tidbits
It's that time of the year again: follow this link to vote for the 'Best of' in New Haven: New Haven Advocate Best of Ballot
Connecticut Experiential Learning Center (CELC) prepares for 2010 CANstruction, a creative food drive, exhibition and competition. One of the most unique food drives in the world, CELC students will work with George Penniman Architects, exercising their structural genius to build a spectacular structure using little more than full cans of food. All this design talent is put to the test to make a difference in the cause to fight hunger. Completed structures will be on display at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford beginning 15 May and all of the cans used will be donated to the Connecticut Food Bank. Donations are currently being accepted, please contact Melinda to contribute: 203-215-2317, mandm@CTExperiential.org.
Submitted by Hilary at the New Canaan Nature Center
New Canaan Nature Center Annual Syrup Sunday & Pancake Brunch
Sunday, March 14 ~ Noon – 3pm
Bring the whole family and join us in and around the Nature Center’s “Sugar Shack” to learn about this New England tradition and celebrate the bounty from the Syrup Season! The day will include a maple tree tapping demo, a sap boil down, and a sneak peak at historic methods of Maple Syruping. We’ll also host a delicious Pancake Brunch where you and yours can sample first hand the sweet treat of the sugar maple trees atop a short stack of flapjacks topped with your choice of toppings (berries, fruit, walnuts, chocolate chips, whipped cream). Join our naturalists for a hike along “Maple Lane” and learn how to identify sugar maples and other trees and hunt for signs of spring. Warm up around the campfire where we’ll share tales of winter adventures & make a Maple Craft/Treat.
This event is primarily held outdoors and activities will be ongoing throughout the day.
Ages: All ages.
Members: $8/person / Non-Members: $12/person
Children under age 3 are free.
Submitted by Liz at Musical Folk
Musical Folk offers Music Together Classes in New Haven, Westville, Branford and Madison – A fun creative Music & Movement program for toddlers (newborns through 5 years old) and the ones who love them! Come sing, dance & play instruments in an informal fun setting!
Research has shown that children who have had exposure to making music at a very young age can achieve music competence (singing in tune, and keeping a beat) earlier than those who have not had a rich musical environment. Increasing their vocabulary and early language skills as a result, building their confidence, and creativeness, as well as giving them the foundation they need when it comes time to begin formal instrument lessons. The participation and musical role model of the parent or the caregiver makes this program so special, and successful, building an emotional bond and a love of music that lasts a lifetime.
Please join us for a FREE Music Together demo class
offered by Musical Folk
Please RSVP: 203.691.9759
Woodbridge
Sunday, March 14th 12pm-2pm Open House
at the JCC of Greater New Haven
360 Amity Road, Woodbridge
Hamden
Monday, March 29th at 10:30am
Hamden Miller Library
2901 Dixwell Ave, Hamden
Branford
Tuesday, March 30th at 10am
Blend for kids in Branford
1120 Main Street, Branford
New Haven
Tuesday, March 23rd at 10am & 11am
New Haven Main Public Library
113 Elm Street, New Haven
10 week Spring Semester starts on April 7th
For more information, visit Musical Folk online, www.MusicalFolk.com, or call 203-621-9759.
Submitted by Lesley at Creative Arts Workshop
The CAW Spring schedule is now available, which includes our Spring Recess Fun Week. This term’s Young People’s Workshops include:
Garden Stones
Sunday, April 25, 1:00-3:00
Create a unique and wonderful cement garden stone together. Make it mosaic with glass and ceramic bits, pebbles, beads, shells and other surprise materials, or impress handprints etc. All materials provided and you will take your stone home with you. Ages 6+ accompanied by adult.
$43; members: $39
Painting Without Brushes
Sunday, April 11, 1:00-3:00
Try your hand at found object and stick painting, thumb printing, finger painting, combing, scratching, dripping, swirling and more! Learn about abstract art and artists while having fun making your own abstract expressions. All materials provided. Ages 6+.
$33; members: $30
Mother’s Day Surprises
Sunday, May 2, 1:00-3:00
Make imaginative gifts for Mom or a special female, plus make a beautiful handmade card. Candleholders, picture frames, decorated boxes are possible projects—but shhh it’s a surprise! Presents will be artistically wrapped and ready to take home at the end of class. Ages 6+.
$43; members: $39
Spring Recess Fun Week
Monday through Friday, April 12-16, 9:00-3:00
For young people in 2nd-5th grades. Draw, paint, work with clay, collage, and sculpt. Create fun artwork as you explore a wide range of materials and techniques along with your own ideas and imagination. Inspiration will also come from spring colors, animals and themes. Individual expression supported and encouraged. Snack provided; students bring their own lunch.
$289; members: $260
Creative Arts Workshop ~ 80 Audubon Street ~ New Haven
203-562-4927 ~ www.creativeartsworkshop.org

Who knew?! I just read a curious bit of info in the Women & Family Life Center’s weekly online newsletter, where I always find some good stuff and definitely recommend subscribing:
taken from The Weekly Fare, a publication of the WFLC: “Good things come to those who…are willing to do a little research. Master’s Teas at Yale, are a perfect example. Neither advertised nor promoted and only announced the day prior in the Yale Daily News, Master’s Teas are hosted by the 12 Masters of Yale’s residential colleges. They are informal interviews/Q&As that provide an excellent opportunity for students (and the public if they are hip to the latest info) to rub elbows with a veritable who’s who of politicians, thinkers, movie stars, authors and musicians.
Today, for example, you could pop in on Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted at 4 pm at Davenport College then hoof it over to Calhoun at 4:30 to hear what Valerie Tripp, author of 50 American Girl books, has to say.
Past guests include Kurt Vonnegut, Sandra Day O’Connor, Oliver Stone and Henry Louis Gates. Become your own Sherlock Holmes and keep a close eye on the News and who knows with whom you’ll next be sipping tea.”
Guess I better start checking the Yale Daily News more faithfully! While I imagine these events are not generally kid-friendly, I don’t know about you, but as a SAHM I often feel starved for some intellectual stimulation so am cool with it. Why not satiate this need while rubbing elbows over tea? I mean, it can’t be that stuffy, right?! I’m game for (nearly) anything at least once, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled!
Oh, and while I’m thinking about Yale…read this recent piece about a study published by the Rudd Center at Yale on how the food industry is using licensed characters, celebrities, and toy giveaways on packaging more than ever before to sell junk food to kids in the supermarket.
Friday
Annie the musical at the Shubert in New Haven (thru Sunday)
Read Across America special storytime at Barnes & Noble in North Haven
Saturday
Roxy Fox Disease Detective at the Peabody in New Haven
Science Saturdays in New Haven
Magical Fairy Crafts in Guilford
The Three Bears performed by the Tuckers’ Tales Puppet Theatre in Hamden
Tricky Treats Discovery Program in Mashantucket
Spring Feeding at the Audubon Coastal Center in Milford
Make Yarn Dolls at Michaels in Milford & North Haven
A Night of Magic with Bill Blagg III, a family theatre event in Ridgefield
Sap to Sugar at Earthplace in Westport
Sunday
Dress-Up Tea Party at Playtime Village in Monroe (…and I just learned they are CLOSING for business at the end of the month)
Maple Sugar Sunday in Stamford
Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild in Storrs
Next Week and Beyond:
Courageous Parenting 101 in Milford (starts Monday, March 8 )
Maple Sugaring at Trowbridge Environmental Center in East Rock (March 10)
Register for the newest Nature Pals session at Edgewood Park in New Haven (runs thru April 28)
Tickets on Sale for Disney’s Beauty & the Beast in Waterbury (March 12-14)
Register for Spring Session at the Creative Arts workshop in New Haven (runs March 15-June 5)
Register for Fall Classes at the Connecticut Experiential Learning Center
Tickets on sale for A Night at the Peabody in New Haven (March 27)
Tickets on sale for a Day Out with Thomas the Train in Essex (May 8-9, 15-16)
Submitted by Caroline, local community organizer
During the last month or two I have been trying to understand the outcome, if any, of the Climate Treaty talks in Copenhagen last December. The answer seems to be very little. At the same time, I have been personally taking stock of 2009, and thinking about where to go from here. Though I am an environmentalist at heart, this was my first time taking action on one of my biggest concern in life: global warming. Along with my co-organizers, we poured energy into spreading information to our communities about the science and politics of climate change. On October 24th 2009, the International Day of Climate Action, we organized a climate action alongside thousands of others from 350.org, an online global movement to stop climate change. We rallied friends, neighbors and community groups to join us in demanding a fair and binding Climate Treaty with the goal of bringing carbon dioxide levels back down to 350 parts per million, now considered the safe upper limit of this major greenhouse gas. This day is now recognized as “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.” However, the Copenhagen climate talks have come and gone and have not left us with a fair or binding treaty that the latest science demands. Yet, seeing the images and videos on 350.org of people from one side of the earth to the other taking action and having their voices heard, it seems like this was the most hopeful outcome of the latest Climate talks.
As I look back on 2009, what I realize about becoming involved in the International Day of Climate Action is that I’ve changed. I feel like I walked through a door that I can’t walk back through, and I can’t go back to being the person I was before. Being a rather soft-spoken individual, to volunteer myself to organize a Climate Action was a big deal. However, I’ve reached the point where I want my voice to be heard. Having developed strong connections with my co-organizers and receiving good press coverage in the New Haven Register and other local papers, this certainly helped spread the word and raise awareness in our community. More, I learned that finding a community of like-minded and motivated individuals is just as important as finding my own voice.
So, the question I’ve been asking myself, and want to ask you is: where do we go from here? In the spirit of the motto from the online youth-based climate movement Tck Tck Tck is, “We’re not done yet,” here are a few ways I intend to keep the momentum going.
As I’ve discovered, to find one’s voice and let it be heard is incredibly empowering. I continue to abide by this. One day during the Climate Talks I gave myself a nudge and called the White House and left a message for President Obama to support a strong Climate Treaty. I’ve recently called our state’s Senators urging them to vote “no” to the so-called Murkowski amendment (Alaska’s Senator), which may have gutted our Clean Air Act. These are small steps, but the truth is, they do take note of calls and letters. As we know, the voices out there in support of the oil industry and calling global warming a “hoax” are very loud and evident in policy-making.
2010 is going to be an important year in the U.S. given that President Obama has reiterated that he wants to pass a Climate Bill – to which the rest of the world will be tuning in to the outcome. One of the easiest ways I’ve found to become involved is by joining a few online movements such as 350.org, repoweramerica.org, 1sky.org, and the Sierra Club. Through these organizations I receive periodic updates, news, and calls for action such as writing letters to government officials (which literally takes seconds since they often provide you with a template and even mail it for you).
My next step is to do some reading. I find it very hard to wrap my mind around global warming and still go about my daily life. I also have a suspicion that information is trying to be kept away from the public. Thus, I’m starting with the climate scientist who started it all, James Hansen, and reading his book, “Storms of my Grandchildren”. I’d highly recommend reading a review of it at http://www.slate.com/id/2242201/pagenum/all/#p2
As I’ve shared my own strategies for continuing the momentum, I realize there are obviously many more vehicles for becoming involved and active in the climate change movement. I am eager to hear what you might already be doing. And I am especially eager to know where you think we go from here?












