Connecticut Travel

The Connecticut Audubon Society’s annual Adirondack Night returns on Saturday, March 11 with a new feature that will enhance this virtual escape to the North Country via the north woods of Fairfield.

Come savor the unique Adirondack experience as the Center at Fairfield on Burr Street is once again transformed for one night into a rustic mountain lodge. A highlight of this year’s event will be the introduction of craft beers provided by local breweries including New England Brewing Company and Two Roads Brewing Company. Traditional favorites of the evening will be back too including hearty cuisine, Audubon’s special recipe chilies and lively music performed by Matt Miklus and his String Band.

This casual flannel and fleece occasion will also include a silent auction featuring getaways to Nantucket Island and an exquisite Adirondack cabin, in addition to many other enticing items. And staff naturalists will also be on hand introducing some of the Center’s resident animal ambassadors to guests.

Adirondack Night takes place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Center at Fairfield, 2325 Burr Street in Fairfield. To be transported to the wilderness for this evening, the cost is only $45 per person. Proceeds will support The Connecticut Audubon Society’s conservation and education programs. Tickets are available at: http://www.ctaudubon.org/center-at-fairfield or by calling 203-259-6305, ext. 109.

To sign up for a monthly newsletter on Litchfield Hills or Fairfield County www.litchfieldhills.com or www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Westport Historical Society proudly presents a new exhibit, “Westport School Days 1703-Present” in our Sheffer Gallery. The opening reception will take place on Sunday, January 29, from 3 – 5 pm immediately following our Annual Meeting. This exhibit highlights the evolution of formal education in Westport. The story begins with the 1650 Code of Connecticut which describes the educational requirements for the parishes in Connecticut. Beginning with the first formal teacher in Green’s Farms in 1703; the exhibit will chronicle what the eight public and several private schools of Westport were like.

There will be a progression map from 1858-2016 detailing each school’s earliest location and development. A brief history of the benefactors who initiated new schools, memorabilia, and early photos will also be displayed. Group photos of student classes from the late nineteenth century to the present day will also be highlighted. This comprehensive exhibit will include lively tours of Westport’s own Adams Academy, on North Morningside Drive, which was built in 1830 as a private school, and shows you an actual one-room schoolhouse and exemplifies early education in the community.

The Mollie Donovan Gallery will highlight the Westport Public Library from its original building on Post Road to what the future plans hold for an ever changing community resource. Westport Historical Society hopes this exhibit will bring back many fond memories, as well as focus an educational light on Westport’s growth as an exceptional center for learning. The Sheffer Gallery is open Monday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm. Saturdays from Noon – 4 pm. The exhibit runs through March 24. There is no charge, however donations are always welcome. For more information, call 203-222-1424 or visit westporthistory.org.

It’s a sweet New England tradition—toasting old man winter out the door with delicious new maple syrup. As soon as days are above freezing and the sap begins to run, the annual spring ritual begins. Turning thin sap into thick, fragrant syrup is a fascinating process and Western Connecticut, where sugar maple trees abound, is one of the best places to see it in action. More than a dozen sugar houses in Fairfield County and the Litchfield Hills invite visitors to see how it is done, from tapping the maple trees to collecting the sap to boiling down the thin watery sap until it turns to the thick, fragrant syrup.

A variety of settings, from farms and nature centers to museums are among the maple possibilities, most offering tastes as well as show and tell, and many have take-home syrup for purchase as a sweet souvenir. While many sugarhouses invite visitors anytime during the first three weekends in March (see list below), some locations plan one festive day to celebrate the season.

The MAPLE Calendar

Visit Any Weekend

The sugaring season starts early at large facilities like Lamothe’s Sugar House in Burlington, where the public is invited to see how syrup is made every weekend through March 30. This family owned operation began as a hobby with seven taps and has grown to over 4500 taps and a year-round showroom. Their shop offers a tempting array of unusual foods like maple mustard and maple apple butter plus original maple-themed items from embroidered aprons, decorating sets, and cupcake shaped rubber spatulas to a cupcake carrier in the shape of a big cupcake. www.Lamothesugarhouse.com

Another sugarhouse open to the public on weekends is Brookside Farm on 79 East Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield. Started in 1999 as a second act to corporate careers, the owners’ overall goal is to promote the resurgence of sustainable agriculture in Connecticut. On their 30 acres farm, they produce hay (for horses) and maple syrup (for people). Their maple syrup won 3 rd place in the 2014 International Maple Syrup tasting contest. Call (860) 567-3890 before setting out to confirm the syrup operation. They are open for visits through March 30.

March 4-5
The Plymouth Maple Fest takes place this year on March 4 on the Plymouth Green, 10 Park St, on Rte. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be maple syrup boiling on an outdoor fire, live music with Fiddlin’ with Down Home Frolic, crafts for kids, maple ham and baked beans to snack on and even horse drawn hay rides. Best of all admission is free.

The Stamford Museum & Nature Centers starts the month in gala fashion with its annual Maple Sugar Festival slated for March 4 and 5 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Every year, the Museum places buckets on more than 200 maple trees on its 118-acre site, collecting sap to produce maple syrup in the little red sugarhouse on its Heckscher Farm. Visitors will see firsthand the process of tapping and collecting the sap. Kids can make a maple-themed craft, go on a scavenger hunt, have their face painted and join in the fun on Saturday for the Chef’s Challenge, using maple syrup to make delicious treats. On Sunday everyone can join in the popular pancake brunch. www.stamfordmuseum.org

The Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington will have a different take on sugaring at its annual Pancake Festival on March 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Demonstrations will show how local Native Americans traditionally made maple syrup and its importance to their culture. Pancakes will be served with local maple syrup and there will be special activities for children. New this year is the Connecticut Valley Siberian Husky Club’s dog sledding and mushing demonstration. www.iaismuseum.org

Pancakes are also on the menu on March 5 from 8 a.m. to noon at the annual all you can eat pancake breakfast to benefit Flanders Nature Center at the Woodbury Emergency Services Building on Quassuk Rd. in Woodbury. Flanders Nature Center is also hosting maple sugaring demonstrations at the Sugar House located on 5 Church Hill Rd. in Woodbury on March 4 and 5, 11 and 12 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. http://www.flandersnaturecenter.org

March 8 – 11

For those who can’t make the first weekend, March offers many other special events. The Greenwich Land Trust is hosting two maple sugar events.
The first is the Sugar Maple Winter Walk on March 8 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Duck Pond Hill on 12 Burning Tree Rd in Greenwich. Stroll through the American Chestnut Sanctuary and learn about their comeback in Connecticut. The highlight of this event is to watch a maple tapping to learn what goes into making the sweet stuff! Walking conditions may be a bit tricky because the walk will be on uneven terrain. The second event takes place on March 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Greenwich Land Trust located on 370 Round Hill Rd. in Greenwich.There will be an afternoon of of demonstrations on maple tapping and syrup boiling – learn what goes into making the sweet stuff! Many family fun activities are planned. The Rain Date: Sunday, March 12. Pre-registration required www.gltrust.org.

The Annual Maple Festival at Sweet Wind Farm takes place in East Hartland on March 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The busy day will include tree tapping, maple syrup and maple sugar making demonstrations with free syrup samples, a narrated slide show and video, tours, live music, and –almost everyone’s favorite activity– a sugar-on-snow candy making demonstration. www.sweetwindfarm.net

March 18
The annual Open House at the Great Brook Sugar House on Sullivan Farm in New Milford takes place on March 18 from 10 am to 5 pm and is one of the programs provided for the community’s young people by the New Milford Youth Agency. Some 1600 trees are tapped on property donated by local residents. Dozens of high school and college students assist in the collection, processing, packaging and sales of the syrup. At the Open House guides will escort visitors around the farm to various sites to see demonstrations reflecting a 300-year history of maple sugaring. Syrup and other maple products will be available for purchase. Everyone is invited to visit the Sugar House anytime smoke from the chimney says that the syrup kettles are a-cooking.

Syrup Saturday at the New Canaan Nature Center on March 18 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. is always a festive day. Events include tree-tapping demos, a maple sap boil down at the Sugar Shack, and a look at historic methods of making maple syrup plus a delicious Pancake Brunch. Visitors are invited to join naturalists for a hike along “Maple Lane” to learn tree identification tips, then warm up around the campfire to share tall tales, and make a Maple craft to take home. www.newcanaannature.org

March 25 is also the date of the annual Maplefest! at the Sharon Audubon Center. From 12 noon. to 4 p.m. guided tours of the center’s sugaring operation that includes at working sugarhouse and a re-creation of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods. Watch as pure sugar maple sap is collected from the trees and turned into delicious maple syrup. Fresh syrup will be available for purchase, while supplies last, as well as locally made maple candy. http://ct.audubon.org

Sign up for our monthly newsletter on what to see and do in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Norwalk Historical Society will be presenting a new lecture entitled: Women in the American Revolution: Putting the ‘Her’ in Heroics by local researcher and Norwalk Historical Commissioner, Eric Chandler, on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 1:00pm at the Norwalk Historical Society Museum. 141 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT. Women in the American Revolution: Putting the ‘Her’ in Heroics will introduce some of the women who risked their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to lift the yoke of British control of the 13 Colonies. Women who are missing from our history books, their stories as soldiers and spies left untold. Admission is $5, payable at the door. An RSVP is required as seating is limited. RSVP to: info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org. Parking is available at Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Avenue. The museum is in the red brick house with blue double front doors, next to the Norwalk Health Dept. If there is inclement weather, the lecture will be rescheduled for Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 1:00pm.

George Washington, Paul Revere, the Marquis de Lafayette are all names taught in school as having been heroes of the American War for Independence. Molly Pitcher is a name we see given to a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. But who was Molly Pitcher? Was she one person or a composite of two or even three women who performed similar acts of courage? Whether one, two or three, “Molly” was not the only example of women who served the cause of independence between 1775 and 1783. There are many tales of courage to be revealed in this 45-minute illustrated talk, about these largely unsung heroines of the American Revolution.

About Eric Chandler
Eric Chandler has been involved in American Revolutionary War Living History since 1974. Mr. Chandler has portrayed infantry, light infantry, whale-boat raider and both mounted and dismounted dragoons. He is a resident of Norwalk, CT, a Norwalk Historical Commissioner and a retired land title insurance underwriter. Mr. Chandler’s artistic endeavors have included cartooning, working in local theater and decades as a musician playing saxophones in area Rock & Roll and Blues bands.

For more information: visit www.norwalkhistoricalsociety.org, e-mail info@norwalkhistoricalsociety.org , or call 203-846-0525. The Norwalk Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

A perfect way to spend a cold winter afternoon is to wander through the galleries of the Mattatuck Museum located on 144 West Main Street in Waterbury. The museum is hosting several evocative exhibitions that run through March 12 including Components, the Art of Robert Cottingham, Winter Scenes, Linda Nelson, Ceramics by Mindy Horn and Ann Mallory and Zing by James Biederman.

Zing is an exhibition that features the artwork of James Biederman who started painting minimalist drawings and wall sculptures that examined two-and three-dimensional ways of seeing in the 1970s. In recent years he has moved to painting boldly colored gestural abstractions. This exhibition of works completed since 2010 shows the current state of the artistic journey, the legacy of both abstract expressionism and minimalism, and the manner in which Biederman has taken these movements and reshaped them in new ways.

Robert Cottingham is known for his paintings and and prints of the urban landscape with its neon signs, movie marquees, and shop fronts, Robert Cottingham often uses letters and words, isolated and treated like objects, as carriers of style and meaning. This exhibition features subjects that were originally derived from engineering textbooks. These “components” are machine parts that were likely, facets of large industrial machines.

Another exhibition, Winter Scenes by folk artist Linda Nelson are the folksy scenes of simple life inspired by her childhood days on a farm in Illinois. Small towns and country settings provided imagery for the calendars and cards that has made her work familiar. More than 25 works of are make up this show and focus on Nelson’s winter and holiday scenes.

If you like work in clay, don’t miss the ceramic exhibit by Mindy Horn and Ann Mallory. Their works vary in size: some are delicately small, inviting close-up inspection, while others are imposing in scale. These technically and aesthetically ambitious works are experimental in shape and dazzle in an array of glazes.

The Gallery is open Tues. – Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sun. noon to 5 p.m. For a free newsletter on events and things to do and places to go visit the homepage of www.litchfieldhills.com to sign up!

Join lead Museum Educator Valerie Rodgers at the Mattatuck Museum on Wednesday, March 8 at 10:00 a.m. for a folk art experience celebrating the rich cultural legacy of the Baltic country of Lithuania. Participants of this workshop will learn margučiai, the Lithuanian art of egg decorating, using the scratch and carve method.

The workshop is $8 for Museum members, $12 for non-members, and free for BRASS members. All supplies will be provided. No experience necessary. Pre-registration is appreciated.

Located in the heart of downtown Waterbury’s architectural district, the Mattatuck Museum is a vibrant destination, known locally and regionally as a community-centered institution of American art and history. For more information on all of the Museum’s programs, events, and exhibits visit the website at mattmuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381.