GREAT BARRINGTON — One of the region’s most celebrated and beloved musicians will be honored in July when a portion of a town park is named in his memory.
David Grover, the Berkshires troubadour who worked with Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and entertained thousands of children over decades, will be honored the weekend of July 4 with a day of music and fun. Grover, 69, died following a car crash near Utica, New York, on November 3, 2021.
A committee headed by Grover’s longtime friend, publisher and music executive Abby Schroeder, is planning the event for Saturday, July 2, at the park behind Town Hall where Grover performed on hundreds of Saturday mornings.
The gazebo — sometimes called the bandstand — and the area around it closest to the Mahaiwe Center for the Performing Arts, will be renamed “Grover’s Corner.” The rest of the town park, including the Giggle Park portion that features a children’s playground, will retain its current name.
“It would be confusing if we had ‘David Grover Park,'” Parks Commission Vice Chair Paul Gibbons told The Edge. “‘Grover’s Corner’ is a good way of describing the area around the gazebo.”
Details are scarce at this writing, but the independent panel is headed by Schroeder and includes Grover’s widow Kathy Jo Grover, Annie Guthrie and musical agent Stephanie Rothschild, Schroeder said.
Schroeder, who was Grover’s publisher, told The Edge that she and her late husband, songwriter Aaron Schroeder, had been close to Grover for decades while he was developing as a musician.
“David practically lived at our house for 20 years, Monday through Friday from 10 until 5, [learning] writing with my husband,” Schroeder recalled in a brief interview. “That’s how he learned how to perfect his craft.”
The organizing committee is independent of the town, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski told The Edge. The town’s involvement is limited to permitting, signage, parking and help with publicity. The town’s Department of Public Works will also dispose of the trash but the committee will be responsible for the rest of the clean-up and will also handle fundraising for the event and for items such as signage
“It’s not a town-sponsored event,” Pruhenski said. “We’re going to be working closely with them once the plans are solidified so that we can help get information out to the public through press releases and posters.”
The committee also needed approval from the town parks commission, which it received at the commission’s April 19 meeting. Commission chair Karen Smith said she expected 50-100 people and, at the next meeting on May 16, added that a separate memorial was planned for June 12 at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.
Grover’s Corner was also the name of a PBS series that Grover created. The show, which debuted in 1989, taught children about music. Grover’s Corners was also the name of the fictitious town in the Thornton Wilder play “Our Town.” Grover has performed at the White House, NBC-TV’s “Today Show,” the Detroit Symphony, and the United Nations.
“I can’t tell you how many people in Berkshire County have told me they either grew up listening to David on Saturday mornings or they brought their kids or grandkids,” added Pruhenski, who grew up in Great Barrington and saw him perform as a young person. “Everyone has a connection to David — somehow, some way.”
More information about the July 2 event will be published on The Edge as soon as it becomes available.
