Antiques Trail May Be Mapped Across Connecticut

State legislators are considering the establishment of a Connecticut Antiques Trail, an effort to highlight the state's numerous antique shops, and boost tourism and economic development along the way. The proposal, by Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown, follows a 2009 initiative in which he worked with the state Department of Transportation to erect signs along Interstate 84 to highlight a collection of antique shops in his district, the Associated Press reported.  As part of that effort,  the town of Woodbury was designated as the “Antiques Capitol of Connecticut," centered around a local trail that features more than 35 diverse shops.

Highlighting the scores of antique shops throughout the state has generated other initiatives. Ed Dombroskas,   the current executive director of the Eastern Regional Tourism District (billed as “Mystic Country” ) and a past state tourism director, supports the statewide plan.  His organization recently put together an antiques brochure for his region and received thousands of inquiries seeking copies.  The brochure Mystic Country Antiques Trail, includes 30 locations across Eastern Connecticut and is now available on-line.

Antiques shops – and some larger antique stores – blanket the Connecticut landscape, each noting their particular attributes and history.  The Connecticut Antiques Center, in Stamford, for example, touts its easy access to New York City.  Kane said it makes sense to expand the trail statewide to connect more antiques dealers with collectors, comparing the plan to the Connecticut Wine Trail.

Just this past weekend, the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington held an antiques and heirlooms appraisal day featuring a regular from the PBS program “Antiques Roadshow,” telecast locally on Connecticut Public Television and a perennial viewer favorite.  And the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, celebrating its 40^th anniversary, was held earlier this month, March 16-17, at the Hartford Armory.

Immigration Becomes Focus at State Capitol

Immigration continues to be not only part of the American historical fabric, but one of the current hot button issues in Congress and the country. The Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance (CIRA) is organizing a rally that will march from the Old State House to the State Capitol on April 10, beginning at 3:30 PM.  Organizers say “the time is now” for a “realistic path to citizenship” and “reform that keeps families together, raises standards for all working people, and keeps the economy strong.”  They will be urging President Obama and Congress to pass “common sense immigration reform” this year.

The following day, April 11, the Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition will host the 16^th annual Connecticut Immigrant Day ceremony at the State Capitol’s Old Appropriations Room from 1:00 to 2:30 PM.  The keynote speaker will be Jose B. Gonzales of New London, associate professor of English at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the recipient of the Connecticut Department of Education's Faculty of the Year Award in higher education.  A native Spanish speaker, he was born in San Salvador, and is an Essayist and Poet.

In a recent public opinion poll, sixty-eight percent (68%) of likely U.S. voters think immigration - when done within the law - is good for America. The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey fund that only 19% disagree and feel legal immigration is bad for the country. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.

The recently formed CIRA is comprised of immigrant families, community leaders and elected officials -  a new statewide coalition calling for a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, an end to family separations, and a moratorium on deportations.

The nonprofit Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (CIRC) was established in 1996 as a broad-based network of community agencies, religious groups, legal service providers and immigrant rights activists committed to protecting the rights and welfare of refugee and immigrant communities in the state. Within this network, numerous refugee and immigrant groups are represented.

Amidst all the policy discussion, the Hartford Public Library conducts free citizenship classes on Saturday mornings, 10 am- 12 pm, for a 12-week cycle, at the branch at 1250 Albany Avenue.  They also offer DVDs, CDs and books to support the classes, and volunteer tutors are available on request.  The classes are funded in part by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, according to the Library.

Blizzard of '78 Numbers Still Devastating, Unsurpassed

With “historic” levels of snow predicted by some local meteorologists for Friday and Saturday, it is natural to look back at an unforgettable February snowfall in the state 35 years ago this week.  The Blizzard of ’78 is legendary not only in the amount and intensity of the snow and wind, but in other impacts as well, including coastal high tides and damage to homes and property, and even politics – it is seen as central to the re-election later that year of Governor Ella Grasso. Just a year ago, Connecticut Public Television aired a new documentary about the Blizzard of ’78, which included these statistics not soon forgotten by those in the state at the time:

• 30 inches of snow
• 70 mile per hour winds
• 5,000 people stranded
• 16 foot snowdrifts
• Air and rail traffic were shut down amidst 3 days of snow
• Snowfall as high as 4 inches per hour
• 1,200 cars towed from state highways and thousands stuck on secondary roads

A retrospective published in The Hartford Courant adds these statistics:

• More than $25 million in damage
• A contingent of 547 soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas,   flew to Connecticut to help National Guard crews with snow removal and clean up
• Mail delivery ceased for the first time in 40 years
• Gov. Grasso shut down the state for three days, and President Carter  declared Connecticut, Rhode Island and  Massachusetts federal disaster areas.

It was a storm for the ages, the likes of which Connecticut has not seen in more than three decades.  We’ll see what this weekend brings.

Charter Oak Cultural Center Sees Opportunity in Dollar-for-Dollar Match

For those familiar with the remarkable work of the Charter Oak Cultural Center, time is running out on a unique opportunity to support the dynamic organization’s exceptional community initiatives.  An anonymous donor has agreed to match contributions made to support the work of Charter Oak, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 - through the end of this month. That means every contribution made by January 31 will be doubled.  For an organization that is brimming with distinctive and impactful programming ideas but often scrambling for sufficient resources, it is a chance to see more dreams become reality.

Charter Oak Cultural Center, a magnificent and historic landmark and vibrant arts center on Charter Oak Avenue just off Main Street in Hartford, contributes to the revitalization of the city by bringing the community together through open and equal access to the arts, through a deep commitment to social justice. The three main goals that characterize the organization’s mission are:

• To provide wide access to the arts for all who wish to engage in them, regardless of income
• To do the work of social justice through the arts
• To celebrate the heritage of our historic building and to preserve it in perpetuity.

To realize that mission, Charter Oak provides over 1,000 underserved Hartford children with free, sophisticated arts classes and regularly makes professional performances – dance, theatre, concerts – and film and visual arts exhibits accessible to all.  In addition, Charter Oak recently started Connecticut’s first “street paper,” a newspaper written by people who are or were homeless. They’ve also introduced other educational and employment opportunities for those without homes. Their Youth Art Institute has been selected as a finalist by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, distinguishing it as one of the top arts and humanities-based youth programs in the country.

Charter Oak is seeking public support to allow them to take full advantage of what they’ve described as an “incredible offer” and “huge opportunity.”  Interested individuals can make a secure gift online, or mail a check to Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106.

There is more information about Charter Oak’s programming, which falls into four main categories, on the organization’s website.  The programs areas include:

• Youth Arts Institute:   Reaches nearly 1,000 of Hartford’s inner-city children, ages 6 through 18, with arts and literacy-based classes held after-school, during-school, and in the summer, as well as evening programs for families.  The classes, along with nutritious meals and snacks, are provided free of charge. The youth programming successfully integrates the arts with academic subjects and assessments show that on average, participating students show a 54% improvement over the course of the semester in their ability to meet the state’s Arts K-12 Goals and Standards.
• Professional Programming: Charter Oak hosts cutting-edge, thought-provoking visual and performing arts exhibitions and performances. As a matter of policy, they offer as many performances and events as possible for free, keep prices low and never turn anyone away who cannot afford the price of a ticket.  In the course of a year, they present over 100 professional events that include every variety of performing art—dance, film, theatre, concerts and more.  In two on-site galleries, both emerging and established artists from various cultural backgrounds exhibit their work.
• Social Justice Programming: Charter Oak offers a number of programs that focus on social justice and equality- raising awareness about important issues and/or serving individuals in need- all through the lens of the arts.  For example, Charter Oak Cultural Center developed and launched Connecticut’s first “street paper,” entitled Beat of the Street, designed and sold by individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Historic Preservation: When it was built in 1876, the temple on Charter Oak Avenue became the first building in Connecticut’s history to be constructed specifically as a synagogue.  Today, as the home of the Charter Oak Cultural Center, it is a vibrant hub for the community that provides programming for thousands of Hartford and Greater Hartford students, families and individuals each year.  The historic landmark is maintained and preserved as a vibrant resource for the community.

Learn more at www.charteroakcenter.org or 860.249.1207.

In Hartford on Inauguration Day, Giving Meaning to Freedom

Convergence  is defined as the “independent development of similar characters” and “a representation of common ground between phenomena.”  That is precisely how January 21, 2013 will be remembered by those who spent the afternoon at the Amistad Center for Art & Culture and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, programmatic collaborators on a noteworthy day. During a multi-faceted program (dubbed EP150) developed by the Amistad Center that included observations by community leaders and a range of musical selections, the landmark Emancipation Proclamation’s 150^th anniversary was observed and celebrated, as President Abraham Lincoln was reenacted and recalled. (Including an in-character recitation of the EP.)

First, those gathered from across the region watched live televised coverage of the second inaugural address of President Barack Obama from Washington, DC.  They listened as he declared that “preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action,” having reaffirmed his oath of office with two Bibles – one previously used by Lincoln, the other by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The historic Wadsworth Atheneum, the nation’s oldest public art museum (pre-dating the Civil War), invited the community in at no charge to reflect on the life’s work of Dr. King on the anniversary of his birth.  The day-long kid-friendly programming included a recorded video of the renowned “I Have A Dream” speech, 50 years ago this summer, played within sight of an audience of local school children – many of whom had just completed a special activity – creating visual remembrances (hand-drawn lunch bags) honoring the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown last month.

They were guided by Americorps Community Healthcorps volunteers from throughout the state.  Special collections inviting retrospection while invoking the memory of Sandy Hook were highlighted by the Atheneum, and musical performances drawing on themes related to MLK  Day drew appreciative visitors amidst the traditional and contemporary works on display.

The most poignant moments, given the intersection of historic figures and events, may have come in the poetic words delivered by about a half-dozen local students, winning participants in “What Emancipation/Freedom Means To Me” a competition sponsored by the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission, the Amistad Center for Art & Culture, and the state's African American Affairs Commission, for grade-schoolers through high school.

Freedom, they passionately and powerfully described, is not only historic - it is personal.  The convergence of the day’s events was reflected in the eloquence of their original poems, which had been selected by a panel of local judges responsible for reviewing more than 100 entries.

“Where Freedom Lives,” written and recited by Kassidi Jones, a student at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, vigorously issued a challenge not inconsistent with that outlined earlier from the steps of the National Capitol.  A few phrases of her work convey the tone and tenor:

It is imperative that we all start shattering shackles

Incumbent on every man of every color to crack the locks of the barriers between us

Freedom will not come just because we need it to; we have to want it too

A balance must be established because justice and liberty go hand-in-hand

 And in whichever place the colors of all of our skins smudge into one people

There… there is where freedom lives.

The Amistad Center plans to add each of the winning poems to their website, www.amistadartandculture.org   The Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission co-chair, Matthew Warshauer, a member of the history faculty at Central Connecticut State University, served as emcee for the EP150 program, which was supported by Travelers.  The Wadsworth Atheneum's Community Engagement Initiative is supported by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.