'Turnback Tuesday' features Elizabeth, Caroline Streets in Derby

Streets were tree-lined before Dutch Elm Disease hit

This week's Turnback Tuesday photo features a southward view of Elizabeth and Caroline Streets in Derby. 
Derby Public Library is partially obscured behind the rows of elm trees that once lined each street. Having tree-lined streets in neighborhoods was once commonplace throughout the Valley. Unfortunately in 1928, Dutch Elm Disease reached the United States and was one of the most destructive shade tree diseases in North America. 
By the mid-1940s, the disease spread to trees in Connecticut. 
The disease itself is not of Dutch origin, but was so named because early work on the disease was performed by Dutch pathologists. The disease is caused by a fungus that is transmitted by beetles. 
Hundreds of thousands of elms across the U.S. have died due to this disease. 
The good news is that resistant tree strains are starting to improve the elm tree situation. Such a tree exists on Academy Hill and is called a Liberty Elm. 

Thanks go to the Derby Public Library for sharing this interesting local history each week!

Community invited to inauguration Dec. 2 in Derby

Richard Dziekan to be sworn in as city's 31st mayor

Celebrate the season at Osborne Homestead Museum in Derby

DERBY - Are you ready to hear some bel canto? Do you have your libretto?  Well put your opera capes on!  

2015 file photo of museum

It’s time to enjoy “A Holiday at the Opera” at the Osborne Homestead Museum, 500 Hawthorne Ave. and learn about some of the world’s famous operas.  

Holiday tours will run from Friday through Dec. 17. Tours will be offered Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  
On Fridays, Dec. 1, 8, and 15, from 4-7 p.m., the museum will present “Twilight Tours” to display the shimmering glow of the decorations. 

For more than 30 years, volunteers have created the gorgeous holiday decorations at the museum.  
These talented and committed volunteers are Derby Garden Society, Garden Club of Orange, Long Hill Garden Club, Naugatuck Garden Club, Olde Ripton Garden Club of Shelton, Oxford Garden Club, Jen Plasky of American Institute of Floral Designers, Roxbury/Bridgewater Garden Club, Women Redefining Retirement Milford, and Ye Olde Kellogg Garden Club.  

This year’s holiday theme will pay tribute to Frances Osborne Kellogg’s love of the opera.  She frequently attended the Metropolitan Opera, and her uncle Henry Krehbiel was a famous music and opera critic.  
As president of the Women’s Club, Frances invited many opera singers, such as Caterina Jarbora, John Brownlee, and Marjorie Lawrence, to perform in Derby.  Because of her love of this musical genre, each room will represent operas seen by Frances and her family and friends.  

Holiday Farm Market

Visitors will also get a chance to support local farms and small businesses at the Holiday Farm Market in the Kellogg Environmental Center located behind the museum.  

The Holiday Farm Market will be held Dec.1 from 4-7 p.m. and Dec. 2 from 9 a.m.-noon.  Choose from a wide variety of products, such as Connecticut Grown produce, meat products, beauty and bath products, scented candles, and more.

Admission is free; donations are gratefully accepted.  
Kellogg Environmental Center and Osborne Homestead Museum are operated by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.   

To register for group tours and for more information, call 203-734-2513, email donna.kingston@ct.gov, or visit www.ct.gov/deep/Kellogg.

This is a press release from Connecticut DEEP.