Tag: CT Travel

April Fun at Audubon Greenwich

Spring gets into full swing in April at Audubon Greenwich. There are many family fun events taking place here that will provide fun for the whole family.

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On Saturday, April 12, for example,two exciting walks are planned. The Ponds and Vernal Pools walk will teach you how to search for salamanders, frogs and more and will take place from 2 p.m. – 3:30. All ages are welcome on this walk. RSVP is required so call Ted Gilman at 203-869-5272 x230 to reserve your spot.

There is also a springtime sunset and moonlight walk from 7:45 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. Participants will seek out the sights, sounds, and smells of a spring evening visiting field, pond, forest, and lake in search of wildlife. Participants will also listen overhead and look up at the moon in search of silhouettes of night-flying springtime bird migrants. This walk is good for kids Ages 7 and up. Space is limited and an RSVP is required to Ted at 203-869-5272 x230.

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The month of April is ends with two events. The first is a documentary film, called Unacceptable Levels from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. on Saturday April 26. Learn more about common chemicals, how their effects can be more profound on children than on adults, and how the Conn. General Assembly’s Children’s Committee has proposed legislation, “An Act Concerning Children’s Products and Chemicals of High Concern,” which, if passed, could authorize studies that will guide recommendations to protect children. This event is suitable for adults and interested youth. Location: Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library (101 W Putnam Ave). Call Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239 with questions and RSVPs are appreciated to greenwichcenter@audubon.org.

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On Sunday, April 27, there will be a Nature Art Class with Adriana Rostovsky from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This class will show participants how to create textures and collages with nature’s treasures found outdoors. These sessions will focus on using natural items like cones, pods and seed heads to create nature-themed decorations. All ages’ welcome. $25 for first two people; $5 per additional participant. RSVP and advance payment required to greenwichcenter@audubon.org or Jeff at 203-869-5272 x239.

The Audubon Greenwich is located on 613 Riversville Rd. For more information greenwichcenter@audubon.org

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21 Annual Chocolate Lovers Expo in Southbury

The 21st Annual Chocolate Lovers’ Spring Expo to benefit Easter Seals will be held on Sunday, April 6 from 11a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Southbury off of I-84 exit 16.

Sweet Maria's Chocolates
Sweet Maria’s Chocolates

With chocolate lovers in mind, this event showcases many of the areas finest chocolate delights and specialty food items from a wide variety of exhibitors and culinary schools.

In addition to chocolate, event goers are sure to enjoy a silent auction, door prizes, special drawings, and demonstrations as well as music by Excite Disc Jockey Entertainment and Bella Winds Woodwind Ensemble as you shop for chocolate goodies, unique gifts, products & services.

Tickets are $25 in advance ($30 at the door). Children’s tickets (ages 5-12) are $5. For tickets or exhibitor information please call 203-754-5141 Faith Hull (ext. 251) or Carolee Kalita, (ext. 243). Proceeds benefit the programs and services of Easter Seals, serving the special needs of infants, children, and adults with disabilities in greater Waterbury, central, and northwestern Connecticut. www.waterburyct.easterseals.com

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

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Spring into spring at Bent of the River Audubon

Bent of the River Audubon located on 185 East Flat Hill Road in Southbury is celebrating the return of spring migratory birds this April with several programs that are sure to help you enjoy this annual migration.

Bluebirds
Bluebirds

On April 4 for example at 6:30 p.m., Bent of the River is hosting a program called “Timberdoodling”! Participants will meet in the Bent of the River Parking Lot (members free, non-members $5) to observe one of North America’s most intriguing mating displays as the male American Woodcock struts, peents, flies, and whistles his way into the females favor. Past walks have proven very successful in witnessing this impressive display. In addition, we are also likely to see the courtship flight of Mourning Doves, and hear the classic “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” call from our resident Barred Owls, all with a background symphony of Spring peepers. This is a very popular program and registration is limited so register soon. Rain cancels this event. Registration is required. Please email Jim Drennan at jdrennan@audubon.org or call (203)264-5098 ext. 303.

On Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. the Land Management Staff of Bent of the River will present information on how Audubon manages sanctuaries for birds and other wildlife at the Kingsley Room in the Southbury Public Library on 100 Poverty Rd. in Southbury. This free event will include information on how to improve landscapes at home to provide better habitats for birds and other wildlife. The focus of this evening will be on shrub and grassland habitat species including butterflies, dragon flies and the plants they need to survive and thrive. This presentation is perfect for gardeners interested in improving their gardens and landscape while spending less maintenance time! The meeting is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please email Jim Drennan at jdrennan@audubon.org or call (203)264-5098 ext. 303.

Jewels of the Blue — Eastern Bluebird management will be the topic of discussion on Thursday, April 17 at 7 pm at the historic barn at Bent of the River Audubon Center. The cost for this program is $3 for members and $5 for non-members. It has been estimated that the Eastern Bluebird population has decreased 90% since the mid 1800’s due to the introduction of the starling and house sparrow from Europe. These species are more aggressive than the bluebird and will kill both adults and eggs to take over the nesting location. However, since the late 1960’s, populations have been recovering due in large part to the popularity of constructing bluebird nest boxes designed to keep starlings out and educating the public about how to deal with house sparrows. Bent of the River land manager, Jim Drennan, will lead a discussion on how best to attract, care for, and manage your bluebirds, and relate the challenges Audubon faces caring for their 25 Bluebird nest boxes. If time permits, there will be a walk into the meadow to observe bluebird habitat.
Registration is required. Please email Jim Drennan at jdrennan@audubon.org or call (203)264-5098 ext. 303.

For more information about Bent of the River visit http://bentoftheriver.audubon.org. For information on the Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com.

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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.

Blue Cattleya

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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