Friday, July 28, 2023

South Indian Classical Carnatic Music: Shashidhar Lakshminarayana (Veena), Tejaswi Shashidhar (Mridangam), 4pm Sunday July 30 at Sri Satyanarayana Temple

Raga Club of Connecticut presents
a Concert of South Indian Classical Carnatic Music

Shashidhar Lakhminarayana - veena
Tejaswi Shashidhar - mridangam

4pm Sunday, July 30
CVHTS Narayana Auditorium (below Satyanarayana Sanctum)
11 Training Hill Road, Middletown, CT 06457

Please join us at 4pm this Sunday at CVHTS in Middletown for a concert of Carnatic music, the classical music of South Indina. It's by a father-son duo from North Carolina, Shashidhar Lakhminarayana, veena (lute), with Tejaswi Shashidhar, mridangam (drum). They are skilled and sensitive musicians who are sure to delight!

Raga Music concerts - Ticket policy:
* RAGA member and 3 more persons from immediate family (spouse and two additional immediate family members) are allowed free to RAGA concerts. Co-sponsored concerts and special concerts may have different ticketing arrangements.
* Other guests accompanying a RAGA member should buy tickets at $25 per person
* Non-Raga Members - tickets are $25 per person, purchase at the door
* Students - Free admission

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ragaclubct/
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/raga_ct/
Website: http://www.ragact.org/ 

Thanks and hope to see you there! 
- Joseph Getter, President, Raga Club


Friday, July 21, 2023

35th Annual Children’s Circus of Middletown performs August 4th

July 14, 2023


For Immediate Release

Subject: Children’s Circus of Middletown performs August 4th

Contact: Dic Wheeler, dic@oddfellows.org; (860)347-6143



Middletown, CT- The Middletown Commission on the Arts and Oddfellows Playhouse present the 35th Children’s Circus of Middletown: Circus Got Games!


This annual, unique show will take place August 4th at 5PM. In case of rain, the performance will take place August 5th at 5PM. The performance will be held outside at Macdonough School, 66 Spring St. Middletown, CT. 


This performance is the culmination of a 5 week day camp for 160 kids ages 5 - 15, in which they work with professional circus artists to learn juggling, stilting, unicycling, dance, clowning, acrobatics and other circus skills. The annual performance includes the 160 youth performers, 40 staff and a live circus band of 15 adults and teenagers. The Children's Circus of Middletown has been an annual collaboration between Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater and the Middletown Commission on the Arts since 1989. In 2018 the Children's Circus was awarded the NY Life Foundation's Excellence in Summer Learning Award.


Children’s Circus director Jason Leinwand lays out the scenario for this year’s circus: “The 35th Annual Children’s Circus presents CIRCUS GOT GAMES! This year’s show will be a spectacular circus adventure into the world of board games, video games, classic arcade games, playground games and more! Come see the pinball wizard clowns, our menagerie of Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and the larger than life Snakes and Ladders stilters! Will the Teeny Tiny Troupe successfully navigate the Game of Life? Can the Surgeon Jugglers save the Operation patient? Fun for the whole family, and we’ll do our best to not break any rules!”


Tickets are available the day of performance; $8 for adults and $5 for kids. Please call (860) 347-6143 to reserve wheelchair seating. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and a picnic. Street parking around the neighborhood. Handicapped & Elderly parking only in the school lot.


The Children’s Circus is part of the Kids Arts Program of the City of Middletown’s Office of the Arts and Culture and is directed and produced by Oddfellows Playhouse. Major support is provided by the United Way of Middlesex County, the Middletown Commission on the Arts,  the Middletown Public Schools,  the Evan Boyd Knoll Memorial Circus Fund, and the M. Jones Fund at the Community Foundation of Middlesex County. Oddfellows is also supported by the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD, The Stare Fund, The State of Connecticut Judicial Branch, The Fund for Greater Hartford, Community Foundation of Middlesex County, American Savings Foundation,  Middletown Youth Services Bureau, Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Middletown Department of Health, CHEFA Cultural Relief Grant, Connecticut Office of the Arts GOS for Theaters, George & Grace Long Foundation, and many generous individual donors.


Oddfellows Playhouse offers year-round programs in theater, circus, music, dance, technical theater, and visual arts to young people ages 3-20. For additional information, contact info@oddfellows.org, call (860) 347-6143 or go to www.oddfellows.org


Thursday, July 20, 2023

MERIDEN MOTORCYCLE CLUB 24 HOUR FUNDRAISER BEGINS JULY 21, 2023 AT 5 P.M. & ENDS JULY 22, 2023 AT 5 P.M. ON STANTACK ROAD IN MIDDLETOWN TO BENEFIT MIDDLEFIELD'S CAMP NERDEN

RTC Camper Audrina Charneco Just Experienced The Thrill Of Victory From Her Fantastic Swim During Camp Nerden's 2022 Olympic Day. Photo By FRANK LOGIUDICE


MERIDEN MOTORCYCLE CLUB 24 HOUR FUNDRAISER BEGINS FRIDAY, 

JULY 21, 2023 & ENDS SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2023 AT 5 P.M. ON STANTACK ROAD IN MIDDLETOWN TO BENEFIT THE JOHN J. NERDEN REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER CAMP IN MIDDLEFIELD.



Get ready to hear the roar & rumble of motorcycles for the next 24 hours straight. All for a good cause.  The Meriden Motorcycle Club will be hosting their annual fundraiser "24 Hour Road Bike/Dirt Bike Ride" for the John J. Nerden Regional Training Center Camp in Middlefield on Friday, July 21, 2023, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending on Saturday, July 22nd at the same time.   


Camp Nerden serves individuals with intellectual disabilities ages 6 and up.



Club members are asking for donations of a minimum amount of $25 from friends, relatives, businesses & the general public.  


It will start at the Meriden Motorcycle Club located on Stantack Road in Middletown.  One rider at a time will ride his or her motorcycle through the streets of Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Wallingford and North Branford.  They will take a left off of Stantack Road onto Country Club Road, take a right onto Higby Road go straight until the end crossover from Route 66 onto Jackson Hill Road in Middlefield, turn right on Mack Road pass the Indian Springs Golf Course then take a left on Way Road straight down until the end and will connect with Powder Hill Road.  They will pass Camp Nerden, continue straight down until the end will turn right on Route 68 in Durham straight down will pass Tilcon and will take a left off of Rt. 68 going towards the Blue Trail Range in Wallingford, will come out on Route 17 in North Branford where they will take a left, will continue on Route 17 towards Durham Center, will pass Lyman Orchards Apple Barrel Market and Driving Range then straight down Middlefield's Main Street/Jackson Hill Road, Higby Road, Country Club Road & Stantack Road.  Repeat & Ready for the next motorcyclist to do it all over again.  




Meriden Motorcycle Club Member Dino Pandolfo stated it takes 50-60 minutes to do the run.  For more information about making a donation please call him at 860-685-0865.  For more information about Camp Nerden go to www.campnerden.com



The Meriden Motorcycle Club is celebrating its centennial celebration this year.





Enjoy the video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egMWlD3fLJ8












Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Family Fun: Clown show at Oddfellows July 29!




Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater in Middletown presents special guest performer Marta Mozelle with her family-friendly one-woman show Please Ship This Wet Gift on Saturday, July 29 at 2 pm and 7 pm.


Please Ship This Wet Gift is one clown’s presentation about terrible feelings and provides an opportunity for family audiences to laugh together about feeling bad. The original work uses drawing-without-looking, audience suggestion, audience participation, made-up songs, puppetry, and cardboard sharks to explore dealing with the things in life that are unfair, scary, sad, and just really annoying. The show melds clown theater with puppetry expertise to bring compassion and lightness to the heavy stuff. Recommended for ages 4 and up, and adults who like really good shows and feelings!


Marta Mozelle-Macrostie is a puppeteer, clown, designer, builder, teacher and vocalist. Performance highlights include: Baby Universe (Wakka Wakka Productions, Studio Theater), Better Out Than In (Banksy’s NYC Residency), La Divina Caricatura (Mabou Mines, PS 122 and La MaMa), Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead (Phantom Limb Company, Berkeley Rep), and Puss in Boots (Moises Kaufman, Gotham Chamber Opera & Blind Summit, New Victory Theater). She was a participant in Sesame Street‘s 2016 & 2014 Training Workshops, and her onscreen credits include: Sesame Street (season 45 assist), Time Machine Guitar, The Warby Trace Show, and commercials for H&M, LG, and the Coca-Cola Company.


Director Hannah Simms is a director and teacher based in Hartford, CT. She is a graduate of the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, the NTI Advanced Directing Semester at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and the Ada Comstock Program at Smith College. Directing credits include: Pegao and Frog Hollow State of Mind (HartBeat Ensemble), To Kill a Mockingbird (Central Connecticut State University), Guenevere (Ivoryton Playhouse), Eurydice (PVPA Charter High School), Julius Cesar and Romeo & Juliet (Hampshire Shakespeare). She has taught clown for ARTFARM, the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, and the Children’s Circus of Middletown. Hannah is an ensemble member at HartBeat Ensemble.


Tickets for Please Ship This Wet Gift are $8 for adults, $5 for kids, and $15 for Big-Hearted Oddfellows, and may be purchased at https://oddfellowsplayhouse.ticketleap.com/please-ship-this-wet-gift/


Please Ship This Wet Gift is funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Additional support is provided by the City of Middletown and the Middletown Commission on the Arts.


Oddfellows Playhouse, founded in 1975, is Connecticut’s oldest and largest theater for young people. The Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street in Middletown. For information about this production and other Playhouse programs, call (860) 347-6143, email info@oddfellows.org, or go to www.oddfellows.org





Sunday, July 9, 2023

ZOOM Genealogy Club - Saturday, July 15, 2023

 

Brian Rhinehart

Host:  Godfrey Memorial Library

Presenter:  Brian Rhinehart

Topic:  Navigating the Records From the War of 1812

Time:  1:30 pm (ET)

 

Brian Rhinehart will give a presentation on the records associated with the War of 1812. From bounty land to pensions, there is no shortage of genealogical records for soldiers from The War of 1812. Brian will tell us why these records were created, how to make sense of them, and what these records can contain about your ancestors.

The Zoom presentation will take place at 1:30 pm (ET) on July 15th.  Please register by 4:00 PM Friday, July 14.  The invite will be sent out on that Friday.

Godfrey Premium members can register for free at the following email: zoomregistration@godfrey.org

If you are not a Godfrey Premium member and want to attend the presentation, you can pay $10 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/home) with the payment sent to Godfrey Memorial Library.  Then register using the above email.




Sunday, July 2, 2023

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! THE 247TH BIRTHDAY OF OUR YOUNG NATION. JULY 4, 1776




 


Happy Independence Day!

 

This year July 4, 2023, will mark the 247th birthday of our young nation. This was the day when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence stating our separation from Great Britain so we could form our own country. 

 




On this day 247 years ago the 2nd Continental Congress unanimously ratified the Declaration of Independence which resulted in the thirteen colonies breaking away from England.





The opening of the Declaration of Independence states "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."



 

For more information about the Declaration of Independence and the founding of our nation please see the following websites:




 

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence

 

Again, Happy Independence Day.

 


Enjoy the videos.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uE-tqe0xsQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdZYyY7g8g4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvOZs3g3qIo

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7XWhyvIpE

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ze_OB1I5k