This Weekend At The Buttonwood Tree FOCUS Teen Improv and The Mattabesset String Collective

Focus Teen Improv

March 29 @ 8-10 pm

$5 for students & youth, $10 for adults

Utilizing audience suggestions and the power of spontaneous-creativity-mixed-with-mostly-useless-pop-culture-knowledge, FOCUS Teen Improv will delight and amaze you with their comedic superpowers! Come enjoy an evening of interactive comedy improv with the entire family at The Buttonwood Tree!

FOCUS Teen Improv is comprised of dedicated young performers from a variety of CT towns who come together weekly to work on the craft of improvisational theatre. Under the direction of Lara Morton, who has been training improvisational actors for 25 years, FOCUS cast members are provided a solid foundation of acting skills and techniques as established by the “mother of improvisational theatre”, Viola Spolin.

Live performances by FOCUS Teen Improv are hilarious, spontaneous, surprising energetic, creative, interactive and uplifting experiences for our live audiences. As many of our young performers are multi-talented, we often incorporate music into our shows in addition to comedic “handles” and unscripted skits. The FOCUS Teen Improv cast to be featured in the March 29th, 2019 performance at The Buttonwood Tree includes Dean Paglino, Kenny Pelphrey, Sylvia Sonenstein, Phoebe Trowbridge, Race Tucker, Denise Wray, Henry Young, and Theo Zucconi. Details here/Reserve seats

Handful Productions Website

Aligned with Source: A Personal Development Workshop & Meditation

March 30 @ 10:30-12 pm

Topic: From Fear to Integrity & Trust
What role dos this have in today's world? Understand the issues that keep us in fear.
Details here
Official Facebook Page
Suggested Donation: $10 (Give what you can)

The Mattabesset String Collective

March 30 @ 8-10 pm, $15

Mattabesset String Collective is a 5-piece acoustic ensemble playing an eclectic mix of bluegrass, blues, folk, mountain, country and rock, all in a string band style. The band has played in various configurations around central Connecticut for over ten years. Its present lineup includes Barry Chernoff (guitar), Marc Eisner (mandolin), Rebecca McCallum (fiddle), Gil Skillman (banjo, cuatro, and dobro) and Kevin Wiliarty (bass).

They return once again to Buttonwood Saturday, March 30, bringing with them a voiceless passion through their playing, good vibes, and a whole lot of strings.

Reserve your ticket while you still can! 

Mattabesset String Collective Website

The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center is located at 605 Main Street, Middletown. There is ample, free parking behind It's Only Natural market. Refreshments, viewing of Buttonwood's Art show, the bookstore and refreshments are all open and available. Call for info: (860) 347-4957. If you want to see what events we have lined up for the month check our website's event calendar here.

Artificial Turf Field Construction Begins

One of our city's soccer fields was ripped out today, the first step in the installation of an artificial turf field.

Middletown Youth Soccer has a 25 year lease of the city park known as the Country Club Road fields, with exclusive rights to use its two large soccer fields, which were constructed with city money.


MYS and other athletic leagues have sought artificial turf fields for many years, in order to provide more playing time for their teams.

At the May, 2018 meeting of the Public Works Commission, the leadership of MYS asked if it could use some of the 21st Century Parks bond money to install a subsurface, which would then be covered with privately funded artificial turf.  Brig Smith, the City's General Counsel, determined that it could not, because the Common Council approved the Mayor's proposal that no bond money could be used to install artificial turf.

Smith informed MYS that it would have to fund the entire installation, and in addition would have to post a bond to ensure that the work would be completed satisfactorily, as well as a bond which would ensure that the field would be restored to natural grass at the end of the lease.

According to the minutes, none of the Councilmen serving on the Public Works Commission raised any other concerns about the installation of artificial turf.

The city's position is that no other permits or approvals are required.

The typical cost of an artificial field is $750,000.

In the 6 months since MYS asked if city money could be used for some of this, the city has taken steps towards the paving of the parking lot and construction of a concession stand and restrooms.

Those improvements will cost the city over $1M.

Cat Tales Annual CATS IN THE CASTLE Event 2019

Money Smart Week at Russell Library

Russell Library offers several programs to help you learn about money!

Russell Library will be offering several events that help people gain a deeper understanding about money issues beginning March 31st. 

Sponsored by the Friends of the Russell Library, all events take place in the Hubbard Room! Please call (860) 347-2520 to register, or register at the Information Desk at the library.

Here is the line up of our Money Smart Week programs: 

Finding Low Cost Rentals in the Middletown Area

Sunday, March 31, 2:00pm. Ann Faust, Executive Director of the Middlesex Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, provides an overview of the Middletown area rental market, focusing on lower cost rentals for individuals and families. Drop in; no registration required. Questions and/or experiences are welcome. 

Using Excel to Manage Your Investments: A Money Smart Week Event

Monday, April 1, 10:00am. Bob Carlson will demonstrate a variety of techniques for using Excel as a money management tool. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Market Corrections and How They Affect My Retirement

Monday, April 1, 6:30pm. This program will cover investments’ rates of return, how pensions and social security affect plans, ways to hedge or shelter a portfolio, taxes, buy-low / sell-high strategies, and weathering market storms. Michael Alimo has many years of experience on Wall Street and with various brokerage firms, much of that time devoted to clients in CT, with a focus on retirement planning, risk management, and wealth preservation. Registration is recommended. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Grants--How to Get Them and Then What: A Money Smart Week Event           

Tuesday, April 2, 9:30am – 12:30pm. Judi Margolin, formerly an executive with the Foundation Center in New York and a consultant in the area of philanthropy, will present this robust workshop. Topics covered include details on the types of grants available and the merits of each, writing proposals, alternatives to cash grants, what to do when you receive a grant, and how to best position yourself for the next grant. Registration is required and limited. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520. 

Planning for Long Term Care: A Money Smart Week Event

Tuesday, April 2, 6:30pm. Not knowing the rules can be devastating to your estate. Attorney Czepiga, of Czepiga, Daly, Pope and Perri, will discuss asset protection, gifting a home, the five-year look-back (another way to protect savings), and spending down resources. He will also discuss Medicaid and its often confusing rules. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Buying Your First Home                              

Wednesday, April 3, 6:00pm. Whether you’re buying or building your first home, a lot depends on your lender. With market conditions and mortgage programs changing frequently, it is important to have expert guidance throughout the process. David Colan, a Community Development Mortgage Officer, will lead the discussion. Registration is required. Register at the Information Desk or by calling 860-347-2520.

Revel in 4 States of Jazz Tonight!

4 States of Jazz

March 23 @ 8-10 pm, $20

Karen Frisk, vocalist

Joining me are jazz masters from 4 States in the Northeast…

CT’s own: The Legendary Donn Trenner, piano

RI – Internationally known Dave Zinno on bass

NY’s – Ron Vincent on drums

MA – Boston Pops’  Mike Monaghan on Sax.

Karen Frisk is a versatile vocalist who has performed in several areas of the country with local and world-renowned jazz artists.

Karen expresses a very diverse sound. Her vocal styles cover breathy ballads to heart-wrenching blues, sexy Latin rhythms to up-tempo swing and more.

She has been influenced by some of her favorite artists… Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and several more.

Having developed a sound all her own, Karen is considered one of the most respected premier jazz vocalists in Southern New England. She makes a musical event fun for the audience and the band – whether it’s a high energy venue, or a more intimate environment.

She’ll bend the notes, play with the timing and keep swingin’!  What a percussive rhythm machine!

She has shared the stage with many premier jazz artists including: Dave McKenna, Dick Johnson, Gray Sargent, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Brian Torff, Donn Trenner, John DiMartino, Mike Renzi, and others. Karen Frisk Website

The pianist Donn Trenner came up in the ranks of early bebop pianists and appears on nearly 100 jazz albums from 1950 onward. His instrumental talents include dabbling in unique keyboard instruments such as the celeste, as well as use of the cello, and he eventually became almost even better-known for his activities as a conductor and musical arranger for a variety of vocalists and television show hosts. His most famous gig along the latter lines was leading the band on the Steve Allen Show, which was the original prototype for the incredibly popular Tonight Show. In his early career, Trenner‘s home base of Connecticut put him within easy riffing reach of New York City and its busy jazz scene. As a combo pianist, he worked with players such as Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Oscar Pettiford, Dave Pell, Howard McGhee, Charles Mingus, and Ben Webster, some of this playing taking place after he relocated to the west coast.

His eventual finesse conducting large groups was no doubt polished while playing piano in jazz big bands led by Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, and Les Brown. The Brown band became a ticket into another type of show business entirely, one that would prove to have a much larger audience than the experimental bebop sound. Brown went to work for comedian Bob Hope, taking the talented Trenner with him and resulting in engagements as a combination music director, pianist, and arranger for Lena Horne, Nancy Wilson, Jack Jones, Dick Haymes, Ann-Margret, and the Allen television assignment. Outside of network studios, work with vocalists Wilson and Ann-Margret often led to sojourns in Las Vegas.

One of Trenner‘s greatest assets to performers is apparently his perfectionism; he is often willing to sacrifice great amounts of his own time to make sure a project, or more specifically, one four-bar phrase within that project, is up to snuff. As for jazz, Trenner is not one of those players who let his abilities in this genre go to flab once involved in the glitzy world of Las Vegas shows and network television. His later releases that emphasize straight-ahead jazz or jazz soloing within a song format, such as the 1996 Paul Broadnax date entitled Here’s to Joe, have shown little, if any, degeneration in swing or creative ability. All in all, it could be suggested that Trenner represents an admirable blend of jazz and pop in his work that few performers are able to sustain; brief, and quite enjoyable evidence of this is his piano introduction on the original Nelson Riddle arrangement of “Route 66.”

A freelance woodwind player in Boston for more than thirty-five years, Michael Monaghan also works as a jazz musician, studio singer, and back-up vocalist. He is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory and did graduate work at the University of Massachusetts and the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Monaghan’s freelance work includes performances with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras; with orchestras for Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet; and in pit orchestras for touring shows including “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “Porgy and Bess”, “Sweeney Todd” and others, at the Wang, Colonial, and Shubert theaters in Boston. In addition, Mr. Monaghan has performed with popular entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, John Mellancamp, Cyndi Lauper, and many others.

Mr. Monaghan has been a member of the Herb Pomeroy Jazz Orchestra; his jazz experience also includes performances at Carnegie Hall with Mel Torme and Gerry Mulligan, participating in Rosemary Clooney’s “Demi-Centennial” special on A&E, and playing with the Woody Herman Band, the American Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, and with many jazz artists, among them Anita O’Day, Buddy Rich, and Chick Corea. His Boston Pops experience includes working with Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart at Symphony Hall and on the long running PBS television series “Evening at Pops”.

He has recorded with John Williams and has played on all of Keith Lockhart’s Boston Pops recordings. He is a featured saxophone soloist on the recent Pops CD, “The Latin Album”. In addition, his sax playing has been heard on many network TV programs including “Friends”, “Rescue Me”, “General Hospital”, “The Young and the Restless”, “Walker, Texas Ranger” and others. He is also the featured saxophone soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood’s highly acclaimed film, “Mystic River”.

Dave Zinno has been performing professionally since 1980 and is a faculty member at the University of Rhode Island as well as at Brown University. After his studies at Berklee College of Music and the University of Rhode Island, he moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked with Grammy winning vocalist Dianne Schuur for one year.Zinno’s most recent recordings include “Planet Safety” on soul note records (featuring Leo Genovese);”New Stablemates”(arabesque) with Jared Sims, Eric “Benny” Bloom and Steve Langone; “Remembering Billie” and “The Music of Jule Styne”(Blue Duchess) with Scott Hamilton and two new projects with Adam Nussbaum, Jay Azzolina and Dino Govoni (Whaling City). Zinno also plays in trios behind singer/entertainers Ann Hampton Calloway and Ben Vereen and recently played on a daytime Emmy nominated soundtrack.

Details here/Reserve seats

The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center is located at 605 Main Street, Middletown. There is ample, free parking behind It's Only Natural market. Refreshments, viewing of Buttonwood's Art show, the bookstore and refreshments are all open and available. Call for info: (860) 347-4957. If you want to see what events we have lined up for the month check our website's event calendar here.

Classes for Personal Development at The Buttonwood Tree

Learn Reiki For Treatment of Self and Others

THIS IS A 2-PART CLASS. Both classes must be attended for certification. Classes are held 2-8 pm (approx) on 3/31 AND 4/7. 
Admission: $160 for non-member and $150 for member 
Manual certificate will be distributed upon completion

Reiki is a healing practice originating in Japan. It is used as an alternative health approach to manage symptoms and improve general well-being. It is non-invasive and safe complementary therapy to use alongside a doctor approved treatment plan. 

Reiki treatment helps lessen the impact of stress and releases tension from the entire system. It has great potential to bring about many positive benefits to your overall physical and emotional well-being. Treatment has a myriad of benefits which include a lower heart rate, blood pressure, and stress to name a few. There is even evidence of Reiki treatment increasing immune strength and helping the body's healing mechanisms function more effectively.

If you're wondering if Reiki can treat you the answer is Yes! Reiki can help you feel better by restoring balance to the body physically and emotionally; therefore promoting rest and relaxation. Clients have reported better sleep, decreased pain, increased focus and concentration, and better digestion. 


Studies and medical professionals have observed that Reiki:

• Stabilized blood pressure and heart rate

• reduced from chemotherapy

• easier breathing

• stabilized blood sugar

As a practitioner of Reiki you can:

• relieve pain, anxiety, and fatigue

• treat depression and improve physical symptoms, mood, and well-being

• enhance quality of life

• boost mood by relieving anxiety and depression

• may improve some symptoms and conditions such as headache, tension, insomnia, nausea

Classes will be held from approximately 2-8 pm on 3/31/19 and 4/7/19. Don't miss out on the chance to learn how to practice Reiki on a friend, neighbor, family or even yourself! Change is assured, but it only begins if you’re willing to take it! Details here/Reserve a spot

About Instructor: Eileen is a Reiki Master and her life is devoted to helping the sick and needy and became a Reiki Practitioner in 1999. Since then, she has been offering Reiki treatments to patients, families, and staff at the hospital. Starting in 2012, she’d begun offering free Reiki sessions to female cancer patients at the annual Spa Days at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Manhattan, and soon became a regular participant at several public Reiki clinics.

Eileen's Website

Music Workshop

March 23 @ 1-4 pm

We would like to invite all levels and ages to join us in a Music Workshop at The Buttonwood Tree! Each session is $10

Bassist and Musician for 48 years, Rob DeSorbo began on the Connecticut music scene in the mid 70’s. He started playing Rock and Blues, grew into Jazz and Jazz Fusion. Blue Mountain Band (BMB) started 1971 (Rock / Blues) then (Fusion and Jazz) originals and continued until 1981. He spent the next 40+ years recording and doing Live Shows. He studied Music at the college level courses for 3 years in Simsbury High School. Music composition, theory and orchestral studies. Rob then continued his studies for 2 years at Hartt School of Music West Hartford, CT in Upright Bass studies and method, Additional Theory and Composition courses.
We will engage in music discussions, ear training, scales, modes, arpeggios, Circle of fifths and Fourth and practice methods. Chord structure and harmonic values in and around chords. All Instruments, vocals and skill levels welcome. Come enhance or add to your current education in music. Music is a never-ending study and accomplishment. Workshop will be held every 2nd and 4th Saturday of March, April and May. Reserve a seat/ Details here

Check out Rob's Official Facebook Page!


The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center is located at 605 Main Street, Middletown. There is ample, free parking behind It's Only Natural market. Refreshments, viewing of Buttonwood's Art show, the bookstore and refreshments are all open and available. Call for info: (860) 347-4957. If you want to see what events we have lined up for the month check our website's event calendar here.

New Yoga Studio Opens In Historic Starr Mill

Submitted by Sybil Merriman, Starr Mill Yoga
---------------

The Historic Starr Mill, located at 91 Beverly Heights, is now home to the city's newest yoga studio, Starr Mill Yoga.  The Starr Mill is an archetypical nineteenth century mill: a tall, many-windowed brick building beside a mill pond, offering lots of sunlight, great views, abundant wildlife, and the sound of a waterfall.  With a team of highly experienced instructors and twenty-two weekly classes, there is something for nearly everyone.  Classes are held throughout the day, and range in intensity from slow and gentle to acrobatic and challenging.  They also provide private yoga instruction and wellness coaching, and offer specialty workshops as well as a corporate program to bring yoga to the workplace.

Why practice yoga?  For over 5000 years, yoga masters have developed and refined brilliant techniques for treating mental, physical and spiritual disorders and disease. You don’t need to be in a state of dis-ease to receive the benefits of yoga. Yoga postures, breath control and meditation are great for athletic conditioning, increased body awareness, improved balance, strength, stability, and flexibility, whether you want to stand on your head or pick up your grandchild!

Information, the class schedule, and more about upcoming events can be found here, or by email or phone: 860-740-4939.

Compost Bin and Rain Barrel Sale

Ava Varszegi Art Opening

Oddfellows Playhouse will be hosting an exhibit of New Works by Ava Varszegi in its Courant Gallery from March 22 – April 26, 2019.

The public is invited to join us for the opening of the show at the Playhouse, 128 Washington Street in Middletown, on Friday, March 22 at 5 pm. This opportunity to meet the artist and view her work precedes opening night of Circophony’s Circus Botanicus at 7 pm that evening.

Ava Varszegi grew up surrounded by the highly creative Middletown community. Her love for visual and performing arts carried over into her fifteen years at the Children’s Circus of Middletown, where she went from being a camper to a teaching artist. She has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and is now pursuing certificates in Natural Science Illustration and Graphic Design. Ava was a member of the Brown Aerial Arts Society and Juggling Club, and she still unicycles up the Providence hills in her spare time.

Ava recently created the poster art for the Circus Botanicus production at the Playhouse, an original circus-theater piece exploring the comic secret lives of plants. Friends and the public are encouraged to join us for the opening, which will include light refreshments, then stay for the circus performance. Tickets for Circus Botanicus are $15 for adults, $8 for kids and students., or $35 per family.

Oddfellows Playhouse is a non-profit youth theater, founded in 1975, which promotes the growth of young people – in skills, knowledge and self-confidence -  through the performing arts.  For more information, go to www.oddfellows.org, email info@oddfellows.org, or call (860) 347-6143.

Learn How to Grow "Garden Candy" in a Pot at Russell Library!

Calling all first time gardeners!! On Saturday, March 30, 10am to noon, come to Russell Library for a Family Container Gardener Workshop. At the workshop you will learn how to plant, care for and harvest sugar snap peas. Each family will receive a free pot, soil and seeds. Available to the first 50 families!

This workshop is sponsored by Friends of the Russell Library, Middletown Urban Agriculture Project & Opportunity Knocks Collaborative.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District office at 860-346-3282.

We hope to see you there!

Bartolotta Announces Candidacy For Mayor

From the candidate's press release:

Today, Democrat Mary Bartolotta, who currently serves as the Deputy Majority Leader on the Middletown Common Council, officially filed her paperwork to launch her bid to become Middletown’s next mayor.

“I am running for mayor because I believe with the right values, vision, and leadership our city can grow in a way that will benefit the lives of all of our residents,” Bartolotta stated. “In my mind, growth does not mean our economy thrives and only a few people prosper, it means growing together as a city. We need to invest in our people by fostering entrepreneurship, supporting local businesses, as well as attracting companies that will bring jobs to our city. It means ensuring that we are providing the best possible education and opportunities to our young people, addressing the growing tax burden on working and middle class families, and helping our seniors receive the services they need. It also means developing in ways that are environmentally conscious and supporting policies that encourage companies to be as eco-friendly as possible. From Southfield to Westfield District to the North End and the diversity of our Main Street to the economic treasures of our side streets, and every neighborhood in between, we plan to fight to maintain the unique characteristics that defines our great city while creating a smart and sustainable path forward.”

Prior to public service, Mary worked with children with disabilities, and eventually pursued a career in business, rising through the ranks from sales assistant to district manager, where she was eventually in charge of overseeing 21 stores. It wasn’t until Mary saw the impact that proposed power lines would have on the quality of life in her neighborhood that she stood up and spoke out, becoming a vocal advocate for land use and the effects on Middletown residents. 

“I want to be your mayor because I have a proven record of standing up for families in our city, speaking out for what’s right, and making the tough choices needed to keep our city and schools prepared for success. We need to pursue smart, innovative projects such as developing our waterfront and making it one of the premier destinations not only in Connecticut but New England, while also investing in what already makes Middletown so precious and unique. I am ready to lead Middletown forward and have the vision to help create a better future for our city.”

Mary’s husband Sebby, is a lifelong resident of Middletown and currently serves the community as a Sergeant in the Middletown Police. They reside on Talcott Ridge Road with their son.

Sign up for Girls in Science Summer Camp

Applications are now open for the 6th annual Girls in Science Camp!

The Girls in Science camp is designed to reveal to 32 girls the science that surrounds them in their daily lives, while also giving them exposure to (1) scientific concepts and vocabulary, (2) equipment and experiments, and (3) female scientist role models, including both Wesleyan faculty and science students.

This year, our participants will interact with our most diverse group of faculty to date, all of whom are passionate about expanding access to STEM  - Marty Gilmore (Earth and Environmental Science), Connie Leidy (Math), Alison O’Neil (Neuroscience/Chemistry), Saray Shai (Computer Science), Renee Sher (Physics), and Erika Taylor (Chemistry/Biophyics).

If you or someone you know has daughters who could benefit from an interactive summer STEM experience on Wesleyan’s campus, please sign them up!


Who: Girls going into Grades 4, 5, and 6 can apply

What: 2019 Girls in Science Summer Camp

Where: Exley Science Center, Wesleyan University Campus

When:August 5-9, 2019 from 8:30am-4:00 pm each day with a Science Showcase on Friday at 4:30 pm

Why: "At the beginning of camp, I thought science was just for boys. Now I know science is for girls too."

Cost: $350 for the week with a $50 non-refundable deposit up front to reserve the space. Full and partial scholarships available. Breakfast and lunch are provided each day.


Please see our website for more details, and to register: https://www.wesleyan.edu/jccp/girlsinscience.html