Gene Pitney Park Officially Dedicated In Vernon

VERNON, CT — The Gene Pitney Memorial Park in the Rockville section of Vernon was officially dedicated Tuesday at a spot where the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer used to fish and write music.

The park sits at 19 Grove Street on the banks of Paper Mill Pond and the Hockanum River. The property was once a dilapidated heap of old crumbling factories and machine shops that were, in the words of Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne, nothing but "blight."

The parcel now features rolling paths, fishing spots and picnic tables.

"Gene used to write music ... right there," said Dick Spurling, the drummer for Pitney’s original band, Gene Pitney & The Genials, while pointing to one of those fishing spots. It was one of his quiet spots, where he would go to be alone and think."

Spurling, now 80, made a surprise visit to the dedication along with 81-year-old Rob Terry, the lead guitarist for The Genials.

Terry and Spurling recalled the day Pitney was driving in the area in the early 1960s and heard "Hello Mary Lou," which bolted up the charts when performed by Ricky Nelson.

"He had no idea he was writing it for Ricky Nelson," Terry said. "I remember him writing it. Then, all of a sudden, we heard it on the radio and it became a hit."

Pitney was a Vernon native and was given the nickname "The Rockville Rocket." He and the band played in numerous venues in the region, especially the old palace Theater in Rockville.

Pitney’s wife, Lynne, said during the dedication that the spot along the Hockanum was a favorite fishing spot. He also wrote music at a local reservoir, she said.

"Gene would have loved seeing this," she said. "This was one of his favorite spots. Rockville was always his home."

Champagne said when he was first elected mayor in 2013, cleaning up the area was one of the first things on his to-do list. He met with the federal Environmental Protection agency and proposed a cleanup in exchange for a park.

"I explained that we had these old industrial buildings that were falling into the pond," Champagne said. "The EPA liked the plan and, within 18 months, the property was remediated."

In 2017, the town took possession of the property. Over the past year, a team effort between the Vernon Department of Public Works, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Water Pollution Control Authority turned the land into the park.

The decision was made to name the park after Pitney.

"It’s the gateway to the historic Rockville section of town,” Champagne said. "We've taken something that really was an eyesore and made it into a beautiful and relaxing place."

The plan is to extend the park with a trail system northward to the Shenipsit Lake Trail and to Vernon’s trail system to the south and west. Champagne said.

Pitney was touring the United Kingdom in the spring of 2006 when he died of a cardiac condition at 66. In 2002, he was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Benches have been placed in his memory in Vernon and in Somers, where he and Lynne had moved.