Creative minds were hard at work recently at the Rye Historical Society’s first annual LEGO Family Event, “Building Rye Landmarks.” The interactive program, run by architect Stephen Schwartz, brought families together to recreate iconic Rye landmarks using 60,000 LEGO building blocks. Thirty-nine teams filled the Rye Middle School’s multipurpose room and each selected one of 61 Rye Landmarks – including the Rye Town Park Pavilion, Locust Avenue Fire Station, Rye Free Reading Room, and of course, the Square House! Participants were not given design directions so they had to rely on their imaginations to create replicas of Rye’s most treasured landmarks. Once completed, each building was proudly displayed on the expansive 30- by 20-foot map of Rye. 

– Gretchen Althoff Snyder