Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Labor Day Weekend at ... The Buttonwood Tree.


Story City Troupe

Readings 
by
local storytellers.

Friday Night

September 2 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

 
Reserve Seat Here ($10)

NOTE: There are no physical tickets for events at The Buttonwood Tree. 
        
Story City Troup is hosted tonight by retired Public Defender, Michael 
Isko. Mike has been telling stories since 2015, and he is thrilled to continue coming to the Buttonwood Tree to share them.

     Kick off Labor Day Weekend with true stories of "Pushing the Rock Up the Hill," getting knocked down, trying to change a group--and ultimately letting go of what holds you back. The rock is often heavy, how do we move it to the top of the hill.

     Favorite New Haven story teller Saul Fussiner will be joined by our founder, Sue Huggans. Retired Public Defender Mike Isko will be doing his usual double duty for the evening as MC & storyteller, And we might even have a surprise guest or two. 


Jazz Guitarist
Gianni Gardner

Saturday Night

September 3 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Reserve Seat Here ($15)

Jazz guitarist Gianni Gardner returns to his home state tonight to enjoy his birthday! Come celebrate with us! 

    Originally from West Hartford, he graduated from two high school “jazz meccas”--Hall High School in West Hartford and Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, where he studied Jazz music with legendary guitarist, Doug Maher, vocalist Dianne Mower, and WestConn alumnus, Dan O’Brien. He then went on to Western Connecticut State for a B.A., studying with Christopher Morrison, Jimmy Greene, Jamie Begian, Andrew Beals, Dave Scott, Deborah Weisz, Jumaane Smith & other incredible instructors. 

     Joining Gianni on Saturday are Lou Bocciarelli on bass and Ryan Hamme on drums. A 
current member of the Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Lou has played with New London Big Band, Al Copley Quintet, Bill’s Jazz All-Stars, Sonic Surfers, TNFT, Mystic Horns Jazz Ensemble, Cherry Pie, & Dunn’s of Tewksbury, and can be seen at venues & festivals around the New England area and with regular tours to Europe.

Check out Gianni on Facebook – Instagram – YouTube


Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Oddfellows Playhouse Fall Classes 2022!!!


Registration is now open for Fall Classes at Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater located at 128 Washington Street in Middletown! Beginning September 17th, classes in theater, dance, circus, music and visual art will be offered for ages 3 - 20. Teenagers are invited to audition for our fall mainstage production.

Teen Repertory Company (ages 14 - 20) will hold auditions for Journey to the West on September 12th & 15th, from 6:30 - 9 pm. Teens are asked to pre-register for one of the two audition evenings, to arrive on time, and plan to stay for the entire time. Everyone who auditions and commits to the rehearsal and production schedule will be cast in the show. Regular rehearsals will be Mondays and Thursdays, 6 - 9 pm. Performances will be November 10th - 12th & 18th - 19th.

Circophony Teen Circus (ages 12 - 20) offers fall circus training in preparation for a winter mainstage production. Acro Focus! will be held on Tuesdays evenings 6:30 - 8:30pm and Juggling+ on Wednesday evenings 6:30 - 8:30pm, culminating in a Fall Circus Showcase on December 2nd. Students may register for one or both classes! No previous experience is required. Classes run September 20th - November 30th (10 weeks.)

For our youngest Oddfellows, Saturday Classes feature Circrobatics (ages 3 - 5 and 6 - 8) combining circus, acrobatics and creative movement. Other classes include Faerie Tale Theater (for ages 3 - 5) as well as Circro-Balance (ages 6 - 8) with a focus on stilting, unicycling, rolling globe, tight rope, and spool. Classes start September 17th and continue through November 19th (10 weeks.)

Musical Mentoring, which offers students one-on-one music lessons with Wesleyan Music students, will be held on Saturdays this fall for students ages 6 - 8 and 9 - 11. Classes will be held October 1st - November 19th (8 weeks.)

Technical Theater & Design (ages 14 - 20) will be held on Sundays, 4 - 6 pm, September 25th - October 30th (6 classes & Practicum).

This year, the Fall after-school program will be split into two 6-week sessions. Session one runs September 19th - October 27th, culminating in a Share Day on Friday, October 28th. Session two runs October 31st - December 8th, with Share Day on Saturday, December 10th.

Stage One classes for ages 6 - 8 include Circus I, Visual Expressions, Creative Movement, Fairy Tale Theater, and Hip Hop Dance, Musical Theater (ages 6 - 11).

Stage Two classes for ages 9 - 11 include Circus II, Whole Body Acting, Culture Tuesdays, Into the Story, Theater Improv, Watercolor Painting, Afro-Caribbean Dance, Musical Theater (ages 6 - 11,) Hip Hop Dance (ages 9-14,) and a Mini Production of James and the Giant Peach (ages 9 - 14.)

Stage Three classes for ages 12 - 14 include Clowning and Physical Comedy, Scene Study, and Hip Hop Dance (ages 9 - 14,) Musical Theater, Advanced Acting: Michael Chekhov Technique, and a Mini-Production of James and the Giant Peach.

Most after-school classes run from 4:45 - 5:45 pm, though the Stage Three classes and James and the Giant Peach Mini-Production run a bit longer. Middletown Public School students may complement their class experience with Oddbridge, an extended day program which provides transport from Middletown schools to the Playhouse, a snack, and supervised arts activities, games and homework help before classes start. This year Oddbridge will extend throughout the school year, providing special programs and field trips on early dismissal days or days when regular Oddfellows’ classes are not in session.

For more details on times, tuition and class descriptions, please go to www.oddfellows.org. If you have specific questions, email info@oddfellows.org or call (860) 347-6143. Financial Aid is available for all programs. It is Playhouse policy that the arts should be available to every young person regardless of ability to pay - no one is turned away for lack of funds.

Oddfellows Playhouse, founded in 1975, is Connecticut’s oldest and largest performing arts program for young people. Oddfellows programs are made possible with support from the Middletown Commission on the Arts; Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD; City of Middletown; The Fund for Greater Hartford; American Savings Foundation; State of Connecticut Judicial Branch (Youth Violence Prevention); Middletown Youth Services Bureau; Community Foundation of Middlesex County; Middletown Health Department; Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation; Thomas J. Atkins Memorial Trust Fund; Middlesex United Way; CHEFA Cultural Relief Grant; New England Foundation for the Arts/New England Arts Resilience Fund; George & Grace Long Foundation; and many generous individual donors.

Photo attached by Bill De Kine of Teen Repertory Company 2021 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Oddfellows Playhouse Teen Repertory Company Announces Auditions for Journey to the West, September 12th and 15th


Auditions are September 12 and 15 in Middletown for actors ages 14 - 20 looking for a powerful and challenging performance experience this fall.

Oddfellows Playhouse Teen Repertory Company 2022 announces auditions for
“Journey to the West", a contemporary adaptation of a 16th century classic Chinese novel created by Mary Zimmerman. The play combines comedy, adventure and satire in a moving allegory of human perseverance and ingenuity.

Audition dates are September 12 and 15, 6:30 - 9 pm.

Anyone wishing to auditions should:

*Register for one of the two evenings by emailing info@oddfellows.org or calling (860) 347-6143.

*Arrive on time, dress to move, and be prepared to stay the entire 2.5 hours.

*Open to anyone ages 14 - 20.

*Everyone who auditions and commits to the rehearsal and production schedule will be cast.

Rehearsals begin September 19 and will be Mondays and Thursdays, 6 - 9 pm.

Performance dates are November 10 -12 and 18 - 19.

“Journey to the West” will be directed by Missy Burmeister, a seasoned and visionary theater artist who teaches Theater at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and directs Looking In Theater.

Tuition for Teen Rep is $300. Financial aid or work-study are available for all who need it.

Email info@oddfellows.org to register for one of the two auditions, or call (860) 347-6143 for more information.

Photo attached by Bill De Kine of Ivan Lazaro and Sofia Hurlbert in May, 2022 Teen Repertory Company production of “The Greeks”

Oddfellows Playhouse Open House


Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater will be hosting an Open House on Saturday, September 10th, 2022 from 12:00 to 3:00pm. Families, kids, volunteers and artists will have the opportunity to tour the Playhouse, meet the staff and get a hands-on sense of the kind of things that we do. Learn about opportunities this year for kids, teenagers and adults alike. Find out how you can get involved at Oddfellows this fall! The Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street in Middletown. 


Oddfellows Playhouse is Connecticut’s oldest and largest performing arts program. Since 1975, Oddfellows has offered young people throughout central Connecticut access to high-quality performing arts education and performances. Financial aid is available to families that are not available to afford tuition.


Registration is now open for our 48th season, which begins September 17th. Our fall programming offers age-appropriate training in theater, dance, circus, music and visual art for ages 3 - 20. Programs for younger students focus on skill building and fun. Teenagers can find challenge, inspiration and community in Circophony Teen Circus or the Teen Repertory Company. Adults of all ages are encouraged to join the fun at the Playhouse as volunteers - opportunities include everything from helping with box office or ushering for performances, assisting in classes, painting sets, or volunteering in the Oddfellows office.


For more information: call (860) 347-6143, email info@oddfellows.org or visit us at oddfellows.org.


Oddfellows programs are made possible with support from the Middletown Commission on the Arts; Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD; City of Middletown; The Fund for Greater Hartford; American Savings Foundation; State of Connecticut Judicial Branch (Youth Violence Prevention); Middletown Youth Services Bureau; Community Foundation of Middlesex County; Middletown Health Department; Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation; Thomas J. Atkins Memorial Trust Fund; Middlesex United Way; CHEFA Cultural Relief Grant; New England Foundation for the Arts/New England Arts Resilience Fund; George & Grace Long Foundation; and many generous individual donors.






Wednesday, August 24, 2022

The Inflammation, a poem by Nikky Finney

 

From  Poem-A-Day, American Academy of Poets, Aug. 24, 2022            
Listen to "The Inflammation"

Nikky Finney. Winner of National Book
Award, PEN American Open Book Award
Benjamin Franklin Award for Poetry.


Uploading: 77359 of 77359 bytes uploaded.


         The Inflammation
      --Nikky Finney


The air in the high school is swollen. My heart balloons
as I smooth my name tag down. The woman checking
me in at Austin East Magnet High School has a warning,
“They might not have much to say.”

I have not come to measure their verbs or their vowels.
My vested interest is their red blood cells. East Knoxville,
where six students in one year, from one high school,
are dead by gun violence.

As I walk to Ms. Hall’s young writers class, 16-year-olds
with the mud-red beauty of the Maasai fly past me in the
hall late for class. There are no visible signs of bruising.

A blood test could reveal the damage done these last 400
years. A blood test is a fine modern measurement of the
homocysteine levels moving through precious growing
creative bodies. There are no blood tests in my bag and I
only have one hour to measure what I have traveled here

to know. East Knoxville, fifty years before, every grocery
store, bakery, doctor’s office, barbershop, pharmacy, juke
joint, Miss Lucille Reader of Palms, closed down and laid
to rest on the new Civic Center pyre. Blood sugar levels

bought season tickets to the Moon. Families on the East
side came to know American architecture intimately, how
the right side of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard arced
into the halls of the high school, and the left side dangled

at the front door of Jarnigan & Son Mortuary, oldest Black
business in town. A swelling is how the body begins to heal.
A blood test can be historical marker for the inflammation
of disparity. My ballooning heart enters the door of their

A, B, and O world. I am met by 14 framed faces of curious
encyclopedic sunlight. Their Wolof and Benin mouths follow
me around the room like awakened cicadas. I ask them to read.
They stop buzzing, mid-air, hold their patterns, wondering

if I have come to take something else from them. The one
in perfect white sneakers with BEATS dangling off his ears
keeps his head under his hoodie. The two by the window
use the glass as dream portal, watching, then aiming, their

father’s eyes farther out into the rising Blue Ridge Mountain
light settling the pitched roof of Jarnigan & Son. The room
is a clover field of hide, luck, and chance, but the burning
tenderness of their inflammation wants out. Inflammation

is a fight response from the body when the immune system
leaps into action even when there is no visible injury. Angelina
extends her grey tablet out to me. Her dark Motown eyes
begin their return to Earth. I read her poem as if it belongs

in my mouth. Their words reach and ricochet. My immune
system kicks in just as Jamartray decides I might be worthy,
handing me his fragile worry-filled word rope, his mother’s
Lindy Hop, in and out of the Double-Dutch rope of illness.

Shiasia’s spunky Afro-Latin is read with Black girl attitude
kept under my tongue for moments when the fear in their
eyes is molten and strawberry. She cheers. Leonard begins
with a piercing refusal to never be a statistic and ends with

his mother’s double helix—HeLa—never-ending cells of
extraordinary love alighting every face in the room. It is
9:00 am on a Friday morning in East Knoxville. I have lost
my tally and count. The young poets have broken my fever.

Copyright © 2022 by Nikky Finney. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on
August 24, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Friday & Saturday: Leonardo & The Lilacs. The Jeff Fuller Trio.


  605 Main Street Middletown, CT 06037 860.347.4957


Leonardo & The Lilacs by EDGE     

Bob Windbiel, Lee Feldman,
Paul Adamy, & Mark Macksoud
Friday, August 26, 2022
8:00PM — 10:00PM ET (US & Canada) 

Reservations Recommended!

Click HERE to reserve your seat.
Tickets are $15.


Note: A special preshow visit by a few Friendly Bagpipers will make for a great beginning to a fun night!

It turns out that Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can, indeed, go home again. At least metaphorically, especially if going home means you’re a musician who’s getting back together with old friends to make music again. First there was a band called Edge, a quartet of teens in Larchmont, New York, who formed in 1973, initially covering songs by the likes of the Allman Brothers and Jeff Beck, then moved on to more challenging material by Return to Forever and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. 

By 1975 Edge called it quits and guitarist Bob Windbiel, drummer Mark Macksoud, bass man Paul Adamy, and the last member to join, keyboardist Lee Feldman, eventually finding careers in other musical settings. 

Now, EDGE is back, after releasing their first album together, Keep Me Around.   EDGE is better than ever & ready to rock the house! In their own classic way, of course.


BOB WINDBIEL (guitar/vocal) Teaches at Lehman College, performs and lives in NYC, composes original pop/jazz.
LEE FELDMAN (keys/vocal) Musician, social worker, composer, recording artist, bandleader.
PAUL ADAMY (bass) Broadway musician, member of Ed Palermo Big Band, recording artist.
MARK MACKSOUD (drums/vocal) Teaches at Neighborhood Music School, performs with French 75, MPBA Pipes & Drums.<



The JEFF FULLER TRIO     

Saturday, August 27, 2022            

8:00PM — 10:00PM ET (US & Canada)

Reservations Recommended!



The trio members are seasoned JAZZ professionals, and we are delighted to welcome them to The Buttonwood Tree.

An integral part of the Connecticut, New York and international jazz scenes, 
jazz bassist Paul Fuller has toured worldwide and recorded and played with jazz masters from all styles and eras including such diverse artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, “Papa” Jo Jones, Gerry Mulligan, and Clark Terry. 


The Paul Fuller trio, featuring Darren Litzie on piano and Ben Bilello on drums, has released five CDs featuring their original music: The Call From Within (2014), Shoreline Blues (2016), Happenstance (2018), Round & Round (2020) and Keep Hope Alive (2022).


See Jeff Fuller & Friends on FaceBook for more information. 


Jeff Fuller graduated cum laude from Yale College, with a master’s degree in
composition. He has been Ensemble Coach for the Yale School of Music
Jazz Initiative since 2016 & has taught in New Haven public schools. 
He also conducts and arranges for the outstanding Premier Jazz Ensemble
of the Neighborhood Music School, and 
also offers private lessons.

CONTACT: Jeff Fuller ~ jefffuller@snet.net     Website: www.jefffuller.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jefffullermusic/







https://www.buttonwood.org/event/jeff-fuller-trio-aug27/



You are invited to Paint a Street

Ever wanted to paint a street?   Join the Free Center at Macdonough School to help create a mural about Middletown's Local Legends.  


Help Plan:  August 23rd and 24th, from 2 to 7 pm, at the Free Center


Come Paint:  August 27, 8:30 am to 2 pm, Macdonough School


Learn More:  click here 


Wednesday, August 17, 2022

This Weekend at The Buttonwood Tree: Waberi Jordan, Annaita Gandhy, Secondary Messengers,


Friday Evening
Waberi Jordan

The Buttonwood Tree

605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957

August 19 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

 At The Buttonwood Tree    $20.


Returning to The Buttonwood Tree – the incomparable Waberi Jordan, bringing
her signature style to bear
on the Summer of 2022. 

We welcome her & the surprises
that are sure to flow all around!

Waberi always brings in terrific local musicians: Ron Acosta - Sax, Michael Scott - drums, Doug Long - bass, accompany her tonight. 

Click waberi jordan * aug 19 2022  for more info.

Click HERE to reserve your seat. Admission $20.


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 ~ Meeting Our World & Lives At The Higher Level'. Do you feel that all you know is being pulled out from under you? That you perfected the answers to Life only to find the question paper has been changed so that you don't know which is up or down? Systems you know are suddenly replaced with high-tech you feel inadequately equipped to handle? You are not alone. Yes, our world is changing; in fact it has changed, forever. But where are you going with this and how do you react? Are you re-active or pro-active? This is when to remember who you are. This is a time to embrace the Light body that is yours by Divine Right. A 5D reality calls upon each to trust Spirit, and it also calls upon us to act from that which our Spirit Self is familiar. Keeping your attention on the Light Within, strengthens Your Light which is more powerful than you can imagine so why not take that bold step in turning the switches of Oneness on! So consider all those aspects in life that keep you stuck and ask yourself, 'how does it serve you?' Let's do this together in Love and Light.


Saturday Evening

Secondary Messengers Jazz Quintet
August 20 @ 8:00 - 10:00pm 

 At The Buttonwood Tree   

The Secondary Messengers are dedicated to promoting the music of the influential ensembles of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded from the early ’50s to the late ’80s. 

Noted for improvisation in the funky, hard bop idiom with close harmonic lines, an intense driving rhythm section, and meticulously crafted arrangements by composer-band members such as Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, Benny Golson and Kenny Dorham, the Jazz Messengers served as a school for many young musicians who later went on to notable careers as leaders of their own groups. The Jazz Messengers were also an inspiration to generations of jazz musicians who never played with Blakey.

General admission is $20. Click HERE and scroll down to "Purchase" to reserve your seat. Admission $20.

Students $10, members $15.  Student/member pricing available at the door only; you may reserve your seats ahead of time by calling 860 - 347 - 4957.







Tuesday, August 9, 2022

BUTTONWOOD This Weekend -- Comedian Rob Santos, AND Singer-Songwriter Megan Bee

Friday, August 13th  
8:00 to 10:00pm   
             Standup!  
 
Rob Santos & Friends
Creating a Life.

A night of stand up comedy and monologues from one of Hartford’s best comedians AND his multi-talented friends in comedy. Rob Santos, this Friday at Buttonwood. Also sharing the stage on this night: Buddha Joe, Emily Siero, and CW Davis.

Saturday, August 13,  8pm - 10pm 

Megan Bee: A Singer-Songwriter Concert

Prize-winning singer-songwriter Megan Bee sings of wanderlust & a raw love for the land. Her songs blend homespun vocals, acoustic simplicity, yearning soulfulness, & winsome storytelling. Her vagabond background as an environmental educator & vagabond farmhand took her into the wilderness, where she found her voice around a campfire. Based out of the rolling hills of Athens County, Ohio, Megan travels the country playing festivals, coffeehouses, brewpubs, house concerts, & around campfires.

     Her fourth studio album “Cottonwood” (2022) follows “Waiting” (2020), which was named album of the year by The Ark of Music, an indie music platform dedicated to serving independent & small label musicians. Megan also won Ohio Music Awards' prize for Best Americana & Best Singer-Songwriter Albums, which also won her a finalist position in the USA Songwriting Competition.

     The Ark of Music writes, “Cottonwood is as real as it gets – a raw and real telling of engaging, relatable stories from an absolute gem of an artist, whose work could easily stand tall among the music of legends in the folk space.” Divide and Conquer writes that Megan's voice is “…warm and inviting…incredibly organic sounding. It sounds pure and human throughout.”

Click HERE to reserve your seat. ($15)

For more on Megan's music & upcoming concerts, visit Megan Bee Music
For Ohio Music Awards, see: Ohio Music Awards
For The Ark of Music, see The Ark of Music

-----Venue Info 

The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center

605 Main Street
Middletown, CT + Google Map
      Phone: (860) 347-4957

Monday, August 8, 2022

Tomorrow is the Day.

Honor your citizenship with participation.
   Make an effort to be informed. 

Make an effort to VOTE in tomorrow's election. 










Saturday, August 6, 2022

"OLYMPIC DAY" HELD AT THE JOHN J. NERDEN REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER CAMP IN MIDDLEFIELD ON FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2022.

RTC Camper Audrina Charneco cools off in the Camp Nerden pool part of Olympic Day on Friday, July 22, 2022.By Frank L
RTC Camper Julian Shaw-Izquirdo Hits The Ball For The Home Run Derby During Camp Nerden's Olympic Day On Friday, July 22, 2022. Photo FRANK LOGIUDICE

"OLYMPICS DAY" HELD AT THE JOHN J. NERDEN REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER CAMP IN MIDDLEFIELD  ON FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2022

ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY FRANK LOGIUDICE

 

 

RTC Camper Frank Stange Hits The Ball For The Home Run Derby & It Is A Home Run Part Of Camp Nerden's Olympic Day On Friday, July 22, 2022. Photo By Frank Logiudice

The 2020 Summer Olympics are history but that did not stop the campers at the John J. Nerden Regional Training Camp in Middlefield from preparing for the XXXIII Summer Olympiad in 2024.  On July 23rd Camp Nerden held their annual "Olympics Day," where the RTC Campers honed their sports skills. The sports that were offered were basketball, football toss, home run derby, volleyball, frisbee throw, and swimming. Even the extreme heat could not dampen the Olympic Spirit and enthusiasm of the RTC Campers. There were smiles galore on the campers' faces.

 


RTC Camper Jared Carbo Aims For The Basket During "Olympic Day" At Camp Nerden On Friday,July 22, 2022. Carbo Did Score & He Made The Basket. Photo By Frank LoGiudice

Why "Olympic Day?"  According to Camp Director Sue Chenard "They always had it. Our campers look forward to it.  They enjoy it."  The "Olympic Day" held at Camp Nerden is not associated with the Special Olympics even though several of their campers compete in the Special Olympics events, commented Chenard.  

 


 L-R: : Kneeling RTC Staff Eliza DeNegris, Volunteers Eliana & Brayden Fraschilla Share A Laugh With RTC Camper Clinton Parente At The Camp Nerden's Pool. Photo By Frank LoGiudice

Camp Nerden serves people with intellectual disabilities and campers can start attending when they are 6 years old and there is no age limit when people must stop attending camp, stated Chenard. Camp Nerden does not charge a fee for the campers to attend.  It is funded by local civic groups like the Meriden & Middletown Civitans and the towns the campers reside. The camp season began June 27th and ends on August 12th. The camp runs Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.  According to Chenard the camp averages about 50-60 campers daily with 18 staff supplemented with a daily average of about 30 "Counselors In Training" volunteers.

 

RTC Camper Jake Cafiero Throws The Frisbee and He Made It Through The Hoop Part of Camp Nerden's Olympic Day-Photo By Frank Logiudice

L-R: RTC Camper Jake Cafiero & Volunteer Brayden Fraschilla Have Some Fun In The Camp Nerden's Pool During Olympic Day. Photo By Frank LoGiudice



Camp Nerden is still taking the COVID-19 Pandemic seriously.  Director Chenard stated, "We try to social distance for precaution. Some campers choose to wear masks.  It is not mandatory.  We have hand sanitizers lots of it.  We do extra cleaning."

 

L-R: RTC Campers Eddie Poole, Logan King, Jon Bennett, & Logan Solomon cool off and share a laugh in the Camp Nerden Pool during Olympic Day on Friday, July 22, 2022.Photo By Frank LoGiudice



How do the RTC Campers feel about Camp Nerden & Olympic Day?  Camper Logan King of Durham loves going into the pool at camp.  "I like sports, especially basketball," stated King. King does Unified Sports in school and will be in the 7th grade at Strong Middle School in the fall.  Camper Evan Kane, also of Durham stated, "I like to play basketball and shoot hoops at camp." Kane will also be in the 7th grade.  Durham camper Chris Naples loves the outdoor recreation activities at camp such as playing tug of war and swimming in the pool. 


 

L-R: VolunteerJoe Bugai, Camper Chris McGrath & Volunteer Michael Sigal at Camp Nerden. Photo By Frank LoGiudice.


"I love it!", stated RTC Staff Nicole Tiezzi of Meriden regarding her experiences at camp. She has been at camp for a total of 12 years, five as a volunteer and seven as a staff. Tiezzi started when she was age 10. She became involved because her two sisters were volunteers and employed at Camp Nerden. Not only that but her grandfather Ben Tiezzi also of Meriden played a role in building Camp Nerden according to Tiezzi.  She stated further, "I love what I do here.  I have been here forever.  It is my home."

 


If you have not been vaccinated against the COVID-19 Virus, please get your shot.  If you have please do not forget to get your booster shot too and if you are eligible for a second booster get that one also.  To find out how please go to https://www.vaccines.gov/



Now Batting RTC Camper Logan King eyes the ball & it is a "Grand Slam" for the Home Run Derby part of the Olympic Day at Camp Nerden on Friday, July 22, 2022. Behind King is Volunteer Eliana Fraschilla.



RTC Camper Audrina Charneco Just Experienced The Thrill Of Victory From Her Fantastic Swim During Camp Nerden's Olympic Day. Photo By FRANK LOGIUDICE

For more information, please go to campnerden.com, or call 860-349-9826.  Their mailing address is P.O. Box 2617 - Meriden, CT 06451.

 

Enjoy the videos!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiwskVK_77Q&t=30s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX04DYUEHfU