Wine Tasting to Benefit Local Programs for People with Disabilities

MARC: Community Resources presents Red, White & Blush: A Wine Tasting Event on Saturday, April 27^TH from 6-9 PM at Beckham Hall, Wesleyan University’s premier event space. Tickets are $25/person.

Forest City Wine & Spirits has arranged for 16 Connecticut-based distributors to provide tastings of more than 70 wines and beer. All wine and beer selections will be available to order at the event, with proceeds donated to MARC: Community Resources.

Last Chance Contra Dance

Tonight! Come to the last contra dance of the semester, Beckham Hall on Wyllys Avenue on the Wesleyan campus, 8 pm, FREE!

No experience or partner necessary. Good music and company guaranteed.

For more details: http://wesleying.org/2009/05/04/9010

Photo is from the April 10th Contra Dance at Beckham Hall.

Wesleyan Farmers Market Today

From Tressa Eaton:

The Wesleyan Farmers' Market
Wednesday, February 25
11:00am - 2:00pm
BECKHAM HALL

As always there will be beautiful fresh produce, goat cheese, baked
goods, pesto, eggs, honey, handmade jams, spices, yarn, coffee,
cookies, soaps, bread, and more!

There will be hot food made with local ingredients from our vendors,
so you can buy a tasty fresh lunch if you get hungry!

Stop by the info table for recipes, reading material and an organic
cotton Farmers' Market t-shirt.

Check out the website (www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/wfm) for more information

Mid-winter Farmer's Market at Wesleyan

The Wesleyan Farmer's Market returns tomorrow. From Tressa Eaton:

We wanted to invite all Middletown residents to warm up this Wednesday
in Beckham Hall with the first Wesleyan Winter Farmers' Market of
2009!



Wednesday, February 11, 2009
11:00am - 2:00 p.m.
Beckham Hall
45 Wyllys Avenue
Middletown, CT

As always there will be beautiful local fresh produce, goat cheese,
baked goods, pesto, eggs, honey, handmade jams, spices, yarn, coffee,
cookies, soaps, bread, and more!

There will be hot lunches made with local ingredients available for
purchase and live music for all to enjoy.

Stop by the info table for recipes and a Farmers' Market t-shirt.

Check out our website (www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/wfm) for more information.

The Contra Dance

I stopped by the Contra Dance this evening at Wesleyan's Beckham Hall. While others danced, I mostly sat on the side, enjoyed the music and chatted with friends. There was a wonderful feel of community in the room -- contra dance regulars, Wesleyan students, Middletown folk & local teenagers all sharing the space.

Here's a photo of the dance in full swing.



Mark your calendars for the next contra dance on Friday, March 27th!

Wesleyan claws back but loses by a fingernail to Tufts

The Wesleyan men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker this evening to Tufts. We arrived with 8 minutes left in the game. Tufts was up by about 5 or 6. The Jumbos soon extended that lead to 7, but two consecutive three pointers (one by the tallest man on the team that brought incredulous hoots from his friends behind us) put the Cardinals within 1 with only a minute or so left. Things looked promising until a Wesleyan power forward was called for traveling while trying to drive the lane. There had been a questionable traveling call earlier in the game, but this one looked reasonable. With only 9 seconds remaining and still down by one, Wesleyan was forced to foul as soon as Tufts inbounded the ball. This put Tufts on the free throw line. Tufts then proceeded to miss the front end of a one-and-one. Poor boxing out however allowed one of the Tufts forwards to snag the rebound. Wesleyan was forced to immediately foul again, putting Tufts on the line yet again. And again Tufts missed the front end of the one-and-one. But Wesleyan decided they didn't want the rebound this time either, and let the shooter grab it instead. Wesleyan fouled a third time, and again Tufts went to the line -- and yes, you guessed it, the Tufts player missed again. Finally the Cardinals decided to grab the rebound and fed it to the guard, who drove the ball up the right side of the court. The clock was at about 5 seconds, ticking down. It almost looked like there might be a replay of the Amherst game, but the long shot fell slightly short and rattled of the rim and backboard. Fortunately, the Wesleyan center was perfectly placed to push the ball back in, but his attempt fell just shy -- and the clock ran out.

A tough loss, but a great game nonetheless. Particularly impressive were some of the set offense plays. One involved a tricky double pick, where the inside pick rolled slyly to the basket and was fed the ball by the guard for an easy lay-up. This was with about 4 minutes remaining.

And if all that wasn't exciting enough, we then headed over to Beckham Hall and caught the last two hours of the jam-packed Contra Dance. Lots of dancers of all ages, and a wonderfully talented band.

[photo courtesy of Mark Masselli]

Post-script: The Wesleyan men's basketball team plays Bates tomorrow at 2. And the women's ice hockey team plays Connecticut College at 3.

Contra Dance at Wesleyan Tonight

If you like traditional folk music, and dance, and you haven't made it to one of these events yet, shame on you.

The young men and women of Folk Revival Initiative have proven that folk musics have an evergreen quality which continues to attract generation after generation of enthusiastic listeners and performers.

These dances encourage newcomers, since for so many of the students this is a first attempt at organized dancing.

Tonight's dance features music by Ethan Hazard-Watkins, Anna Patton and Owen Marshall with calling by Rebecca Lay.

Kudos to Emily Troll for being a major force behind keeping trad music alive at Wesleyan.

Contra Dance
Beckham Hall
Wesleyan University
8-11 pm

Square root of fun

(The Fox Hunt with Wes student Anna Roberts-Gevalt, sitting in.)

Wesleyan students hosted another barn dance at Beckham Hall Friday evening with Kentucky string band The Fox Hunt.

There was a good turnout of student dancers, and dancers from the community to dance to called squares in the restored beauty of the old hall.


The Wesleyan dance promoters will produce one more dance this semsester, on the evening of the last day of classes December 1.

Gilead Community Services hosts annual fundraiser

Nearly 250 supporters gathered at dinners in far-flung neighborhoods, then gathered at Wesleyan's Beckham Hall for dessert, speeches, raffles and trivia in support of Gilead Community Services.

Gilead has been providing mental health services for individuals and families for 40 years. This year's fundraiser saw the largest group of supporters gathered to hear testimony about Gilead's work, and to take place in activities which raise money for the non-profit.

I emceed the trivia contest, and here's the photo I promised to print.

Dinner & a Quiz

With apologies for overlap with Ed's post, I have a quick question for you:

What's the name of the steamship that crashed into the railroad trestle in the Connecticut River in Middletown? I'll give you hint -- it was named after another river city...



What? You know the answer? Then I wish you'd been sitting at my table at the Gilead House fundraiser this evening.

This annual trivia-contest-for-a-cause starts with dinner at the homes of about a dozen individual hosts. We were lucky enough to be with Marian and Sam Katz and lots of old friends for paella and conversation. Then we joined all the other parties at Wesleyan's Beckham Hall, where the table groaned under all the home-made desserts. In addition to the trivia contest and a live and silent auction, the evening included several moving testimonies about the great work that Gilead does for their clients.

Although we were not victorious in the trivia contest this year, we did have a wonderful time, and we learned a few things. Like, for example, that the name of the ship that crashed the trestle was: The Hartford.

The Eye offers congratulations to the guests of host Jane McMillan for their broad knowledge of trivia -- they won the contest! {Only 364 days left to study for next year!}

Sierra Club Dinner Saturday

This Saturday, October 4th, the second annual Connecticut Sierra Club fun and fundraising dinner will be in Middletown. It will be a POT LUCK. There is room available, membership is not required and you can pay at the door.

Saturday, October 4th, 5PM to 8PM
Beckham Hall, Wesleyan University.
Wyllys Avenue (off High Street).
$20 per person with potluck contribution ($30 without)

$10 per person for STUDENTS!

The keynote speaker will be Dr. William H. Schlesinger of Duke University. Dr. Schlesinger studies chemical changes in the ecosystem, particularly the soils, in response to climate change.

The Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club has volunteers working in the following areas:

• Legislative: environmental laws at the state level. Annual training at the Capitol on November 15th.
• Conservation/Energy: Land use workshops and Cool Cities.
• Outings: Kayak, canoe, hiking.

For more information: Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club

Congressional Farm Forum at Wesleyan Today

Monday July 7, 5:30 pm, Beckham Hall, Wesleyan University

From Representative Rosa Delauro's office:

Join us for a discussion on the recently passed Farm Bill and how this legislation will affect (you as) Connecticut farmers and conservationists. It will be an excellent opportunity for you to learn about current legislation and make lawmakers aware of issues facing your specific industries. Congresswoman DeLauro serves as chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations
Subcommittee. She believes the issues overseen by this subcommittee are the core responsibilities of the federal government. It is the only subcommittee where farm policy,
international trade, nutrition programs, food safety, drug regulation, and public health come together.

This Farm Forum is unprecedented as it will be the first time that Representatives John Larson, Joe Courtney, Chris Murphy, and Rosa DeLauro will come together to speak with you about agriculture in our state. We also hope to have a representative from Representative Chris Shays’ office.

Come learn about the 2008 Farm Bill with emphasis on energy and conservation programs, and other areas of interest to you.

The summer is a busy season for you and it may be a long drive for some, so the meetinghas been arranged in the middle of the state:

Wesleyan University’s Beckham Hall - 2nd Floor 47 Wyllys Avenue Middletown, Connecticut 5:00-7:30 PM

The speaking program will begin promptly at 5:30 PM.
We look forward to seeing you, and thank
you in advance for your participation.

If you are planning to attend or have
questions, contact Amanda Freund,
Staff Assistant for Rosa DeLauro, at
(203) 562-3718, or via email at
amanda.freund@mail.house.gov.