This article is regarding a recent community event that grew out of the partnership GOOD Morning Wilton featured last spring between the Wilton High School Theater and the Wilton Garden Club.
The initiative, called the Golden Encore Project, inspired by the theater department’s spring 2025 musical, Big Fish invited audiences to purchase virtual daffodils both online and in the theater lobby leading up to performances. Daffodils played a central role in the Big Fish story, and through this campaign — along with a generous $200 contribution from the Wilton Garden Club — the theater department was able to purchase more than 700 daffodil bulbs.
On Saturday, Oct. 25, volunteers from the Wilton Theater and Arts Association, the Wilton Garden Club and WHS theater students gathered by the WHS sign on Rte. 7 (near the senior parking lot) to plant the bulbs. Organizers said that when they bloom each spring, the hope is that they’ll serve as a reminder of how local partnerships connect the arts, community spirit and beautification of Wilton.
“Theater has always had the wonderful capability to bring people together. This partnership with the Wilton Garden Club proves that a piece of theater can be a jumping-off point for so much more,” WHS Artistic Director of Drama Production Kathryn Luckstone said. “We are grateful to have a collaborative community and a reminder that will bloom year after year.”
“This joint effort was part of the Wilton Garden Club’s Golden Miles Initiative, which we started several years ago to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the club,” Wilton Garden Club’s Youth Gardening Community Co-Chair Laurie Musilli added. “The WGC committed to the Town of Wilton that we would plant 15,000 daffodil bulbs over five years.”
