Creative Juice

I just got back from a meeting of Creative Juice at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce. The group, chaired by Kid City's Jen Alexander and Green Street Arts Center's Jani Astor del Valle, meets once a month over brown bag lunches to get creative thinkers thinking together.

Today's topic was how travel helps inspire creativity, during which the group members shared experiences, and travel tales.

We heard stories of travel with foreign visitors on an American road trip, posing with pandas in China, visiting the leper colony in Hawaii, discovering hidden falls in the American West, hitting the road in India, discovering nature in Rhode Island and dancing and eating in Louisiana.

And despite the rather pedestrian surroundings of the Chamber's basement conference room (I bump my head on the ceiling each and every time I'm there), we were all able to escape, for a lunchtime, to some exotic clime via the stories of our creative colleagues.

For more information about Creative Juice, contact Cathy Duncan at the Chamber: Cathy@middlesexchamber.com.

'Tis the Season for Holiday Parties

Last night, I went to the holiday social for Creative Juice** at the sale at Wesleyan Potters. Over an assortment of spicy cheeses (including an innocent yellow cheddar that turned out to be flavored with horseradish), I chatted with friends and took in the art. Conversation ranged from the economy (of course) to everyone's plans for the coming year: leaving a familiar job to try grad school in a new field, brainstorming about ways to make Middletown hum, and daydreaming about chucking it all to travel around the world in search of inspiration. As we wandered among the windchimes and wooden toys, I was thinking about how our little creative community is growing into something both supportive and stimulating -- I'm counting my blessings.

While I was trying to help Barbara Arafeh pick out a vest suitable for conducting her Middletuners, I accidentally fell in love with a felted hat, which later followed me home.

Whatever your plans in this busy December, I hope everyone is taking the time to enjoy moments with family and/or friends.



**Creative Juice (which I mean to write more about someday) is a council of the Chamber of Commerce. The focus is on people in the arts and creative industries. It's a mix of for-profits and non-profits, of individuals and arts associations, and all kinds of mediums, from writers, actors, photographers, filmographers, desginers, etc. The above holiday invitation was designed by a new member of the group, Middletown graphic designer Carla Neri-Jayson.

Saturday, Holiday on Main

As is tradition, we arrived back from Thanksgiving weekend in Philadelphia (where my sons encountered Santa at Macy's, and on Broad Street), we arrived back in Middletown to head to Main Street where they could jawbone with Santa one more time (one of my son's want to be quite sure that Santa knows he wants the book, Walter the Farting Dog, under the tree).

The holiday events were in full swing, with Santa, Curious George and the Wesleyan Cardinal greeting children who were in queue for a "hayride" down Main Street.




At the Inn at Middletown, Mayor Sebastian Giuliano found himself upstaged by Curious George himself. While the children squealed in delight for the michievous monkey, hugging, mugging for pictures, and high-fiving, Giuliano was ignored, and left pondering his role at storyteller - a task he handled ably.

In a story about Curious George at Christmas, the mayor ad libbed: "I'm sure we'll have plenty of snow before Christmas, and we'll enjoy it, as long as all the snow falls between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays." Every concientious mayor worries about overtime.

In the Creative Juice holiday stores, local artists and craftspeople sold their one-of-a-kind wares in the space formerly occupied by It's Only Natural grocery.

Creative Juice Holiday Shop

CREATIVE JUICE HOLIDAY SHOPPE at Main Street Market (386 Main St), where members of the Arts & Creative Industries Council of Middlesex Chamber will be selling their wares, including fine arts & crafts, photography, mosaics, musical instruments, beaded jewelry, caricatures, hand-knitted items and much more! Those participating include:

Judyth Crystal Arts, Westmont Mosaics, Waring Music,
Gr. Midd. Concert Assoc., Kindermusik, Middletunes,
Ray Ross Photography, Dougal Art / Caricatures, Karen’s Kreations, Pamela Roose / Hand Knit Items, Curtis Studio of Photography, Friedlander 2

The hours of the Holiday Shoppe are the same as Holiday On Main Street:

Friday, November 28 - 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 29 - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 6 - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 13 - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 20 - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

For complete information about Holiday On Main Street, go to www.middlesexchamber.com