Connecticut Travel

March Farms,located in Bethlehem Connecticut, in the heart of the Litchfield Hills, is an iconic Connecticut Farm with a rich heritage. On Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m., at the Gunn Memorial Library, author Nancy McMillian will lead a discussion and book signing on her new book, March Farm: Season by Season on a Connecticut Family Farm.

March Farm in Bethlehem, CT is a 150-acre four-generation family farm that has weathered nearly 100 years of the vagaries of a life working the land. The book follows this local farm through an annual cycle of preparation and harvest, highlighting the individual members of the March family working on the farm. For more information on March Farm visit http://www.marchfarm.com.

Using photographs and essays, the farm is followed through four seasons and offer up-close views of farming life. Other essays present a wider perspective on the politics of food and farming. Accompanying recipes use the five crops the farm produces. Books will be available for purchase and for signing. For more information on the book, visit http://www.marchfarmthebook.com.

The snowdate is March 5 at 6:30 p.m.

In recognition of Black History Month, the Torrington Historical Society presents Venture Smith’s Narrative: The Earliest Known Entirely African- American Work of Literature, a lecture by Chandler Saint, president of the Beecher House Center for the Study of equal rights. The program will take place on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Torrington Historical Society, Carriage House Gallery on 192 Main St-Rear in Torrington and the Admission is free.

Venture Smith, circa 1728-1805, was sold into bondage as a boy in Africa. He worked as a slave in America for a quarter-century. Over time he saved money from side jobs and from selling vegetables that he grew.

He eventually earned enough to purchase his freedom. During his remaining years, Venture transformed himself into a highly respected American citizen. In 1798, Smith dictated his life story and it was published in New London CT as The Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa.
During the last decade, Chandler Saint and a team of researchers have uncovered many details of Venture’s life through painstaking research.

The results of that research were first published in 2009 under the title: Making Freedom: The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith written by Chandler Saint and George Krimsky. Since 2009, Saint and Krimsky have continued their research and discovered many more “interesting and curious passages” from the life of Venture Smith, which will be included in a soon to be published second edition of their work.

For this program, Chandler Saint will give an overview of the life of Venture Smith with particular emphasis on newly discovered aspects of Venture’s story. Historian Robert P. Forbes has written that this new volume, is an indispensable work for anyone interested in the African-American story…it is likely to emerge as the definitive reference tool about a life in bondage and the triumph of overcoming it.”

The Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport Connecticut has new guests this winter. The rare and beautiful Amur leopards are now on exhibit. The pair of Amur leopards we received from the Copenhagen Zoo are now on exhibit. The male can be seen quite often perched on the rock in front of the exhibit. Both are beautiful cats. They hope to receive a breeding recommendation for this endangered species. To make room for this pair, they sent their female Amur leopard, Sofiya, to the Maryland Zoo.

The new year is bringing new animals to the Zoo. While many of them still need to go through their quarantine procedures or wait for their new exhibits to be completed, this year you will enjoy seeing a male Amur tiger from the Indianapolis Zoo, a male Pygmy marmoset from Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo and a female from Brevard Zoo, a male and female red wolf pair from the Wolf Center, three male vicuna from the Berlin Zoo,and a male and a female giant anteater from Dreher Park Zoo. Beardsley Zoo has also recently received two yellow-spotted turtles, a purple gallinule, three black-bellied whistling ducks and three giant river turtles.

As part of these moves, many made as part of accredited breeding programs for endangered and threatened species, the Zoo removed a male Amur tiger, two male and three female river otters, one male common marmoset, one male pygmy marmoset, and two male and three female red wolves.

This may seem like a lot, but they tend to relocate animals during cooler months when they will be most comfortable, so a lot of movement happens at once.

For more information about the Beardsley Zoo visit http://beardsleyzoo.org and for area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com