Sunday: Daffodil Day-A Kids Fest At The Wadsworth Mansion

The Friends of Long Hill Estate and the Long Hill Estate Authority will host their annual spring event: Daffodil Day-A Kids Fest on Sunday, April 14th, from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate, 421 Wadsworth Street. This family event will be held rain or shine and there is no charge for admission.

Bring your children to the Mansion and enjoy activities provided by kids artspace, which include face painting, kite making, and scribble art. Participate in a hands-on HEART ART mural of hands and hearts where children will pledge to use their hearts to make art. Additionally there will be a children's art exhibit.

Guests will enjoy jugglers, stilt walkers, and performers on unicycles as provided by ArtFarm, a city-based theater with a commitment to simple living, environmental sustainability and social justice.

The NoRA Cupcake Company and Whey Station will tantalize visitors with delicious comfort food sold from their food trucks, the latest craze to hit American streets.

Ongoing throughout the afternoon, docents from the Friends of Long Hill Estate will lead guided tours of the Mansion providing a narrative that details the history of the Estate. Furniture donated by the Wadsworth Family will be on display in the History Room.

Guests are encouraged to enjoy independently the 103 acres of parklands and view the daffodils that will bloom sometime in April assuring us all that spring has finally arrived.

Information will be available at the Wadsworth Mansion by calling (860) 347-1064

Get Out Your Umbrellas and Get Out - A Little Rain Never Hurt Anyone

Despite the weather forecast, Daffodil Day can be a success,
because WE ARE MIDDLETOWN

Sunday, April 25, 2010, 1:00pm - 4:00pm

FREE

The Friends of Long Hill Estate and the Long Hill Estate Authority will host their annual Daffodil Day on Sunday, April 25, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate, 421 Wadsworth Street, Middletown. This family event will be held rain or shine and there is no charge for admission.

Guests are encouraged to enjoy the meadows planted by volunteers over the last decade with thousands of daffodil bulbs. Some daffodils may still be in bloom. Throughout the day there will be docent tours of the historic Wadsworth Mansion. The afternoon's activities include a trail walk at 1:00 p.m. with Marcy Klattenberg. From 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Ranger Russ from Meigs Point Nature Center at Hammonasset State Park in Madison will introduce snakes and turtles to children teaching them to appreciate these animals and not fear them. Also from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. the Bushy Hill Nature Center will demonstrate the art of fire starting.

For musical entertainment, at 2:00 p.m. Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem will be playing from their new release Ranky Tanky, a collection of songs written for children but, when performed by daisy mayhem, they are songs for all ages. Rani Arbo is a fiddler, lead singer and founder of daisy mayhem. Andrew Kinsey plays double bass, banjo and joins Rani on vocals. Anand Nayak plays guitar and sings. Scott Kessel plays something he calls Drumship Enterprise, a drum fashioned from recycled cans, boxes and a suitcase. He also sings. The four are described as having superb musicianship, impeccable taste, and charismatic vocals. They previously performed at Music at the Mansion, a summer series of free outdoor concerts.

Daffodil Day is co-sponsored by the Friends of Long Hill and the Long Hill Estate Authority.

Katchen's Springtime Celebration

With three email accounts, all tended with varying degrees of responsible stewardship, I was not surprised when local environmental activist and advocate Katchen Coley called the house to ask if I had received her invitation to her annual daffodil celebration. I had not, but immediately accepted, and I'm happy to have been invited to this vernal observation which has been going on for many years.

Coley's house, tucked into a spectacular, and rare, geological bowl, is a triple-tiered modern wonder connected to the ridge which hides it, by bridges and staircases. It's design is open and architecturally grand, but comfortable and practical.

The party took place outside, on a perfect Spring evening, amidst trees in bud, and daffodils in bloom, with a gurgling brook inviting youngsters to wade.

The crowd was a great Middletown mix of Council members, academics, musicians, journalists, activists and old-schoolers, with a newcomer or two thrown in for good measure. The crudite was superb, and the conversation better, and the Dixieland band played old favorites just to make the evening perfect.

Thanks Katchen, for making us all appreciate what's so wonderful about Middletown once again.