This is an open letter to the members of the Chelsea Garden Group. I completely understand how difficult it is to begin a project and then not be able to complete it as you dreamed it could be. The dream of a botanical garden and butterfly pavilion with acres of convenient parking is a wonderful one. I would like to see it too but with a modification that would allow the deforested land to be returned to the wildlife that desperately needs it more than the humans need another place to spend their money.

I give voice to converting or building the botanical garden and the butterfly pavilion in the Mohegan Park Center. Where the old zoo buildings are now. I am not certain if the buildings are empty or if they are being used for storage but I think it would be a wonderful place as there are already two parking lots established. There are the opportunities for the expansion of the program to include educational trail hikes. How unique it would be to be able to add an aquatic education both plant and fish component. The dog pound can be used as another educational experience for students, families and groups. Everyone can help save their environment. There is a playground for young students and families to burn off a little extra energy too. There are gazebos, benches and shelters so that groups can bring their own lunch or snack in moderate containment. There is also a building that once served snacks that could be re-built and put into service again. Consider using what we have to build the future.   

As individuals you will not be making the personal profit you were planning on, but after twenty-three or so years and at the cost of so much of your time and energy maybe it is time to turn the project into something that can be given to the community of Norwich. I am certain that once completed the City of Norwich will  be happy to put up a plaque with your names praising you for your dedication and hard work.

How about a pretty garden where the areas have been cleared? Or a series of educational plantings? Maybe something designed by the students at the University of Connecticut or the  University Extension Service? A place that can be used for outdoor speakers and programs and public education programs. Maybe something like the University of Rhode Island offers?

So what do you say Chelsea Garden Committee? How about taking a deep breath, a serious look at your resources and growth over the last twenty-three or so years and a re-evaluation of how you can make your dream come true with a little less public angst?

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com   

My new favorite environmental concerns reading material is now available on-line at http://www.ecori.org/ I enjoy it because it is chock full of the positive actions being taken by residents mostly of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to help preserve and protect their environment. Once in a while there is something from Connecticut but it is rare. Rare because the people of Connecticut do not like to tell people about themselves or their projects because they consider telling people about their projects to be bragging.

For example, Norwich, CT has a number of community gardens that individuals and groups have set up to provide themselves, neighbors, friends, the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen and local food pantries with fresh vegetables and herbs.

I am waiting anxiously for one of the churches with a commercial kitchen to set up a home canning program so that individuals with their own canning jars and new lids can bring fresh produce to learn the fundamentals of safe home canning and take home a variety of goods swapped between their classmates. I always have been jealous of the communities that have the kitchens where people come together for an evening of cooking and then swap the dinners between themselves. Imagine it, 6 people come together for an evening of visiting and cooking. Each person makes a different meal for 6 and then they trade dinners. Everyone goes home with  different dinners. No leftovers!

Anyway, I saw an article on the Lots of Hope Urban Greenhouse project in Providence and I thought what a great project this would be for the Chelsea Garden Group in Norwich, CT to demonstrate that they have a concern for the benefit and education of the residents of Norwich, CT. The urban school farming project has four objectives: develop an on-site retail space to increase neighborhood access to healthy food; conduct outreach with churches, schools, libraries and community organizations; sell produce at farmers markets; and grow cold-weather produce. The city, in partnership with the African Alliance of Rhode Island and Groundwork Providence, was awarded funding from the Rhode Island Foundation and Partners for Places.

Can’t you just see a similar project in Mohegan Park? A new use perhaps for the closed up snack building near the parking lot by the Park center? I feel badly that the old zoo buildings were not considered a suitable location for the butterflies or the botanical center as they are just being left to deteriorate while acres of wildlife habitat has been deforested so someday a building can be built to house plants and butterflies.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

I had the most wonderful time at the Small Potatoes Soiree, 309 Otrobando Avenue, Norwich CT. Of course I love the shop owned by Erica Sullivan-Corbett that is just chock full of Connecticut made items.

At the Soiree were some wonderful artisans with wonderful wares and the relaxed, party atmosphere was such that the vendors had an opportunity to visit other booths, to shop, visit and be relaxed too.

There was also some of the best organized fundraising efforts I have been to of late. The fundraising was for the Soup Kitchen Community Garden that was begun this year. There was a wide and varied assortment of prizes wind chimes, a glass birdfeeder, bath salts, a flatware lizard and for sale were the largest pots of herbs I have ever seen.  Ever and that includes plants that are in ground. I took home three and I am praying that they will like their new home in my back yard. I have even explained to them in great detail that during the colder weather I will bring them into the house to live with me and they will be protected from the cold and winds but able to enjoy the warmth of the sun through my windows. Two are responding well to me while the third, well I am still hoping to convince it that I am well-meaning even if I do pick its leaves.

 My latest favorite find though is Lakeside Naturals Laundry Soap Powder by Margo Mulholland from Colchester, CT. The tiny packet of all natural detergent does 8 loads of clothes with low-suds, no chemicals, no fake scents, nothing artificial and wonderfully soft clothes are the results after washing.

 The packets are perfect for new mothers who don’t want to introduce heavy scents and chemicals to their babies and for people with allergies to the chemicals and scents that are found in regular laundry detergents. For those who enjoy making gift baskets it will be hard to find a better source of unique treasures for whatever theme you choose.   

I can’t wait for the next Soiree and I hope to see you there!

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

On occasion a well-organized group will send me their calendar of events in advance. I post it on my bulletin board and may even remark on it that there is an event coming up I would like to participate in but then I don’t put it on my calendar so I will actually go to it. I drive myself crazy when I do that.

So please be sure to place these dates on your calendar to participate in these fundraisers for Hospice of Southeastern CT and for more information please call 860.848.5699 or email events@hospicesect.org

There will be a summer racing series 5 pm on July 15, 2015 at the Niantic Bay Yacht Club, Stonington Dinghy Club & Thames Yacht Club; 11 am on July 18, 2015 will be the Mystic River Mudheads. At 5 pm will be the Mudhead Megaparty at the Mystic Shipyard.

The 30^th Anniversary Gala will be on Saturday, November 14^th with 7 pm cocktails and 8 pm dinner with dancing and festivities following  at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT

Norwich led the year of festivities off with a walk in Mohegan Park on May 9^th.

Funds raised through these and other events make it possible for adults and children in Eastern Connecticut to receive quality end of life care and to also provide no-cost bereavement resources to anyone in our community who has lost a loved one, whether or not that loved one receive hospice care.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com  

I saw this article and a photo in EcoRI News an environmental newspaper for Southern New England and I could not help wondering if any of the schools in Norwich CT had such a program. Wouldn’t it be a great thing if even one classroom teacher had an environmental program  like this? I am willing to bet the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council in Rhode Island would be delighted to share their lesson plans.

“Let It Go. Fourth-graders from Paul Cuffee Elementary School recently released trout that they raised with the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council. The students read farewell letters they wrote to the fish, then let them go one by one near the fish ladder at Riverside Park in Providence. While at the Woonasquatucket River, the students also searched for and identified bugs in the water with Trout Unlimited Northern Rhode Island Chapter 737 members. The students had been participating in “Fish in the Classroom,” learning about watersheds, the river and fish.”

Sometimes the best reinforcement of a lesson is creating an interest that goes further than regurgitating an expected response on a test. I wonder what the farewell letters to the fish said. I wonder if there was another lesson plan that involved the fish having an adventure as it traveled up or down stream or what it thought of the fish ladder. The fish ladder in Norwich was visited by an otter one year much to the delight  of his fans. A camera was set up and anyone who tuned in was able to see his antics, habits and hunting techniques.  I wonder about his adventures too.

When I was in school there was an environmental educator in Norwich and a program called MOPEEP. I don’t recall now what all the letters stood for but it trooped all the classes through trails in Mohegan Park and made certain every child in Norwich saw the woods at least once a year. Now the building stands empty, unused and a bit forlorn. Too bad no environmental group such as Chelsea Gardens is willing to take the initiative to use the facility for an occasional bit of community environmental education. Oh well I admit it is a lot more fun to create new buildings than to use what you have for a new purpose. Who doesn’t like to have new and fresh?

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I went in search of a great Norwich Fourth of July story but sadly this was the best I have found, so far. I found it in the July 3, 1879 Nebraska Advertiser and they boast they found it in an issue of the New York Tribune.  

There is a tradition to the effect that the Democrats forced an extra session of Congress that they might make political capital and advance their cause with the people. They have been tugging and pulling for several weeks and have been boasting of the great progress they have made.

This reminds the New York Tribune of the story of the bibulous persons who attempted to row from Norwich to New London, Ct.

The night was foggy, but armed with a bottle of whiskey, they started in an enthusiastic mood. “The fact upon which they dwelt with the most satisfaction, and to which; they most frequently recurred, was that the tide was with them. “‘S very plain (hic) ‘the tide wiz us, “said one, in a pause in the splashing of the oars. Then there was a gurgling sound as though a bottle had been inverted, and the other said, “(Hie) Yes. We’ve got everything ‘ur own way for sure. We’re wizze tide, and its very strong.” And they resumed the work.

After a while they heard a cock crow on shore. “Mus” be passin’ Allyn’s Point,” they said, and took a drink. A little later they heard another crow, and said, “Tha’ rooster mus’ be at Gale’s Ferry ;” and as they were getting along so finely they agreed unanimously to take another drink. With the approach of dawn the crowing increased, till they made up their minds that they were drawing very near New London and the shores must be lined with hen coops.

For fellows who had been pulling alternately at the oars and the bottle all night, they were in uncommonly good spirits. About the time the bottle was empty day began to dawn and the fog suddenly lifted. The land was right behind them, and the wharf had a strangely familiar look.

As well it might.” They hadn’t cast off their stern line. Then they drew in their oars, and one said, “Well, we’ve(hic) had the exercise all same. Let’s go ashore.” They went, and as they went a bantam rooster on a wood-pile flapped his wings and crowed again.

The Democrats in Congress have not made any progress, but they have had the exercise, and now that they are about to go ashore, there will be crowing and flapping of wings by the Illinois State Register and the other little bantams of the Democratic press.

Somethings just don’t change.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com.