Sheldon’s Horse – A Revolutionary Tale

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society located on 43 Main Street will be hosting a fascinating history presentation by Eric Chandler on Saturday, November 23 at 2:00pm in Huntington Hall titled, A History of Sheldon’s Horse: The 2nd Continental Light Dragoons.

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Many people are unaware that one of General Washington’s four Congressional commissioned cavalry regiments was raised largely from Connecticut and operated extensively in Fairfield County and across Long Island Sound. “Sheldon’s Horse” is credited with having played a significant part in the winning of the War of Independence and a key role in revealing Benedict Arnold as a British spy and in the capture of John Andre.

“Sheldon’s Horse” was the first commissioned United States cavalry; executed the first cavalry charge by United States cavalry on American soil; operated the first “pony express” as military couriers; participated in America’s first organized espionage ring; achieved victories on foot, horseback and by boat.

This history presentation will be given by Eric Chandler of Norwalk. He has been a member of the recreated “Sheldon’s Horse” for over 15 years. He has been involved with Revolutionary War Living History since 1974 as a charter member of the 5th Connecticut Regiment, formed in Ridgefield in that year for the Bicentennial. Mr. Chandler has portrayed infantry, light infantry, whaleboat privateer, and both mounted and dismounted dragoons. He may also have been spy. Come and find out.

This program is FREE and Open to the Public. For more information visit www.danburymuseum.org.

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The Warner Theatre Invites You to Celebrate the Holidays at the Movies

The Warner Theatre on Main Street in Torrington Connecticut located in the scenic Litchfield Hills opens the Holiday Season with an invitation to the community to enjoy two classic holiday films on Saturday, November 30.

Warner Theater
Warner Theater

The Muppet Christmas Carol will be shown at 1 p.m., with doors opening at 11:30 for a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Admission is FREE. With Kermit the Frog as Bob Crachit, Miss Piggy as Emily Crachit, and Michael Caine as Scrooge, The Muppet Christmas Carol is a hilarious retelling of the heartwarming story of “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens. This kid-friendly version makes an excellent family movie that adults and children alike can enjoy. *Children 12 and under MUST be accompanied by an adult

At 7 p.m. that evening the classic holiday film, White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye & Rosemary Clooney will be shown. A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general. Filmed in Technicolor, White Christmas features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the title song, “White Christmas.” Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is notable for being the first to be released in VistaVision. Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 860-489-7180 or online at www.warnertheatre.org.

For more information about the Warner Theater visit www.warnertheatre.org. For area information: www.litchfieldhills.com

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Coffeehouse at The Wheelers – Westport Historical Society

The Westport Historical Society’s Betty and Ralph Sheffer Gallery will sway to the rhythms of music and poetry t0n November 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. when it morphs into a Greenwich Village-style coffee house featuring singer/songwriter Suzanne Sheridan and friends.

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Westporter Sheridan, whose music influences include Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, will appear with Westport poet Ralph Adams. She will be accompanied on keyboards by Bob Cooper of Westport and Chris Brown on bass. The sessions are titled “Coffee House at the Wheeler’s,” a reference to Wheeler House, the society’s headquarters at 25 Avery Place.
A jingle and New York club singer in the 60s, Sheridan says she dropped out in the 70s because she couldn’t relate to disco and decided she was going to do it her way, performing music that made her happy. Her goal has always been to bring “intelligence and heart to the music scene,” she says. In addition to tunes by Mitchell and Cohen, her dates at the WHS will feature Kansas City blues, jazz and such all-time rock faves as “You Send Me,” “New York State of Mind,” “Johnny Be Good” and “Stand By Me.”

Adams, whom Sheridan considers the unofficial poet laureate of Westport, draws on his experiences growing up on the Kansas plains dreaming of buffalo and Indians and his days sailing the world’s seas with the Merchant Marine.
Cooper played piano with the John Mooney Blues Band in the late 1970s, performing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He was also the keyboard player for Harvey Robbins’ Doo-Wopp Hall of Fame concerts from 2000 to 2009.
Brown, who has homes in Bethel and on Candlewood Lakes, studied jazz and classical music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A horn player in addition to a bassist, he enjoyed a long collaboration with Paul Winter and the Winter Consort, serving as music editor of Winter’s Grammy-winning 1994 album “Prayer for the Wild Things.”

Though contemporary music programs are something of a departure for the WHS, executive director Sue Gold says they serve the mission of “enriching the community and creating an opportunity for Westporters to gather together. A $10 donation will be requested at the door, and reservations are required. For more information visit www.westporthistory.org, to reserve,call the Westport Historical Society at (203) 222-1424.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Swedish Music and Culture: A Musician’s Journey Through Scandinavia

At 1 p.m. on November 17, the Gunn Historical Museum will present Swedish Music and Culture: A Musician’s Journey Through Scandinavia in the Wykeham Room of the Gunn Library in Washington Connecticut. Katie Trautz, a native Vermont fiddler who has toured nationally and internationally sharing traditional music and original folk songs, will give a performance of Swedish music playing fiddle, guitar and banjo crossing genres with her varying ensembles.

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Trautz’s bands include: Mayfly, Wooden Dinosaur, and Kick ’em Jenny Stringband. She has studied with some of the greatest fiddle players in the US, including Dirk Powell, Pete Sutherland, James Bryan, Jimmy Tripplett, and Bruce Molsky. Katie has played alongside and shared the stage with many well-known bands including: Aoife O’Donovan Band, Brittany Haas & Lauren Rioux, Dirk Powell and Riley Baugus, Deadly Gentlemen, Sheesham and Lotus, David Wax Museum, Matt and Shannon Heaton, Rusty Belle, Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Brown Bird, Devil Makes Three, 4tet, Pete Sutherland, Brown Bird, and many others. Katie is also the co-founder of the non-profit folk music school ‘The Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture’ based in Montpelier, VT.

Traditional Swedish music is known for the rich harmonies expressed by twin fiddles, lilting polska rhythms, and the thematic play on light and dark. These are the motifs that drew the Vermont-based fiddle player, Katie Trautz, to Scandinavia. Her travels landed her at an intensive musical immersion on a farm north of Stockholm, where traditional music and culture are still thriving. After a visit with one of the country’s most renowned folk artists, a journey through the Fjordlands of Norway, and a stop at a small venue along the way to give a performance, Katie brings her travels to life with a demonstration of Swedish fiddling, storytelling and imagery.

Gunn Historical Museum is located on 5 Wykeham Rd. in Washington. For additional information call (860) 868-7586 or visit At 1 p.m. on November 17, the Gunn Historical Museum will present Swedish Music and Culture: A Musician’s Journey Through Scandinavia in the Wykeham Room of the Gunn Library in Washington Connecticut. Katie Trautz, a native Vermont fiddler who has toured nationally and internationally sharing traditional music and original folk songs, will give a performance of Swedish music playing fiddle, guitar and banjo crossing genres with her varying ensembles.

Trautz’s bands include: Mayfly, Wooden Dinosaur, and Kick ’em Jenny Stringband. She has studied with some of the greatest fiddle players in the US, including Dirk Powell, Pete Sutherland, James Bryan, Jimmy Tripplett, and Bruce Molsky. Katie has played alongside and shared the stage with many well-known bands including: Aoife O’Donovan Band, Brittany Haas & Lauren Rioux, Dirk Powell and Riley Baugus, Deadly Gentlemen, Sheesham and Lotus, David Wax Museum, Matt and Shannon Heaton, Rusty Belle, Michael Chorney and Dollar General, Brown Bird, Devil Makes Three, 4tet, Pete Sutherland, Brown Bird, and many others. Katie is also the co-founder of the non-profit folk music school ‘The Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture’ based in Montpelier, VT.

Traditional Swedish music is known for the rich harmonies expressed by twin fiddles, lilting polska rhythms, and the thematic play on light and dark. These are the motifs that drew the Vermont-based fiddle player, Katie Trautz, to Scandinavia. Her travels landed her at an intensive musical immersion on a farm north of Stockholm, where traditional music and culture are still thriving. After a visit with one of the country’s most renowned folk artists, a journey through the Fjordlands of Norway, and a stop at a small venue along the way to give a performance, Katie brings her travels to life with a demonstration of Swedish fiddling, storytelling and imagery.

Gunn Historical Museum is located on 5 Wykeham Rd. in Washington. For additional information call (860) 868-7586 or visit www.gunnlibrary.org.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Live Art Auction in Norwalk

The Center for Contemporary Printmaking has announced that Ron Pokrasso is the Honorary Chair of MONOTHON2013. Pokrasso is an originator of the printmaking event “Monothon” at the Printmaking Center of the College of Santa Fe in 1986 and brought it to Norwalk’s Center for Contemporary Printmaking in 1999, where it has been held annually.

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This year Monothon2013’s live auction and party will be held on November 16 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Lillian August Flagship Store in Norwalk. The Silent Auction will be in the “Dream House”, a grouping of showrooms at Lillian August. There will be a feature wall (salon style gallery) designated for framed Live Auction artwork. The gala event provides a memorable way of viewing outstanding art while mingling with friends and fellow art lovers.

Live auction artwork includes offerings by: Ron Pokrasso as well as Roz Chast, Sandi Haber Fifield, Emily Mason, James Rosenquist, Ammanda Seelye Salzman, Donald Sultan, Deborah Weiss and other prominent artists. New this year is a drawing for three nights to Bordeaux, France for two couples.

Parking for this event is at 32 Knight Street, Norwalk. The Lillian August Flagship Store has the huge parking lot in front, a large lot to the right of the building, and overflow parking at St. Philip Church, across Route 1 on France Street. Tickets $50/person. Advance tickets: 203-899-7999. For more information visit http://contemprints.org.

To coincide with the show, the CCP members are opening an exhibit called New Works on Paper on November 7. This show will run though January 1. Works on Paper will be displayed at the Avenue Gallery on Main Street in Norwalk.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Native American Quill and Beadwork in Litchfield Hills

In northwest Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills, the Institute for American Indian Studies on 38 Curtis Road in Washington is presenting a quill and bead work exhibition of Chris Bullock who is of Wampanoag descent.

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Since childhood, Chris has participated in Native American cultural events and has been crafting his own work for 47 years. He also provides educational programming on eighteenth century Native culture.

Chris oversees the daily operation of The Wandering Bull, LLC, a family business his parents began in 1969 that is located in Washington, New Hampshire. The Wandering Bull sells Native craft supplies, as well as vintage and antique Native art with a focus on the Northeast Woodlands.

The exhibit runs through November 30, 2013. There is no charge for this exhibition. Museum Hours: Monday through Saturday 10am to 5pm Sunday from 12 Noon to 5pm Last admission at 4:30pm. For more information www.iaismuseum.org and for information on Litchfield Hills Connecticut www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment