WILTON — Someone has been helping themselves to the flowering plants provided by the Tyngtown Club that beautify the downtown, leading to disappointment and anger.
As seen Sunday, June 4, a pot located near the bridge leading to the Wilton Free Public Library has a single flower left in it and some of the soil on the sidewalk nearby. Earlier that morning Paulette Cahn, chair of the Tyngtown flower committee found the pot overturned and most of the plants gone. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
On her way to church Sunday morning, June 4, Paulette Cahn discovered the large pot located near the bridge leading to the library tipped over. The soil was strewn over the sidewalk and most of the plants gone.
“I was so angry,” Cahn exclaimed after church. “There were about 10 plants in the pot. I was able to save two of them, put them in my vehicle. Plants were taken from the boxes in front of the First Congregational Church this week too.”
A pot filled with flowering annuals is seen Sunday morning, June 4, on Main Street in Wilton. Plants were discovered missing from a similar pot on the other side of the street earlier that morning. It costs Tyngtown Club $2,000 annually to provide the plants in the downtown flower project. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
In other years, plants have been taken from the large planters located near Andy Andy Shattuck’s Main Street Garage near the corner of Main Street and Route 156, Cahn noted. The flowering annuals are planted thickly in case some die, she said. “I keep some spares to replace them if necessary,” she added.
It costs $2,000 annually for the plants, Cahn said. In the past, the Tyngtown plant sale and other fundraisers were used to raise money for them, she stated. “The article in the Franklin Journal led to a lot of donations, money was set aside for them,” she noted. People continue to donate towards the project, she added.
For some 45 years, the Tyngtown Club has been adding color to the downtown through its summer flower project. In 1985 there were 22 flower boxes. The cost about that time was $200. In 2020 more than 50 containers were used to add color to the downtown.
This is the last year Cahn will be overseeing Tyngtown’s flower project. She took it on in 2008 when Patsy Sills, who had been flower committee chair for about 15 years, moved. Next year, Hilary Wocjik will take over, Cahn said.
“The stores are reopening, the flowers help beautify and brighten up the downtown,” Cahn said.
It’s sad, there is a new element in town, too, she added.
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