PANDOLFI TO RECEIVE STONINGTON HERO FELLOWSHIP AWARD

Stonington — The Stonington Historical Society has announced that the Stonington Garden Club and community leader Joyce Pandolfi are the recipients of its 2022 Hero Fellowship Award.

The award is given each year to “individuals and organizations that exhibit extraordinary dedication and service of distinction in furthering the mission of the Stonington Historical Society: to preserve, interpret and celebrate the history of the region,” according to the society.

The Stonington Garden Club, which was established on the early 1900s, supports a variety of Stonington-based organizations through community projects and grants. Club members care for the Stonington Community Center's Children's Garden, gardens at the Lighthouse Museum and the Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, Wayland's Wharf Rain Garden, the Stonington Post Office, and the Giving Garden at Coogan Farm.

The club has also helped purchase pieces of land for community use, such as Coogan Farm at Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and the Pafford Woods at Avalonia Land Conservancy. Each year, the group also distribute thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships.

Pandolfi has served as president of the Stonington Free Library, and on the boards of the Stonington Garden Club and the Stonington Historical Society.

Since 2020, she has served as the co-chairwoman of the Lighthouse Museum Campaign and has helped the campaign raise more than $2 million to renovate the museum and construct an ADA-accessible visitors center.

The awards will be presented at the society's annual Cannon Ball on June 25 at Mystic Seaport.