No sooner had I turned on my old, newly swept for viruses, computer to check my e-mail than a message was received from someone looking for more background on what I long ago posted about Norwich Nutting Day.

I had to confess I never really new any more than it was a day off from school as I was growing up. It was even called Nutting Day on the school calendars and for the teachers it was an In-Service Day. I knew the tales I had been told but I had honestly never done more research. This is part of my blog of August 24, 2015 about Nutting Day.

“I miss traditions. For example once upon a time in a land called Norwich, CT on a specific fall day close to All Hallows Eve, the students were given the day off from their studies to go into the woods and lanes of the area with baskets, bags, and even aprons sewn shut at the sides to make huge pockets to gather the ripened walnuts, butternuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts and other nuts that were bountiful. It was Nutting Day!

The various nuts and shells would be treats for the long winter serving as well as flavoring, filler, dyes, and/or ground into flour for breads, pies and cakes. When more was collected than the family could use it was sold as any other crop and shipped to other areas. It was a way for even the youngest to contribute to the coffers of the family.

On this special day teenage boys and teenage girls roamed the woods. This was a special day as normally girls were not permitted into the woods without an adult escort and certainly not together with a teenage boy. “

In the British Isles, September 14 was the day when children would forage in the woods to collect hazelnuts, because this is when they are supposed to be perfectly ripe. In some legends, young maidens who go out a-nutting are in danger of becoming pregnant without benefit of marriage — this is probably less due to the fertility associations of nuts and more to the fact that Nutting Day gave you a chance to be alone in the woods with your lover.

By the mid-1970’s Nutting Day was a teacher in-service day at Norwich Free Academy and a day off from their studies for the students and now it has disappeared altogether.”

My new friend told me that if you worked as a lacemaker, Nutting Day had a special significance. Lacemakers spent long hours working at their craft, and because of the precise nature of their job, their eyes were often tired and achy by the end of the day. They were often told to bathe their eyes in gin, which stung, but refreshed them enough that they could work a few more hours. From this day until Shrove Tuesday in the spring, you could use a candle and continue to work during the dark winter months. A drop of gin in the eyes and a drop of gin for me might help to keep me working.

September 21^st sometimes called the Devil’s Nutting Day, is the date on which mortals should never gather nuts and never go nutting on any Sunday in autumn because you might meet the devil doing the same thing and neither of you would be in church, where you were supposed to be.

The devil’s nutting bag is mentioned in the play, John Endicott, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – ACT I: SCENE II –

“Nice angels!
Angels in broad-brimmed hats and russet cloaks,
The colour of the Devil’s nutting-bag. They came
Into the Meeting-house this afternoon
More in the shape of devils than of angels.
The women screamed and fainted; and the boys
Made such an uproar in the gallery
I could not keep them quiet.” William Wordsworth also wrote a poem called Nutting, but it’s much too long for this blog. Much to my surprise I also learned that in the past Philadelphia also celebrated Nutting Day and that they had recently resurrected it as part of a multi-cultural event with their Vietnamese population celebrating Tet Trung Thu (The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated by the East Asian people and the East Asian cultural sphere. Wikipedia )

Those helpful folks posted not just the activities but menu’s and recipes. If Norwich, CT had a group that recognized its residents cultural diversity it might plan now to do something similar in 2021. They invited the food vendors and food trucks to add nuts to their offerings. Local restaurants had guest ‘chefs’ from the local community help design specialty items.

“Because it’s a weekend we’ll have a Nutting Day playlist for adults to relax with while the kids play some yard games of their choosing. It’s fine if the kids’ Nutting Day game involves acorns and slingshots, so long as their targets are non-biological, and impervious to acorns. There was also a list of ‘Asia’s Street Games’ to learn and play.

Dinner will start off with small plates of Grape, Celeriac and Apple Salad w/ Goat Cheese & Hazelnuts, with the optional goats cheese easily pushed to one side if it ends up on the wrong plate.

Our main plate will be Grilled Pork Tenderloin w/ Hazelnut Romesco & Fresh Oregano Vinaigrette. The tenderloins were snatched up on sale, the romesco is really nice, the vinaigrette on meat is not for everyone. With that, kids can serve themselves Broccoli, Chili & Cashews, and a Sweet Potato Casserole (w/ pecans) and Green Beans Amandine.

For chocolate lovers there is Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake. For fruit lovers there is Pear & Almond Pudding Cake.  After dinner, coffee, a few nut liqueurs, quiet… During a film night for the kids, Theresa will reprise some of her Nutting Day Cookies from years past.”

Do you remember ‘Nutting Day’? Do you have some nutty recipes to share? I am thinking it’s almost time for some walnut chili!

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don't hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs

I missed it. I waited and watched and then I missed it. The fall brush pick-up by the Norwich Public Works Department. They have already been through the part of Norwichtown where I live. But on the up side I am going to be clipping and raking and will have my brown paper bags ready for the City wide bagged leaf collection that begins on November 23, 2020.

If you live in Taftville, Occum, Plain Hill, Westside, Laurel Hill or East Side you will have until Monday, September 28, 2020 to gather your brush to the front of your yard and have the City Public Works people tote it away. I am very jealous. I missed my opportunity to do some light trimming and only have to lug it to the corner of the front yard. Now I have to trim it. Wrangle it into the backseat and trunk of my car and take it in multiple trips up to the transfer station myself. It is not a job I consider to be fun.

I like the clipping and the cutting part. I don’t even mind the stacking. Its the getting it into and out of the car and the sneezing that goes along with traveling with the leaves and branches. By the time I have done two loads my eyes are red and almost swollen completely shut, I am sniffling and constantly blowing my nose which becomes red and glows and I am not ashamed to say becomes the envy of Rudolf. If you watch the papers you’ll see reports of unexplained earthquakes, have no worry its only my sneezes upsetting the New England Richter Earthquake Scale. On any exposed skin little red dots will appear. Give them a few minutes and you will observe me begin to unconsciously begin to brush it as though there was a bug crawling on it, a few more minutes and it true scratching, an extended period of time, say a half hour and I am clawing at my skin. Only a soapy shower and a complete change of clothes will calm my body down. The clothes I was wearing are kept in closed plastic bags until they are laundered seperately.

OK now that I am done whining did you write November 23, 2020 Bagg3d Leaf Pick-up on your calendar? You should you know. Brown bags are available for purchase at Ace Hardware, ShopRite, Agway, Loews, and just about everywhere. Please stock up early. If you can gather your neighborhood bags all in one place to make them more noticeable to the drivers and easier for pickup. Remember the date November 23, 2020!

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs

I am going to blame it on the computer issues I have been having and not my faulty memory if I have posted this recipe for Whiskey Pickled Cucumbers before from the Norwich Courier of August 1, 1827.

According to the article, a correspondent of the American Farmer, sent in the following process for pickling cucumbers by substituting whiskey when vinegar is scarce. If anyone would like I do know a couple of different recipes for the making of homemade vinegar but then I also have three versions of recipes for homemade whiskeys. Whiskeys take longer to age, make much larger quantities, and require items not so commonly found now adays. Just saying.

Anyway, step one is to gather the cucumbers fresh from the vines without any preparation just a quick rinse off of any dirt and then just drop them into a jar containing one part whiskey and three parts water. Step two – secure the top of the jar against gnats and flies by tying a flannel over the top and then laying a board with a heavy rock on top and then not disturbing them until Christmas.

Per the article, the pickles were found to be superior to those preserved in vinegar. Better preserved color. Better taste. The texture was a firmer, crispier pickle. The author of the article suggested that the whiskey and water mix of the pickles be used as a table vinegar .

I don’t think there is a whiskey flavored vinegar available at the supermarket or approved by Weight Watchers or the Keto Diet although it can’t hurt to ask.

From a 2017 issue of Mother Earth News I found this recipe for Spicy Beer or Bourbon Pickles. Modern recipes are a bit more involved but do sound delicious.

2 1/2 pounds small pickling cucumbers, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 cup local craft beer or a bourbon whiskey, 1/3 cup water, 3/4 cup cider vinegar, 3/4 cup raw sugar, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 1 tablespoon sea salt, 1/2 tsp chili flakes.

Prepare the brine by combining the rest of the ingredients, along with the garlic, in a medium, stainless steel pan, then bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring gently to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Add the cucumber quarters vertically into warm, dry sterilized jars.

Pour in the cooled brine to fill the jars to about 1/4 inch below the rim. Tap the jars gently to remove any air bubbles and top up with brine if necessary.

Seal and store in the fridge for at least 2–4 days before eating

Keeps for up to 4 months in the fridge unopened. Once opened, keep refrigerated and eat within 4 weeks.

Admit it. These recipes are inspiring you to get up off the couch. Let me know how yours come out and by the way, I am always available to sample.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

Have you ever heard of the “Source to the sea Cleanup?” It is really an activity of the Connecticut River Conservancy and a few other places. The Source to Sea Cleanup is an annual trash cleanup of the Connecticut River and tributaries across the four-state watershed — NH, VT, MA, & CT. Thousands of volunteers help make the water cleaner, river banks safer and wildlife happier. This 4-state community event is possible thanks to the generous help of volunteers, sponsors, businesses, watershed organizations, Girl Scout and Boy Scout Troops, school groups, municipalities and community members.

I don’t know how the CRC did it but they managed to team the Source to the Sea Cleanup with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup and American Rivers National River Cleanup to create a stronger local program for cleaner waterways around the U.S. And the world.

If you have any questions they have an outstanding website that has answers for questions you haven’t even thought to ask yet. www.ctriver.org/our-work/source-to-sea-cleanup/ This is their 24^th year so they have had a lot of practice. Don’t get me wrong, Norwich has had some practice too but nothing organized or formal. Norwich residents are creatures of habit. Mostly its the same residents meeting to clean up the same places time after time. Then we pat ourselves on the back and tell everyone what a good job we have done. Once in a great while someone will make great fuss that someone should clean up a different area but that person does not usually participate in a clean up of that area.

After being a Norwich resident for so long I think it was the formal organization of Source to Sea Cleanup that caught my attention. There is a website. There is an app. The date is open, and up front, September 1 – 30, 2020. In Norwich I am forever being chastised for asking that a date, a time and a place be put on any advertisement, internet post, internal and external memo.

Then they created #riverwitness a new campaign for people to post and share photos, videos, and stories of a specific visit to a river creating a beautiful mosaic of the river. A single site where everyone is free to post their photos or borrow photos.

There is a strong advocacy program called #RiverWitness, so people can not just learn how to get involved and learn how to keep the rivers clean and how they can effectively lend their advocacy voice to all four of the Connecticut River States. In Eastern CT we have yet to figure out how to get an advocacy voice heard through the towns of the same state the Shetucket, Yantic and Thames Rivers run through. The Last Green Valley makes very nice pamphlets of lists of what is available in some towns. But it does not have a strong advocacy component.

The CRC did not run away from or ignore the Covid-19 issues. They adjusted by stretching their program to last an entire month and encourage participants to keep a safe physical distance, work in smaller groups with people you already know. To consider it a DIY project and to gather supplies from around participants homes. They provided on-line registrations, asked participants to wear proper personal protective equipment, including gloves and masks, practice safe physical distancing and follow the mandates provided by state and U.S. Health agencies.

It is too late to participate this year but lets see if we cannot work up some interest for 2021 and do a really loud, proud and thorough cleanup of our rivers, the Shetucket, the Yantic and the Thames from their humble beginnings, through the various towns to Long Island Sound.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

In the morning. In the evening. Its deer herd feeding time! I do not ever recall seeing as many deer in Norwich as I am seeing this year. Fortunately there are plenty of tender plants for them to eat. My hostas for example. Tender, sweet and delicious. Of course, the bittersweet, which I would love for them to eat, is a tough invasive plant that no one including the deer consider a treat.

There was a fairly lengthy time though not all that long ago when the deer were not plentiful. From 1936 to spring of 1996 a herd of deer were kept in a special enclosure in Mohegan Park so they could be regularly enjoyed by visitors. By spring of 1996 there were 53 deer in the zoo’s three-acre fenced-in enclosure. Six died during the winter and five escaped after a hole was cut in the fence in March and the remaining 42 were turned over to Ponte Brothers, of Westport, Mass., after being tested, at Norwich’s expense, for potential health problems. Then in a cost saving measure, some were shipped out of town to be auctioned off in Ohio, and sold to Texas game farms where they were hunted and killed for trophies.

My very favorite deer story of Norwich appeared in the Bulletin on November 6, 1895 and the New York Times the next day. Its the story of how a deer was seen on Lincoln Avenue and chased all the way to Chestnut Street. Its the small details of the story that make it so charming.

“A real live deer appeared in Norwich Tuesday morning and it was not in captivity either, but its movements were as free and unrestrained as if this city were its natural haunts.

The deer was first seen at about 5:30 am in the yard of Mr. CP Cogswell on Lincoln Avenue by a carrier of the Bulletin. The deer was frightened by the approach of the boy and it bounded through the street and in an instant disappeared in the direction of Chelsea Parade.

The deer was next reported as being seen on Chestnut Street where a dog owned by ames McCaffrey scented the big game and gave chase. The deer left the dog in the lurch, taking a cross street to Franklin Street. The animal was later seen trotting down to Franklin Square by Andrew Marshall, the bank janitor. Just then an early electric car arrived from Greeneville. Among others on board were Michael McInerney of Taftville and Timothy Cary of Central Avenue. They saw the deer on the square. All the witnesses pronounced the deer a doe.

The approach of the car frightened the animal and it made a sudden turn, jumping over the head of a lad who was walking through Main Street. The deer sped through East Min Street towards the Preston Bridge. C. Avery Champlin was on his way to the early train north and saw the deer cross the Shetucket river into Preston. No further reports of its having been seen were received on Tuesday. “

“The legislature of 1893 made it a grave offense to kill a deer in this state so that sportsmen would do well not to shoot at the creature if it should continue in this neighborhood.”

Following the streets mentioned makes a great city hike and a really interesting one if the locations of the old businesses are identified. In addition to the expected stables, veterinarians, tailors, seamstresses,

dry good peddlers, butchers, there were numerous carriage painters, artists, a wooder (I am guessing someone skilled in the use of both an ax and a saw), and mill workers.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

On the point of Chelsea Parade filled and maintained I think now by the Women’s City Club of Norwich, is a large fountain that has wandered from where it once served as a center of downtown. But why was it there? Who designed it? Who paid for it? The City of Norwich, CT has no history of doing things willingly, gleefully or joyfully. For any action taken whether long ago or currently there is a battle to be fought.

The historians and walking guides of Norwich, CT will tell you how the women of Norwich have always been downtrodden, unheard and powerless. The poor dears ran about in their aprons from the 1700’s to the 1960’s wringing their hands asking, “What should we do? Please tell us what we should do?” Fortunately the facts speak quite loudly, clearly and differently.

For example, this is most of the story of Mrs. Lucretia Bradley Hubbell and her battle for the ‘Birds and Beasts Fountain.’

I did not do this research myself. I am just happily presenting an article from the August 25, 1906 Norwich Bulletin,

The Fountain and Birds and Beasts. – What a persistent little woman did for God’s creatures.

It “is always a pleasing sight to passengers waiting on the Trolley cars in Franklin Square to note the enjoyment obtained by the birds and the cats and the dogs of the little low-down troughs in the Franklin Square fountain and the large dogs ‘ bathtub on the back of that quencher of thirst for human beings and horses; but few people remember how that fountain came to be such a perfect boon for man and bird and beast.

In the days when that fountain was designed, Mrs. Lucretia Bradley Hubbell was a more active woman for years than any other woman in Norwich and, like her friend, Dr. Walker, she was doing things for others whenever she could find an opportunity. When she first broached the subject of making those little animal troughs her views were simply laughed at, but by her persistent effort that fountain was made a perfect servant for all God’s creatures.

When the birds are drinking and bathing there on hot summer days and the setter dogs are bathing in the rear trough and the pet pugs and smaller dogs are rolling in the little pools of water beside the fountain, those familiar with its history witness the fruits of one persistent woman’s sympathy and love for dumb creatures. The wisdom of her work is shown by the creatures she spoke for in these close and sultry days.”

The fountain has moved but God’s creatures are still enjoying the troughs now filled with flowers.

Bravo Mrs. Hubbell! Thank you once more Mrs. Lucretia Bradley Hubbell for your caring, persistence, and foresight. May your fighting spirit continue to live on in the residents of Norwich, CT.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.

The poetry posted along the walking trail of Mohegan Park caused me to remember that a long, long time ago the residents of Norwich, CT communicated with each other using words and poetic license. There was a real effort to make the poems purposeful, easy to read and mostly heartwarming and funny.

I enjoyed the duel of wits between Edmund Clarence Stedman published beginning in the Century Magazine of June 1894 and his discussion of the characters and habits of “Nancy, Sarah, Emily Louise (Huntington), proud maidens four,” and the subsequent rejoinder by their neighbor, Marian Fitch Loomis, published in the Bulletin on February 27, 1895, “Edmund Clarence Stedman! ’tis not quite kind of you, To mock the ladies Huntington, your friends and kinsfolk, too.”

But as I walked on I recalled the “Proposal Poem.” Locked in the archives of the Leffingwell House Museum. The letter Peter Lanman of Norwich, CT wrote to Lydia S. Bishop after his first wife passed away. They had been married around 20 years.

Lydia Bishop had been engaged to Daniel Tyler of Sutton, MA who studied medicine at Amherst, traveled to California but died in New York presumably on his way back. While waiting for his return Lydia was teaching school in Sutton, MA.

“My dearest Miss Bishop, I’ve heard all my life

That you were cut out for a widower’s wife,

And lately I’ve had the misfortune to lose

A worthy, excellent, exemplary spouse;

And pain would replace her for life is but brief,

And should not be wasted in mourning and grief.

I’ll “describe my position” as well as I can;

I’m a pleasing, affable and good natured man –

Thick-set, middle aged good looking some think

And can strike up a match as quick as a wink;

I have nine precious children-dear nice little creatures

Like the dear departed in form and in features;

But the boys have my temper, are rather unruly-

Self-willed a little bit rude (To speak truly);

The oldest’s past twenty – the youngest, dear child,

Is a sweet little cherub of but three summer’s mild,

And, of course, as he cannot recollect any other,

He never will know that you’re not his own mother.

You must manage and save I’m happy to learn

You are expert at the needle – can do any trim

In the house – but the knowledge that comes most important

Is the knowledge you have of the Greek and the Latin.

You must teach all the boys, for I give you my word

That to send them to school I can never afford.

I look upon money as you do of course –

The pride of the worldly – contemptible dross, –

I look upon money as you do of course –

The pride of the worldly – contemptible dross, –

At the bottom of crime and the root of all evil,

The invention of all wicked men and the devil.

You’ll be pleased then to learn that my income is small,

And servants so dear that I keep none at all.

Come thus, and share all – all my cares and my joys –

My own little girl and eight promising boys –

Reject not my suit, nor my fond hopes much,

But come, dear Miss Lydia – preside oer my flock.

(Who could possibly say no?)

Not Lydia. Their marriage in 1857 did not last long as Peter’s first. Peter married his third wife Mary E. Golding in 1866.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

Morn on her rosy couch awoke,

   Enchantment led the hour,

And mirth and music drank the dews

   That freshen’d Beauty’s flower,

Then from her bower of deep delight,

   I heard a young girl sing,

‘Oh, speak no ill of poetry,

   For ’tis a holy thing.’

From “Poetry” by Lydia Huntley Sigourney born in Norwich, CT and came to prominence while living in Hartford, CT.

With thanks to One Book One Region there are temporary installations of poems by 2020 Choice author Joy Harjo, along the walking paths of the Arboretum at Connecticut College, Ledyard Public Library, Mohegan Park and UConn at Avery Point. No two installations have the same poems. These walking path additions will add to the enjoyment of the Last Green Valley “Walktober” promotion. Each installation will remain in place from Monday, September 7 through Monday, November 2, 2020 conditions permitting.

More information can be found on the One Book One Region website:  http://onebookoneregion.org/events/\

If you are in the mood for facilitated book discussions mark the following September dates on your calendar and please follow their individual directions for on-line participation.

Tuesday, September 8, from 6:30–7:30pm — Groton Public Library — Book discussion facilitated by Laurie Wolfley, Professor of English at UConn Avery Point. Visit the Groton Public Library calendar of events here for contact information and to register.

Wednesday, September 9, at 7pm — Otis Library — Join the Otis Library Changing Minds Book Club for a virtual discussion of the One Book One Region 2020 selection Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo.  Please register for the discussion by e-mailing Adultprograms@otislibrarynorwich.org, or you may register on the Otis Library website calendar at www.otislibrarynorwich.org.

Thursday, September 10, at 6:30pm — Gales Ferry Library — Book discussion via Zoom facilitated by Librarian Elaine Steele. Copies of Crazy Brave are available at both library branches. Share your thoughts and hear what others have to say. No registration necessary; the Zoom link will be posted on our events page (click here).

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .