In 2003 the state of Connecticut offered the coastal village of Stony Creek a $250,000 grant to make possible the long-overdue restoration of Seaside Hall, home of its beloved fife-and-drum corps. After a hard look at the extensive strings the state attached to the money, the townspeople decided to do the job themselves instead. Now the renovation is nearing completion after years of spaghetti dinners, auctions, and other local efforts. Karen Lee Torre recounts the story in the Connecticut Law Tribune.

The fife and drum corps can be seen in period regalia here and, performing at the hall in civilian clothes, here. For some readers, incidentally, the village of Stony Creek may ring a bell as the place where author Ayn Rand worked on her novel “Anthem” while summering with husband Frank O’Connor in 1937.