Category: Connecticut Travel

WWI Themed New Years Tea Party at the Gunn Museum

Ring in the New Year with an old-fashioned World War One themed Tea Party at the Gunn Museum on Saturday, January 3, 2015 from 1-3pm. Servers and docents will be attired in a variety of period outfits and character actors will portray actual Washington residents from WWI. Visitors will have the opportunity to view the exhibit, Over There: Washington and the Great War, and socialize with friends. Guests are asked to bring their favorite tea cup, we’ll provide the rest. The party is free and open to the public, but registration is requested as space is limited; please call the Museum at 860-868-7756 to register.

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The exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of World War One. Over 100 men and women from Washington, and more than 150 alumni and faculty from The Gunnery served in the Great War. Letters, pictures, and an interesting array of period artifacts from the museum, local families, and collectors are used to explore the dramatic experiences of Washington’s soldiers, along with the extensive support efforts that were happening on the home front in Washington through such organizations as the Sister Susie Society, the Red Cross, the Women’s Land Army, and the Home Guard.

The snow date is Sunday, January 4. The exhibit will be on display until Sunday, January 18. The exhibit and associated programs are supported in part by a grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation. The Gunn Museum is located at 5 Wykeham Road, the intersection of Wykeham Road and Route 47, in Washington, CT. View www.gunnlibrary.org for more information.

For winter fun information www.litchfieldhills.com

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Start Your New Year at the Palace

Stamford’s Palace Theatre 2015 season, features artists from all genres. The winter- spring season serves up an exceptional lineup of comedy, music, children’s programming and holiday shows, suitable for patrons of all ages.

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This season’s selection includes superstars such as Jay Leno, beloved favorites such as Bill Cosby and Mannheim Steamroller, fresh-faced kids’ shows such as “Sid the Science Kid” and “Dinosaur Train Live!” and shows the entire family can enjoy such asAmy Grant and “Haunted Illusions.”

The Palace has an incredibly rich history of world-class artists performing at The Palace and this year they are continuing to expand their programing with new series like ‘Laughtrax,’ which will bring the best up-and-coming comedians from across the country, presented in the cozy, club-like UpStage space for an up-close-and-personal audience experience.
To buy tickets, visit http://PalaceStamford.org or call the box office at 203-325-4466. See PalaceStamford.org for a full list of upcoming events.

Below is a round up of shows from January – May, 2015.

Comedy on the HARMAN Stage

Nobodies of Comedy Saturday, March 21, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $40, $30, $25 The funniest comics you’ve never heard of! Hand-picked as the nation’s best up-and-coming comedians, they’re about to hit the big time – say you saw them at The Palace first!

Jay Leno – The Palace Theatre’s Annual Gala Saturday, May 2, 2015 – 8p.m.; tickets: $165, $125, $75, $65; Gala tickets: TBD On sale to members Jan. 15, 2015; to the General Public Jan. 22, 2015 After a triumphant run on The Tonight Show, where do you go? The Palace! Master comedian Jay Leno will make history on our stage at our annual Gala!

Bill Cosby Saturday June 20, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $85, $70, $60, $45 Beloved by all of America – from tweens to seniors – Bill Cosby delights with his signature storytelling and comic observations that have had us laughing for decades.

Laughtrax – UpStage @ The Palace

Bring a date and the whole gang to our cozy, relaxed UpStage space; get a table, have a drink and laugh out loud!

David Pendleton Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 – 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; tickets: $25 Ventriloquist David Pendleton’s flawless technique makes you believe anything can talk, and his razor-sharp comedy brings you right into the act!

NYC Comedy Night Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $15.50 Current, hip, and straight from the city’s smartest clubs! You’re on the cutting edge of comedy with these about-to-break-out stand-ups.

Music on the HARMAN Stage

The Hit Men Featuring the former stars of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons! Friday, May 15, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $55, 35, $25 Oh What a Night it will be! The glory days of rock & roll will have you on your feet when these former members of mega-star acts share fascinating stories from their days on the road and perform your favorite songs!

Songbook Cabaret Series – UpStage @ The Palace

Tony DeSare Friday, March 6, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $65, $55 A “Rising Star” Male Vocalist and the talk of the cabaret world in New York, Tony DeSare brings his fresh take on old-school style to the intimate UpStage club-like venue at The Palace. A crooner for the new century!

Cyrille Aimée Friday, April 10, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $65, $55 Thrill to the glorious voice of Cyrille Aimée, an unforgettable artist whose musical outlook is reflected in her love of the guitar, an instrument that displays the diverse influences on her music.

Family on the HARMAN Stage

Sid the Science Kid Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 – 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.; tickets: $35, $25, $15 Join Sid and his friends from the hit PBS KIDS television series as they explore interactive moments with the audience that will bring out the curious scientist in your kid.
Dinosaur Train Live! Buddy’s Big Adventure Friday, April 24, 2015 – 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.; tickets: $35, $25, $15 Jim Henson’s hit TV show comes to life in this dynamic show that embraces and celebrates the fascination that children have with both dinosaurs and trains, taking them on a grand adventure!

The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley Thursday, May 21, 2015 – 11 p.m.; tickets: $10 The musical stage adaption of Jeff Brown’s beloved children’s book is a fun, Broadway-style musical comedy about the value of being different and the importance of family.

Variety

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 – 8 p.m.; tickets: $50, $40 Just in time for Valentine’s Day, this hysterical show will have husbands and wives elbowing each other all evening as they see themselves on stage. Based on the sensational best-seller that started it all!

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Get your meerkat fix at the Maritime Aquarium Norwalk

Get your meerkats “fix” in soon because the popular animals will be going on a five-week hiatus beginning Jan. 5 at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

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“Meerkats” will temporarily close – and the exhibit that houses them, “Africa: From the Desert to the Sea,” ends – Jan. 5 to allow the Aquarium to build its next special exhibit, “Dragons: Real or Myth.”

“Meerkats” returns – and “Dragons” premieres – on Fri., Feb. 13.

Open since May 2010, The Maritime Aquarium’s “Meerkats” exhibit features six active, entertaining sibling meerkats – members of the mongoose family native to Africa’s Kalahari Desert. A viewing bubble lets youngsters pop up within the exhibit and get close to the meerkats.

The animals are so popular that the Aquarium installed a “meerkat cam” so their fans can check up remotely on the meerkats’ activities. To prevent anyone from going through complete meerkat withdrawal, the cam will remain active during the hiatus. Tune in at http://www.maritimeaquarium.org and click on “Exhibits & Animals.”

The Aquarium’s new exhibit, “Dragons: Real or Myth,” will demonstrate that there are dragons living among us today. Visitors will encounter such species as: dragon moray eels; the seahorse cousin called the weedy sea dragon; and terrestrial lizards like black dragons, flying dragons, sailfin dragons, bearded dragons, frilled dragons and more. Besides highlighting the unique characteristics of these animals, the exhibit will explore the facts and fiction of mythological dragons and their roles in cultures throughout time.

All special exhibits are free with Maritime Aquarium general admission, which is $19.95 for adults, $17.95 for youths 13-17 & seniors 65+, and $12.95 for children 3-12.

For more information about exhibits, IMAX® movies and programs at the popular Connecticut family attraction, go online to www.maritimeaquarium.org or call (203) 852-0700.

For area information visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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“A Prairie Refrain” at Carole Peck’s Good News Cafe

Contemporary realist painter, Karl Hartman, will exhibit his new show titled “A Prairie Refrain” through January 27, 2015 at Carole Peck’s Good News Cafe and Gallery, 694 Main Street South, Woodbury CT.

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Hartman’s paintings focuses on his memories of the prairie landscapes that he grew to love and his evolvement with these landscapes as a geologist in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Hartman describes this part of the United States as spare, quiet and infinitely dynamic, beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. In contrast to his painting of the plains, he is also working on drawings of Bergen County, New Jersey that reflect the tightly packed, crowded suburban local domestic world of this area as well as its occupants and their imprint on it.”

Karl Hartman was born in Billings Montana and grew up mostly in the plains states of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. He received his BS from the University of Oklahoma majoring in geology and minoring in art. He received his MFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York where he studied with Sam Cady, Ursula von Rydingsvard and John Lees. He lives with his family in New Jersey and travels back to Oklahoma to see family, take photographs and sketch.

Karl shows at the Mary Ann Doran gallery in Tulsa, OK and the New Arts Gallery in Litchfield, CT. He has exhibited at the Kansas Museum of Fine Art in Wichita, KA, The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH, The Charles A. Wustum Museum, Racine, WI. He has also shown at The Grand Central Galleries, The Adam Baumgold Gallery, and the National Academy of Design in New York as well as the Yoyogi School of fine art in Tokyo Japan.

His most recent award was the New Jersey State Council for the Arts Fellowship for painting. For area information visit http://www.litchfieldhills.com. For New Year or dinner reservations, contact Good News Cafe at http://www.good-news-cafe.com/

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The Pequot War and the Founding of Fairfield

The Fairfield Museum and History Center presents a new exhibition, The Pequot War and the Founding of Fairfield, 1637-1639, on view through January 18, 2015, concluding a full year of exhibits, programs and events that celebrated Fairfield’s 375th anniversary.

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A collaboration with the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, this exhibit presents the story of the Pequot War in 1637, which led to Fairfield becoming established as an English settlement 375 years ago. Roger Ludlow, then a member of the Windsor Settlement, came south to join the fight. He was so taken with the area and its beauty, he returned in 1639 and founded the town of Fairfield.

An Algonquian-speaking people, the Pequot had been living in southeastern Connecticut for thousands of years prior to European contact. Before the arrival of the Europeans, roughly 13,000 Pequot lived in villages along Long Island Sound and the estuaries of the Thames, Mystic, and Pawcatuck Rivers, raising food through farming, hunting, and gathering

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The Pequot War (1637-38) was the first serious conflict in New England between European colonizers and the indigenous population. Historians have referred to the war as a seminal event in early American history, as it paved the way for English control of southern New England and the subjugation of the region’s Native people.
Among the many objects displayed in the exhibit is the sword of Captain John Mason, on loan from the Stonington Historical Society. Mason was the leader of the Connecticut troops during the Pequot War, and he most probably used this sword to fight the Pequot.

The exhibit also includes an original copy of John Underhill’s Newes from America (1638), on loan from the Connecticut Historical Society, rarely on public display. Captain John Underhill led the Mass Bay troops during the war and later published this account of the events. It is not only one of the most important primary sources of the war, but the publication also includes a remarkable woodcut of the attack on Mistick Fort that has become an iconic image. Also on view are other early 17th century examples of English arms and armor, including a helmet and matchlock gun, as well as a period bale seal and religious book, all on loan from the Plimoth Plantation.

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Also featured is a photograph of George Avison’s artwork, commissioned during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration to paint a series of five murals depicting Fairfield’s history, including one of the Swamp Fight. When he completed them in 1937, they were hung in the Roger Ludlowe High School building, now known as Tomlinson Middle School, where they remain today.

About the Fairfield Museum and History Center
The Fairfield Museum and History Center is a nonprofit, community cultural arts and education center established in 2007 by the 103-year old Fairfield Historical Society. The 13,000 square-foot museum includes modern galleries, a research library, a museum shop and community spaces overlooking Fairfield’s historic Town Green. The Fairfield Museum and History Center believes in the power of history to inspire the imagination, stimulate thought and transform society. Located at 370 Beach Road in Fairfield, CT, the Museum is open seven days a week, 10 am – 4 pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors. Members of the Museum and children are free. For more information www.fairfieldhistory.org.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Whizzing Wonders in New Milford & Cooking Class at the Silo

The New Milford Chamber of Commerce is once again hosting a special railroad display that provides special fun for families this year in the Litchfield Hills community of New Milford where visitors will find a lavish display of working model trains.

The 27th Annual Hands On Train Display will again transform the waiting room of New Milford’s restored vintage train station. Four big layouts covering almost 100 feet of track will traverse a Lilliputian landscape of hills, valleys and villages.

Here, visitors are invited actually to take the controls, starting and stopping the action and operating signals and lights. The trains operate daily from noon to 4 p.m. December 22 to 28.
This yearly free event is sponsored by the Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce, 860-354-6080, www.newmilford-chamber.org. The display is closed Christmas Day.

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While in New Milford, don’t miss a visit to Hunt Hill Farm Trust where you will find a 50 foot Christmas Tree beautifully decorated in the gallery. In addition to crafts and artwork, the Silo at Hunt Hill Farm offers a series of cooking classes.

On Saturday, December 27, just in time for New Years, the Silo is offering a Champagne and Tapas class at 6:30 p.m. This full participation class with Chef Jessie Riley and Kathryn Gordon will feature a full menu of tapas plus a sampling of sparkling wines and champagne. To sign up for the calls visit http://www.hunthillfarmtrust.org/index.php?/silo/cooking#December

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