Mercy Defeats St. Joseph 54-37 to Advance to Quarterfinals

Junior guard Jordyn Nappi scored a game-high 18 points to lead Mercy to a 54-37 victory at St. Joseph’s. Mercy, the No. 10 seed in the Class LL tournament, advanced to the quarterfinals with the victory.

“We played well in all phases of the game,” said Mercy head coach Tim Kohs. “Our effort was strong throughout the game and we had a couple of runs where we were able to put their team away.”

“Nappi played great,” he stated. “She made four threes. She’s been struggling with her shot lately and so it was great to see her make some important open shots.”

Maria Weselyj added 15 for the Tigers.

Mercy will host No. 15 East Catholic on Monday at 7 p.m. East Catholic upset No. 2 Lauralton Hall on Thursday.

“I’m optimistic that will continue to play well,” said Kohs. “If we keep up our strong play then we’ll have a strong chance to beat East Catholic. They’re a hot team. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
54-37

“ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN” FREE THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE AT MxCC ON APRIL 5

Middlesex Community College in Middletown will host “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been,” performed by the Middletown-based theater troupe Vintage Players. This 1972 play was written by Eric Bentley and is based on the transcripts from hearings held from 1947-58 by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) following investigations on real and suspected communist members in Hollywood.  The event includes an introduction by Richard Kamins, member of the Vintage Players, as well as a Q & A discussion after the performance. The free event is open to the public and will be held in Chapman Hall, second floor, room 808 C & D on Thursday, April 5, 6:30-9 p.m.  

This Sunday at First Church:

The Second Sunday in Lent
Sunday, March 4th

10 o'clock am

Come visit and join us for worship this Sunday as we welcome guest preacher, The Rev. Ruth LeBar. Our Minister of Music, Shari Lucas, will play a classic of the piano repertoire, Erik Satie's Gymnopedie, as the offertory; the Celebration Singers' prelude is He Leadeth Me; and the Senior Choir sing a Parker/Shaw arrangement of Salem, an Early American tune.

During the coldest months of the year we worship in our Parish Hall. (Worship services will remain in the Parish Hall through March 11^th.)

Sermon: Looking at the ways new things can come in to our life through the shadow of the cross and light of Easter.

Music

Prelude: He Leadeth Me, Benjamin Harlan
   The Celebration Singers
Hymn: The God of Abraham Praise

Anthem: Salem, Early American Tune, arr. Parker/Shaw

   The Senior Choir 

Offertory: Gymnopedie, Erik SatieHymn: Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life

Hymn: When Peace, Like a River

Scripture Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-17, Mark 8: 31-38

Church School: K-5 ~ Communion – Introduction to Easter Baskets!

Second Hour Today: Mayor Dan Drew will present his Senior Tax Relief program, which would allow senior citizens to freeze their real estate taxes or defer payments.

New Dance Class at Vinnie's!

Hey Everyone! I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be teaching a beginning blues dance class at Vinnie's starting Monday, March 5!

It's a four week series running 8:30-9:30pm every Monday in March. I'm really excited to have a chance to give back to the community that got me started dancing, and I hope you'll come down and give it a try!

The back story:

Six years ago, I got my start swing and blues dancing right here in Middletown at Vinnie's Jump and Jive. Dancing at Vinnie's introduced me to a new way of moving my body and having a great time, and I met so many wonderful people through dance. I was totally hooked. I've done a lot of dancing since then, and in the last couple of years I've gotten really excited about teaching dance. I've had the privilege of doing some teaching in New Haven through Yale Swing and Blues, as well as at a couple of regional dance camps.

What's blues dancing?

Check it out here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t9qSvkOiUC8

Blues dancing originated around the same time as Lindy Hop and represents the slower, smoother side of swing dancing. In this class series, we'll start with the basic building blocks of moving with a partner, add some key techniques for partner connection, sprinkle in a few uber smooth blues moves, and stir it up to create a delicious blues stew. All levels of dance experience welcome!

What: Beginning Blues Dancing - no partner or experience needed!

When: Mondays 8:30-9:30pm, March 5, 12, 19, 26

Where: Vinnie's Jump and Jive
424 Main Street, Middletown, CT

Cost: $12, or $40 for the 4-week session
$10 for students, and $35 for the 4-week session

Instructor: Josh Van Vliet

More info:www.vinniesjumpandjive.com/swing.php
or email Josh at jbvanvliet@gmail.com

Babble, Baffle, Battle: The King

John Basinger's The King

At Oddfellows Playhouse

The stage is stark, a black box.

It lends itself to litter—

Empty bottles, broken chair, 

Sticks, a tattered broom.

The set defines the King’s unquiet flesh,
Lame gestures, shadow kin;
His uncouth realm

Inhabits this lifeless plain.  

His bony orbits frame

Bewildered eyes
That starve for meaning.

His hair wisps wild.

He gropes, he grasps.

He tries to make a stand.

He roars, he raves,
He gibbers.

And now and then he speaks,
Names, his daughters and his blood.
He roils, he stews, he rants on them.

He flails, he stomps, he strains.

Is he haunted then? Or haunting?

Or only craving what he thinks is his?

Babble, baffle, battle: The King.

Shakespeare in Pinter paint.

If you see it for yourself,

Ask questions. Maybe
You will find an answer.

Q&A: MHS Boys Swimming Head Coach Trevor Charles Expects Showing in Championship Meets

The Middletown boys swimming team continued its impressive run as a program this season. The Blue Dragons finished 11-4 in the regular season and were the CCC South champions, finishing with a perfect division record. In the midst of preparing for the conference and then state championship meets, Middletown head coach Trevor Charles spoke with the Eye about what makes his squad a force to be reckoned with in the postseason meets.

Middletown Eye: Your team went 11-4 during the regular season and finished undefeated and in first place in the CCC South with a 5-0 record. How much of a success would you declare this past regular season to have been?

Trevor Charles: I’m pretty pleased with how the regular season went. Our effort was very strong every time out and the meets we lost were close.

ME: Are there any meets you would single out as your team’s standout efforts? Even if they may have been loses?

TC: The Farmington meet was our best. They are a very strong team and we lost in the very last rely at their place. Our performances that day were fantastic.

ME: You went undefeated in the CCC South and won the division handily. Can you identify any one reason why you were so ahead of your competition in the division?

TC: The swimming teams in the CCC South are a little weaker than the ones in the rest of the conference. We just had more depth than our competition.

ME: What area would you say your team is the strongest in?

TC: We are very solid in the IM events and all our relays are strong.

ME: And what area would you say the squad is the weakest in?

TC: Our team doesn’t have anyone who’s particularly strong in the freestyle sprinting events.

ME: You have two outstanding divers in sophomores Adam Gauthier and Michael Kinney. How high do you believe the two of them could finish in the CCC Diving Championship on March 1st?

TC: I see them finishing in second and third place. They have had some great performances in our final few meets.

ME: Which swimmers were standouts for the team this season?

TC: There were a group of swimmers-Ethan Cooke, Matt Dagenais, Simon Arias and Ronny Vaughan-who were incredibly consistent. They brought home some serious points for us.

ME: You are an obvious favorite in the CCC South championships that are happening March 3rd. How many points do you expect to win by, and which events do you expect the team to win?

TC: We should win very comfortably. Right now with how the standings are laid out for the championships we should theoretically win by 175 points. And I feel like we should easily win every relay.

ME: You said to me that half of your swimmers have already qualified for the Class L trials and you expect more to qualify this weekend. Considering you should send a fairly large group to the class finals, how high do you believe the team can finish, and in what events should your highest finishes be in?

TC: I hope to have 12 or 13 swimmers qualify and for the team to finish in the top five overall. Our 200 free and 400 free relays should both be near the top.

Eye on...Food - The New England Emporium

Local Concept a Hit; Food Misses the Mark

We’ve all heard the familiar refrain to EAT LOCAL!  To feel good about yourself, BUY LOCAL!  Stop global warming, SUPPORT LOCAL FARMS!  Well, the family was looking for a pick-me-up, and we stumbled across The New England Emporium in Main Street Market in Middletown.  Having walked through this space dozens of times as a cut through from my favorite parking lot, I finally felt the urge to walk in and grab some Chowdah or whatever else New England had to offer.

The menu and the eatery space are both expansive, the latter with cool exposed beams and ductwork, with plenty of seating for all comers.  In the center of the space, there is even a nice big couch for those freeloaders that want to order a coffee and spend their afternoon studying, sipping or napping, while the rest of us work for a living.  The space also includes a nice little shop with everything New England that you can imagine...teas, coffees, sodas....who says we don’t make anything good in America anymore?  After browsing the New England shop, my self esteem was soaring and my tummy was rumbling.

The breakfast menu includes your usual eggs, omelets and pancakes, along with crepes, the specialty of the house at New England Emporium.  Although the Parisien Breakfast Crepe seemed geographically challenged at the New England Emporium, I thought I would give it a shot, along with a simple Three Cheese Omelet.  The crepe itself was well-made, although the innards consisted of thinly sliced deli ham and thinly sliced swiss cheese. Not memorable, weakly flavored and certainly not hearty enough for this New Englander in the heart of winter. The omelet was even less dynamic, consisting of an oddly thin egg coating around the mozzarella, provolone and parmesan, and can best be compared to an airline omelet after your red-eye into Logan Airport (from Paris, of course).

The Signature Sandwiches came calling next.  Feeling a little craze, I went for the Chicken Curry Craze....certainly made with that signature curry seasoning that those Mainers produce.  The curry and jam idea worked, but unfortunately, the iceberg lettuce was a bit too literal, as it was actually frozen, and the tomatoes were mealy at best.

My wife ordered the Panini Brielle, an enormous sandwich piled high with turkey, apple jam, brie cheese on top of a croissant.  A food coma on a plate, complete with apple donut filling.  I had to laugh when she commented that it was a little heavy.  A little heavy...Thanksgiving dinner is a little heavy....this sandwich was Sophie’s Choice.  On the bright side, she fell asleep on the ride home, so I got to listen to my station.

The highlight of the meal was absolutely the Fluffernutter sandwich, with extra Fluff.  It brought me right back to my childhood days and eating lunch at my best friend's house down the street.  Their Mom stocked that wonderful Marshmallow Fluff, an exotic topping for a sandwich for me as a child, as I generally who had to resort to Smucker’s Grape Jelly for my own peanut butter sandwich.  A sundae topping on a sandwich; does it get any better for a 12 year old?  And I could drink Avery Cream Soda anywhere, anytime.  Made with healthy pure cane sugar, not that high fructose stuff, Avery’s consistently complements both Fluffer and Nutter.  

The folks at the Emporium were also friendly, bringing the food to your table although asking you to do your own busing, which seems fair.  And did I mention local?  My wife commented that she had soda from New Britain in one hand and chips from Rhode Island in the other hand - her arms a virtual Rt. 6 connecting the 2 wonderful destinations.

To recap, the food was definitely creative.  This visit just seemed like good gameplan, poor execution.  And the menu is so enormous that maybe we missed the specialties...their grown-up grilled cheeses, dessert crepes and gelato.  

So would I come back to the New England Emporium?  Maybe.  Even with the inconsistency, the menu is diverse and creative, the space is welcoming and the people are great.  Best of all, I supported my fellow New Englanders from the tip of Maine to the shores of Greenwich, all for a reasonable price.  And that made me feel great about myself - something money can’t buy.

Jonah Center Holds Forum on Complete Streets and Bikeway Master Plan for Middletown

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art held a public forum on Middletown’s efforts to develop a comprehensive and detailed plan for making the city safer and more conductive for walking and bicycling on Tuesday night at the First Church of Christ.
The program covered a range of issues and was highly informative.

Jonah Center President John Hall began the forum by addressing the organization’s role as the “Project Advocate” for a $800,000 federal grant application to build a $1 million multi-use trail and bikeway in Middletown that would connect downtown and Wesleyan University with the residential area of Wesleyan Hills and surrounding areas in Durham and Middlefield. He discussed how the city approved $200,000 in required matching funds at the December Common Council meeting. Even more significantly, a separate $20,000 appropriation for a professional consultant to assist the city in designing a “Complete Streets and Bikeway Master Plan” was approved.

As part of this appropriation, a city committee, spearheaded by the Jonah Center, is being formed to study the issue of creating a complete streets and bikeways master plan. The committee will examine the safest and most feasible ways in which to build a multi-use trail and bikeway in Middletown.

The diverse group is also planning to discuss implementing programs which will encourage city residents to walk more and will teach bike safety to city and local riders who are practicing urban riding. Finally, the committee will discuss improvements to sidewalks, off-street trails and bike lanes. This committee has only very recently formed and is not going to start formally meeting until April. But its desire to tackle these issues was made apparent at the forum in the speakers the Jonah Center had presenting.

Kari Sullivan from the state Department of Education kicked the presentations of with a detailed description of the Connecticut Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. A federally funded program to create safe and convenient opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from school, SRTS is designed to help children become more physically active and thus fight the scourge of childhood obesity. As Sullivan stated again and again, the SRTS program promotes healthy lifestyles, improves quality of life and even helps to preserve the environment. In her own words, “Middletown must create an environment which is physically healthy and better for children to live in.”

Sullivan went on to speak about how Middletown could implement the SRTS program in its schools. Her presentation focused on the five “E”s-engineering, enforcement, encouragement, education and evaluation. The engineering process would involve re-engineering neighborhood-to-school connections and traffic control measures to allow for more walking and biking routes to schools. The enforcement process would have law enforcement addressing driver behavior and enforcing traffic laws near schools. Students and parents would be encouraged to walk and bike to school by the promotion of such activities as adult-supervised walks to school and organized Walk To School Days. At the same time, students would be constantly educated on how to walk and bike safely to school and its health and community benefits.

Sullivan did not deny that the process for implementing the STRS program in city schools would be a lengthy one. She, along with the bikeway and master plans committee, is still in preliminary discussions with bringing it to Middletown schools and the federal grants for the program are competitive and in constant danger of being cut. Finally, Sullivan will need the tangible benefits of STRS to convince parents who are skeptical of and concerned with allowing their children to walk to school. However, STRS has made a great impact in communities both in Connecticut and across the country. The quality of life for children in Middletown and for the larger environment of the town will be improved when people begin biking and walking to school and elsewhere.

Local cyclist and biking educator Beth Emery was the second speaker. Emery discussed how both cyclists and motorists can make the streets of Middletown safer. After starting her presentation with a series of simple statistics about the type of crashes that occur on bikes, Emery addressed a number of points. Though she made it clear that bicyclists had to follow common sense measures such as not riding at night without lights or dark clothing and wearing a helmet, Emery argued that bicyclists should have a true understanding of riding and a sense of how to bicycle in an urban environment if they wanted to travel in the streets of Middletown.

“Helmets are like seatbelts, “Emery said. “I would never claim they aren’t very important. But they aren’t going to protect you from an accident if you don’t understand defensive measures. There are other things you need to know.”

Emery delivered the message that before a rider learned anything else about urban bicycling in the city they needed to learn how to interact with traffic. This means that they would have to consistently follow the laws of the road and be predictable in their actions. Riders being conscious of proper lane positioning and their visibility in reference to other vehicles would be key in this regard. Emery stated that it would be her mission to advance the cause of safe travel for both motorists and bicyclists in Middletown by leading the effort to educate residents the rules of safe and successful urban biking. As part of the complete streets and bikeway master plan for making city travel safer, Emery would emphasize lessons that taught riders how to maneuver and handle their bike quickly, particularly in a defensive manner, as well as how to start and break correctly. Emery, along with the committee, hopes to work with law enforcement in establishing these educational programs and to work with the SRTS program and organizations like Bike Walk CT in making the streets of Middletown safer for both children and adults.

Middletown Engineer Ton Nigosanti made the final presentation. He discussed the planned improvements for city structures, sidewalks, off-street trails and bike lanes. Nigosanti came armed with maps that indicated the proposed layout of the multi-use trail stretching from Wesleyan Hill to downtown. He also brought a large map on which those in attendance could indicate their preferred routes for walking and bicycling in the city while identifying which streets and areas they believed to be most in need of repair.

Though Nigoasanti’s presentation was the one least focused on directly addressing the multi-use trail and bikeway plan, it was the presentation which attracted the most comments and feedback from the audience. Those in attendance asked Nigosanti about a number of matters, from the work that could be done on Long Hill Road and Saybrook Road to make it safer for vehicles and bike riders to the source of dirt piles on Long Hill Road and the timetable for their removal.

After the meeting, Hall and Emery spoke with the Middletown Eye about a number of the issues discussed in the meeting. Hall emphasized that the committee coming together to focus on both this broader plan and on the development of a multi-use trail and bikeway was one that could work together strongly.

“We start working in April,” he said. “It’s a group has people from a lot of different backgrounds who are committed to this project. With the variety of strong ideas everyone will share, I can see the committee working together really well. We will have to find a way to incorporate our separate ideas into a comprehensive plan.”

Despite his strong confidence in the committee, Hall did not back away from stating that the creation of a multi-use trail and bikeway route for the city is a few years away. He estimates that the earliest date of fruition would be 2014 and says that anticipating the most convenient layout for Middletown residents, while improving primary routes on such a layout, will be a lengthy process. When you factor this into the city having to still wait for a federal grant application for the project, Hall unequivocally stated that the committee would not write a final report on the route and a comprehensive plan for safe walking and biking in the city for a significant period of time.

Both Hall and Emery visualize the efforts to make Middletown safer and more conductive for walking and bicycling as being capable of changing how both the city is laid out and how its residents live.

“If we make changes with infrastructure through engineering changes and programs than it will have a huge impact,” stated Hall. “A multi-use trail and bikeway route will connect where people live to where they go out and do activities. And it will allow residents from both Middletown and other area communities to easily travel in and out of the city.”

Emery elaborated on the educational programs she wants to introduce to residents as part of the comprehensive plan.

“We will teach riders how to safely share the road with cars,” Emery said. “The more bicyclists there are out on the streets, the more used cars will become to riders and to sharing the road with them. The STRS program will be very important. By teaching our kids to move their bodies by riding their bikes and walking, a culture of health will be established.”

The two leaders were very encouraged by the forum’s large crowd and especially by their feedback. As the Jonah Center for the Arts continues to hold meetings on the future of walking and bicycling in Middletown in the coming weeks and months it hopes that informed and energized crowds continue to turn out.

For more information on the Jonah Center’s efforts in creating a complete streets and bikeway master plan for the city of Middletown, contact John Hall at 860-398-3371 or visit www.thejonahcenter.org

Oddfellows Playhouse Board works to Complete Pratt & Whitney Challenge

Oddfellows Playhouse Board of Directors is stepping into high gear in March to raise funds to complete a challenge first offered by Pratt & Whitney at last March’s Middletown Mayor’s Ball. At the event, Pratt & Whitney offered a matching challenge of $15,000 to support the youth theater.

Oddfellows has been directing new, first time donors and lapsed donors towards the challenge as a way to welcome them to give. To date, just over $10,000 in new dollars have been brought in to support the organization.

In March 2012, the Board of Directors is adding to the challenge. During “Oddfellows’ March Maddness” each member of the board is working to get $1,000 in additional donations in by the end of the month. “10 board members, $1,000 dollars each. That will close the gap and complete the challenge Pratt & Whitney set out to support the children at Oddfellows”, said Board Chair Michael Sciola. “We are trying to maximize Pratt & Whitney’s support by increasing our fundraising goals. This is a one month challenge. We need to complete it by the end of the month!”

“Pratt & Whitney has been an incredibly loyal supporter of Oddfellows Playhouse for a very long time. It was an incredible moment at the Mayor’s Ball last year when Heather [Summerer] and Riz [Rosario Rizzo] announced the $15,000 challenge. We have been working all year to put those challenge dollars to work and increase our fundraising” said Executive Director Matt Pugliese.

The winter of 2011 was a difficult one for the long-time Middletown arts organization. Having already suffered water damage from an ice-damn, the collapse of St. Aloysius Hall at 505 Main St. destroyed the Playhouse’s costume and prop inventory. The Mayor’s Ball and the Pratt & Whitney Challenge were just two of the many community wide efforts to help the children’s theater to weather the challenges.

Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street, Middletown. For more than 37 years Oddfellows Playhouse has been more than just a performing arts program. It aims to make a positive difference in the lives of 1,500 young people each year by using the arts as tools to build self-confidence, communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the world in which we live.

Anyone interested in supporting the challenge can give to Oddfellows directly or through a member of the board of directors. Donations should indicate "Pratt & Whitney Challenge" in the memo.

For more information, to register for classes or to purchase tickets to performances, call Oddfellows at (860) 347-6143 or log onto www.oddfellows.org.

Artist in Residence Hari Krishnan brings his Toronto-based company inDANCE to Wesleyan Mar. 2 & 3

inDANCE. Photo by Miles Brokenshire.

Center for the Arts Director Pamela Tatge discusses the Spring Faculty Dance Concert with Artist in Residence Hari Krishnan in this entry from the CFA blog.

If you’ve not encountered Wesleyan’s Artist in Residence, Hari Krishnan, you must. He came to Wesleyan’s Dance Department in 2001, and since then has developed a real student appetite for bharata natyam (South Indian classical dance) on our campus. What is less known about Hari is that he is the Artistic Director of one of Canada’s most respected dance companies: Toronto’s inDANCE. Wesleyan presented the American debut of this company in 2006 [during the annual Navaratri Festival that October] and since then, inDANCE has made its New York debut and has been presented by performing arts centers around the world.

You’ll have the chance to see inDANCE again this weekend at the CFA Theater when nine male dancers from the company will perform U.S. premiere of Quicksand, hailed by Michael Crabb of The Toronto Star as "rambunctiously provocative work...a techno-hip, strutting declaration of freedom from the constraints of tradition and conventional sexuality."

"Quicksand" will be followed by the world premiere of "Nine", which depicts Navarasa, the nine archetypal emotions popular in Indian classical dance, choreographed on dancers from Wesleyan Dance Department's repertory and performance course. ”Nine” almost serves as a kind of backstory for “Quicksand.”

When I met with Hari yesterday, he said the evening is an exploration of a single idea from two perspectives, two languages, the classical and the post-modern. Taken in its totality, the program serves to enmesh two aspects of his choreographic life that have, at times, been at odds with each other. He’s the Artistic Director of a major contemporary dance company and a professor of classical Indian dance, so respected that he was asked to perform at the prestigious Music Academy in Madras this past January. “’Quicksand’ is a personal manifesto of sorts….its feeling is free and liberating…it uses the traditional form as a springboard to create a personal dialogue relevant to today, and asks the question, how current can you make the traditional feel?” “Nine” reveals the classical bharata natyam take on these emotions.

Hari’s dancers arrived on Tuesday night and have put our students through their paces by taking over the Modern I-III classes. This weekend, students in Wesleyan’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance will also have the opportunity to meet Hari, discuss his work, and see his performance.

Spring Faculty Dance Concert
Friday, March 2 & Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 8pm

CFA Theater

$6 Wesleyan students, $8 all others

MHS Presents "Hairspray"

Minds In Motion Registration

Registration is now open for Middletown’s fourth annual Minds in Motion enrichment program, which will take place Saturday, March 10, 2012 at Wilbert Snow Elementary School from 12:00-4:00 pm.

Minds in Motion (MIM) is an afternoon of fun, fast-paced, hands-on workshops geared to high-ability, motivated learners from grades K-8. Workshops are designed to enrich and encourage curious students and are generally limited to 14-18 students. This year’s workshops include robotics, dance, science, art, martial arts, juggling, theater, DNA, math, cooking, cupcake decorating and yoga. The complete list of the 2012 offerings is available at http://www.ctgifted.org/website/cmsAdmin/uploads/2012MIMMiddletownBrochure.pdf. Online registration is available at http://www.ctgifted.org/mim_registration/mim_location.php.

Activities for parents and other adults interested in education include a keynote talk by Katie Augustyn and John Ryan entitled “Mindset: The Key to Success for Your Child” and the following workshops: How to Help your Child Be a Better Learner, Inspiring Students to Become 21^st Century Problem Seekers!, Mindfulness at Play, Basic Self-Defense Techniques and Concepts, Yoga for the Weekend Warrior. There will also be a Vendor and Exhibitor area featuring educational materials and local programs for young people.

The event is co-sponsored by the Snow School PTO and the Connecticut Association for the Gifted (CAG), which has organized “Minds in Motion” events throughout the state for many years. Volunteers from Macdonough School and Independent Day School have been key collaborators, and local organizations and individuals have responded enthusiastically to the program. If you would like a brochure or to be a volunteer or exhibitor, please email mimmiddletown@gmail.com or leave a message at 860-347-2579 (Snow School).

Thank you to the many organizations which are providing presenters for the program: American School for the Deaf, Ann’s Good Stuff, ARTFARM, Channel 13 Public Access, Community Health Center, Cromwell Martial Arts, Eli Whitney Museum, Golden Lion Academy, Independent Day School, Kidcity Children’s Museum, Kids Korner, Ladybugs Cakes and Cupcakes, Manchester Community College, Nathan Levy Books, Nature’s Classroom, New Britain Schools, Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater, Snow School, Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Talcott Mountain Science Center in Avon, Vinnie’s Jump & Jive, Wesleyan University.