Iconic bandstand, a gift for all
Beyond Words
By Deborah Rose
The New Milford Village Green is known for many things – its length, picturesque buildings, unique shops and businesses, iconic bandstand, and historic tank.
Of all of them, the green and white New England bandstand (don’t call it a gazebo because it is not) that stands boldly on the south end of the Green, across from Roger Sherman Town Hall, is most distinct.
It is an eye-catching architectural structure captured for decades on film and video, and cherished in memory by too many to count.
It is: a gathering place for community events such as the lighting of the trees on the Green and the Carol Sing during the holiday season; the venue for wedding ceremonies and special presentations; the focal point for photo shoots; and so much more.
To climb the steps of the bandstand and then sit on one of the benches inside the platform hub seems almost a rite of passage.
These days, I would love to take my mom, who has Parkinson’s and has trouble with stairs, up inside the bandstand to eat ice cream with her teen grandchildren on a summer afternoon so we can all enjoy the beauty of the Green.
And I would have loved to have taken my late father, who also suffered from Parkinson’s, up inside the bandstand to talk with him while he watched his then-toddler grandchildren run laps around the nearby tank.
Unfortunately, my parents and many others aren’t able to experience the bandstand in its totality due to mobility challenges.
But I was recently reminded by a friend, Sean Quigg, of just how meaningful a trip to the bandstand can be, especially for those who cannot climb its stairs.
Sean, founder of Wheels for Wheels, a New Milford nonprofit that serves, uplifts, and
mobilizes the disabled community, has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and utilizes a motorized wheelchair 24/7. He cannot go up inside the bandstand on the Green.
But, there is an alternative.
He and others can have a bandstand experience in the children’s library at New Milford Public Library on Main Street.
And that’s what Sean experienced a few months ago – and proudly shared among friends and family.
He visited the library’s two-story replica of the town’s iconic bandstand, with a low-incline ramp rather than stairs, and he smiled as his photograph was taken inside it.
Sean, nearly 30, emphasized how it was the first time he’d been “inside the bandstand” since he was an infant when a parent carried him up inside
the bandstand on the Green.
I was taken back – and moved – simultaneously.
Visiting the library’s bandstand was meaningful for him. For years, he had seen the bandstand downtown. He had even parked his wheelchair beside it when he met up with friends or attended events on the Green.
But he had never had an opportunity to be in it until the replica was revealed earlier this year at the library following its multi-year renovation.
It is so easy for the majority of us to do so many things on a daily basis without even thinking – lifting a glass, tying a shoelace, walking up stairs. But many of those tasks cannot be done, or are more difficult to do, due to mobility challenges like those my mom, Sean, and many others have.
But now, individuals who want to get a taste of the town’s iconic bandstand on the Village Green and cannot use the stairs can have an alternative experience in the replica bandstand at the Main Street library.
Sure, the scenery surrounding the library’s bandstand isn’t exactly the same, but it is pretty colorful with all the bound and paperback
books!
Courtesy of Sean Quigg/Sean Quigg was delighted to be "inside" the library's two-story bandstand, a replica of New Milford's iconic structure on the Village Green.
Deborah Rose/A replica of the bandstand on the New Milford Village Green is a show stopper in the children's library at New Milford Public Library. The replica features a ramp, giving those with mobility challenges a chance to go "in" the bandstand.
