Valley Indy Photo
The Civil War monument, as of April 2018.
DERBY — The public is invited to officially acknowledge the renovated Civil War monument during a celebratory event scheduled for Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Derby Green.
People will have an opportunity to inspect the monument and learn about its ties to both Derby and Shelton.
Also, the first 100 people to visit the monument will get a free hot dog and drink. The food is being prepared by Joyce Lamas and the event is being sponsored by Shelton’s Dave Grant of David M. Grant Catering.
The celebration is one of three family-friendly events happening on the Green Tuesday.
A farmers market is also scheduled, and the Derby Cultural Commission is kicking off its annual Summer Concert Series at 7 p.m. at the gazebo with “Fools on the Hill,” a Beatles tribute band.
James Cohen, the retired CEO of the Valley Community Foundation and a Derby native, spearheaded a grassroots fundraising drive to restore the monument, which had been damaged by years of neglect and vandalism.
People had actually pried pieces off the monument. Some of the cannons at the base of the monument had sunk partially into the ground due to age.
The restored monument is something to behold. It looks brand new. The painstaking restoration work was handled by Conserve ART, LLC of Hamden.
The monument, standing 21 feet tall on the north side of the green, is a tribute to the 82 men from Derby and Shelton who died during the Civil War.
Its base was dedicated in 1877. The fully realized monument, with a bronze soldier atop the base, was officially unveiled July 4, 1883.
A reported 8,000 people attended the unveiling in 1883.
Slide the line in the middle of the embedded image below to compare photos taken of the monument in 2016 and 2018.
