A Family Legacy of Land Preservation on Delafield Island
Giving Back | contributed by: SUE OKIE and the Darien Land Trust | photo by: BAMBI RIEGEL | riegelpictureworks.com
from left: Sue Okie, her brother D. Seeley Hubbard and Woody Spurgeon with Darien Land Trust Executive Director Elizabeth Mathus, at the recently-donated property on lower Raiders Lane
Earlier this year, the Darien Land Trust received a gift of land on Delafield Island donated by multiple generations of Darien families focused on protecting fragile wetlands and important migratory bird habitats. The land features dramatic cliffs of exposed ledge and wetlands packed with native species.
The 3.42 acre stretch of land on lower Raiders Lane was given to the Darien Land Trust by Edward V. Spurgeon, F. Anthony Zunino, William N. Hubbard III, D. Seeley Hubbard and Suzanne Hubbard Okie. The property, which is mostly wetlands, was purchased from Elizabeth Delafield Zunino and Suzanne Arguimbau Hubbard Davis in the 1950s to protect its wetlands from being filled in and sold as buildable lots.
Land preservation continues to be a core value of these families, as evidenced by their work with local land trusts. Both Suzanne Arguimbau Hubbard Davis and Edward V. Spurgeon, known as Woody, were trustees of the Darien Land Trust. F. Anthony Zunino, known as Tony, was a founding member of the Kent Land Trust in 1989 and served as its president for seven years. Both Woody and Tony are grandsons of Edward Delafield, who originally owned all of Delafield Island. Seeley Hubbard was a trustee of the Darien Land Trust and after moving to Rowayton, became president of the Norwalk Land Trust, where he is still a trustee.
This land provides a vital habitat for numerous native birds, including the Great Horned Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Blue Heron, Bufflehead Duck and the Belted Kingfisher. Native trees that thrive on the property include Sweet Gum, White Oak and Red Maple. Native plants now preserved there include the cattail (rarely found anymore in Darien), Wild Geranium, Blue Flag (Wild Iris), Cinnamon Fern and Swamp Rose. Every spring, these wetlands come alive with the chorus of peepers (pond frogs).
With this gift to the Darien Land Trust, these acres, where the British came ashore during the Revolutionary War, are now preserved and protected forever.
