Birds of Winter Workshop for Kids @ Wilton Historical Society

American robins, the state bird of Connecticut, have not yet returned from warmer climes, but other species are in our area, surviving the snow and cold. On Saturday, January 20 from 11:00 – 12:30 at the Wilton Historical Society, a Birds of Winter Workshop for Kids will be presented. 

   

Educator Lola Chen will be discussing what birds are in the area for the winter, information that is gathered by the National Audubon Society at its annual Christmas Bird Count. She will share the history of the Audubon Society, while the kids work on a useful project – making a bird feeder with grapevine and suet for our feathered friends.  The children will help make their own snack.

Suggested for ages 6 – 12. Wilton Historical Society Members $10 per child, maximum $25 per family; Non-members $15 per child, maximum $35 per family.  Please register: info@wiltonhistorical.org or call 203-762-7257. 

Did You Know?

“Audubon's Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running Citizen Science project in the world. Started in 1899 as a way of encouraging people to count birds instead of shoot them, the CBC takes place each year from mid-December to early January when thousands of volunteer birders contribute to the long-term study of early winter bird populations across North America. Count captains in each local area coordinate volunteers for their respective "count circles," and count birds (both number of species and number of individuals) throughout a 24-hour period.

CBC participants range from expert ornithologists to beginning birders, following established protocols to ensure consistent data collection. The data from each count circle is tabulated and submitted to the National Audubon Society, to be used by scientists in a wide variety of studies.” – National Audubon Society

The 2017-2018 Christmas Bird Count in Connecticut ran from December 16 – January 1. Audubon Greenwich counted birds in the Greenwich to Stamford area, while in Westport, the Connecticut Audubon Society Birdcraft Sanctuary participated.

An American Odyssey: The Jewish Experience in Greenwich

This exhibition curated by the Greenwich Historical Society located in Cos Cob will explore the history of the Jews of Greenwich within the broader context of the history of the town and the nation.

Beginning with the question of why Jews chose to settle in Greenwich and how they gained an economic foothold, the exhibition will explore the experience of Jewish families living and working in Greenwich for more than a century. It will examine how they, like other immigrants, struggled with the pull to integrate into American society and yet also remain distinct. And it will look at how they, as well as other minorities in Greenwich, have contributed to the larger community despite experiencing periods of discrimination and restrictions on worship, employment and housing opportunities.

Although the lion's share of the growth of Greenwich's Jewish community began in the 1960s (today about 11 percent of the population is Jewish), the tale really begins with the mass exodus of Jews from Eastern Europe to America between 1880 and 1920. The stories of those who sought to build new lives here–emblematic of larger historical themes–will be told through photographs, artifacts, archival documents, ephemera and first-person accounts. The exhibition will also explore the little-known fact that there were Jewish property owners in Greenwich as far back as Colonial times.

An American Odyssey: The Jewish Experience in Greenwich is curated by Dr. Ann Meyerson, a nationally recognized independent museum curator who most recently co-curated The First Jewish Americans: Freedom and Culture in the New World (October 28, 2016 to March 12, 2017) at the New-York Historical Society.

Learn to make Leather Gloves Native American Style

It  has been a record breaking cold this January with temperatures in the minus column, so why not take a few tips on how to keep your hands warm from a Schaghticoke Native American whose ancestors have made their home here for thousands of years. The Institute for American Indian Studies is offering a program Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. that is fun and educational and will teach you how to keep your hands warm!

 

Although there are few references to Native Americans wearing mittens before the 1800s there are many references to them after this date including the integration of gauntlet gloves which were used by the U.S. Cavalry in the 1800s.  Several historic sources indicate that Native American woodland Indians protected their hands against the harsh New England climate with mittens that were made from a variety of skins from otter fur that would keep their hands dry to deer or elk skin.

The Institute for Native American Studies is hosting a fun and informative "Leather Mitten" workshop that will teach participants about the lore of mittens in Native American culture and how to create your very own leather gloves on January 13 at 1 p.m. 

Participants will join, Schaghticoke, Darlene Kascak to learn how to make a unique and warm pair of mittens!  Space is limited so please call 860-868-0518 to register or email general@iaismuseum.org. Registration is $20 for non-members and $15 for members.

Colonial Kitchen Hands on History Demonstrations

The Wilton Historical Society is hosting colonial kitchen hands-on history demonstrations on January 7 and 14 from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Adding another layer of experience to a visit to the Great Trains Holiday Exhibit at the Wilton Historical Society, Sunday afternoon visitors can immerse themselves in a typical Colonial task in the 1740 Betts Kitchen.  Sisters Kate Gluckin and Sarah McCullough, both experts in Colonial domestic arts, will be demonstrating cutting, peeling and drying apples for a Marlborough Pie; grinding spices; sewing and embroidery; butter churning and dough kneading; wool carding and spinning and more from 1:00 – 3:00 on Sundays, January 7 and 14.  

Kids can try their hand at these tasks, too! Please check the website for details.  No charge. All ages.  The Wilton Historical Society, 224 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT   06897 www.wiltonhistorical.org

Gunn Historical Museum’s 10th Annual New Year’s Tea Party

Ring in the New Year with an old-fashioned Tea hosted by the Gunn Historical Museum in the Wykeham Room of the Gunn Memorial Library from 11am-1pm on Saturday, January 6, 2018. A snow date is scheduled for Tuesday, January 9, 2018 4-6pm.

Visitors will have the opportunity to socialize with friends under the historic 1914 gilded ceiling mural by H. Siddons Mowbray and enjoy period music in the festively decorated room. We’ll have our Washington photo albums out for guests to browse. Guests are asked to bring their favorite tea cup and we will provide tea sandwiches.

A cookie contest will be the highlight of this year's tea party. Those interested in participating should pre-register by calling the library 860.868.7586 or signing up at the circulation desk: gunncirc@biblio.org.

The Tea is free and open to the public. Registration is requested. To register please email your name(s) to: info@gunnhistoricalmuseum.org or call 860-868-7756. The Gunn Memorial Library is located at 5 Wykeham Road at Route 47 on the Green, in Washington, CT. View www.gunnmuseum.org for more information.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum Presents Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley: Your Turn

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum located on 258 Main Street in Ridgefield is hosting a new show through April 22, 2018 by Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley titled Your Turn, an architectural environment for two that shapes the occupants' behavior.

In a series of performances Schweder and Shelley will physically occupy the structure for extended periods during which they will negotiate the sharing of nine basic amenities while engaging the public with their daily routines and conversations. Schweder and Shelley's collaboration is primarily based on balance: not only the balance needed to successfully work in a partnership, but also the social balance needed to share resources limited by the confines of their construction. Their practice conflates architectural form and function with performance art, coaxing meaning out of both the practical and the absurd.

Schweder and Shelley's unique collaboration of over a decade has coalesced into what they call "performance architecture," a new genre in which the two artists design, construct, and then physically occupy structures, blurring the boundaries between architecture, sculpture, design, and performance, exploring both the nature of social space and the way architecture influences human behavior.

For their exhibition at The Aldrich, they will construct a twenty-four-foot-high living environment, which they will inhabit as both the authors and living subjects of the work. An adjacent gallery will present the first survey of their reverse paintings on Mylar, which not only act as preliminary renderings for their projects, but also as autonomous works that reinforce the formal aspects of their practice.

The artists will occupy opposing sides of the monolith with nine amenities (including a bed, a desk, an easy chair, a kitchen, a sink, and an enclosed composting toilet), each of which will slide on steel tracks from one side of the structure to the other. So, when Shelley is sleeping in the bed, Schweder cannot sleep; when Schweder is writing at the desk, Shelley cannot use it. The sharing of the amenities is based on both a pre-planned schedule and spontaneous negotiation. For the performance periods the artists will wear identical jumpsuits, bring all necessary supplies with them, and occupy the structure twenty-four hours a day. The artists' lives, while within the structure, will be on public view when the Museum is open, and visitors are free—in fact, are encouraged by the artists—to engage them in conversation. When awake, Schweder and Shelley will each read, work, prepare meals, and complete acts of simple daily hygiene.

Juilliard String Quartet to Perform at Westport Arts Center

The Westport Arts Center continues its tradition of bringing the best of international talent to Fairfield County with a special concert by the acclaimed Juilliard String Quartet on Saturday, January 20 at 8 p.m. at the Arts Center.

The Boston Globe wrote of the Quartet, "The Juilliard String Quartet can plausibly be called the most important American quartet in history…” and The Broad Street Review stated, "The Juilliard still plays, magically, like a single four-voiced instrument, and the music it makes sounds like the most natural and inevitable thing in the world."

For this performance, the Juilliard String Quartet will perform a program including Beethoven’s String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op.127, Haydn’s String Quartet in G minor, Op.74, No.3 ("Rider"), and Scottish composer James MacMillan’s String Quartet No.2, "Why is this night different?" (1998).

The performance is generously sponsored by Joyce Pauker.

Alexander Platt, the curator for the Westport Arts Center’s 2017-18 Concert Series, will serve as a guide for concert attendees, and will share his perspective and insights at the performance.

Platt stated, "Over the years, the Juilliard Quartet has built a special relationship with Westport, and every appearance at the Arts Center is truly a special occasion. With their very gifted new cellist, Astrid Schween -- who I'm thrilled to say is also working with some of our finest young musicians here as well -- I can't wait to hear this new iteration of our grandest of American ‘legacy’ quartets, as they fuse new life into classics of Haydn and Beethoven, as well as a bracing new work by one of Great Britain's great living composers.”

The performances of the Juilliard String Quartet continue to inspire audiences around the world exhibiting unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor. Founded in 1946 – and widely known as “the quintessential American string quartet” – the Juilliard draws on a deep and vital engagement with the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works. This provides for a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring.

Each performance of the Juilliard Quartet is a unique experience, bringing together the four members’ profound understanding, total commitment, and unceasing curiosity in sharing the wonders of the string quartet literature.

The concert will take place in the context of the visually stunning What Keeps Mankind Alive and The Last Library exhibition at the Westport Arts Center, featuring the works of Ward Shelley and his collaboration partner Douglas Paulson.

The Westport Arts Center thanks WSHU for their generous support.  WSHU serves as the exclusive media sponsor for the performance.

To learn more about the Juilliard String Quartet concert or the 2017-18 Concert Series, please visitwww.westportartscenter.org or call 203/222-7070.

Ticket Information

The Westport Arts Center encourages advance registration. Tickets for the Juilliard String Quartet concert are $40 for WAC members and $50 for non-members if purchased in advance.  All tickets purchased at door are $60/ticket. 

Free Companion Tickets are also available for Seniors ages 65+; each ticket purchase of $50 includes a free companion ticket (a two-for-one!). 

About the Westport Arts Center

The Westport Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting community through the arts, reaches more than 11,000 people annually through outstanding programs in visual arts, arts education, and the performance arts of Chamber music and jazz.

For more information, contact the Westport Arts Center at (203) 222-7070 or www.westportartscenter.org.  The Westport Arts Center gallery is open Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT.

January @ White Memorial Foundation

Start the new year off at Connecticut's largest nature foundation, White Memorial in Litchfield.  On January 6, this conservation center will be offering  a program on the forest wolf with Andrew Dobos who will take visitors on a wildlife tracking walk through the winter woods. There are always clues left behind by the animals for us to decipher, telling a story of their habits and lives. Get to know our beloved wildlife that much better. Children should be accompanied by an adult and all should dress extra warm and wear good boots! You never know where the animals have been.10:00 A. M. – 12:00 P.M. Meet in the Museum. Members: $5.00 Non-Members: $15.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Call 860-567-0857.

Another charming program for kids on January 6 is the Christmas bird count designed for children ages 7- 12.  Have your kids participate in the longest-running citizen science project in history, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. This bird survey is held around the world between the second weekend in December and the third weekend in January every year. This year, we'll be holding a special CBC 4 Kids event at White Memorial Conservation Center on January 6, 2018 from 10am-approximately 12pm. Meet in the A.B. Ceder Room (lower level of Museum). There will be pizza and hot cocoa afterwards for all the participants. Bring your own binoculars if you have them, but if not, pairs will be provided. Dress for the weather. This event will be run by LHAS Junior Audubon Leader Donna Rose Smith and White Memorial Education Director Carrie Szwed, but additional adult mentors are needed to help the teams of young people out in the field, so parents, please plan on staying. There is no program fee, but donations are welcome to help defray program costs.

If you love the winter white, grey, blue colors of winter, take an art workshop  with Betsy Rogers-Knox to learn to paint a serene sunset silhouette using a variety of watercolor techniques on January 20 from 2-4:30 pm. All levels welcome in this step-by-step workshop which includes all materials. The cost for this is members: $35.00 Non-members: $60.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Call 860-567-0857 or register online.

If you have always wanted to walk with llama's on Jan. 20, you will have your chance! Visit White Memorial to take a one hour walk with a llama on a beautiful trail! The cost is $20 per person with a percentage donated to the White Memorial Conservation Center.  Participants should meet at 10:00 A.M.,at the Museum parking lot. Call Debbie from Country Quilt Llama Farm at 860-248-0355 to pre-register or to schedule your very own private llama walk.

To finish off the month, go to a special DEEP Family Ice Fishing Workshop on January 27 from 9:30 am to 3 pm. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Fisheries Division sponsors this program for the seventh consecutive year. Families and individuals age nine and up are welcome to attend this unique event which is part of the DEEP's CARE (Connecticut Aquatic Resources Education) program. The class is taught by certified volunteer instructors and it's FUN!!! All fishing tackle and course materials are provided ABSOLUTELY FREE! To learn more log onto the CT DEEP's website: www.ct.gov/dep and type in "CARE". BRING LUNCH! Classroom (mandatory participation): 9:30 A.M. – 11:30 A.M., Ice Fishing (Conditions permitting): 12:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M., A.B. Ceder Room. Pre-registration is required. Call 860-567-0857. Or register online

For more information and to register for these events click here https://www.whitememorialcc.org

Monroe through Time II to be launched with Jan. 7 luncheon

A luncheon Jan. 7 at the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library introduces a new illustrated paperback called Monroe Through Time II that chronicles:

·       A Ku Klux Klan rally in 1924 that drew 1,100 America-Firsters to a site where a Goodwill Store stands today

·       A neighborhood popularly called Punkups that disappeared when Lake Zoar was created in 1919

·       And the unsolved mystery of Capt. Nathan Seeley who was found dead in his barn in 1890 with a noose around his neck.

    Tickets for the launch at the library (733 Monroe Turnpike, Route 111) are $35 and cover a copy of the book and lunch. The tickets are available at the library and at the office of the town clerk at Town Hall. They are also available through Marven Moss at mmoss36@yahoo.com and 203.268.2961.

Proceeds go to the Monroe Historical Society to preserve Monroe’s heritage.

The luncheon (noon to 2 p.m.) also premieres a documentary video: “The Lost Cave of Monroe,” produced by Mike Sandone, described in the book as “Monroe’s Indiana Jones.”

   Monroe Through Time II (Fonthill Media/Arcadia Publishing, 112 pages, illustrated) is a  reprise, the second collaboration by Kevin Daly, John Babina and Marven Moss, availing themselves of the resources of the Monroe Historical Society and the World Wide Web. Daly provided the essential research, Babina, the contemporary photography, and Moss, the authorship. But they also worked individually and collectively across the full matrix of the manuscript.

 Daly is a senior engineering manager in computer aided design and the incoming historian of the Monroe Historical Society. Babina is the founder of Monroe-based Radio Station WMNR and a retired engineer who worked on helicopter avionics, missile controls and surveillance satellites. Moss is a former New York Timesman and a past president of the Monroe Historical Society.

    Their book is the fourth pictorial account of Monroe’s transformation from a Colonial farming village into a charming New England community offering a bucolic lifestyle with proximity to the upbeat rhythms of today’s bigger cities and their spheres of commerce and global culture.

    The publication follows Monroe Through Time (also Fonthill Media, 96 pages, $22.99) and  Images of America: Monroe (Arcadia Publishing, 1998, 126 pages, $19.99), also  A Glimpse of Old Monroe (Monroe Sesquicentennial Commission, 1974, 118 pages, out-of-print).

    In a new collection tapping Monroe’s rich historical fabric, Monroe Through Time II presents a number of previously-unpublished photographs, the legacy of the marvelous vitality of Frederick P. Sherman, and traces  the hardscrabble life of the homesteaders, the tradesmen in their shops, the entrepreneurs of bygone days, the talented figures in arts and sports and even the fumes of  scandal.

Also incorporated is the first comprehensive listing of virtually all of Monroe’s civic leadership since incorporation in 1823 and the presidents of the Monroe Historical Society since it was established in 1959.   

   Like its predecessor, the cover reproduces a segment of a David Merrill acrylic, this one  depicting the Town Green and the old Town Hall erected in 1897 and the old library, both demolished in 1972. The artwork was made available courtesy of Merrill who used to play touch football on the Town Green in the 1950s and impishly inserted a football into the foreground of his rendering. The original hangs in the Town Hall.