​Daytime Gardeners Will Dedicate Blue Star Memorial Marker

Daytime Gardeners Will Dedicate Blue Star Memorial Marker

The Daytime Gardeners of North Haven are sponsoring a Blue Star Memorial project with support from Arnold’s Jewelers, The Gould Insurance Group, and with cooperation from the Town of North Haven. The unveiling and dedication ceremony will be on Saturday, May 26, 2018 at 9:00 AM on the Town Green before the Memorial Day parade. The American Legion is coordinating the dedication program in conjunction with the garden club. The Daytime Gardeners will design and maintain a small garden of red, white, and blue flowers around the base of the Blue Star Memorial Marker.

The Blue Star Memorial Program, sponsored by the National Garden Clubs, Inc., is unique in that it honors all men and women who have served, those who are currently serving, and all those who will serve, in the United States Armed Services. The program began with the planting of 8,000 Dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. A large metal Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker was placed at appropriate locations along the way.

The first Blue Star Marker in Connecticut was installed in the town of Guilford in 1950. No other markers were installed until 2003 when the Danbury Garden Club dedicated a Memorial Marker at Exit 5 off eastbound I 84. The program has slowly grown over the years and North Haven will dedicate the 14th Blue Star Marker in the state. Two more markers will be dedicated later this year, one in Bridgewater and another in Roxbury.

From its’ early beginnings, the program has expanded to include all men and women who have served, are serving, or will serve in the armed services of the United States. It has expanded from the Highway Markers, to now include Memorial Markers and By-Way markers used at locations such as National cemeteries, parks, veteran's facilities, and gardens.

The Blue Star became an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war, and in churches and businesses. This program has been active all through the years to the present, an appropriate tribute to our Armed Forces.

Daytime Gardeners of North Haven is a member of the Federated Garden Clubs of CT, Inc., New England Garden Clubs, and National Garden Clubs, Inc. New members are always welcome. For information on our activities and membership, call Daytime Gardeners at (203) 239-1557.