Neighborhood Spotlight: The family that brought the magic to Ridgefield Town Hall
I am rarely surprised by what is written in the Hello Ridgefield & Fairfield County Facebook group anymore; thousands of posts get submitted monthly and most follow a pattern. So when someone posted a story talking about the history of the decorations in front of Ridgefield Town Hall, I was taken aback because it's a story I have never heard of..
How many times have you driven by Town Hall and seen the nutcrackers standing guard over the entrances? Do you know who designed them and painted them, do you know the family who puts them out yearly?
I always noticed the decorations but never knew the story behind them until one evening in Hello Ridgefield, when Lauren Lucas posted the story of her mother.
How the Nutcrackers Come to Life!
Here is what Lauren wrote about her mom:
"We moved to Ridgefield in 2002, Peggy Marconi was our realtor and my mom has kept in touch with her ever since. Flash forward to winter 2013, my mom and I were visiting her friend who was a realtor on Main Street. At the time, Peggy Marconi worked in the same office and my mom being my mom asked her who decorated Town Hall"
"Naturally, it wasn’t up to my mom’s standards – everything has to be nicey nice!
Next thing you know, my mom is in contact with Rudy Marconi and here we are six years later still decorating Town Hall so it looks nicey nice for the holidays"
"My mom is a very talented artist – all of the decorations on Town Hall are handmade. The nutcrackers were cut out by my dad, Chuck and my mom hand painted them. The garland and the Happy Holidays sign – all designed and built by my mom"
"My mom also comes from a very large family – she is the youngest of 9. Each year she hosts roughly 30 people for Thanksgiving. It’s a big ordeal – furniture gets moved, extra tables and chairs are brought out and there is a ton of food. Thankfully, the family helps set up and break down – allowing my mom to wake up early on Black Friday to head down to Town Hall to decorate"
"On top of decorating Town Hall, she also decorates Santa’s golf cart, designs the Holiday Stroll flyers and posters displayed in store windows. When it comes to the Holiday Stroll (and some other town organized events) my mom works very closely with Billy Craig and Kathy Graham to get the programs put together. As my mom says, they are a great team!"
Other Town Involvement.
"My mom has dedicated her talent and time to many other aspects of the Ridgefield community. My senior year of high school, 2004, she helped decorate for the post-grad party. She continued to design and decorate for the post-grad party for many years, even after my brother graduated in 2010. She also re-did the pawprints leading down to Tiger Hollow and in the front parking lot of the high school and left the updated stencils with the school so they could continue"
"She also designed and created senior night posters for the High School lacrosse team when my brother was in high school, and continued for a few years after he graduated – and even helped the hockey team"
"She has also donated hundreds of hours hand painting wine glasses for various charity events in town – they auction for hundreds of dollars"
by Lauren Lucas~ her loving daughter
Thank you Michele and Chuck Mueller for all of your hard work and volunteering!
The magic of a Facebook group like Hello Ridgefield & Fairfield County is that it helps you develop closer ties to your community and we love being the group that does that!
We thank you for taking the time to read our neighborhood stories! Stay tuned for more...
Thank you to Claudia Pacifico Photography for these amazing pictures! Reach out to her for photography that you will fall in love with. Here's some of the work she did for the Hello Ridgefield team:
If you want to recommend someone to be featured in our Neighborhood Spotlight Series, email us at hello@helloridgefield.com.