WNPR's Chion Wolf to host tonight's Shakespeare Slam!

ARTFARM's Shakespeare Slam tonight will be hosted by WNPR voice actress and journalist Chion Wolf.

The event will be held at 7 pm at the Wadsworth Mansion, 421 Wadsworth Street in Middletown.

Chion Wolf is a voice actress, photojournalist, and music purveyor with WNPR, Connecticut Public Radio. She is widely known for her announcing and songwriting on The Colin McEnroe Show, weekdays from 1-2pm.

“We are thrilled to have Chion hosting our Shakespeare Slambash this year” said ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge, “the sense of humor, wit and generosity that emanates from her over the radio promises to be even more wonderful in real life.”

The Shakespeare Slam and Elizabethan Bash is a Shakespeare themed party built around performances of short pieces of Shakespeare by Connecticut-based professional and amateur actors and poets. The elegant Wadsworth Mansion will be transformed into an Elizabethan Palace for the event, with live music, celebrity guests including William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I, roving performers, costumed servers, fine food catered by It’s Only Natural Restaurant, wine supplied by the Bottle Shop in Middletown, artisan beer from Hartford’ City Steam Brewery, a silent auction and Shakespeare-themed activities.

Proceeds from the event will support ARTFARM’s sixth season of outdoor Shakespeare in the Grove this summer. The company will be presenting the original work Shakespeare’s Argument from July 14 – 24 in the beautiful Cedar Grove at Middlesex Community College, followed by a short tour of Connecticut farms.

ARTFARM is a Middletown-based non-profit, founded in 2001, which cultivates high-quality theater with a commitment to simple living, environmental sustainability and social justice. The Elizabethan Bash not only celebrates Shakespeare’s 447^th birthday, but also ARTFARM’s tenth birthday. We’re going to party like it’s 1599!

Admission to the Shakespeare Slam and Elizabethan Bash is $25 per person, although registered performers attend for free. In the true Elizabethan fashion, performers must find generous patrons to sponsor their work by donating to ARTFARM.

Tickets are available at the door. For more information contact ARTFARM at (860) 346-4390, email info@art-farm.org or visit www.art-farm.org.

Eye M's Economic Stimulus Package

Last week I was listening to Faith Middleton on Connecticut Public Radio when she and her guests discussed how much they wished someone would just tell all of us what we could do to combat economic fear and get the economy on the road to recovery. Faith said “Just tell me to go out and buy tires (or something else) and I'll go do it.” We are all feeling so helpless and our collective angst has resulted in nearly every household curbing their spending, which is only making matters worse. Most of us are not ready to make a big purchase and we do need to save a little more as a culture. However, I think Faith is right, we want to help and we wish we knew what proactive thing we could do to help fend off disaster and get our economy moving in the upward direction.

The days of just going out and spending are gone. The days of impulsive purchases are gone. Since listening to that radio interview, I’ve updated my family budget to include a few ways that our family will responsibly spend in an effort to help our community. To make my list, I tried to think about the segments of the economy that are hurting the most. It may be protectionist of me, but my family will attempt to spend locally.


Here are my five suggestions to responsibly spend to help the economy:

1. Send a small donation to a non-profit organization that you have always wanted to support but never have. Your gift will mean so much more. I serve on a non-profit fundraising committee, and I know how hard it is to raise money these days to keep doing our mission and not have to lay off staff. My donation will be in the mail next week.
2. Do a small home improvement project. Paint a room, repair the back steps (this one is on my list), replace a piece of furniture, or frame a piece of your children's art etc. Do something that will make your living environment better and make you feel good.
3. If you own a “”not so new” car don't delay a needed repair. Help the after market if you can't yet invest in a new car. If you do own a new car, thank you for your help. We did just replace four tires, and I promise to get the oil changed on my car.
4. Invest in something that will save you money. Replace a water guzzling toilet (we’ve got this on in progress), get some solar lights for your yard to replace that flood light, buy a seltzer maker, move out that old dryer and put up a clothes line. You get the idea.
5. Don't forget those who work in the service industries. Last week when I met friends for lunch, it was clear how happy the restaurant was to have us there. It may not be dinner out as often for us as it used to be, but I will take a friend to lunch. If eating out is still not in your budget even something as small getting your car washed may keep someone employed.


Please join me in writing up your own list of how you will responsibly spend. The momentum has to start somewhere; it would be great if it could start right here in Middletown.

Middletown and CPBN's 'Where We Live'

John Dankosky's 'Where We Live' show on CPBN is a daily radio program that can be heard locally on WNPR at 9 a.m. Monday to Friday (and it's rebroadcast at 7 p.m.). His topics range from smart growth to local educational and arts/culture initiatives to corruption in Connecticut. The last two programs (Wednesday and Thursday) have been particularly interesting. On Wednesday John interviewed Bill Finch, mayor of Bridgeport. Bridgeport's challenges are not unlike those that face Middletown, and it sounds like Finch is doing a good job in building confidence after the disastrous Ganim administration. He also said some very nice things about Middletown - about midway through the program (I would estimate it to be around minute 30).

Yesterday's program (Thursday) was even more interesting. The topic was the proposed commuter line along the 'Knowledge Corridor' from New Haven to Springfield. John's guests were Joseph Marie, ConnDOT's new commissioner, along with West Hartford State Representitive David McCluskey and Urban Compass blogger Heather Brandon. Herb Singleton of the Pioneer Valley Advocates for Commuter Rail (north of the border) briefly joined the show around minute 30 or so. And Shelby Mertes of the Partnership for Strong Communities was on the show toward the end, around minute 43, to discuss the great need for the development of affordable housing located close to the rail stations. All the participants were wonderfully engaging and forward-thinking, though they disagreed on several points. One mini-debate concerned the scale of parking facilities that would serve the stations along the line, such as in Meriden, Hartford, Wallingford, etc., and how to make the facilities pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Another disagreement concerned whether the project is 'shovel ready'. The show was introduced with a tape of Governor Rell saying that the project is not shovel ready, but McCluskey disagreed vehemently. And, of course, the cooperation of AMTRAK was another important variable.

And happily, even though Middletown is not on the proposed line (for obvious geographic reasons, though I feel there are ways to overcome this), we did get an extended mention on this program as well - beginning at 21:25. A caller named Arlene from Middletown phoned in to the show to say that she'd moved here a year ago from Greenwich and was surprised to discover that a place as large as Middletown had no rail service. This was amplified by an emailer from Middletown (I admit it, it was me), part of which John read on the air, concerning the irony that the 'knowledge corridor' commuter rail was going to miss Middletown, home of Wesleyan University, one of the state's premier liberal arts institutions, and a thriving commercial and cultural center in its own right. The comments by Heather Brandon that followed made reference to Wesleyan and to Middletown's local nightlife, restaurants, etc., and how young and old alike really could use more options when it came to moving around the state. McCluskey echoed these comments, though he noted that we are on a different line.

Two excellent shows, especially yesterday's. Listening to Dankosky, McCluskey, Brandon, Marie, Singleton, and Mertes was electrifying. Very talented, smart people, with the social and economic future of Connecticut foremost in mind. let's hope that Rell and the legislature gets their collective acts together, AMTRAK gets on board, and the municipalities do the right thing. You can download the broadcast here. There are also links on the right side of that page that elaborate points made and the various emails received.

Middletown Eye on WNPR's Where We Live

The topic was "the future of newspapers," and our little newsblog was mentioned, not always kindly (though John Dankosky seems to have a slight affection for us.) The entire show is worth a listen, and we don't get mentioned until it's nearly over. I wonder, is a "trained" journalist like a trained sea lion?