Happy Landings Windmill Turns Again

A year and a half after to be refurbished, volunteers attached a new fan and tail Monday afternoon, finally restoring the iconic symbol of .

The restoration and replacement work, , was done by Eugene Reelick of Holandia Nurseries in Bethel, with installation help from Russ DeGrazia, a Brookfield resident with experience using the machinery necessary to first take down the old and then install the new windmill.

The framework of the base was restored from the original scaffolding, however the fan and tail had to be purchased new, as the original were “abused by the wind and chains” used to hold the fan blades in place, Reelick said. The original tail now hangs in the lobby of Town Hall.

The new tail reads: Brookfield, CT/Happy Landings/USA. DeGrazia’s cousin, Lou Pascuzzi, of Economy Signs in Danbury, did the stencil work.

All told, the work to restore the base and order and ready the new parts took approximately three months, according to Reelick, however months of soggy rains (a cherry picker got stuck in the mud during one attempt), high winds and tight schedules delayed the final installation.

In the coming weeks, the town will be installing a plaque at the base of the windmill thanking the GCEC and the volunteers who helped make the restoration possible.