February Fun at White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield Hills

The White Memorial Conservation Center, an Environmental Education Center and Nature Museum, is located in the heart of the 4000-acre White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield.

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The Conservation Center operates a Nature Museum with exhibits focusing on the interpretation of local natural history, conservation, and ecology, as well as a Museum Nature Store.
The grounds includes the wildlife sanctuary maintained by the White Memorial Foundation that comprises 4000 acres of fields, water, and woodlands, trails, campground and boating facilities.

In February, White Memorial is planning some exciting programs for children and adults. On Feb. 3 for example, at 1 p.m. learn to paint a winter sunset in watercolor with internationally celebrated botanical artist Betsey Rogers-Knox. Step by step instruction will be offered for all levels for ages 12 and up. The cost is $30 for members and $40 for non-members and pre-registration and payment is required.

The Center is also hosting the 2nd Annual Adult Museum Sleep In: A Sense of Wonder! So, pack your sleeping bag, your love of nature, sense of childlike wonder, and hearty appetite and stake out your floor space in the Museum or the Carriage House Bunk Room and celebrate the life and times of Rachel Carson! Night walks, day walks, and readings by Ilvi Dulac and David Leff, sing-alongs too are all part of the fun. This program is limited to 20 happy campers! All meals provided but BYOB! Members: $70.00 Non-members: $ 90.00. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

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If you are interested in winter wildlife tracking, don’t miss the free walk on Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. with Deneen Bernier to look for clues left behind by animals that tell the story of how they live this time of year.

The Star Party, an astronomy program organized by members of the Litchfield Hills Amateur Astronomy Club and the Mattatuck Astronomical Society is back on February 15. The topic will focus on our magnetic sun and weather permitting there will be star gazing after the program at 7 p.m. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. You are invited to bring your own telescope or binoculars.

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On February 16, Gerri Griswold leads participants on a winter walk through five ponds to look for animal tracks and listen for birds. This brisk stroll is capped off with hot chocolate and a sweet treat in the A.B. Ceder Room. Meet at the museum at 2 p.m. and head to the trailhead to start this invigorating walk.

White Memorial Foundation is located on 80 White Hall Rd. in Litchfield. For program information call 860-567-0857 or http://www.whitememorialcc.org. For area information http://www.litchfieldhills.com.

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The VOICE OF CONNECTICUT’S INFINITY HALL Online Radio is live!

The music of Infinity Music Hall & Bistro is now available 24/7 with the launch of The Voice of Infinity Hall, an online streaming radio show hosted by Rick Allison. Featuring the music of artists who have played at the hall or who are coming to the hall, the Voice of Infinity Hall (www.infinityhall.com/radio/) ensures that fans of the award-winning hall can get their Infinity music fix whenever they want.

Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT

Bringing outstanding music to the people online is just an extension of Infinity Hall founder Dan Hincks’ original vision. “When I opened the hall in 2008, I always knew I wanted to expand beyond the four walls of the hall itself,” Hincks says. “A few years ago we formed a partnership with Connecticut Broadcasting Network to create the television series Infinity Hall LIVE, next year we open a second Infinity Music Hall & Bistro in Hartford, and now we’re online with the radio. I couldn’t be more excited.”

The Voice of Infinity Hall is DJed by someone well known in the industry in general and in Connecticut in particular, Rick Allison. His career has led him from WYBC to WHCN to WPIX to WPLR over the last 30 years. He’s also worked for ABC, CBS, ESPN, MSNBC, “an alphabet soup” of broadcast clients, as he puts it.

For Allison, going on line with Infinity Hall is the right move at the right time.”Imagine a playlist that covers rock, pop, folk, jazz, soul, blues and more. Imagine programming an on-line radio station that covers that much musical territory to an informed and passionate audience of music fans,” he says. “I am one happy DJ. I have found my radio home on the Voice of Infinity Hall.”

Now in its fifth year of operation, Infinity Music Hall & Bistro is located on Route 44, 20 Greenwoods Road, Norfolk. The box office telephone number is 866-666-6306 or tickets may be purchased online. Visit www.infinityhall.com for complete calendar and other information.

For area information www.litchifeldhills.com

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Super Bowl Sunday to benefit New England Carousel Museum

A large crowd is expected to attend the annual Super Bowl Sunday Bingo on Sunday, February 3, 2013. The bingo will again be held at St. Stan’s Church hall, 510 West Street, in Bristol, to benefit the New England Carousel Museum, a non-profit, educational and fun organization.

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The bingo is scheduled as a pre-game event, ending in time to watch the Super Bowl football game. The doors at St. Stan’s Church Hall will open at 1 o’clock, and the first bingo game will start at 2:15 P.M. 22 games will be played, with a total pay out of $1,225.00.

Packages will be sold for $20.00 at the door. Packages include: the entry fee and the paper package and paper specials for $10.00; two specials, purple and blue, with four strips at $1 each for $8.00 a package; and four quickies at 50 cents each for $2.00 a package. Additional specials and quickies may be purchased.

Come early and get your favorite seat, purchase lunch prepared by our volunteer group and enjoy free coffee. Door prizes will also be awarded. This bingo gives people the opportunity to support the Museum while having a good time. For more information about the bingo or the Carousel Museum call 585-5411 or visit www.thecarouselmuseum.org.

For area information visit www.litchfieldhills.com

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Tree Lecture at Greenwich Historical Society

On Thursday, January 24, at 7:00 pm, in celebration of the Jewish New Year for Trees, Tu B’Shevat, Neil Pederson, PhD, will lecture at the Greenwich Historical Society in Cos Cob on “The Science of History: Tree Rings and the History They Reveal.” Dr. Pederson will discuss how ancient trees and timbers from human structures are used to broaden our understanding of history. He is a Research Assistant Professor in the Tree Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University.

Pederson

From the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire to the construction of buildings and boats locally and globally, trees are the environmental historians that reveal events long faded from human memory and historical documents — including how the tree ring cores taken from the Bush-Holley House reveal its construction history. The Lecture is sponsored by the Greenwich Historical Society, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Bruce Museum, and Greenwich Reform Synagogue. Admission is free but reservations are suggested. Please call 203-869-6899, ext. 10. Doors open at 6:30; lecture begins at 7:00 pm. Vanderbilt Education Center, 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob, CT.

For area information visit www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Take a Walk Through the Dinosaur Age at the Bruce Museum

Since the first paleontological expedition to Mongolia by Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History in the 1920s, the allure of discovering exotic Asian dinosaurs has been the dream of every paleontologist. Subsequently, dinosaurs from China have been unearthed revealing their relationships to birds as evidenced by the presence of feathers together with scales. Several of the most spectacular of these dinosaurs are coming to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, beginning January 26 and continuing through April 21, 2013.

A visiting Szechuanosaurus
A visiting Szechuanosaurus

Chinasaurs: Dinosaur Discoveries from China welcomes visitors to walk among the skeletons, skulls, nests and eggs of more than a dozen of these rare Asian dinosaurs. From the huge 32-foot long, meat-eating Yangchuanosaurus to the gazelle-sized plant eaters such as Psittacosaurus, the prehistoric fossils of the Far East provide an exciting experience for dinosaur enthusiasts.

Skeletons of all sizes from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods tell the tale of dinosaur diversification and shifting continents. Maps, video and activity tables help visitors of all ages learn more about the specimens on view. One display features a Jurassic battle between the plated, plant-eating Tuojiangosaurus with a spiked tail and the large meat-eating Monolophosaurus with teeth like steak knives. The long tail feathers and fused bones of Confusiusornis indicate that it was an early precursor to birds, and evidence suggests that male and female looked different, like many birds today.

Chinasaurs offers a glimpse of the unprecedented evolution of dinosaurs and their dominance over the world for more than 155 million years.

About the Bruce Museum
Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities. For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Winter happenings at The Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies is offering a series of January events that will help families warm up to this chilly season of the year. On Tuesdays through February 12 from 10:30 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. for example pre-school children will enjoy the wonders and joy of traditional Native American stories. Why does Bear have a short tail? Who is Gluskabi and from where did his superpowers come? And why is Coyote known as a “trickster?” An added treat is that the stories are told in a beautifully replicated 16th century indoor Sachem’s house. The story hour is included free with regular museum admission of $5 Adults; $4.50 Seniors; $3 Kids; IAIS Members Free. www.iaismuseum.org

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On Saturday January 19 and Sunday January 20 at 2 p.m. guests will enjoy a Winter Film Festival that features a documentary called Reel Injun. Native American peoples have long been a topic in Hollywood filmmaking, but the picture presented of them was not always flattering or accurate. Most westerns of Hollywood’s Golden Age presented “Indians” as either ruthless savages with no sense of honor or fools who were lost without the help of the white man. Adding insult to injury, they were usually played by white actors in make up. In the 1960s movies began to show a more positive and realistic portrayal of American Indians and Native American actors were given a greater opportunity to present their story in television and the movies. Director Neil Diamond (a member of Canada’s Cree community) offers a look at the past, present and future of Native People on the big screen in this documentary. The film is included free with regular museum admission of $5 Adults; $4.50 seniors; $3 Kids; IAIS Members Free. www.iaismuseum.org

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Also on January 26 from 12 noon to 2 p.m. it is time to put on your winter boots and go on a Winter Tracking Walk. Certified wildlife tracker Andy Dobosof Three Red Trees School of Natural Living will lead you through the winter woods to discover how the animals live in this stark time of year. He will also demonstrate some of the skills ancient people employed to survive during the winter months. Fee: $8 Adults; $6 IAIS Members; $4 Children. www.iaismuseum.org

About IAIS
Through discovery, research and education, the Institute for American Indian Studies enriches contemporary society by engaging the public and making more visible the history, cultural values, beliefs and living traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere, especially those of the Northeast. With its museum, archaeology, research and unique collection, IAIS creates a focal point for the community by preserving the knowledge of the continuing stories of these indigenous peoples.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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