Tag: things to do in CT

November Fun Naturally at White Memorial Foundation

White Memorial Foundation located just off Rte. 202 on Whites Wood Road in Litchfield has planned a fun filled November for nature lovers.

photo credit: White Memorial
photo credit: White Memorial

On November 5 take a brisk walk with Gerri Griswold then relax with a super healthy meal. The objective is to share recipes, learn how to use herbs and spices to create wonderfully delicious meals that will keep you focused on your goal and to use this beautiful property to help you become the very best you can be. As for the featured dish of the night it is a Hearty Vegetarian Chili, Mesclun Greens with Oranges, Avocado, and Toasted Almonds, and Fresh Fruit. Make sure you dress for the weather and pack a flashlight! And, don’t forget to bring your own place setting! This event starts at 6:00 P.M., at the A.B. Ceder Room, Members: $15.00 Non-members: $25.00. Limited to 20 people! Pre-registration and prepayment are required.

On November 8, stop by Point Folly on the grounds of the Foundation anytime between 9 am and 12 pm to do some birdwatching with the new Education Director Carrie Szwed and don’t forget your binoculars to spot winter migrants and arrivals at this free event.

On November 15, get your paintbrush ready for a class with world renowned botanical artist Betsy Rogers-Knox! This is a great opportunity to learn techniques of botanical illustration from a pro. The class is for all levels of experience. All supplies are included. Ages 12 and up. 1:30 P.M. – 4:00 P.M., A. B. Ceder Room, Members: $35.00 Non-members: $45.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

If you give a “Hoot” then the felting workshop with Robin McCahill should be on your calendar for November 22 from 10 am – 4 pm. This is a perfect opportunity to create a handmade gift for a loved one (or to keep yourself!). Using soft wool and a special barbed felting needle, sculpt a night time owl of your choice. This one day workshop will enable you to finish your bird in time to adorn your home for the holidays. Learn some of the nocturnal habits of the famed owls while you work. All materials included! Members: $55.00, Non-members: $65.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

On November 23, there will be an afternoon Green Man Concert with with Michael McDermott and Friends Benefit Concert Supporting The White Memorial Conservation Center. he Green Man is a mysterious, eerie figure depicted mainly in medieval European stonework, believed to represent an ancient vegetation deity. It is nearly always depicted as a “foliate head,” that is, a face made of leaves and vines. Sometimes it appears as a human face peering out from leaves, other times with animal features. This joyful afternoon with ridiculously talented purveyor of joy, Michael McDermott and his band “Cead Mile Failte” Gaelic for “A Hundred Thousand Welcomes”, will include music by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Irish singer / songwriter Luka Bloom, and many more. What a splendid way to spend the Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving! 100% of the proceeds from this concert benefit the Conservation Center. 2:00 P.M., Carriage House, Members: $15.00 Non-members: $20.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.

To finish the month, on November 29, take a walk with Gerri Griswold along the Cranberry Pond Trail and cap off the walk with a cup of hot coffee and a thick wedge of Crimson Pie swimming in a pool of thick ginger crème anglaise! Meet in the Museum. 2:00 P.M., We’ll drive over to the trail head together. FREE…Donations will be accepted to help defray the Conservation Center’s programming expenses.

For more information about White Memorial Foundation visit http://www.whitememorialcc.org. For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

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Explore your inner artist with a pro at Karen Rossi Studios

Karen Rossi Studios is sure to bring out the inner artist in you no matter what your artistic ability is. Karen is a highly regarded artist well known for her original metal sculptures. Rossi also licenses and imports her whimsical characters of hobbies and professions, known as Fanciful Flights™. A growing brand, Rossi Studios is constantly introducing many programs. The newest additions include Aviv Judaica, and puzzles by Ceaco, Stave and Ravensburger.

Holiday shopper EMAIL

In Litchfield Hills at Rossi’s newly opened studio in Torrington located on 27 East Main Street in the historic Allen Building she has organized a series of classes for the month of November that are sure to delight young and old.

BlueMermaid

On November 1 Rossi is offering a Mermaid Fanciful Flights workshop. Participants will make their very own mermaid by painting the beauty first, and then attaching charms to tell the story of your sea creature. Materials are included, but you’re invited to bring old broken jewelry, sea glass& shells. $30.00 (Regular $40.00 per person).

Magic Mosaic Boxes are the highlight of the class on November 6 where participants will create a very special box for all their tiny keepsakes. In addition to mosaics, there are lots of mixed media in the studio to help make your piece unique. All materials supplied, but you’re invited to bring your old China plates to smash up! Making mosaics is a great way to let out stress and relax. $25.00 (Regular $40.00 per person).

Peppermint Cat

Shelf Sitters that sit on a table, shelf or desktop replete with dangling legs and shoes will be made on Nov. 8. This workshop is $50 (regular $40).

Sure to be favorites, on November 15 participants will make Christmas Dogs and Cats ($25/$40) and will personalize each one for a one of a kind keepsake. On November 22 participants will Make their own Menorah ($35/$55) and will be able to choose from one of Karen’s lasercut designs. You’ll be given a white menorah to fill with color, add beads and candle cups and you’ll be ready for Chanukah.

For more information and to sign up for one of these fun and affordable classes visit http://www.karenrossi.com. For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

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Haunted Graveyards and Witches Dungeon Deliver Chills and Thrills

It is that spooky time of year again and Bristol Connecticut in the Litchfield Hills is “spook central”!

For chills, make haste to the Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce Family Theme Park in Bristol, which has been called “The granddaddy of the horrifically good time.” An unholy order of monks keep watch over the graves in the dark caverns of the Catacombs here and a dark and misty fog envelops the graveyard where zombies and night stalkers have wakened from the dead. Some are real, others are amazing animatronic creations made by The Haunted Graveyard’s crazed staff.

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Recommended for adults, teens and very brave children, the park opens at dusk weekends from through November 1, and runs to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Lake Compounce will also be operating 17 thrill rides including Boulder Dash, Ghost Hunt, Down Time, and Zoomerang. Proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes Associations. For tickets visit https://www.lakecompounce.com or http://hauntedgraveyard.com.

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This will be the 48th year for the annual Witches Dungeon Halloween Classic Movies Museum in Bristol. The Graveyard Of Classic Ghouls sets the atmosphere as you enter the dungeon where accurate life-size figures of Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and others are featured in 13 scenes or dioramas based on the vintage movie chillers. Many of the figures are made from the actual life casts of the actor’s faces, plus some original costumes or props, in a wax museum style setting with special voice tracks by Vincent Price, Mark Hamill, and John Agar. Many Hollywood props are on display and vintage films may be shown outdoors, weather permitting.

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While waiting for each wax museum tour, you can view actual film props, actor’s life casts and movie posters, or step into our film room, to view classic silent horror movies, shown on film, not video. Featuring far more life size figures & original movie props than we have ever had on display before! Figures based on the classic films of Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and more.

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The new location for Witches Dungeon is 98 Summer Street, Bristol Historical Society in Bristol. The hours are Friday through Sunday evenings, 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31 – Nov. 2. The Museum is not recommended for children under age 7. For additional information visit http://www.preservehollywood.org.

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Warner Theatre hosts International Playwrights Festival

The Warner Theatre on Main Street in Torrington Connecticut in the center of the Litchfield Hills is hosting the 3rd Annual International Playwrights Festival. The Festival is a celebration of new works by playwrights from across the country and around the globe. For the third year, over 200 plays were submitted from across the United States and Canada and as far away as Australia, Israel and Great Britain. 12 winners have been selected.

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The festival will consist of three nights of performances by the top three winning playwrights featuring four playwrights each night.

On Thursday, October 16 at 8 pm – BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO GROW UP JULIET will be featured. This play was written by Rex McGregor from Auckland, New Zealand. This will be followed by FIREFLY IN AUGUST by Sheila Curran Bernard from New York, MOVES LIKE JAGGER by Suzanne Bailie from Washington, and THE COUNTER OFFER by David L. Williams from Pennsylvania.

On Friday, October 17 at 8 pm – I’VE GOT A PROBLEM WHATEVER by Cynthia “Andy” Landis from Tennessee will start off the evening. This performance will be followed by CRACKED by Gwydion Suilebhan from Maryland, TIME TRAVEL IS GOOD FOR THE COMPLEXION by Shari D. Frost from Massachusetts, and CUTHBERT’S LAST STAND by Andrew Biss fromPennsylvania.

On Saturday, October 18 at 8 pm the first performance will be CAPTIVE AUDIENCE SWORD PLAY* (By Invitation only) by Charlene A. Donaghy from Connecticut. This play will be followed by CHECKING THE BASEMENT FOR LEAKS by Doug DeVita from New York, BUDDHISTS IN THE BASEMENT by Mary Beth Smith from Massachusetts, CAPTIVE AUDITION by Paul Braverman from California and THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK NUMBER by Julie Weinberg from New York.

Tickets are $15 per night or $30 for all three nights. For tickets, call the Box Office at 860-489-7180 or visit www.warnertheatre.org

On Sunday, October 19 at 3 p.m. the Warner is hosting the Connecticut Artists & Playwrights Festival that brings together visual art featuring Connecticut artists exhibiting in Torrington’s Five Points Gallery with Connecticut playwrights to create new ten-minute plays that will be produced at the Warner Theatre’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre.

The Connecticut Artists & Playwrights Festival recognizes the work of emerging and established artists from across the state. It gives visual artists an opportunity for their art to serve as inspiration for a piece of dramatic writing. It gives playwrights a forum for production of their ten-minute plays that are inspired by one of three pieces of visual art.

THIS YEAR’S ARTISTS & PLAYWRIGHTS:

ANNUNCIATION – Judith Thorpe
VENUS SMILED by Steven Otfinoski (Stratford, CT)
FLIP by Jonathan Yukich (Hamden, CT)
QUELCHED by Robert Schneider (New Haven, CT)
THE SEQUENCE – Katherine Myers
THE SEQUENCE by Bob Tilton (Storrs, CT)
LOBSTER SPECIAL by Mara Dresner (Rocky Hill, CT)
CIRCLING THE GLOBE by Victoria Z. Daly (Goshen, CT)
OMNES ORGANUM TRIPLUM – Pam Bramble
TO TELL THE TRUTH by Allan Appel (New Haven, CT)
FAULT by Julie Weinberg (Goshen, CT)
YOUR EYES, THE STARS by Darcy Parker Bruce (Norwich, CT)

Tickets are $15, for tickets, call the Box Office at (860) 489-7180 or visit www.warnertheatre.org

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Pastoral Solitudes and Landscape Paintings at the Gregory James Gallery

November 4th. All of the paintings were produced over the past two years and reflect the farms and untouched landscapes of Connecticut’s Northwest Corner. A few marine paintings were inspired by scenes near Adkins’ home in Maine, where as a boy, he spent summer vacations with his family.

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Most of his paintings are derived from small sketches made on location, which Adkins refers to later in the studio, making subtle changes in color and light to evoke a mood, the season or time of day.

The green and gold fields of “Northern Farm Early Spring” draw the eye up to an aging grey barn illuminated by sunlight peeking over the hills beyond the farm. The last remnants of snow are visible on hilltops and the bare branches of trees stretch toward a pale sky tinged with purple. The interplay of light and shadow hint at a scene captured just before sunset, or perhaps slightly after sunrise.

The change of season is evident in “Fall Diagonal Light Kent,” which features a pair of barns, bookends to a white farmhouse, tucked beneath leafy green trees tinged with orange. The last slanting rays of sun fall over the scene from beyond the frame of the painting as thick clouds move in from the opposite side.

Looking at “Lake Waramaug Summer,” the viewer seems to be perched on the path, in the same spot Adkins set up his easel, pausing to take in the view of the lake and green the hills sloping down to its edges. There is a small farm tucked into the hillside, yet there is a sense that the viewer is able to take in this tranquil scene alone. Adkins calls it “a snapshot of the moment. You get a true sense of the atmosphere and the feeling for the place.”

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A graduate of Paier College of Art of New Haven, Adkins completed graduate classes at the School of Visual Arts of New York. He has worked as art director and creative director for some of the most prestigious advertising agencies in Connecticut and New York.

As a contemporary painter, Adkins’ style and technique has developed from early influences by Impressionistic painters of light on nature, such as Monet, Pissaro, Willard Metcalf. Adkins’ work is featured in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. His paintings have been shown in galleries and exhibitions in Connecticut and New England, including the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Butler Institute Of American, Old Lyme Association, Gregory James Gallery, Greene Art Gallery and at Bayview Gallery in Brunswick, Me. A member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and the Association of Oil Painters of America, he participated in the prestigious International Marine Art Exhibition at The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport. In 2014, he will be one of a select few award-winning artists from seven countries selected to participate in the 35th Annual International Marine Art Exhibition at Mystic Seaport.

The Gregory James Gallery is located at 93 Park Lane Road (Route 202) in New Milford, about 100 feet from the intersection of Route 109. For more information, please call (860) 354-3436 or visit gregoryjamesgallery.com.

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Chili and Beer highlight of Salisbury’s Fall Festival

Chili, beer, brats and live music are featured as the 5th Annual Brew-Ski Fest returns bigger and better than ever to the Salisbury Fall Festival on Sunday, Oct. 12th at Satre Hill in Salisbury.

Photos by Marlena
Photos by Marlena

The event hosted by the Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA) that organizes the popular Ski Jumping Championships have organized a “Brew -Ski” event that is featuring beers from 30 breweries and that’s a Brew-Ski record” ! Popular brands like Big Elm, City Steam, Charter Oak, Goose Island, Sam Adams and Berkshire Mountain will return as well as new names like Black Hog, Broad Brook and Fool Proof. For a complete list of breweries, as new breweries are added daily, visit www.Jumpfest.org or go to www.brewskifest.com.

The Chili Cookoff, longtime favorite event of the the Fall Festival has found a new home along side the Brew-Ski at Satre Hill. This is a professional competition open to restaurants and other food service organizations with certified inspected kitchens. Judging will take place from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Photos by Marlena
Photos by Marlena

Live music also returns to the Brew-Ski this year when the popular local band The Nice Ones perform. The band, which won the Housatonic Youth Services Bureau Battle of the Bands several years ago played to an enthusiastic packed house at SWSA’s Snowball last year.

Tickets for Brew-Ski Fest cost $30 per person in advance and are available at Stateline Wine and Spirits in Canaan, 860 824-7295 and Ledgebrook Spirit Shop in Winsted 860 379-4216. Tickets will cost $35 the day of the event. The price includes the chili tasting. Visitors interested only in the Chili Cookoff can taste and vote for a suggested donation of $5.

Proceeds from the Brew-Ski and Chili events which will be held rain or shine will benefit SWSA’s youth skiing programs.

For more information about Litchfield Hills visit: www.litchfieldhills.com

“Photos by Marlena”

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