Lucy Gellman Photo
Over1,000 people filled Wooster Square Park to dance, nibble, and simply celebrate an annual rite of spring.
The occasion was the Cherry Blossom Festival, which has come to mark not just the emergence of the beautiful snowy trees that transform the area each year but also the vibrant and diverse neighborhood that Wooster Square has once again become.
The day included a tip of the hat to the vibrancy an earlier incarnation of Wooster Square, when it was the heart of New Haven’s Italian-American neighborhood and culture, and Ted and Luisa DeLauro were the neighborhood’s political leaders. Event organizers Sunday gave 101-year-old Luisa, New Haven’s longest-serving alder, the Friend of Wooster Square Award.Her daughter, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, spoke of how she learned from her parents that “public service is an honor.”
“As a woman in a man’s world, Luisa blazed a trail not seen in the history of New Haven politics,” said Master of Ceremonies and third-generation Wooster Square Resident Bill Iovanne, Jr. (pictured above). “She stood up for herself, she stood up for her family, she stood up for her community. No fight was left on the table. Luisa took it all to heart. She was one of the best representatives in the city, and an alderperson for 35 years.” With a catch in his voice, he added that he was personally grateful to her for the designation of Wooster Square as the city’s first historic district and thought of her “like a mother.”
“This neighborhood is a gem … a model in terms of how a neighborhood can be preserved and helped to foster and grow, and a place that has a strong sense of community,” added State Sen. Martin Looney
The four-hour festival brimmed with local history and entertainment for children of all ages. Like dancing for all ages and variations of swing, samba and salsa partners…
… brought to life by Hand, a progressive rock band, Tuxedo Junction, the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School Brass Choir, the Sound School Chanteens, Carlos Santiago y El Momento Musical, and St. Luke’s Steel Band.
Or a proliferation of outdoor presentations on the animals and plants –– real and imaginary –– of spring, brought together as Horizon Wings Raptor Rescue, Nappy’s Puppets, the NHFPL Readmobile, Peabody Museum, and New Haven Museum joined forces and fanned out across the park. Helping visitors with a finger painting activity for the community –– a cherry blossom canvas that will go in the New Haven Museum –– NHM Director of Education and Visitor Experience Amy Durbin shared her enthusiasm for the event, to which she had never been before.
“This is a great community event, which is what inspired our activity today –– it’s community coming together through art,” she said.
In classic New Haven style, there was also a lot of food. A lot of food, including bread studded with garlic, Italian ices, about 1,000 tomato pies, and a few treats for some four-footed friends at the nearby dog park.
“We have a gorgeous neighborhood that we get to wake up and see outside our door every morning, and this is a day when we share it with others,” said Erin Gustafson, a member of the Festival Committee.
“The festival really features what is best about New Haven,” added Mayor Toni Harp. The crowd, she added before she left the stage, looked bigger than she had ever seen it before.
To find out more about the Historic Wooster Square Association, visit its website. For more photos from the event, click here.