Guilford Preservation Alliance Rededicates Welcome Center In Honor Of Longtime Community Volunteer

GUILFORD, CT — More than 70 community members, local leaders, friends and family gathered Oct. 24 to rededicate Guilford’s Visitor Information Kiosk as the Shirley Girioni Welcome Center, honoring her decades of work in historic preservation, conservation, town planning and community service.

The Guilford Preservation Alliance hosted the event in collaboration with The Guilford Foundation. The ceremony also marked improvements to the center, which Girioni, a longtime Alliance leader and former president, helped create in 2015.

"If you ask almost any resident what makes Guilford such a special place, they will, without realizing it, describe activities, resources, organizations, policies, or values that Shirley had a hand in founding or profoundly shaping," said Howard Brown in a news release. Brown is an Alliance board member involved in the project.

Over more than five decades, Girioni helped lead efforts to plant 550 trees throughout Guilford’s historic borough and along Route 1, expand the town’s inventory of historic resources and secure scenic highway designations for Routes 77 and 146. She served 10 years in town planning, helped establish the Women & Family Life Center and has been a longtime leader in the Guilford Garden Club.

Selectman Lou Federici spoke on behalf of the town, recognizing Girioni’s service. State Sen. Christine Cohen (D-12), who helped secure funding for portions of the improvements, also spoke.

"Shirley has been one of the driving forces behind so much of what makes Guilford special," Cohen said in a news release. "From preserving open space and protecting our town's character to creating the connections that bring our community together, her impact is everywhere. It's especially fitting that this Welcome Center, where we introduce visitors to the town we love, now bears her name."

The Alliance-led improvements included new plantings, an updated town map, refreshed signage and enhancements to the surrounding space.

Grants from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Ascend Bank and The Guilford Foundation, along with contributions from dozens of individuals and businesses, supported the work. Supporters will be recognized on a plaque at the center.

The center provides information about Guilford’s historic sites, recreational opportunities, businesses and community events, and serves as a starting point for guided and self-guided walking tours of the historic town center.

From May through October, volunteers from the Alliance and Gavin & Friends, a vocational program for individuals with developmental disabilities overseen by SARAH Tuxis, welcome visitors and provide information about the town.

"Shirley was instrumental in creating the original visitor kiosk more than a decade ago, and its impact has been remarkable. In 2026 alone, we've welcomed over 1,300 visitors from 29 states and nine countries, introducing them to everything Guilford has to offer," Alliance President Tim Sperry said in a news release. "These improvements build on Shirley's original vision, and naming the Welcome Center in her honor is a fitting tribute to someone who has done so much for our town."

The Alliance and The Guilford Foundation also established the Shirley Girioni Fund, an unrestricted charitable fund to address community needs.

Foundation Executive Director Liza Janssen Petra recalled getting to know Girioni when Petra became executive director of the Women & Family Life Center.

"I first got to know Shirley when I became executive director of Women & Family Life Center, an organization she helped establish," Petra said in a news release. "She was a role model and an inspiration, showing what one committed person can accomplish by bringing people together around a shared purpose. The Shirley Girioni Fund is a wonderful way to honor that spirit and continue investing in the community she loves."

Guilford Parks and Recreation provided event equipment and logistical assistance, and Belle Vie donated refreshments. Local business owner Erica Azarigian contributed 10 percent of the day’s sales at Ella, Where She Shops and Whitfield & Co. to the fund.

Founded in 1980, the Guilford Preservation Alliance is a nonprofit focused on preserving the town's historic buildings, landscapes and natural heritage through advocacy, education, restoration and heritage tourism.