By Anne W. Semmes
Last Sunday, as birds sang and Ella Fitzgerald serenaded softly in the background, Tony Marzullo of Cos Cob got his day in the sun, his official Tony Marzullo Day, scheduled to be celebrated on his 91st birthday, May 8, 2020, but instead celebrated safely in the backyard of his friend and Cos Cob neighbor, Pam Schaefer. There, to present him with the sealed proclamation for his 60-years of service to the Town was First Selectman Fred Camillo. “Tony is the only person who gets a proclamation in a pandemic,” noted Camillo, arriving in his mask, but slipping it down to read that proclamation.
The setting was a back porch facing a garden soon to host dahlias, a flower that has bonded gardener Pam with her “Dahlia Mentor” Tony. Present was Shirley Marzullo, Tony’s wife of 64 years, and their son, Anthony, Jr., and this reporter making six, including the First Selectman – with space enough for six feet of separation. But this was definitely not a day for Camillo kissing his cousin Tony!
That proclamation tells of Tony’s contributions to his country, as Army Combat Medic and Pharmacist in the Korean War, and to his community, as charter member, designer and Post Service Officer of the Cos Cob VFW Park, and beautifier of Cos Cob’s Strickland Brook Park.
There’s no doubt Tony’s green thumb has “magically touched” many Greenwich Parks. Thanks must go to Tony’s grandfather Francesco Marzullo who led his sons and grandson into the landscaping and flower growing business. Back in the days when there was that Marzullo greenhouse on Valley Road, Camillo recalled, “We used to call Tony ‘a human plant.’ He’s always been a good guy, and always smiling.”
But it is Tony’s award-winning dinner plate dahlias that earned his nickname, “Cos Cob Dahlia King,”
“For a 91-year-old man he just does not stop wanting another bite out of life,” Pam read from her own celebratory and memorable speech, including his competitive spirit when it comes to dahlias. “He has retired from dahlia growing and exhibiting three years ago,” she read, but “late last year, Tony suggested to me, how about we grow a few and exhibit as a team.”
“We need to grow the big ones,” he told her, “the double AA’s (I could see he wanted to win the King of Show again, and then gently [he] told me, “make sure you pick the winners.”
Sitting on Pam’s porch was a table laden with pots of dahlia plants waiting to be planted, including, she shared, “five big ones.” Come September, we would be invited back, “to admire.”
With Tony’s mentoring Pam had taught Dahlia Workshops at Greenwich Botanical Center, she tells, with his encouragement. “Now, don’t worry,” he would caution, “you might make a mistake or two, but no one will notice. And I will come by and be there for you to answer any tough questions.”
And, there was that Italian spunk Pam cited, recalling a day the two of them, after a Dahlia Workshop, had headed for the Firehouse Republican Pep Rally to support Camillo, with Tony at the wheel. “There was no rush, but Tony had no patience for the car in front of us on Putnam Avenue and beeped his horn at him. I was aghast, and said, ‘Tony…’” He said, “People know me in this Town.”
The idea for the Tony Marzullo Day had come to Pam earlier this year, before the arrival of Covid-19. The two were talking dahlia tubers when Pam discovered Tony was turning 91 on May 8. “So,” recalled Tony, “she says we should have a Tony Marzullo Day. So, I have to give her many thanks for doing this and I have to thank you Fred for making it possible, for you have your name on it, and everything else. And I’m going to frame it.”
A celebratory cake from Black Forest Bakery emblazoned with the VFW insignia was served generously around, as talk migrated to who was doing what about town in their circle of friends, and how they were managing in the pandemic. Camillo needed to leave soon for Greenwich Point to check on how everyone was distancing that sunny afternoon.
Then talk centered on what would and would not take place in this pandemic to commemorate the forthcoming Memorial Day. Tony as usual was in the know, having long worked with fellow members of his Cos Cob VFW post “to raise awareness of veterans and strengthen the organization’s ties with the Town through annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies,” so well stated in the proclamation for “Tony Marzullo Day.”
