Category: Connecticut Travel

Celebrate the season as winter begins to wane and maple sugar begins to flow at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center located on 39 Scofieldtown Road, Stamford on Feb. 27, and March 6 and 13 from 10 am to 2 pm.

Join staff at the center as they make their very own line of maple syrup from the 200+ mature maple trees found right here our 118-acre campus. We’re one of only two official maple sugar producers in Fairfield County!

Each Sunday we’ll open our site at 10 am with added attractions, enhanced programming, and fun seasonal offerings including free giveaways and traditional favorites like colonial and Native American demonstrations.

To add to the fun there will be food trucks at this event in addition to the sock skating rink, a kids game zone, p[ocprm. ,isoc.storytelling, roving farm animals, and the Food for Thought exhibit.

Admission to this event is Director’s Circle Members: FREE, Family plus Members: One FREE Pre-registered Sunday ($10/person thereafter)
Members: $10/person, and Non-Members: $20/person. Standard admission rates apply after 2pm.

The Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA) is hosting the U.S. Junior Nationals this year at Satre Hill on Indian Cave Road in Salisbury, Connecticut for the Ski Jump Competition. Mohawk Mountain Ski Area in Cornwall will be the site for the Nordic Combined competition. This exciting National Olympic styled event begins Tuesday, February 22, and concludes on Saturday, February 26.

This event offers the rare opportunity for a close-up view of some of the best young athletes from across the country competing in these challenging sports, that we usually only see on TV. The U.S. Junior Nationals include separate individual and team scoring jumping competitions and cross-country ski races for the Nordic Combined titles. Nordic Combined adds a cross-country ski race to jump results to determine winners. Podium ceremonies for the winners of each event immediately follow each set of competitions. Best of all, this exciting sporting event is free of charge.

The Schedule of Events is as follows – Be Sure to Check https://jncjn2022.com for updates, schedule changes, and additional information before setting out.

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 22nd
10:00AM – 12:00PM Open Training — Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury
2:00PM – 4:00 PM Open Training – Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury
6:30PM Opening Ceremonies – The White Hart Inn Lawn, Rte. 44, Salisbury, CT

Wednesday, FEBRUARY 23rd
9:00 AM Ski Jumping Official Training — Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury
3:30 PM Cross Country Official Training — Mohawk Ski Area, 46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall

Thursday, FEBRUARY 24th
NORDIC COMBINED & SPECIAL JUMPING INDIVIDUAL EVENTS – Satre Hill
9:00AM Competition begins, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
10:00 AM 1st Round Jump, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
11:00 AM 2nd Round Jump, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
Immediately following Podium Ceremony – Bottom of Jumps, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
NORDIC COMBINED – INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN EVENTS – 5KM
3:30 PM Cross Country Race – Mohawk Ski Area, 46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall
Immediately following Podium Ceremony – Mohawk Ski Area, 46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall

Friday, FEBRUARY 25th
(back up day for official competitions)
6:00 PM Elimination Jump –“Under the Lights” – Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT

Saturday, FEBRUARY 26th
NORDIC COMBINED & SPECIAL JUMPING TEAM EVENTS – Satre Hill
9:00 AM Competition begins, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
10:00 AM 1st Round, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
11:00 AM 2nd Round, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
Immediately following Podium Ceremony – Bottom of Jumps, Satre Hill, 80 Indian Cave Road, Salisbury, CT
NORDIC COMBINED TEAM SPRINT – 2 X 5KM – Mohawk Ski Area
3:30 PM Cross Country Relay Races – Mohawk Ski Area, 46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall
Immediately following Podium Ceremony & Photos – Mohawk Ski Area, 46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall
6:30 PM Awards Banquet – White Hart Inn, Rte. 44, Salisbury
8:30 PM Closing Ceremonies – White Hart Inn Lawn, Rte. 44, Salisbury

About the U.S. Junior Nationals
The U.S. Junior Nationals is part of the United States Nordic Sport (USANS) and is the premier national leadership organization for ski jumping and Nordic combined in the United States for jumpers aged 17 and younger, a key step toward international competition, including the Winter Olympic Games. USANS works with 30+ clubs and more than 700 young athletes nationwide.

ABOUT SALISBURY WINTER SPORTS ASSOCIATION
The mission of the Salisbury Winter Sports Association is to acquaint the public with Nordic ski-jumping, cross–country, and Alpine skiing, and to teach the skills necessary for their enjoyment. One way of fulfilling this mission is to host the annual Jumpfest Competition on Satre Hill to sustain and ski jumping in Salisbury, Connecticut, and the Eastern United States.

The New Canaan Historical Society is presenting an interesting program on mid-century modern architecture on February 15 @ 7 pm. Lovers of architecture are invited to join director/producer Jake Gorst as he recounts twenty years of documenting U.S. mid-century modern architecture and design. His most recent project, “New England Modernism: Revolutionary Architecture in the 20th century,” is currently in production for release in theaters and through Amazon Prime.

Jake has produced many films for Design OnScreen, including the documentary series Frey (2018-20) as well as The Nature of Modernism: E. Stewart Williams, Architect (2014); Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island (2012); William Krisel, Architect (2010); Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler (2009); and Desert Utopia: Midcentury Architecture in Palm Springs (2006). His films Farmboy (2006) and Leisurama (2005), have been in national US public television distribution.

Jake is the author of the book Andrew Geller: Deconstructed (2015, Glitterati Inc.), an Emmy award-winning producer, and the director of Mainspring Narrative Films. He is also a contributing writer to The Architect’s Newspaper, VOX Hamptons, HOME Miami, Modern, and Modernism magazines.

Please note this event is now via zoom. A link and login credentials will be emailed to all registered participants. To register click email the Society @ info@nchistory.org.

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is a great place to spend a cold winter afternoon. Two new exhibits make the visit even more exciting. Just remember that all tickets must be purchased in advance.

The Jellyfish exhibit pulses with some of the most strangely beautiful – but potentially dangerous – animals in the sea as we present a variety of native and non-native species of jellies.


When viewed safely from their stings, jellies are mesmerizing … like the big Pacific sea nettles, upside-down jellies in a cool half-dome, an 8-foot-tall display filled with moon jellies, and more!

Connecticut’s only mob of meerkats – the popular family unit in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk – is moving into a big new exhibit that connects their desert story to the influences of the ocean on climate and weather. The Maritime Aquarium’s meerkats move upstairs into an exhibit twice as large as their original display. The new exhibit replicates the animals’ native African-desert habitat and offers the meerkats many new opportunities for climbing, digging and exploring. Plus, three viewing “bubbles” will give guests the chance to pop up right among the meerkats.

“These are active animals that are very charismatic with highly interesting social structures, so they’re a lot of fun for our guests to follow,” said Barrett Christie, the Aquarium’s Director of Animal Husbandry.

With the move to the second floor, “Meerkats!” now connects naturally with “Just Add Water,” the Aquarium exhibit that features desert-to-rainforest creatures in explaining how the world ocean drives climates around the globe.

“Incorporating the meerkats into ‘Just Add Water’ opens opportunities to continue and expand our conversation with guests about the role of the ocean in creating and affecting climates – and, thus, also creating and affecting diverse animal habitats – all around the world,” Christie said.

No mere cats, meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are small members of the mongoose family that live in social “mobs” of up to 30 members in the Kalahari Desert, in the southern African nations of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. (Their desert environment is created by the Benguela Current, an ocean current off Africa’s west coast that brings cool dry winds over the continent.)

Meerkats were widely popularized by the comical sidekick Timon in Disney’s “The Lion King,” and then celebrated in the Animal Planet television series “Meerkat Manor.” They’re fascinating for living in structured, cooperative societies, including a survival strategy where adults take turns individually standing guard – often balanced upright on their haunches – watching for predators while the others forage or sleep.

The Aquarium’s “Meerkats!” exhibit features five sibling meerkats – three males, two females – born at the Hogle Zoo in Utah. The exhibit opened in May 2010 as part of a larger, temporary focus on African species. But the amusing, guest-favorite animals became a permanent fixture, allowing the Aquarium to add a focus on the ocean’s impact on the climate for even desert animals like meerkats.

That focus expanded in 2018 with the opening of “Just Add Water,” which features such species as a tamarin (a type of monkey), quail, a skunk, a prehensile-tailed porcupine, caimans, poison dart frogs, and bats. The animals are displayed in separate biomes; that is, distinct communities of plants and animals that have adapted to a defined physical climate. The biomes begin at an arid desert and transition into habitats that receive increasing amounts of annual rainfall – through grasslands and temperate forests, among others – ending at a tropical rain forest.

“These animals’ vastly dissimilar environments are all the product of the ocean’s influence,” Christie said. “The exchange of heat between the ocean and the atmosphere drives much of Earth’s atmospheric circulation. When you factor in currents and winds, you have the ocean helping to create and shape the world’s habitats for wildlife – from desert environments with meerkats to rainforests with monkeys.”

Learn more about exhibits, programs, and more at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

The Kellogg Environmental Center is located at 500 Hawthorn Ave. in Derby is hosting mixed media artist Karen Kalkstein’s exhibition of artwork. Her collages, wall-hangings, and sculptures created from natural and human-made material will be exhibited from February 4th through the 28th. Using items that have been collected from her walks through nature Karen creates beautiful, otherworldly images of the environment.

A ‘Meet the Artist Reception is scheduled for Saturday, February 12, 2022, from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm. The public is invited to visit the exhibition and meet Karen to learn more about her inspirations and the methods used to capture the beauty of nature and the feel of the outdoors. Visitors may also enjoy a walk around the grounds and trails of the Kellogg Environmental Center and Osbornedale State Park before or after the reception to see the beauty of winter landscapes as captured by Karen and her works.

Karen graduated as an art major from Scripps College in California and earned a MA in art education at New York University. She has instructed elementary and high school art and has also taught private classes for children and adults. For twenty years she had a custom tile business designing, hand-making, and glazing ceramic tiles for clients across the country. She has shown her artwork on the east and west coasts and her works are in numerous collections including the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Collection in New Jersey. Karen lives and works in Stamford, CT, and Waitsfield, Vermont.

Registration for the program is requested and can be done through the Connecticut DEEP Calendar of Events, https://www.depdata.ct.gov/calendar/listevs.asp?selecttype=all . If you have questions or need assistance registering, please contact donna.kingston@ct.gov.

The Kellogg Environmental Center, a facility of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is open 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Tuesday through Saturday. It is located at 500 Hawthorne Avenue off Rte. 34 in Derby.

On Saturday, February 5 from 10 am – 3 pm there will be a Winter Festival at Burr Pond State Park in Torrington. This festival is organized by the Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection to get people outdoors throughout the year.

Outdoor games, a bonfire, ice fishing, and fish fry are only part of the fun on hand for the day! Festival-goers can also visit with Visit Shakespeare the Barred Owl and Gerri Griswold from White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield from 11am until 1pm! Families can go snow-shoeing, cross-country and downhill skiing, ice skating, and hiking in the snow. There will be plenty of winter crafts for kids. They can learn how to make ice suncatchers, snowmen marshmallows and participate in colorful snow painting. If you are interested in science there are 14 winter-themed experiments and activities for any climate to participate in.

This annual festival is free of charge and open to the public. Burr Pond State Park is located on Burr Mountain Road in Torrington, CT. Gail Borden, discoverer of the process of milk preservation by evaporation and condensation, built the world’s first condensed milk factory at Burr Pond State Park, in 1857. The new milk product proved to be of great value, particularly to the Union Army during the Civil War. Fire destroyed the mill in 1877.