Brooksvale Park made a post-COVID-19-lockdown comeback with its 21st annual fall festival on Sept. 25.
Small business vendors, food trucks, live music, rock climbing and crafts finally filled the fields at Brooksvale Park after last year’s fall festival was canceled due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
This year, the festival was coordinated by Vinny Lavorgna, the park ranger at Brooksvale Park, and his intern, Joshua Garcia, a fifth-year recreation and leisure major at Southern Connecticut State University.
“I intern for Ranger Vinny. I emailed people, gave out liability forms to vendors and came up with the nature crafts for the kids with Vinny. A lot of it was coming up with ideas for crafts for kids,” Garcia said.
He emphasized the importance of residents getting involved with local parks and that he hopes he can inspire people to do the same.
“Parks and recreation is a dying organization, but is one of the most important ones for people’s mental, emotional and physical health,” Garcia said. “The more people who get involved, the more funding they’ll get and the more the town will recognize this is important.”
Emma Atkinson, a graduate public relations student at Quinnipiac University, volunteered at the event as a way to give back to the park.
“I come here with my friends all the time, especially after a long day of classes or work, and the park staff is always so nice. I was more than happy to help out today,” Atkinson said.
Local residents with the same contagious drive to give back, sparked the creation of The Friends of Brooksvale. It’s an organization made up of individuals who have been actively working to ensure and improve the proper wellness and conditions of Brooksvale Park.
Their mission is to “provide environmental education, preserve and enhance the integrity of the park’s natural and cultural resources, and serve as an advocate for the park for the benefit of the citizens in the greater Hamden area,” according to its website.
At fall festival, members of the organization were selling baked goods to raise money, which all goes back to the park.
“I would ride my bike out here as a kid, one of my sons worked here part-time [and] I volunteer when the weather is dry,” said Gail Traester, the president of The Friends of Brooksvale Park and life-long Hamden resident.
Her bike rides evolved as she passed her love for the park down to her children and husband, who is the treasurer of the organization.
“You get into a zen moment when you’re here… It’s wonderful,” Traester said.
She proudly explained the great lengths The Friends of Brooksvale has gone to successfully improve the park.
“The biggest thing Friends of Brooksvale has done is that we got that animal barn built,” Traester said. “We took on the construction of it and we had a silent donor that matched everything that we were able to raise.”
Traester said that the main reason the barn was so important was because the first barn was deemed unsafe for the animals, so a new barn was essential to keep them around. Now, retired therapy horses, sheep, bunnies, chickens and goats are housed there.
Sebastian Bernall, a junior at Hamden High School, has attended Brooksvale Park’s fall also has a personal tie to the park.
“I love the park. I love the area. It means a lot to our family… I’ve [been coming] to this festival for 16 years,” Bernall said.
As someone who has watched the festival evolve, he compared it to past years.
“It’s usually packed, but even so, [this year] there are still a lot of people rolling out, so it just shows the love for the park… It’s not that huge of a difference,” Bernall said.
He added that he sees The Friends of Brooksvale here every year, and he was beyond excited to eat the pumpkin bread he bought from them.
With such a solid support system, Brooksvale Park paid it forward by inviting local vendors to their fall festival.
It was North Haven resident Katelyn Walker’s first time at the fall festival, and she brought her wood-burning business and recently written book “The Adventures of Gavin & Sparks to the Top of Sleeping Giant” with her.
Walker’s art can be found on her Instagram, KateWalk_Art. (Photos by Samantha Simon) 
Walker’s art can be found on her Instagram, KateWalk_Art. (Photos by Samantha Simon) 
Walker’s art can be found on her Instagram, KateWalk_Art. (Photos by Samantha Simon) 
Walker’s art can be found on her Instagram, KateWalk_Art. (Photos by Samantha Simon)
“I was always drawing as a kid and never really stopped… “[I just want] to make people happy through my art,” Walker said.
Nature and animals are a huge theme among Walker’s art. Expanding her drawings from paper to wood transformed her love and passion for art.
“I like burning images into the wood because it kind of makes them come alive,” Walker said.
She highlighted the beauty of supporting small businesses, but especially in the New Haven region.
“There is so much talent in this area and everything is so commercialized now… “It’s been hard because of COVID, it’s more of a reason to support local businesses now,” Walker said.
Jim “Nappy” Napolitano, a local vendor selling handmade art and jewelry, is another example of the homegrown talent in the area.
“My son was really into dragons, so I started painting eyes… I want this to be cheap, good art that a kid could buy it for their mom for mother’s day, so like five and ten dollar prices,” Napolitano said.
Though this is a side-gig for Napolitano, his creativity isn’t limited to just this craft.
He graduated from The University of Connecticut’s puppet art’s program. His full time job is an entertainment puppeteer for both children and adult audiences.
“I can play any role regardless of gender, age, body type, which was all holding me back,” Napolitano said.
One of his newest goals is growing a platform on TikTok, where he goes by the username Nappys_Puppets. His work and art can also be found on his website.
Art didn’t stop at the small business vendors. Local bands and independent artists performed all throughout the day.
Food trucks and stands also bordered the festival. From empanadas to pizza, there were a variety of options for everyone at the park.
The park staff also hosted their own events as an educational outlet for all audiences.
Peter Laffin, the recreational specialist at Brooksvale Park, held a blacksmithing experience for those at the festival.
He said that his biggest goal is to “educate the public on how they can live simply, healthily and organically without a lot of fuss.”
Laffin holds a lot of responsibilities at the park, but he said it never feels like “work.” Laffin is in charge of maple sugaring, gardening and beekeeping.
His efforts go a long way, especially in the garden.
Laffin said an abundance of vegetables from the garden are donated to the Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services (IRIS), Hamden Food Bank, Hamden Senior Center and Master’s Manna to remedy food insecurity.
“We’re coming up on a thousand pounds of vegetables and I think about 600 [pounds] donated,” Laffin said.
Ultimately, Laffin said he loves to see people involved at the park, and he loves sharing his knowledge about nature, insects and animals.
Traester has explained the endless possibilities for locals to get involved.
“There’s a lot you can do to help out. There’s beekeeping, there’s the garden, there’s animal care, there’s trail maintenance [and] helping bake sales,” she said.
Brooksvale Park welcomes visitors every day from 8 a.m. to sundown.