Hidden Gems of Hartford and Tolland Counties

VERNON/SOMERS, CT — The latest trip to a Hidden Gem in Hartford and Tolland counties takes us to two places actually — a pair of towns that will always have Pitney.

Stops at Vernon Town Hall and along the 600 block of Main Street in Somers feature benches dedicated to the memory of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gene Pitney.

Pitney was born in Hartford in 1940 and grew up in the Rockville section of Vernon, where he earned the nickname, "The Rockville Rocket."

The Gene Pitney bench in Vernon (Chris Dehnel/Patch)

He played at the old Palace Theater in Vernon as a young man and rose to fame in the 1960s with the title song to the Kirk Douglas movie, "Town Without Pity," and another entitled "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence," which shared a title with a John Wayne-James Stewart-Lee Marvin film but was not used in the western because of a dispute.

He also wrote "Hello Mary Lou," made popular by Ricky Nelson and collaborated with several big acts, including the Rolling Stones.

He later made his home in Somers.

Pitney died on April 5, 2006 while on tour in the United Kingdom, where he was popular. A commemorative display was put up at Vernon Town Hall shortly after the singer's death and the benches were placed about a decade later.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002.

The Gene Pitney memorial bench in Somers (Tim Jensel/Patch)

____

The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Joe McCluskey/Manchester Road Race Statue
• Samuel Field Knight Historic Marker
• Carol's Lunchbox
• Country Casuals
• Dakota Restaurant
• Country Cobbler
• Beau's Burger Shack
• Daniel Glazier Tavern
• Mount Southington Ski School
• Awards & More
• Marquis de Lafayette Monument
• The Little Red Store
• River Bend Bookshop
• Gerry's Donuts
• Traveler Restaurant
• First Decorated Christmas Tree
• The Stanley-Whitman House
• Vernon's Santa House
• Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut
• Old Country Banquet Hall
• Brazilian Gula Grill
• Thomas' Smokey Pit Stop
• Congregational Church of Burlington labyrinth
• Noah Webster House
• The Bushnell's Green Room Wall
• Belding Wildlife Management Area
• The Aborn Castle
• Heublein Tower
• Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards
• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant