Tag: Litchifeld Hills CT

Celebrate Henry Ward Beecher’s 200th Birthday with the Litchfield Historical Society

Henry Ward Beecher Courtesy of the Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library
Henry Ward Beecher Courtesy of the Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library

This year is the 200th anniversary of Litchfield native and famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher’s birth. Join the Litchfield Historical Society on Monday, June 24 at 7:00 pm for a celebration of Beecher’s birthday, as well as a discussion of Debby Applegate’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher.

Led by retired Litchfield High School English teacher Jerry Geci, the conversation will focus on Beecher as a fascinating and complex man: celebrated in his own time, though not untouched by scandal. The Most Famous Man in America creates a powerful portrait of Beecher, highlighting both his charisma and his flaws. Applegate’s book has been touted as “Thoroughly researched, passionately written, and richly detailed” (Harry S. Stout). Joan Hendricks, a Harriet Beecher Stowe scholar calls it “A lively narrative of nineteenth-century religion, power, passion, and politics, as well as a perceptive study of the elusive preacher who rode them to the top.”

Whether you think Beecher was a saint or a scoundrel, please join us for a rousing book discussion. We will also view Beecher family-related items from the Historical Society’s collections and have birthday cake.

This event is free; a copy of the book can be purchased for $8 from the Historical Society. Please register by Friday, June 14, to receive a copy of the book. To register, call (860) 567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

The Litchfield History Museum is located at 7 South Street, Litchfield, CT. For more information about this or upcoming programs, please call (860) 567-4501 or see www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

For area information visit www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Garden Club of America House and Garden Tour Celebrates 100 Years in Litchfield CT

“Garden of Margaret Hicks Gage, Litchfield Garden Club Archives, Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.”
“Garden of Margaret Hicks Gage, Litchfield Garden Club Archives, Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.”

To fete their 100- year anniversary, the Litchfield Garden Club is hosting a flower show and house and garden tour including two Smithsonian Gardens on June 15 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The Flower Show will take place at the Litchfield Community Center located on 421 Bantam Rd. (Rte. 202) in Litchfield and will feature outstanding horticulture and three exhibits one on garden history and design including details on four Smithsonian gardens, a second on the history of the Litchfield Garden Club and a third conservation exhibit on organic food. A boutique offering special garden items will also be a highlight. The Flower Show at the Community Center is free and open to the public.

In conjunction with the Flower Show, the Litchfield Garden Club has organized a very special house and garden tour of five members’ homes and gardens that includes judged design classes in each home. Tour tickets and maps are available for purchase at the Community Center and are $50 per person. Tour goers may also purchase a box lunch at Breeze Hill Farm Gardens for an additional $18 and enjoy lunch on the grounds of this spectacular garden. For tickets in advance visit www.litchfieldgardenclub.org for a printable registration form.

Houses featured for this very special tour include some of Litchfield’s most interesting homes and gardens.

The Ozias Lewis house, built in 1806 is a perfect example of a late traditional center chimney, 5 bay Federal style dwelling. The garden has newly installed stonewalls, terraces and imaginative gardens, including extensive beds of peonies. The gardens provide extensive views of Chestnut Hill to the east.

The Lismolin House named after a castle in Tipperary in Ireland is a gracious Colonial Revival style house complete with a Palladian window. The gardens with elegant stonewalls and garden beds afford wonderful eastern views and contain a former owner’s pet cemetery.

Perhaps one of the most interesting houses featured on this tour is the Oliver Wolcott House, built by Oliver Wolcott, Senior, the Colonial High Sheriff of Litchfield, a member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Connecticut, in 1753-1754, is the oldest house in the Borough of Litchfield. Many of the leading figures of their day, including General George Washington, Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton were entertained here. During the Revolution, the statue of King George III, torn down by a mob from its pedestal in Bowling Green in New York City, was brought by oxcart to the orchard behind the house, where the women and children of Litchfield melted it and molded bullets for the Continental Army.

The current owners bought the house in 1978 and carried out extensive renovations under the direction of expert restorers. The house has the original, hand-routed, beaded clapboards on its exterior and oak floors with handmade nails throughout the first floor. The “keeping room” contains a cooking fireplace and beehive ovens. The delft tiles in the dining room were installed about 1790 and the paneling over the dining room fireplace is original 18th century work. The rear terrace overlooks extensive gardens that are breathtaking.

Another beautiful home on the tour is the Ethan Allen House, the birthplace of Revolutionary war hero Ethan Allen in 1738. Today the house boasts a renovated kitchen, breakfast area and garden room. A landscape design is in process including renovating the parterres off of the terrace, originally designed in the early 1950’s. The gardens offer an extensive eastern view of Chestnut Hill.

Breeze Hill was built in 1800 as a summer home and the Oldmsted brothers were hired to landscape the grounds. In 2012, the owners of Breeze Hill Farm joined a select group of Garden Club of America homeowners whose garden documentation was accepted into the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens. On June 15th, you are invited to pick up your reserved boxed lunch here and enjoy a pastoral picnic lunch in these bucolic meadows and gardens.

Another Smithsonian Garden featured on the tour is Chestnut Hill Gardens that consists of a 240-foot perennial border composed of deer-resistant and native plants. The border surrounds a large vegetable garden, herb gardens, a water garden, pinetum, fruit trees and native shrubs.

For area information visit www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Lime Rock Starts Summer Racing Season May 24-26

lime rock copy

Lime Rock Park located on Rte. 112 in Lime Rock CT kicks off the summer racing season with several exciting events. The Memorial Day Race weekend Friday, May 24, Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26 (no Monday event) will be jam-packed with top rank sports car series races topped off by a fabulous car show.

New this year, the sports car race series will feature the newly revitalized SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series. This is Detroit’s big “iron” that includes Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes going head to head with each other while fending off advances of some of Europe’s best sports cars. In addition to this, there will be the added excitement of heart pounding Formula F and F2000 races.

On Sunday, May 26 one of the most popular events, the 4th annual Royals Car Show will return to the historic Lime Rock track again this year from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is exciting to be able to get out on the track to view all the fantastic cars that will be showing off. Participating vehicles include muscle cars, tuners and imports, street rods, motorcycles, classic cars, antiques, antique trucks, race cars, exceptional contemporary cars and fire trucks – the list is endless. The car show entry fees is $10 for adults, $5 for military, and kids 12 and under are free. Proceeds raised from the car show at Lime Rock Park benefits the Wounded Warrior Project.

For tickets for the Trans-Am Races and Royals Car Show visit http://tickets.limerock.com. For general information on Lime Rock Park http://www.limerock.com. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com.

lime rock track copy

About Lime Rock Park

Dreamed up in 1956 by Jim Vaill and with the help of John Fitch and Cornnell Aeronautical Labs, Lime Rock is 1.50 miles of up hill and down dale, a track that looks deceivingly simple but is immensely challenging to drive at high speeds. Its setting is in a village in the heart of the Litchfield Hills renowned for its great natural beauty and cultural heritage.

In its 55 year existence, almost all of the sport’s greats have raced here: Andretti, Moss, Gurney, Posey, Rodriguez, Hobbs, Hill, Donohue, Ward, Fitch…the list of great drivers who’ve raced here is endless.

Lime Rock has also seen virtually every kind of racecar grace its corners and straights…from ground-pounding NASCAR stock cars to Can-Am, Camel GTP, F5000, Trans-Am and Atlantic, this list also goes on and on.

Today, Lime Rock is the leading edge of American LeMans Series and Grand-Am with their own stars and cars that are writing history.

JanetLeave a comment

Free New Paddling Guide to Housatonic River

Canoeing in Litchfield Hills
Canoeing in Litchfield Hills

Blessed with two major recreational rivers, the Housatonic and the Farmington, and over 9,000 surface acres of lakes and spring-fed ponds, the Litchfield Hills of Northwest Connecticut are overflowing with spring fun on the water. Melting snow that makes rivers run high means prime time for whitewater challenge and sunny spring days are just right for a peaceful paddle on a sun-dappled river.

The Housatonic Valley Association has just published a free Connecticut Paddling Guide of nine navigable sections of the Housatonic River with 29 access sites starting from Ashley Falls, Mass. and going to Stratford, Connecticut.
The Guide provides detailed maps and easy to read directions. Descriptions of each section of the river include distance, the type of water flow, landmarks, and tributaries entering the section and warnings where necessary. Other sections of the guide have information on the river’s history, its health, and plant and wildlife species found along the river. The guide also includes tips on boating safety and guarding against spreading invasive aquatic species.

Canoing on the Housatonic River in Litchfield Hills
Canoing on the Housatonic River in Litchfield Hills

Notes on specific wildlife, recreational areas, historic sites, other pertinent information as well as photos and illustrations are sprinkled throughout the sections. It is printed on water-resistant paper in two colors with a full color cover and some full color spread throughout the pages.

The guides are available at HVA in Cornwall Bridge; Connecticut Outdoors, LLC, Oakville; Clarke Outdoors, West Cornwall; Main Stream Canoes & Kayaks, New Hartford and The Trading Post, New Milford. This guide may be downloaded at www.hvatoday.org.

For visitor information visit www.litchfieldhills.com. Call for free paddle guide and Unwind brochure 860-567-4506.

JanetLeave a comment

Ehrick K. Rossiter – Designs for Modern Living

BookCover_copy

One of America’s foremost architects, Ehrick K. Rossiter, is the subject of a new book by noted American Architecture Historian Ann Y. Smith. This volume, which features nearly 200 illustrations, 50 of them in color, include glass pate images of the buildings when they were new, floor plans and gardens, and images from an original copy of Rossiter’s rare 1883 book.

Ehrick K. Rossitter – Designs for Modern Living is a window into America’s past for historians, owners of historic properties, students of architecture and design, and for everyone who wonders about this country’s most expansive era in building. Rossiter worked primarily in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, designing everything from low-cost housing to country estates, exclusive hotels and apartment buildings in New York City, along with libraries, town halls, clubs, resorts, and churches.

In Connecticut, many people live in the shadow of Rossiter’s famous buildings such as The Music Shed in Norfolk and churches in Washington, Litchfield and New Milford.

Ann Y. Smith, a well known historian who was a museum curator for 30 years, and an adjunct lecturer on American Architectural History, has written extensively about New England, and Connecticut in particular. In this text she offers the most in-depth analysis ever available of Rossiter’s great contribution to American architecture.

The book is available now at The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington, CT. 06793. The author will offer a lecture on Ehrick Rossiter at the Gunn Museum (another Rossiter building) on Saturday, May 11 at 11 a.m. For more information, please visit the website at www.ehrickrossiter.com.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

JanetLeave a comment

Book Signing with Mother Dolores Hart

Mother Dolores Harts’ autobiography, entitled “The Ear of the Heart – An Actress’ Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows” will have a book signing at the Jubilee Barn at the Abbey of Regina Laudis on Sunday, May 5th from 1:30 – 4 pm. The public is invited to meet Mother Dolores and to join in the Abbey’s celebration of the publication of her autobiography. The Abbey is located on 273 Flanders Road in Bethlehem CT. http://abbeyofreginalaudis.org

earoftheheartCOVER (1)

The book details the acting career of rising star Dolores Hart in the 1960’s. She appeared in ten highly successful movies. Then, she made a shocking decision: Hart left the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and entered a contemplative monastery. Now, 50 years later, Mother Dolores gives a fascinating account of her life, with co-author and lifelong friend Richard DeNeut in THE EAR OF THE HEART: An Actress’ Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows.

Dolores was a bright and beautiful college student when she made her film debut with Elvis Presley in Paramount’s 1957 Loving You. She acted in nine more movies with other big stars such as Montgomery Clift, Anthony Quinn and Myrna Loy. She also gave a Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway play The Pleasure of His Company and appeared in TV shows, including The Virginian and Playhouse 90. An important chapter in her life occurred while playing Saint Clare in the movie Francis of Assisi, filmed on location in Italy.

Born Dolores Hicks to a complicated and colorful Chicago family, Mother Dolores has travelled a charmed yet challenging road in her journey toward God, serenity and, yes, love. She entered the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, at the peak of her career, not in order to leave the glamorous world of acting she had dreamed of since childhood, but in order to answer a mysterious call she heard with the “ear of the heart.” While contracted for another film and engaged to be married, she abandoned everything to become a bride of Christ.

About the Abbey of Regina Laudis

Regina Laudis is a monastery of contemplative Benedictine women living in union with the Roman Catholic Church and following the Rule of St. Benedict according to the Primitive Observance. Founded in 1947 in Bethlehem, Connecticut by Mother Benedict Duss. Regina Laudis was elevated to the status of an abbey in 1976. The community of Regina Laudis is presently made up of 40 women, representing a wide diversity of personal and professional backgrounds. Regina Laudis means Queen of Praise. Their prime mission as contemplative Benedictines is to pray the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours, keeping the prayer of the psalms resonating through the day and night, every day of the year.

JanetLeave a comment