reading Garden Begins

Carolyn Siedzik, known to children as "Miss Carolyn", was Hagaman Library's children's librarian from 1967-1973, and 1981-2008. Children from East Haven and surrounding areas enjoyed regular storytimes and special programs with Miss Carolyn--she touched countless lives with her enthusiasm, sense of humor, and knowledge of what children like to read.

Carolyn died June 19, 2008 at age 57 after a battle with cancer. She had long dreamed of creating a garden on the library grounds with a bench and a tree where people could sit and read. Her dream has inspired library members and friends to create a garden in her memory.

Last night was the first meeting of our group to plan for Miss Carolyn's Reading Garden. Carolyn's husband Dick Siedzik, her son Eric Freeman, brother Frank Andrews and his wife Marla DeMusis, Barbara Brow from East Haven's garden club, Mary Polverari from Hagaman Library's Friends of the Library, and Karen Jensen, library director, met to discuss preliminary plans.

Some of the plants that Carolyn liked include tiger lilies, lily of the valley, hosta, tulips, daffodils, forsythia, and Japanese red maple trees. She liked bright colors, especially blue. We considered planting some butterfly bushes as an added attraction! Karen and Mary had attended a garden planning workshop at Van Wilgen's garden center in Branford, and all agreed that Van Wilgen's would be a great source of plants for the garden, as the plants are top quality, and the staff will provide planning direction at no cost.

So far, the garden will be approximately 20 feet in diameter, with an area for children to sit and listen to stories, plus a bench and plaque to honor Miss Carolyn. Frank is going to look into sources for the bench, plaque and a fundraiser to purchase bricks for paving a section of the garden.

Our target date for completing the garden is June 12, 2009. On this day, Friends of the Hagaman Memorial Library will host a dedication of the garden, complete with music and refreshments, at 6:30 p.m. All are invited, so please save the date!

Please watch this blog for updates to the project. In the next few weeks, we will be moving forward with a drawing of the garden, choosing plants, and making decisions on the bench and plaque. The garden is 100% privately funded, and we are actively soliciting donations. Please consider contributing generously, and spread the word to your employers and friends. Our library is fortunate that Carolyn had a vision for a beautiful reading space, and her garden should be an asset to the library and the town for generations to come.

Thanks to hortusthird at flickr.com for the image posted above.