Monthly Archives: April 2016

Time to Plant the Banana

It is almost May 1st and time for that spring time tradition.  Yes ladies and gentlemen it is time for the planting of the banana. Don’t be silly. Bananas don’t grow well in Connecticut but the peels of the banana break down in the soil and add nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous to the soil that roses and other plants just love. It all started for me when I had left a banana on the counter so long it had passed the banana bread stage.  I had read an article how roses liked bananas so I oogled a hole near a rose bush , planted the banana and filled the hole back in. That year the bush produced beautiful roses. 

I bragged how the roses were all due to my planting the banana and a tradition was born. At the Leffingwell House Museum beside the flag pole is a Norwich Rose and I hope someone is still feeding the rose bush its yearly treat  of a banana. The all natural compost of the banana builds up and improves the quality of the soil.  

The addition of potassium to the soil strengthens the stems, helps developing buds to grow and mature for longer periods of time and helps the leaves keep from turning yellow and brown during the summer while also helping to boost the overall immune system of the plant and those surrounding it.

Of course, fertilizing with a single banana is not enough but adds some lighthearted fun to cleaning up the yard and doing a bit of gardening.

Used coffee grounds are also great for helping plants to grow because it has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 20  to 1, the grounds lighten the weight of the soil and so it attracts earthworms that aerate and loosen the surrounding soil, and some of the other pests and bacteria’s don’t like it.  In my head I have an image of a slug with a hangover from sipping on the dish of beer slowly moving over to the dew soaked coffee grounds.  Slugs love beer but tend to drown. If you don’t brew your own coffee, ask at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for their used coffee grounds.  Roses also love Epsom salts, crushed egg shells and orange peels. 

Happy spring and happy gardening to all!

 Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 

 

Give Fish a Chance

Norwich CT has access to some wonderful fresh water fishing. We have three active rivers, the Thames, Yantic and Shetucket and numerous public ponds and lakes. All are stocked with a variety of fish. On the first day of fishing season, bright and early in the morning the shores are lined with people fishing laughing and saying how they have found just the right spot as there is always fish to catch there.

And? I say “and?” because it is a stocked area. That means that the fish are bred somewhere and the babies protected from being eaten by the adults. Then they are fed and given extra vitamins so that they will grow up quickly. The fish respond to the yummy treats cast onto the waters . Then they are trucked to their new home a few weeks shy of the opening of the season and left to fend for themselves.  By opening day they are hungry and longing for the meals supplied by their humans.

Then comes the magic of the opening of fishing season when food suddenly appears all around the fish even when they are trying to get a little sleep in a deep and dark hidey place or under a rock. There is a trick though. This time the food comes wrapped around a sharp piece of metal that gets stuck in their mouth or throat or sometimes the tail of the poor fish. I don’t quite understand how this happens but I have seen it for myself.

I like to give the fish a fighting chance, so I don’t go fishing until about a month into the fishing season and in the mean time I have been known to toss fish food available from various sporting stores and dried corn  into the water to watch the fish swim and leap and jump and just have a very good time.

One person I talked to bragged how he doesn’t eat fish but likes the sport and so he catches and releases his fish after he removes his hook from their mouth. It’s too much trouble to remove the hook from the throat or stomach so he’ll cut the line before turning the fish loose.  And somehow this does not seem wrong?  When I was young I recall how we would stand very still in the water and the fish would come to investigate a new play area and we would grab them with our hands.  Some, ok many escaped and some became dinner but at least they had a fighting chance for survival.    

 Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 

Earth Day 2016

Help Norwich, CT celebrate the 46th Anniversary of Earth Day by helping to clean up our streets and public areas. On April 22nd from 9 AM- Noon Encore Justified at 102 Main Street in the downtown area is sponsoring a street clean-up. Encore Justified is bags, maps and gloves for a downtown clean-up.  Get there early and enjoy some coffee, donuts and fruit to give you energy!

Norwich, Ct officials don’t like to brag so none of the clean-up and celebration events are posted on any of the local calendars of events including the one on our official City of Norwich website or any of the international sites.  If for any reason you are interested in seeing what other places do to celebrate the earth that are open to the public please find a  sampling at https://goo.gl/Ci2fHZ .

It is not just the downtown area that needs to be cleaned up and freshened up. Lets trim the bushes back from the corners and away from the sidewalks so people can walk down them safely. Lets move the trash cans off the sidewalks too. It’s a bother but folks, the trash cans are on wheels so they can be moved.

On April 23rd by the lower Pond in Mohegan Park from 10 AM – Noon come help build a bird blind using all natural materials found in the area so people can secretly spy on the birds of the park and area.

There  may be a whole host of other clean-ups and activities having to do with Earth Day this week and they are really not a secret and I know they are open to the public but because Norwich residents somehow equate publicity and calendar of events with bragging, the public never really knows all of the events that are going on unless they know where to look or are somehow involved in the event. Sigh. We really do have to work on that. Hope to see you on the streets!

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Daughters of Liberty

It’s that time of the year when the ladies interested in revolutionary period history begin to have their “teas.” It always makes me wonder which side they are representing. Tea in the day, while a favorite drink of the ladies of the time was a very British drink and the tea figured prominently and was taxed heavily in the Stamp Act.

Story tellers love to tell the story of the men who met and formed the “Sons of Liberty.” How they met in the local taverns of Norwich before declaring themselves officers and taking off to form battalions and armies to drive away the English rule. But now it is time to hear the rest of the story.

Allow me the honor of introducing you to the “Daughters of Liberty.”  

The “Daughters of Liberty” were the rulers of the family, farm, manufacturing, import/export and domestic and commercial finances. While the men were grandstanding about, the women, wives and daughters took their pledges not to buy a dress, ribbon, glove or anything else that came from England. They were determined not to pay a penny or a half-pence in taxes. They formed spinning societies to make their own yarn and linen and wove the cloth for their own clothes and that of the men as well. Their clothes were not always a fashion statement, but an important political statement.

The Societies were not small sized groups. On May 1st  1766 101 women gathered in the court house at Norwich CT for a day of spinning skeins of yarn, contests for speed, quality, and quantity. Was it a coincidence that Christopher Leffingwell opened his spinning and weaving businesses in 1766 too? In the Leffingwell House Museum is a set of kitchen towels and apron made from flax grown, spun and woven into cloth on Wawecus Hill in the 1800’s.

Older women had pledged to give up their much loved tea drinking and developed all sorts of herb teas using catnip, sage, mint, clover, chamomile, leaves of berry bushes, violets, and rose hips pretending how much they were enjoying them. Have you ever tasted “Hyperion Tea?” For stronger tastes the tree barks of the willow and sassafras were used. Not the modern one of oolong from a box but the one made of dried raspberry leaves? A mixed leaf tea produced near Portland, Maine was so popular during the American Revolution it replaced the teas of the British East India Company and was exported tax-free to England.  

To learn more about how you can harvest tea from the wilds today I recommend this from the 2014 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/issues/2014/jul-aug/wild-herbal-tea.html

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Hot Soup

This blog is directed specifically to the commercial restaurants, caterers, chefs, cooks, restaurateur’s, managers and other purveyors of soup, stew and food in Norwich, CT. When I go in to your establishment for a meal please stop telling me what you are serving is homemade when obviously all you did was open a can and heat it up.  You didn’t even add a sprinkling of parsley or cheese or a single additional vegetable to the offering which differs in no way, shape, form or taste than the smaller can I can purchase all by myself in the grocery store.

Homemade should mean that someone in the establishment I am visiting should have had a hand in the making of the item. The way things stand now, Homemade is a brand name of the commercially available product you are pawning off to unsuspecting customers as your own.  Do you really believe that a homemade soup should contain enough salt to burn the average person’s tongue with its strength? Why is that when the claim is made the soup or stew is homemade there is no aroma wafting gently from the bowl?  Luke warm, tepid, and room temperature are not the food temperatures I am looking for on a cold day. There are government restrictions on the temperature foods can be kept at, prepared at, cooked at and served at but serving soups with a film across the top from its sitting around is not a solution or a protest.

If your server can place a sizzling hot, watch you don’t burn yourself, platter in front of me, why can’t my food be so hot that I need to wait a minute or two before I shovel it in my mouth quickly so that I can clear your chairs so you can seat your next customers.

Don’t get me started on this fresh baked on the premises nonsense. The ingredients are mixed somewhere else, shaped somewhere else, assembled somewhere else, frozen somewhere else, shipped from somewhere else and then possibly baked in your oven to be sold to me.  Once more, if I wanted something frozen that I can bake myself, I will go to the grocery store.

Thankfully Lazizah Bakery, 125 Yantic Road, Yantic and Occum Pizza 30 Taftville- Occum Road, Occum are two places where I have been able to find soup served hot and where the staff could tell me the ingredients  and the names of soups did not match the Sunday supplement advertisements for canned soup specials. Norwich needs more places that take pride in themselves and their offerings to the public.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

 

  

        

Before Suffragettes

If there is any interest in the voting of women in Norwich, CT after viewing the Suffragette movie at the Otis Library on April 1st . People may want to start looking at the local news of 1901 and 1902. Long before the Suffragettes were marching and protesting for rights women in Norwich and other Connecticut cities and towns were voting. Sometimes on very limited issues and sometimes not.  

 At the turn of the twentieth century the women of Connecticut were encouraged to vote in local elections concerning library and school issues. From the 1902 list of eligible voters of the City of Norwich CT the following list of women led the way to the freedom to vote we enjoy today and maybe it is time for the Historical Society and other history devotees to begin to explore more about the role of the women of Norwich, CT.

 While people are racing to the Otis Library to search the microfile and microfiche some may also want to explore who the men in the lives of these women were who so obviously encouraged them to become voters and to exercise their right.

2nd District  Women

Swan Jennie P, 71 Maple                               Swan Amos C, 71 Maple
Willey, Grace E, 52 Asylum                             Willey, Herbert, 52 Asylum
 
6th District  Women
 
Avery Eliza Hane, 8 Hamilton av                       Avery Addison, 8 Hamilton Av
Briggs Jennie A, 15 Penobscot                        Calvin L, 15 Penobscot
Billings Addie L, 1 Hamilton av                        Billings Chas W F, 1 Hamilton
Billings Mary A,  1 Hamilton av                         see above
Buell Rachel B, Mulberry                                 No male match at address
Bushnell Nettie L, 64 Main                              No male match at address
Campbell Minnie, 5 Elm                                   No male match at address
Davis Jennie L, Corning Road                         Davis Geo W, Corning Road
                                                                          Davis John Mason, Corning Road
Green Mary M, 21 Penobscot                          Green Frank E, 21 Penobscot
Harris Elfie L, Mulberry                                    No male match at address
Harris Harriet A, Mulberry                                No male match at address
Mathieu Ida A, 68 Main                                    Mathieu Byron, 68 Main
Rathbun Nellie M, 18 Williams Av                   Rathbun George P, 18 Williams Av
                                                                          Rathbun Wm S, 18 Williams Av
Service Nellie I, 9 Hamilton av                          Service John A, 9 Hamilton Av
Spaulding Sarah S, 20 Main                            Spaulding Edwin, 20 Main
                                                                          Spaulding Will, 20 Main  
Storms Annie B, Palmer                                   No male match at address
Vetter Amelia, 1 Hamilton av                            Vetter John, 1 Hamilton Av
Williamson Ellen F, 62 Main                            Williamson John F, 62 Main
                                                                          Williamson Joseph, 62 Main
 
Young Elizabeth C Palmer

 (I checked to see if there was also a male voter at the same address with the above listed results.)

 Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Henry W. Holly

People tell me the same history of Norwich CT stories until I am screaming for relief.  So I continue my quest to bring the lesser known history of Norwich CT to light with the hope that people will become curious and look more deeply into what is around them.

Few Norwich residents know about Henry Wells Holly. He was a carpenter in Norwich CT in the 1850’s and 1860’s. He found his niche in life carving and assembling staircases and handrails. Holly  was one of many talented and gifted craftsmen and workers who did the actual construction of the homes and mansions tour guides will tell you about. But the tour guides, sadly, will tell you only about the property owners.  Not tales of the craftsmen yet their work is still being admired. Some of the work is still in place, some destroyed, some has been moved to new homes and some is for sale in re-sale fixture shops.

Holly wrote two books. The first printed in Norwich, CT was  The carpenter’s and joiner’s hand-book: containing a complete treatise on framing hip and valley roofs. Together with much valuable instruction for all mechanics and amateurs, useful rules, tables, etc. … and Illustrated by thirty-seven engravings. The book is still being used for reference and can be purchased in bookstores.

The second was The art of saw-Filing Scientifically treated and explained in Philosophical Principles with full and explicit directions for putting in order all kinds of saws from a jeweller’s saw to a steam saw-mill. It is illustrated with 44 engravings. It was published in New York by John Wiley, 535 Broadway in 1864. With grateful thanks to the University of Michigan and Google it has been digitized and can be read at https://archive.org/details/artsawfiling00hollgoog

Henry W. Holly was a prolific inventor as well as carpenter. Always busy with his hands and looking for solutions to make life easier for the residents of Norwich, CT. Holly registered patents for a wide variety of items through the United States Patent Office which was still in its infancy and not nearly as officious as it is today. Holly registered a Music Leaf (page) Turner on February 6, 1849,  a perpetual calendar on  January 3, 1865,  and an implement for drawing nails on January 14, 1868. Wells also worked with A. F. Smith on an improved roller for a wringing machine (an early version of the modern washing machine) on July 7, 1863 before he left Norwich to make a new home in New York where he continued creating new and novel patents and wooden works.   

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Invitation to Artists

Dear Artists,
Residents of  Norwich, CT  invite you to participate in En Plein Air Norwich, CT. A program that is encouraging artists, their families and supporters to roam, investigate and enjoy our many parks, greens, parades, and architecture. Norwich was settled in 1659 and boasts some of the oldest and newest architecture and scenery in the state of Connecticut.  We invite you to visit and draw, sketch, paint or photograph our city.
In addition to our downtown, other interesting areas include Yantic, Laurel Hill, Occum, Taftville, Norwichtown, and East Great Plains. Accompanying is a list of some areas you may find of particular interest. Some places may take more than one day to investigate.  Please consult the activity calendar on the Official City of Norwich CT website http://www.norwichct.org/index.aspx  for special events, and celebrations.
While no date has been selected, plans are in progress for you to display one of your art pieces featuring your view of Norwich, in a November 2016 art show.
There are no fees or sign ups required. Please share this invitation with anyone and everyone you feel might be interested as an artist or as a daytripper. I can be reached at berylfishbone@yahoo.com or 860.887.9000 and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns and please watch for our  En Plein Air Norwich CT facebook page.
Sincerely,
Beryl Fishbone

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172

Park Name

 

Park Address

 

Highlights

 

Little Plains Park

 

Broadway & Union Streets

 

19th Century architecture, churches, ironwork fence, open space

 

Norwichtown Green

 

Elm Ave. & East Town Street

 

18th Century architecture, churches, schools, open space

 

Bean Hill Green

 

191 West Town Street

 

18th and 19th Century architecture,  open space

 

Laurel Hill Park

 

151 Laurel Hill Ave.

 

19th Century architecture, water view nearby

 

Red McKeon Park

 

2 Taftville-Occum Road

 

Basketball courts, fishing, playscape, running track

 

Mohegan Park

 

Mohegan Park Road

 

Pavillion, ponds, hiking trails, beach, playscapes, woods, etc.

 

Ouellet Park

 

20 Old Canterbury Tpke.

 

Baseball, softball and soccer fields, fishing and playscape

 

Howard T Brown Park

 

100 Chelsea Harbor Drive

 

Gazebo, walking trail, fishing, boat launch, water view

 

Norwich Memorial rose Garden

 

Judd Road & Rockwell Street

 

Gazebo,  seasonal blooming roses

 

Estelle Cohn Dog Park

 

261 Asylum Street

 

fenced play areas for large and small dogs, walking track, garden

 

Lowthorpe Meadow

 

382 Washington Street

 

Natural meadow with benches

 

Downtown Norwich , CT

 

Architecture spanning 200 years

 

Dodd Stadium

 

14 Stott Avenue

 

Baseball Stadium open to the public see CT Tigers for game schedule

 

Ruley Park

 

Overgrown lot

 

Taftville Little League

 

Renovations in progress

Norwich Guns on Exhibit

Are you looking to do something a little different on Saturday, April 9, 2016 between 10 AM and 4 PM?  How about attending a FREE EVENT on antique firearms of Norwich CT at the Sprague Rod & Gun Club, 90 Bushnell Hollow Road, in Baltic, CT? At 12:30 and 2:30 there will be a talk about the companies that manufactured firearms in Norwich, CT.

Norwich was the “firearms center of New England”  from the Civil War through the Great Depression. Rumor has it that there were more firearms manufactured during the Civil War in Norwich than anywhere else in the country.

Most of us recognize the name Smith & Wesson and a few of us know that their operations began on Central Wharf in Norwich before they moved to Springfield Massachusetts. But what do we know about Bacon Arms Co, Osgood Gun Works, Hood Firearms and more? The Guns of Norwich Historical Society was formed in 1995 by a group of people with an interest in historic firearms from the 1700’s through the 1930’s as the last of the gun and ammunition manufacturers closed their doors in 1931.

Anyone interested in the joining, supporting or attending their meetings is welcome on the 3rd Wednesday of every month in the Yantic Firehouse at 7 p.m. No reservations are needed.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172