Welcome to 2012! And what better way to celebrate a new year than with a new marriage!
Congratulations goes out to my friends George and Donna who got married this past weekend. What makes this wedding so special is that they performed their nuptials in a library. And not just any library…but a genuine New England anomaly library…namely the oldest continuously operating library in the country! How cool is that?!
The Abington Social Library is nestled in the rural village of Abington in the Town of Pomfret, CT on Rt. 97…just down the street from the Abington Burial Grounds (you knew I would bring in a cemetery somehow, didn’t you?). Although the building has only been around since 1885, the library itself has existed non-stop in one form or another since 1793, including a stint as a women’s library in the early 1800s. All this was told to me by the library’s director, Bonnie Duncan, who just so happens to be a justice of the peace and oversaw the ceremony. It’s a neat building, divided up into two 
halves…one side is the main adult section. Like any library, they carry the latest fiction titles, reference books, video and DVD tapes, and the other side is a well stocked children’s room filled with toys, game tables and lots of good reading for the young ones. And like any good historic library, there is also a section with books dedicated to local history.
I noticed a nearly life-size, wooden wolf statue in the corner. That, says Duncan, was a gift from a patron to honor the last wolf in Connecticut. As some may know, the last wolf in Connecticut was killed in Pomfret by none other than Israel Putnam, hero of the American Revolution. To read the story, go here. Ms. Duncan also confined to me that the library is said to be haunted that same wolf’s spirit. While I personally don’t believe in ghosts, it’s a cool story, never-the-less. The library was recently written up in the Woodstock Villager newspaper. You can read about the library here.
So, why get married here? George and Donna are long-time library folks and scholars themselves, so it all makes sense to be married by a librarian in a library. They picked the Abington Social Library when they heard about it from a friend. It was small, historic and personable…what every community library strides to be.
It was a wonderful ceremony, with self-written vows (and a hand-shake deal to boot!). They make an awesome couple. We were honored to be there and we at the New England Anomaly wish them the very best in their lives. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple. Bright Blessings to them both.
And as for the rest of you, if you’re in north-eastern Connecticut, make sure to stop by the Abington Social Library and say hi to Bonnie Duncan and the ghost wolf! Pet the wolf statue for me, too.
George and Donna