Tag: Connecticut

April fun at Beardsley Zoo Connecticut’s Only Zoo!

The Beardsley Zoo located in Bridgeport on 1875 Noble Ave. has a trio of exciting events planned in April.

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On April 8 and 9 at 10:30 a.m. for example, the Zoo is hosting its’ monthly 45 minute program called Zoo Tots. This special program has been created for kids (accompanied by an adult) ages 18 months to three years old and is an excellent family fun learning opportunity. Kids activities may include: stories, games, crafts, and live animals. A special highlight is the “Fur, Feathers, and Scales” session that will explore the differences between mammals, reptiles and birds. The cost is $10 for Zoo members and one child; $15 for non-members and one child. Participants may sign up for either day. To make a reservation, pre-register by calling the Zoo’s Education Department at 203-394-6563.

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Activities at the Zoo are not only for young children. On April 16, the Zoo is hosting an evening lecture at 7 p.m. at the Zoo’s Hanson Exploration Station. The lecture series engages audiences of all ages, especially lifelong learners, who have an appetite for delving deeper into the wonders of wildlife. Attending these programs allows visitors to live vicariously through the Zoo’s experts, who often have had incredible close encounters with creatures across the globe. There is a suggested $5 donation for the lecture. Refreshments will be served.

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To round out the month of April, the Beardsley Zoo is celebrating Earth Day on April 26 and 27 with its annual Party for the Planet event that takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Zoo’s Earth Day event is about encouraging local, organic, earth-friendly choices as a way of promoting better health for everyone including our planet. Environmentally friendly vendors will be on hand with everything from green cleaning products and recycled fashion accessories to better lawn care for you and wildlife! A highlight of this event is the Zoo’s special citizen science corner where visitors can learn about online science projects that you can participate in. This is the perfect event to learn what you can do to make the planet a healthier place for you and your family.

About Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo
Connecticut’s only zoo features 300 animals representing primarily North and South American species. Visitors won’t want to miss the Amur (Siberian) tigers and leopard, Brazilian ocelot, Mexican wolves, and Golden Lion tamarins. Other highlights include: the South American rainforest with free-flight aviary, the prairie dog exhibit with “pop-up” viewing areas, the New England Farmyard with goats, cows, pigs, sheep, and other barnyard critters, plus the hoofstock trail featuring bison, pronghorn, deer, and more. Visitors can grab a bite at the Peacock Café, eat in the Picnic Grove, and enjoy a ride on a colorful carousel. For more information, visit www.beardsleyzoo.org.

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CONNfection- Connecticut Food and Wine Showcase

The Waterbury Neighborhood Council will host the second annual CONNfection event, a showcase featuring Connecticut made food and wine, on Thursday, March 27, from 6p.m. – 9p.m. at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased by phone at 203-346-2000, online at www.palacetheaterct.org, or in person at the Box Office, 100 East Main Street in Waterbury.

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CONNfection attendees will have the delight of sampling some of the best home grown and homemade products that Connecticut has to offer, including pasta, sausages, artisanal breads, gourmet olive oils, specialty condiments and relishes, biscotti, cookies, chocolates, cupcakes and more.

Guests will also have the opportunity to sample a variety of beer and wine from local breweries and vineyards, as well as Onyx Moonshine, the first legal moonshine to be brewed in New England. The list of vendors scheduled to appear include 1249 Restaurant, The Bites Company, Fascia’s Chocolate, The Grotto Restaurant & Mrs. G, recent “Cupcake Wars” winner Hardcore Sweet Cupcakes, La Molisana Sausage, The Olive Oil Factory, Pasta Gallery, The Provender of New Morning Market, Saha Sauces LLC, Sweet Confections by Regina LLC, Sweet Maria’s, and more to be announced.

CONNfection is sponsored in part by The Good Life Wine and Spirits, as well as the City of Waterbury’s Arts and Tourism Commission. Proceeds from the event will be used by the Waterbury Neighborhood Council for their work on behalf of all Waterbury neighborhoods, including downtown where the Palace Theater is prominently located.

For information on Litchfield Hills visit www.litchfieldhills.com

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Journey to a Magical Cloud Forest- A Quiet Place at the Oliver Wolcott Library and White Flower Farm

The Oliver Wolcott Library on 160 South Street in Litchfield is hosting the photographs of Sue Kennedy through April 25 in the Gallery of this lovely library.

Twenty years ago Sue Kennedy was in Texas working on a Kinesiology and Adapted Physical Education PhD. If anyone had told her that photographing and raising orchids was what she would be doing today, she wouldn’t have believed them. She is here to share her journey, and hopes you will smile, find joy, and most of all, peace from these images of her quiet and powerful children of the Magical Cloud Forest.

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Sue’s father was a pediatrician in the Torrington/Litchfield area, but he always had a second great passion…orchids. Before medical school he earned a PhD in Botany from Cornell and dreamed of discovering and naming a new orchid. After retiring from medicine and armed with a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit, he and his wife took many collecting excursions including the Amazon, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. Plants were brought home, potted or mounted, and treasured in his “quiet place,” the greenhouse he had built.

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When her father passed away and her mother became ill, Sue was forced with a dilemma – let the orchids die, sell them off or give it a go. She dove in and never looked back. With each blossom she began to see and photograph the unique character of each plant. She shared her images with friends and would see their eyes light up with a kind of childish wonder, peace and joy. Sue continues to capture how light is reflected and penetrates; how it enlightens; how each bloom is a fascination.

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After visiting the Library, stop by White Flower Farm to look at the fabulous selection of plants to be found there. White Flower Farm is located on Rte. 63, 167 Litchfield Rd. a few miles south of the center of Litchfield. Visitors to White Flower Farm will find a wide array of plants for sale. The shop at White Flower Farm opens in April. Visitors may also explore several beautiful display gardens that are adjacent to the shop. For more information about White Flower Farm visit www.whiteflowerfarm.com.

For more information on programs at the Oliver Wolcott Library call 860-567-8030 or www.owlibrary.org For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

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Women Make A Difference at Wesport Historical Society

As part of the Westport Historical Society’s Women Who Make A Difference program, there will be a presentation on Kimberly Wilson on March 20 from 12 noon to 1:15. If you’ve ever wanted to meet Harriet Tubman or one of the other African American women who made black history, come to the WHS for Westport actress Kimberly Wilson’s one- woman show “A JOURNEY…”

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Wilson’s performance uses song, movement and dialogue to bring to life Tubman, a runaway slave who led hundreds of other slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad, as well as former slave and Abolitionist leader Sojourner Truth, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and the poet Maya Angelou.

In addition to presenting such iconic historical figures as Tubman and Parks, Wilson also includes an African queen and a slave woman, who are intended to be representative of the African American experience. African Queen, who endures a brutal journey on a slave ship, is a reminder of the rich native African culture and heritage in place before the start of the slave trade, Wilson says. The slave woman, the actress says, represents the struggles of slaves in a strange land with a strange language, crushed by the destruction of family and culture, and surviving through courage, hope, hard work and never-ending faith.

Sojourner Truth was a former slave from New York who became an outspoken advocate for the rights of both blacks and women and helped recruit black troops for the Union Army during the Civil War. Fast-forward 100 years to Rosa Parks, who, with many others, helped “kick-off the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Ala. bus, spurring a city-wide bus boycott and forcing the city to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and author Maya Angelou is also an important Civil Rights Era figure whose poems and books emphasize looking to the future with hope and courage, Wilson says.

Actress, singer, poet Kimberly Wilson was a member of theater companies in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. She is now an active member and Board Treasurer of the Theatre Artists Workshop in Norwalk, CT.

This event is sponsored by Catamount Wealth Management, Catered Lunch included $15, WHS Members $12, For Reservations 203-222-1424 or visit http://westporthistory.org. For area information: www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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In the Dark at the Bruce Museum

The dark is a place of mystery. Sometimes scary, always intriguing, the darkness inspires the imagination and encourages exploration.

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Darkness is also a natural evolutionary selective pressure that has caused plants and animals to adapt to dark ecosystems like caves, the forest and desert at night, and underneath the ground.

In the Dark: Animal Survival Strategies, on view through April 13 at the Bruce Museum, located on One Museum Drive in Greenwich invites visitors to explore different environments of darkness and the unique life forms that inhabit them through a combination of hands-on and whole-body interactives, specimens and walk-through dioramas.

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Since prehistoric times, humans have sought to understand the function of darkness and have invented ways to change it. With this immersive, entertaining and family-friendly exhibition that explores four environments – fragile caves, deep soil, and the forest and desert at night – people of all ages will discover how animals adapt to living in the dark and learn how we can help preserve fragile worlds without light.

March Programs

Look & See: In the Dark!
Wednesday, March 12; 12:30 – 1:15 pm
A program especially designed for children ages 3-5 years and their adult caregivers, who will explore the Museum’s exhibition through hands-on experiences, stories and more. Children will explore the exhibition and then make their own animal of the dark! $5 for members and $7 for non-members per child, per class. Parents/guardians are free. Please make reservations by calling the Museum at 203 869-0376.

Animals of the Dark Family Day
Sunday, March 30; 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Explore the exhibition to find out which animals survive best at nighttime! Make your own night-creature crafts in the workshop! At 2:00 pm and again at 4:00 pm, Live Night Creatures with animal specialist Rob Mies from the Organization for Bat Conservation, who will teach us all about some animals that live in the dark such as owls, bats and sloths. All activities are suitable for students of all abilities ages 5 years and up. Free with Museum admission.

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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 http://www.brucemuseum.org.

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Playtime at the Palace – Stamford Center for the Arts

A brand new series featuring bubbles, puppets, slapstick, and more, Playtime at the Palace will continue to delight children of all ages in March and April at Stamford’s Palace Theatre. From Puppet Playground to Story Pirates, entertainers will charm families with up-close-and-personal performances on Sunday afternoons. All shows start at 3 PM and last approximately one hour.

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On March 9, for example the program is Story Pirates (Adults: $20; Children under 12: $15) Stories by kids, for kids! Story Pirates will delight and surprise with puppets, catchy songs and outrageous sketches, all the while motivating kids to pick up a pencil and write down their own fantastic adventures. Story topics run the gamut, from kung fu ninja babies fighting crime to cats flying and tickle-monsters who rule the world.

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The Silent Slapstick (All tickets: $10) program is scheduled for March 30 and is sure to have your kids laughing themselves silly! This program features uproarious ’20s comedy films, presented with a live pianist! Lincoln Center’s famous silent film accompanist/historian Ben Model will present 3 short slapstick silent comedies making this an ideal opportunity to introduce youngsters to inventive visual humor. This program will be presented in the Palace Cinema.

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The P.i.E. Puppets in Education (All tickets: $15) will perform on April 6. This program will show your children how to put on their very own puppet show! The Monkey Boys team will teach them how to create a show with their own stuffed animals and learn how to create puppets through simple construction techniques! Some of these will be used in a short show at the end of the class.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.scalive.org or charged by phone with major credit cards by calling The Palace Box Office at 203-325-4466. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Palace Theatre box office in downtown Stamford, open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The 2013-2014 season is made possible by Palace Theatre’s Season Sponsors Seaboard Properties, Inc. and the Whittingham Family.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

About the Palace Theatre

The vision of the Palace Theatre is to be the regional arts center for exciting entertainment that enhances and enriches the cultural, educational, economic, and social life of the community. The Palace strives to achieve this vision by demonstrating integrity in all work and relationships, providing service and quality in all activities, fostering and promoting diversity of thought, ideas and culture, providing stewardship for the Stamford Arts community, emphasizing outreach in our community, and offering creativity in all endeavors.

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