Karner Blueberry ice cream from Stewarts, celebrating the Wilton Bicentennial
Public records describe Wilton as an “active county subdivision that is not coextensive with an incorporated place” abutting Saratoga Springs, where I reside. When locals think of Wilton they think of shopping malls, fast food outlets, big suburban homes and “low Wilton taxes” that make those homes affordable. Non-locals probably don’t think of Wilton at all, or else they confuse it with Milton, a town of similar size to the west.
Re-enacting the first Wilton Town meeting in 1818
But Wilton has a rich history and is this month celebrating its bicentennial. The other evening we attended a re-enactment of the first town meeting (then, at Emerson’s Tavern off Exit 16 on I-87; now, at the fountain inside Wilton Mall) to see what we could learn. This dramatization was divided into two parts. At a meeting on the first day, various officers of the new town were chosen. On the second, business was transacted including devoting $500 to a fund for the poor, establishing a subscription model to pay for schools, and recognizing the problem of loose cattle and who would be responsible for them. There was also some reference to big box stores and “the Northway” so I suspect the script was not entirely verbatim to historic records.
Site of Everson’s Tavern off Exit 16, where the first Wilton town meeting was held.
I’d hoped to discover what foods might have been enjoyed on this occasion but there was no reference other than a casual remark by tavern keeper Emerson that “my servants will now serve you dinner”. The original meeting happened in March, with snow on the frozen ground, so that dinner would likely have included winter vegetables and salted meat and possibly some thirded bread, made with equal amounts of cornmeal, rye and wheat flours because wheat on its own was too expensive. The hearty bread would have been steamed over a fire, assuming there were no communal ovens in those early days.
Supposing they had wanted to celebrate their new status in 1818 with something beyond the fare at Everson’s Tavern, Wiltonians would have been required to ride south an hour or two to Saratoga, where Gideon Putnam’s hotel and the Old Bryan Inn (then Bryan’s Cabin) had been serving distinguished guests such as George Washington. Today the local pickings aren’t much better. Two decent restaurants within the town limits are Winslow’s and the Wishing Well, both serving old school American food. Or if you’re willing to go the fast food route, I will recommend the Big Daddy chicken sandwich at Hattie’s Chicken Shack in the mall.
The day after the meeting re-enactment we rose early and journeyed to Camp Saratoga, where the celebration continued with a number of activities and presentations by Boy Scouts and the inauguration of a new Stewart’s ice cream flavor, Karner Blueberry. It’s named after the endangered Karner Blue butterfly that flits about the wilderness preserve at Camp Saratoga, and includes bits of orange toffee because, as a cub scout explained to me, the butterfly has orange in its wings. Stewart’s is an area institution and, even though its headquarters are a couple of miles out of the boundary at Locust Grove and Route 9 in Saratoga, I think a couple of Deli Dogs followed by a scoop of this ice cream are a legitimate bicentennial tribute.
Assuming we’ve lured you to Wilton for the celebration, there are two more attractions an out-of-town gourmand should note: Seasoned Gourmet Firewood on Route 50, which will fill your trunk with aged hickory, cherry, apple and other prime smoking woods for $25, and Hillcrest Foods on Edie Road which supplies King Arthur Flour and other staples to restaurants and bakeries throughout the northeast. The firewood place is open pretty much all the time on an honor system; Hillcrest keeps weekday business hours.
Town of Wilton, you made it to 200. May we all be so fortunate. Congratulations and happy birthday.
