Monthly Archives: June 2016

Mohegan Park has a Brochure

Mohegan Park  has the latest brochure touting  another treasure of Norwich, CT.  The brochure is only available at Norwich City Hall and at the Information Center by the Norwichtown Green. The squirrel on the front cover announces –  A rural woodland park located within Norwich, Connecticut.

On the inside, is an easy to read map in various shades green of the almost 400 acre park . Detailed in ovals are the locations of the multiple pavilions, ponds, beach, and playgrounds. The clay tennis courts on Mahan Drive received special mentions as did the rose garden and the future home of the Chelsea Botanical Gardens. Parking and restrooms have their own symbols.  

Following the trails marked in red, blue, green, black and brown  are easier to on the map than in the park but the information as to whether it is maintained or left to use and nature is clear. Up to the individual user of the trail is whether it is can be used for walking, jogging,  running, hiking or weather permitting cross-country skiing.  

The animal control building is easily located and I encourage everyone to check into the pet adoption program. The future home of the Chelsea Botanical Gardens is outlined and noted that it is currently closed to the public. The trails from the rest of the park have been carefully removed from the designated area at this time.  I hope that sometime in the near future there will be trails once again free of cost and open to the public.     

The two back panels are dedicated to the history of the park, its multiple expansions and the special recognitions it has received since its dedication in 1906. The parks participation in the 2002 Bioblitz program organized by the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and its identification of 1,898 species is also noted. The sizes and depths of the two man-made earthen dams located within the park are detailed as well as it being a state designated trout park and so well-stocked at the start of each fishing season with trout, sunfish, largemouth bass, brown bullhead and channel catfish . There are directions to the park if you are a local or visitor to the area, hours of park operation and the website for park pavilion rental.

Finally there is a concluding paragraph with a lovely summary of all that residents know Mohegan Park to be, “The Park is a welcoming pedestrian oriented destination where one can experience woodlands, water features, play areas, swimming, picnic areas, and a nationally recognized rose garden all at no charge. “

The only thing not included in the brochure is that Mohegan Park is available as a stop on the Southeastern CT Area Transit District bus route.

I hope to see everyone there this year at one point or another.

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

 

 

 

Monarch Waystations – FREE SEEDS

I have been very open in my annoyance with the Chelsea Botanical Garden Organization for vacillating between doing very little for over twenty years with the property they leased in Mohegan Park from the City of Norwich and then indiscriminately chopping down trees so that investors could have a better idea of the scope of their project while destroying the homes of the area wildlife. But fair is fair, and when the group does something good for the community than they deserve well-earned praise. Maybe a small garden could be planted in the cleared area?

The stated mission of Chelsea Botanical Gardens is to develop and maintain botanical gardens and a butterfly pavilion incorporating education, research, and conservation. For seven years they held a butterfly release fundraiser but that was halted out of concern for the plight of butterflies. The monarch butterfly population has decreased 85% according to The Natural Resources Defense Council due to the reduction of waystations that provide the resources needed to nurture the monarchs through their four stages of life during the summer months and send them safely on their wintering migratory routes to Mexico in the fall. The Monarch Watch brochure states: “Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers, these fall migratory monarchs would be unable to make their long journey to overwintering grounds in Mexico.” 

For the first time, Chelsea Botanical Gardens is working with Monarch Watch, a nonprofit educational program located on the West Campus of the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, Kansas, that focuses on all aspects of the monarchs’ life cycle. 

Hart’s Greenhouse & Florist in Norwich, Canterbury, and Preston; Burnett’s Country Gardens in Salem; Smith Acres in Niantic; Otis Library and Dixie Donuts, both in Norwich are distributing a total of 300 free packets of seeds, donated by the Charles C. Hart Seed Company in Wethersfield, CT called “Plant For Pollinators” a colorful mix of annuals, biennials and perennials selected to attract butterflies, birds and bees, a Monarch Watch brochure, and a drawing of a sample 5’ X 5’ butterfly garden or waystation. 

Waystations can be created at schools, in home gardens, parks, along roadsides and in any other unused land. Just a few milkweed and nectar plants can make a difference. While waystations will help the monarch, it is also essential that the widespread use of herbicides be discontinued.  Monarchs need our support, and no effort is too small.

 Chelsea Botanical Gardens has added a label to the back of the seed packet listing the Latin names of the seeds and their website for further information. Well done and thank you for beginning your mission in the community.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

 

Public Request to Norwich, CT

My name is Beryl Fishbone and I am making a public request to the employees and elected officials of Norwich, CT. My request is to stop thinking and using the City of Norwich, CT as your own personal fiefdom. Stop considering participation in State, Federal , National and International programs as intrusive, without local benefit, or beneath the character of the fine and great City of Norwich, CT.

Let us stop now, this very second, the delusion that if a program does not come from within a favored circle of individuals within the city limits of the city; it is bad, evil and malicious and certainly not worthy of consideration.

This has nothing to do with the budget per se but, certainly there can be some benefits to my suggestions. Participating in a variety of programs is additional publicity for the City even if it is only the listing of the name. Thanks to the internet more people are seeing a wider variety of event listings and are looking to see what is being offered close to them, even if they don’t go to that particular event, it is nice to have the option. Listing Norwich, CT as a participant is advertising the City as a good place to live, with an active community, involved residents and as a place to see and be seen if you are looking to reach a particular population. Yes, I am referring to advertising revenue for newspapers; radio, television and closed-circuit such as found in the local gyms and hotels and please don’t forget the all-powerful phone app. Please, leaders of Norwich, CT I implore you to please stop turning away people and their money. Yes, you, by not encouraging participation in programs YOU are telling people from outside of Norwich they are not wanted, or needed. That may be because you live outside of Norwich and do not pay taxes here but I do. So I want to see lots of people come from outside of this community to leave money in our businesses. Where people see successful businesses, they want to bring their business. Where there are successful businesses, there are jobs, increases in property values and the possibility of some tax relief to the residents. Yes, I am ultimately looking for some tax relief.

I do not know where the participation invitations are sent within the City Hall, whose office or desk or if they languish in the postal room but I want someone to find them and to distribute them to wherever or whomever it may be appropriate and lets hop on the band wagon of whatever it may be for a bit of a free commercial ride whenever and wherever we can.  

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

 

Comcast Classes

For anyone interested in video production for a hobby or for a career, Comcast access offers a FREE class at the local to Norwich, CT studio on program planning, studio techniques, field production, editing and more tricks of the trade.  This is a general class for open to the public of all ages.

Age is not a restriction or a requirement, so you can be 10 years old or 110 years old and still be welcome. You do not need to have your own equipment, just a willingness to learn how to use the equipment of other people properly and with practice, confidently.

This is the perfect place for middle and high school students interested in careers in television, movies, video and the arts to begin learning the trade and practicing different techniques with real equipment as well as a chance to work with professionals.  The facility includes a full service video production studio with three Cameras, Audio Console, and an all in one computer based system for Video Switching and Character Generation and a Remote Editing Console.  Four separate remote video production packages are available for shooting on location.  A separate Non-Linear Editing Suite is available for editing as well as another Suite for videotape editing.       

 Everyone has to begin somewhere. Once you are trained, area residents are encouraged to produce programming that will appear on Comcast cable channel 14. Be the young person who applies for the job and can say yes to having experience using real equipment and an understanding of the language as it is used in the studio.

Keep in mind, Public Access provides an opportunity for local residents to express their opinions, views and ideas through non-commercial television programs which they produce themselves at no cost using Comcast Cable facilities.      

This is the class for the senior citizen who works with the church, political candidates, and neighborhood groups and wants to get the word out about their topics. Training is provided on an individual basis to meet the goals of a specific program or project.  It is the Producer of the project who is directly responsible for organizing and scheduling the training sessions with the Public Access Coordinator. Whether you want to be in front of the camera lens or behind the scenes lining up shots, writing scripts, working in the studio or critiquing the work of others, this is the class for you.

Residents of Norwich, Bozrah, Colchester, Franklin, Preston and Sprague please call 860.887.3446 or visit the Comcast studio at 238 West Town Street, Norwich, CT 06360 or check out the Comcast website at www.publicaccessstudios.com for more information.

Members of the community wishing to produce a program themselves outside the Comcast Cable facility, or have access to a non-commercial, pre-produced program,  are welcome to apply to the Public Access channel for a time slot.  They can accommodate playback of DVD-R video formats based upon availability.  Outside programs are considered for transmission based on the requirements set down in the Public Access Operating Policies.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

1802 Brewster Murder

Amos and Jerusha Brewster of Norwich, Connecticut married in 1761.  Amos, served in the Revolutionary War and died of wounds received at Fort Mifflin, PA in 1777 with “The strength of  old New England valor so strong in Amos he fell with his face toward the foe.” (Brewster Genealogy.)

The widow, Jerusha Brewster, and the couple’s four children lived at the couple’s Canterbury, Connecticut home. By 1800 she was living with her daughter and son-in-law, Lovisa and James Morse.

It was a very difficult relationship between the in-laws and for several weeks in 1802 Jerusha visited her other children. But when she returned in April, the relationship with her son-in-law got worse.

Newspaper accounts say that the morning after she returned home, Jerusha made pancakes for her daughter and three grandchildren:

“She had been absent from the family for more than a fortnight; she left a bowl of flour in her cupboard; and the morning after her return she made some pancakes of the flour; while she was preparing her breakfast, two of her grandchildren came into her room, to whom she gave cake. Soon after, her daughter, Mrs. Morse, who always treated her mother well, came in with her child of nine months old; she ate two, giving the child a piece, and went out.

“Mrs. Brewster then began her breakfast, and had nearly finished, when the children and the mother were taken with puking, the two children first, then the mother and infant. The daughter, Mrs. Morse, sent word to her mother not to eat any more of the cakes; she came into her daughter’s room, and in about five minutes was taken with the most violent and racking vomiting. The physician was called and by proper antidotes arrested the fatal progress of the poison in Mrs. Morse and her children, but had no efficacy upon the old lady.

“A jury of inquest sat upon her body and gave a verdict of “poison, and by design.” The body was opened and a considerable quantity of arsenic taken out. The cakes that remained were examined, and pieces of poison were found in them. “

Suspicion immediately fell on Jerusha Brewster’s son-in-law James, also a Revolutionary War veteran, and some sources say he served as a teen under General Washington, because it was well known James and Jerusha had lived together “quite unhappily.” But with no proof against James in the murder, the authorities could do nothing more than question him and let him go. He and Lovisa moved to Centerville in western New York, where they passed away, her in 1841 and him in 1845.

At Jerusha’s funeral, the minister, Rev. Waterman, chose to deliver a sermon aimed at her killer, speaking on the Biblical passage from Corinthians: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.”

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Posting Publicity

“I wasn’t at the meeting, so now I am in charge of publicity. What should I do?” Stop whining for one. It won’t do you any good, get you help or out of the job.  So, assemble the information you will be needing.

Who is sponsoring the event.

Who is the event for.

What the event is.

When the event will take place date and time

Where the event will take place, room, Venue, Street location, City, State, Zip Code

Why is the event being held

How much does it cost

Advance tickets, sellers, registration and payments

No more than a 3 or 4 sentence blurb about the event

Website

Facebook Site

Contact Person Name , phone number and e-mail

The list of the posting site passwords. To keep hackers from posting events under your organizations good name, a password may be needed for posting to some sites. Be certain you have the correct passwords.

And get to work. Who has community calendars in your area? Radio Stations, television stations, newspapers, local gyms, local hotel/motels, cable companies, weekly advertising papers, churches, Chambers of Commerce, libraries, schools, Craig’s list, stumble and other groups and organizations all have community calendars. Some may be linked together but most are not so get ready to spend some time.  

If your event is open to the public and you want a lot of people, post it everywhere and include the larger newspapers that are out of your area but people in your area might subscribe to or read when they are looking for something to do. If you don’t really want people, then skip advertising all together.

Go the appropriate webpage. Click on Calendar. Click on Add event. Then follow the links one at a time and fill in the line with the appropriate information as requested. Be certain to review it before you click save. Click save. Sigh deeply and move on to the next. Do not hesitate to add your information to the free advertising papers calendars. Don’t be surprised if the radio station asks you to call in on a certain day and time for an on air interview. Consider having the local high school, technical school or Community College film a commercial for your event or the event itself. Great practice for the students and a start for next years event. During the event have people ready to Facebook, Tweet and otherwise communicate the event. Consider a backdrop board with the pertinent information time, place, cost all ready for a selfie. Have a blurb already written for the newspapers and send it in with a selection of photos ready for the newspapers web page and next edition.   All of this is free advertising. Paid advertising will have to wait for another day.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Promises of CTNext

On Friday, May 26, 2016 at the Garde Art Center in New London CT I learned something. I learned that the State of Connecticut Department of Economic Development has plans and programs that are available to residents of the State of Connecticut but are not promoted in Eastern Connecticut. So little is known and promoted about the programs that not one representative was present in the 100+ person audience from an Eastern Connecticut Bank, any Chamber of Commerce, Municipality, small business development center, business development office of a municipality, CT business incubator located in Eastern CT, or municipal public/private business authority such as a Main Street program or our own NCDC. People had traveled from Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford and  even New York City but less than ten of us locally were there.

CTNext was begun in 2012 and has worked with more than 1,100 companies to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut and to maximize the growth potential of each business. Solutions are tailored and often combine funds with resources from financial leaders to provide venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies; grants that support innovation and collaboration; and connections to a well-established network of partners and professionals. Visit www.ctinnovations.com for more information. No one I spoke with was aware that the City of Norwich had downtown spaces available and had bonded money to help encourage business. Hope I haven’t overstepped my bounds as a taxpayer suggesting that perhaps Norwich become a part of the space solution.

There was not one company from Eastern CT in the “Shark Tank” like presentation competition and a $10,000 grant may seem small when starting a business but dollars and experience add up. For some presenters this was their first time before an audience selling the idea of their product, and for others this was merely another notch in their belt of experience. CaroGen of Farmington was proud to announce they had just received a $300 thousand award and were still presenting. (They were not a winner this time.)   

There is also VentureClash the $5 million global business competition to provide early-stage companies worldwide with an opportunity to grow their business in Connecticut.  It is aimed at the most promising early staged companies within the financial technology and digital health innovation and technology fields and includes access to a critical network of investors, mentors, talent and customers.  Time runs out the end of June to apply for this years round but visit http//ctinnovations.com/opportunities/all or just visit www.ctinnovations.com to see what is available and what is new or coming up.

There is more in the world than what we see in Eastern Connecticut and it is time to demand more from our economic and political leaders.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.

Public Art Sites in Norwich, CT

I just made the most wondrous of discoveries about Norwich. You all probably know this and it’s just one more item in a lengthy and growing list of things I did not know about Norwich or the State of Connecticut Department of Economic Development and Tourism website. They have a whole page devoted to Public Art. There is even a reference to a Public Art Blog whose Content was Last Modified on 11/10/2014 10:54:28 AM It is quite obvious that Norwich had nothing to do with assembling the list but I certainly have some places to visit on a rainy day. I wonder if the art sites know about this listing? Can Norwich add to the list? Was this list assembled for tourists? Taxpayers? My apologies. I have many more questions than I do answers.

There is an Art in Public Spaces (AIPS) Registry database for artists who are interested in pursuing public art opportunities in Connecticut.  The AIPS Registry is open to both Connecticut artists and Out-of-State artists and is the primary resource used in selecting artists for Connecticut’s Art in Public Spaces projects.

With one entry, registered artists are automatically reviewed and considered for public art projects administered through COA’s RFQ process.  Learn more about the registry by reviewing the Art in Public Spaces Registry Guidelines.  Artists may select ONLY one (1) discipline within the Art in Public Spaces Registry.   The disciplines include: Architectural Integration / Multi-Disciplinary, Mural (2D), and sculpture (3D). 

Locations of Public Art Sites Art in Public Spaces Program Norwich, Connecticut New London County

.The City of Norwich is located in eastern Connecticut.  The three state sites include works of public art commissioned through the Art in Public Spaces program.

Norwich Technical High School,

 Robert Roesch

 Take Flight, exterior sculpture.

Three Rivers Community College

Geoffrey Bates

Gigi Horr-Liverant

Karin Schneider

 Now, the World is Asleep, pastel paintingArthur’s Monolith, pastel diptych

Secret Garden (1987), pastel with marbleized paper.

Department of Transportation, Branch Office, 171 Salem Turnpike

Silvia Taccani

Taccani

Carmela Venti

Venti

 Venti

Venti

 Journey, photograph, entrance lobby & galleryNexus, photograph, entrance lobby & gallery

Weather or World Related, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery

Mona Lisa Reincarnated, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery
Anxiety, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery
Mystic, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery
American, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery

Balance, East of Oswegatchie, monoprint, entrance lobby & gallery.

Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com

View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172  and please read the daily 225th Bulletin Anniversary Nuggets in the newspaper daily.