U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy has been traveling around the country for months, rallying Democrats in the bitter battle against Republican President Donald J. Trump.
But Murphy returned to his hometown of Hartford recently to spread holiday cheer by bringing Christmas lights to one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Thousands of lights were strung on the South Green at a busy intersection along Main Street that is about one block from Hartford Hospital.
The project repeats a similar effort in December 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that affected thousands of lives in Hartford and beyond.
“It had been an incredibly tough year battling against a global pandemic, and I wanted to show appreciation for frontline workers and bring a few smiles to a struggling neighborhood,” Murphy said in a fundraising email to his supporters. “So we got to work to raise money to fill the South Green with holiday lights.”
This year, Murphy is raising money with the nonprofit Spanish American Merchants Association to make the project work.
“Remember the major holiday light displays in your town that made you so wide-eyed as a kid?” Murphy said. “Remember how that made you feel? That’s why we started this.”
Many drivers pass the small, triangle-shaped Barnard Park on their way to destinations both north and south. The park is at the busy intersection of Main and Maple streets and Wethersfield Avenue not far from city hall and the public library. Across the street is the South Park Inn, a decades-old homeless shelter that seeks to help downtrodden residents get back on their feet.
The Christmas lights are expected to shine each night into January to bring cheer to the neighborhood.
While he splits his time between Washington, D.C. and Connecticut, Murphy moved to Hartford five years ago to a home less than a mile from the park.
“It may seem like a little thing, but in an often-forgotten neighborhood like South Green, a little holiday spirit goes a long way,” Murphy said. “It tells kids in often-tough circumstances that we value them and they deserve joy too.”
In addition, workers on the project this week strung lights so that the flagpole in the park will be lit up for the season.
Even before raising any money, Murphy started the project early with the strong expectation that the funds could be raised.
“It always amazes me, so I made the bet I could count on this team to come through again if I asked,” Murphy wrote. “For families facing tough times, health care workers after a tough day, and housing-insecure individuals, this is something that can bring joy. And I think we could all use a bit more of that right now.”
When he first came up with the idea five years ago, Murphy said it reminded him of his own childhood.
“Growing up in Wethersfield, we always would spend one December evening every holiday season looking at the lights on Constitution Plaza,” he said at the time. “They brought a lot of smiles to me and my brother and my sister. The Goodwin Park lights are fantastic, but this green intersection of major roads right next to Hartford Hospital seemed to be begging for something.”
Christopher Keating can be reached at [email protected]