The Town of Stratford and The Community Builders Hub welcome the public to join in a Grand Welcoming to the revitalized Backstreet River Recreational Park, located behind Main Street, on May 16th from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Festivities will begin at the pavilion on the town common, next to the Stratford Public Library, with opening announcements from Suzanne Goulet, Town Administrator, who will share information about the project development. The Cohos Historical Society will provide history of the park, and Stratford Librarian, Tom McCorkhill, will share about the new storywalk, as well.
From there, guests are invited on a parade walk, from the pavilion to the new walking path at the park across the road, to see all the new features along the way. Improvements completed over the past year include a resurfaced basketball court, a brand new pickleball court that replaced the former tennis court, a storywalk and walking path that follow the scenic Connecticut riverbank, replacement of all playground equipment with a brand new system, and new parking areas. The ballfield dugouts and picnic tables were painted and stained within the last year by volunteers, and a picnic area with signage was also spruced up, for paddlers to enjoy a drop in spot to the river on the south end of the park. A new ice rink was even added for winter skating within the ball field, thanks to Lynch, LLC., who also completed the bulk of the park renovations.
At mid-day, a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the new playground by the North Country Chamber of Commerce and town officials. Lunch food will be available from Ben’s Saucey Hawg food truck, with free hot dog vouchers for kids at The Community Builders Hub table. The town will be giving out slices of celebratory sheet cake, and pick up games of kickball, pickleball and basketball will be taking place throughout the park for the afternoon. Any Stratford area businesses or organizations who offer trades, crafts, services or information are welcome to set up a vendor booth at the event. Sign up forms are available here.
Organizers are excited to get townspeople together from Stratford and neighboring towns, to enjoy the enhanced park. A community clean up day is being planned for the day before the event, with the help of students and staff at the Stratford Public School. Volunteer projects include cleaning the pavilion, litter pick up, and gardening.
For more information, contact britni@thecbh.org; 802-277-1974. A pamphlet with more details on the day’s activities will be forthcoming, as well.
Above photo is a recently scanned negative in the collection of the Cohos Historical Society. It was taken on Back/River road. You can see the back of the Hinman House, a early hotel in North Stratford on Main Street. Across the street you can see the old Stratford Public School facing Main Street. The hill behind is Stevens/School Hill. The current school was built in 1916. Photo taken 1890’s-1900. A lot has changed since then. Come see on May 16th!
