New Haven Celebrates Time, Find Out How

New Haven made clocks

NEW HAVEN - A pop-up exhibit dubbed, “New Haven Celebrates Time,” and "featuring 30 timepieces made by The New Haven Clock Company," will take place from 1 to 5 p.m., April 25 and from 1 to 4 p.m. April 26, according to a release.

The exhibit will be held at Maresca & Sons Funeral Home, 592 Chapel St., in Wooster Square, the release said. It  will run concurrent with the New Haven Cherry Blossom Festival in Wooster Square

 

Admission is free.

 Also in the release: At 2 p.m., April 26, independent curator Elizabeth Fox will visit the “New Haven Celebrates Time” exhibit and give an informal talk on the significance of clock making in New Haven. Fox is guest curator of the New Haven Museum exhibition, “From Clocks to Lollipops: Made in New Haven,” which highlights goods produced in the Elm City and is open through summer 2015.

“New Haven Celebrates Time” will include examples of various types of clocks created in New Haven from the late 19th century through 1940s, including shelf clocks, banjo clocks, and wall clocks, and highlight the skill and artistry of those who made them, the release said..

Statewide veterans Stand Down 2015 to be held

A Veterans "Stand Down 2015" for veterans from across the state, sponsored by FISH/Friends in Service to Humanity of Northwestern CT will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22 at the Armory, at 153 South Main St., Torrington, according to a release.

The event will provide myriad free services and helpful information from nearly 20 providers, which will include federal and state agencies, as well as local businesses and organizations, the release said.

"Stand Down is an event where homeless veterans and those in need of services may receive the help they need at the same time and place," the release said. "FISH NWCT recognizes the partnerships it has with the Torrington Marine Corps, AMVETS, American Legion Post 38 Riders Group and the Association of the United States Army Connecticut Chapter in supporting this Stand Down 2015."

Some of the supporting agencies and services include those representing the state Department of Labor, the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, Connecticut Legal Services, higher education, mental health and addiction services, social services, transportation and haircuts, the release said..

Veterans and their spouses will also be served a complimentary lunch, and clothing and toiletries will be distributed, the release said. FISH NWCT will provide free transportation to assist veterans from around the state.

The bus schedule for areas to be served with round trip busing include: Bus #1 at 8:45 a.m. from the New Haven Green, 9 a.m. from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Haven and 9:40 a.m. at the Bridgeport Bus terminal; Bus #2 picks up at Middletown Town Hall at 9 a.m., in Meriden at 9:20 a.m. from the St. Vincent DePaul Society, and in Waterbury at the Green at 9:50 a.m. Bus #3 picks up from New Britain at 8 a.m. at Jimmy’s Smoke Shop, from Manchester at 8:30 a.m. at Samaritan Shelter, in Hartford at 9 a.m. from St. Elizabeth House, and from Newington at 9:30 a.m. from the VA Medical Center.

Veterans may pre-register by calling Vera Halilaj, veterans case manager/coordinator at FISH NWCT at 860-496-1648 or 860-482-7300, or Deirdre DiCara, executive director.

For more information, visit the FISH website at www.fishnwct.org.

Effort underway to build Connecticut Improv theater

Sea Tea player in New Haven

HARTFORD - Sea Tea Improv's effort to create a Comedy Theater a "permanent home for comedy in Connecticut in the heart of downtown Hartford" is underway.

"We're going to build a comedy theater in the heart of downtown Hartford. Will you help us?," the improve group asked in a release.

To donate or learn more visit here.

 

"What do Boston, New York, Chicago, Providence, Los Angeles, Burlington, and Minneapolis all have in common? They all have improv theaters! It's time for Hartford to join the big leagues by opening our own thriving comedy theater."

"After six years of bringing improvisers together throughout the state, Sea Tea Improv is ready to own and operate a space for comedians, actors, and musicians," the release notes.

"The spot we've picked out is easily accessible and will put feet on the street of our great little city. We love Hartford and we want it to have this affordable and fun entertainment opportunity for all its people, every night of the week."

 

Christian Community Action to hold a benefit jazz concert

Photo by Fletcher Oakes

Christian Community Action  will hold a benefit jazz concert by the nationally known / locally based ensemble, The Afro-Semitic Experience  from 4 to 6 p.m. May 3. at the Unitarian Society of  New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden.

Co-sponsoring the concert, in addition to the Unitarian Society, are New Haven’s

Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, United Church of Christ and Leary

Counseling and Valuation, Inc. of Hamden, according to a release.

Tickets to the concert are $18 in advance (before May 2) and $20 at the door, the release said. 

To purchase tickets in advance with a credit or debit card, visit the CCA website,

www.ccahelping.org .

There is also an opportunity for supporters to have one-line listing of their names

in the concert program book at a cost of $20 per listing. For details, call the CCA

Development Department at (203) 777-7848.

 

"All proceeds will benefit CCA programs to support families that are homeless or at

risk of becoming homeless and they strive to strengthen their independence and

self-sufficiency," the release said..

 

More from release:

 

"Founded in 1967, Christian Community Action is a nonprofit ecumenical /

nonsectarian social services agency whose mission is to provide “Help, Housing

and Hope,” to those that are poor in New Haven, particularly families.  CCA

operates a three-building / 17-apartment emergency shelter, a single-site 18-

apartmemt transitional housing complex and a food pantry.  Through its Advocacy

and Education Project, it teaches people of low income how they can have their

voices heard in shaping the public policies that affect their lives. 

CCA's latest venture, the ARISE (Accessing Resources for Independence, Skill-

Building, and Employment) Center addresses the underlying needs of families

either to prevent a first experience with, or a return to homelessness. Using

a family-focused approach, ARISE offers comprehensive employment, education,

and case management services directly, and in partnership with other New Haven

organizations, to assist everyone in achieving greater economic security and

stability.

Scoville Library presents the Connecticut State Historian on Nathan Hale

Contributed photo

 

The "Burning Question" about New Haven's own Nathan Hale is of interest as he is New Haven's own because he graduated from Yale University. (And there's a school named for him and a Fort Nathan Hale)

 

The Salisbury Association Historical Society and the Scoville Memorial Library will present Connecticut State Historian Walter W. Woodward, on "The Burning Question about Nathan Hale" at 4 p.m. April 11 in the Wardell Room, Scoville Memorial  Library, 38 Main St., Salisbury, according to a release.

According to Woodward,  author, Connecticut State Historian  and professor of history at University of Connecticut, "It is well known  today that there is some question about whether Connecticut state hero Nathan Hale at the time of his hanging actually said the words for which he is famous, 'I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.'"

"A recently discovered manuscript casts doubt on Hale's truthfulness at the time of his capture as a patriot spy on Long Island in the late summer of 1776," the release says.

"Was there a connection between Hale and the great fire which nearly destroyed New York City the day before his capture? Historian Walt Woodward a scholar of early American and Atlantic world history examines all these issues, especially the question as to whether Hale was an arsonist,  and provides new insight into Hale's life, death, and very
real heroism," the release says.   

Woodward is the author of “Prospero’s America: John Winthrop,Jr., Alchemy and the Creation of New England Culture 1606-­1676”. 

The April 11  presentation is a collaboration between the Salisbury Association
Historical Society and the Scoville Memorial Library, the release said.

Watch: Coast Guard medevacs sailor missing for more than 60 days

Screen shot of Coast Guard video

The Coast Guard said in a release that crews "medevaced a man who was located on a disabled sailing vessel Thursday approximately 200 miles off the North Carolina coast." "Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth received notification from the 1,085-foot, German-flagged motor vessel Houston Express at approximately 1:30 p.m., indicating they spotted a man and the vessel approximately 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and took him aboard. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, at approximately 3:40 p.m. The helicopter crew met the Houston Express, hoisted the man and transported him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, arriving at approximately 7:30 p.m. The man, 37-year-old Louis Jordan and the sailing vessel Angel, were initially reported missing by his family to the Coast Guard Jan. 29," release said.

" The Coast Guard will conduct a debrief with Jordan."

Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride launches bike ad campaign

NEW HAVEN - Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride, one of the region’s largest environmental efforts, has launched a new advertising campaign heralding a day-long biking celebration April 25 for Earth Day (actual date April 22) and of New Haven’s environmental and cultural resources.

Riders gathered Monday outside City Hall on Church Street and exhibited signs being placed on bikes, bike carts and pedicabs emphasizing bicycling’s increasing role as a sustainable mode of transportation, organizers said in a release.

An expected 1,500 cyclists will travel between West Rock and East Rock April 25 in one of five rides: the 8-mile family-friendly ride; a 12-mile adult ride; the 20-mile ride; a 40-mile ride; and a metric century (60+ miles), all traveling through scenic and park-filled routes in the New Haven region with celebrations on both sides of the city, the release said. Along the way, there will be food, music, environmental challenges and service projects, and a chance to explore the city’s parks, the release said.

The goal for 2015 is to raise $200,000, organizers said.

In 2014, the ride raised more than $150,000 to support 26 local environmental organizations, signed up more than 1,000 riders, received donations from more than 500 individuals, and attracted more than 40 corporate and organizational sponsors. The funds raised annually support youth education, community gardens, city tree planting, environmental education, green policy work, local and healthy food projects, park improvements and more, the release said.

The group also will conduct a day of environmental service April 11.

For more details, call Rock to Rock at Common Ground at 203-389-4333.