All invited to enter ‘Gateway to Spring’

from Weekend - February 23, 2023

Grace Potter plans stop at Academy of Music

Connecticut Flower & Garden Show opens today

By C ori U rban Special to The Republican

THIS IS NOT A FLOWer and garden show for gardeners only. Visitors can educate themselves about houseplants, lawn equipment, sheds and gazebos, and there will be more than 75 artisans and craft exhibits selling a variety of floral-themed products and services at the 41st Connecticut Flower & Garden Show.

It takes place today through Sunday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.

“It is just very nice to see spring in full bloom and enjoy the gardens,” said Kristie Gonsalves, the show’s producer and president of North East Expos.

free testing at the University of Connecticut co-op booth.

as Best American Play. The play has been presented on many theater stages, including London’s West End and several Broadway revivals, as well as on the big screen and television.

“When Danny (Eaton, the theater’s producing director) called and asked me to direct the play, I jumped at it as the opportunity of a lifetime,”

Rand Foerster said, who has directed some 26 productions at the theater.

“It is one of the great plays of American theater history that still holds up today in its telling. It is probably one of the best known of all his works and it was his first major success that continued to open doors for Williams,” he added.

Foerster noted “The Glass Menagerie” is a “memory play,” a phrase the playwright used when describing his work in which the lead character narrates the events of the play.

“In a sense the play is autobiographical and poetically real and is drawn from his reflections of being haunted

SEE MAJESTIC, PAGE E9

“Gateway to Spring” is the theme of this year’s show that features expansive live gardens, vendors, seminars, demonstrations and the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s annual Standard Flower Show.

There will be more than 80 hours of seminars and demonstrations presented by more than 20 horticulturalists, landscapers and industry professionals; they are free with admission. There will be more than a dozen live gardens in full bloom including naturalistic, low-maintenance, native, container, vegetable, organic, herb and pollinator gardens.

The live gardens, seminars and exhibits change every year, “so it’s always a fresh new look,” Gonsalves said.

Hundreds of booths will showcase displays, activities and shopping for artisans’ handcrafted gifts, fresh flowers, plants, garden ornaments, metalwork sculptures, herbs, bulbs, seeds, fertilizers, soils, gardening books, patio furniture, lawn and garden tools, equipment and more.

Bring a half-cup of soil for

“During the COVID experience of isolation, handson gardening and outdoor living became increasingly important for reducing stress and elevating our moods,” Gonsalves said. “The garden industry flourished during the pandemic as folks spent more time at home and in their yards. Gardening brings peace, joy and relaxation, and you can really see the fruits of your labor. “

In previous years, there have been flower and garden shows in Boston and Rhode Island,

The Hibernians of Hampden/Hampshire Counties Invite the Public to attend the Annual Communion

Sunday March 12, 2023 Mass at 8:00AM St Jerome’s Church, Holyoke

Breakfast served after Mass at Wyckoff Country Club 233 Easthampton Rd Holyoke

Honoring

Brenda LamagdeleineManager for Providence Ministries for the Needy2023 Christian Charity Award Winner

Master of Ceremonies: Nora McMahon

Featured Speaker: William B. Evans, Executive Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police Boston College; former Boston Police Commissioner during Boston Marathon Bombings 25.00 per person-for Reservations call Atty. John J. Driscoll @413-534-0445 by March 7, 2023

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