With  "Grampy  Hoyt."

Op-Ed: Remembrances of Bristow Bird Sanctuary

By Nancy Harding | October 29, 2018

As a young child in New Canaan after WWII, I had the privilege of living in the Justus Hoyt House on Main Street, where my

mother and grandfather had been born, as well as generations of Hoyts dating back to 1770. The house stood directly opposite New

Canaan Library.

NewCanaanite.com (http://newcanaanite.com/op-ed-remembrances-of-bristow-bird-sanctuary-185307)

A bonus of living there was that my grandfather’s flower shopand greenhouses—S.B. Hoyt Florists Est.1908—was nextdoor. My grandparents, Stephen and Anna Hoyt, lived on aproperty adjoining ours that fronted on East Maple Street. I hadaunts and uncles and cousins up and down East Maple Streetand Hoyt Street.

One of the perks of being frequently in my grandfather’s orbit,is that when he made trips to the New Canaan Bird Sanctuaryand Wildwood Preserve he would often invite me along. ThePreserve was both a sanctuary and a mission to “Grampy Hoyt”who, as president of the Bird Protective Society of New Canaan,had solicited the funds from Mrs. Barend van Gerbig and other concerned citizens to purchase and fence the 16.8-acre property in1923.

Once through the entrance gate to this haven, my grandfatherwould engage in conversation with Clinton Bartow, thecaretaker, leaving me to explore. Being all of five years old, Ikept within Grampy’s sight, but even so, that world of streamsand bridges and a fish pond and ducks who awaited the bread Ihad brought enchanted me.

Besides feeding the ducks, my favorite pastime was collecting ahandful of sticks and, standing on one of the wooden bridges,dropping them one at a time upstream and awaiting themdownstream.

When Grampy concluded his business with Mr. Bartow, hewould walk with me along the trails. It seemed vast. I grew upbeing able to identify most any

tree and wildflower and curious to find ones I did not know.

Following Grammy Hoyt’s death in 1952, my grandfather had amemorial bench set in the Bird Sanctuary. Anna Hoyt had heldseveral offices with the New Canaan Bird Protective Society andalways been a helpmeet to my grandfather. It was fitting that heplaced a memorial to the one that he loved in the place that heloved. When I visit the sanctuary now, the sight of this benchtakes me back to my childhood.

My grandparents are gone now, the flower shop andgreenhouses are gone, the Justus Hoyt house is gone. My loveof the quiet pleasures of this earth which the Bird Sanctuarynourished in me as a child lives on.

Memorial  bench  in  Bristow.  Credit:  Capt.  John  F.  Harding