Tag: CT event

Chase away the Ides of March with a cozy stay in Litchfield Hills and Fairfield County

So the weather outside is frightful? Who cares, when you are snug and warm in a wonderful country inn. Whether your idea of romance is an intimate inn or a posh hotel, a wood-burning fireplace or a spa catering to couples, Western Connecticut offers a host of luxurious and romantic getaways in the rustic Litchfield Hills and in maritime Fairfield County, guaranteed to chase away winter blues.

Rock Hall, a 23-acre estate in Colebrook in the Litchfield Hills, is a classic 1912 manor house designed by master architect Addison Mizner. The handsome inn is on the National Register of Historic Places. Four of the five spacious corner guest rooms offer serene views of gardens, meadows, or forest and four have wood-burning fireplaces. In room fireside massage services are a popular winter feature. Weatherproof indoor options also include a Billiard Room with an authentic 1926 vintage Brunswick “Arcade” table, a Game Room with ping-pong, football and a vintage pinball machine, a well-equipped Fitness Room, and a Movie Screening Room, complete with complementary candy. When the weather cooperates, guests can borrow snowshoes for forays on trails in the snow-covered landscape, and sign up for a romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride. www.19rockhallroad.com

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The intimate Hidden Valley Bed & Breakfast was recently named “New England’s Best B&B on a Hill” by Yankee Magazine. The Dutch Colonial inn is located on a private estate overlooking the nature preserve for which it is named. Three guest quarters include the ground floor Red Guest Suite with private entry and a kitchenette, the Blue Master Bedroom with sweeping valley views and a private thermal spa bath, and the Green Bedroom with an additional daybed for family getaways. The third floor is a playroom for children. Hidden Valley is located in Washington, one of the most beautiful towns in the Litchfield Hills. The friendly hosts can suggest the best ways to explore the charming town and point the way to nearby spas, skiing, and carriage rides. www.hiddenvalleyct.com

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Guests will soon see why Candlelight Farms Inn in New Milford is a favorite site for outdoor weddings. The 1843 inn is on 600 majestic acres that include a picturesque stable where riding lessons can be arranged. Five guest rooms have newly renovated private baths and magnificent views of the farm-scape. A third-floor apartment includes a handy kitchen area. Guests gather in front of the fireplace in the parlor and in the Tap Room with an honor bar, a game table and a wide screen TV. Healthy fare is served each morning in the Breakfast Room. www.candlelightfarmsinn.com.

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In Connecticut’s Fairfield County, the Delamar offers plush hotel rooms and full service spas in two prime settings, on Greenwich harbor and in the quaint seaport town of Southport.

Southport’s elegant Delamar boasts fine furnishings, antique marble floors, and a French limestone hearth, as well as the highly rated Artisan restaurant. Both public spaces and guest rooms are hung with original art commissioned by the hotel or loaned by galleries. The hotel also offers a couples’ treatment room. When guests book a spa service, they have exclusive use of the Spa Suite, including a living room with a fireplace and a steam shower. www.delamarsouthport.com

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The Delamar Greenwich, overlooking a picturesque marina, also has a full service spa and treats guests to a continental breakfast each morning and wine and cheese receptions on weekends. Complimentary bicycles and local shuttle service are available for exploring the town. www.delamargreenwich.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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TheatreWorks New Milford -Celebrating 50 Years of Neil Simon

On Friday, February 28, TheatreWorks New Milford will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Neil Simon’s first and longest-running theatrical hit, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, by kicking off its 2014 season with that very show. The curtain goes up at 8:00 p.m. on a three-week run.

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In this classic, comedic romp, newlyweds Paul and Corie Bratter are proof positive that opposites attract. He’s a straight-as-an-arrow lawyer; she’s a free spirit. But they quickly discover married life is no paradise, having to endure a new apartment that’s falling to pieces, surprise visits from Corie’s overly protective mother, and the antics of their eccentric neighbor-in-the-attic, Velasco. Paul doesn’t understand Corie’s impulsiveness, while she wants him to be more spontaneous. Maybe running “barefoot in the park” would be a start?

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Neil Simon is arguably the greatest living comedic American playwright, and this is his first ‘hit’ production, that kept audiences laughing on Broadway for nearly four years straight in the 1960s. There are references to things from the past, and it is set it in 1963 to reflect that, but the comedy never gets old.

The production features six of the finest actors from across the region: Daniel Willey (Harwinton), Jessica Alex (New York, NY), Jeff Savage (Northfield), M.J. Hartell (Brookfield), Jonathan Ross (Thomaston), and Kevin Sosbe (New Milford). Besides Director and Co-Producer, Tom Libonate and Co-Producer, Glenn R. Couture, the show’s crew consists of Co-Producer and Co-Set Designer Richard Pettibone, Costume Designer Susan Pettibone, Technical Director Scott Wyshynski, Stage Manager Kathy Bolster and Assistant Stage Manager Abby Hambidge.

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BAREFOOT IN THE PARK runs March 1, 7,8,9 14,15,16. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with two 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinees on March 9 and March 16. Tickets for all shows are $23 for reserved seating.

Students and Military personnel with ID will be admitted for just $18.

On Thursday, February 27, senior citizens are invited to a FREE dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, March 6 at 8:00 p.m. is TheatreWorks’ Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance, you name the price for your ticket.

Reservations can be made online at WWW.THEATREWORKS.US or by calling the box office at (860) 350-6863.

TheatreWorks is an award-winning, regional theatre company located in the Litchfield Hills on 5 Brookside Avenue, just off Route 202 (next to the CVS), in New Milford, Conn.

For information about the Litchfield Hills, where to stay, dine and what to see visit www.litchfieldhills.com

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Cover Story: The New Yorker in Westport at the Westport Historical Society

The Westport Historical Society located on 25 Avery Place in Westport is hosting an exhibit, Cover Story: The New Yorker in Westport and “Can’t Tell a Book by its Cover…” through April 26.

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This exhibition focus’s on the fact that between 1925 and 1989, 13 New Yorker artists living in and around Westport-Weston produced a remarkable 695 covers for The New Yorker Magazine. Some 44 of the covers actually depict Westport scenes.

These two exhibits share the covers and the story-behind-the-story, focusing on the influence of The New Yorker’s “idea man” turned Art Editor , James Geraghty, who–with wife Eva–first lived on Rayfield Rd, Westport before moving to Old Redding Rd. in Weston. Throughout the Geraghty era (1939 to 1973), often with an element of wit, The New Yorker’s cover images mirrored the commuter lifestyle of his Connecticut-based artists, including Garrett Price, James Daugherty, Perry Barlow, Alice Harvey, Helen Hokinson, Edna Eicke, Arthur Getz, Reginald Massie, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Charles Saxon, Albert Hubbell, Donald Reilly and John Norment. Curator Eve Potts draws from artifacts, anecdotes and correspondence provided by the families of Geraghty and these artists, who also did innumerable drawings for the magazine.

Never, as visitors will see in “Can’t Tell a Book by its Cover…” in the Mollie Donovan Gallery, was that more true than the Aug. 31, 1946 New Yorker, a single-story issue. The story? Hiroshima, by writer John Hersey, who shortly thereafter moved to Turkey Hill South (the home later sold to Andy & Martha Stewart) in Westport.

Hersey , considered the “Father of the New Journalism,” not only was a member of Geraghty’s local New Yorker Friday afternoon bowling team (Westport Bowling Lanes, in winter) and golf team (Longshore, in summer), he served for a period of time on the Town of Westport Board of Education.

The Westport Historical Society is open Monday – Friday 10 – 4 p.m.and Saturday 12 – 4 p.m. For more information http://westporthistory.org. For information on Fairfield County www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

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Exhibit: Collections, Community & Conversation at the Danbury Historical Society

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society located on 43 Main Street in Danbury will be launching an 2014 Accessible Art Exhibit, in conjunction with the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut, on Saturday, January 18, 2014 and will run through the month of March.

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The exhibit cases in Huntington Hall will be filled with a wealth of interesting objects gleaned from the collections of individuals from The Greater Danbury area; including vintage photographs on display from guest curator, Catherine Vanaria, Professor of photographer at Western Connecticut State University. She is also President and Co-Owner of Connecticut Photographics, Inc., a professional photographic and digital lab located in Danbury.

On display will be an eclectic mix of objects including sewing machines, turn of the century postcards, milk glass, examples of antique book bindings, slide rules, colonial apothecary items, vintage toys, dolls, vintage pins and more.

The exhibit will be open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. To 4:00 p.m. Collections will be on display through March. The museum will be hosting several roundtable discussions and will sponsor an educational program, ‘How to Start a Collection’ and ‘Preserving Treasured Photographs,’ presented by Catherine Vanaria on March 15, 2014. A schedule of events and additional information will be available on the museum website.

For more information visit www.danburymuseum.org or call 203-743-5200. For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

ABOUT THE DMHSA: The Danbury Museum & Historical Society was formed in 1947 to acquire, preserve, exhibit and interpret New England’s past; focusing particularly on the heritage of Danbury. Situated in downtown Danbury, the museum preserves the John and Mary Rider House (c.1785), the Dodd Hat Shop (c. 1790), the Marian Anderson Studio and the Charles Ives Birthplace. Huntington Hall, a modern exhibit building houses the museum offices and research library.

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Louisiana-Styled Fun at the Carousel Museum Mardi Gras Celebration

Mardi Gras seems has never been more popular with events to fete the carnival season popping up all over. Mardi Gras refers to Kings Day and culminates in Ash Wednesday. In French it means “fat Tuesday” referring to the practice of the last night of eating rich foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season. This year, the New England Carousel Museum will be in full carnival mode during its 24th Anniversary Mardi Gras celebration that is taking place on Saturday, March 1, 2014 from 7-11 PM.

The Museum has organized a Louisiana-styled evening that will feature dancing to the music of the acclaimed Billy Cofrances Jazz Quartet in the museum ballroom. In addition to dancing, there will be with a silent auction with many exciting prizes up for grabs, a wine and bourbon tasting, and food a plenty!

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Attendees are encouraged to wear a mask or come in full costume and to BOYB. The evening festivities will culminate in the crowning of a king and queen of the ball. “This party is sure to pull you out of your winter doldrums while helping to support the Museum’s educational programs.

Tickets are on sale at the Carousel Museum. RSVP by February 24, 2014 by calling (860) 585-5411. The cost is $50 per person pre-paid tables of 8 may be reserved. The proceeds will support educational programming and general operating costs. The event will be held on site at the New England Carousel Museum, 95 Riverside Ave., Bristol.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact The New England Carousel Museum at (860) 585-5411 or email info@the carouselmuseum.org. For more information about the museum visit www.thecarouselmuseum.org. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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