Maple Sugaring in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County

It may seem as though this cold, snowy winter will never end, but take heart. The plumes of smoke and sweet scents of maple syrup in the making are the first hopeful signs that spring is on the way. In Western Connecticut, where sugar maple trees are abundant, visitors are invited to see the fascinating process from taps to tastes..

           

 More than a dozen sugar houses In Fairfield County and the Litchfield Hills welcome visitors during peak syrup season in March. .From family farms to nature centers to museums on wooded grounds, guests can see how the trees are tapped and buckets hung to collect the sap, then watch in the sugar house as big bubbling kettles of thin sap boil down to thick fragrant syrup. And, of course, visitors get to sample the delicious results. Many operations are open every weekend, while some have special maple celebrations.

Maple festivals will take place on March 7 and 8 at the Stamford Museum and on March 14 at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington and the South Wind Farm in East Hartland.  March 21 is the gala date at the New Canaan Nature Center and the Sharon Audubon Center.

Nights below freezing and warmer days are required for the sap to run so dates for syrup making can vary.  A call ahead is essential before visiting.

           

SYRUP SEASON IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY Boil Down Fridays featuring demonstrations at the Sugar Shack continue at the New Canaan Nature Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the end of March On Friday, March 6 a special Boil Down Under the Stars will add family games and folklore stories around the campfire to the agenda. The annual Syrup Saturday and Pancake Brunch on March 21 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. features flapjack feasts and a family Lumberjack Challenge with competitions at log heaving and firewood stacking www.newcanaannature.org

The annual Maple Sugar Festival at the Stamford Museum is set for March 7 and 8 at the little red Sugar House on the museum’s Heckscher Farm. Family activities include a scavenger hunt, face painting and maple-themed crafts. Saturday’s Teen Chef Challenge from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. features dishes using maple syrup and local syrup is the star at Sunday’s pancake brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. www.stamfordmuseum.org. At Warrups Farm in Redding, visitors are welcome the first three weekends in March from noon to 5 p.m..to watch the whole process in the log cabin sugar house, and to take a taste of the sap direct from the trees as well as the new syrup. www.Warrupsfarm.com SYRUP MAKING IN THE LITCHFIELD HILLS The handsome, newly expanded showroom at Lamothe’s Sugar House in Burlington holds sugar-making demonstrations every March weekend.  Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. This family-owned operation, begun as a hobby, has grown to over 4500 taps and year-round showroom. Visitors enjoy complimentary maple coffee or hot chocolate. www.Lamothesugarhouse.com All the family is invited to the 9th annual Maple Festival at Sweet Wind Farm in East Hartford from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m... Besides syrup making, guests will enjoy sugar candy making demonstration, a sugar-on-snow eat, tours, videos, tree tapping demonstration, kids’ activities and live music. Visitors are also welcome on any Saturday in March when the sugarhouse is in action.www.sweetwindfarm.net The Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington will have a different take on sugaring at its annual festival on March 14th.  Demonstrations will show how local Native Americans traditionally made maple syrup and its importance to their culture and pancakes made by IAIS staff will served with local maple syrup www.iaismuseum.org The Sharon Audubon Society also features a re-creation of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods along with its modern sugarhouse. The annual Maplefest will take place on Saturday, March 21 with guided 45 minute tours, but the public is welcome to drop in any March weekend if the sap is flowing. Be sure to call ahead. http://sharon.audubon.org  One of the largest and most unique operations is the Great Brook Sugar House on the Sullivan Farm in New Milford. This program sponsored by the New Milford Youth Agency uses high school and college students to help tap over 1600 trees on property donated by local residents. The young syrup makers also aid in collecting the sap and overseeing the boiling over a traditional wood-fired evaporator. Visitors are welcome to stop by any day that steam can be seen floating up from the sugar house. 860-354-0047 Another busy sugaring spot is the Flanders Nature Center Sugar House at Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary in Woodbury.  Taps already are in place at over 300 trees at the Nature Center and around town, and the boiling down from sap to syrup can be seen on Saturday and Sundays, March 7,8,14,15,21 and 22 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. www.flandersnaturecenter.org. Several other family farms also welcome visitors to their sugar housses, but an advance appointment is necessary. These include: Brookside Farm, Litchfield, 860-567-3805, Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse, Torrington, 860-489-2719; Hilljack Sugarshack, Litchfield, 860-482-6052; Kasulaiis Farm and Sugarhouse, Barkhamsted, 860-379-8787; West Hill Sugarhouse, New Hartford, 860-379-9672 and Woodbury Sugarshed, Woodbury, 203-263-4550 For information on maple syrup making and a guide to all Connecticut sugar houses, see ctmaple.org. For information on other spring activities in the area and a free copy of Unwind, a full-color, 152-page booklet detailing what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine in the Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County in Western Connecticut, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-4506, or visit their web site at www.visitwesternct.com

Collections, Community & Conversation...Continued at the Danbury Museum and Historical Society

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society launched their latest exhibit, "Collections, Community, & Conversation...Continued this winter. 

The cases in Huntington Hall, the museum exhibit space, are filled with a wealth of interesting objects gleaned from the collections of individuals from The Greater Danbury area. On display is an eclectic mix of objects including vintage bottle openers, robots, custard cups, Disney memorabilia, militaria, pottery, bells, buttons, kites and much more.

The exhibit will be open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Collections will be on display through March 21, 2015.

In addition, the museum will be hosting several free documentary film programs on the subject of craft, collecting and object appraisal throughout the exhibit run. A schedule of events and additional information will be available on the museum website http://www.danburymuseum.org

About the DMHSA:

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society was formed in 1947 to acquire, preserve, exhibit and interpret New England's past; focusing particularly on the heritage of Danbury. Situated in downtown Danbury, the museum preserves the John and Mary Rider House (c.1785), the Dodd Hat Shop (c. 1790), the Marian Anderson Studio and the Charles Ives Birthplace. Huntington Hall, a modern exhibit building houses the museum offices and research library.

For more event information www.litchfieldhills.com

Square One Theatre Company's 25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON Continues With GOOD PEOPLE

Square One Theatre Company, in Stratford, Connecticut, continues its 25^th Anniversary Season with David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, opening Friday, March 6 and continuing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 21, 2015.

With his signature humor, David Lindsay-Abaire, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Rabbit Hole), has set his new play in South Boston’s Lower End and in Chestnut Hill, an affluent Boston suburb. A former ‘Southie’ himself, the playwright explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America. The audience meets Margaret Walsh, a down-on-her-luck 50-year-old woman, who grew up on the rough and tumble south end of Boston and is facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break. When a friend from the old neighborhood moves back to town, he just night be her last chance. Margaret perseveres and eventually her life begins to look a bit brighter.

The cast of Good People includes Square One Subscriber Award-Winners Janet Rathert (New Canaan), Danielle Sultini (Milford), Alice McMahon (Ridgefield) and Brian Michael Riley (Milford) along with Darius James Copland (Pelham, NY) and Jessica Myers (New Haven) making their Square One debuts.

Good People is directed by Stratford’s Tom Holehan, who is also the theatre and film critic for Elm City Newspapers, a co-founder of the Connecticut Critics Circle and resident critic for WPKN-FM’s State of the ARTS.

David Lindsay-Abaire grew up in the rough South Boston neighborhood. His first Off-Broadway hit was Fuddy Meers followed by Wonder of the World, Kimberly Akimbo and Rabbit Hole, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. His film writing credits include “Robots,” “Inkheart,” the book for High Fidelity as well as the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical.

Performances of GOOD PEOPLE are :

Friday, March 6 (2015) at 8pm

Saturday, March 7 at 8pm

Sunday, March 8 at 2pm (matinee) 

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Friday, March 13 at 8pm

Saturday, March 14 at 8pm

Sunday, March 15 at 2pm (matinee) 

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Friday, March 20 at 8pm

Saturday, March 21 at 4pm ( twilight matinee)

Saturday, March 21 at 8pm

For matinees performances (Sundays, March 8 & 15 at 2pm; Saturday, March 21 at 4pm), Tammy Trojanowski with Stratford Community Services will join the cast for post performances discussions with the audience.

All performances are on the stage of the Stratford Theatre, 2422 Main Street in Stratford, Connecticut, located off I-95 Exit 32 (northbound and southbound) in Stratford Center.

Tickets are:

$20 for adult single tickets

$19 for senior citizens & students

Single tickets may be purchased :

By phone : Box Office at 203.375.8778(24/7)

Online at: www.squareonetheatre.com

In person : at box office 60 minutes prior to each performance

By mail : self-addressed, stamped envelope & check payable to Square One Theatre sent to Administrative Office; 656 Longbrook Avenue, Stratford, Ct 06614-5117

 

Square One Theatre’s 25^th Anniversary Season also includes The Winslow Boy (May 15 – 30, 2015).

The Stratford Theatre is wheelchair accessible and also offers its patrons hearing-assisted listening devices as needed. Please inform the box office of any special needs when reserving tickets.

For more information and up-to-date news about suggested parking, the theatre, the plays, the actors and seating chart visit www.squareonetheatre.com

For further information call the theatre box office at 203.375.8778.

New at the Beardsley Zoo this Winter

The Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport Connecticut has new guests this winter.  The rare and beautiful Amur leopards are now on exhibit.  The pair of Amur leopards we received from the Copenhagen Zoo are now on exhibit. The male can be seen quite often perched on the rock in front of the exhibit. Both are beautiful cats. They hope to receive a breeding recommendation for this endangered species. To make room for this pair, Zoo staff sent their  female Amur leopard, Sofiya, to the Maryland Zoo.

The new year is bringing new animals to the Zoo. While many of them still need to go through their quarantine procedures or wait for their new exhibits to be completed, this year you will enjoy seeing a male Amur tiger from the Indianapolis Zoo, a male Pygmy marmoset from Fort Wayne Children's Zoo and a female from Brevard Zoo, a male and female red wolf pair from the Wolf Center, three male vicuna from the Berlin Zoo,and a male and a female giant anteater from Dreher Park Zoo. Beardsley Zoo has also recently received two yellow-spotted turtles, a purple gallinule, three black-bellied whistling ducks and three giant river turtles.

As part of these moves, many made as part of accredited breeding programs for endangered and threatened species, the Zoo removed a male Amur tiger, two male and three female river otters, one male common marmoset, one male pygmy marmoset, and two male and three female red wolves.

This may seem like a lot, but they tend to relocate animals during cooler months when they will be most comfortable, so a lot of movement happens at once.

For more information about the Beardsley Zoo visit http://beardsleyzoo.org and for area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

The Popular Music of WWI at the Greenwich Historical Society

On February 26, 2015, 7:00 pm and Sunday, March 1, 2015, 4:00 pm the Greenwich Historical Society is presenting a program on music during WWII.  The Society is located on 39 Strickland Road in Cos Cob.  The event will take place in the Vanderbilt Education Center on the grounds of the Society.  Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers
Purchase tickets at http://greenwichhistory.org or call 203-869-6899, Ext. 10.

Music played a key role in the development of popular opinion during WWI. Lyrics and sheet music art were often designed to influence public opinion As the political climate shifted from neutrality to support for the allies, so did mainstream music.

Prior to US involvement in 1917 many songs supported neutrality with more than one song invoking a mother's love as a reason enough for a son to stay at home. After 1917, when the United States joined the conflict, patriotic themes became more popular.

Led by Stefanie Kies and Bea Crumbine, the program will juxtapose performances of period music with background information and slides. Also, performing are vocalist Dan Swartz and John Goldschmid on piano.

Curator for a day and more at Litchfield History Museum

February is a busy month at the Litchfield History Museum.  On February 22 for example, at  3pm a lecture, The Colonial Revival as Collective Memory and Consumer has been scheduled.  The lecture will be presented by Thomas Denenberg, director of the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. The development of a culture of consumption in the decades that bracketed the turn of the twentieth century created unprecedented opportunity for the dissemination of images, objects, and texts that engendered historical consciousness in the United States. Antiquarian activities, the province of social outliers, the wealthy, or the creative such as the painter Edward Lamson Henry (1841-1919), became normative behavior in the new middle-class America.

Gathering, collecting, and sorting historical material culture, once an end unto itself in the nineteenth century, gave way to the creation of a widespread aesthetic that prized idealized "native" forms. Entrepreneurial individuals, including the minister-turned antimodern colporteur Wallace Nutting (1861-1941), employed the very modern platforms of advertising, publishing, department stores, and mail order merchandising to encourage and fulfill middle-class desires for objects and myths that answered contemporary social needs in an era of rapid economic and geographic change.

Often termed "the" Colonial Revival—an aesthetic assumed to be, monolithic, sui generis, and whole upon arrival, this illustrated lecture will look at the phenomenon as a complex and carefully constructed collective memory that matured over time.  This program is free for members and $5 for non members.  Register at registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

If you have ever wondered what it's really like to be a curator at a history museum, you are invited to shadow the curator of the societies collections on February 26 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.  Participants will study artifacts from the Historical Society's collections, get a behind-the-scenes peek at object storage, a hands-on experience with some of a curator's day-to-day work, and assemble a hypothetical exhibit. Please register for this program by Tuesday, February 24. Non-members are required to pay the registration fee in advance of the event. Your registration will not be considered complete until we have received payment and the cost is $10 for members; $15 for non-members. Register at registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

For more ideas about what to do and see in Litchfield Hills visit www.litchfieldhills.com

February Fun at White Memorial Foundation

Litchfield's White Memorial Foundation is planning late February events that will entertain the whole family.  On Feb. 20 for example, visitors are invited to a "star party".  This astronomy program is organized by members of the Litchfield Hills Amateur Astronomy Club and the Mattatuck Astronomical Society. Weather permitting, there will be Star gazing after the program. 7:00 P.M., A.B. Ceder Room. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. You are invited to bring your own telescope or binoculars.

A winter walk with staff member Gerri Griswold at 10 a.m. is a "pot luck" walk on the trails.  Participants will figure out what trails are most favorable for a stroll! On this walk you are sure to drink in the beauty of winter! 10:00 A.M., Meet in front of the A. B. Ceder Room.

To round out the month, on Feb. 28 there will be a program titled:  Magic Light Show: the Science and Beauty of the Aurora Borealis with Tom Alena.  Participants will  learn about one of nature's most striking and compelling phenomena, The Northern Lights, with Conservation Center favorite Tom Alena. Tom has the extraordinary ability of taking complicated science and making it easy to understand. This afternoon's program will be beautifully illustrated with photographs by the Keeper of the Northern Lights, Olgeir Andresson www.olgeir.com  beginning at 2:00 P.M., A.B. Ceder Room.

All events are free but donations are appreciated to help defray the cost of programing.  For more information on White Memorial visit http://www.whitememorialcc.org

For more event information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

Discovering the “New World”: Maps & Sea Charts from the Age of Exploration

There is a time honored fascination with maps and sea charts.  The new exhibition at the Bruce Museum is featuring maps to be admired... not for navigation!

This exhibition features more than thirty maps and charts dated between 1511 and the 1757. The maps — woodcuts or metal-plate engravings, many with original hand-applied color — represent Renaissance-period attempts by European ateliers to edify their clientele by revealing our "new" hemisphere and its approaches, as discoveries and claims came ashore from those daring enough to pack their sea bags and head for the unknown.

Today, we live in routine harmony, with cartography: on television and the Web; in newspapers, books and magazines. Satellite maps signify weather; detail maps illustrate locales of crucial events; GPS screens send us, often correctly, to new locales. On land, at sea, and in the air—digitized geography helps deliver goods and people everywhere, often without human intervention.

It was not always so. More than five hundred years ago, two European empires began daringly (and competitively) seeking the most efficient seaborne routes to the riches of Arabia and The Orient—Spain sailing west; Portugal sailing east. Mapmakers back home (nearly all landlubbers happy to sit by the fire) scrambled to gather the latest explorers' reports to enable them to draw up-to-date maps, print them as separate sheets, and sell them largely to the wealthy as bound atlases—massive compendia that glorified leather-filled libraries and enriched cultural reputations.

But much of the news sent home was erroneous, owing to imperfect navigation, honest misreadings of reality, or deliberate misrepresentations. (As he wandered around the Caribbean Sea, for example, Columbus believed he had found India.) Altogether, these factors make historic "New World" maps a fascinating study in geographic and human progress—and occasional regression.

The Bruce Museum is  open Tuesday - Sunday 10 am - 5 pm, Doors close 1/2 hour before closing, and the last admission is at 4:30 pm. For additional information call 203-869-0376 or visit https://brucemuseum.org.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Dust and Shadow at the Sharon Historical Society

The Sharon Historical Society located on 18 Main Street in the quaint village of Sharon Connecticut in the northern Litchfield Hills has curated a new art show, Dust and Shadow: Paintings by Judy Albright.

Dust and Shadow features pastel still life and landscape paintings by local artist Judy Albright. Albright is intrigued by the "spaces between and behind objects" and often features the shadows of objects in her work. A quote from The Odes of Horace ,"Pulvis et umbra sumus. (We are but dust and shadow.)" inspired the focus of this exhibition.

Albright teaches classes in drawing and painting at the Northlight Art Center in Sharon, CT. To see more of her work or for a schedule of classes visit www.judyalbrightart.com.

The Sharon Historical Society is open Wed. - Fri. 12 noon - 4 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  For more information visit http://sharonhist.org. 

For event information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com