Ink Magazine - November 2017

November 2017 A guide to finer living in Connecticut & abroad.

publicationsÂŽ

www.inkct.com

Vol 13 Issue 143 2017

Complimentary

THE SMARTER CHOICE FOR

A 10-minute Test Can Detect Lung Cancer Sooner middlesexhospital.org/life

®ROBERTOCOIN

NEW BAROCCO & CENTO COLLECTIONS

BECKER’S IS HONORED TO ANNOUNCE THAT JEWELRY FROM LEGENDARY ITALIAN DESIGNER ROBERTO COIN IS NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR OLD SAYBROOK STORE

NEAR STOP AND SHOP

Tuesday - Friday 10AM-5:30PM | Saturday 10AM-5PM | Closed Sunday & Monday

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Charming country cape nestled on 4.25 private acres in the historic town of Hadlyme.

This home boasts 2799 sq ft of living space. Perfect floor plan for entertaining your guests in a updated kitchen with custom granite countertops. Granite Center island with seating. open to dining room, living room, and post and beam great room with airy vaulted ceilings, floor to ceiling masonry fireplace with 2 french doors leading to sun filled deck. This 4 bedroom 3 full bath home has the unique quality of first or second floor master bedroom option. Upstairs master bedroom features 2 walk in closets, Private master bath with jacuzzi tub.

This home enjoys hardwood floors throughout, central air conditioning, Oil heat, a fireplace and 2 wood burning stoves.

Generator and hookup included. All of this on a professionally Landscaped large level yard perfect for outdoor entertaining, gardening, or horse property. Spacious 2 car garage with wood burning stove and stairs leading to second floor storage area. This is a must see home. Only minutes to center of town and major highways. $359,000. For more photos go to : www.107HemlockValley.com Contact Joel Lucas 860.304.9150 bankerbuddy@hotmail.com

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www.inkct.com

Features

NOVEMBER 2017

Columns, Reviews, Events

ISSUE CONTENTS

The Cheesemonger Echo Salon Serenity, Artistry, and the Love of Romeo Valentino.

pg. 10

Best Buys

pg. 70

On The Vine Thanksgiving Wines

pg. 74

November Events

pg. 79

Upcoming events in Connecticut

DermAesthetics This Vet Has Skin in the Game

pg. 18

Leaving Legacies:

Work Vessels for Veterans pg. 26

Lif on the Reservation Crow Stories

Get your ink online at www.inkct.com!

pg. 34

On the Cover this Month: “Dances with Clouds” A kinetic wind sculpture by artist Tim Prentice.

Tim Prentice

INK staff

Drawing on the Air

pg. 44

Contributors:

Advertising:

Jeffery Lilly- founder/publisher/webmaster

Contact us to receive our media kit complete with detailed advertising information including ad rates, demographics, and distribution in your area.

Stephanie Sittnick - publisher/sales/design Carolyn Battisa - editorial Susan Cornell - editorial

A Team of Six

Laurencia Ciprus - editorial

Learning to Pull Their Own Weight

Caryn B. Davis - editorial/photography

pg. 54

Charmagne Eckert - editorial Mark Seth Lender - Cardinal Points Nancy LaMar-Rodgers - editorial Barbara Malinsky - editorial Rona Mann - editorial Paul Partica - The Cheesemonger

Please direct your advertising inquiries and questions to: Stephanie Sittnick - Director of Advertising advertising@ink-pub.com - 860-227-8199 Cheryl Powell - Greater Connecticut cheryl@ink-pub.com - 860-608-5749 Rona Mann - Clinton, CT - Rhode Island six07co@att.net - 401-539-7762 Jacki Hornish - Litchfield jacki@inkct - 401-539-7762

Eating Outside of the Box

Anthony Reczek - editorial

An experiment in dinner at our doorstep

Submit Events Listings to:

A. Vincent Scarano - photography

Angela Carontino - events@inkct.com

pg. 62

We encourage the public to submit stories, poems, photography, essays, and all things creative. If you know of a person or place of interest, please submit your ideas to: submissions@ink-pub.com We will do our best to put your ideas in INK.

Every issue is printed using 100% Soy based ink.

All content of INK Publications including but not limited to text, photos, graphics and layout are copyrighted by INK Publishing, LLC. Reproductions without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Ink Publishing, LLC is not responsible for images or graphics submitted by advertisers which are not copyrighted or released for use in this publication.

INK PUBLISHING, LLC 107 Hemlock Valley Rd., East Haddam, CT email: info@ink-pub.com www.inkct.com

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Featuring art by contemporary expressionist Andre Kohn, one of the most collected figurative painters on the American art scene today, and exquisite bronze sculpture by Nicola Godden, creator of Icarus for the 2012 Olympic Village. w w w .cu ra te d .w orl d

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Photo credit: Gene Schiavone Eastern Connecticut Ballet is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

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860.912.0829 • info@annegaffey.com Connecticut • Massachusetts annegaffey.com

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VAL EN T I N E H . Z AH N C O M M U N I T Y

G A L L E R Y

T H E G A L L E R Y AT M I D D L E S E X H O S P I TA L S H O R E L I N E M E D I C A L C E N T E R

Gallery Exhibit Nov. 2 - Jan. 2 Reception • Thursday, November 2 • 6 - 8 p.m.

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David Dunlop, Cattails, oil on laminated aluminum (detail)

Experience the Community Gallery at Middlesex Hospital Shoreline Medical Center Featuring selected works from

Susan Powell Fine Art Gallery open during regular business hours Sponsored by

250 Flat Rock Place, Westbrook, CT 06498 860-358-6200 • info@midhosp.org • middlesexhospital.org

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Photo by Stephanie Sittnick

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Serenity, Artistry, and the Love of Romeo Valentino: Echo Salon

by RONA MANN

Life is an Echo What you send out, comes back What you sow, you reap What you give, you get What you see in others, exists in you Your Life Is An Echo...

It Always Gets Back to You ...Daveswordsofwisdom.com

We’re all in a rush these days.

We drive too fast, we gulp our food on the run, we acquire things as quickly as possible with just a click of a key, an order barked through microphones at fast food restaurants, and by doing our banking via mobile app or ATM. We call it “convenience;” and in most cases, it is.

But sometimes it pays to not take shortcuts, to just slow down for awhile, sit back, unwind, relax, breathe. Time to make time for Echo.

When Stephanie Huffman first opened Echo Salon some 17 years ago on Whitfield Street in downtown Guilford, she had little idea that her reputation and sheer artistry would grow to such a degree that clients would look upon their time at Echo not as an appointment, but as a relaxing escape from their daily activities and obligations.

As the business flourished, so did Huffman’s vision of what Echo could be. The original salon was large – too left to right: Sydney Fair, Sharon Criscuozo, Deborah Nixone, large - and Stephanie felt her salon Stephanie Huffman, Chrissy Garbo, Cat Kane should be revamped to reflect a warmth and intimacy in both size and service. So four the doors were thrown wide open on the new years ago, the salon moved around the corner Echo Salon, taking much of Guilford and the to Water Street, to a smaller space that had surrounding shoreline by storm. previously housed a flower shop. It took work, a lot of work, but Stephanie Huffman is the “I have two very good friends who are artists,” kind of woman who has a lot of friends, all of Huffman said with obvious pride. “There’s whom were willing to jump in and help with Sylvia Fuller from California and Christine the transformation. It took months, but finally Wallner, who lives right here in Guilford.

14 are formed from etched glass that had originally served as nineteenth century doors. There are subtle, soft artistic touches and LED lighting throughout, creating an ambiance that gives the feel of being in a small, stylish gallery rather than a hair salon.

Photo by Stephanie Sittnick

Working together, we developed a decoration featuring Venetian plaster textured walls that are painted with eco-friendly allnatural clay paint, which serves to absorb any odors in the air.”

The walls of the bathroom are finished in recycled stained glass incorporating soy resin; and although the unique ceiling treatment appears to be squares fashioned from tin, it is in reality a kind of plastic. The dominant salon wall bears an exquisite rendering of a woman painted in soft hues, while the front windows

“This is exactly what I wanted,” Huffman states proudly.

“I wanted more of a small boutique feel where customers can enjoy coming. We love to cater to our clients.” That catering usually means a little wine and cheese served during evening appointments to help the person in the stylist’s chair slow down, unwind, and truly enjoy the exceptional care and personal attention their hair deserves and is about to receive.

All of this has no doubt contributed to the ongoing adulation and kudos from Echo’s clientele and is a good part of the reason they have been voted Best of New Haven in the Advocate’s Readers’ Poll every year since 2009.

“It means so much because it’s not voted on by some panel or a newspaper; it’s voted on by our actual clients.”

All of Stephanie Huffman’s stylists participate in ongoing higher education courses and have attended workshops and classes from New York to California. Additionally, Stephanie, who proudly wears the moniker of Artistic Director at Echo, is a Redken certified colorist, completing a rigorous training program to achieve the prestigious distinction.

Echo is strictly hair. No massage services, no nails, nothing except what they love to do and do better than almost anyone else. They don’t skimp on products either, featuring Kerastase, a French luxury haircare brand headquartered in Paris. Well known throughout Europe and the Far East, Kerastase hair masks, conditioning, scalp treatments, and shampoos are exclusively distributed through

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high-end hair salons. In the shoreline area, that exclusivity starts and ends at Echo.

Also a mainstay at the salon, and usually found napping in the afternoon sun, is Romeo Valentino, a charming 16 week old white English Bulldog puppy.

Although he is most definitely Huffman’s “baby,” Romeo is the pride and joy of the entire salon, happily greeting each client without being intrusive, but sticking around long enough for a much-desired belly rub.

Stephanie’s purposeful choice of the dog’s names is telling as both are synonymous with being passionate lovers; and it is apparent that this pooch knows how to “romance” the clientele who adore him.

A resident of Guilford since age 11, Huffman appreciates the sense of community Guilford affords both residents and business owners and enjoys participating in local events. “We do a lot of Cut-a-Thons; in fact we just participated in one for the Killingworth Refugee Resettlement Coalition Group.”

Although Stephanie Huffman did not have anything specific in mind when she named her salon “Echo” seventeen years ago, it has grown into its name.

“An echo is a reverberation of good going out and good coming back,” the stylist said with a knowing smile.

Huffman very much enjoys the fact that Echo is small, enabling her stylists to offer more personal attention. So her vision continues to reverberate creating a quiet, peaceful place with no drama, no attitude, just positive energy, beautiful art adorning the walls and counters, and the echo of an enchanting little puppy snoring happily, just waiting to fall in love the next time the door opens.

Echo Salon is located at 23 Water Street, just off the Green in Guilford. (203) 458-ECHO (3246)

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NOVEMBER 1 - NOVEMBER 19 FOR TICKETS, VISIT IVORYTONPLAYHOUSE.ORG

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Deb Quinn-Munson - “October Clouds” 10 x 8

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Weekend Holiday Open House December 1st to 3rd Friday, 5-8 PM Saturday and Sunday, 11-4

At The Village Shops

10-16 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT 06371

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This Vet Has Skin in the Game DermAesthetics Owner Gives Back Every Day

by RONA MANN / photos by Stephanie Sittnick “A veteran is a person who served the United States of America and has never forgotten that it was a privilege to do so.” ...excerpt from “What I Fought For”

Y

ou meet LouAnn Perugini, and immediately you are struck by her complete and total sense of joy. She seems veritably bathed in happiness and for good reason: she acknowledges with pride where she’s been and what she’s done, respects and reveres the reasons for which she did it, and never stops wanting to pay back and help others to a better life.

First and foremost, LouAnn Perugini was a member of our armed forces. Although now a veteran - in her mind, her work, and in the way she chooses to live her life, she has never really retired. Her personal story forms the touchstone of her very successful business as they are inexorably intertwined and cannot be separated.

As a young girl growing up in Middlebury, LouAnn initially dropped out of high school, but a short time later earned her GED. From that point on, there was no stopping her thirst for education. She became a Licensed Practical Nurse, following that up with a two year associates nursing degree. She also holds, in no particular order, a four year Associates in Nursing, a Bachelor of Science in Pre-Med, a Master of Nursing Degree from Vanderbilt University, an MS from the University of Colorado, and she’s board certified in Acute Care, Family Practice, and Adult Health.

Perugini completed the Army Primary Flight Surgeon course, and is therefore certified as an Aviation Medicine Nurse Practitioner. Currently she holds the distinction of being the only Triple Board Certified Dermatology and Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner in the State of Connecticut. Still, to her, the most important title on her resume is that of “veteran.”

As an active duty army reservist

(AGR) married to a former Special Operations Pilot with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment who was also a Fixed Wing Pilot with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Perugini lived and worked all over the world. “I moved 28 times in 34 years,” she laughed. “I originally joined the military in 1998 because it was a great way to pay off my student loans. I did pay them off, but along the way I got an even greater benefit.”

LouAnn’s story continues with the beginning of U.S. deployments following the 9-11 tragedy. “With my education and background I was assigned to take care of the soldiers before they actually went overseas. I had to check them out thoroughly to make sure they were medically deployable.” Further challenges came her way in remote places around the world. “There were times I was the only medical personnel around, so I had to learn orthopedics, how to pull teeth, all about traumatic brain injury, and then dermatology.

There were all kinds of rashes from jungle insects which also meant quickly learning all

about treating infectious diseases. I even saw a botfly.” (Note: The botfly is an insidious insect that can cause intense sub-dermal pain in humans and even anaphylactic shock).The soldiers to whom she ministered affectionately called her “Mom” because they were “just kids.”

“In 2005 our battalion sustained its first big helicopter crash. The results were horrific, leaving just one survivor. “Suddenly I had this kid crying in my chair,” she said. “I asked why he was crying.” The answer was as tortuous as

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She found a way, through her practice of DermAesthetics in Southbury. While the extensive legal paperwork of establishing a 501C-3 is still not complete, the treatment called Operation Restore has begun...a veteran treating veterans. Using her thousands of hours of schooling and degrees, plus her years of experience, Dr. LouAnn Perugini is treating scars, both physical and emotional ones.

Best of all, she’s doing it at NO CHARGE WHATSOEVER. the scars on his body. “Every time I look at the scars on my arms, I hear the screams again of the guys as they were dying.”

This was horror, pure and simple; and LouAnn knew well that neither Tri Care military insurance nor the VA would cover treatment.

That refusal continued to gnaw at her.

“There’s gotta be a way to treat this,” she kept saying over and over again.

“We have an agreement with a doctor in Stamford who will do any laser work necessary; and my board certified partner, Dr. Paul Fischer of Milford Medical and Aesthetic Care (with which she is affiliated), handles any plastic surgery needed. For combat wounded veterans, these services are free.”

Eventually Perugini and her husband, Scott Tettler, who is the business manager for the

practice, hope to create a template so this dermatological and plastic surgery work can be performed in every state for those veterans who bear the scars of battle. Additionally, LouAnn offers free nipple tattooing for breast cancer patients, as well as tattooing for veterans who are in need of scar camouflage.

Know a first responder or military person who requires a CDL license? This practitioner will also provide the CDL exam at no cost as well.

“We’re not trying to be the biggest,” Perugini begins; “we want to keep it small but give the highest standard of service to everyone. This is my passion; I look at what I do as an art form, and I want to share it and help and give back as much as I can.”

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treatment, to wrinkle fillers and relaxers, age-reversing treatment to laser hair removal, DermAesthetics’ priority is the patient first, making them feel beautiful, comfortable, and confident in their own skin.

DermAesthetics is a veteran owned business dedicated to giving back every single day, commandeered by an owner who never forgets what’s really important.“When I raised my right hand, I raised it for our flag and this country. It means everything to me.”

DermAesthetics is located at: 348 Main Street South, Southbury Phone: (203) 699-6772 Web: www.CTderma.com

Both LouAnn and Scott retired from active duty in 2014, but they are not finished. They will never finish. It took their life’s savings to build the comfortable and relaxing facility which houses their business in Southbury, completely gutting a 130 year old home and rebuilding to offer patients serenity and comfort in a peaceful setting.

DermAesthetics is not solely for veterans...it’s for anyone who is in need of medical, cosmetic, or aesthetic services. From acne cyst injections to lash and brow tinting, waxing to body piercing, sun damage

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NEW

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VANILLA BOURBON

Enjoy it neat in all its glory, or for a refreshing spin on a classic, try it with your next Manhattan or Old-Fashioned.

THE SPIRIT OF HARD WORK® LitchfieldDistillery.com

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Leaving Legacies: SALUTE-ing Work Vessels for Veterans

by RONA MANN

“It’s hard for me to explain in words how grateful I am to Work Vessels for Veterans for helping me start up Patriot Commercial Cleaning. WVFV has provided me with the tools to accomplish my dreams of hiring other veterans and helping them become part of a team after their ...Missouri military service.”

J

ohn Niekrash is a man who never stops thinking. He never stops smiling either because here is a man comfortable in his own skin, who nine years ago performed a random act of kindness that has since exploded nationwide, creating smiles where once there was profound sadness and confusion.

Noank is a sleepy little fishing village, part of the larger town of Groton. Many Connecticut residents have never even heard of Noank with its total area of just 2.2 square miles and a population of barely 1800 people. Known since the 1600s for fishing, lobstering, and ship building, at times Noank has boasted more ships and boats than churches, but still it remains a bucolic little picture postcard. Behind the boats bobbing quietly in the harbor, on any given day you may find John Niekrash, bringing in

his catch, and in the process, choosing the next worthy veteran to whom he will give a chance.

In 2008 Niekrash decided to upgrade from his current lobster boat to a bigger vessel and wondered what he should do with “Krasher I.” Shortly thereafter, he met a returning vet, a Marine just home from the Iraq war, now permanently altered with only one leg. But Niekrash would make sure that would not define him. So he gave the Rhode Island fisherman his Krasher I; and by doing so, a legacy, Work Vessels for Veterans, was born.

Not even John Niekrash could believe that just nine short years later Work Vessels would give not only boats, but cars, vans, computers, and tractors to veterans who wished to start their own businesses, whether it be a retail enterprise or a farm. Their mission has been embraced nationwide; and now veterans, many of whom suffer from the ravages of PTSD and were deemed “unemployable,” now have an opportunity to make something of their lives because someone told them they had worth and invested in them.

“I am a combat veteran. I never really won or received anything, but Work Vessels was dedicated to helping me. About four months ago WV told me to go to my local Kawasaki dealer and pick up a brand new Kawasaki Mule 610 4 x 4. It’s been life changing for me to have this mobility around the farm.” ...Indiana To date, over 1600 veteran-entrepreneurs in all 50 states have received a new lease on life and been given the tools to do so with equipment from WVFV valued at over $2 million dollars.

“In the middle of an academic crisis, WVFW provided me with a much needed laptop. It’s folks like you that help vets like me feel supported, validated, and invested in.”...Missouri USMCR Cpl. Gulaid Ismail from Plainfield, CT served in Fallujah, Iran along with his reserve unit, many of whom never came back. Ismail returned home broken, but after attending the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Returning Disabled Vets at UCONN, he and his wife developed a business plan, launching “Dribble Babies,” boutique infant wear hand sewn by local seamstresses. Although he opened a

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New Jersey, and Washington D.C. Niekrash and partners intend to add to the line with additional SALUTE whiskies and spirits; and always that first dollar will go to the veterans.

traversing the United States to present work vessels to grateful veterans.

“It has been a difficult time. After the war, my wife, three children, and myself have really been struggling to get by. PTSD has taken its toll on us. I found a program on the internet called Work Vessels for Vets, and they donated my family a car! I just felt so alone in the world since I came back from the war, but you guys really made me feel special. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.

Because of WVFV I can go to college now and not have to struggle.” ...Connecticut

small store in New Britain, he needed to be able to take the clothing line to fairs and shows, so Work Vessels stepped up determining the need for a refurbished stepvan and made it happen, presenting Ismail the van in September at WVFV’s annual fundraiser at Groton Long Point.

“I was medically retired from the USMC after receiving wounds from a roadside bomb in 2006. Work Vessels was able to raise money to help me get my ranch up and running. I would not have been able to get it started without their help.”...Florida Work Vessels for Vets is run by just five people, none of whom draw any salary from the charity, but the benefits they derive are overwhelming. Former State Senator, the Honorable Cathy Cook, serves as Executive Director for WVFV and is a walking billboard of its success. Retired from 26 years of public service as Chief Deputy Leader of the Connecticut State Senate and Executive Assistant for Veterans Affairs under thenGovernor M. Jodi Rell, Cook is a one-woman band answering phones, sending out correspondence, fundraising, speaking, and

Never one to let seagrass grow under his fisherman’s feet, John Niekrash has taken his investment in veterans to yet another level. With years of experience in the liquor business, and with the cooperation of partners in Branford, he is proud to introduce SALUTE, an American high quality craft vodka made in small batches in Rochester, N.Y. Bottled in what appears to be a WWII era canteen, SALUTE not only tastes good, but does good, as the first dollar of every bottle sold is donated to certified Veterans 501 (c) (3) charities.

“And it will remain that way forever,” Niekrash states emphatically. He points out that in a market dominated by foreign vodkas, SALUTE is made from a blend of corn and wheat culled from America’s Heartland and has been winning awards since its inception in 2011. It is currently distributed by package stores in Connecticut, Manhattan, Boston, Cape Cod, and will soon be found in Rhode Island, Virginia,

“I wanted to let you know how appreciative I am for everything you have done for my family and all the veterans you have touched. It’s not just the tangible things you are graciously able to provide. It’s so much more than that. The hope, support, and direction you provide us helps us realize we really aren’t forgotten.” ...Wyoming Work Vessels has won the prestigious Top Rated honor a number of years in a row from Great Nonprofits, as 95% of all monies are used to help veterans, with only a scant 5% being used for administrative expenses. That gives John Niekrash, Cathy Cook, and thousands of veterans who’ve been given a new lease on life a reason to feel proud.

And it all started with a small lobster boat, a helping hand, and that smile.

Want to get involved? Work Vessels for Vets can always use cars, tractors, trucks, tools, that laptop you no longer need; and of course, monetary donations. Find out more at: www.WVFV.org (860) 536-4418

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think outside the box

R I V E R FRAMES Art Framing & Gallery Opens October 3rd 860 526 1137 the red barn at 25 maple street, chester ct wednesday - saturday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

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Winter tree, Custer battlefield

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By Caryn B. Davis Photos by Sean Kernan ean Kernan is intent on listening.

There’s nothing he is trying to do or get done. He is content to watch, wait, and listen to see what occurs naturally without forcing a thing. And, he has been doing that for six years since his first visit to the Crow Reservation in south central Montana.

“A friend called me up who had been invited out there and brought me along. At some point during that first trip, I decided to push that little button on the back of my new camera that said ‘video.’ It became clear that’s how this thing was going to happen for me,” says renowned advertising and commercial photographer and filmmaker, Sean Kernan.

This “thing” Kernan is referring to is his documentary entitled, Crow Stories: Time On the Reservation. Kernan shot many hours of footage capturing members of the Crow Nation as they moved through their day-today lives and participated in age-old customs in an attempt to keep their heritage alive for themselves and for future generations. This 80-minute program is told through the words and actions of the community as they unfold before the camera. It gently introduces the audience to this tribe through imagery, storytelling, music, poetry, and art. Kernan consciously chose to remain the silent observer, keeping his own thoughts and ideas out of it, so the perspective remains real.

Crow Stories is a unique documentary immersion into the world of the Crow Indians. The film is an overflowing of experience – of hunting buffalo in the Bighorn Mountains, of Sundancers rehearsing in a nighttime meadow, of the fierce intratribal battles of the Handgame,” comments

Kernan, who may be one of the few white men to ever go on a buffalo hunt with Crow Indians.

Historically, the Crow were a nomadic tribe that lived in tepees on the Great Plains. They hunted buffalo, deer, elk, bear, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep, first on foot and later on horseback after the equine became part of their culture around 1740.

Thus, they became adept at horse breeding and dealing. But as the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Lakota-CheyenneArapaho alliance began to invade their territory in pursuit of fur, bison, and horses (often stealing them from the Crow), they were forced to defend their land and their herds from these hostile marauders, which didn’t always prove successful.

While warring with other tribes continued, it was not the only thing the Crow had to fear. Diseases such as smallpox and cholera killed 8,000 members, leaving a scant 2,000.

Also, as the white man continued to encroach upon Crow land and break one treaty after another, the United States government finally succeeded in commandeering 36 million acres.

“All of the tribes on the plains got pushed around.

The Crow said, ‘People are coming.’

The Sioux and the Arapaho, who were mortal enemies of the Crow, decided they would fight the white man, so the Crow chose to align themselves with the white man and fight against the Sioux and the Arapaho,” says Kernan.

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The Crow became scouts of General George Custer and fought at the Battle of Little Bighorn where Custer lost his life in 1876. This battle is also known as Custer’s Last Stand and is referred to by the Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass. It was but one battle during the Great Sioux War, a conflict between the United States and the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne tribes, which broke out when gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This land was sacred, and they fought fiercely to defend their right to keep it undisturbed.

“This became the first attempt to wrestle this range of land away from the local tribes, but not the last, as it would become an issue that still wages today, now over uranium that the government of the United States still can’t gain access to,” as cited by coursehero.com.

Today, the Crow reside on 2.3 million acres of

ancestral land along the Little Bighorn River.

This is where Kernan frequently visited, gaining their trust one person at a time.

“There was a certain amount of suspicion of me when I just turned up. I think at every public event like a rodeo or Pow Wow where I would be filming, at some point somebody would come up to me and say, ‘Who are you?’

I explained why I was there and at whose invitation,” says Kernan. “I can’t blame them. I would feel the same way about white people.”

He took part in a sweat lodge, witnessed drumming ceremonies, barrel racing, dances in full regalia, and even costumed reenactments of the Battle of Little Bighorn right on the very spot on which it took place.

The Realbird family who are members of the Crow Nation and the owners of that land host this annual event, now in its 26th year.

Visitors come from as far away as Europe to spend a week at the nearby U.S. Cavalry School, sleeping in tents, learning the art of Calvary riding and tactical skills, which concludes with this invitation-only reenactment. The Native Americans depict their own people riding bareback as they collide with Custer himself played by Steve Alexander who has been deemed by Congress to be the country’s foremost Custer historian.

But in addition to capturing these more boisterous activities, Kernan has also recorded the most typical and yet intimate moments of

Top: Little Big Horn River at dusk Center: Two young Crow girls in traditional dress. Facing page: Preparing for the reenactment of Custer battle.

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Clockwise from top left: Pat Hill, Barry Realbird, Peggy White, Mervin White Below: Handgame player Facing page Top: Custer battle reenactment Bottom: Indian Relay team

daily life: of families eating cereal together at the breakfast table while cartoons on a television screen blare in the background, or a husband and wife standing outside their home watching in quiet appreciation as the sun turns to twilight across their land.

don’t have a place to come home to. They sold their land. That’s my grandmother’s land over there,” says Barry Realbird in Kernan’s film.

“There is not a specific thing I have learned. I just experience a lot. I have learned what it feels like to be there, to have the wind constantly blowing, to have train whistles hooting away in the distance. I have learned how different their life and culture is from mine, how hard it is to live in that culture in our time and to keep it alive against all odds,” he says.

And still, their voices tell other stories of their fears, desires, hopes, and dreams; their concerns for the future as jobs and education are scarce, and about the commitment and responsibility they feel to pass on their language, customs, culture, and land to their children to teach them what it means to be Crow.

“My uncles taught me about taking care of the land. I am teaching my children. Never sell your land. You always want a place your children can come home to. Some my age

understanding of how one culture can destroy another. He sees his time with the Crow as a great gift, one he wants to share.

Kernan admits his worldview has become much wider as a result of his immersion with the Crow people. He also feels “larger” from the experience and walked away with a better

Author’s note: Crow Stories has been nominated for Best Feature Documentary and Best Cinematography at the Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema in New York. For more information about the film and upcoming screenings log onto www.crow-stories.net.

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Tim Prentice: “It is the hour, the sun, the heat, the wind, which will decide each individual dance.” Jean-Paul Sartre.

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aressed by capricious winds, they tinkle, jingle, clatter, ring, clink, chime, and even croak. The tintinnabulation is pacific. The subtleties of the day’s light bestow shimmer, glimmer, dazzle, and sleight-of-hand illusions of appearance and disappearance. They are the mobile creations of artist Tim Prentice.

Time spent with Prentice on his outdoor porch is to watch the day magically unfold to the rippling sound of a spring surrounded by the sights and sounds of his mobiles as they shapeshift responding to what nature has to offer at each moment. It is symphonic!

Prentice has had a keen sense of the wind since childhood. “I have been aware of the wind from an early age. I remember studying the patterns the wind drew on the grass in the meadows around my family’s old New England farmhouse. As a storm approached

the rain would turn the blades of grass, and a lighter color of green would sweep across the field.

My father designed and built several small sailboats that were precursors to the sailfish so I first learned to sail on a nearby lake. In later years, I would crew on larger boats sailing up and down the east coast. Later yet in the Navy, I served as navigator on carrier-based aircraft and had to calculate the strength and direction of the wind at high altitude.

The wind is moody, whimsical, and unpredictable. I thought that if I could capture these qualities the wind itself would be the work of art. I work for the wind. I like to imagine the air becoming visible. I made a machine to attract the attention of the wind and hope it will become the choreographer who makes the art.

The architect in me studies matters of scale and proportion. The engineer minimizes friction to

make the wind visible. The artist wants to understand its changing shape. Meanwhile, the child wants to play!”

The Prentice compound in Cornwall, Connecticut was formerly a dairy farm and icehouse dating back to 1790. The icehouse is now a workshop where design, engineering, and assembly take place. The large red barn functions as an area for assembly and storage of large pieces, shipping and receiving, and gallery. He refers to his complex as Brigadoon.

Prentice began his professional career as an architect. “My father was an architect and I really didn’t know what else to do.” One day

Facing page: “Barn Gallery” Top right: Artist Tim Prentice Above: “Sandy Hook Leaves”

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Above: “Dances with Clouds” Below: “Pope Mobile”

in Andover Massachusetts he saw a mobile by Alexander Calder and stood transfixed by it and revisited it many times. It remained in his memory and eventually prompted his decision to leave architecture and become an artist.

Architecture, for him, had become stale. “I wasn’t interested in building large buildings and the time it took to see a house completed could be as long as a year. I felt like a conductor directing all kinds of tradesmen but I wasn’t doing anything.”

He preferred more immediate impact.

well; he was so imaginative. (Calder and Rickey are mobile artists.) It is interesting that Calder had a degree in engineering but Rickey was the superior engineer though his degree was in history. I claimed some new territory because there was more turf to be explored.”

The variety of his constructions is expansive.

He works with a team; David Colbert was his

At age 43, he left architecture and in the late 1960s he began creating mobiles. On occasion, he did take on an architectural project and still does. He later moved from Manhattan to Cornwall, which was formerly the family vacation home. “I do local houses here in Cornwall; I’m like a country doctor. It’s wonderful when a builder asks you to design a house.” To date, he has built about 70 houses in his hometown.

His primary love is creating mobiles. Calder showed that it is it okay for grownups to play.

“I met Calder and knew George Rickey very

first assistant and is a corporate partner. Ellen Moon (David Colbert’s wife) tracks commissions and documents projects. David Bean is a superb craftsman who fabricates the larger

pieces, and Richard Griggs is a jack-of-alltrades who works in various capacities.

Prentice first draws the piece and then begins the construction process. He uses a kind of shorthand now with his team. His creations have monikers like Louises, carpets, spinners, chaos machines, oculus, wind frames, banners, curtains, zingers, jibs, and others. “Structure is imperative; so are the materials, Lexan is the champagne of plastics, stainless steel and aluminum are also much preferred.” Prentice also used feathers in one special installation.

If asked what his favorite success has been he answers, “Hands down, it was my commission to do a piece for the waiting room of the Helen and Harry Gray Oncology Center of Hartford Hospital. When the time came to present a model, I rented a van and drove to Hartford with five forms made of turkey feathers with wire armatures. I had the idea that if you can’t cheer people up with feathers you can’t cheer them up with anything. The committee agreed. The question was not whether to use feathers, but their color and number. The piece was installed in the next couple of

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“Fuzzy Window”

Below: “Charlotte”

“Swarm”

Above: “White Carpet”

Below: “Rainbow Circle”

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“#160 Feather Head”

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“FlashDance”

wanted to add my thanks, as well. One thing this horrible disease has taught me is never to let a chance go by to say thank you. You have a great gift.”

His gift has produced about 200 commissions for private homes and numerous installations in museums and spaces throughout the country.

Several are in Connecticut – Pope Park, Hartford; the Connecticut Science Museum; Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks; Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury; Park Square West, Stamford; and others. There have been numerous single artist and group shows. The Maxwell Davidson Gallery in New York City represents him. This award-winning sculptor will host his first one-man museum exhibition at the Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania from June 10 through September 17, 2017.

About his work, he states, “With my sculptures, I would want the viewer to feel that, having seen my work, he had seen something he hadn’t seen in his ordinary day.”

“Duo Decimal System”

months. I used the curve of the feathers as a starting point to make a compound shape.”

“Eight months later, a woman wrote a letter quoting the Emily Dickinson poem entitled ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’. That’s my favorite moment. It makes you feel you’re Hope is a thing doing something useful.” That perches in

can be a sobering dose of reality. But then I walk into the lobby, and look up, and there is Aviary, gently moving in slow, delicate spirals, reminding me that life is beautiful. Then I think of Emily Dickinson’s

Visit Tim Prentice on the web at : www.timprentice.com

with feathers – the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all.

The letter reads, “Dear Mr. Prentice, thank you for the magical sculpture Aviary that hangs in the Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital.

I have breast cancer and this past year has sometimes been rough for me. Parking at the center under a sign that says Cancer Patients,

poem about hope and my heart is lightened.

I am sure you have heard this from others many times. But I “Red Zinger”

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Team of Six Learning to Pull Their Own Weight Photos and profile Anthony Reczek

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arl Endrich Jr. rises most mornings by 4 AM, not that unusual for a working farmer.

He’ll feed the cats, fix some breakfast and pack a lunch, and head over to the computer where he keeps track of the business affairs of his family’s Townline Farm. It’s a 92 acre spread of mostly hardwood forest, situated on hilly terrain on the western side of the Connecticut River, about five miles up from the Sound. It’s a farm that has been in his family for five generations now.

He doesn’t sit for long though, and probably won’t be sitting again for the next 12 hours.

By 6 AM he’s off to the barn to rouse his “workers,” the two pair of oxen at the core of the logging operation on the land. Trees and lumber are the main “crop” at Townline Farm and its principal source of revenue. It’s year round work, usually four-five days a week, but the nature and rhythms of harvesting wood allow for significant flexibility. There’s time off for wet or snowy days, extremes in temperature, or simply to allow man or beast some extra recovery time after especially difficult days. The harvest is, after all, four thousand pounds of hardwood every working day. That’s two or three large trees, cut up into twelve foot lengths, and hauled a quarter mile for pickup. It is hard physical work.

The four animals - Red and Rock, and Tom and Lucky - are usually asleep in their sandy floored stalls when Earl arrives, despite the nearby braying of John the donkey, which starts up as soon as he hears Earl leaving his home across the street. But the cattle rouse fairly quickly - what with a breakfast of 16% (copper-free) pellet grain awaiting them - and are easily led to the feeding trough outside where they’ll eat and take on their yoke for the work day.

Oxen are male cows that have been castrated or “crimped” at one year of age and subsequently show some ability to pull a load. (Those that don’t – called beefers - usually end up at the

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slaughterhouse. Lucky got his name after Earl rescued him from that fate). Red and Rock are the larger pair: magnificent, tawny, rust-hued Devons weighing in at about 1330 and 1460 lbs. respectively. At seven years of age, they’re approaching their prime years.

Devons - three heifers and a bull - first arrived on these shores from southwestern England

with the Pilgrims, aboard their ship Charity in 1623. The breed is especially valued for its hardiness, docile temperament, and ability to thrive under rugged conditions. Earl finds that they’re “resilient to feed, will eat anything and stay body weight, and can survive just

about anything.” Devons became quite popular in New England (the original Vermont seal from 1778 featured a red Devon), but were also the draft animals of choice on the Oregon Trail in the 1800’s.

Earl first saw this particular pair when they were 13 months old and loved their spirit.

“They were at odds with each other…head butting each other…you can tell that they had some life to them. “ Tom and Lucky, the smaller pair, are two year old Durham Shorthorns; and despite weighing nearly 900 lbs. apiece, still are basically gangly adolescents. They’re in training and do get yoked up to the sled behind the two older ones, but contribute little to the pulling effort

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The domestication of wild cattle, called aurochs, first began over 10,000 years ago in the Near East, shortly after humans began to farm. Genetic studies (cattle are one of the few animals that have their entire genome mapped) have shown that modern day cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals in that region. It’s believed that wild cattle were quite numerous, significantly larger and less docile than their descendants, offering what Science News in March of 2012 termed “considerable challenges” in their capture, management, and breeding. The use of cattle to pull loads (drafting) emerged somewhat later, perhaps 6000 years ago.

Like his ancestors, Earl’s path to farming was somewhat circuitous, involving both the sea and the land.

His great-great grandfather was a fisherman in Germany who emigrated to this country in the 1860’s, worked in NYC sweatshops, and eventually bought a fishing boat with a dream of starting anew in Downeast Maine. As fate would have it, the family was at the mouth of the Connecticut River when the engine broke down. Heading inland for repairs, the boat hit a sandbar not three miles from the land that eventually became Townline Farm. Earl himself was in the commercial fishing industry in Florida for nearly fifteen years, then auto sales, before finally moving back to the farm 10 years ago.

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at this point. As they become larger and stronger and increasingly acclimated to the work, the loads on the sled can increase.

By 8AM everyone is ready to go, including John the donkey, who wanders about but stays close - loosely supervising the operation.

oxen work. Earl can sometimes be heard working the oxen a mile away, down the valley.

It takes time to train oxen and usually never proceeds in linear fashion. Earl certainly understands this. “Tom and Lucky can be

Earl feels that his main work with the oxen is “getting them to pay attention.” The more he is able to do that, the easier the work proceeds. That means getting them to listen and respond to his commands.

“The older ones know six or seven basic commands; the younger ones probably none at this point,” Earl laughs. The first and most important to be learned is WHOA (stop), followed closely by HAW (turn left), and GEE (turn right). The training then proceeds to GET UP (move forward), STEP IN (step toward the load/chain), STEP OUT (step away from the load/chain), and BACK (move in reverse). These are the classic commands used in North American

very unruly. They just want to run, they just want to go for food. You’ve got to work with them all the time. If you let them out to the pasture and don’t handle them, they get wild very fast. You have to handle them all the time.”

There’s a science and an art to successful training. It requires judicious use of both positive and negative reinforcement; that is, any type of action that gives the animal pleasure, or conversely, discomfort. For oxen, scratching behind the horns, feeding a treat by hand, or taking a break are ways to help them feel comfortable in the presence of the human and more willing to respond to whatever is asked.

On the other hand, using a crop is one way to dissuade the animal from unwanted behavior. From the beginning, the human must be firm, patient, and persistent in helping the animal understand what is being requested.

It’s mid- afternoon when the team finally comes down the hill and settles in the barnyard with the load of red oak. Earl, who’s been in motion the whole time, looks a little tired, more so than the oxen. John the donkey seems none the worse for wear.

Earl will be asleep by 9PM.

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Eating Outside of the Box

An experiment in dinner at our doorstep

65 Blue aprons, green chefs, purple carrots… Chefs, Baskets, Spoons, Plates... Tom Brady, Martha Stewart, Ayesha Curry. Dozens of meal-kit delivery services with cutesy names and celebrity affiliations have popped up on the menu, and this is just the beginning. Home delivered meal kit plans are the hottest thing out of the oven, but how do you decide which to order, and which are best suited for your tastes and lifestyle?

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admit that after three decades of meal Every plan is unique – some offer vegan, some planning, shopping and cooking, I burned vegetarian, some pair a mini bottle of wine with out. The kids left the nest and suddenly there each meal, there’s organic, paleo, plant-based, was a huge void in the fridge and grass-fed, sustainably-sourced, pantry. Facebook and Twitter and some with side smoothies kept chipping away at me with and others desserts. tempting meal plan delivery service posts and I caved in. With We tasted 59 recipes and, a few clicks of the mouse, my honestly, there were no husband and I were set for three thumbs-down for what they dinners. Then, we discovered were (personally, I don’t care there were so many different to eat animals and my husboxes landing at so many band is definitely a carnivore, Avocado toast doorsteps … not just around the but we were both fine going to country but also in our little neighborhood… what each of us considers “the dark side”). that we had to go for seconds and thirds. Why Not only did we survive, there’s no doubt not compare different companies, and even we enjoyed foods we never would have different cuisines? imagined cooking or eating at home.

Unpacking a meal from Sunbasket.

Even Martha Stewart can brown bag it

Here’s a thumbnail of what typically happens.

You pick your meals online from a changing list of choices for the particular week, and a few days later (you will know on what day), one box arrives just like it’s Christmas! It’s actually really fun to have dinner just show up at your

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who’d love to try foods from differ cultures but can’t find specific ingredients (ever try looking for a teaspoon of smoked dulse, red seaweed from Iceland?), and certainly don’t have the time to narrow down the right recipe from seemingly millions of choices online. While empty nesters are one target market, singles and families are just as easily suited to the concept of meals-in-a-box.

These kits/recipes lay everything out step-bystep. The meals must have been tested again and again as these companies want successes all across the country … posted on social media, of course, so that you and I will see what our friends whipped up and be so impressed that we’ll know we can do this too!

These are the take-aways from our experiments:

Martha & Marley’s Shrimp & Tomato Bread Salad

doorstep, particularly if you’re the one who does all of the shopping.

Each company has devised it’s own handydandy packaging to keep the contents cold until you arrive home. There’s ice packs, special woolpack insulation, special recycled material blankets, etc., and all sorts of means to recycle, reuse or compost depending on the service to which you’ve subscribed.

In fact, this is a great way to learn to cook.

Think of a 20-something with a busy work schedule -- so much easier to go out for meals rather than planning, shopping, and then not knowing what to do. Or, there’s those of us

1. Your skills will improve – think cooking school but at home.

2. Your food knowledge and vocabulary will improve as you widen your palate.

3. You will surprise yourself and others as well as feel proud of your accomplishments.

4. This is fun, and who doesn’t love opening a box to see what’s in store?

5. Even a non-cooking significant other and/or kids will get involved. On a related note, it’s easy to delegate a step or two from the recipe to your “sous-chefs”.

6. The ingredients are (usually) fresh, unblemished, and often better than what you find at the grocery store.

7. Every meal turned out as depicted in the company literature; there were zero failures, an impressive statistic when it comes to cooking.

I have plenty of cooking experience, and my husband has almost none. We both cooked meals – some together, and some independently.

Every instruction was clear enough so that even a beginner cook can be a superstar chef.

Most services label each ingredient so if you’re not sure if you’ve got a leek versus ginger to chop as per the recipe, no worries. All are pre-portioned for the meal, reducing waste.

Think of how many times you go to the store and have to purchase way too much of an ingredient and then have to figure out what to do with the excess. There are photos of the steps to accompany the verbiage on the recipes, and some have videos.

Blue Apron’s Shrimp & Squid Ink Spaghetti with Sugar Snap Peas

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+ Every ingredient is organic and lots of veggies.

Plans include paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, carnivore and omnivore. Nice step-bystep instructions and photos. 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging. Colorcoded and labeled ingredients make figuring out what’s what and for which recipe easy.

Apricot Rose Hips Smoothie from Green Blender

Here are many of the plusses and minuses of various services as we saw them:

- While the recipe card listed calorie info, you need to go online to find additional nutrition information (we like to look at this while we are dining). Recipes can be complex and labor intensive but some ingredients come already prepped.

smoothie combinations, many sound totally bizarre but all tasted were fantastic. Provides small packets of superfoods and a cheat sheet about why they are so amazing.

- The company presets your five smoothies for the order (no choices). Some of the produce was overripe and the yogurt container had exploded in the box. Very expensive.

Hello Fresh - hellofresh.com GreenBlender - greenblender.com

Blue Apron - blueapron.com + Most of us would never dream of these

+ Clearly written recipe card with good photos.

Family plans for 2 adults and 2 children (this

+ Offers a wine plan to pair with their meals – not only suggestions but they will send you the actual wine! Grass-fed beef, non-GMO ingredients. Recipes take a big longer to prepare but the directions are so simple a first grader could pitch in. Less expensive than most. How-to videos online and through an app. Smaller ingredients, or “knick knacks” as they call them, are packed in individual paper bags for each meal along with the nutrition information card.

Many ethnic inspired meals. Offers a recycle program where the packaging can be shipped back free of charge. You may also get sheet on bonus tips and tricks on a cooking topic.

- Recipes tend to take a bit longer to prepare as several steps may be involved. Phone helpline not open after 6pm.

chef’d - chefd.com + Offers hundreds of recipes on this non-subscription-based service. Plus, there are meal selections from Weight Watchers, Runners World, famous chefs, or the James Beard Foundation. Each recipe offers a skill level rating, and wine and beer paring suggestions.

Some of the most delicious recipes. Little lead time needed to order. Poultry are all-natural and cage free with no antibiotics or added hormones. All meats are USDA choice or all natural, meaning no antibiotics or added hormones.

Animals are raised humanely, cage free - More prep time and cooking techniques required than most. Time estimates were low unless you had someone to do the busy work.

Pricey - for what you spend you could go out to dinner and have a much cleaner kitchen. You need to do math to calculate the nutrition info, which is only found online.

Green Chef - greenchef.com Green Chef’s Curry Chicken Drumsticks

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Apple Cherry Lemonade Smoothie from Green Blender

worked for 3 people with leftovers). Overall nutrition. Recipe card lists a great deal of nutrition information. Fewer steps in creating meals than most competitors. Offers monthly wine subscriptions complete with pairing suggestions, tasting notes, and flavor profiles.

+ One of the best meals of all we tried for all plans – steak tacos. Perhaps the best red meat too. Open to feedback on the negatives listed below, explained that they are new and still working out the bugs (not literally).

Home Chef - homechef.com + Taste profile in case you need to avoid something (gluten or carbs, for example). Lists difficulty level on recipes. Suggestions based on your preferences are offered but you can easily remove those from your cart. Affordable. Many recipes and dietary options. Easy-to-follow recipes

Homemade - cookhomemade.com

Martha & Marley Spoon marleyspoon.com + Ingredients are already sorted in bags as opposed to one box with all ingredients for all meals for the week tossed together. Tasted wonderful, good use of spices, ingredients went well together (surprising – would not have expected some combinations). Portion sizes were good. Fewer ingredients than most.

- Few ethnic inspired meals. There is a vegetarian plan but these recipes are prepicked for you.

- Not for those of us who are into organic, free-range, non-GMO, and like to know where food came from (for example, wild or farm-raised fish).

ended up being a winner). No nutrition information available on paper or online.

- Recipes not as clearly written and the pictures are small and not very helpful.

There is a cooking hotline but reps weren’t very knowledgeable.

Ingredients aren’t labeled but you can figure out what’s what by going to the website. Very basic nutrition information.

A bit too much salt.

Blue Apron’s Seared Catfish

- Few choices, much of the produce was overripe, not organized in bags so small items were lost in a big box, wrong dinner arrived (steak tacos, amusing, since this

Plated - plated.com + Poultry and meat raised without antibiotics, fish are sustainably caught. Well organized in

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Recipe from Chef Leo Bushey of the Madison Beach Hotel : Scallops and Apple Gastrique. Ordered through Chef’d. “New England is famous for its plentiful, crisp, juicy apples, and I wanted this dish to celebrate some of Connecticut’s finest. You’ll reduce cider and make a delicious syrup to drizzle over sweet, tender, seared scallops. Combined with earthy potatoes, two types of beets and tender Brussels sprouts, this is one incredible dish that you’ll want to enjoy on a brisk, fall evening…or any time!”

bags. Cook dinner for 2,3 or 4 servings (only plan I found which offers 3 servings).

- More expensive and less nutritious than most competitors (specifically, more fat and sodium than most). A bit more labor intensive (chopping, dicing, etc.) and some recipes require more multi-tasking.

the most clearly written and photos were few and small. Very pricey, particularly Tom Brady’s TB12 plan.

produce, responsibly raised, hormone–free meats and sustainably sourced seafood.

Provides paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian and breakfast options. Spiffy website with more details than found on the printed recipe. Some videos.

- Smaller recipe cards with no photos of various steps (no photos online either). Difficult to reach for questions, too many emails and the only way to unsubscribe from the emails is to cancel the subscription.

Purple Carrot - purplecarrot.com + Every dish is vegan (also listed as a negative). Recipe cards list calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

Company says ingredients are often organic. GMO free and ethically sourced ingredients. If you want to learn about vegan cuisine, this is a delicious education. The helpline was actually helpful (you could tell they had firsthand experience with the meals).

Takeout Kit - takeoutkit.com

Cuban Shrimp Mojo Tostados with Red Cabbage Slaw from Sun Basket

- Every dish is vegan. The company presets menu choices so that everyone gets the same meals each week. The instructions were not

Sun Basket - sunbasket.com + USDA-certified organic and non–GMO

+ Holy cannoli, what an incredible camping or boating meal! Twomonth shelf life addresses problem of “meal kit anxiety,” having to cook the meal within a few days. Great way to try international cuisine.

- No nutrition information available (oh well, you’re probably on vacation so it doesn’t count)

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Paul Partica, The Cheese Shop, Centerbrook CT

Best Buys It is time once again for our annual fan favorite, the 2017 edition of Best Buys. As you peruse the list, please bear in mind that many different brands or manufacturers of these cheeses can exist and taste can vary accordingly. I always suggest you “try before you buy.” to be certain you are taking home the right cheese for you.

The following list represents what I feel are truly great values: 1. Tres Leches from Spain ($20 to $24 per pound) As the name implies, this semi-soft pasteurized Spanish cheese is produced from three milks: cow, goat and sheep. Tres Leches is similar to another popular Spanish cheese called Manchego, but this one is made only from sheep’s milk. It is worth noting that Tres Leches’ sales have far outpaced those of Manchego. This cheese carries a natural rind that has been bathed in olive oil, and its blend of milks provides great flavor and a really nice finish.

2. Piave Vecchio from Italy ($19 to $24 per pound) This Parmigiano Reggiano-style cheese will most likely always make my top ten list. With its sharp, full flavor, Piave Vecchio works beautifully with most foods and salads. This makes it not only an ideal eating cheese, but also a great choice for cooking. Use it in place of Reggiano or Grana Padano in any dish you would normally use the former cheeses. You will not be disappointed.

A cow’s milk cheese, Piave comes in a small sixteen-pound wheel and has a hard, natural rind, similar to Reggiano. There are two varietals of this cheese. We usually carry the older one-year version, which offers a little more sharpness. This cheese keeps very well; just be sure to wrap it properly. For a fabulous dessert, drizzle a little exceptional Acacia honey from Italy over it, or even a bit of aged balsamic vinegar.

3. Bleu d‘Auvergne ($16 to $20 per pound) Bleu d’Auvergne is a French blue named after the region it originates from in the South of France. This young cheese ages about 30 to 60 days before export. It is made from cow’s milk and you will find it to be a little less salty than most blues. You will especially enjoy the creamy, buttery finish that comes with this cheese.

Drop this fan favorite into salads, enjoy snacking with it or place a generous wedge of it on your cheese tray when entertaining and watch it disappear. We also like to stuff it into olives and occasionally drop one into a Martini.

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4. Fromage D’Affinois ($18 to $22 per pound) This soft-ripening double crème deserves its ongoing place in the Best Buy list when you consider price compared with customer satisfaction. Unlike so many of the stabilized Bries and Camemberts on the market today, this one remains close to how you would find a soft-ripening cheese in Europe. It arrives to us with a firm center. This core softens as we allow it to ripen right in the store, and I love that I can finish the ripening process myself. This allows me to sell it at its peak flavor, which is when you will find it most soft, creamy and luscious.

D’Affinois is one of our consistent best sellers and usually the first cheese to disappear on a cheese tray. You can spend this amount for half the volume of many other cheeses and find yourself less satisfied.

5. English Ford Cheddar ($14 to $16 per pound) This cheese is one of the very best values out there, so it is no surprise that it usually makes my Best Buy list. It amazes me how so many other cheddars can sell for such high prices ($20 to $30 per pound) when the finish is so often bitter. I am often solicited by large cheese producers who charge higher prices for less taste satisfaction. High price does not necessarily equate to quality.

This pasteurized cheese has great cheddar taste and a wonderfully smooth, creamy finish that is unusual. It is one of our bestselling cheddars and well worth seeking out.

6. Austrian Salzberg ($9 to $12 per Pound) This great Tilsit-style cheese from Austria is a semi-soft, part-skim cheese made from pasteurized milk. Many of you know the most common member of this family of cheese, Creamed Havarti. In the 1960s, the Danes renamed their version of Tilsit to Havarti to avoid competing with Tilsit varietals from other countries. They also increased the butterfat content of their Creamed Harvarti to sixty percent.

I personally prefer regular Tilsits over the Harvarti version.

There are many other cheeses that belong to the Tilsit family.

Some of these are well known. Stronger versions closer to the German Tilsit are Beerkase, Brick, Aged Monterey Jack and United States Muenster. Milder Tilsit examples are Austrian Grinzing, Swedish Farmer ’s Cheese and Brick House, made

by Vermont Farmstead.

Paul Partica, The Cheese Shop

www.cheeseshopcenterbrook.com

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By Art LiPuma, General Manager, SeaSide Wine & Spirits, Old Saybrook, CT

Thanksgiving Wines Thanksgiving is a great start to the holiday season, excellent food and wine to share with family and friends.There are many great wines to have before, during, and after your Thanksgiving dinner. Depending on your preference of white or red you have many choices. With the popularity of roses this would be a great dry refreshing wine to have before dinner.

For many years people would wait for the Noveau Beajoulais, which it is always available the third Thursday of November.

In years past, one would have to pay more for it on the first release because it was flown in. Now it’s always available at the lower price because it all comes in by boat. Nouveau is a fresh, light, fruity red. The wine is made from the Gamay grape to celebrate the new harvest. As for Beajoulais wines there are 10 cru (villages) which are higher quality wines. They are still light in body but more structure and better balanced with a mostly dry finish.

In considering white wines, turkey can paired with Chardonnay or a Pinot Gris. The Chardonnay should have some good body and richness to hold up to the turkey and stuffing. I would recommend a Washington State or Oregon for a Pinot Gris due to its weight and body. Another choice would be a Gewurztraminer, this white is a little richer and has more fruit than the wines previously mentioned. Red wines would be my choice, due to all the fixings that go with Thanksgiving. Pinot Noir is one of the favorites.

This wine is generally light in body and has some great fruit and structure with a dry finish.

There are many of styles of Pinot Noirs to choose from across the world.

Each wine is characteristic of the region it comes from. French Pinot Noir has an earthy component medium fruit and a dry finish. The closest style to these are from Oregon, due to its cool climate. California has a little more fruit style and can impart some bright cherry fruit and other red fruits including strawberries and raspberries. They can also show darker fruit such as blackberry, cassis and plum. Also you have the choice of Pinot Noirs from New Zealand , Argentina, and Chile, to mention a few. Red Zinfandel is my favorite, which there is a huge selection to choose from.

These wine come from many different areas of California, Amador County ,Dry creek , Lodi and Sonoma County,to mention a few. This wine is the biggest of the red wines previously mentioned. Zinfandel is rich and full with flavors of blackberry, cassis, and blueberry, with a little spice in the finish. This excellent full style goes with all the courses in your dinner.

How about a port with dessert to complete your Thanksgiving festivities?

Enjoy your company, meal, and of course the wines.

Have a great holiday!

Art LiPuma

Seaside Wine & Spirits, Old Saybrook CT

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THE NEXT CHESTER FIRST FRIDAY - November 3rd, 2017 - 5 - 8 pm THE NEXT CONCERTS IN THE GARDEN - SUNDAY, November 12th, - 4 - 6 pm “The Lost Acres String Band” December 10th - 4 - 6 pm “Ramblin Dan and the Fiery Band” Arrowhead strings along on most Sunday afternoons. Find out about the Concerts in the Garden, First Fridays, Leifs paintings and more at

www nilssonstudio com

November 1-11 Madison Vincent GiarranoNew Paintings.

We are pleased to present Vincent Giarrano's 9th annual solo show.

Vincent's city women, New York street scenes and interiors, have become a focal point for collectors. His powerful, unique images capture the many sides of the city with uncanny detail, perspective, and beautiful rich color. From gritty spray-painted walls to classic, old building facades, and unforgettable portraits of New York life, he feels the pulse of the city and transcends it onto canvas. We are thrilled to present 30 new paintings in this exciting exhibition. “My work has a narrative element to it, there is a certain amount of mystery and history about each person and place. What I love about the City is that it is constantly changing, providing endless inspiration.” -Vincent Giarrano. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm, and anytime by appointment. For more information, please call (203) 318-0616, visit www.susanpowellfineart.com to see works in the show. Susan Powell Fine Art is located at 679 Boston Post Road, near the Firehouse, in Madison, CT 06443 November 2 to January 2, Featuring selected works from Susan Powell Fine Art at the Valentine H. Zahn Community Gallery located at Middlesex Hospital Shoreline Medical Center.

Meet the artists at an opening reception to be held on Thursday, November 2 from 6 – 8 p.m.

The Gallery is open during regular business hours and is located at 250 Flat Rock Place, Westbrook, CT. For more information, contact Middlesex Hospital at 860-358-6200 or zahngallery@midhosp.org.

November 2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 29, 30 Various locations Globe Pequot announces the release of A Connecticut Christmas: Celebrating the Holiday in Classic New England Style by photographer Caryn B. Davis, with accompanying essays by author Eric D. Lehman. Here is a list of book signings: Nov 2, 7pm, Chester Library, Town Hall, 203 Middlesex Ave, Chester; Nov 3, 5pm-8pm, French Hen, 14 Main St, Chester; Nov 5 10am-12pm, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Ave, Hartford; Nov 11 1-3pm Breakwater Books, 81 Whitfield Street, Guilford; Nov 12, 11am4pm, High Hopes Holiday Market, 36 Towns Woods Rd, Old Lyme; Nov 14, 7:30pm Chester Village West, 317 W. Main St, Chester; Nov 16, 4pm-7pm Anchor & Compass, 163 Main Street, Deep River; Nov 18, 2pm-4pm, Pink Sleigh 512 Essex Road, Westbrook; Nov 25, 12pm-1pm, Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, 295 West Ave, Norwalk; Nov 25, 2pm, Darien Sport Shop, 1127 Boston Post Rd, Darien; Nov 29, 5pm-7pm, Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St, Mystic; and Nov 30, 7pm, RJ Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT. November 2 - January 7 Artistry: Holiday Shopping Guilford Art Center. One of a kind, handmade crafts by artisans across the country will be featured, including ceramics, glass, jewelry, fiber, ornaments, accessories, toys, specialty foods and more. Opening reception on November 2, from 5p.m.-8 p.m. Guilford Art Center 411 Church St. Guilford, CT 06437 Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Thu. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.

November 3 Mystic Featuring Maria Barraza Join us for First Friday featuring EST. 2016 Maria Barraza on Collaboration as a Sustainable Strategy in the Fashion World along with lots of bubbly. .Maria Barraza has been utilizing sustainable practices in her clothing & L UXUR Y GOODS design business since she founded BARRAZA in 1988. BARRAZA produces her creations in the USA, her line includes a line of Organic, color-grown spa & yoga wear called PAZ Yoga & Spa Wear. BARRAZA Style are her interchangeable silk separates to be dressed up or down…Maria, as part if her sustainable strategy, collaborates with other designers and lines that produce in the US and that use organic and sustainable methods of production. Maria will speak about her philosophy of sustaining these principles and will showcase lines that embody this ever more important way of doing business in the fashion world. 29 W. Main Street, Mystic, CT www.curated.world FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @ CURATED.WORLD FINE ART

curated

NOVEMBER EVENTS

November 1 19 Ivoryton Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot.

Winner! 2012 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Awards – Best Play! A murderously funny thriller set in William Gillette’s Connecticut Castle – The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit. It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast-members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Then it’s up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. Box Office Phone: 860.767.7318 Theatre Address, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton, CT 06442

NOVEMBER EVENTS

November 12 Chester Please join us at the Leif Nilsson Spring Street Studio & Gallery at 1 Spring Street in Chester Center for a Concert in the Garden on Sunday, November 12 2017 from 4 - 6 pm featuring The Lost Acres String Band with Gordon Swift, Paul Howard and Jon Swift, serving up a flavorful mixture of songs and instrumentals from a wide variety of musical traditions with the added spice of several exotic original compositions. A typical show includes blues, Gypsy jazz, old-time and contemporary fiddle tunes, a haunting Hispanic ballad from the old Southwest, a classic number by The Mississippi Sheiks, and swing tunes from the 1930s. $20 suggested donation - BYOB Inside the Gallery if inclement weather. For more information www.lostacresstringband.com. $20 donation - BYOB and picnic – Sorry no pets. Inside gallery in case of inclement weather. For more info log onto nilssonstudio.com or call 860-526-2077.

GATES OPEN Half Hour before the show. First come first seated.

Sorry, no pets allowed.

November 16 Middletown Girls Nite Out at A Pocketfull of Posies. Wednesday, November 16 from 5-8 20% off purchases florals excluded, free samples, sips and bites, plus a Posy Bag with a $25 purchase. inside The Main Street Market 386 Main Street Middletown, CT

November 17 - January 27 Annual Holiday Show. Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison. Artists from around the country participate in this annual show. Kick off the Holiday season, meet the Artists, and join us for this festive Opening Reception on Friday, November 17, from 5 - 8 pm. We offer a versa tile selection of landscapes, marine art, still life, floral, figurative, New York City scenes and abstract paintings. Exhibiting Artists are: Kathy Anderson, Carol Arnold, Del-Bourree Bach, Ira Barkoff, Peter Bergeron, Stephanie Birdsall, Kelly Birkenruth, Karen Blackwood, Dan Brown, Deborah Chabrian, Ken Davies, Grace DeVito, David Dunlop, Eileen Eder, John Falato, Sandy Garvin, Vincent Giarrano, Curtis Hanson, Neal Hughes, Timothy Jahn, Susan Jositas, Sarah Lamb, Roxann Leibenhaut, Sarah Stifler Lucas, James Magner, Anne McGrory, Leonard Mizerek, Michael Naples, Cindy Procious, Deborah Quinn-Munson, Larry Preston, Carlo Russo, Polly Seip, Claudia Seymour, Dennis Sheehan, Jeanne Rosier Smith, Katie Swatland, George Van Hook and Carolyn Walton. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm, and anytime by appointment. For more information, please call (203) 318-0616, visit www.susanpowellfineart.com to see works in the show. Susan Powell Fine Art is located at 679 Boston Post Road, near the Firehouse, in Madison, CT 06443.

November 25 Madison Linda Richards Trunk Show Saturday November 25, 2017 – Saturday December 11, 2017 10am-5pm Just in time for the holidays, New York Luxury Outerwear & Accessory Designer Linda Richards will be offering a capsule collection of winter 2017 sweaters, jackets, hats, scarves and more at Robertson Madison, 69 Wall Street, Madison, CT 06443. Phone 203-421-6799 Website: www.robertsonmadison.com November 25 Mystic You're invited to Shop Small Day, Saturday November 25. Please come to Historic Down Town Mystic and support small businesses. We will be giving out free tote bags with every purchase, while supplies last.

Bring the kids and help welcome Santa at 2pm as he arrives by tug boat at the Mystic River Park, where the children will be waiting to tell Santa all their wishes!

That evening the lighted boat parade starts at 6:20. All the boats will be decorated and it's a delight for everyone. We hope to see you then.

November 19 Hartford CRAFTED. Hartford Flavor CompanyCome support and celebrate Hartford's local craft talent in food, art, beauty, design, and alcohol as we kick off the holiday gift-giving season. Split between Hartford Flavor Company and Real Art Ways, guests can take a tour of Hartford Flavor Company, enjoy local food trucks, meet local business owners, join in craft classes and shop local artisans. Hartford Flavor Company Noon-5 p.m. (860) 916-3282, 30 Arbor St.Suite 107 Hartford, CT 06106 November 25 Litchfield Walking the Cranberry Pond Trail. Welcome to our 8th annual edition of this popular walk! Nothing could cap off a wonderful “on the cusp of winter” stroll along this spectacular trail better than a cup of hot coffee and a thick wedge of Crimson Pie swimming in a pool of thick ginger crème anglaise! We’ll drive over to the trailhead together. 2 p.m.White Memorial Conservation Center 860) 567-0857 www.whitememorialcc.org White Memorial Conservation Center Museum 80 Whitehall Rd. Litchfield, CT 06759