Busy Week (Part 1)

Tuesday October 27:
The Middlesex County Historical Society and The Russell Library present "Doubleday Didn't Do It: A History of Baseball Before 1860" at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room. Though it is widely believed that Abner Doubleday is the founder of the game, Tom Kelleher's talk will give attendees a good background of the baseball's history, proving the game began before Doubleday. The talk is free and open to the public. Call 347-0746 for more information.

Wednesday October 28:
Broad Street Books, 45 Broad Street, hosts a Book Signing at 4 p.m. featuring Joel Pfister, Professor of English & Humanities at Wesleyan. Pfister will be reading excerpts from his new book, "The Yale Indian: The Education of Henry Roe Cloud" (Duke University Press, 2009) - Cloud (1884-1950) was the first Native American Indian to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale University and spent much of his adult life fighting for Native Americans to get opportunities in higher education. The event is free and open to the public.


Thursday October 29 (thank you RE):
The Buttonwood Tree presents Sirius Coyote in concert at 7 p.m. The trio, which features former CT State Troubador (and Middletown resident) Dr. Dennis Waring, plays music of the Americas, especially Central and South America. The stage will be filled with many different instruments and, before the night is done, one will learn about each instrument and hear it being played. The band has a special show for this season of the year. Called "El Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead), it is a celebration to honor the departed and not an excuse to collect candy and/or scare people. Call 347-4957 for more information and reservations.

"Common Ground: The Middletown International Film Festival" presents "Golden Door", the 2006 Italian movie from director Emanuele Crialese, at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library. A summary of the plot follows (courtesy of the International Movie Database): The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.
The event is free and open to the public.

The Middletown Teen Theater presents Arthur Miller's 1953 play about the Salem Witch Trials, "The Crucible", October 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, 370 Hunting Hill Avenue. Written as a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch hunts" to weed out Communists or Communist sympathisizers from American society. For ticket information, go to www.middletownteentheater.com. Tickets will also be available at the door on the evenings of the productions.