INK MAGAZINE - MAY 2022 by Ink Publications

A Guide to Finer Living in Connecticut & abroad May 2022

Vol 17 Issue 196 inkct.com

Vasc s ular slow you o Artery disease, damag people on the sideline vascular conditions wit ef fective, you’ll be bac MiddlesexHealth.org/V

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MAY 2022

Vol. 17 Issue 196

Feature Stories

Departments

It’s Always Growing Season at Holdridge’s

Celebrating 110 years, Ledyard

Charles Adams

A Meeting with an Officer and a Gentleman

Crusty Old Diver - Been to the Land of the Ice & Snow Music Mirth & Mojo - River Jam at Mystic Shipyard Ask Ashley - Can you Manifest Love? Coastal Cuisine - Priscilla Martel & Charlie van Over Cheesemonger - Too Many Kinds of Milk

_18 _60 _66 _68 _72

“Welcome! O May! O joyous month and stainless!” – Alfonso X of Castile

New Sea Music Festival Essex, Celebrates Maritime Music by the Water

Lilywork Artisan Tile

Lyme Street, Old Lyme

May the garden rake be with you! Oh, the glorious outdoors, let’s all make a little time for nature shall we? It is May but it is April. When you put out a monthly magazine for nearly 20 years you develop an odd relationship with time. Our issues correspond directly with the calender so you end up quite literally living a month in advance. As I write this brief paragraph I am “completing” the month of May. Yet it’s the 24th of April? It’s a weird paradigm and I’ve never quite been able to shake the feeling of not quite being squarely in the now. An odd cycle for sure. Anyhow, we have some good things in store for you in this issue. A business that has been around since 1912 and that was created when Judge Samual Holdridge began selling vegetables in Ledyard. 110 years and a few generations later, things are better than ever. Also, in honor of our “Greatest Generation” we sat down with Charles Adams, who is now 98 years old and he told us stories. The stories that only a great man tells. As always there are so many interesting people, places, and things in New England. INK is a good place to find them. (PLEASE BUY LOCAL!) Jeffery Lilly

Contributors

The Accidental Artist

David Marchi and the Fine Line Between Pain and Paint

founder / publisher

Ashley Alt - ask ashley

A. Vincent Scarano - photography

Susan Cornell - editorial

Carolina Marquez-Sterling - design

Caryn B. Davis - editorial/photography

Paul Partica - the cheesemonger

Alison Kaufman - music mirth & mojo

John Tolmie - editorial

Nancy LaMar-Rogers - editorial

Kate Tolmie - photography

Rona Mann - editorial

Joe Urso - ad design

Advertising

Jeffery Lilly - Publisher 860.581.0026 Bob Houde - Advertising Director bob@inkct.com 860.303.6690

Rona Mann - Greater Connecticut six07co@att.net - 401-539-7762 Richard Malinsky - Shoreline richard@inkct.com - 215.704.9273

On the Cover: Lilyworks Tile photo by Caryn B. Davis

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The Growing Season has Lasted 110 Years at Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace by Rona Mann

his is a story about history, and you know the old saying, "History repeats itself." In this case, delightfully so. It's also a story about one family and their multi-generational commitment to the land, hard work, the people they serve, and always, to growth. It all began way back in 1912 when Judge Samuel Holdridge of Geer Hill in Ledyard decided to take some of the vegetables and strawberry plants he grew in his garden, hitch up his horse and buggy, and make his way up the dirt road to Norwich to see if he could sell them. He did...and he did, and along the way, a legacy began. Judge Holdridge kept at it making a name for himself in this part of eastern Connecticut. The judge's son, Paul Holdridge, Sr., later started a mail-order business for his strawberry plant farm. He was way ahead of his time with a direct mail catalog and doing business via mail-order, but he was inherently successful. Then the family expanded into growing fruit trees. "In the '30s and '40s there weren't many choices of occupation,"

Shari Hewes says, she the President and General Manager of Holdridge Home & Garden now in its 110th year and growing. "The land here was not as you see Ledyard today. It was mostly farmed, so families naturally all worked their land." It was Shari's father, Paul, Jr. known as "Bud," who took the simple farming business to what

today is a major retail operation; but make no mistake, it is still at its very heart, a multigenerational farm family providing for and helping local customers.

Shari's father and grandfather had the foresight to buy up area acreage when the price was low, and today Holdridge Home & Garden occupies a prominent place right in the center of Ledyard, just two miles up the road from where the business ﬁrst began. Back then, there was no greenhouse, just hard goods and greens and a small Western Auto hardware store within. The focus then, as it is now, was always the nursery. "That and green goods have always been our bread and butter," Hewes offers. "Our main focus is our commitment to help our customers succeed."

And that's exactly what they've been doing at Holdridge's lo these 110 years helping customers cultivate healthy grass, create and maintain a nice looking yard, and succeed in every area of home improvement from plumbing and electrical to hardware and tools. For those who are looking for landscaping to further enhance the appearance of their home and yard, the in-house landscape designer at Holdridge's can help customers select plants and shrubs that they can then plant themselves or design a landscape and have the Holdridge professionals install and maintain the work. Hewes adds, "This area is expanding more and more based on what people want, and that's what we're here to do...give our customers what they want and need." Then there's that greenhouse! You can't make a trip to Holdridge's and not at least take a turn in that lush paradise. The temperature is just perfect, and you'll feel you've gone to some exotic island in the tropics, if only for a few minutes. Colors positively burst, and even though a day may still be chilly and gray

outside, in this tropical wonderland, orchids and palms are growing, colors are popping everywhere, and you can take a deep breath of the delightfully warm, moist air that keeps everything inside flowering. It doesn't matter if customers plant gardens of beautiful ﬂowers or are in earnest about tomato plants and vegetables, everything-positively-

everything at Holdridge's is ready for you right now, and for some reason, if they don't have exactly what a customer wants, they will special order it. Fertilizer, birdseed, grass seed, ﬂowering and shade trees, ﬂowering shrubs of all types and colors; and to make the Holdridge folks even more special, know that they grow

more than half their stock. What they don't grow, they get from vendors who are carefully vetted to make sure their quality is good enough for a Holdridge customer. Shari stresses that every employee at Holdridge Home and Garden is an expert in one field or another, some of whom came to work right out of high school and stayed more than 30 years, so you're not dealing with a big box hourly worker to whom flowers, trees, plants, and hardware is just a job. You're dealing with professionals who care about their job, are proud of where they work, and want you to succeed however large or small your project may be. A number of Holdridge's people have gone through the special programs put on by the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association including intensive training in soil maintenance, plant identification, and which plants grow best in the eight different zones within North America. "Here you will surround yourself with knowledge," Hewes says, "and people who can help you to get the full experience. What you and your family want and can afford comes first with all our employees."

Shari Holdridge Hewes is 4th generation of this landmark in the center of Ledyard and says with no apology, "I believe in karma. The good you do comes back to you. That's why it's so important to us to treat our customers fairly." A brief story illustrates her point. "During the pandemic, we had a woman come here and loaded up her cart with flats and flats of tomato plants. When she was asked if she had that much space to grow all those tomatoes, she admitted she had never grown tomatoes before. She was doing this as a hobby during the lockdown and only wanted some tomatoes for her family dinners." "We told her she didn't need anywhere near that many and helped her select just a few plants that would easily fill her requirement. We not only saved her money and aggravation, but also instilled in that customer that supporting our clientele is more important to our growth than money. She came back like most of our customers do for the consistency in advice and in product selection."

Holdridge Home & Garden also takes great pride in supporting the community in which they are such an integral part. "We stand by this community and help to make it work for everyone." Yet another commitment of this family who believes it's always the growing season.

It's really all about a legacy...a legacy started by Judge Holdridge in 1912 traveling up to Norwich in horse and buggy, eager to sell some strawberry plants and vegetables. It was then perpetuated by his son Paul and his bril-

liant mail order idea, continued by his son, Bud, who took the operation to retail, and now successfully endures in the hands of Bud's daughter, Shari Hewes. It's not the seeds, the birdbaths and wind chimes, the beautiful flowering plants, the greenhouse, the gazing balls, the complete hardware store within the store, or the home center. It's really nothing they sell because the most valuable thing Holdridge can offer you is advice, help, and support, and the assurance that the next time you come in, they'll still be there. Just like they've been for 110 years. One of the few things these days you can still depend on. You just can't put a price on that kind of commitment to success, so the Holdridges put their name on it. Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace is located right in Ledyard Center at 749 Colonel Ledyard Hwy. (860) 4648400 www.holdridgegarden.com

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“Been to the Land of the Ice and Snow”

By John Tolmie / photos by Pat Doyle and Kate Tolmie Theresa Theresa Doyle Doyle and and Pat Pat Doyle Doyle -- courtesy courtesy of of Dougie Dougie Cunningham, Cunningham, Leading Leading Lines Lines Photography Photography

select members of our close community that venture even further north into Jack Frosts domain. A special die-hard Nutmegger, Pat Doyle, decided to take her winter solstice among the ethereal snow swept plains of Iceland.

he majority of the residents here in Connecticut tend to migrate south as snow-birds during the winter months to ﬁnd refuge from the cold. However, there are a few

Pat hails from the northern parts of North America. She is a ski bunny, lived in Massachusetts and Canada and met her husband in Connecticut. Her husband is from Rhode Island, and he decided to join the Navy to see the world, doing his best to ﬁnd orders somewhere abroad. However, the military likes

to play cruel jokes on its service people now and again as Pat’s hubby was given orders to Groton Connecticut a mere thirty minutes from his hometown in Rhode Island. The pair raised their two children here in the Nutmeg State and both were heavily into sports, and so rather than sitting through the kids’ games and practices, Pat picked up a camera and started honing her craft taking pictures of her children in action.“I was tired of being cold and getting bench butt!”, Pat laughs. She had been bitten by the photography bug and would soon ﬁnd interest other than on the ball ﬁeld. Folks started commenting that she had a good eye

for capturing the moment. “I gave a shot at macro photography during the height of covid.” Pat recalls, “I have a couple of friends, one who launched a hand-lotion business and the other selling her baked cookies, so I tried to help-out and take macro shots of their products. The photos came out alright, but macro photography was just too fussy

for me.” Pat smiles, “I found that I enjoyed taking portraits but not too many people are willing to sit and pose and my children had grown and weren’t thrilled having their pictures taken. With all that, I gravitated towards landscape photography.”

During the pandemic, like most of the world, having been shut in and isolated for so long, Pat started researching for a guided photography trip abroad. “I had been looking into going on a photography tour. I had always heard that Iceland was an amazing place to photograph.”Pat says, “I convinced my friend Theresa to join, and we began the quest to ﬁnd a good company to guide us.” Pat and her friend desired to immerse themselves in another culture and decided to sign up with a British based tour company. “We chose to go with Wild Photography Holidays,” Pat says, “They specialize in cold remote places like Greenland, Iceland, Orkney, Faroe Islands and Scotland. They looked like a lot of fun, so we signed up!”

The flight took just over five hours according to the wristwatch due to the time difference between Iceland and American Eastern Standard time. But upon arrival they flew into a dark and mysterious island as the sun would not come up for another three and a half hours. They had arrived at six in the morning and after checking into their hotel decided to

visit the world-famous Blue Lagoon. “We weren't going to meet up with our group until the evening, so Theresa and I decided to take a dip in the beautiful blue waters at the Blue Lagoon.” Pat says, “It was so, so amazing! It is a man-made hot spring, well more of a runoff of from the geothermal plant I believe. The water is a beautiful shade

of turquoise blue. So, we spent a few hours just relaxing and floating around in blue steamy water." After doing the touristy thing, Pat and Theresa took a bus to Reykjavik and met up with the photography group and their tour guides at the hotel.“It was so much fun. We were the only Americans on the tour and the rest were from Britain. They were so funny!" Pat laughed, “It was so nice not to talk about politics! We just laughed and laughed the whole time!" With a ten-day expedition into the heart of Iceland ahead of them, the tour group would traverse across the somehow beautiful and majestic ice and rock. "We saw much of the Island. We would hop on a bus every other day and go to a new site to shoot." Pat recalls, “We traveled in groups on two separate buses and our first stop was at these beautiful cliffs, it was just stunning!" The roads had closed in many of the places in Iceland due to the incessant inclement weather. The snow drifts accumulated all around the island unabated which prevents the ability for road crews to clear safe passage in many areas. As well, "Apparently snowplow drivers don't work on Sundays in Iceland either!" Pat Chuckles, “It doesn't matter what the weather is on Sunday, they just aren't working!”

19 Prior to the trip Pat had been learning how to shoot with her Canon and her mirrorless Fuji by watching YouTube videos, studying tutorials and taking courses at a local institute for photography. She had learned quite a bit on her own, but there is nothing like practical advice while shooting on site. Her two guides were British and Scottish respectively.“It was amazing because I learned more on that trip than I had in all my classes and online research. Our guides helped us in so many ways to take good photos in very harsh conditions. They were there to instruct us on how to set our cameras up perfectly for speciﬁc shots.” Pat fondly recalls, “I wanted to get a shot of a waterfall in time-lapse and they showed me the exact setting to use. They even gave us instructions how to keep our cameras from being affected by the extreme temperatures when going outside and indoors. They were amazing guides.” The two guides who headed up the Expedition had both written several books on the places where they take their clients.“They were both so knowledgeable and helpful! They knew all the secret hidden spots." Pat says,” So they knew exactly where to take us." The photography experience-level on the trip among the guests was a mixed bag of photo-knowledge from the novice to the professional. However, Pat's guides both seemed to outshine and impress all those under their care. “About half the folks on the tour had done a trip with the company before and had liked it enough that they signed up for a repeat expedition." Pat says with a smile, “and apparently, we

had made the right choice. They are a small operation unlike some of the bigger companies like National Geographic, so it wasn't as expensive, and I felt like it was a much more intimate experience with the smaller group." Every town in Iceland has built a special Church away from the epicenter of activity. These lone Sentinels poke Skyward with many constructed in front of a backdrop of craggy and ice-capped mountains. "They are usually built out in the middle of nowhere!" Pat says,“Everything is very spread out in Iceland. The Black Church is the most famous of them all. It is known locally as the Tourist Church because most people visiting the island to get married wind up getting married there.” Pat and her troupe visited beaches where the blue ice rolled along the shore like gems. Waterfalls and valleys covered in rock and frost were everywhere. The small towns with brightly colored architecture juxtaposed the grey, blue and white winter wonderland. “But mt favorite part of the trip was visiting the Vatnajokull Ice Caves!” Pat brightens, “We had to take these snow cats over to the caves. Only a certain number of people are allowed at

once. But our guides were awesome and got us there ﬁrst, so we had the place to ourselves.” The photos of the ice cave are like being in a frozen wave as blue as the wasters of Hawaii. When asked what inspired Pat from her trip she simply answered, “I am going back. I’m going back because I felt like I saw just a fraction of the beauty of that little country.” When asked what time of year she would return,“In the winter of course!”

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Tom Brokaw Was Right

MEETING AN

OFFICER GENTLEMAN AND

by Rona Mann

“there on the beaches of Normandy I began to reflect on the wonders of these ordinary people whose lives were laced with the markings of greatness.” Tom Brokaw

N N

ewssman, journalist, and a true infl fluencerr, T To om Brokaw was the first to coin the phrase. He callled them, quite simply y,, “The Greeatest Generation.”

Tha at term, according to Bro okaw w, was generally defined by those born from 1901 to 19227. They were the W Wo orld W Wa ar II generation characterized by y an unwavering g sense of persona p al responsibility p y y,, humility y,, a y strong work ethic, and a faithful com mmitment to the task at hand. No whining, never a complaint. Theey just went out and did it. Brokaw never had the pleasure of m meeting Charles Adams, but we did. Still, Brokaw had nailed him m perfectly y.

We met Adams at the start of the Neew Ye Year. He’s a simple man living a simple life right in a quiet little neighborhood on the shoreline of Connecticut. He might even be your neighborr, and chances are, you’d never know his story because he probably wouldn’t tell you. Mr. Adams is now 98 years old. Hee’s lived in the same home for 50 years, the one he inhabited wiith his late wife, Martha. He without the aid of walker or walks slowly and purposefully y,, yet w hort of amazing, his brand of cane. His sense of recall is nothing sh tongue-in-cheek humor is delightfull, and still, there is a sense of almost-childlike wonder about him for he cannot imagine why He felt he just did, “what I we should want to interview him. H ned to do.” was supposed to do, what I was train But h hee did it during the years ears of World d War II, II the Kor Korean ean W War, ar, and the Vietnam conflict - surely the hat trick of military service. He merelly calls his involvement “what had to be done.” Originally from Missouri, we asked how he wound up in Connecticut. “W We had a big war. I came back. I met a giirl from Hartford.” A man of few w words, but his message gets acro oss every time.

Piper J.3 3C-65 Cub ‘329594’ “Olive”- Built-in 1943 as an n L-4H Grasshopper with the US military To Normandy serial 43-29594. Present at the ‘L-Birds Back To y’ event at Saint André de l’Eure airfield to morate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Saint Andréé de l’Eure, Normandy, France June 8th, 2019 commem Image Courtesy of Alan Wilson https://www.flickr.com/photos

“But “ButI Ihad hadtotododoititbecause because ififyou youcouldn’t make eit,it,the theyy couldn’tmak reat sent sentyou youtotoGr Gr reatLak Lakesesasas aa“rr“round ””(sailor), (sailor) hat roundhat” hat” hat (sailor) and (sailor),and I Idid didNO NOTTwwant antthat! that!I I wwant antededtotof ly f lyplanes.” planes.” Before the “big warr,,” Adams graduated high school in Missouri and decided to enlist in the N Navy y, but his father had other ideas. He already had one son in th he Navy on the USS Colorado, and said, “One son is enough.” Ch harles waited a bit and tried again. Again, his father gave the sam me sharp retort, so Charles procured a job in a defense factory bu uilding B-25s (medium bombers). Eventually y, his father acquiessced, and Charles Adams enlisted in the naval aviation cadet pro ogram in November. He was ready and raring to go, but the Navy y wasn’t ready to have him just yet. So reluctantly y,, he continued w working until the following March when he was ultimately called d for active duty y. Charles Adams was now on n his way y, first to W Wiilliam Jew well College in Liberty y, Missourri followed by three monthss in very day he spent a half-day Lawrence Kansas where ev y at y flying the Piper Cub. Then it w ground school and a half-day was on to Delmonte Naval Train ning Base in Monterey y,, Califorrnia

TheNavy’ Navy’ Navy’s famous f “ro oundha o ha at”also alsoknow knowas as“dixie “dixiecup”, cup”,isis The Navy’s ssffamous “r ound at” per rh haps the most iconic symb ol worn in the Navy today. Yo Y ou perrh haps the most iconic symbol worn in the Navy today. Y Yo ou canrrerre ecognizeaamariner marinerwell wellin inadvance advancewho’ who’ wearingthe the can ecognize ’ss’sswearing conventional white white cover cover Th he wedge-shaped wedge-shaped canvas canvas ppieiecceess conventional r..r.. Th he thatcomprise comprisethe thehigh-domed high-domed loww--rro rro im((ss((sseeeennaabboovvee)) that d,d,lo oollleleddbbrrirri im wer notinscribed inscribedinto intouniform uniform egulationuntil until1886.The 1886.Thecan can-wer rere eenot mmrrerre egulation vaswas waseventually eventuallyrrerre eplacedwith withmore more af fffordableand andcom com-vas eplaced ww rereaf fffordable fortablecotton. cotton.Th Theessaailio lorrsrrs whowor wor themliked likedthis thisoption option fortable sswho rere eethem sincethey theycould couldbend bendthe thecover coverto toexpr expr esstheir theirunique uniqueperson person-since rere ess alitieswhile whilestill stillstaying stayingwithin withinthe therules. rules.It’ It’ unclearwhen when alities ’ss’ssunclear thename name“dixie “dixiecup” cup”was wascoined, coined,but butgiven giventhat thatthe thepopular popular the pa ap rro the market market in in the the early early 1900s, 1900s, it’ it’ pa ap ppeerrpprro oodduuccttfifirrsrrs sstthhititthe ’ss’ss probablethat’ that’ whenititwas wascoined. coined. probable ’ss’sswhen

27 for more ground school and back-breaking physical traiining. “They strapped a 60 lb. backpack on me, and I had to repeatedly step up and down on a chair.” This for a young man who only weighed 135 lbs at the time. “But I had to do it because iff you couldn’t make it, they sent you to Great Lakes as a “round d hat” (sailor), and I did NOT want that! I wanted to fly planes.” Next up was Hutchinson, Kansas where he was flying o opencockpit planes where the outside temperature at 5000 feet w was -5 below zero. “My face mask froze against my face so to thaaw it, I sat next to a heating system which was steel pipes againsst the wall with steam flowing through them,” says Adams. Then it was on to Corpus Christi, Texas to ground school to learn miles instrument flying, then later stationed at Beeville, T Teexas 50 m north to perform the intricacies of what he had learned.

SNJ Texan - An exceptionally well-cconceived and well-built Navy trainerr, the SNJ entered service before Wo World Wa War II and served into the 1950s, ubiquitous in the Navy and Air Force training programs. ograms Tw Two generations of Naval Aviators trained in the SNJ, a SNJ and several aviators made their first carrier landings in th he aircraft. Image Courtesy of the National Naval Aviation A Museum

The Navy seemed intent on having Charles travel widely so next his orders took him to Pensacola, Florida wherre he plane learned to fly the SNJ known as “The Texan,” a well-built p d the ubiquitous in the training programs of both the Navy and Air Force, used prior to WWII and throughout the ‘50s before it was finally retired. he or There is no greater moment in a pilot’s life than when h h earns their th i wings. i F l Ad she For Ch C Charles Adams, th thatt eventt cam me iin October 1944 when he was ccommissioned an Ensign in the N Navy man.” and designated as “Naval Av Aviator v r, an Officerr,, and a Gentlem g, not But that didn’t mean the cu ulmination of Adams’ learning by a long shot. A Navy pilott is continuously learning so hee was sent to Ft. Lauderdale, not fo or “spring break” on the beach with beautiful girls but for operaational training. It was there hee first flew a torpedo bomber.

Charles Adams on US Navy y Carrier Landing Signal Offfi ficerr..

When WWII ended, A Adams was transferred to Quonsset Point in North Kingstown, Rho ode Island and then, he was on a whirlwind tour! He met his futuree wife in Hartford, married herr,, worked for w a time at Pratt & Whittney y, trained to be a flight instru uctorr, went on to San Diego, Land ding Signal Officer School in Flo orida, then b k to California, C lif i and d was d l d to K i months h back deployed Korea ffor nine without his young fam mily y. It’s dizzying to try to keep track of all of Adams’ orders, d deployments, and subsequent travels, but what follows here is ju ust a brief laundry list of geography y. Back after time his in Korea came another turn in Pensacola, followed

by G Georgia and then, in no particullar orderr,, Shangri- La; Rota, Spaiin; Eng gland, and New Yo York...always h he remained the perfect officer an nd a geentleman and always without ccomplaint. Chaarles Adams retired as Comm mander Adams, but in truth, he St Mark nev ver stopped serving. serving He volunteeered for many years at St. k’ss k Red Cross blood drives held at the Foo od Pantry in Westbrook, at the R Knights of Columbus. Westbrook Elks Club, and at the K We Yees, Y s there were many deploymentts, both domestic and dams is quick to admit, “I neverr inteernational, but Commander Ad y? If you weren’t there, you can ked about my experiences. Why talk n’t really understand.”

Abov ve: TBF Launcher Charles Adam by a catapult lau unch. Photo Courtesy of Charles Adams. V--40) The U.S. Navy ship to bears the name n for the bloody 1943 Battle of Tarawa. WIKIPEDIA, USS Taarawa (CV w: Charles Adams on a US Navy Carrierr. Below

myy “I never talked aboutt m experiences. Whhyy? If you x weren’t there, you caan’t really understand. and ”

Charles Adams on US Navy y Carrier When it i was time for us to take ourr leave, we d him for sharing part of h his storied thanked ust another life witth us, knowing this was not ju intervieew for we had received something very special. It was the privilege of running g headlong piece of history not found in any y textbook, into a p hat he was a piece of a man who simply did wh told an nd ultimately achieved the only thing he had eveer really wanted to do since childhood. To fly y.. To look down from the clouds aand see the ne with the earth viirtually disappear and be at on at’s all there was to a simple lifeelong goal. sky y. Tha Period. End of story y. For Charles Adaams, he got g our leave, to fly y, an nd that was everything. Taking we shoo ok hands, his firm and resolutee. For us, that was everything. Tom Brrokaw was indeed correct.

Carrier USS Phillipines SeaCV VA47 CV Atttack Carrier 47

USS Shangri-La CV V-38 USS Va alley Forrg ge (LPH-8) transporting A--4 Skyhawks c.1965

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Welcome to Connecticut Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Best Steakhoouse in Middlesex County, and bestt kept secret in the state, Black Jax Saloon! Black Jax opened quietly in late 2019 to hand train its staff from the t ground up, improving every dayy and aiming to deliver the best customer experience. Like many restaurants, it was devastated by the pandemic annd also e forced to close for nine months for repairs. Black Jax is now back in action and better than ever before. Industry veteran and chef Jack Flaws has enjoyed a successful career e spanning more than 30 years and has been at the helm of some of CT’s bestt restaurants. His talents are on display at the best steakhouse in CTT.. Come to Black Jax soon and see what the press has been missing -

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FRIDAY & SATURDAY JULY 8 & 9, 2022 12PM–6PM

P E Q U O T M U S E U M .O R G 8 60 . 3 96.6910 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, CT 06338

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By Susan Cornell

ssex, long known for sea shanties and drunken sailors (not necessarily in that order), will soon bellow “ahoy” to the first Connecticut Sea Music Festival. Taking place June 10-13 in a variety of venues and settings, the festival will include concerts by local and touring sea music performers, workshops, a symposium, and attractions and events. The idea arose after Mystic Seaport Museum axed its Sea Music Festival held annually since 1979. Joseph Morneault, a longtime chantey musician and president of the nonprofit group Maritime Music and Tradition Society formed to produce this festival, said Essex is ideal not only because the town is geographically friendly for festivalgoers but also there’s the whole historic aspect.

The newly formed nonprofit producing this new festival is comprised of veterans of Mystic’s festival, including musicians Geoff Kaufman, David Littlefield and A.J. Wright. The festival will include concerts by a diverse group of regional and touring sea music performers. The weekend will showcase “a lot of really good performers who are really not known except to the rest of us performers.” There will also be a nod to the War of 1812 and the fact that, during the British invasion, the Royal Navy made its way up the Connecticut River to Essex, known then as Pettipaug, and torched 27 vessels. Festival Logo Designed by Sean Murtha

The raid, Morneault notes, “has become a part of the historical identity of the town. The plan is to tap into this and to mesh sea music with such an historic event.” Morneault said support came from Geoffrey Paul, head of the charitable Paul Foundation and co-owner of the Griswold Inn, which has hosted sea chantey singalongs for half a century. The Gris features the famous Jovial Crew, a group that includes Morneault, every Monday night, aka “Sea Chantey Night”. The Connecticut River Museum and the Town of Essex have both been instrumental (pardon the pun) in their offerings.

Above Clockwise: Shanties And Sails, Geoff Kaufman by Gene Cartagena Bottom: Photo by David Zeleznik

Events and performances will take place throughout Essex, from the Griswold Inn (“The Gris”) to its Cocktail Garden, Main Street Park to studio locations, and of course on the Connecticut River Museum grounds. The lion’s share of the activities and performances are free, while some concerts will be ticketed.

Saturday’s festivities will include music and activities for all ages. The Cocktail Garden across from The Gris will be transformed into a Children’s Stage where “we’ll have performers who are particularly attuned to grade school performances.” “For all, there will be workshops for people to see different crafts that would be associated with the sailor – from tying knots to splicing rope to doing scrimshaw.” “It’s an interesting mix of various groups of various styles within the genre, both local and national. Names Like Geoff Kauffman, David Littlefield, Craig Edwards, Mark Bernier – these are all people that are known in the lower Connecticut area,” the chantyman explains. “Extending to the lower arm of Massachusetts is the RumSoaked Crooks, the name makes them sound nefarious, but the reality is they’re great performers,” Morneault says. For the first year, the Sea Music Festival will host performers from across nation; in future years, when travel is (we hope) less restrictive, the plan is to cast the net internationally. A “Symposium on the Music of the Sea” with presentations by scholars and practitioners kicks off the extended weekend during the day on Friday. A concert by the Connecticut River will follow that evening.

The Sailing Masters of 1812 parade down Main Street on Saturday morning and, behind them, whoever wants may march along. Workshops will be held during the afternoon and, in the evening, another concert. Sunday morning starts with a hymn sing. Morneault explains, “That tradition started from the idea that a lot of sailors would go to these religiously-based port cities. Sailors might be handed a Bible and would have sung songs. They would sing various hymns that are typically associated with ships and nautical things and the like…The day starts again with more workshops.” The Monday night after the festival, as was done in Mystic, is “Survivors Night,” an unofficial event to be held in the Covered Bridge Room at The Gris where “everybody can get up and sing one or two whatever they want to sing, it doesn’t have to be maritime related, just something folky.”

Festival Director A.J. Wright says, “This music is one of the best ways to understand our place in history. Shanties are the first world music. You have sailors going everywhere picking up all these little sorts of cultural artifacts and incorporating them,” adding, “On top of that there’s the work songs. When you learn about a work song, you know it’s attached to the work that it’s designed for so you can get a much clearer sense of peoples’ experiences in the past, and you look at it from their perspective.” Clearly missing the festivals due to the cancellations, Wright points out: “There is no substitute really for being able to sing in harmony and hear live harmony even if it’s just a single singer, there’s simply no substitute for the energy.” Connecticut River Museum Executive Director Jennifer Carlson says, “The Connecticut River Museum is thrilled to take part in the Connecticut Sea Music Festival, which is educational in nature but is also just a lot of fun and welcoming in spirit. Several towns along the lower Connecticut River, such as Essex, thrived from the shipping and shipbuilding industry for over 200 years. Sailors, cargo, and ships from the Connecticut River reached the far corners of the world. The ties between River communities and the sea are long-standing.” Supporter and Essex resident Geoffrey Paul says Essex Village is “a perfect fit for sea chanties,” adding “it’s really part of our DNA and provides the historical backdrop for those who love the maritime past and carry on the traditions of maritime music.” “This is a wonderful opportunity to bring people back together with the landscape of Downtown Essex, the maritime art collections of the Griswold Inn, surrounded by sea captains’ homes, and walking in the footsteps of the very people they’re honoring by carrying on this tradition.” Mystic, Paul says, had their own reasons for canceling. He adds, “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the community and, frankly, it’s really the perfect setting, so maybe it was just meant to be.” For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://ctseamusicfest.org/

Horizontal Image of Tap Room of the Griswold Inn Essex, by Ben Parker Studio. Left Page: Shanties And Sails, MarcBernier Photos by Gene Cartagena, Workshop Photo by David Zeleznik Right Page: Photo’s by David Zeleznik

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A Year In The Pit – This is a Doc that Rocks!

By Ali Kaufman

t had been a very long time since I had been immersed in music, surrounded by friends, and completely enthralled with the atmosphere of being part of a festival. Then I pressed play. The new documentary, A Year In The Pit, brought all those feelings rushing back. Visually stunning photography combined with engaging interviews are woven together to tell the story of today’s premier music photographers and illustrate the magic that happens when lovers of live music gather. In 2018 the documentary began to germinate when two friends, that had been kicking this idea around independently, crossed paths backstage at LOCKN’ Festival in Virginia and realized this could become a reality. It was deﬁnitely too large a project to take on alone, but together, sharing each of their strengths, John Woody and Bob Adamek

proved they have what it takes to bring this ﬁlm to life. Disclaimer: I have known Bob for years and been a fan of his photography as well as his tenacious spirit for getting “the shot," not the perfect shot but the one that captures the feeling in the moment. At heart, Bob Adamek is a music fan, but his affection clearly extends to the vibe of the entire tribe that works to bring these events to life. Over the many years of shooting and music journalism, Bob has made a plethora of contacts that proved invaluable to

the making of A Year In The Pit. John Woody, while not a regular on the festival scene, felt strongly that there was a story to tell, his wealth of experience with 30-plus years of teaching post-production ﬁlm at Madison University was a huge asset. Once these two guys realized they were on the same page, the project began to blossom. John was hired to do some promo filming for FESTY in Charlottesville, Virginia where Justin Billcheck, Co-founder of the event welcomed the idea of sharing footage for this new project. Armed with an iPhone 11,

Top center: John Woody with Kevin Stifﬂer at Happy Valley Music Fest. Above : John Woody and Bob Adamek at Aiken Bluegrass Fest - Photo Bain Stewart

LILYWORK ARTISAN TILE AN ART AND A CRAFT Profile & Photos by Caryn B. Davis

“If I had to link our tile to a gimble to stabilize the footage, and FiLMiC any one tradition, it would Pro, a cinema-quality video app, John hit the ground with his personally-adapted rig and be to thewould skilled American began to capture what become the trailer for the full length ﬁnished product. Any doubt

nineteenth-century Arts and Crafts Era craftsmen. They believed passionately in

honest craftsmanship and the importance of creating beautiful, well- made objects that can be used in everyday life.”

enry Chapman Mercer, born in 1856, was a ceramist, scholar, archeologist, and about this being a viable endeavor was just as any photographer knows, the idea is to collector squashed once John sentartifacts Bob what he make yourself as invisible as from possible. The came up with. “I was blown away, the trailer they sent out was well received, and they Pennsylvania who quality was incredible, we really had began to populate their believed calendar with dates. something here!"was Bob’s reaction. Now they needed content so Bob dove Word craftsmanship travels fast in music circles. The American into the production side of reaching filmmakers began to garner invites to other to festival directors, other photog-art festivals Devil’s Hoopla in wasout becoming a lost dueliketo theBackbone advent raphers, and musicians to start setting Virginia and The Aiken Bluegrass Festival in up the interviews and shoots. It was important South Carolina to name just a couple. It was of industrialism. He devoted his life to make personal contact to convey their vision important to both men that they were able to as well as assure the venues that they were not show these gatherings realistically. With all the to topreserving much oftheythis going show up with a ﬁlm crewas and cases of positivity found it heritage was easy to keep the equipment in tow. They are a crew of two, and vibration high throughout the three years as possible through his research and it took to create this documentary. Along the way, were both learning published books on ancient they American new skills and perhaps ones they already tools by collecting early honing American had. John was becoming at navigating “the artifacts and also through the adept design of the pit," the area between stage and audience from his six-story reinforced concrete castle where photographers shoot. It is like a dance. always, but more often “Fonthill” which served as hisNot residence than not, photogs want to each other by having and as a place to showcase hishelp collection situational awareness and cohesively so evof decorative tiles, artifacts, andworking European eryone can come away with some keepers. Bob’s advice and American prints. to John was sage and truly distills the truth of how to navigate anything really… .”Be a good citizen," whether in the pit, on stage, backstage, on the grounds, or might I add, headed out after the show. You can’t go wrong doing the right thing. In another later conversation with John, he also mentioned this advice and how amazed he was at

Top left: Cedric Ellworth at French Quarter Fest Above: Lori and Keira Messenger at FloydFest

To furtheer er his efforts, efforts Mercer established d the Moraavian Pottery and Tile i W Wo orks in 1912 aas an attempt “to recreate early Pennsylv vania pottery manufacturing techniqu ues.” With the founding of the Tile Works w which perfectly mirrored the ideals merican Arts and Crafts Moveof the Am ment, Meercer became a highly sought-after tile artistt. His handiwork graces the floo or of the Peennsylvania State Capitol Buildiing culminatting in a succession of 400 mosaaics that tells the story y of Pennsylvania’s y beginning with prehistoric timess. history b He also ccompleted many other notable national and international commissionss g the estate of John D. Rockefellerr, including the fameed Monte Carlo Casino in Monaaco, ood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatter; Hollywo and the S St. Louis Public Library y, among g others. In nside his home, which has sincee become tthe Mercer Fonthill Museum, arre numerou us examples of his tilework. Theey adorn th he walls, floors, staircases, win n-dowsills,, fireplaces, ceilings, archways, and everrywhere else. Mercer ccontinued to oversee daily production aat the Tiile W Wo orks until his death h in 1930. L Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now a living history y museum m, his handmade tiles are still beeing created u utilizing his techniques and reisssued molds from his original designs. Esther H Halferty y, who co-owns and operaates Lilywork k Artisan T Tiile with her husband d Paul, app prenticed at Moravian Pottery aand ks while Paul was in their emplloy Tiile W Wo ork years. Both attended art school for nine y died ceramics (Hartford Art School and stud and Tylerr School of Art and Architecture)) but took different paths that finally con n-verged in n Pennsylvania. After mu uch traveling and training, they y d tth i own shop h and d recently tl opened their relocated d to Old Lyme, Connecticut wheere they mak ke handmade tiles for homeown nners, desig gners, and builders from their Lyme Strreet studio. Their tiles come in aan exquisitee array of designs and textures aand in sumpttuous colors, each one more tan ntalizing tthan the next. Some are reflectiv ve of Estherr’s love for printmaking, architeecture, and d tile patterns. Other designs ech ho the historic process of tilemaking they learned w while working at Moravian and d other tilee works.

“I’ve always a s been drraawn to the laayering off architectur rc ree, histtoryy,, “If I had to link our tile to any y one tradition, it would be to the skilled d American nineteenth-century Arts and C Crafts Era craftsmen. They believed passsionately in honest craftsmanship and thee importance of creating beautiful, well-made objects that can be used in everyday life,”” says Paul. All are inspired by these trad ditions and from their love of travel, be itt a cobblestone street in Sicily y,, the Palacce of Knossos Spain, which in Crete, or the Alhambra in S seem to make their way into their designs. “I’ve always been drawn to th he layering of architecture, history y,, culture, aand patterns you encounter when traveling g abroad,” adds Esther. “I like how you ccan add complexity to a three-dimensionall surface like a building with a two-dimensio onal pattern.” Every single tile is lovingly h handcrafted in their studio by slicing a block k of clay that i stamped t d into i t a mold ld and d th h i d is hen ttrimmed, dried, glazed, and fired. Paull’s forte is mixing and formulating new glazes and making the physical molds. U Using a set of dental tools, Esther takes thatt mold and hand carves intricate shapes and patterns into it to create the tile’s desig gn. Multiple tiles can then be fashioned d from one plaster mold. While they can produce custo om designs do such as a recent comm and do, mission with a sailboat motif and a nauticaal map of fined choice Saint-T Tropez, they offer a refi from set designs, colors, and shapes. For example, their Tessellations C Collection uses decorative motifs from aancient tim which have a geometric qualiity y. The Textured Field Collection hass been cre from designs found in T Tu urkey y, Morocc Spain, Italy y, Ancient Persia, aand Medie Europe and includes complex x geomet and hand-carved hand carved florals florals. The Mariner Collection contains ships, craabs, fish, seashells, compasses, and wh hales com promised of mosaics, while th he Listell Collection showcases border tiles. The are other collections as well, aand all co and styles can be mixed and m matched taste. Their studio doubles ass a showr so people can come in to see the diffffer patterns and how they mightt translate a kitchen backsplash, bathroo om tile, or focal point on a fireplace. p p

cuu re cultur re, aand patterns you encounnter when traveling ra abrrooadd. I likkee how you y can add complexity to a thrreee-dimensional surfacee likkee a buildi uilding with a two-dimensional pattern.” uildi

“Lilywork designs are not cutting-edge statements of current fashion, but rather a blending of what has been given to us by craftsmen and designers of the past. We strive to create designs and colors that have relevance across cultures and centuries,” explains Paul. In addition to authenticity and crafting tiles using tried and true methods passed down from one generation to the next, Lilywork Artisan Tile also prides itself on sustainability. Just as there is a “connection between the artist and his craft,” the same is true for the artist and his environment. “Sustainability is the top priority in our family-run studio. All of our excess clay and warpy tiles are reclaimed and re-used and 90% of our studio waste is recycled. A large percentage of studio electricity is sourced from solar energy, recycled water is used whenever possible, and all glazes are mixed onsite using U.S. sourced ingredients,” they say.

“Sustainability is the top priority in our family-run studio. All of our excess clay and warpy tiles are reclaimed and re-used and 90% of our studio waste is recycled. A large percentage of studio electricity is sourced from solar energy, recycled water is used whenever possible, and all glazes are mixed on-site using U.S. sourced ingredients.”

Since moving to the historic art colony of Old Lyme, Esther and Paul are making plans for sharing their process with neighbors by offering classes and hosting art openings where people can pop in during street-wide events to feel the clay, learn about the history of tile making and the process. They are also working with the local library and historical society to create future presentations on those topics to continue fostering a tradition that began more than a century ago. For more information log onto www.lilyworktile.com.

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The Accidental Artist David Marchi: The Fine Line Between Pain and Paint

by Nancy LaMar-Rodgers Photos by Vincent Scarano

Textures, and swirls, geometric shapes of vibrant colors that are pushed, pulled, danced upon, tugged at, splashed, and creased. The elements of these movements have taken root in the restructured brain of David Marchi. After a boating accident left Marchi hospitalized with a broken back and injured wrists, Marchi found himself dreaming the processes and the paintings for which he is now known. Diagnosed with Acquired Savant Syndrome, Marchi found himself with an explanation for something that was beyond his own comprehension, a phenomenon that is both cognitive and mystical and manifests in less than 1% of brain or spinal cord injured people. Marchi’s story though begins at the tail end of the Madison Avenue advertising era. Think Mad Men. “I graduated from St. Michaels in Vermont in 1978, with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and when I got out, I pursued advertising instead. I was so drawn to writing and the whole creative industry.” Marchi landed his first job with Grey Advertising, perhaps the most prestigious advertising agency at the time and while Marchi was working for meager wages, he found himself in the life he wanted. Initially hired to work in media, his passion was for writing, and it would be his initiative and chutzpah that would catapult him. “I remember I was in this meeting with all these creatives, and Cliff Freeman, an iconic ad man, was there and after that meeting, I started sending some writing pieces up to him until he called me up to his office to discuss my ideas.” By 1981 Marchi had moved out on his own. He was doing the work he loved, and the companies loved his work. He was first wooed by Dave Ryan of DR Marketing, and then by John Wren, Chairman of Omnicom. “I went into the city to meet with John, and he offered to set me up in business. I told him that I was already in business with Ryan.”After a conversation with his mentor, Dave Ryan, who insisted he take Omnicon’s offer, Marchi found himself setting up the international arm of Tracy Locke Partners. He and his partner, Lon Schwear rented a barn in Wilton, Ct. with leaky ceilings and a cacophony of barking from the kennel next door. “Omnicon gave us startup money, but we were a scrappy company using Radio Shack phones with dogs barking in the background.”

“Omnicon gave us startup money, but we were a scrappy company using Radio Shack phones with dogs barking in the background.”

While the beginnings may have been humble, Marchi and Schwear grew the company from 2 people to over 300 worldwide, opening offices in 20 countries. “We flew around the world, everywhere from Dubai to Moscow to Mexico City, and although it was an incredible experience to see all these places what happens when you build something that quick, it’s incredibly intense. The problem was that I realized that I was not doing what I wanted to be doing, which was the creative aspect. I was managing offices and people and acquiring companies.” For Marchi, it became exhausting. He had four kids by this time whom he rarely got to see, as he racked up roughly four million airline miles during that time. “I burnt out, and I also came out to my wife and family,” he explains. This was a major turning point in his life, and he found himself seeking out what the future had in store. That answer came in the form of an extraordinary and magical idea. Having been bought out by TL Partners and now doing consulting work, Marchi recalls the moment, “I wanted to build a ride in Times Square, so I got together with two partners, and we formed this group.” Marchi goes on to explain how the trio spent five years planning this amusement ride which would be located right smack in the center of Manhattan’s Times Square. “It was essentially an observation ride, and that time was one of the most amazing in my life because we were designing and creating something that would have been the first of its kind.”

Marchi and his partners spent those years jumping through hundreds of hoops and meeting with every major player, including Michael Bloomberg, NYC’s mayor. It was a heady time, filled with so many unknowns and new experiences. Marchi was exuberant, and his role in developing the consumer experience led to research that included traveling the world to check out the greatest ride experiences.

“My job with this project, was exciting, yes, but more importantly, it was creatively stimulating, and that’s what I was missing.”

Marchi and his partners went quite far, as he had investors lined up and all the needed players were on board. “While we were in the midst of this project, I was invited to Florida by a friend of mine who wanted to discuss some ideas and so my partner and I went to Tampa for a weekend of relaxation and fun.” This trip to Florida would be the trip that changed Marchi’s life forever. “My friends rented a boat, and we went out on this beautiful day to spend the afternoon on the water.” As the friends motored out on the busy waterway, Marchi, who was sitting in the front of the boat, was taking all the impact of the wakes. “My friend had jammed it, and we were hydroplaning over these wakes, and I had just one handle to hold onto. I was bouncing, then we hit one, and I lost my grip and was thrown into the air.”

Marchi broke his back and injured both wrists in the accident. He spent months in a body brace with the hopes that the bones would repair themselves. But that would not come to pass and Marchi would eventually have several major surgeries to install the titanium rods in his back. “After the surgeries, I started dreaming every night. I was dreaming colors and hands moving around and pushing colors.” Once Marchi was home, he asked his partner to go and buy paint and canvas. He explains that he had never painted nor drawn anything in his life and wasn’t even sure what to buy. “I asked him to go out and buy me paint. I wasn’t even sure what kind and just said, ‘get some brushes and canvas’ because I wanted to paint but had no idea how to paint.” Marchi didn’t know what was happening to him as he immersed himself in the process of painting. He would find himself awake, sometimes for 24 hours in a manic state, painting and creating without any interaction with the rest of the world around him. His inexplicable deportment would last for months with Marchi creating and producing artwork that people in his prestigious inner circle were starting to notice. Friends began asking if he would consider a show and Marchi was confused, thinking that his paintings were just a means by which he was healing his body and mind. He coined a phrase to describe this time. “There’s a fine line between pain and paint,” was the explanation he gave himself for the therapeutic process. His friends thought otherwise, and soon he had his first showing. “It was crazy and surreal because you walk down 10th street, and all the galleries are there and you see all of everything and then you find yourself walking down a street, and you see your own work on the entire first floor of a gallery,” Marchi recalls, transfixed by the memory. That gallery is Agora Gallery on 25th street and it was there that Marchi realized that while his experience might not be explainable, it certainly was real and therefore mystical. At that moment, the entire trajectory of Marchi’s life changed and while he couldn’t explain what had happened, he was a man who did his research and needed answers. He wanted to know if there were others out there who might have had the same experience.

“This is all so new to me. I never set out to sell these paintings or to make it my life’s work. It was always something that was therapeutic and the only thing that kept the pain away.”

“I posted my story on my Instagram account and asked people to message me if anyone had a similar experience or who knew anyone who had a similar experience,” Marchi explains. Within days, he had messages from people all over the world and believed that he had a responsibility to find out more after a phone call from a friend who was watching 60 Minutes called him and said, “you need to watch this because they are talking about what you have.” Marchi tuned in and was overwhelmed by Dr. Darold Treffert's explanation and the doctor’s research on what David would soon come to know as Acquired Savant Syndrome. “I sent him an email and ended up meeting with him and was diagnosed with this syndrome, which is essentially trauma, physical or otherwise that can result in what they refer to as an “accidental artist.” Marchi finally had an answer to the mystery though he wasn’t 100% sure he saw himself as an artist. “I felt like I was in some in-between state, and I had a hard time referring to myself as an artist or even seeing my name in print with the word artist next to it.”

Dr. Treffert’s diagnosis helped Marchi wrap his head around the idea that he was now, indeed, an artist, and his paintings were worthy of recognition, despite not being schooled in any traditional manner. Despite Marchi’s lack of formal training, he is currently being sought after by major collectors all over the world, and his paintings are snatched up from the galleries within hours of the exhibit openings. “This is all so new to me. I never set out to sell these paintings or to make it my life’s work. It was always something that was therapeutic and the only thing that kept the pain away.” Marchi is slowly embracing his new life in the art world because he understands that while he doesn’t necessarily understand why this happened, he knows that it has, and if his story can help someone else, he will continue bringing awareness through his artwork to this phenomenon of “the accidental artist” as seen through a diagnosis of Acquired Savant Syndrome. For more information on the artist and upcoming shows, please visit the website at: https://www.gallerymarchi.com

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River Jam - at the Shipyard, Mystic By Ali Kaufman

reat musicians and fantastic bands might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Connecticut but I can tell you first-hand that talent runs deeper than the river that flows through our fine state. For the sixth time, River Jam will showcase from performers Connecticut as well as Rhode Island and Massachusetts at their annual festival held at the Mystic Shipyard. This event has been a labor of love since its inception and continues to uplift

the community with the joy it brings as well as the charitable contributions it makes. River Jam is also a familywonderful friendly opportunity that highlights yet another reason why people flock from all over to spend time in this lovely seaside hamlet. I spoke to event specialist and co-owner of CMB Creative Group, Courtney Moore, about how she and her team birthed this gathering and continue to nurture it as it grows in popularity. My take on her most valuable assets

are that she is a big fan of the musicians, especially her husband Toby Halsey, guitarist for Wooly Mammoth, and the community in which she lives. Mystic has Courtney’s been home for the last 20 years, and prior to that, she grew up summering here. Moore’s roots are firmly planted, and she continues to branch out in any way that will support her neighbors. I first met Courtney when we were both involved with The Mystic Blues Festival which

preceded the River Jam at the Mystic Shipyard. When The Mystic Blues Festival moved to a larger location in North Stonington, co-owner of the shipyard, Jeffery Marshall wanted to continue with some kind of music event, and River Jam was born. Heavy on local talent encompassing rock to reggae, blues to country, there is something for everyone under the great big tent that envelops the stage, dance ﬂoor,

tables, and chairs. The show goes on rain or shine, everything is covered, and stunning views are guaranteed. The shipyard is, as one might guess, surrounded by water; some guests arrive by boat or enjoy the music by floating nearby! This beautiful location includes easy free parking in case you don’t have a boat, you can also ride your bike or walk on in as many locals do. Offering ridiculously affordable tickets - just $20 for the weekend pass with NO upcharge is a boon for the vendors, food trucks, and booths that offer beer, wine, and rum.

Courtney shared with me that guests are always surprised at what a “festival beer” costs, they are usually far more expensive! Courtney also made a point of thanking The Real McCoy Rum and Levine Distributing Co. for being very gracious with the support they continue to offer. Keeping costs down reverberates in wonderful ways. The bar tips are all donated to Sails Up 4 Cancer, and guests have proven to be very generous! They have also been able to share anything left from ticket sales after they pay for production costs with another very worthy recipient, Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center, PNC. Their 2021 donations doubled from the amount they were able to give in 2019, and the hope is to keep that trend going. Not a cent of the proceeds goes into the pockets of anyone on the committee or at the shipyard.

Sponsors and volunteers also deserve credit for helping to keep this effort thriving. There are clearly marked tabs on their website for how you can get involved in either or both of these needs. They are always looking for more hands to make lighter work and provide the best time they can. In addition to the weekend pass you can also purchase $10 entry for Friday night, June 24th when The Troublemakers kick things off at 6pm. The Saturday ticket is just $15 for a day of music that starts with The CarLeans at 1pm and wraps with the 6th band in the lineup, Wooly Mammoth playing from 8pm

until 10pm. Children under 12 are free! So are well-behaved dogs on leash that are tended to. Please note that the ﬁre codes and size of the shipyard make this an exclusive event that can accommodate up to approximately 500 guests, once the tickets are gone, they are gone. Many guests buy the weekend pass as opposed to single day whether they attend both days or not. Admittance can be purchased online from their website, see below, or at the gate if there are any left. Physical tickets are not distributed, instead, they ask you to print

many of the bands have loyal followings, plus visitors to Mystic, and added promotion all bode well for another close to capacity weekend.

out your online conformation but don’t worry, they also have a list of attendees at the festival. Advance purchase is highly recommended if you have your heart set on attending as

If you are considering spending the weekend in Mystic, please note that while this is NOT a camping festival, there are several options available for overnight accommodations. One just has to google Mystic, CT, and you can find anything from campgrounds to downtown inns; a little further out, Old Mistick Village, near the aquarium, has several family, petfriendly large hotels. River Jam also allows its attendees re-admittance, yet another terrific way they support downtown merchants! As long as you have your wristband you are

welcome to come back in after checking out restaurants, shops, the historic drawbridge, and many other charming sites. The distance from the Mystic Shipyard to the flagpole in the center of downtown is just a smidge over 1 mile, about a 15 minute walk or 3 minute drive depending upon traffic. Locals would probably recommend the walk, especially if you’ve already secured free parking at the shipyard. I asked Courtney about plans to expand this festival by adding Sunday or maybe moving to a larger location; her response was a lesson in being grateful for what is working so well.“We

would be wonderful to sell all the tickets, we are NOT looking to outgrow this location."

have thought about adding Sunday, but we need to consider our neighbors who have been terrific about the music spilling into their homes. This is a residential area, plus Sunday is our day to take a breath, clean up, and relax a bit." I am paraphrasing but this was her sentiment. “We love the shipyard, and while it

I hope this has given you a feel for the little fest that could. If you are looking for an affordable musical experience in a stunning setting that will do some good with your patronage, River Jam at The Mystic Shipyard is just the ticket. Hope to see you rocking and rolling on the river June 24th & 25th! All Festival details, things to do in town, and ticket

links can be found at their comprehensive website https://mysticriverjam.com They also have a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram Courtney Moore’s site for checking out the many events she works with or to perhaps enlist her help is http://cmbcreativegroup.com You can learn more about the charities they support by going to; Sails Up 4 Cancer, SU4C http://su4c.org Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center PNC https://pawcatuckneighborhoodcenter.org

AskAshley

Can You Manifest Love? By Ashley Alt

It’s time to Spring Clean your relationship

pring is a time of rejuvenation. We get the itch to fill our homes with fresh flowers, try a new (outdoor!) workout class, and maybe get a new colorful outfit or two to acknowledge the sunny days ahead. As we’re refreshing our homes, minds, and wardrobes in preparation of warmer weather (and better moods), why not tidy up our relationships while we’re at it? In light of Couple’s Appreciation Month (celebrated in April), I spoke with relationship experts Sonya Jensen, Licensed Marriage and Family therapist, and Jaime Bronstein, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and therapist, on how couples can sustain a happy and successful relationship — during the Spring season and every other time of year. Through our conversation, I learned that everyone is worthy of a healthy, loving partnership, but effort from both parties is mandatory to keep the sparks flying.

According to the experts, long-term relationships need three things to stay happy and healthy:

Consistency Curiosity The ability to share and identify needs From common relationship struggles including lack of communication and lack of support, Sonya and Jaime emphasize the importance of couples needing to support one another’s autonomy.

Is “Date Night” enough? Many couples employ the traditional “Date Night” to stay connected in the chaos of life, but is going out to dinner once a week cutting it? “I wish date nights were enough!” Sonya said. “Honestly, the hustle and bustle of life is what tanks relationships. In the beginning, we crave and carve out time for one another — we want to get to know one another and we become an exciting distraction from the mun-

dane. As a relationship grows and evolves to include work, family, and bills, we don’t have much to give each other but crumbs at the end of the night.” Sonya explains that as time goes on, we tend to focus more on what we’re not getting from the relationship instead of what our partner does or can bring to us. Her advice? To carve out“even small moments of time” to check in with each other. “It doesn’t have to be much, it just has to be meaningful,” she states. “Next, share with your partner what you love and appreciate about them daily. Leave notes, send a text message, etc. I can’t stress this enough because when we feel appreciated, it makes us come alive and feel valued.” Jaime seconds this thought, adding that“although, date nights are helpful because it’s time spent together that is meant to keep the connection going between two people,” reminding us that “dates are fun!” “Keeping the romance alive takes work and thoughtfulness,” Jaime said. “And it is so worth it. Be playful and flirty with one another no matter how long you’ve been together. Do your best to have fun together as it will keep the romance going and make both people feel alive and exhilarated.” Another way to keep the romance alive is through words, Jaime explains, whether they are verbal or written, emphasizing the importance of building each other up by sharing from your heart via your “raw and authentic feelings for one another.”

How can couples, new and old, reconnect during the Spring season? “Couples can reconnect by doing new things together,” Jaime says. “Neurotransmitters like serotonin and oxytocin get released when you have a novel experience.” Her suggestions? Go to a new restaurant and travel to a new city. When you go on a walk, walk somewhere different from the usual routine. “It’s essential to keep the spark alive if you want to have a fulfilling relationship,” Jaime says. “You can do so by surprising your signiﬁcant other. The spark will surely stay lit.”

Can you manifest love? I know not everyone reading this is involved in a partnership, but if you are in a place of looking for love and not having much luck, manifesting can be a powerful tool in attracting your ideal person. Manifestation is a wellness practice that allows a personal goal to come to fruition, the techniques based on the law of attraction of New Thought Spirituality. Sonya says she loves the idea of manifestation and “wholeheartedly agrees with it,” but encourages us to follow our positive thoughts and visualizations with action, otherwise it’s all for nothing. “You can’t sit on the sidelines of your life and relationship and expect it to change,”Sonya emphasized.“Real change takes time and consistency. Doing something for a day or two isn’t going to make everything better. Make a commitment to keep checking in and keep trying.” Jaime emphasizes that while she believes people can manifest love, it needs to start with loving yourself unconditionally, which includes “healing your past and any unresolved issues that you might have.” “You want to be showing up as your authentic self to attract, through the law of attraction, someone who is aligned with you,” Jaime said. “You need to get clear on what you’re looking for and set intentions, visualizing and living your life as if love is already in it. Trusting yourself and your intuition is incredibly powerful in this way.” Both relationship experts advise individuals (part of a couple and not) to be in their joy, live in the present moment, and take it one step at a time. That’s the secret sauce. To keep up with Ashley and her mental health pursuits, sign up for her newsletter at https://ashleyalt.substack.com

Coastal Cuisine All Rise

Priscilla Martel & Charlie van Over by Robert Rabine / Photos by Priscilla Marcel (unless noted)

ince moving to Connecticut from LA in the early 1990’s, I don’t remember a time when Priscilla Martel and Charlie van Over weren’t part of the culinary fabric of Eastern Connecticut. Back then, I was maître d’ at Robert Henry’s Restaurant, now The Union League Cafe, and was introduced when they accompanied Jacques and Gloria Pepin for dinner one night. Robert Henry’s was very fancy and very French with a high-octane clientele. Every local powerbroker and politician eventually came through our doors. Ron Perlman of Revlon would take his limo in from Manhattan to dine. It was that good for a time. Fast forward seven years and I was opening my own French Restaurant in Old Saybrook, Café

Routier. My partner was the Chef at Les Halles on Park Avenue South before moving to Connecticut. At the time thought we were trailblazers for bringing sophisticated French regional food to the CT Shoreline, only to ﬁnd out Charlie and Priscilla beat us out by 20 years or so with the iconic Restaurant du Village in Chester, also sporting a high-octane clientele back then. Situated in the middle of Main Street in what is now The Village Bistro, Restaurant du Village opened in 1979 and is the stuff of Connecticut River Valley legend. According to The Hartford Courant you needed to go at least once,“and not for their bread alone.”

Charlie and Priscilla developed an interest in baking after moving to a farm in Pennsylvania near Lancaster where was a local bakery that milled their own ﬂour. “We bought some ﬂour, a Julia Child Cookbook and off we went,” said Charlie. That interest tuned into an obsession. When they owned the restaurant, hey lived in an apartment above du Village and would get

Priscilla in our kitchen - photo by Tom Hopkins, Tom Hopkins Studio

Charlie inspecting baguettes in France.

up in the middle of the night to start the dough for the following day (be careful what you wish for). At one point they were running three restaurants and a commercial bakery. Du Village was sold in 1990 to Cynthia and Michel Keller who made it a great success of their own. I had a couple stupendous dinners there. Charlie and Priscilla have been busy busy since those long ago restaurant days. Their company, All About Food has made its mark both locally and nationally. Priscilla teaches at Gateway Community College as well as Johnson and Wales and has been The Almond Ambassador for the Almond Board of California since 1993. She is still developing both sweet and savory almond recipes and doing oodles of marketing and outreach for The Almond

Board including a cooking demo on Martha Stewart’s TV show. She consults with hospitality- based companies, helping with product development, target marketing, product development and placement. Did I mention that she has coauthored two cooking textbooks, On Baking and On Cooking, both of which are currently being updated and reissued and are available for purchase on Amazon. Check out her myriad savory, bread and pastry recipes on her website: priscillamartel.com. You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook for tips, links to recipes and more. Charlie developed a patented baguette recipe and wrote a best -selling book about it in 1997 with Jacques Pepin titled The Best Bread Ever winning both The Julia Child Award and James Beard Award the year it was released. If you are interested in baking bread, you should buy this book. It’s also available on Amazon.com. I don’t

think Charles would mind if I gave away one of his trade secrets beforehand. At a dinner party in honor of Carl Sontheimer, the founder of Cuisinart Charlie recalled how,“Gloria Pepin suggested I mix my dough in the Cuisinart to honor Carl.”He reluctantly agreed, and the rest is history because it really was the best bread ever. You can peruse his website at charlesvanover.com. Driving up to their house for an interview, I was trying to remember the first time I tasted one of Charlie’s baguettes. Probably

at columnist Lee White’s house in Lyme. I just remember thinking it was probably the best baguette I ever tasted on either side of the Atlantic. Since selling my last restaurant, I’ve been baking baguettes with limited success… and Quelle surprise, I was about to learn how to make a proper one. Priscilla had made a batch of baguette dough a couple hours before I arrived for lunch. “I mixed it up around 9:30,” she said. I watched as she turned out the dough and shaped it into 4 rectangles to rest. “Every time you work the dough, you have to let it rest a little to relax the glutens,” she explained. They are King Arthur Flour Ambassadors and use only King Arthur all-purpose flour for their baguettes. The rectangles are worked individually three or four times, folding the dough in on itself, and resting it for a few minutes each time before rolling into a

baguette shape, being careful not to form “dumb bells”-skinny in the middle and fat at the ends. According to Charlie, “the kneading and shaping helps form tension on the exterior of the loaf.” The baguettes were moved to a floured couche (a large, heavy, flax cloth) to rise again in a cool spot before being transferred one by one to a narrow bread board and scored the length of the baguette with a lame (baker’s razor). After being dusted with flour they were slipped onto a heavy baking stone which had been pre-heated for an hour at 475° on the middle rack. There was an old cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven also pre-heated, into which a cup of water was quickly poured, and the oven door closed immediately to release a huge blast of steam.

with: knowledge and swag. In this case I left with a half dozen local eggs from David Brown and two perfect baguettes which I told my husband I had baked. He was mightily impressed. So what future plans for Charlie and Priscilla I asked? They aim to continue what they’ve been doing: cooking, recipe testing, writing, consulting, teaching and staying connected to family and friends, “through the language of food. Everyone is ﬂuent.”

Twenty minutes later 3 beautiful baguettes were removed from the oven to cool and we were enjoying lunch and talking food. One of the things I enjoy about going to a fellow foodie’s house for lunch is you always leave with more than you came in Charlie and Priscilla - photo by Benson Ginsburg

photo by Paul Partica

The

Cheesemonger Paul Partica, The Cheese Shop, Centerbrook CT

Most people are intrigued with cheeses that are made from milk from more than one kind of animal. I’m not sure that this mixture was originally done for a flavor proﬁle or just a way to use up the milk on hand on any given day. Although many farms have different types of milkable animals it seems today that many choose one breed such as dairy cows for cheese production. Cow milk, because of the production capability of the much larger animal, is responsible for the bulk of most cheese making. I don’t think I ever saw a cheese made from more than one milk where cow milk wasn’t the ﬁrst or largest ingredient.

Two Milks: Robiola due Latte This is a great soft-ripening cheese from Italy for someone looking for a change from Brie or Camembert with just a little more character. It’s made from pasteurized cow milk and pasteurized sheep milk. You will notice the rind on this cheese has a slight brownish color reminiscent of a washed rind cheese however not as dark and the cheese does not have the pungent aroma of a washed rind.

Gjetost This goat and cow milk cheese from Norway is very interesting. It appears like a big hunk of caramel candy fudge. The reason is that it is mostly made from the whey in cheese making and not the curd. Most of the sugar in milk is in the whey so when cooked it caramelizes a little and becomes very sweet. I understand that Norwegians melt this on toast for breakfast. When tasting this for the ﬁrst time you think it is candy. There is also a pure goat version called Ekte Gjetost. You might want to try this cheese before you buy it.

Meredith Dairy Sheep & Goat Cheese This Australian cheese is a fan favorite. The ﬁnal product is a feta like cheese cut into small cubes then submerged in canola and olive oil with peppercorns, thyme and garlic. It comes in a glass 11.3 oz jar. The cheese is great by itself or on a baguette or even used on a salad. Be sure to save the oil and the jar. It can be used to reintroduce goat cheese to marinate for future use. I love it on a toasted salted baguette.

Three Milks: La Tur This cheese is made from pasteurized cow, sheep, and goat milk. It also falls in the soft ripening cheese family. It has a delicate creamy consistency with just a little of the white mold penicillium candidum

on the rind as compared to Brie or Camembert. This is one of my favorite cheeses to have with Acacia honey on a pear.

Fromage A’ Trois – Boujee Blue This is a new comer for me made by the Chatham Creamery in Groton New York. If you like true Roquefort, you will love this wonderful cheese made from pasteurized cow, goat and sheep milk. Its one of the sharper blues available. It pairs well with dry red wine. I like it on grapes with crushed walnuts.

Tres Leches This is one of our top 10 cheeses in the Cheese Shop. It’s a blend of cow, sheep and goat milk similar in taste to Manchego but with a creamy finish. It outsells Spanish Manchego ten to one. Part of this cheeses flavor comes from the natural outer rind that is cured with olive oil. Manchego is made with an outer wax finish yielding a totally different rind and therefore a different taste. Manchego is made just from the milk of sheep.

Four Milks: Fourmage Gouda This mild six-month aged gouda boasts being made from four milks; cow, goat, sheep, and buffalo. It’s a nice creamy pleasant cheese that most will like. I would like to see a more aged version because our sales show that the aged sharper renditions sell much better.

Other Milks: Just for the record cheese can be made from any animal that produces milk. I’ve read about cheese also made from the milk of camels, donkeys, mares, reindeer, and yak. I have never personally seen or tasted any first hand. Paul Partica, The Cheese Shop of Centerbrook

CheeseCT.com

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