Field Park

Found this little tidbit in the news Friday.

On this day in 1858, the first special cigar bands were distributed at a dinner in New York City. The bands paid homage to Cyrus W. Field for his work in the laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable.

In my home town of Haddam, we lived next to a park that named for the man an family that had owned it. That would be the same Cyrus Field. As a young boys we played and explored there, climbed a tree that was grown from an acorn of fallen from Connecticut's famous Charter Oak. As an older boy we played there because it was a place you couldn't be seen.
As an adult I learned the origin of the park's name and the man's historical significance. Curious to me it has been, that we were not taught about our local connection to a giant of industry in the public schools of the town. My guess would be that most teachers were from other towns and unaware of the, albeit minor, historical significance. That is consequence of public education, history is forgotten.
The park was a lot of fun, thank you Mr. Field, someday hopefully far off, I want some of my ashes spread there.