Connecticut Tree Festival May 21 at Cranbury Park in Norwalk

The Connecticut Tree Festival returns to Norwalk's Cranbury Park located on 300 Grumman Road in on May 21 (Saturday) for its 10th year is a free family fun fest with an environmental message that highlights attention on trees as natural assets that appreciably enrich community life. This event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Upwards of 40 exhibitors associated with the ecology form a midway of booths in the park for educational entertainment and best of all everything is available to the public t no charge--admission, parking, chances on a variety of door prizes, expert advice of tree-planting, even a picnic-style lunch—and no one is permitted to sell any product or service on the grounds. Two bucket rides and a rope-climb carrying youngsters to the tree tops in the park are among the more popular activities with other recreational diversions like face-painting.

There will be an exhibit, the Gallery of Trees Art Show that will be held at the Gallaher Mansion in Cranbury Park for this event.

The focus of this event is on trees because trees are a way of showing that we believe in tomorrow. They are a vital and renewable resource that contributes to the economy and protects the environment. They anchor the urban ecology. They knit together the social fabric of neighborhoods, beautifying the landscape with their foliage and stateliness. They demonstrably increase property values and provide energy savings.

Trees add to public revenue, attracting businesses and visitors. They filter impurities from the air, provide shade and improve storm water management, helping to prevent soil erosion and flooding. They yield fruit for humans and sustenance for birds and wildlife. They provide building materials and wood products and instruments to create music. They define property lines, provide historical continuity and regenerate themselves. They also serve as fences and provide windbreaks. And trees serve as memorials and monuments.

For more area information on Fairfield County www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Go to a barrel tasting @ Hopkins Vineyard

Hopkins Vineyard located in New Preston overlooking beautiful Lake Waramaug in the Litchfield Hills is hosting their Annual Barrel Tasting Event on May 21 and 22 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and the general public is invited to attend this exciting event.

Participants will enjoy wine and barrel samples with the winemaker and live music by The Hummingbird Band on Saturday and Lee-Ann Lovelace & George Lesiw also Mike Fisher & Acoustic Fish on Sunday.

An added highlight are chocolate samples provided by Plum Brook Chocolate on Sunday.  Of special interest are the whimsical glasses that will be on available that are hand painted by Sandra Soucy. 

Guests are invited to bring their own picnic or purchase one of the cheese platters that the Vineyard will have for sale. You may also bring your own lawn chairs and blankets. The annual barrel tasting event is taking place rain or shine.  The admission is $15 per person with children under 12  free. Please note that there is no outside alcohol allowed at the event. 

Following this event on Saturday, Hopkins Vineyard is featuring live music by Kings of Karma from 6-9pm and there is no admission or cover charge to this event.

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

The Glass House and Grace Farms- Study Tour

On Saturday, June 4 from 10 am - 3 pm., visit two significant achievements in architecture on a one-day study tour of Philip Johnson’s Glass House and the newly opened River Building, designed by SANAA, on the grounds of Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT.

Grace Farms, River Building. Photo by Dean Kaufman.

The Glass House, built between 1949 and 1995 by architect Philip Johnson, is a National Trust Historic Site located in New Canaan, Connecticut. The pastoral 49-acre landscape comprises fourteen structures, including the Glass House (1949), and features a permanent collection of 20th-century painting and sculpture, along with temporary exhibitions.

Grace Farms is a welcoming new place, where a building designed by SANAA is seamlessly integrated into 80 acres of open space for people to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith.

A diverse natural habitat in the northeast corner of New Canaan, Connecticut, this former horse farm is home to numerous varieties of flora and fauna. Approximately 77 of the 80 acres will be retained in perpetuity as open meadows, woods, wetlands, and ponds.

SANAA’s goal was to make the architecture of the River Building become part of the landscape without drawing attention to itself, or even feeling like a building, with the hope that those who are on the property will have a greater enjoyment of the beautiful environment and changing seasons through the spaces and experience created by the River. Under the continuous roof are five transparent glass-enclosed volumes that can host a variety of activities and events, while maintaining a constant sense of the surrounding natural environment.

Tickets for this program include transportation between sites and lunch at Grace Farms Commons.

Program Itinerary
10:00am – 10:30am – Arrival at Glass House Visitor Center
10:30am – 12:30pm – Tour the Glass House, Painting Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, and Da Monsta
12:30pm – Depart Glass House and drive to Grace Farms
12:45pm – 1:30pm – Tour River Building at Grace Farms
1:30pm – 2:00pm – Lunch in Grace Farms Commons
2:00pm – 2:45pm – Continue tour of River Building at Grace Farms
2:45pm – Depart Grace Farms and return to Glass House Visitor Center
3:00pm – Program concludes

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum explores the 1960s and its battle for preservation

The Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum located on 295 West Ave. in Norwalk has a special exhibition, Demolish or Preserve: The 1960s at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion through November 20, 2016.  This multimedia exhibit, curated by by Kathleen Motes Bennewitz has photographs, costumes, artifacts, and music that explores the fascinating and tumultuous decade of the 1960s.

It is impossible to remember the 1960s without thinking of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon, the Beatles arriving in the United States, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and—most hauntingly—the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Against this backdrop of turbulent cultural change and social unrest, was the nation's modern urban planning, which included the demolition of historic neighborhoods and irreplaceable buildings.

This exhibition will explore the fascinating and ground-breaking decade of the 1960s and the Mansion's connections to the revolutionary preservation battles and new landmark statutes of the era. It will also honor the museum's 50th Anniversary as it celebrates the bands of locals, led by the Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk, Inc. and the Common Interest Group, who fought to save the Mansion and secure its status as a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

With Europe's ongoing legacy of artistic and historic preservation and reuse as a model, in the 1960s concerned citizens brought national attention to the need for saving from demolition historically and architecturally significant structures in America. Jackie Kennedy, using her stature and influence, restored the White House's historic interiors; and just as the grand mansions of Fifth Avenue and Newport were slated for demolition, here in Norwalk LeGrand Lockwood's Civil War era palatial residence was faced with a similar fate. Recognizing that the demolition of this structure would be a great loss to the city, state, and nation, concerned citizens galvanized to save the mansion in one the most important and hard fought preservation battles in Connecticut's history.

General Admission to the Lockwood Mathews Mansion is Wed.-Sun., 12-4 p.m., $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6, 8-18. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark. For more information on schedules and programs please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799.

PALACE THEATER INVITES MOUSKETEERS TO ‘BE THEIR GUEST’

Disney fans will discover "A Whole New World" of live entertainment when the Palace Theater in Waterbury presents "Disney In Concert: Magical Music from the Movies" on Sunday, May 22 at 3:30pm. Tickets for the full length, multi-media concert range in price from $35 to $75 and can be purchased online at www.palacetheaterct.org, by phone at 203-346-2000, or in person at the Box Office, 100 East Main St. in Waterbury.

"Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies" offers Mousketeers of all ages an enchanting evening of symphonic arrangements that combine live orchestrations from the Walt Disney Studio songbook with synchronized film projections and live vocal performances by four Broadway caliber singers. Patrons will discover "It's a Small World" after all as they relieve iconic scenes from Disney's most popular films and experience their favorite soundtracks unlike ever before. From a sweeping Mary Poppins medley to the "Yo Ho" of Pirates of the Caribbean, the evening will feature live orchestrations from some of the most famous movie scores ever written including Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Frozen, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Aladdin and The Jungle Book.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

About the Palace Theater

The Palace's primary purpose is to revitalize the Greater Waterbury community through the presentation of the performing arts and educational initiatives in collaboration with area cultural and educational institutions. Its mission is to preserve and operate the historic Palace Theater as a performing arts center and community gathering place that provides a focal point of cultural activity and educational outreach for diverse audiences. For more information, visit: www.palacetheaterct.org.

Colonial Cookery and Customs for Kids at the Wilton Historical Society

When we think of spring in New England many of us think of asparagus.  On May 14 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the Wilton Historical Society is hosting a Colonial Cookery and Customs  workshop for kids in grades  4 – 8.  The workshop will include a special Connecticut recipe. 

While the food cooks, kids will learn about Colonial manners, morals and way of life.  This month, the children will be making Asparagus Forced in French Rolls. Tender asparagus, fresh from the garden, combined with fresh eggs, cream, nutmeg and French rolls would have been made by Colonial cooks into an easy and amusing spring offering, rather like a vegetable custard in a roll. The visual entertainment is that the asparagus stalks are presented poking through the browned crust of the roll, just as they would rise from their asparagus bed.
 

The workshops will feature relatively simple dishes made with local, seasonal ingredients.  The recipes used will be adapted for modern kitchens.  This is done for safety reasons, and also so that the attendees can recreate their meals at home.  All participants will sample their own cooking and take home recipe cards - as well as any leftovers! The children will learn how a Colonial kitchen would have operated, in order to appreciate the modern conveniences we take for granted.  Previous sessions have made bannock cakes, pease porridge, pickles and an amulet of green peas.  

Members: $15; Non-members $25. Space is limited --- please register by contacting

info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257. 

The Wilton Historical Society is located on 224 Danbury Road/Rt. 7, in Wilton; for more information www.wiltonhistorical.org. For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

Study Tour- Gardens and Landscapes at the Glass House in New Canaan

On May 26 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. experience the gardens and landscape of the Glass House on a half day study tour led by noted scholar Maureen Cassidy-Geigerin celebration of the publication of her new book The Philip Johnson Glass House: An Architect in the Garden. Tickets for this program will include a complimentary signed copy of the book An Architect in the Garden.

Known as one of the world’s best and most recognizable modernist structures, the Glass House serves as an icon of twentieth-century landscape and architectural design. The Philip Johnson Glass House: An Architect in the Garden provides the complete story of the evolution of the landscape and building designs of the New Canaan campus. This tour will analyze the evolution of this architectural gem built on forty-nine acres with eleven Johnson-designed follies dating back from 1949 to 1995. With over half a century of their gardening and landscaping partnership, Philip Johnson and David Whitney produced a sublime and scenic setting for the Glass House and the site’s other structures. This site preserves some of the most innovative and exciting contributions to art, architecture, and landscape design.

Maureen Cassidy-Geiger is an internationally recognized curator, scholar and educator with special expertise in European decorative arts, patterns of collecting and display and the history of architecture, gardens and photography. She is also a free-lance contributor to Departures, Elle Décor, The Magazine Antiques and Bentley Magazine. She has been studying the Glass House landscape since 2010 and was featured in the 2011 article by Suzanne Gannon on the Glass House landscape, ‘Natural Artistry,’ published in New Canaan/Darien/Greenwich magazine.

Please note that tour participants must be able to climb hills of moderate grade and stand for extended lengths of time. We regret that visitors using wheelchairs or scooters are not permitted on this tour.

For more information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com