Connecticut Travel

– On Friday and Saturday, August 19th and 20th, Schwenke Auctioneers will offer the entire contents of the estate of a long-time clock collector at an unreserved onsite public auction in Roxbury Connecticut. The sale will be held under tents on both days, and bidders must attend to bid as there is no internet bidding for this amazing sale. Absentee and phone bidding will be available for the Saturday session. This sale follows the pattern of previous on-site auctions by Schwenke Auctioneers which include The Estate of James L. Burns, held in Kent CT in June 2010, and The Lifetime Collection of David L. Bronson held in Stone Ridge NY in August 2015.

When interviewed about this upcoming sale, Tom Schwenke said “this is the most unbelievable collection of American clocks I have ever seen or heard of in my forty-five years in the antiques and auction business. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were not able to begin inventory work on this sale until this past Monday, August 1st. Prior to Monday we had only walked through the house and taken a quick count and some I-phone photographs. We knew there were hundreds of clocks in this classic 18th century Roxbury colonial home, as the many tall clocks were lined up in rows in the first floor rooms, and there were literally stacks of banjo clocks and piles of mantel clocks everywhere. What we did not know is that the dozen or so vehicles on the premises were filled with mantle clocks and that most of the chests and other case pieces in the home were filled with banjo clocks – and good ones.

My long-time friend and fellow auctioneer Jon Lee from Albany signed on to help with the sale, and when he, his wife Nancy and some of our staff started work on the sunporch of the house on Monday, August 1st, the real adventure we had undertaken began to unfold. By the end of the afternoon, we had uncovered almost fifty additional American clocks which were not visible in that room which was being used for storage and was piled high with boxes. We discovered nine American tall clocks – including a rare Jacob Willard – twenty four banjo clocks – including four L. Curtis examples – and fifteen pillar and scroll and Empire mantle clocks by makers such as E. Terry, Silas Hoadley, Eli Terry Jr. and many others, mostly Connecticut makers. A five drawer New England tall chest in the room had five first-rate banjo clocks “filed away” inside, one in each drawer”.

At present, the firm anticipates that the auction will include over 50 American tall clocks, including fine examples by Simon Willard, Aaron Willard, Elnathan Taber, at least 100 pillar and scroll and Empire mantle clocks, and possibly another 100 shelf, bracket and mantle clocks. The massive collection of Lionel trains found in the attic will be sold on the first day, along with selected furniture, clocks and general estate items. The second day Schwenke will focus on the core collection of clocks.

Interested bidders are encouraged to watch the Schwenke Auctioneers website www.woodburyauction.com for photos and updates, as the inventory process is ongoing and only two rooms have been undertaken as of the date of this press release. The remaining rooms will undoubtedly yield many surprises and work will likely not be completed until shortly before the Friday sale session.

There is no internet or online bidding for this sale. Absentee and phone bidding will be available for the Saturday session, and that second session may be previewed on Friday from 8am until 4pm and again from 8am to sale time on Saturday. Both sale sessions begin at 10:00 AM. All items are being sold unreserved and must be paid for and removed on the day of sale and no later than Monday, August 22nd. The exact location of the sale, as well as information regarding parking and transportation, will be available on the Schwenke Auctioneers website beginning one week prior to the auction. To register or arrange for absentee or phone bidding, please visit the firm’s website, and for additional information please call 203-266-0323.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

The Gallery @the SHS of the Sharon Historical Society & Museum presents a new show of art works in The Gallery @the SHS, “She Said, He Said”, an invitational exhibition and sale running through September 2, 2016.

The show features work by local artist couples who are married or otherwise partnered. Participating artists are Ellen Moon and Dave Colbert, Joel Schapira and Diane Schapira, Greg Lock and Sarah Lock, Carl D’Alvia and Jackie Saccoccio, Ingrid Freidenbergs and Jack Feder and Alistair Jones and Shaari Horowitz.Artists were invited to submit works in any medium (e.g. Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Photography, Pastel, Ink, Graphite, Drawing, Print, Mixed Media, Sculpture, Assemblage, Fabric, Stone, Clay, Metal).

The Gallery @the SHS is located at the Sharon Historical Society & Museum, 18 Main Street, Route 41, Sharon, CT. The gallery and museum are open Wednesday through Friday from 12-4, Saturday from 1-5 and by appointment.For more information and directions to The Gallery @the SHS, call (860) 364-5688. For additional information about the Sharon Historical Society & Museum, visit www.sharonhist.org.

Peppa Pig is back by popular demand to the Palace Theatre in Waterbury located on 100 E. Main Street on September 23 at 6 p.m. Peppa Pig’s Big Splash is an action-packed live show featuring your favorite characters as life size puppets and costume characters!

Kids will love joining Peppa, George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and more in an all singing, all-dancing adventure full of songs, games and muddy puddles! Learn more about this exciting musical theatre performance here: www.peppapigliveUS.com.

There is even a special Peppa Big Party Pass that gives kids a real VIP experience! The Pig Party Passes include: – One premium seat in the first fifteen rows of the venue
– Exclusive access to the Peppa Pig Party after the show – Light catering including lemonade, water and cookies – Meet and greet photo opportunity with Peppa Pig cast on the pink carpet – One exclusive Peppa Pig party gift and an- On-site party concierge.

For more area information on fun things to do with kids visit www.litchfieldhills.com

​The quiet hamlet of Norfolk is hosting a town-wide festival this weekend. As part of the festivities both sides of Station Place, just off the charming Village Green will be filled with artisans demonstrating their work during “Weekend in Norfolk”,on August 5, 6 and 7. On one of the corners with Route 44, the Norfolk Boatworks is setting up shop for all three days, prepared to take a wooden canoe through all its stages, from steaming and bending the framework to covering it with fabric to doing all the finishing touches to prepare it for launch. Other boats will be in various stages of building and restoration, too.

Across the street in front of the Artisans Guild, more artisans will be showing how they do things. Friday evening Carol Vinick will be demonstrating the art of fabric collage. On Saturday, Allan Czellecz is setting up his lathe to demonstrate wood turning and Sumi Nakazato is coming to explain the Art of the Bead. On top of all that, shop owners Vee Kausel and Kathy Williams will be demonstrating rug hooking and knitting throughout the entire weekend.

Stop in at Norfolk Boatworks and the Artisans Guild any time throughout Weekend in Norfolk—something will always be going on!

Weekend in Norfolk, August 5, 6 and 7, is a three-day, town-wide art, music and nature festival. Events run the gamut from art exhibits to nature walks, world-class music to a watermelon-eating contest, a quilt show and boat-building demonstrations to the opportunity to get married on the Village Green, and new events are being added all the time. Visit weekendinnorfolk.org for details.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com​

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. For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Norfolk, Conn., has long been a mecca for those who love music of all kinds, but Weekend in Norfolk, its town-wide open house coming up August 5, 6 and 7, promises to be extra special. From Infinity Hall’s pop, rock, blues and jazz concerts to classical music and other performances at the Music Shed to pop-up musicians all around town, you’ll find music in the air everywhere you go.

Infinity Hall, with its Queen Anne architecture and vivid green paint, is an unmissable presence on Route 44. Built in 1883, the building housed an auditorium for concerts and lectures upstairs and a grocery and a dry goods store on the ground floor. The theater fell into disuse in the 1940s and had subsequent ups and downs, but in 2007 Infinity owner Dan Hincks bought the building and completely redid the interior, adding a state-of-the-art sound system and creating an intimate, friendly setting for live music of all genres. Singer Jane Monheit and the Glenn Miller Orchestra will both appear on Saturday, and bluegrass band Seldom Scene is slated to perform Sunday.

The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival is believed to be the oldest summer music festival in North America. Since the 1940s, it has held its concerts in the Music Shed, hailed as “an acoustic marvel” by the New York Times. The Music Shed, modeled after Steinway Hall in New York City, was built in 1906, and over the decades its beautiful redwood interior has welcomed many world-famous musicians to its stage. During Weekend in Norfolk, the Music Shed will feature concerts by the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet, faculty and students from the Yale Summer School of Music, and the U.S. Coast Guard Band.

And don’t forget those unexpected pop-up musicians, many of them recruited from Norfolk’s talented residents, who will be performing at the farmers market, on the village green, in the library, in the center of town and …well, come and be surprised.

For a full listing of all the Weekend in Norfolk musical events, plus the rest of the more than 60 events scheduled as well as places to eat, sleep or shop, visit weekendinnorfolk.org. If you have questions, send an email to info@weekendinnorfolk.org.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com