Reading more into the signs found in our towns

FALLS VILLAGE — How often do we drive past signs without knowing what they really say? Tom Fatone, author of “The Signs of Connecticut,” recalled his childhood frustration with this during his Tuesdays at Six lecture at the South Canaan Meeting House on Tuesday, Aug. 5.The lecture series is sponsored by the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society.Fatone, born and raised in Bridgeport, said he often passed the Trumbull town sign (just north of where he lived) as a kid, and always wanted to know what it said.“I’m the only one from Connecticut, my whole family is from New York, so the first 20-something years of my life I’d drive past that sign on the way to see relatives and wanted to know what it was all about.”The sign, like many, was located on a busy intersection, making it dangerous for a child to simply leap out on a curious impulse.“One Sunday,” he added, “while driving around with a friend, I finally got out and read it.”And it was that moment that sparked his urge to locate more signs and discover the rich history they were associated with. The first slide in his presentation showed a youthful Fatone standing next to the Trumbull sign, the first of its kind. It was the beginning of what has become a long journey. In the 13 years since then he has traveled to, and taken pictures of, every town sign in Connecticut.A highway ‘geek’Batone works as a traffic coordinator for the state Department of Transportation, His job involves notifying the media and public about “what’s going on traffic-wise.” “I’ve always been a bit of a highway geek, I guess,” Fatone said.He opened his lecture with a bit of a quiz.“Anyone here know which town in our state is most central?”There followed some murmurs, with perhaps the best-sounding guess being “Middlebury.”But when the crowd was asked how many towns were in Connecticut, the room erupted with the correct answer: “169.”“Good, you guys are good,” Fatone said with a satisfied smile.Before showing slides with pictures of town signs, Fatone established how and why these signs began to emerge. It started with Herbert Darby, whose idea it was to put up signs in each town. Darby contacted every historical society in the state, requesting that they write some information about their town. Fatone said that in 1967, the Connecticut General Assembly approved legislation to provide each town with an appropriate marker.Most of the signs were made in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial year. Records were not particularly accurate or complete of what went where, however.“The Bridgeport sign really bothered me,” he said. “No one knew where it was!” Until, one day, he received a call from an employee in the town hall who knew of Fatone’s interest.“He was pulling chairs out of a closet for a town council meeting, and there it was — in the closet,” Fatone said.Toward the middle of his hour-long presentation on Tuesday, Fatone showed a picture of the town of Canaan sign, a crowd favorite. The town popularly known as Falls Village is officially referred to as the town of Canaan. The town popularly referred to as Canaan is officially known as North Canaan.“This is one of the best towns in Connecticut,” he said, and as with every other picture, he had a story to accompany it.Iconic sights in Falls Village“I first became interested in Canaan after reading the book ‘Off the Beaten Path’,” Fatone said.“I really enjoyed reading about the Last Post,” he said. The Last Post is a cat retirement home and sanctuary founded by Pegeen Fitzgerald and located on Route 7.“And speaking of Canaan, does anyone know what turns 100 today?” Fatone asked. The audience was silent. “The hydro plant,” Fatone said, offering a history of the power plant on the Housatonic River.And while a few equally difficult questions left the crowd stumped, everyone could agree and sympathize with one confusion the author had.“North Canaan, South Canaan, Falls Village… It’s all a bit confusing,” he said with a laugh. “I remember that being a difficult thing to write about in my book.”All in all, Fatone’s journey — which included tracking down signs, taking photographs and researching their historical significance — took about 13 years. Writing the book took about two.“It’s pretty often you hear people complain about there being nothing to do in Connecticut,” Fatone said, “I beg to differ.”Before departing, one intrigued member of the audience had something to say.“Tom, you never answered which town was most central in Connecticut!”The answer? Berlin.Those interested in purchasing “Signs of Connecticut” or finding out more about Fatone’s story can go to www.lulu.com.Fatone’s talk was the last of this summer’s Tuesdays at Six lectures.