The Ridgefield Historical Society will mark 20 years of preserving the town’s history at the 1714 Scott House and celebrate its visionary founders during a year of celebration that will kick off on Oct. 2.
The society came into being with the opening of the Scott House on Sunset Lane in October 2001, after a years-long effort by members of the Ridgefield Preservation Trust to save the iconic saltbox, home to an original Ridgefield proprietor.
The Addessi family, who owned the building when it stood off Catoonah Street, made a major contribution to start the fundraising, enabling the careful disassembly and storage of the structure until its new life could begin. (The house had originally been constructed on Main Street, but was moved back on Catoonah Street to allow construction of the Scott Block — that Scott, surprisingly, no relation to the original Scotts.)
Scott House’s new location on Sunset Lane includes a climate-controlled vault where precious historical materials are archived. The building received other modern touches, including a small freight elevator to move materials for archivists and researchers, but it was finished in a way that emphasizes its early 18th Century origin.
A Scott House Celebration: Turns 20 is planned for Saturday, Oct. 2, from 1 to 4 (rain date Oct. 3) featuring live music by the Ridgefield High School Jazz Ensemble and Dan Bonis and Ed Accardi, refreshments, quilt-making demonstration, Historical Society information tables, coloring station, historical books for sale, How the Scott House was Moved and Reassembled exhibit, commemorative program in honor of our founders, hot dog truck by Chez Lenard, Community Corner featuring Ridgefield Library and the Ridgefield Historic District Commission among others, self-guided tours of the Scott House, and more.
Event Schedule
1 - 4 pm — Quilt-making demonstration, information tables, coloring station, book sale, exhibit, hot dog truck, community corner, self-guided tours of the Scott House
3 - 3:30 pm — Commemorative program with a lemonade toast and snickerdoodles
3:30 - 4 pm — Ridgefield High School Jazz Ensemble
Free parking will be available nearby, at the Grove Street Medical Complex at 38A and 38C Grove Street.
The day will include tributes to the founders of the historical society, which had its beginnings in the revitalized Ridgefield Preservation Trust, which swung into action to save the Scott House. The officers were David Scott, president (and no relation to the original David Scott), Jeanne Timpanelli, vice president, Wendy Erich, secretary, and Georgianne Kasuli and Patricia Kearney, treasurers. The board included: Kay Ables, Lee Dickinson, Walter Goodman, Linda Hannah, Leslie Ide, Andrea Jabara, Keith Jones, James Roberts, Kathryn Rosa, and Pat Stephens, with Town Historian Richard E. Venus.
Other 20th anniversary events during 2021 will include a lecture by Ed Hynes about The War on Long Island Sound, in a virtual presentation on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.
The second LEGO Sculpture Contest will run from November through January, this year featuring the historical society’s two sites, the Scott House and the Peter Parley Schoolhouse. Popular silhouette artist Deborah O’Connor will return to the Scott House on Saturday, Dec. 4. She creates portraits cut entirely freehand, with framing available on-site to make memorable holiday gifts. An interactive program, Holiday Traditions at the Scott House, is being planned for Dec. 11 and 12. For more information, call 203-438-5821 or email Kathryn Tufano, Development & Marketing Director, at ktufano@ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org.
The ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org website will be updated regularly with additional 20th Anniversary Year events and information; please check in often.
The 20th-anniversary programming is generously supported by lead sponsors Liz and Steven Goldstone, with additional funding provided by Fairfield County Bank.