Tag: Fairfield County

Tiger Returns to Connecticut to Celebrate ‘Happy Zoo Year!

Vicktor the Siberian Tiger

In an attempt to beat the holiday traffic, Viktor, an Amur (Siberian) tiger, has arrived at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. He has returned home for the holidays and the Zoo is inviting visitors to help welcome him back to Bridgeport and celebrate “Happy Zoo Year” with half price admission from December 26-30, 2011. Also new on exhibit are two Maned wolves, the Zoo’s rare Chacoan peccary piglet, and a baby Pronghorn. Viktor was one of three cubs born in 2004 at Connecticut’s only Zoo and was transferred to the Detroit Zoo in 2008. He will be ready to greet his East coast fans after Christmas.

“We are thrilled to have Viktor back home and just in time for the holidays,” Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho said. “The song says, “Baby, it’s cold out there” but with the beautiful weather we’re having and a mild winter forecast, there’s no better time to come out and meet the newest additions to our Zoo family.”

Amur tigers range from nine to12 feet long and grow to be 400-500 pounds. These enormous animals have pale, yellow-orange fur that shades to a creamy white and pale blackish stripes with a distinctive pattern on the face as unique as a fingerprint. These big cats may be found in a variety of habitats including grasslands and evergreen forests and their diet consists mostly of deer, wild boar, elk, lynx, bear, fish, hares, and birds. Their long fur coat, about one to three inches long, protects them in temperatures to 50 degrees below zero. Booskin, the most recent male tiger at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, was moved to Racine Zoo in Wisconsin to make room for Viktor. The Zoo hopes Viktor will successfully mate with Naka, their female Amur tiger.

Maned Wolf at the Beardsley Zoo

Also new to the Zoo this winter are two Maned wolves. The two female wolves are sisters, born last spring in North Carolina. TheManed wolves have access to a heated enclosure, as they are not fans of Connecticut’s cold winters. Often mistaken for foxes, the Maned wolf ranges from four to four and a half feet in length, weighing in around 44-50 pounds. They like to eat rodents and other small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and will go for the occasional fruit and vegetables at times.

Zoo’s Holiday 2011 Schedule:

The Zoo will be open for half days on the day BEFORE Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Sat, 12/24/2011 – 9:00am – 1:00pm Tue, 12/27/2011 – 12:00pm – Thu, 12/29/2011 – 3:00pm

The last visitor will be admitted at Noon and the doors will close at 1:00 pm.

Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day – CLOSED

Holiday & Winter Carousel, Café, and Gift Shop Hours:

Monday and Tuesday – Café and Carousel closed Wednesday thru Friday – Café and Carousel open at 10:00 am and close at 3:00 pm Monday thru Friday – Gift Shop opens at 10:00 am and closes at 3:00 pm Saturday and Sunday – Café, Carousel and Gift Shop open at 9:00 am and close at 4:00 pm

About the Beardsley Zoo

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is closer than you think and is open daily from 9 am – 4 pm. Adult admission (ages 12 & older) is $12.00, children (ages 3 -11) and senior admission (62 and older) is just $10.00, and children under 3 years old are free. Zoo members are also admitted free. Parking at the Zoo is free of charge. For information, call: (203) 394-6565. Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is located at 1875 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut. For additional information www.beardsleyzoo.org.

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TAKE A GINGERBREAD BREAK IN LITCHFIELD HILLS AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY CONNECTICUT

Lots of places feature colorful gingerbread houses for the holidays, but Kent, Connecticut goes a step further.
The whole town will take part in the second annual Kent Gingerbread Festival from November 25 to December 30. Everyone is invited to follow the Gingerbread Walk through town to view imaginative and ingenious gingerbread delights in over 50 shop windows. Visitors can enjoy the displays as they stroll, then vote for their favorite creations at the Gingerbread Station, 1 Kent Green Boulevard. The station will have its own displays of entries from the local gingerbread baking contest and will also offer baking and craft classes Phone (860) 927-1463 for schedules. Besides gingerbread displays, Kent will have special events every weekend, from pancakes with Santa to caroler and a Messiah sing-along.

MORE SWEET TREATS

Kent has the biggest show, but Connecticut’s Litchfield and Fairfield Counties offer several other impressive gingerbread displays guaranteed to delight, as well as the chance to take home some of the prize creations or make your own gingerbread confection.


More than 60 buildings, with horse and sleigh teams, ponds, boats, and sledders, all dressed up in Christmas splendor will be featured at the 44th annual Gingerbread Village, a lavish display from December 3 to 10 at St. George’s Church on Tucker Hill Road in Middlebury. Everything is for sale, available to take home when the display ends. Admission is Free. Hours are Saturday, December 3rd 10 a.m. to 7 p.m, Sunday, December 4th, Noon to 8 p.m., Monday, December 5th to Friday, December 9th 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 10th, 10a.m.to 4 p.m. Call (203) 758-9557 for information.

The third annual Visions of Gingerbread: The Sweetest Architects at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center November 12 through December 18 shows off imaginative confections made by some of the area’s best pastry chefs, restaurants, and caterers. DiMare’s Pastry Shop of Stamford, SoNo Baking Company of South Norwalk and Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes of Greenwich are among those who are vying for first prize from a panel of special judges. These are far from ordinary houses; one of the past displays was a perfect miniature of the Duomo Cathedral in Florence, Italy. Visitors are invited to vote for the “Fan Favorite” of the year. Learn more at www.stamfordmuseum.org.


MAKE YOUR OWN

Those who are inspired to make their own gingerbread houses should contact the Silo Cooking School in New Milford. Each year The Silo offers classes for parents and children (ages 5 and up). There are classes also for adults, who enjoy appetizers and mulled wine as they assemble their architectural masterpieces.

Classes are held several times on November 25-27, December 2-4 and December 9-10. The cost is $85 for each adult team or each parent-child team, up to 3 people. The classes sell out every year but would-be bakers can check for openings or waiting lists at (860) 355-0300. The Silo is part of the Hunt Hill Farm Trust so they are found on-line at www.hunthillfarmtrust.org

For more information about gingerbread adventures, directions to events and listings of all the holiday doings in the region, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-4506, www.visitwesternct.com. They offer a free copy of UNWIND, a 112-page color guide to the attractions in the Litchfield Hills and a free color Fairfield County Getaway Guide.

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“Divided Light and Color: American Impressionist Landscapes” AT The Bruce Museum Through Jan. 29

Still among the best loved of all artistic movements, Impressionism records the world with a memorable alacrity, capturing scenes with spontaneous shorthand of divided light and color. The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, presents a new exhibition, “Divided Light and Color: American Impressionist Landscapes” that runs through January 29, 2012.
One of the greatest strengths of the Bruce Museum’s permanent collection and local private collectors’ interests is the American Impressionist landscape. This exhibition brings together two dozen fine examples of impressionist art in a show with imagery that continues to enchant and endure.

Recent acquisitions by The Bruce Museum include examples of the some of the pioneers of American Impressionism, including the distinguished painters, Theodore Robinson (1852-1896), John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902), and Childe Hassam (1859-1935).
Childe Hassam is well represented locally, with outstanding masterpieces recording his time in France and summer art excursions in New England. He is also well known for his work of the local Greenwich scene, including the Holley House, site of the famous Cos Cob Art Colony, as well as Mill Pond and railway bridge in Cos Cob.

The exhibition attests to the importance of the local Cos Cob Art Colony and its founders and instructors, such as Leonard Ochtman (1854-1934), whose house overlooked the Mianus River and whose work is extensively represented at the Bruce Museum. Second generation American Impressionists, such as Elmer Livingston MacRae (1875-1953), Founder of the America Pastel Society and the Greenwich Society of Artists is also represented. A highlight is the work of Matilda Browne (1869-1947), a local resident of Greenwich, and one of the few women artists among the early American Impressionists.


The exponents of American Impressionist landscape painting also recorded American scenery as far afield as New Hope, Pennsylvania and Carmel, California. Uniting these diverse works is a response to changes in light, a strong palette, and the carefully observed atmospheric effects so characteristic of American Impressionism.

This is a beautiful show that should not be missed by lovers of Impressionist Art.

About the Bruce Museum
Consistently voted the “Best Museum” by area media, the Bruce Museum is a regionally based, world-class institution highlighting art, science and natural history in more than a dozen changing exhibitions annually. The Bruce Museum is located at 1 Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. General admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, and free for children under five and Bruce Museum members. Free admission to all on Tuesdays. The Museum is located near Interstate-95, Exit 3, and a short walk from the Greenwich, CT, train station. Museum hours are: Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Mondays and major holidays. Museum exhibition tours are held Fridays at 12:30 p.m. Free, on-site parking is available. For information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376, or visit the Bruce Museum website at www.brucemuseum.org.

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How Do You Know A Hero ? Find Out November 13th !


On Sunday, November 13th, The Greenwich Historical Society will host a paper crafts workshop led by award-winning children’s author, illustrator and educator Timothy D. Bellavia.

The How Do You Know a Hero? workshop was designed to help kids understand the important role first responders play in daily life. This workshop is a new spin on Bellavia’s well known franchise We Are All The Same Inside® workshop in which children create individual characters with the goal of learning to recognize our common humanity while embracing diversity.

How Do You Know a Hero? will challenge boys and girls to design their very own action figures by transforming plain templates into police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Kids will deck out their heroes with uniforms, badges and other pint-sized accoutrements replicated from objects and photos showcased in the Historical Society’s current exhibition Everyday Heroes: Greenwich First Responders. They’ll then set their creations’ heroic feats against scenes from the exhibition.

The workshop is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers and will be held at 1:00, 2:30 and 4:00 pm. Please note that reservations required.

For additional information, please visit www.greenwichhistory.org or call 203-869-6899, Ext. 10.

JanetLeave a comment

Antiques Appraisal Weekend and a Vintage & Designer Jewelry Sale at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum


The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will host its fourth annual Antiques Appraisal Weekend and launch its first Vintage & Designer Jewelry Sale on November 5 and 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, Conn.

In these harsh, recessionary times, most of us could benefit from discovering that we own a priceless family heirloom or a masterpiece picked up for just a few dollars at a garage sale, as it often happens on such popular TV shows as Pawn Stars or the Antiques Roadshow. Evaluating and selling antiques and collectibles however, is not just reality TV at its best, but a tangible opportunity for anyone living in the tri-State area.

On November 5 and 6 visitors to the Antiques Appraisal Weekend will find an outstanding line-up of experts that will be on hand for two full days to evaluate a wide range of antiques and collectibles including jewelry, fine art, furniture, books and documents, coins, pottery and China, silverware, sports memorabilia, toys, and more.

Appraisals are $15 for a small or medium size item and $40 for large antiques such as furniture, (maximum of three appraisals). One free $15 appraisal will be available for anyone who will become a new member of the Mansion, (an annual individual membership is $35). Jewelry and accessories start at $25. Antiques Appraisals proceeds will benefit the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum.

This year, this popular event will share the limelight with a Vintage & Designer Jewelry Sale, kicking off the Holiday Season with the Mansion as a ‘must go to’ shopping destination. The sale will feature a select group of sought-after designers and offer vintage and designer jewelry as well as one-of-a-kind accessories.

For a complete list of appraisers, jewelry designers, and information on their schedule at the Mansion, please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com. The museum will be closed for tours on both days of appraisals on November 5th and 6th.

During the Antiques Appraisal Weekend the Museum Shop will be open to the public and offer an eclectic array of educational gifts and treasures to reflect the holiday spirit as well as the Museum’s featured exhibits. Victorian-style doll books and reproduction antique dolls will be on sale with other popular seasonal items such as ornaments, wreaths, gift baskets, tabletop decorations, children’s gifts, jewelry, and more. All proceeds will benefit the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum.

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Weekend at the Zoo!

I decided to take my niece Ella to the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport this past Saturday – and we had a wonderful time! One of the best things about the Beardsley Zoo is how child friendly it is. The zoo has loads of interactive activities for young and old alike. Best of all, the Beardsley Zoo is just big enough without being overwhelming.Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo exhibits hundreds of animals, primarily from North and South America. Many of the animals are endangered or threatened species, which means there aren’t many of them left in the world.

A big hit with Ella, was the prairie dog exhibit with “pop-up” viewing areas. We also enjoyed a stroll through the New England Farmyard with goats, cows, pigs, sheep and other barnyard critters. Next, we took a walk along the hoofstock trail that featured bison, pronghorn, and deer.

High on our list too see was the Bald Eagle exhibit. A Zoo volunteer was on hand to tell us about two of the eagles, Temp and Kada that came to the Zoo from the Alaska Raptor Center. We learned that Bald Eagles use their talons to catch fish, and therefore tend to live near water sources such as lakes and rivers. We learned that they will scavenge carrion, steal other animals’ kills and catch small mammals. Bald Eagles, who have an average life span of 28 years, are believed to mate for life and build enormous nests for the pair of eggs they will lay each year.

Next we peeked in at the Brazilian ocelot kitten born January 22 and her mother, Kuma. Both cats were napping in a beautiful rainforest environment. We enjoyed looking through the foliage for a glimpse of the two rare ocelot kittens, Red & Maned. Next we were enchanted by the antics of the Golden Lion Tamarins…whose energy seemed boundless…just like Ella’s!

Our last stop was a walk through the “Alligator Alley” exhibit, home to five new alligators. The new deck gave us a terrific view of these reptiles as they went about their daily activities and feedings.

We learned from a volunteer on site that Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s alligators are between the ages of four and five and are still small, the largest weighing approximately 55 lbs, while the smallest averages 30 lbs. They range from four to five feet long. Known to grow continuously throughout their lives, these creatures are known to reach lengths of thirteen to twenty feet and weights from 400 to 2,000 pounds! They can bite down with 2,000 pounds of pressure with a mouth that contains 65 teeth. Formerly an endangered species, more than one million adult alligators live in the wild today, representing a conservation success story!

On our way to the Carrousel for a spin we stopped to admire two beautiful Amur (Siberian) tigers and the Andean (spectacled) bears.

About Beardsley Zoo

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is closer than you think and is open daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Adult admission (ages 12 & older) is $12.00, children (ages 3 -11) and senior admission (62 and older) is just $10.00, and children under 3 years old are free. Zoo members are also admitted free. Parking at the Zoo is free of charge. For information, call: (203) 394-6565. Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is located at 1875 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut. For more information, visit http://www.BeardsleyZoo.org

JanetLeave a comment