Anita Ford Saunders Running For President of Middlesex County NAACP

  

Fall Session 2 Classes start at Oddfellows next week!

The second six week session of Fall Classes at Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown start the week of October 31, and there are lots of opportunities for kids ages 6 - 14 to learn acting, theater, dance and visual arts. Most classes meet one afternoon per week for six weeks. The Fall season culminates in a Share Day on December 10. Registration is now live, and space is limited in most classes.

Bus transportation directly from school to Oddfellows is available for any young people attending Middletown Public Schools. 

Kids ages 9 - 14 have the opportunity to be in a mini-production of Roald Dahl’s classic “James and the Giant Peach”. Participants must commit to two rehearsals per week and two performances. Rehearsals will be on Mondays and Thursdays - students ages 12 - 14 will rehearse from 4:15 - 6 pm; those ages 9 - 11 will rehearse 4:45 - 6 pm. Performances will be at 6 pm on December 9 and noon on December 10. Space is limited!

Kids ages 6 - 8 have something special to try every day Monday through Thursday. Kids can sign up for one day per week, or as many as all four. Mondays is “Fairy Tale Theater”; Tuesdays is “Intro to Circus (Circus I)”; Wednesdays is “Hip Hop Dance”; and Thursdays is “Complete Actor I” , an introduction to the world of the actor. All classes meet 4:45 - 5:45 pm.

Kids ages 9 - 11, in addition to the chance to join “James and the Giant Peach”, also have a daily selection of classes. Mondays offer “Into The Story”, an exploration of storytelling and creativity. Tuesdays is “Afro-Caribbean Dance”. Wednesdays offer “Circus II” or “Watercolor Painting “, and Thursdays feature “Theater Improvisation”. All classes meet 4:45 - 5:45 pm.

For young people ages 12 - 14, in addition to the “James and the Giant Peach” Mini-production, there are two exciting classes on a more advanced level. Both classes meet 4:30 - 6 pm. For the serious young actor, Tuesdays is “Advanced Acting: Michael Chekhov Technique”. Wednesdays is “Musical Theater”.

Financial aid is available for all programs. Additionally, Middletown kids can enroll in the Oddbridge Extended Day program, which provides bus transport directly from your school to Oddfellows, a healthy snack, and supervised creative activities before classes start.

To register, and for more information, contact info@oddfellows.org, call (860) 347-6143, or scroll to www.oddfellows.org.

1899: Our City Was Way Ahead of the Competition in the Development of Electric Cars

 Submitted by Gary Keating

OXFAM petition for CLIMATE Justice: It’s time for major polluters to take responsibility.

Elizabeth Wathuti, Kenyan Climate Activist.
Photo credit: Armstrong Too/Oxfam

     In her letter to global leaders at this year's UN Climate Conference, Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti (left) calls for leaders of Earth's major pollution-emitting countries to step up & help to reduce substances that undercut and disturb climate processes. By reducing these emissions, polluters can help people in less developed countries which are most affected by extreme weather.

The OXFAM Effort

Oxfam* is a global organization with a history that goes back to the 1940s and efforts to alleviate famine during World War II. Oxfam today is an international organization with a record of global credibility and influence. OXFAM campaigns for equality among peoples and to end poverty and injustice. Join Oxfam America today and help to build a more just & equal future—together.
_____________________________

Click to sign Elizabeth's letter, the 

OXFAM Petition for CLIMATE JUSTICE Solidarity

When LOCAL is GLOBAL

     Climate processes are globally contiguous and overlapping. That means that local conditions make the rounds of the Earth & affect all of us, every day, every night, every minute. None of us is beyond the web of the Earth's climate (except rocket-riders in space). 

   Climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti's letter calls for leaders of Earth's major carbon-emitting countries to step up & adopt policies that help to reduce substances disturb climate processes & lead to extreme weather. By helping in this way, polluters can reduce harmful climate affects on people in less developed countries, which are most impacted by the climate crisis.

  

  Flag of EGYPT  

Boost Oxfam's campaign: Add your voice. Empower many voices.

     Call for climate justice by adding your name to Elizabeth Wathuti’s letter at the link below. Oxfam will send this message to world leaders at the 2022 UN Climate Conference in Egypt in November. 

     Please sign the petition and make your voice count. Send a powerful message of support for climate justice. Call for Climate Justice now. 

Click to sign: 
OXFAM Petition for CLIMATE JUSTICE Solidarity

*The name “Oxfam” comes from the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, founded in Britain in 1942. The group campaigned for food supplies to be sent through an allied naval blockade to starving women and children in occupied Greece during the Second World War.

This weekend at The Buttonwood Tree

   

Dust Devil Heart
Friday
October 21
8:00 - 10pm   

Dust Devil Heart is an indie folk singer-songwriter duo based in Branford, CT, consisting of two women (Holley Anderson and Elise Morrison) who sing close vocal harmonies and play acoustic guitar and electric bass. They are often joined by a pedal steel player Spencer Luckey and other collaborators on strings and percussion. They have just released their first album of original songs called 'Dwell Time,' produced by Steve Rodgers in Hamden.
It is available on Spotify and all the streaming platforms

Visit their website at Dust Devil Heart
And see Buttonwood Calendar for more information. 

The Buttonwood Tree will be participating in the
Middletown Park & Rec's HALLOWE'EN giveaway
on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 11am-2pm. 

Saturday morning 
October 22

Align with Source

A Personal Development Workshop

Saturdays on Zoom, 10:30-12:15 

with Annaita Gandhy

This week's topic: 
 A World in Need of Your Wide-Open Heart

To sign up, email thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com Spiritual Guide Annaita Gandhy conducts meditations, workshops & classes for healing & empowerment. She guides us to a deeper understanding of self & the cycle of universal processes of spiritual & cultural change in a journey of Spiritual growth. 

     Now, as our world reaches new dimensions of transition, all of us must open our hearts to change. The change upon us now is the biggest change of all -- for we are coming together as One in Love, Forgiveness & Friendship. Humanity's time in the murky waters of ego, greed, fear, doubt, dis-empowerment, & separation is coming to a close. We must now engage the power within us.

     Can we put aside our own needs to serve others? Can we forgive others for their offenses? The transition to inner power is essential for reconnecting with your most awesome Self. This is the time that will test who we choose to be.

The first session is complimentary, $10/week for continuing sessions. 

Saturday Night

Sissy Castrogiovanni        

Saturday

October 22
8:00 - 10pm

Reserve Seat ($25)

“The audience was thrilled by […] smoothly rendered workouts of Mediterranean-inspired sounds led by bluesy vocalist Sissy Castrogiovanni..”
– DOWNBEAT Magazine 

Sicilian jazz award-winning singer, composer, producer and Berklee College of Music professor, Sissy Castrogiovanni is a most unique creative artist on the contemporary jazz scene. Rooted in the pleasurable intricacy of her Sicilian & Mediterranean influences, earthy African rhythms and post-bop Jazz harmonies, Sissy’s music finds a comfortable niche in the vast sea of jazz and world music. 

For more info, tour dates, discography, and upcoming releases, visit www.sissycastrogiovanni.com

Also connect with Sissy on 

Facebook     Youtube     Instagram     Spotify     Apple     

Reserve Seat ($25)

   

The _________________________________________
Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center
605 Main Street / PO Box 71
Middletown, CT 06457
www.buttonwood.org / 860.347.4957.

Weekend at The Buttonwood Tree ~ John Prine ~ MAGIC

John Prine Tribute Fundraiser   

   
Friday & Saturday Night 

A 2-Night Event

October 14 & 15 

7 - 10pm 

CLICK HERE TO Reserve a Seat

 

     The Buttonwood Tree is proud to present a WEEKEND of John Prine songs done by local performers who love his music and have been performing his songs for decades.

This show is a fundraiser for The Buttonwood Tree - with all proceeds going to support TBT programming. Your donation is appreciated & tax deductible. Thank you for your generosity!

PERFORMERS Include

Friday, October 14th, 7-10 PM:

Jon Swift, "Anything Goes" (Steve Azzario/Marian Bairstow), Bob Lee, Marc Lendler, Eric Shevchenko, Rick Johnson, Doug Mahard, Eric Von Koniger, Peter Menta and David Weinberg.

Saturday, October 15th, 7-10 PM:

Clayton Eles, David Coller, Cece Borgeson, "Soupeater" (Sue Hill & Peter Lehndorff), Jill Thompson, Eric Paradine, Stan Sullivan and Bob Gotta.

We're hosting this two-night show as a fundraising event to help us meet the rising costs of programming. The John Prine Tribute on both Friday & Saturday will have Bob Gotta perform some of John Prine's best loved songs, along with some of our area's finest musicians, including Stan Sullivan, an award-winning guitarist, and Peter Menta, also known as Washboard Slim! Come hear some songs you know & love & sing along if you wish! From 7-10 each night!

A two-time Grammy award winning singer-songwriter, John Prine's music changed the face of modern American roots music. He was known for an often humorous style of original music that has elements of protest and social commentary. He was also awarded the PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence.  CLICK HERE TO Reserve a Seat

Saturday morning

Align with Source ~

Meeting Our World & Lives at The Higher Level

with Annaita Gandhy.

Online, via Zoom.
10:30am - 12:15pm. 

To sign up, email thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com

     Let us all hold only love in our hearts as we shower all key areas and our entire world with the purest love of Oneness. The Light within each one of us is required by Humanity, Our World and Earth at this time. More than ever before, our world needs your Light and unconditional Love!

     Do join us for our Saturday Morning Meeting of 'Align with Source ~ Living Life In JOY'. How Joyful is your life? Have you taken time to ask and see your purpose? What is your purpose? How often do you feel life is pulling you along or that it is an endless routine of day-to-day things? How much time do you have for what is meaningful to you? How much of what you do makes your heart expand in Joy? Making the transition of power from the outside to your own power is essential reconnecting with your most awesome Self.  See more about Align with Source on FaceBook at Align with Source ~ Live Life in Joy, Reconnect with your Power 

     

Sunday Afternoon

October 16
1 pm       Special MAGIC Show
               for Special Folks

____________________________________________________________________________

CLICK HERE TO Reserve a seat or call (860) 347-4957 for more info.

Partnered with PROBUS,

 The Buttonwood Tree presents a MAGIC SHOW on Sunday, at 1pm, specifically for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

      For more information about Probus, click here Hartford Probus or here Hartford Probus on FaceBook.

 

The _________________________________________
Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center
605 Main Street / PO Box 71
Middletown, CT 06457
www.buttonwood.org / 860.347.4957.

Buttonwood Tree this Weekend:

                                             

The
Night Shakers

Saturday Night 

October 8 
8 - 10pm 

Reserve Seat ($20)

        The Night Shakers’ music draws from legendary blues artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howling Wolf, Buddy Guy, and Freddie King. are all represented, along with lesser-known artists who helped shape the genre and newer musicians who’ve kept the blues flame burning through the decades.

        Their music appeals to a wide variety of ages with arrangements and performances, giving audiences a tasty helping of authentic roots music with jump and jazz blues and vintage Chicago-style blues. They play regularly across Eastern CT and Rhode Island. 

_________________________

The
Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center

605 Main Street / PO Box 71
Middletown, CT 06457

www.buttonwood.org / 860.347.4957  

Outdoor Music on Thursday Night

Hey folks!  Come support a home-grown concert, featuring musician Greg Ryan (one of the builders at Kidcity).  You'll hear amazing guitar and really cool songs - and see a few cameo performances from locals.

Outdoors, Thursday, October 6th, starting at 6 pm, behind Kidcity, under the truss that Greg built.  

The concert is free, but please consider contributing to the tip jar to support Greg's creative work.

Spielberg's AMISTAD, TOMORROW at The Buttonwood Tree

Free
Film Showing: Amistad  

   Amistad: A Story

   of Our Heritage.

  Thursday

  October 6
  @ 6:30 - 9:00  pm

Introduction at 6p by Charles A. Weisenberger,
                 Mellon postdoctoral fellow in Public History at Wesleyan University. 

 
     The Buttonwood Tree showing of Amistad contributes to the Amistad Journey to Freedom Community Day Celebration, “The Middle Passage and the Amistad Uprising: Stories of Yesterday and Today” on October 8th at Harbor Park when the Amistad ship will be open for tours. The Buttonwood Tree table at the event will feature information on Iddi Saaka, The Lost Tribe, words from the Wangunks, and the 4th Annual Middletown Middle Passage Ceremony.

     Amistad will be introduced by Charles A. Weisenberger, Mellon postdoctoral fellow in Public History at Wesleyan University, specializing in African-American history, slavery, and abolition in the early United States. He will provide historical context for the film and Connecticut’s history of slavery and abolitionism. The Buttonwood Tree doors will open at 6, and the film will begin at 6:30, after Professor Weisenberger’s introduction. The film is 2 hours and 30 minutes, and will end at approximately 9 p.m. Refreshments will be available to buy. The event is free.

Amistad (1997) was directed by Steven Spielberg and features Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey, and Djimon Hounsou in an Oscar-nominated performance. The film won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Original Score, Cinematography, and Costume Design.

This Home Energy Opportunity Is Knocking -- Click on text to enlarge