Picture Enfield - Then And Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, shows how people bought flowers prior to the advent of the Internet. Back when people actually got out of the house to do their shopping, and before the rapid growth of Teleflora, there was an abundance of flower shops in the Enfield area. Among the nicest was a small shop in the center of Hazardville, owned by a native of that village.

In 1981, a young woman in her early twenties named Ann Vasseur Buck opened the Village Florist at 304 Hazard Avenue. She carried a full supply of cut flowers, plants and mums, and the exterior of her store was always decorated beautifully according to the season.

She operated the shop through the birth of her daughter Ashley, but with the arrival of her son Travis, she sold the business in 1986.

A number of pizza shops have occupied the space in the past 30 years. Joe Nosal operated Joey's Pizza there for many years, but the past decade has produced a seemingly endless supply of short-lived ventures: Vinny's Pizza, Dad's Pizza, Roberto's Pizza and Dominic's On the Ave.

Here is a more contemporary view of the building, taken in 2020 by yours truly.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's trivia question is actually from the previous week, as this column did not appear last week. The last question was, "Chestnut Street no longer exists in Enfield. Where was it located?" The answer: as written by Patch reader Rita Sharon Kwarcinski, "Chestnut St. was two streets over from Fairview Ave. off of Spring Street. It was taken for the new bridge over to Suffield."

This week's trivia question:
This quiet, unassuming Colonial in the Sherwood Manor section of Enfield was once home to which significant figure in television history? Post the answer in the comments section below under your real name (we'll see who follows directions).

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