Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Yale Peabody Museum co-sponsors film series

NEW HAVEN As part of its 150th anniversary offerings, Yale Peabody Museum is co-sponsoring the YPM150 Film Series featuring four films that highlight a connection to the Museum, according to a release.

All films will be screened at Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center at 53 Wall St., New Haven. Admission is free of charge.
 
“Bringing Up Baby” kicks off the series at 7 p.m. Sept. 10  (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) Preceding the screening will be a short talk and discussion led by Yale Film Studies or Peabody staff about the film’s connection to the museum, the release said.
 
“'Bringing Up Baby' is a 1938 madcap comedy directed by Howard Hawks. It stars Cary Grant as harried paleontologist David Huxley who meets high-spirited heiress Susan Vance, played by Katherine Hepburn. The increasing chaos includes a missing dinosaur bone, a Brontosaurus skeleton, and a pet leopard who threatens to swallow Huxley whole."

Further, the series is "co-sponsored with the Whitney Humanities Center, Films at the Whitney, Yale Film Study Center and Treasures from the Yale Film Archive." Additional films scheduled include “Inherit the Wind” on Oct. 8, “Gojira” (“Godzilla”) on Nov. 12, and “Jurassic Park” on Dec. 10, the release said.

 
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'Share the pleasures of reading with a child'


A program about volunteering as a reading partner with the Jewish Coalition for Literacy will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 20 at the  Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven, Amity Road, according to a release.
 
In the lives of the children we serve, having an adult read to them, discuss with them, and solicit their opinions is something which may happen only rarely,” said Beth Kaufman, chairwoman of the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, also in the release.

"JCL’s reading partners share the pleasures of reading; giving public elementary school students needed one-on-one attention. Just one hour a week, the volunteer reads and talks with a student. Volunteers help engage students with words, enriching foundations for thought and imagination," the release said.
A non-denominational program of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, JCL serves about 350 students in seven schools each year. It provides training and placement to volunteers and is seeking caring, committed volunteers for the upcoming school year. Reading partners choose the day, time, specific school and grade of the student they would like to work with. Potential volunteers can attend the following information session:"
 
The information and  orientation session will include:  Margie Gillis, Literacy How, Inc., president and founder;  Dr. Abie Benetiz, director of instruction, New Haven Public Schools, and       Krista Bergin, literacy intervention facilitator, New Haven Public Schools, the release said.
 
All are welcome and no previous experience is needed.  Contact Brenda Brenner at bbrenner@jewishnewhaven.org or 203 387-2424 x 308 for more information.
 
More:
JCL is a project of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven is a philanthropic organization committed to serving the needs of the Jewish Community in Greater New Haven, in Israel, and around the world. 
 
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Thursday, August 25, 2016

New Haven wants to protect residents from West Nile virus

NEW HAVEN >> The city is launching a program to help protect seniors from West Nile virus, an effort timed to coincide with the start of September, when mosquitoes infected with the virus are said to be most active, according to a release.
 

Mayor Toni N. Harp said the city’s plan "to protect seniors includes a public awareness campaign supplemented with a proactive approach to minimize seniors’ exposure to mosquitoes in the first place. The plan is focused on the city’s three senior centers; each will have public health information available as well as a supply of free mosquito" repellant," the release said.

"We’re asking you to make West Nile (virus) a priority in the next few days so we can keep West Nile Virus on the back burner for the rest of the summer," Harp said in the release. "It’s no secret that mosquitoes carry the virus, and this next month or two are when those virus-infected mosquitoes are said to be most active, so we have to eliminate or repel those mosquitoes."

West Nile virus has made its way into New Haven County and scientists have found mosquitoes in West Haven are carrying the virus, officials at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station said in a recent release.

Paul Kowalski, of the city’s Health Department, designed a public information campaign to raise awareness about mosquitos and ways to protect yourself from bites.

The city will distribute pamphlets on mosquitos and will give out mosquito repellant at each of the city’s three senior centers while supplies last, he release said..

"Let’s get everybody completely educated on avoidance of mosquito bites," Kowalski said Thursday in a phone interview.

Kowalski noted that for the past two months city public works crews have been putting larvacide down almost 4,000 New Haven catch basins. The larvacide is placed into catch basins that contain standing water, he said.

Among other tips are: to use insect repellant correctly, to remove or reduce standing water around property, and to wear long-sleeve shirts and pants and shoes while outside.

West Nile virus can infect both animals and people, according to the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program. Symptoms can include fever, rash, headaches, and nausea. More severe cases can lead to stiff neck, disorientation, muscle weakness, and even coma or death.
 

For more information, call the New Haven Health Department’s Bureau of Environmental Health at 203-946-8174.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Yale Peabody Museum’s 7th annual end-of-summer free admission day


Contributed
 NEW HAVEN - The Yale Peabody Museum’s seventh annual end-of-summer free admission day, is set for Saturday, August 27, from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.  Aug. 27, according to a release.
 
"Local high school students in the Peabody’s Sci.CORPS Museum Interpreter Program will man Sci.CARTS in galleries throughout the Museum," the release noted. "They will demonstrate objects from the collections and encourage visitors to touch real fossils and artifacts and engage in exercises offered at the following Sci.CARTS: Geologic Time, Ancient Egypt, Connecticut Birds, Mammals, Watershed, Rocks and Minerals, and North American Dioramas."

Contributed
"A division of the Museum’s after-school EVOLUTIONS program, Sci.CORPS helps students master the science and suggested teaching technique for each cart. Students receive badges for each Sci.CART they learn to master." 
 
Further, docents will lead tours of the Peabody’s 150th anniversary exhibition, "Treasures of the Peabody," which "tells the story of the Museum from the founding of Yale in 1701 and the early evolution of science in America to the expeditions and research occurring today," the release said.

Contributed
"On view are rarely-seen objects from across the Museum’s scientific divisions including Pavlov’s drool collector, Buffalo Bill’s rifle, Yale’s first microscope, the first meteorite to fall in the New World, and the skeleton of famed circus gorilla Gargantua the Great. Also Hesperornis and Ichthyornis, the 80-million-year-old toothed birds from Kansas that were early evidence of the dinosaur-bird connection; Deinonychus, the raptor discovered in 1964 by Peabody paleontologist John Ostrom that reestablished the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs; and the 'Jurassic Park' Velociraptor inspired by Deinonychus."
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All Peabody galleries will be open including the Great Hall of Dinosaurs featuring the 150-million-year-old skeletons of Brontosaurus and Stegosaurus, the release said.
 
Visitors will receive a raffle ticket upon entering that makes them eligible for prize drawings throughout the day. A craft activity will be offered for younger children.
 
Free parking is available in the Peabody lot and adjacent Yale lots. The entrance is one block north of the Museum at the intersection of Whitney and Humphrey Streets. The museum is located at 170 Whitney Ave, New Haven, at the corner of Whitney and Sachem Streets.

 
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Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Free Ballroom Dance Classes for the Greater New Haven Community


Bethesda Lutheran Church will offer free ballroom dance classes for the greater New Haven community in the fall semester, according to a release.

Classes will take place at 450 Whitney Ave., where there is free parking available, the release said

Bethesda member Christina Castaneda "is passionate about using dance to build community and promote wellbeing. She has taught professionally for over twenty years and is excited to offer her gifts to Bethesda's neighbors and friends," the release said.

Singles and couples of all levels of experience are invited to join hour-long sessions on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m. or Saturday at 11 a.m., starting after Labor Day (Sept. 5), the release said.

"Attendance is flexible and there is no commitment. There is no fee, but freewill donations to the church are appreciated. A few weeks will be dedicated to each type of dance, starting with swing."

The atmosphere will be fun and casual. For information and to sign up, visit BethesdaNewHaven.org/dance or email BethesdaDance@yahoo.com
 
Teacher Biography
 Castaneda "has studied dance since the age of 3 and has trained in various styles including Lyrical, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, and American Style Ballroom. She received intense Ballroom coaching from Wanda Deagen, under whose direction she competed professionally in Las Vegas at the World Promotions Ballroom Competition. Christina then attended New York's Summer Dance Fest Teacher Workshop hosted by the Broadway Dance Center earning a Certificate of Recognition from Dance Teacher Magazine. She taught for the Dance Tree in Houston, TX, and, in 2005, earned the position of assistant director of Ballet New Braunfels where she later became director and led annual productions of The Nutcracker until 2015. Christina also worked with the New Braunfels Theatre Company to co-choreograph the musicals Grease, Cinderella, and From Us to You. Most recently, she competed twice in the Christian Youth Theater's annual Dancing with the Stars of New Braunfels and in 2015 was an honored judge. Christina is happy to have brought over 20 years of teaching experience to New Haven and is enthusiastic about joining the local arts education community."
 
 

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Nick Bellantoni to share ‘Deeply Human’ archaeology stories

  : Albert Afraid of Hawk, 1899, Heyn Photographer (Courtesy Library of Congress NEW HAVEN — While Nick Bellantoni ,  emeritus   Co...