New Haven magazine December 2010

DECEMBER 2010

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OFFICER

NEEDS

ASSISTANCE

City cop confronts her toughest

challenge

WHAT A

New film documents New Haven’s love-hate relationship with its doomed arena

RACQUET

City kids learn from a preppy

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BEYOND THE BOOKSHELVES Second-hand

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New Haven & Interdistrict Magnet Fairs: All Magnet Schools (Pre-K to 12th grade) will have booths staffed by principals, teachers, and parents/students to answer your questions about their theme-based schools.

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New Haven Magnet Fair:

Wednesday, January 5th, 6-8pm (Snow Date: Jan. 12)

New Haven Athletic Center - 480 Sherman Pkwy. (next to Hillhouse) Interdistrict Magnet Fair:

Saturday, January 8th, 12-2pm (Snow Date: Jan. 15) Hill Regional Career High School - 140 Legion Ave.

We are proud to offer: · FREE Tuition to New Haven & CT Resident Students · FREE Transportation inside & outside New Haven · FULL-DAY Kindergarten and After-School Programs · FREE Preschool for 3 and 4-Year-Olds

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New Haven I December/2010

07 INTEL New Haven is No. 2 and trying harder — in brains, that is

11 ONE2ONE ConnCAN’s Alex Johnston — the education subversive to changed New Haven schools

17 Signal 4: Officer Needs Assistance A New Haven cop used to walking the city’s mean streets confronts her toughest adversary yet

19 Bitsie In Pieces New Haven’s favorite arts Advocate gets her due

22 And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

33 Beyond the Bookshelves Second-hand booksellers become creative hubs

38 Now Comes Miller Time A legendary bandleader and composer ‘return’ to New Haven for a musical time-travel journey

42 Racqueteering Charges City public-school kids learn a preppy sport — and important lessons for life

44 BIBLIOFILES Review of True Confections, new novel by New Haven author Katharine Weber.

New documentary captures Coliseum’s rise and fall

56 Words Of Mouth

30 KIDSTUFF

With delightful new Mikro, brewpub craze migrates north to Hamden

A pioneer in creating play spaces kids can’t get enough of

62 Discovered Talking trash at Stratford’s refreshing Garbage Museum

22 New Haven

| Vol. 3, No. 12 | December 2010

Publisher Mitchell Young, Editor Michael C. Bingham, Design Consultant Terry Wells, Contributing Writers Brooks Appelbaum, Duo Dickinson, Liese Klein, Margaret A. Little, Caitlin Marquis, Melissa Nicefaro, Joanna Pettas, Jack Dickey, Makayla Silva, Cindy Simoneau, Chelsea Jacob Tyler, Photographers Steve Blazo, Anthony DeCarlo, Susan Falzone Senior Publisher’s Representatives Mary W. Beard, Roberta Harris, Ronni Rabin

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december 2010

New Haven is published 8 times annually by Second Wind Media Ltd., which also publishes Business New Haven, with offices at 85 Willow St., New Haven, CT 06511. 203-7813480 (voice), 203-781-3482 (fax). Subscriptions $24.95/ year, $39.95/two years. Send name, address & zip code with payment. Second Wind Media Ltd. d/b/a New Haven shall not be held liable for failure to publish an advertisement or for typographical errors or errors in publication. For more information e-mail NewHaven@Conntact.com.

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INT EL

By Air Power

We’re Number Two! The New Haven-Hartford metro area has been ranked No. 2 among America’s “smartest cities” by the Daily Beast. The blog ranked the nation’s 55 largest metroa for regard to the education levels of their residents as well as the overall intellectual climate.

The education half included percentage of residents with undergrad and graduate degrees, while the intellectual environment half had three components: number of institutions of higher learning, number of libraries and (surprisingly) year-to-date non-fiction book sales. Mirror, mirror on the wall — what’s the smartest city of all? Boston — at least according to the Beast.

WINDSOR LOCKS — As of mid-November, Nutmeggers were able to get their security pat-downs for a whole lot less if they were heading for points south. JetBlue, the “discount airline” also famous for leaving passengers stranded on the tarmac at a Buffalo airport for several hours, will now offer its low fares to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla. As well as points in Central and South America from Bradley Airport.

The airline says it offers more legroom in coach, personalized TVs and assigned seating.

While JetBlue expands in Hartford, airline founder David Neelman and wife Vicki are hoping to sell their New Canaan mansion after living there only two years.

The Wall Street Journal reports the Neelmans have $17 million

New Haven’s oldest, biggest and best bike shop

into building the “antique style” house, but are asking less $11 million for it.

incoming Gov. Dannel Malloy has his pants rolled up at the ankle, too.

By Foot

By Ferry — Not

HARTFORD — As Gov. M. Jodi Rell prepares to roll out of town, she says she wants Connecticut to “step up the pace” and that means implementing “practices more supportive of bicycling and pedestrian projects.”

The DOT will now quickly respond to relatively minor bicycle and pedestrian issues, will assure sidewalks are part of normal road design, and regularly fund bicycle and pedestrian lanes. Twowheeled commuters will get a home at train stations in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford.

Finally, bike trails including the remaining “large gaps” of the Farmington Canal trail extending from New Haven to Northampton, Mass. will get new funding. Let’s hope

CHESTER — The historic and much loved ferry service crossing the Connecticut River at Chester-Hadlyme (first started in 1769), as well as the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury ferry which may be the longest continuously operating ferry in the U,S. (in operation since 1655) may be getting their tow lines cut if the DOT has its way in the next budget.

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While the ferries do charge for service, the state antes up $600,000 annually to cover expenses. Also on the proposed lists of cuts? The state’s subsidy of Tweed-New Haven Airport.

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Facing unavoidable budget cuts, the DOT views the ferries as attractive to tourists and day trippers, but not essential transportation infrastructure. The ChesterHadlyme ferry served 45,000 vehicles in 2003, and Rocky Hill-Glastonbury just 22,000 (according to the DOT’s most recent numbers).

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sub film is surfacing and may help save the day.

Will Sub Flick Rescue Credits?

The film Hunt for Red October, filmed in 1990 with the aid of Sonalysts, an underwater and sonar defense contractor, that put the Waterford company’s Sonalysts Studios on the map.

Today Sonalyst Media operates everything from sound stages to websites, and its success has helped inspire lawmakers to fund perhaps the country’s most generous film subsidies.

Those subsidies may be torpedoed by the $3.5 billion budget deficit facing incoming Gov. Malloy — but another

Submarine thriller Thunder in the Deep will be filmed in Connecticut next year, and industry advocates claim it will have a $100 million budget and create 200 jobs.

Connecticut’s film subsidies can cover up to 30 percent of costs (including talent fees) incurred in Connecticut.

Festival Reborn KENT — Litchfield County is home to several film and TV stars, including 78-yearold Rip Torn (Men in Black, Larry Sanders, 30 Rock, among others). Torn himself made headlines last year when he stumbled into a Salisbury bank, loaded (he had a gun) after a “night on the town” instead of his own historic colonial. Now the nearby Kent Film Festival, which debuted in 2006, has outgrown its roots

in “charming Kent,” will get a new home in New Milford.

The renamed Litchfield Hills Film Festival will run April 7-10 visit hillsfilmfestival.org.

Conn. In No Mood NEW HAVEN — While Hollywood defends child rapist Roman Polanski, Connecticut’s Pardon Board won’t follow Florida’s outgoing governor Charlie Crist’s lead and find a way to pardon late rock star Jim Morrison of the Doors. Morrison was charged by New Haven police with obscenity and inciting a riot and was dragged from the stage of the New Haven Coliseum on December 9, 1969.

He was released after paying a $25 fine.

Crist is hoping to pardon Morrison for an indecent exposure charge filed against him earlier that year in

Miami (Morrison died before facing the Florida charges).

Robert Farr, director of the Connecticut Board of Pardons, told the Post that the board’s “position is that the request has to come to from the person themselves.” Morrison being dead doesn’t sway Farr, who reminds us that the Pardon Board won’t pardon people tried and indeed executed for being witches, either.

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ConnCAN’s Johnston is the man who took on New Haven public-education establishment and earned a seat at the table

Photographs: Steve Blazo

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A

lex Johnston, 38, is the founder of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), an education reform advocacy group based in New Haven that he founded in 2005. With the strong financial backing of many of Fairfield County’s investment elite, ConnCAN has challenged the publiceducation establishment, often butting heads with local and state officials. Skepticism about the group has changed for many as the education reform movement has the support of President Barack Obama. In New Haven, both Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and Schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo crossed swords with ConnCAN in the past. But now New Haven is trying to create a new model and Johnston has gone from outsider to insider with his appointment by DeStefano to the city’s Board of Education. New Haven magazine publisher Mitchell Young interviewed Johnston for ONE2ONE.

YYY Where did this all start for you? Was it in a classroom?

I got interested in the challenge of public education in the country and in Connecticut while I was at the New Haven Housing Authority. I was there from 2000 to 2004 as part of a team that came in to turn the agency around. It was on the brink of receivership and in urgent need of change. I grew up in Amherst, Mass. My dad is a professor at UMass and my mother just retired as the social studies head at Amherst High School.

So you went to public schools?

I did. Amherst is an interesting community. Some people say it is in the middle of the Happy Valley (the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts). It is a community that strives to act out progressive values. One interesting result was that Amherst developed quite a bit of affordable housing. There was a level of diversity that didn’t exist in a lot of other communities around them. I valued that and was also fascinated by it from a social policy perspective.

What did this mean for you personally?

I ran cross country and track and could

see when we went to other schools, we had a much greater diversity than the schools we were competing against. I went off to college [Harvard] thinking about this stuff and ended up doing a lot of work for Habitat for Humanity. I had been a serious competitive runner and got injured halfway through my sophomore year and couldn’t run. Now I had Saturdays [for my own activities].

I had been doing house painting and carpentry, so I got involved with Habitat for Humanity. This was right at the time of the L.A. riots in the early ‘90s and that got my attention. The idea that these tensions were right there made me realize that what we have in America, as incredible as it is, is also very fragile.

So you set out to…

I feel that I’ve been doing the same thing ever since, which is trying to stitch this country back together again.

I thought that, with all the heat you were taking a few years ago by challenging the public-education system and supporting charter schools, you were a conservative.

But you’re more in the bleeding heart category, no?

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I consider myself a progressive and feel very strongly what is progressive in any given arena depends on that arena.

But you’ve been fighting until recently with other people who also call themselves ‘progressives.’

It isn’t about having a fight per se, but about pursuing change. I don’t think anyone else has called me a conservative until you just did.

A few years back there was controversy any time ConnCAN released a report or said anything critical about public schools — especially from the ‘No Child Left Behind’-haters.

Well, let’s remember that No Child Left Behind was deeply bipartisan — this was Ted Kennedy and George Bush standing on a stage together. The thing about education reform, is it has always been bipartisan. The ideas are fundamentally progressive.

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How did you get to New Haven from Boston?

I went to Oxford for grad school and got interested in studying the politics of the relationships of non-profit organizations to the government entities providing the funding.

Going to Oxford sounds pretty cool.

I was there for four years. I had a great time. I apprenticed myself in a French restaurant as a pastry chef. I didn’t get a lot of work done. I played on an ice hockey team. After four years I was out of scholarship money.

I had a whole bunch of friends who had come from Oxford to Yale Law School — it’s a well-trod path. I figured the best place I could go to finish my dissertation was somewhere that I had friends in school. I ended up couch-surfing in New Haven. Once I was here I started working part-time and had a home renovation business and worked training youth in construction through a non-profit on Winchester Avenue. I got a job at the Housing Authority as a property manager and ended up as director of operations.

Johnston: ‘Public charter schools are part of the answer to how we transform public education — but not in any sense the answer in and of themselves.’

What made you come to view education as so important?

As rewarding as it was to help residents of the Housing Authority reclaim their communities, what we were addressing was not transformative in terms of poverty. We weren’t radically transforming people’s economic opportunity. I could see that some of the folks in the communities had children attending Amistad Academy, started by my friend Daicha Toll, who was a friend from Oxford. I could see in a very powerful way how it was changing the lives of the kids and in some case their families.

So you decided to create an education advocacy group?

In the summer of 2004 I started talking to folks about education in a more serious way. Jon Sackler [ConnCAN’s founding board chairman] and I met and we started pitching this idea to each other. [We were joined by others] who had their eyes as citizens and philanthropists open to the possibility of making dramatic change in public education, but we realized this was a political challenge. It wasn’t really a technical challenge in that Amistad Academy and other schools had shown it was really possible to change outcomes for low-income students in a dramatic way.

Isn’t there still a debate about that?

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december 2010

I don’t think it’s a debate. I think we have definitive evidence in multiple settings that the same kids can achieve dramatically different outcomes. [But although] the evidence is really clear, there is a lot of disagreement about it and it is fair to say that the majority of people in Connecticut have not seen the evidence.

They haven’t been inside the schools, they have looked at the matched studies, about kids who enter the [charter school] lottery and those who don’t get in. There is such a thing as high-performing, high-poverty schools that have dramatically closed the achievement gap. It hasn’t [been] done by picking special kids or special families.

Same kids, same challenges — totally different results.

The theme we hear from teachers and almost everyone else is that the problem with public education starts and ends with parenting. Is that true?

We need to have a more sophisticated conversation about the role of parents.

Nobody would deny that, all things being equal, having great parental support is the

ideal. We don’t have that right now, and a lot of people will bemoan, ‘We used to [have parental support] back in the glory days.’ I’m not sure we ever had it, but that doesn’t matter. Thirty, 40 years ago we didn’t ask our schools to deliver outcomes for every child. We asked our schools to deliver an opportunity for every child. We said it was okay if not everyone made it through and was ready for college, because 30, 40 years ago there were jobs for people who dropped out of high school and you could support a family.

That’s not the case today.

In the last 30 years, real incomes for high-school dropouts have dropped by over 30 percent. We have not added a net new job for high school dropouts in this state in the last 20-something years. All the job growth, such as it is, has been for people with higher education. It is an economic death sentence not to make it through high school in Connecticut. We know family support is a good thing, but [education] is so important for our society and individuals affected that we can’t sit

there and wait for families to be organized the way we want them to be.

Can public schools do this?

Educators have to take responsibility for achieving a much more demanding task then we’ve asked of the public schools in he past — not just to provide opportunity, but to provide outcomes.

That brings me back to No Child Left Behind. There was a great deal of controversy over this, especially from liberals and progressives. But you just said you can’t leave any child behind. So was it a good law?

What we are saying is that public schools can be way more powerful than we’ve given them credit for. It is critical if they are going to deliver on that role that educators take responsibility for student outcomes. A lot of the conversation about parental engagement is making excuses.

An educator who has taken responsibility for a student can see a lack of parental involvement and know they have to step up even more and get those parents engaged or to find other adults who can support [the students].

Don’t the teachers in your mother’s school up in Amherst get paid a lot less than teachers in Connecticut?

From the time you established ConnCAN, you were the outsider. Now that you’re on the Board of Ed, are you an insider?

They do. That’s an interesting thing, because Connecticut passed in 1986 legislation to raise teachers’ salaries.

Connecticut got very little in exchange — it didn’t change anything about the structure of schools, it didn’t create an environment to allow the teacher to really thrive as professionals, which is why student achievement in Massachusetts outpaces student achievement in Connecticut across the board.

There have been some periods three years ago or so we came into conflict with folks in the New Haven district. As soon as ConnCAN came on the scene and started taking the data on student achievement the state had and creating report cards for every public school in the state, that created some controversy. But it’s become a tool that many educators are interested in because they didn’t have a way to easily understand their own work.

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Isn’t this where you to start to see people getting angry?

If someone was walking down the street and dropped the cure for cancer, and it was their job to carry it — would you stop and pick it up? When we don’t educate kids we don’t even know what we’re giving up. Who’s responsibility is it or should it be? We can have a fight about it until the cows come home.

When you talk to an experienced teacher — not a union rep — what is their reaction to a new job description?

It’s funny: Some teachers say, ‘That’s been my job description all along.’ But they haven’t been part of institutions that support them. There’s another group that says, ‘That sounds great — but I don’t see my institution believing in that, so I’m on the fence as well.’ There are some who are there to punch a time card and that’s it, but it’s not a large number.

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I doubt many people go into teaching to punch a time card.

People go into teaching because they want to teach. It’s not the easiest job or highestcompensated. There are a lot of people there because they want to be. When we look around the world at what countries have the most success, we need to think about doing more to make teaching a truly attractive profession.

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Were your efforts misused in the media and elsewhere?

principles.

Beyond that, hasn’t the Obama Consistently we have had an approach administration been trying to get of celebrating success in closing the ‘the education establishment,’ the achievement gap. We’ve had our ‘Success progressives or liberals that have Stories’ schools since the very start. We’ve shielded public schools into line? talked about the achievement gap in the There’s no question that the Obama aggregate in Connecticut, but we’ve been administration’s has been pivotal. The careful not to single out individual schools.

Democratic party has caught up to For us to succeed we need people to share some of us who have always considered our belief that it is possible to close this ourselves progressives on this issue. gap.

Michael Moore blasted Waiting for Someone told me that if I went to the Superman and claimed it would aid a New Haven opening of Waiting For corporate takeover of education.

Superman (a movie about education reform emphasizing charter schools) that What it means to be progressive in any given era depends on who has the power there would teachers picketing. I didn’t to preserve the system as it is. State law go. What happened? does not allow for-profit charter schools [Laughs] I haven’t seen a single picketer in Connecticut, and ConnCAN has never at that movie. Most of this stuff is just advocated for it. This idea that there common sense. For example, should we is some conspiracy to take over public incorporate the growth in student learning education doesn’t make sense to me. into the teacher evaluation? Something What proportion Connecticut students like 90 percent of registered voters think don’t graduate high school? that’s a good idea — and not only that, but that we should make consequential Statewide we have about 77 percent that personnel decisions using the data we do, looking at the number of ninth-graders have about [teacher effectiveness]. that start out and how many make it out.

We have the Obama administration For low income, I think it’s 58 percent embracing deeply these common-sense [graduating], 42 percent not graduating. I

don’t think anyone wants that to continue.

The debate is over what do and whose job it is to do something.

Longer school year, longer hours — do they matter?

The amount of time that kids have [instruction], especially if they’re catching up, is critical. If I take you around the state and show you schools that are high performing in high-poverty areas, many of them, including in the traditional publicschool sector, are figuring out ways to add instructional time.

Don’t teachers want more money for that?

You have to compensate people fairly and treat them as professionals. But we [currently] have an approach to teacher compensation that is modeled after industrial contracts from a bygone era. We have a factory model for education and we are paying teachers as if they are factory workers. There is a contractual day, and if you stay five minutes past the ending bell you’re not supposed to be there.

Is culture-building something the state’s Department of Education should be doing?

From what I see it’s just a compliance outfit.

What great schools are doing is to own responsibility for what they can control.

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When they see things outside their control, they don’t focus their energy on those things. The role our state Department of Education has traditionally played — and this is true of many other states — they are not transformative; they are compliance agencies. We need to ask more of them, just as we do of our schools.

School class size — how important?

The class-size debate is one of the most unfortunate aspects of the public discussion. If you have a great teacher, it’s always better to have a smaller class size. But if you say we want smaller class sizes above all else, what you’re going to get is lower teacher quality. California, embarked on an unintended but massive experiment in this. There was mandatory class-size reductions and schools had to hire many more teachers and they hired people with very little experience who were the least effective educators — and student achievement went down. The debate that we can’t move forward without reducing class size is utterly misguided. We can’t move forward if we can’t have highly effective teachers.

So how should teachers be evaluated?

What New Haven is doing with its teacher evaluation system is a great

example of how to move forward.

They say, ‘We want to look at student achievement growth; we also want to look at professional practice.’ We observe and map those two things against each other.

You have to control to make sure you’re comparing teachers with similar students.

How important is school size?

It does make sense to not have schools get larger than a certain size. When you talk about a high school with 3,000, 4,000 students, it’s almost impossible for some students to not slip through without having relationships with adults that are meaningful. Smaller schools have a leg up because people know one another better. The relationships themselves are not transformative; it’s what you do with them.

Connecticut didn’t achieve any Race to the Top funding. Why? Race to the Top was a competition primarily about executive-branch leadership. There were only three folks that needed to sign the application: the governor, the chair of the state board and the commissioner. T.

great public education system.

We are confronting the fact that many people have thought, ‘We’re doing great and yeah, we have some issues with low-income kids, kids of color, but that’s simply a reflection of the economic disparity and the affluent kids are doing fantastically well.’ That’s not true. On the National Assessment for Educational Progress, the nation’s report card, you stack our top ten percent against Massachusetts and Connecticut’s kids are a year behind.

Are we to blame parents in Madison and Cheshire?

We do have some outstanding public schools in this state, but we have a lot of schools in communities that are affluent that aren’t adding very much value above the support the kids are receiving at home.

Online technology for education — distraction or solution? And isn’t there union resistance to it?

It is going to be a significant part of the landscape moving forward. I just heard [New York City Schools Chancellor] Joel Klein talk about this. They have some

Beyond the problems of urban schools, many people believe Connecticut has a

Continued on 18

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N

ew Haven Police Lt. Holly Wasilewski doesn’t mess around.

Even though the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty was once known in New Haven’s rough Hill neighborhood as “Sgt. Barbie,” she’s also known for being a lot tougher than she looks.

But today Wasilewski is facing a challenge more frightening than any she’s met on the streets. She has breast cancer — and is now going to need to be tougher than she’s ever been before.

In October, the 45-year-old Wasilewski noticed a lump in her breast when she was taking a shower. Because she has what are informally known as “lumpy” breasts (medical term: fibrocystic breasts), she didn’t panic. But she did make an appointment to have the lump examined.

Following an ultrasound and mammogram two weeks later, she was told she had breast cancer. She was floored, since breast cancer does not run in her family and when she had been tested for the breast cancer gene, no harmful mutation was discovered.

Signal 4: Officer Needs

Assistance

“It is what it is, and I’ll deal with it,” she says. But Wasilewski won’t have to deal with it alone. Her good friend and NHPD colleague Elsa Berrios-Rivera will be by her side. Says Berrios-Rivera: “When she got the diagnosis, I didn’t know what to say. I’ve never been in this situation like this, and about all I could do was cry.”

So the women had a good cry together.

“I keep telling her, ‘You’re going to fight this and we’ll get through it.’ I’m here for whatever I can do for her,” BerriosRivera says. That includes organizing a December 1 fundraiser at Vandome and the sale of beaded “Pat Down for Holly” bracelets. She’s also soliciting cash donations.

“The fundraiser is to raise funds for Holly and to help give her peace of mind while she’s off from work, Berrios-Rivera says.

“She’s going to have a lot of expenses and we want to take away that worry for her.”

She hopes that even after the fundraiser, people who work and live in the city will continue to keep her friend in mind.

Berrios-Rivera and Wasilewski met in the police academy in 1995 and have been fast friends ever since. “She’s like a magnet,” Berrios-Rivera says. “She’s such a caring person. She’s gone as far as baking Christmas cookies and making sure that on Christmas Day, she was delivering cookies to families in the Hill.”

Fellow New Haven police officer Shafiq 16

december 2010

Photo: Anthony DeCarlo

Abdussabur recalls Wasilewski’s kindness coming in the form of Macy’s shopping bags one Christmas.

“Coming fresh out the Field Training Officer program, it was my first day as a bona fide full-time police officer. I was partnering with the prettiest girl in the whole department in Hill North,” Abdussabur recalls. He thought he might have to keep her attention on the job and off her makeup, but he admits jokingly that was his first indelible impression.

“Just that night, we spent a lot of time talking. She’s a good listener and we got to be best friends fast,” he says. “Over time we built what is a phenomenal relationship, as partners and as people.

We had a close personal relationship that comes when your job is to get that person home at the end of the day.”

Abdussabur talks about one Christmas when he and Holly were walking the beat in the Hill North district.

“I said, ‘You have got to be kidding me,’” Abdussabur says. “Let me tell you something: It was an ethical and emotional turning point in my life. Here I am, an activist and community organizer, and I was the one in the police department who was going to change things in the African-American community. But I wasn’t doing anything for people for Christmas.

“Here’s this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beautiful girl and she spent her own hardearned money and she bought personal gifts for the people in the neighborhood we patrolled,” he says. “I actually felt stupid just carrying the bags and I felt I should give her $50 toward the gifts, but then I would be just like everyone else — Johnny Come Lately. She taught me a lesson and I vowed to do better the next year. The next Christmas I was ready. I was all in. That’s when I learned it’s not about what you can take from the community, but about what you can leave

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“I always wanted a [patrol] car, but Holly was cool with walking,” Abdussabur recounts. “She loves talking to people and was like the mayor when we walked the beat. But it was Christmas Eve and I thought I was getting a car. But we didn’t

get a car. We get to West Water [Street] and Holly wants me to come to her car with her. She’s got all of these big Macy’s shopping bags — presents for her family.

But they were for her ‘other’ family, the family on her beat.

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behind every day.”

That’s one of Berrios-Rivera’s favorite qualities of her friend. Because Wasilewski constantly gives, her coworkers are planning to give back to her.

“She really has touched a lot of other lives and even members of other police departments,” Berrios-Rivera says.

(Anyone wishing to donate can stop at police headquarters at 1 Union Avenue or mail a check made out to “Friends of Holly” to the New Haven Department of Police Service, 1 Union Ave., New Haven 06519.)

“We’re going to stand behind her every step of the way,” says Abdussabur.

Wasilewski called him late one night in early November and he just knew something was up. By the time he got back to her the next day, he says he’d already “pegged the cancer thing.’

“She’s got the support of the whole department behind her,” Abdussabur says.

“Everybody loves Holly. I’ve never met anyone who dislikes Holly — and that says a lot about a person, especially in our line of work.” Y

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Continued from 15

programs to insure that kids can access calculus or higher-level math instruction.

The problem is the state would not give high-school credit for a class that students could receive college credit for because there wasn’t a teacher in front of the child.

The city of New Haven has announced major education reforms, but there are a great many doubting Thomases. Do you believe real change is possible?

What Mayor DeStefano, [Reginald] Mayo and the New Haven Federation of Teachers have been able to do is create an opportunity to have a breakthrough.

It hasn’t been going on long enough to understand what the outcome will be.

Wasn’t it national news when a Rhode Island principal sent out layoff notices to all the teachers?

That’s the point. This was done in a collaborative way with the agreement of the local bargaining unit. The other model we have examples of: in Hartford Superintendent [Stephen] Adamowski and the Hartford Federation of Teachers have not seen eye to eye, and the same with in [Washington, D.C. Schools Superintendent] Michelle Rhee’s case.

But didn’t she resign after the mayor lost re-election, in part over her changes?

What really is different about the relationship between the city and teachers?

One is an agreement that the district will be able to react with schools differentially based on results, the contract allows for greater flexibility. The Brennan School [grades 3-8] was one of the first schools that was tiered for a turnaround. That school gave in effect a layoff notice to all of its teachers. They hired some of them

Yes, but she had strong student achievement gains, as does Hartford.

The question is: Is there another way to approach this that also results in student achievement gains?

What allowed this experiment to occur now in New Haven?

The very first is mayoral control. New Haven has the strongest form of mayoral control, the only entirely appointed school board in the state. That might seem counterintuitive, but it is the very strength of the mayor’s position that

creates an opening with the local teachers union. They have someone they can build a relationship with. It is much harder where you have uncertain governance.

We’ve talked for an hour and haven’t really touched on charter schools. Aren’t they the cut-to-the-chase solution?

Public charter schools are part of the answer to how we transform public education — but not in any sense the answer in and of themselves. Charter schools in Connecticut educate under one percent of the students in the state.

They really do disproportionately succeed in the state as beacons of excellence.

They’re not the only kinds of schools that are achieving breakthrough gains, but disproportionately they are. What we see now in New Haven is a partnership taking place and an exchange of ideas between Achievement First schools and the district — around teacher evaluation, it has the potential to transform results for all the students in the district, not just charter schools. The pace that high quality schools can grow is measured, and the urgency we have is great. We are failing tens of thousands of kids right now in Connecticut. Y

Photo:Katie Hayes

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ne of the most dynamic and influential figures in the recent history of the Elm City arts scene, Frances T. (Bitsie) Clark will receive the Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement In and Contribution To the Arts. The honor will be conferred on Clark at the Arts Council’s December 2 2010 Arts Awards Luncheon at the New Haven Lawn Club.

‘An Honor Long Overdue’

Under the umbrella of “Giant Steps” — reflecting “leaps of artistic faith that can land us within reach of our aspirations” — the Arts Council will likewise celebrate the accomplishments of three additional individuals and two organizations at the annual event, which is sponsored

by Coordinated Financial Resources/ Chamber Insurance Trust and longtime arts patron Ruth Lapides.

Arts Council honors Bitsie Clark for a lifetime of achievement

By MICHAEL C. BINGHAM

Clark served as executive director of the Arts Council for two decades before “retiring” to mount a successful run for the Board of Aldermen, on which she represents the 7th Ward (downtown).

Yet this year’s honor is no mere exercise in back-scratching. “Bitsie is a fixture of the New Haven arts community,” says current Arts Council Executive Director Cynthia Clair. “She was a fearless leader of the Arts Council for 20 years and continues her role as arts champion in her retirement. She’s an active member of both the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and the Shubert boards of directors, attends oodles of arts events, counsels artists and mentors arts administrators including myself.”

Clair adds that conferring the Schenck award, which commemorates a lifetime of achievement, on Clark in 2010 is “an honor long overdue.”

Other 2010 honorees include: • Rosalyn Cama, president and principal interior design at New Haven’s Cama Inc., chair of the Center for Health Design and author of the influential 2009 volume Evidence-Based Healthcare Design. Cama’s pioneering interior design work on the Smilow Cancer Hospital, which opened in October 2009, placed that major new facility at the forefront of health-care design by introducing a compelling collection of visual into the healing process.

Since founding her company 27 years ago, Cama has become a pioneer in evidencebased design (EBD), which seeks to apply tangible criteria to influence the design process. It has become particularly

Even in her ‘retirement’ Clark remains a human dynamo for downtown and the arts.

Photographs: Harold Shapiro

Photographs: Harold Shapiro

new haven

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PHOTOGRAPH:

Harold Shapiro

Cama’s pioneering interior design work on the Smilow Cancer Hospital placed that facility at the forefront of health-care design.

influential in health-care architecture to enhance patient comfort and safety as well as healing and stress reduction.

• Guitarist and singer/songwriter Bill Collins, whose work reflects a diverse breadth of musical traditions, from punk rock to country, folk, blues and rockabilly and even Celtic music. For a quartercentury Collins’ performances have lent a powerful voice to the struggles of the working class and the passions of social activists.

• Entrepreneur and community-arts activist Lou Cox, proprietor of the Channel 1 skateboard shop and gallery space in New Haven. The State Street space was created as part retail store, part artists’ collective, a creative environment for urban artists of every stripe. By virtue of his involvement in youth-based mural projects, and his presentation of visual-art exhibitions, block parties, open mics, film screenings and hip-hop and spoken-word performances, Cox has worked to build bridges between and among communities and generations and to offer young people an local outlet for their creativity.

Entrepreneur/activist Cox has worked to build bridges between and among communities and generations.

PHOTOGRAPH:

Harold Shapiro

• In 1980 an informal confederation of arts organizations came together to create an umbrella organization that today is known as the Shoreline Arts Alliance.

It develops, produces and promotes vibrant arts programming along the central Connecticut coastline, including Shakespeare on the Shoreline productions, the annual New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Awards, and its administration of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism’s Peer Adviser Network.

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20

december 2010

a chance to test the viability of a creative business without the heavy burden of risk, such as signing a 12- or 24-month lease. In just a few months’ time, Project Storefronts has helped to breathe new life into the city’s neighborhoods and growing the city’s creative economy. With retail space in the city’s Ninth Square made available by Related Properties, Project Storefronts offered opportunity to those with entrepreneurial ideas to put them to a real-life test in a commercial district and neighborhood. The Arts Council calls Project Storefronts “an enabler and a catalyst, a vehicle of discovery for aspiring entrepreneurs and the visitors who passed through their open doors, and a model by which neighborhoods can be transformed.”

Project Storefronts was conceived by city Department of Cultural Affairs Director Barbara Lamb and Public Art Coordinator Margaret Bodell, with support from Kim Futrell, and funded by the Economic Development Corp. of New Haven.

“I came up with the idea [for Project Storefronts] after pondering how the [city’s] Department of Cultural Affairs might become more involved with the economic development of New Haven,” explains Lamb. “Recognizing that ‘the arts’ are often only thought of as contributing to economic development by positively impacting ‘quality of life,’ I wanted to find a way that we might more directly participate” in helping creative entrepreneurs establish viable companies.

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“I read an article about an aging suburban mall in St. Louis that could no longer attract high-end retail tenants, whose owners had begun to allow arts organizations to transform the former retail spaces for performance, rehearsal, office and other spaces,” explains Lamb.

“I thought, what if we could assist artists with an entrepreneurial urge, to become businesspeople and give them a low-cost opportunity to test out their ideas and their business acumen?”

The project, she asserts, has been “extremely successful.” Project Storefronts is on its second three-month lease with Related Properties and Lamb is hopeful the initiative may be extended beyond the January 26 lease expiration. “It’s truly enlivened the Ninth Square considerably,” she says. Y Tickets for the December 2 luncheon, which begins at 11:45 a.m., are $70 for Arts Council members are $80 for others. Phone 203-7722788 or visit newhavenarts.org.

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A new documentary examines the rise and fall of the New Haven Coliseum In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree.

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge New Haven Deserves a Coliseum.

— Popular circa 2002 bumper sticker

By Michael C. Bingham

The Coliseum and the Knights of Columbus headquarters (left) gave New Haven a muscular entrance that matched the intensity of the Oak Street Connector and nearby interstate highways Photo \Courtesy Yale University Manuscripts & Archives.

F

or a civic landmark whose most prominent moment in the sun was the 0.2 seconds it took to blast it to smithereens, it is oddly fitting that the New Haven Coliseum has been memorialized forever in a new documentary film.

November 8 on Connecticut Public Television.

grand scheme to recast downtown New Haven as a latter-day Xanadu, luring well-heeled swells from Westport and Darien instead of pot-bellied hockey hoi polloi from jerkwater ‘burbs like North Branford. (When the building first opened it was hailed as “the place for middle-class suburban entertainment” in south-central Connecticut, as it doubtless was.)

Produced, written and directed by filmmaker and Quinnipiac University journalism professor Rich Hanley, The Last Days of the Coliseum is part posthumous paean, but also an incisive, sharp-edged exploration of the fickle foibles of public-sector decision-making in New Haven throughout much of the 20th century and into the 21st.

The film opens at dawn on January 20, 2007. The Coliseum had in fact been on death row since 2001, when Mayor John DeStefano Jr. unilaterally condemned it to death. On that cold Sunday morning, thousands of onlookers crowded multilevel downtown parking garages and other public spaces to witness the spectacle of a building’s destruction. When the plunger is pushed, a cloud of dust envelops the building as it collapses from the center, its back broken. Budweiser-fueled war whoops penetrate the cold, clear morning air.

But middle-class, suburban sensibilities were not DeStefano’s concern. So he gracelessly elbowed aside all objections and got his way — as he usually has in 20 years astride the throne of a city that bade farewell to the two-party system a halfcentury ago.

Narrated by former WPLR-FM morning host Bruce Barber, the film first aired

DeStefano hated the Coliseum and saw it as a hulking, antiquated roadblock in his

(The economy’s doomsday plunge of 2008 derailed grand redevelopment schemes for

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the Coliseum site — though it is hardly fair to single out Hizzoner as a solitary nincompoop who didn’t see the global financial meltdown coming. No one did, of course. But because of it the Coliseum site today sits fallow as a surface parking lot — awaiting perhaps a resurgent regional and national economy, or perhaps a developer who sees a market for an indoor concert and sporting-event venue.)

And that may be Hanley’s most penetrating theme — that over the past five decades New Haven’s insular political leadership pursued half-baked economic development (or redevelopment) schemes without regard to what their constituents actually wanted.

Which is…what? In Hanley’s view, the “what” boils down to: affordable family

entertainment.

Sporting events. Circuses. Ice shows.

Home expos. Bridal shows. (God forbid) professional wrestling.

But above all, what New Haven-area audiences have historically craved — and what put the New Haven Coliseum on the map — were rock ‘n’ roll concerts and ice hockey.

One of Hanley’s themes is the historic strength of New Haven’s identity as a hockey town. The Last Days of the Coliseum shows how New Haven emerged at the turn of the 20th century as a hockey hotbed, first at a long-forgotten indoor rink that opened in 1914 (the same

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The Coliseum and the Knights of Columbus headquarters (left) gave New Haven a muscular entrance that matched the intensity of the Oak Street Connector and nearby interstate highways. Photo Courtesy Yale University Manuscripts & Archives.

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When the New Haven Blades began Eastern Hockey League play in 1954 (replacing the New York Rangers’ minorleague afďŹ liate the New Haven Ramblers, which folded in 1950), narrator Bruce Barber notes that “Hockey fans would view the Blades as inseparable from New Haven’s identity as the New Haven Green itself.â€?

Along with hockey, the devil’s music, too, has a checkered history in the City of Elms. In 1958 Mayor Richard C. Lee tried to ban rock ‘n’ roll outright from the Coliseum, but thankfully failed.

(The Coliseum was hardly the only city

venue to have problems with rockers: The Doors’ Jim Morrison’s December 9, 1967 bust at the New Haven Arena is the stuff of legend; but few may now recall that Yale refused to allow the Beatles to play the Yale Bowl in 1964 after a wellheeled benefactor threatened to withhold a donation if the Fab Four were permitted to despoil such hallowed ground as Walter Camp Field.)

Concert promoter Jim Koplik and partner Shelly Finkel were for a time the principal promoters of rock ‘n’ roll shows in the Coliseum. But the political climate was not fertile. City ofďŹ cials, Koplik recalls onscreen, “were scared out of their wits.

They did not want rock concerts. It was very political. The city of New Haven was very scared of the word ‘rock.’�

A Pat Benatar concert at the Coliseum was taped for HBO in 1983. Three years later, Van Halen filmed their ‘Live Without a Net\ concert performance on the Coliseum stage. Photo: Mike Franzman

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Despite the opposition, the Elm City’s presence on major concert tours “put New Haven on the map. Major performers that we would never have seen came through this city because we had that Coliseum,” recalls attorney, musician and onetime city alderman Steve Mednick.

Indeed, multiple generation of New Haveners mark their first Coliseum concert as a rite of passage into young adulthood, whether it was Shaun Cassidy or Van Halen.

“The Coliseum would be the communal gathering place for the irresistible force of the baby boomers,” asserts the narration.

The Golden Age of Coliseum rock shows faded at a moment that bands like Van Halen “bubbled up from the carpeted ooze of suburban basements in the late 1970s.”

Metal would rule the decade of the 1980s — “in harmony with the decay of the building itself,” according to the narration.

The documentary also records the cultural shifts, budget battles and engineering decisions that dramatically altered the original design plan — and ultimately contributed to the Coliseum’s slow destruction barely three decades after

its opening. The film characterizes the structure as “an odd-looking building that seemed dropped into New Haven from parts unknown.” New Haven historian and Yale professor Douglas Rae called it “Jurassic — something out of all proportion to the human scale of those mixed–used neighborhoods around it.” A 1972 letter to editor of the New Haven Register characterized the new building “a modern relic.”

Then there was the danger factor: the toonarrow ramps winding up the “doublehelix” to the rooftop parking garage, so terrifying to departing motorists that the Coliseum Authority would place staffers at the top of the ramps to drive guests down. Not to mention the heart-stopping seven-story-high escalators that in the original design were indoors but moved outside due to budget cuts on the project.

The Last Days of the Coliseum records in meticulous detail the history of 20th century public entertainment in New Haven, as well as the tensions between city and suburbs following the “white flight” of the post-World War II years.

Indeed, Mayor Lee was eventually persuaded to change his mind about the rock ‘n’ roll because he desperately wanted

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to claw back residents who had fled the city following 1945.

Hanley has assembled rare photos and archival footage that will fascinate Elm City viewers. He interviewed nearly everyone, it seems, who ever had anything to do with the building — from Coliseum architect Kevin Roche to musicians like G.E. Smith to hockey historian Kevin Tennyson to a onetime Coliseum usher named Howard Finkel who later launched a Hall of Fame career as a pro-wrestling ring announcer.

The Last Days of the Coliseum stands as a historical rendering of a time and place that remain today only in the memories of the baby boomers “who exchanged the revolution of the 1960s for the pleasures of the ‘70s.” The implosion that felled the building on that cold January day in 2007 “signal the start of [baby boomers’] long exodus from the stage as a primary gathering point in their lives turned to rubble.” Y The Last Days of the Coliseum is not in theatrical exhibition but may be purchased for $24.99 (Blu-Ray $39.99) plus shipping, handling and tax. Visit lastdaysofthecoliseum.com.

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Swallowing and breathing problems can be life threatening and there have been reports of death.

The risk of symptoms is probably greatest in children and adults treated for muscle spasms, particularly in those patients who have underlying medical conditions that could make these symptoms more likely.

The toxic effects have been reported at doses similar to those used to treat muscle spasms in the neck. Lower doses, in both approved and unapproved uses, have also caused toxic effects. This includes treatment of children and adults for muscle spasms.

These effects could make it unsafe for you to drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities.

Do not have Dysport treatment if you: are allergic to Dysport or any of its ingredients (see the end of the Medication Guide for a list of ingredients), are allergic to cow’s milk protein, had an allergic reaction to any other botulinum toxin product such as Myobloc® or Botox,® or have a skin infection at the planned injection site.

The dose of Dysport is not the same as the dose of any other botulinum toxin product. The dose of Dysport cannot be compared to the dose of any other botulinum toxin product you may have used.

Dysport may not be right for you if: you have surgical changes to your face, very weak muscles in the treatment area, your face looks very different from side to side, the injection site is inflamed, you have droopy eyelids or sagging eyelid folds, deep facial scars, thick oily skin, or if your wrinkles can’t be smoothed by spreading them apart.

Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you have: a disease that affects your muscles and nerves (such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease], myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome), allergies to any botulinum toxin

product or had any side effect from any botulinum toxin product in the past, a breathing problem (such as asthma or emphysema), swallowing problems, bleeding problems, diabetes, a slow heart beat or other problem with your heart rate or rhythm, plans to have surgery, had surgery on your face, weakness of your forehead muscles (such as trouble raising your eyebrows), drooping eyelids, or any other change in the way your face normally looks. Patients with a disease that affects muscles and nerves who are treated with typical doses of Dysport may have a higher risk of serious side effects, including severe swallowing and breathing problems.

Human Albumin This product contains albumin taken from human plasma. Steps taken during donor screening and product manufacturing processes make the risk of spreading viral diseases extremely rare. In theory, there is also an extremely rare risk of contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

No cases of spread of viral diseases or CJD have ever been reported for albumin.

Allergic Reaction to Injecting in the Skin It is not known if an allergic reaction can be caused by injecting Dysport into the skin. The safety of treating excessive sweating with Dysport is not known.

Common Side Effects The most common side effects are nose and throat irritation, headache, injection site pain, injection site skin reaction, upper respiratory tract infection, eyelid swelling, eyelid drooping, sinus inflammation, and nausea.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins and herbal and other natural products. Using Dysport with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects. Do not start any new medicines while taking Dysport without talking to your doctor first.

Especially tell your doctor if you: have received any other botulinum toxin product in the last four months, have received injections of botulinum toxin, such as Myobloc® (rimabotulinumtoxinB) or Botox® (onabotulinumtoxinA) in the past (be sure your doctor knows exactly which product you received), have recently received an antibiotic by injection, take muscle relaxants, take an allergy or cold medicine, or take a sleep medicine.

Use In Specific Populations Dysport should not be used in children or in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Ask your doctor if Dysport is right for you.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Dysport Holiday Offer Terms & Conditions The Dysport Holiday Offer is a coupon program that works by providing you a rebate check limited to $50 for one treatment with Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA). This offer is limited to patients over the age of 18 who are treated with Dysport for the temporary improvement in the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines). To participate in this offer, you must receive a Dysport treatment between November 1, 2010, and December 31, 2010. Within 30 days after your treatment, you must: (1) sign up for the Dysport Holiday Offer at www.DysportUSA.com and (2) mail your completed rebate redemption form with an itemized receipt for your treatment to the address found on the form. Credit card receipts will not be accepted. Your submission must be postmarked within 30 days after the date of your treatment and no later than January 30, 2011, and must be received by February 28, 2011. If you have any questions about the Dysport Holiday Offer, please call toll-free 866-222-1480. If you would like to check on the status of your rebate check, visit www.rapid-rebates.com.

You are eligible for this offer only if you paid for your entire treatment yourself and if no part of your treatment was covered by insurance or another third-party payor. This offer excludes any treatment that is reimbursed by Medicaid, Medicare, or other federal or state benefit programs, including state medical assistance programs. You are not eligible for this offer if your private insurance, HMO, or other health benefit program paid for all or part

of your treatment. If any form of reimbursement is sought from a third-party, you may be required to disclose the value of this rebate to that party. This offer is available only to patients, excluding claims from Medicis employees and their families, or employees of its dealers and distributors. This offer is non-transferable. Offer valid only in the U.S. excluding territories and void where prohibited by law.

This offer is limited to one redemption per person and cannot be combined with any other Medicis offer or promotion. If you received a treatment as part of the Dysport Challenge, you may participate in the Dysport Holiday Offer; however, you must wait at least 3 months between treatments. By submitting a rebate request, you agree to all terms and conditions of this offer and acknowledge that, in administering this program, Medicis may track your treatment activity and use your personal information to send correspondence in connection with this offer. Medicis reserves the right to cancel or modify this offer without notice. All rebate requests become the property of Medicis and will not be returned. Medicis assumes no responsibility for lost, late, damaged, misdirected, misaddressed, incomplete or postage-due requests that fail to be properly delivered to the address stated on the rebate redemption form for any reason. Rebate checks will be issued in U.S. dollars only.

Rebate checks and coupons are void if not cashed or used within 180 days and cannot be re-issued.

PLEASE SEE MEDICATION GUIDE ON FOLLOWING PAGES. 26

december 2010

Time to lose those frown lines?

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This holiday season, everyone’s talking about Dysport, a botulinum toxin type A prescription injection used to temporarily improve the look of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults less than 65 years of age.

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E

V A 0 S $5 SEE IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION INCLUDING BOXED WARNING TO THE LEFT.

Go online to get the facts about Dysport, see before and after photos, and if you don’t have one, find a doctor. Ask your healthcare professional if Dysport is right for you.

Make your holiday appointment today!

The Dysport trademark is used under license.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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07150166

MEDICATION GUIDE Dysport ÂŽ (DIS-port) (abobotulinumtoxinA) Injection

Read the Medication Guide that comes with Dysport before you start using it and each time Dysport is given to you. There may be new information. This information does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or your treatment. You should share this information with your family members and caregivers.

What is the most important information I should know about Dysport ?

Dysport may cause serious side effects that can be life threatening.

Call your doctor or get medical help right away if you have any of these problems after treatment with Dysport : t Problems swallowing, speaking, or breathing. These problems can happen hours to weeks after an injection of Dysport usually because the muscles that you use to breathe and swallow can become weak after the injection. Death can happen as a complication if you have severe problems with swallowing or breathing after treatment with Dysport. t 1FPQMF XJUI DFSUBJO CSFBUIJOH problems may need to use muscles in their neck to help them breathe.

These patients may be at greater risk for serious breathing problems with Dysport. t 4XBMMPXJOH QSPCMFNT NBZ MBTU GPS TFWFSBM XFFLT 1FPQMF XIP DBO not swallow well may need a feeding tube to receive food and water. If swallowing problems are severe, food or liquids may go JOUP ZPVS MVOHT 1FPQMF XIP BMSFBEZ have swallowing or breathing problems before receiving Dysport have the highest risk of getting these problems. t Spread of toxin effects. In some cases, the effect of botulinum toxin may affect areas of the body away 28

december 2010

from the injection site and cause symptoms of a serious condition called botulism. The symptoms of botulism include: t MPTT PG TUSFOHUI BOE NVTDMF weakness all over the body t EPVCMF WJTJPO t CMVSSFE WJTJPO BOE ESPPQJOH eyelids t IPBSTFOFTT PS DIBOHF PS MPTT PG voice (dysphonia) t USPVCMF TBZJOH XPSET DMFBSMZ (dysarthria) t MPTT PG CMBEEFS DPOUSPM t USPVCMF CSFBUIJOH t USPVCMF TXBMMPXJOH These symptoms can happen hours to weeks after you receive an injection of Dysport.

These problems could make it unsafe for you to drive a car or do other EBOHFSPVT BDUJWJUJFT 4FF i8IBU TIPVME I avoid while receiving Dysport ?�.

What is Dysport ?

Dysport is a prescription medicine that is injected into muscles and used: t UP USFBU UIF BCOPSNBM IFBE QPTJUJPO and neck pain that happens with cervical dystonia (CD) in adults t UP JNQSPWF UIF MPPL PG NPEFSBUF UP severe frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in adults younger than 65 years of age for a short period of time (temporary) CD is caused by muscle spasms in the neck. These spasms cause abnormal position of the head and often neck pain. After Dysport is injected into muscles, those muscles are weakened for up to 12 to 16 weeks or longer. This may help lessen your symptoms.

Frown lines (wrinkles) happen because the muscles that control facial expression are used often (muscle tightening over and over).

After Dysport is injected into the muscles that control facial expression, the medicine stops the tightening of these muscles for up to 4 months.

It is not known whether Dysport is safe or effective in children under 18Â years of age.

It is not known whether Dysport is safe or effective for the treatment of other types of muscle spasms. It is not known whether Dysport is safe or effective for the treatment of other wrinkles.

Who should not take Dysport ?

Do not take Dysport if you: t BSF BMMFSHJD UP Dysport or any of the ingredients in Dysport 4FF UIF FOE of this Medication Guide for a list of ingredients in Dysport t BSF BMMFSHJD UP DPX T NJML QSPUFJO t IBE BO BMMFSHJD SFBDUJPO UP BOZ PUIFS botulinum toxin product such as MyoblocŽ* or BotoxŽ* t IBWF B TLJO JOGFDUJPO BU UIF QMBOOFE injection site What should I tell my doctor before taking Dysport ?

Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you have: t B EJTFBTF UIBU BGGFDUT ZPVS NVTDMFT and nerves (such as amyotrophic MBUFSBM TDMFSPTJT <"-4 PS -PV (FISJH T disease], myasthenia gravis or -BNCFSU &BUPO TZOESPNF 4FF i8IBU is the most important information I should know about Dysport ?â&#x20AC;? t BMMFSHJFT UP BOZ CPUVMJOVN UPYJO product t IBE BOZ TJEF FGGFDU GSPN BOZ botulinum toxin product in the past t B CSFBUIJOH QSPCMFN TVDI BT asthma or emphysema t TXBMMPXJOH QSPCMFNT t CMFFEJOH QSPCMFNT t EJBCFUFT t B TMPX IFBSU CFBU PS PUIFS QSPCMFN with your heart rate or rhythm t QMBOT UP IBWF TVSHFSZ t IBE TVSHFSZ PO ZPVS GBDF t XFBLOFTT PG ZPVS GPSFIFBE NVTDMFT (such as trouble raising your eyebrows) t ESPPQJOH FZFMJET t BOZ PUIFS DIBOHF JO UIF XBZ ZPVS face normally looks

Tell your doctor if you: t BSF QSFHOBOU PS QMBO UP CFDPNF pregnant. It is not known if Dysport can harm your unborn baby t BSF CSFBTU GFFEJOH PS QMBOOJOH UP breast-feed. It is not known if Dysport passes into breast milk Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins and herbal and other natural products. Using Dysport with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects. Do not start any new medicines while taking Dysport without talking to your doctor first.

Especially tell your doctor if you: t IBWF SFDFJWFE BOZ PUIFS botulinum toxin product in the last four months t IBWF SFDFJWFE JOKFDUJPOT PG botulinum toxin, such as MyoblocŽ (Botulinum Toxin Type B)* or BotoxŽ (Botulinum Toxin Type A)* in the past; be sure your doctor knows exactly which product you received t IBWF SFDFOUMZ SFDFJWFE BO BOUJCJPUJD by injection t UBLF NVTDMF SFMBYBOUT t UBLF BO BMMFSHZ PS DPME NFEJDJOF t UBLF B TMFFQ NFEJDJOF Ask your doctor if you are not sure if your medicine is one that is listed above.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of your medicines with you to show your doctor and pharmacist each time you get a new medicine.

How should I take Dysport ? t Dysport is an injection that your doctor will give you t Dysport is injected into the affected muscles t :PVS EPDUPS NBZ HJWF ZPV BOPUIFS dose of Dysport after 12 weeks or longer, if it is needed t *G ZPV BSF CFJOH USFBUFE GPS $% ZPVS doctor may change your dose of Dysport, until you and your doctor ďŹ nd the best dose for you

t 5IF EPTF PG Dysport is not the same as the dose of any other botulinum toxin product

report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What should I avoid while taking Dysport ?

Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Medication Guide.

Dysport may cause loss of strength or general muscle weakness, blurred vision, or drooping eyelids within hours to weeks of taking Dysport.

If this happens, do not drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities. See â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is the most important information I should know about Dysport ?â&#x20AC;?

What are the possible side effects of Dysport ?

Dysport can cause serious side effects. See â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is the most important information I should know about Dysport ?â&#x20AC;?

Other side effects of Dysport include: t ESZ NPVUI t JOKFDUJPO TJUF EJTDPNGPSU PS QBJO t UJSFEOFTT t IFBEBDIF t OFDL QBJO t NVTDMF QBJO t FZF QSPCMFNT EPVCMF WJTJPO CMVSSFE vision, decreased eyesight, problems with focusing the eyes (accommodation), drooping eyelids, swelling of the eyelids t BMMFSHJD SFBDUJPOT 4ZNQUPNT PG BO allergic reaction to Dysport may include: itching, rash, red itchy welts, wheezing, asthma symptoms, or dizziness or feeling faint. Tell your doctor or get medical help right away if you get wheezing or asthma symptoms, or if you get dizzy or faint

General information about Dysport :

This Medication Guide summarizes the most important information about Dysport. If you would like more information, talk with your doctor. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for information about Dysport that is written for healthcare professionals. For more information about Dysport call 877-397-7671 or go to www.Dysport.com or XXX %ZTQPSU64" DPN What are the ingredients in Dysport ?

Active ingredient: (botulinum toxin Type A) Inactive ingredients: human albumin, and lactose. Dysport may contain DPX T NJML QSPUFJO Issued May 2009 This Medication Guide has been BQQSPWFE CZ UIF 6 4 'PPE BOE %SVH Administration.

Distributed by: Tercica, Inc. a subsidiary of the Ipsen Group Brisbane, CA 94005 and Medicis Aesthetics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicis 1IBSNBDFVUJDBM $PSQPSBUJPO 4DPUUTEBMF "; * All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of Dysport.

For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may

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An Environment Design signature structure is called a Dream Tower..

The Playing’s the Thing

A lifetime of designing play spaces that actually help children learn

By ELIZA HALLABECK

E

ven though most traditional American schools feature rigidly segregated spaces for learning (e.g., classrooms) and recreation (playgrounds and gymnasiums), making that artificial distinction is really an adult conceit, isn’t it? Children — especially younger ones who have yet to be poisoned into associating learning with drudgery — don’t naturally differentiate playing from learning. They learn that, soon enough, from adults.

For Environment Design founder and principal Frederick A. Martin, a playground is a place for children to discover themselves, imagine limitless possibilities, explore new realms and dreams, while remaining in the confines of one space. For Martin, creating a play area is tantamount to creating a world where children can discover themselves and learn more about their own personalities.

Who will be the child who bravely heads down the slide first, before checking for a lingering spider at the end of the tunnel?

Who will be the king or queen of the tallest Dream Tower, one of Environment Design’s signature structures?

Since 1974 Environment Design has planned and constructed playscapes for 30

december 2010

different surroundings, and as Martin notes, each design was specially crafted for the purpose and scope of the specific space it occupies. Some structures are indoors, like the play area in Bethesda Lutheran Church on Whitney Avenue in New Haven.

Other play areas are outdoors, like the one designed for Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Day Care Center.

Each play area, Martin says, is really a self-contained environment, which is one reason he named his business Environment Design, LLC. According to the company’s website (environmentdesign.com), “Whatever the setting — outdoors in an urban schoolyard, a nursery school or a lush nature center; in a large or small interior loft; or in a suburban back yard — our plans are always unique, always appropriate to the location and ages of the children, and always intended for happy group play.”

Along with a climbing area, a crawl space and a double slide, Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Day Care Center’s play area has a wooden fenced-in section designed to look like large truck, with headlights and a steering wheel. The day care

Martin wants his designs to help foster ‘child-to-child communities.’

center’s play space is also unusual, Martin says, because trees are incorporated into the design.

Since moving the business to Milford in 1990, Martin says, his company has designed roughly 30 projects in the area, as well as play spaces in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

Most of the company’s designs are for children between the ages of three and six, Martin explains, “because they are the ones that need a really good play environment.”

Playgrounds are where children learn to become people, Martin asserts, and he makes sure Environment

Design’s creations emphasize this key developmental function.

One of Martin’s favorite recent designs is the playground at St. Thomas’s Day School on Whitney Avenue in New Haven on the Hamden town line. To plan the project, Martin says Environment Design worked hand-in-hand with officials of the private school to create the right atmosphere for the students.

St. Thomas’s Headmaster Fred Aquavita says students can run through the playground — “up, down and over little bridges. What’s unique about it,” Aquavita explains, “it they never get tired of it — and that was our intent.”

The play area at St. Thomas’s was constructed entirely from natural wood and features a sandbox and water table.

It is the second play space Environment Design has created for the school.

The process of learning, Martin says, is different for each child, and over the nearly four decades the company has been designing spaces, he has tried to emphasize this. In order to achieve a balance between imagination and learning for each child, Martin says playgrounds need to be designed specifically for the

Awaken your little one’s love of learning.

space while being open to interpretation by different users.

Carol Martin, who works with her husband, describes him as an artist who “wants his designs to help [foster] child-tochild communities.”

Since the company began in 1974, play space design has changed along with changing materials and evolving philosophies of learning, Martin says.

Now there is an emphasis on closer-tothe-ground playgrounds to accommodate all children (including younger ones), and there is also a greater emphasis on helping children feel connected to nature.

According to Carol Martin, each playground by Environment Design is “green” and safe.

“Environment Design, under Fred’s direction, handles everything, including planning, design, project management and installation. We use materials that are safe, durable and natural: real and recycled wood composite decking, arsenic-free pressure-treated framing and posts, and commercial-grade parts and hardware.”

Fred Martin says his desire to create nature-connected designs stems from being a product of the 1960s and ‘70s. His

first project, — like virtually all that have followed — was a community-centered project. It was as a high school student in San Francisco that he was first introduced to the idea of designing play spaces. The young Martin was given the chance to work on a volunteer project for a church in Darien, Conn. Ever since then he has been working on creating custom designs, and a few years even earned a fine-arts degree from Vassar College.

Coincidentally, Martin recently was afforded an opportunity to rebuild his very first project (Environment Design recommends that playgrounds be rebuilt or refurbished every 15 years). He was joined by his sons to work on the project, and Carol Martin says her husband was disappointed that he decided not to place a marker under one of the beams on the project when it was first built, as he never imagined he would be returning to same place again.

Children, Martin observes from a lifetime of building play spaces for them, “can imagine something much better than an adult in some ways.” It is his job to provide a safe environment that allows children the most room for that imagination to soar. Y

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Beyond the Bookshelves W

Second-hand booksellers become creative hubs for the larger arts community

By MAKAYLA SILVA

anted: Poets, writers, artists and musicians.

If you are any of these, or perhaps just someone who likes to knit or read, head to your local second-hand book shop. As it turns out, there are places in need of some reciprocal inspiration and good company, just waiting for you to show up and have a cup of coffee.

Places like Books & Co. on Whitney Avenue in Hamden and the Book Trader Café on Chapel Street in New Haven double as clearinghouses for local artists.

Whether she is providing a stage for musicians or a gallery for an artist, Linda Mooser, owner of Whitneyville’s Books & Co., said it has always been important to interact with the local community.

“When anyone approaches us from the community, we accommodate their needs,” she says.

Though artists have always been able to exhibit their work and sell notecards in her store, Mooser says she has recently taken more initiative to interact with the area arts community.

“The idea is that if you create it, people will come,” she explains. “The more we do, the more people will come when they need a book, or when they need a notecard or when they want a cup of coffee.”

Beading groups, book clubs and local choruses alike are invited to make themselves at home within the cozy confines of the 16-year-old bookstore.

“We encourage people to use us for community purposes — especially the arts,” says Mooser. “It’s important to have an atmosphere here where people can come and recharge their batteries and meet and share ideas with other people.”

32

december 2010

Books & Co. proprietress Mooser (right) with Teresa Fields, who last month held a grand opening for her Legal Grounds gourmet coffee shop in the Whitney Ave. store.

Mooser, who is also a jeweler, says it was her beading groups that allowed other beaders to come together and share

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techniques with one another that brought her into the arts scene.

Soon after she started offering space for other artists to come and read poetry or discuss the latest novel they had read.

“It’s wonderful to have the energy of people coming and sharing — something musical, visual, auditory or whatever,” she explains.

An ongoing community event from May to October is First Saturday Arts, billed as “Hamden’s own monthly arts festival.”

“It happened somewhat organically,” Mooser recalls of her First Saturday event.

“There was never really a formal sign-up.

It began as a place where artists could make their creations available with no charge, no commission taken.”

Though there were eight or nine artists in the store on any given Saturday, Mooser is expecting even larger numbers next year.

“We eventually hope to see ourselves grow

to be like the Greenwich Village sidewalks of the 1960s,” Mooser says. “Hopefully it gets to the point where there are 100 artists that will come.” She adds that Books & Co. is already accepting reservations for 2011.

“We started by the seat of our pants,” she says. “We’re already getting people asking about it. They want to participate in everything from fine arts to crafts.”

First Saturday Arts is a gateway for the New Haven arts community to share their work and ideas.

“It’s been fun for the artists to just hang out with each other. It’s very communal,” Mooser says. “There really isn’t any place to just put yourself out there and sell it without having to pay a table fee.”

Books & Co. has also hosted a Friday night songwriter series called “Songs from the Sofa,” and a lecture series called “Books & Distinguished Company.”

Last month, for example, naturopathic

On November 12 Chanteens, a student chorus from New Haven’s Sound School, delighted Books & Co. visitors with songs of the sea.

34

december 2010

physician Leigh White was in the store for a Saturday “Tea and Conversation” with readers with health questions.

The lecture series features luminaries from the community such as architect Kevin Roche, who designed the United Nations Plaza in New York City, and Leo Hickey, curator of the Yale Peabody Museum.

“Sometimes we can really do some things that are really special, I’ve considered that to be a really special series,” Mooser says.

And then of course there are book signings.

In late November Abe Arias, a local attorney who moonlights as a sciencefiction author, was in Books & Co. to sign copies of his novel Robbie Velez and the Key to Rocket City.

Still, anyone from a 15-year-old guitarist to a master of fine arts can reserve space in the quirky bookstore to showcase his or her talents. “We enjoy having any artist

Book Trader Café’s Duda: ‘People are looking for community events rather than just Facebook friending.”

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who wants to particpate for any reason,” Mooser says.

“If it weren’t for places like us that aren’t looking for the bottom line — if it’s economically feasible to hold these sorts of things — people would have nowhere to go.”

Hear that, local artists? The Whitneyville book shop wants you to exhibit your work.

Free of charge.

“Part of our mission is to be part of the community, to not just be a place that just sells things,” Mooser says. “We’re here to be a meeting place, an exchange of ideas, a place that celebrates the arts and literature.”

YYY

Amid the bustle of Chapel Street, downtown’s Book Trader Café, known for its extensive vegetarian menu and idiosyncratic selection of used books, offers a sanctum sanctorum for poets, artists and writers.

David Duda, owner of the 12-year-old second-hand bookshop, says his shop has

continually engaged the wide-ranging Elm City arts community through offering nightly readings and space for local artists to display their work.

Currently, Book Trader is one of several downtown locations taking part in the Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s program called Listen Here.

In collaboration with the New Haven Theater Co. and the New Haven Review, Listen Here organizes the readings of short stories, poetry and screenplays on Thursday nights throughout the city.

Recent readings include Woody Allen’s The Whore of Mensa and Ethan Coen’s The Russian, which were selected by New Haven Review editors and read by New Haven Theatre Co. actors at the Book Trader.

Duda explains that this partnership, along with encouraging book clubs to meet regularly and allowing local artists to exhibit their works in the café, brings value to Book Trader beyond the bookshelves.

“Bookstores build a sense of community,” he says. “Obviously the people interested in literature are interested in the arts.

They go hand in hand.”

In the age of the iPad and Kindle, retailers like Book Trader and Books & Co. know they must do more than simply sell inkand-tree books to survive. They must reinvent themselves as community centers — of multiple communities.

That’s why intellectually curious and artistically engaged people are looking for, and finding, additional reasons to flock to their local booksellers.

“There’s so little that brings people together these days — with everyone being online all of the time,” Duda explains. “It seems like people are looking for community events rather than just Facebook friending.”

Being voted “Best Used Bookstore” in the New Haven Advocate’s reader poll for six years in a row is one thing. Fostering a community through hosting programs like Listen Here is another.

“It gives us a great sense of worth as a retail establishment,” Duda says. “It builds loyalty. It’s something extra than just coffee and soup.” Y

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arrakech Inc., a Woodbridge non-profit that provides educational, employment and housing programs and services to children and adults with disabilities, held its tenth annual Gala & Auction at Grassy Hill Country Club in Orange November 13.

The event featured a cocktail reception, dinner dance and live and silent auctions.

Proceeds from this event will support the Marrakech Heritage Fund and other Marrakech programs.

(L-r) Marrakech President/CEO Francis E. McCarthy, Citizens Bank’s Richard J. DeMayo, Lisa Melillo of Monroe Public Schools, and Steven P. Shwartz, chairman of the Marrakech board of directors.

Louise Epstein and Irwin Epstein of Alert Security Systems Inc., co-chairs of the 2007 Marrakech Gala & Auction.

(L-r) Jean Blum, Ed Mas, Cornelia Mas and Lorraine Bryne. The Mases offered a parents’ perspective on raising a child with a disability and their experience being a part of the Marrakech family.

Thinking Pink

Donna Sassi, RN, director of Midstate’s Family Birthing Center, looking edgy but chic.

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early 1,000 people gathered in support of the MidState Cancer Center at the 2010 Pink Partini

Administrative Associate Dawn Papallo walks the runway with her daughter, MRI Technologist Christine Venoit.

Fashion Show, making the event the largest in MidState history. The event took place October 26 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville.

Midstate President & CEO Lucille Janatka, struts down the runway with Chief Financial Officer Ralph Becker.

new haven

37

OF NOTES

A legendary bandleader and composer ‘return’ to New Haven for a musical time-travel journey

By MICHAEL C. BINGHAM

Live or Memorex?: Yale Concert Band Director Duffy channels Glenn Miller during a 1994 re-enactment of Miller’s historic World War II broadcasts from Woolsey Hall.

I

f you want to hear some of the greatest swing-band music ever made — and hear it exactly as audiences heard it when it was brand-new — then has the Yale Concert Band ever got a treat for you.

On December 3, Music Director Thomas C. Duffy will lead the YCB in a true-tolife re-enactment of Glenn Miller’s 1943-44 Army Air Force Band radio broadcasts from Woolsey Hall, complete with radio skits, period costumes, vocalists and swinging big band performances of timeless Miller classics such a “Moonlight Serenade, “Little Brown Jug” and of course “In the Mood.”

The other half of the performance will be a re-enactment of Cole Porter singing songs from classic musicals he began to pen while an undergraduate at Yale from 1909 to 1913, by acclaimed New York

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cabaret artist Steve Ross. The YCB will perform as Ross’ backup band for that half of the show.

What do Cole Porter and Glenn Miller have in common? In a word, Yale. While the former’s link to the Blue Mother is well known, it is little recalled today that America’s most successful bandleader was posted to the Elm City for six months in the middle of World War II. Miller “actually tried to join the Navy,” Duffy explains. “But they rejected him — he was too old” at the ripe old age of 38.

“So he wrote a letter to the Superintendent of the Army. Bing Crosby wrote a letter on his behalf, too, saying [Miller] was a swell fellow.” The Army brass acceded and set Miller about the task of forming morale-building bands throughout the eastern seaboard. That job eventually got

the bespectacled officer posted to New Haven.

As Capt. Glenn Miller, he was placed in charge of organizing bands for the Army Air Force Technical Training Command, which was headquartered at Yale. Musicians and fans of a certain age still marvel at the unprecedented assemblage of talent that invaded the Yale campus during a time of national crisis when virtually every able-bodied man answered his country’s call to uniform.

Yale was converted to a war school during World War II (a factoid that would surely disconcert today’s generation of undergrads). “Yale really got behind the war effort,” Duffy explains.

On May 29, 1943, the first of six “test” broadcasts of a program titled I Sustain the Wings aired throughout New England over

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Boston radio station WEEI. All but one of the shows was performed from Woolsey.

In July, the broadcasts were picked up by CBS and broadcast over the network’s 106 stations. Two months later they switched to the even larger NBC hookup, where they remained until Miller took the band overseas.

players are accustomed to hearing].

There’s an entirely different vibrato in the reed section. There was a different kind of drumming style then, with greater emphasis on tom toms.” And much more.

Do the students play the same immortal solos on hits like “In the Mood” — with its unmatched “tenor fight” dueling solos between Tex Beneke and Al Klink? “They try,” says Duffy.

This is not the first time the YCB has performed a Miller re-enactment.

The first time was on June 6, 1994 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of D-Day. “We went to Cherbourg [France, the port for soldiers debarking from England to France] and London and Portsmouth and Southampton — all the ports of embarkation for the soldiers,” recalls Duffy, who has headed Yale Bands since 1982. The December 3 concert will be the 13th recreation of the Miller Woolsey broadcasts.

How do 19- or 20-year-old kids (the Yale Concert Band is an undergrad ensemble) relate to popular music that’s nearly 70 years old? “They think it’s dated,” Duffy acknowledges. “So is Bach. But they take it as a technical challenge. There’s a different kind of blend that happens [compared to what contemporary band

Miller was more than a brilliant arranger and bandleader. “He was a perfectionist,” Duffy says, “and his bands used to complain about this. He was a control freak” — to the extent that contemporaries and jazz historians criticize Miller for having over-rehearsed his players to the point of suffocating creativity.

But the Miller sound is unmistakable and still thrills listeners decades later. What sets his apart from great contemporaries like Benny Goodman or New Haven’s own Artie Shaw?

“His arrangements are a little hotter,” says Duffy. “Most of the swing-era [songs] were slow ballads for dancing. Glenn played a lot of hotter charts — stuff that was uptempo. And he had terrific soloists — Peanuts Hucko, Trigger Alpert,

A

pecialP lace S forS pecial M oments

Red Nichols — a whole cadre of people who could actually play, which was not necessarily true of most of the white swing bands of the time.”

For Duffy, the concert “is a chance to intersect with history. Some [audience members] will remember this, if they’re over 80. Some will remember their parents talking about it. Some will be learning about it for the first time. But it’s not ersatz — it’s genuine history.

“But whether you’re learning about Glenn Miller or learning about Cole Porter, it’s a delightful lesson,” he adds. “You won’t even know you’re being educated.”

Miller’s star burned bright, but was extinguished prematurely. On December 15, 1944, flying from England to France to entertain the troops, Miller’s plane disappeared over the English Channel in foul weather. He was never found.

Maj. Glenn Miller was 40 years old. Y Cole Porter and Glenn Miller Return to New Haven will take place at 7:30 p.m.

December 3 at Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven. Tickets are $25-$15 (students $10).

Phone 203-432-4158 or visit music.yale.edu.

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The Real McCoy: Miller band members clowning around before a June 1943 performance at Woolsey: (L-r) Cpl. Ray McKinley, drums; Cpl. Michael (Peanuts) Hucko, clarinet; Cpl. Mel Powell, piano; Cpl. Herman (Trigger) Alpert, bass.

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SP O R T S

Racqueteering Charges City public-school kids learn a preppy sport — and important lessons for life

B y Eliza Hallabeck

Alanis Perez, an eighth-grader at John S. Martinez School, is in her fourth year on the Squash Haven team, and this season captains the gilds’ squad.

F

or some public-school students in New Haven, squash is not just a vegetable.

But neither is it just a sport — it is a refuge, a source of mentorship, a place to forge new friendships and learn important life lessons.

Meet Squash Haven, a program that introduces city kids to a sport historically thought of as an upper-crust recreation.

Squash Haven Executive Director Julie Greenwood had no trouble deciding to whether to move to New Haven to work at the after-school enrichment program Squash Haven after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts a few years ago. She says she was already familiar with after-school squash programs, and knew immediately this would be the right place for her.

Now she considers her decision — and the opportunity to work at Squash Haven in New Haven — a blessing, because she wanted to do something connected to both education and to sports.

“It goes well beyond what’s in the classroom to support the students and the families in their lives,” Greenwood says.

Squash Haven is an after-school 42

december 2010

Photo: Anthon DeCarlo

enrichment program designed to promote academic and personal growth, instruct students in health and fitness, introduce its young participants to community services — and, oh yes, teach them the sport of squash (formally known as squash racquets).

Squash Programs originated in Boston in 1996, and since then ten have opened around the country. Greenwood says the program runs for three hours a day three days a week after school for students accepted into Squash Haven.

“There’s a lot of really good things happening with the program,” says Greenwood.

Squash programs provide public school students in urban environments both a chance to further academic success through mentorship and homework help and through learning and participating in the game of squash. The game is played on a rectangular court surrounded by four walls, and players use racquets to take turns serving and hitting a ball against the front wall of the court. It is similar to racquetball, although both the racquet head and ball are smaller, and the latter is less “live” than a racquetball.

Since 2006, when the New Haven program began, Greenwood says she has seen the power of squash programs around the country through her students participating in tournaments. One special thing for the New Haven program, she says, is its relationship to Yale University.

Not only does the New Haven afterschool squash program have the use of Yale’s Payne Whitney Gymnasium, Greenwood says students also have the chance to take tours of the campus and interact with volunteers.

The program also has an ongoing relationship with the Yale men’s and women’s squash teams and their coaches, Dave Talbott and Gareth Webber, according to Greenwood.

The New Haven program “is one of the premier squash programs in the country and Squash Haven team members have access to top-tier squash instruction and informal mentoring on a daily basis,” according to Squash Haven.

Greenwood says volunteers from Yale’s squash teams each give time during the week to working with the students at

Squash Haven.

Not only does the Squash Haven program focus on teaching the game itself, but it also focuses on academic success of the students. Greenwood says the first hour of the program is dedicated to playing the game, then 15 minutes is spent on fitness, a healthy snack is had (top three choices in a recent straw poll: 1) peanut butter and rice cakes, 2) clementines, and 3) string cheese and crackers), and finally students spend an hour working on academics overseen by volunteer tutors.

As Squash Haven has matured, admission has become more competitive. This year 45 students tried out for 15 spots, and Greenwood says this shows the level of awareness Squash Haven has generated in the community.

“Really the key to our program is our volunteers,” she says.

Emily Bernstein, a Yale College junior, works as a tutor and mentor for Squash Haven, and has been there since she was a freshman.

Squash John DeWitt] have set for the kids and the genuine effort the kids put forth to meet them,” says Bernstein.

“Above-and-beyond” attention is given to each student in the Squash Haven program, Bernstein says, and “The staff and the team members really do care about and respect each other, which is evident in the work and fun on both sides.”

The presence of the Yale students as tutors and mentors, she adds, is a special aspect of Squash Haven.

“It’s exciting to watch the individual relationships develop,” Bernstein says. “I think we’re realizing our goal of having the kids see that they too can be smart, athletic, cool, and all-around-nice. They don’t have to choose one.”

Renee Graham works with eighth-grade students who are applying to independent schools. The says she enjoys the Squash Haven environment for its purity, life and vitality.

The students “carry themselves calmly with pride and honesty,” Graham says.

“I’ve always been impressed with the high “They are comfortable in themselves. expectations [Greenwood, Academic When I am with them I am proud to be Director Christi Boscarino and Director of with them.”

Graham further describes her young charges as insightful, without prejudice, and says they treat every minute like it counts. While she is working with her students in Payne Whitney, Graham says there may be Yale sports teams practicing or people working out at the gym to loud music, but the mentors keep the students focused.

And vice versa. “They put their trust in us and that gives me this feeling of awesome responsibility towards them,” says Graham.

Greenwood also notes that this is the first year that high school students are taking part in Squash Haven, and they have integrated well with the younger students, especially those who have been in the program for a year or more. When students return for consecutive years with the group, Greenwood says there is a sense of pride with the accomplishment.

As the program expands, and community awareness grows, Greenwood says her excitement surges for Squash Haven — the sports program that’s about so much more than sports.

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43

B IBL IO F I L E S

New Haven author Weber outside the abandoned Peter Paul candy factory in Naugatuck.

Not All Sweetness — Or Light New Haven’s Weber concocts a clever, comic Confection

By BROOKS APPELBAUM

True Confections, novel by Katherine Weber.

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he action in Katherine Weber’s cleverly comic novel True Confections centers on making candy in a New Haven candy factory, and the making and unmaking of the Ziplinsky family, originator’s of Zip’s Candies. One of the curious pleasures of reviewing a paperback edition of any novel is that the reviewer may read, if she wishes, the (always enthusiastic) praise for the previous

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hardcover edition. In this case, the chosen snippets are especially entertaining, as only seven critics, out of twenty-two, have refrained from using candyinfluenced language. We read that the book is “delectable” (Los Angeles Times); “tasty” (New York Times); “treatfilled” (Hartford Courant) and (my personal favorite) filled with “crunchy bites of drama and humor” (Haaretz Daily Newspaper). Dizzy from a sugar high after reading those pages, I promise that in the paragraphs to come, you will not find a single food-related adjective or description.

In making such a promise, I echo the conceit of the story, which is cast as an affidavit written by its narrator and heroine (a word I use with healthy, humorous skepticism). Alice Tatnall Ziplinsky opens her story by stating that she does “hereby certify, swear, or affirm, and declare that all of my information is based on my personal knowledge

and experience, unless otherwise stated, and that the following matters, facts and things are true

and correct to the best of my knowledge.”

Reading with any care, of course, it’s easy to see that we are in the company of a narrator whose notion of what is “true and correct” is unstable, at best, no matter how sincere she may be in her intentions.

Part of the fun of Weber’s writing is the expert way in which she plays with the concept of truth (such playfulness is a well-known staple of the post-modern novel). Part of the fun is that the book is filled with familiar geographical references: the Quinnipiac River, Whitney Avenue, Westville and of course Yale.

Most winningly, however, is Weber’s skill in creating a completely original character — Alice — whose voice is so immediate and engaging that even when she is at her most outrageous, self-righteous or slyly wicked, we can’t help but stay on her side.

Weber keeps Alice’s story disorganized rather than chronological. In two pages we are introduced, at breakneck speed and with no explanation, to Alice’s first experience of “shuffling and straitening” Tigermelts on the Zip’s Candies line; Alice’s future husband, Howard, “emerging feetfirst from the large, rotating drum used to tumble the Little Sammies”; and the “disastrous” breakdown of the Little Sammies panning drum in August 1981, which occurred when Alice was pregnant with her first child. The section closes with an ominous statement: “I thought at the time that if we could survive the Little Sammies Halloween shortage of 1981, we could survive anything, but I was wrong.” Alice — with Weber behind her — knows how to begin a tale.

Alice then jumps back to the day she applied for her job at Zip’s, when she had “screwed up so badly a few days before” that she had forfeited her acceptance to Middlebury College and become a social pariah. Her own father and mother, WASPs (trust me, this acronym is important) who had never been overly friendly or demonstrative, essentially stopped speaking to her. “It wasn’t in Kay’s and Edwin Tatnall’s natures to feel anything but relief that I was going, going, gone.”

Without taking you through the multilayered plot (not a food allusion!), suffice it to say that Alice’s first day at Zip’s marks the beginning of a new life. When Sam Ziplinsky warmly welcomes her into the world of Zip’s Candies she finds a new family; a new — if confusing — identity as a Jew (although if you ask her mother-

in law Frieda or sister-in law Irene she will always be that “shiksa wife”); a vocation in the candy business, which she loves with a passion; and a connection with Madagascar that goes beyond her wildest imaginings. Zip’s Candies brings Alice heartbreak, too, beyond what she might ever have dreamt.

However, her reason for writing the affidavit in the first place becomes ultimately part of her strength.

Alice’s personal story is what makes the reader turn the pages; what haunts the reader afterwards is Weber’s deeper searching into the experience of Eastern European Jews.

Alice tells us of Eli Czaplinsky (who soon changed his name to Ziplinsky), arriving penniless and desperate in America in the 1920s and graduating from pushcart peddler to factory owner and successful businessman.

Braided into the Ziplinsky history is Alice’s matter-of-fact tale of Adolf Eichmann’s plan “to resettle all the Jews of Europe on Madagascar, a million a year, over a period of four years.” Alice sums up the plan’s failure in these chilling words: “The Madagascar Plan was stillborn, and the massive logistical quagmire of Jewish deportations would be solved in another, more efficient way. If the Jewish island colony in the Indian Ocean was the First Solution, then the answer to the vexing Jewish Question was the Final Solution.”

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Zip’s Candies, too, raises the question of African-American racism, since Eli Ziplinsky learned English from the novel Little Black Sambo and named his three original candies Little Sammies, Tigermelts, and Mumbo Jumbos in fond recollection of the book that re-made him an American. Hmm. We close with Alice’s words, which appropriately occur halfway through the novel: “If you get impatient and start to skim, believing either that you already know everything and there is nothing new here, or that the details I hereby provide so meticulously have no significance, you just might miss what is most interesting and important.”

The warning is well placed. Although Weber’s novel is dense and challenging, skim at your own risk.

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ONSTAGE ONSTAGE Opening Wondering what happened to the vibrancy and joy in her life, Shirley Valentine finds herself talking to the walls. But when she is offered a chance to go to Greece, Shirley is introduced to the adventure, hope, laughs and, ultimately, love she had been missing. Starring Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey (TV’s Designing Women, LWT’s The Glass Menagerie) in a tour de force performance, this comic turn promises to charm and inspire. By Willy Russell. Gordon Edelstein directs. December 2-January 2 at Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. $70-$32. 203-787-4282, longwharf.org.

Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold. It’s “Forensic Files goes to Bethlehem” in this holiday mystery extravaganza, from the creator of Late Nite Catechism, as Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages: Whatever happened to the Magis’ gold? Employing her own scientific tools, assisted by a

local choir as well as a gaggle of audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any you’ve ever seen. 8 p.m. December 3, 4 & 8 p.m. December 4 and 2 p.m.

December 5 at the Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $35$28. 203-562-5666, 800-228-6622, shubert.com.

TheBestChristmasVarietyShowEver!

It’s Christmas Eve, the night of the St. Francis Christmas Variety Show.

It’s tradition! This year, excitement is high because the show is going to be on national TV. Unfortunately, a blizzard is keeping half of the cast and crew from getting to the school auditorium for the taping.

So Earlene’s “boarded up” Family Restaurant & Motel become the setting, and surprise guests become part of the cast. But what will happen to the talent contest and bakeoff? Will the Rockettes make it through the snow? Will Earlene head off foreclosure? Join Seven Angels to find out how community Christmas spirit gives new meaning to the phrase, “The Show Must Go On.” December 3-28 at Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Rd., Waterbury. $48-$32.50.

203-757-4676, sevenangelstheatre. org.

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of legendary Bridgeport impresario P.T., featuring music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Michael Stewart and book by Mark Bramble. It gives us a nibble of how Barnum became the “Prince of Humbug,” charming his more practical and earthbound wife into supporting all his schemes and dreams. The music is core-stirring and exciting, and the story of the enduring romance between Barnum and his wife Chairy makes for a heartwarming and endearing holiday family show. December 9-19 at Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main St., Ivoryton. $30 ($28 seniors, $20 students, $15 children).

860-767-7318, ivorytonplayhouse.org.

The Yale School of Drama presents Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Charlotte

Brathwaite. Williams’ greatest tragedy interrogates the corrosive power of the American dream. Set in a landscape of urban decline, the dreams of Stanley, Stella, Blanche and Mitch are invaded as they are launched on a bloodpumping, heartbreaking rollercoaster of sex, power, violence and nostalgia.

8 p.m. December 10-11, 14-16 at Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel St., New Haven. $20-$10. 203-432-1234, drama.yale.edu.

Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot is the outrageous new musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Based on the Tony-winning direction of Mike Nichols, with book by Eric Idle and music and lyrics by Idle and John Du

Prez, Spamalot tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen and show-stopping musical numbers are just a few of the reasons audiences far and near have eaten up Spamalot. 7:30 p.m. December 29-30, 8 p.m. December 31-January 1 and 2 p.m. January 2 at the Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $75-$15. 203-562-5666, 800-2286622, shubert.com.

Continuing The Yale Rep stages the world premiere of Kirsten Greenidge’s Bossa Nova, which earned the 2010 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.

Dee Paradis has never fit in. Raised on the gentle swing of bossa nova and educated at elite, predominately white schools, she has led a life meticulously designed by her elegant and strong-willed mother, Lady. In the split second when she locks eyes with Lady in the mirror before a dinner party, Dee — nearly 30 years old and still torn between her mother’s expectations and a former lover’s ideals of authenticity — comes face to face with a choice that will determine her future. Evan Yionoulis directs. Through December 18 at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St., New Haven. $67-$35. 203-432-1234, yalerep.org.

Spend the Holidays with the New Haven Symphony Handel’s Messiah December 11 · 7:00 pm 1st Congregational Church of Old Lyme December 12 · 7:00 pm 1st Congregational Church of Madison William Boughton, Conductor Cathedral of Saint Joseph Schola Cantorum

Holiday Extravaganza December 18 · 2:30 pm, Hamden Middle School December 19 · 3:00 pm, Shelton Intermediate School Gerald Steichen, Conductor Heather Johnson, Mezzo- Soprano New Canaan High School Madrigal Ensemble

$35 & $45, Students Always $10 (203) 865-0831 www.NewHavenSymphony.org new haven

47

ART GALLERY TALKS/TOURS Understanding Humans Through Animals in Art. Gallery tour by Yale undergrad Rachel Corbin, a senior majoring in environmental studies. 3 p.m. December 4 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free.

203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

Family Day: Two Museums, Twice the Fun. Families are invited to come and explore the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art. The afternoon includes fun for the whole family with special art-making activities, storytelling in the galleries and tours for children ages four to ten. 1-3:30 p.m.

December 5 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., and Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven.

Free. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

Stories and Art. On the second Sunday of each month, Yale students and YUAG staff relate folktales and myths from across the globe to works of art in the gallery’s collection. All ages are welcome, and drawing materials will be provided for older children. 1 p.m. December 12 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free.

203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

Glass in America: Celebrating 400 Years , by Diane C. Wright, Marcia Brady Tucker Senior Fellow, Department of American Decorative Arts. 12:20 p.m.

December 8 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

EXHIBITIONS Opening FISH (Faith, Institution, Society & History): The Art of Emmanuel

Garibay. The 2010–11 artist in residence at Yale’s Overseas Ministries Study Center, Garibay is a Philippine painter known as much for his expressionist figurative style as for the content of many of his works, which often express a keen social and political consciousness. Garibay has said, “It is the richness of the poor that I am drawn to and which I am a part of, that I want to impart.” He often paints ordinary people in scenes of political, religious and social complexity, where controversial issues of justice and truth are presented vigorously and colorfully.

“Art is all about an idea that you want to share, a way of seeing the world that you want people to appreciate in their world,” says the artist. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays November 29-January 28 (reception 4:30-6 p.m. 12/2) in the Great Hall at Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 409 Prospect St., New Haven. Free. 203432-5062, omsc.org/art.

Continuing Connections between the systems that shape our existence are frayed, eroded — even gone. A major shift in our social environment has occurred, removing the direct and instinctual connection with our fellow man and environment.

Connectivity Lost identifies a body of work based on this disconnect that addresses the ways we are estranged from each other and from the environment in which we live. Artists working in painting, installation, video, prints, photography and mixed media include Daniel Alcalá, Chris Ballantyne, Richard Barnes, Matthew Bryant, Brian Collier, Maria Hedlund, Jason Middlebrook, Matthew Moore and Lucy+Jorge Orta. Through December 6 at Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. (until 8 p.m. Fri.). Free. 860685-3355, wesleyan.edu/cfa.

From ordinary bread to elaborately frosted wedding cakes, from pig roasts to pizza, food has delighted artists throughout the ages. An exhibition of more than 40 prints and photographs

’Reunion,’ oil on canvas, 2008, by Emmanuel Garibay, on view at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. from the Davison Art Center collection, Art & Appetite explores the depiction of food and drink across five centuries.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder designed the engravings Fat Kitchen and Thin Kitchen (1563) as comic allegories of feast and famine. Pop artist Claes Oldenburg monumentalized modern fast food with Flying Pizza (1964), and Dieter Roth used cheese as a printing material in his Small Landscape (1969). Through December 12 at Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. (until 8 p.m. Fri.). Free. 860-685-3355, wesleyan. edu/cfa.

New Gods and Old in Sichuan: Photographs from the Twenties is the first exhibition of images made from Wesleyan graduate George Neumann’s luminous hand-tinted photographs, a vision of the encounter of Methodist, Daoist, Buddhist and folk spirituality in the Chengdu basin in the early part of the 20th century. Through December 14 at Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, 343 Washington Terrace, Middletown. Open noon-4 p.m. daily except Mon. Free.

The Firehouse Art Gallery presents Small Works, an exhibition of works in any and all media that have one thing in common — they’re no larger than 18 inches in any dimension (sculpture less than 100 pounds). Best

CRITIC’S PICK Let’s Get Small If you look closely, you’ll see what may be the world’s smallest art gallery: the Creative Arts Workshop’s Tiny Gallery, which makes its public debut December 2 on Audubon Street.

Shoveling Chairs is a new work by Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) drawing and painting faculty member K. Levni Sinanoglu. You might think the word “work” (singular) falls somewhat short of inclusion in a listing of “exhibitions” — but

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consider the venue.

With this show CAW debuts its Tiny Gallery.

Measuring 11 inches wide by 11 inches deep by 17 inches tall, the Tiny Gallery may be the smallest art gallery in the world — an apt artistic metaphor for an epoch of diminished expectations. December 2-January 3 (opening reception 5-8 p.m. 12/2) at Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St., New Haven.

Open 24/7 (it’s outdoors).

Free. 203-562-4927, ext. 14), creativeartsworkshop.org.

of all, all works are for sale. Juried by painter, printmaker and potter Emily Bett. Through December 16 at Firehouse Art Gallery, 81 Naugatuck Ave., Milford.

Open noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. Free. 203306-0016, milfordarts.org.

City Gallery hosts its annual Give Art Holiday Exhibition & Sale. Featuring multiple works in multiple media by multiple artists, it’s a perfect way to delight a loved one and support the arts at the same time. All works $100.

Through December 24 (artists’ reception 2-5 p.m. December 4) at City Gallery, 994 State St., New Haven. Open noon-4 p.m.

Thurs.-Sun. or by appt. Free. 203-7822489, city-gallery.org.

The Creative Arts Workshop hosts its 42nd annual Celebration of American Crafts, a juried exhibition and sale of contemporary American crafts in virtually every medium. Works by more than 300 artists from across the nation will be featured, representing the finest in glass, ceramics, jewelry, wearable and decorative fiber, handcrafted furniture and more. Through December 24 at Creative Arts Workshop, 80 Audubon St., New Haven. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily (Thurs. until 8 p.m.), 1-5 p.m. Sun. Free.203-562-4927, creativeartsworkshop.org.

‘That Independent Eye’: The Lurie Collection of Modern and Contemporary British Painting.

Guided by their passionate belief in the primacy of the personal, emotional encounter with art, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie have amassed a dynamic collection of contemporary British art spanning the past four decades. The collection includes major works by Ian Stephenson, Patrick Caulfield and John Walker, as well as important prints by Howard Hodgkin and R. B. Kitaj. At the core of the collection are 52 paintings and works on paper by John Hoyland, generally considered one of Britain’s foremost abstract painters. Through January 2 at Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Mon., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Free.

203-432-2800, ycba.yale.edu.

Notes from the Archive: James Frazer Stirling, Architect and Teacher. The Yale Center for British Art and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal (CCA), have co-produced the first-ever exhibition of the archive of British architect, Yale School of

Architecture professor and Pritzker Prize laureate James Stirling (192492). regarded as one of the most important and innovative architects of the twentieth century, Stirling earned international acclaim through bold and innovative projects. Notes from the Archive features more than 300 original architectural drawings, models, and photographs drawn from the James Stirling/Michael Wilford fonds at the CCA. Through January 2 at Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily except Mon., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Free. 203-4322800, ycba.yale.edu.

John La Farge’s Second Paradise: Voyages in the South Seas, 1890-91.

In 1890 John La Farge and his friend the historian Henry Adams embarked on a journey to the islands of the South Pacific Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, Rarotonga and Fiji, among others. This exhibition showcases many of the most important La Farge oils, watercolors and sketches from that sojourn. The exhibition is inspired by the acquisition by the Gallery of 11 previously unknown sketchbooks from the trip filled with drawings of people and landscapes, as well as copious notes on culture and language, providing new insight into this period in La Farge’s career.

Through January 2 at Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven.

Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (until 8 p.m. Thurs.), 1-6 p.m., Sun. Free. 203432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu.

Artistry is the Guilford Art Center’s annual holiday sale. For 31 years, artists from across the country have exhibited and sold a wide-ranging assembly of crafts in many price ranges, including ceramics, candles, glass, fine art, metal, jewelry, fiber, wood, ornaments, cards, condiments, soap, leather, toys and more. Through January 9 at the Guilford At Center, 411 Church St., Guilford. Open noon-6 p.m. weekdays, until 5 p.m. Sat. 203-453-5947, guilfordartcenter.org.

Betwixt & Between is a group exhibition of contemporary short videos that inject the ordinary domestic landscape with existential content and psychological slippages. Informed by the visual and conceptual strategies of the Surrealists, and echoing their simple, direct methods for constructing dream-like experiences, the artists represented in Betwixt & Between create works that reveal the authority, alienation, and desire embedded in everyday objects and occurrences. Participating artists include Terry Fox , Nadia Hironaka, Alex Hubbard, Takeshi Murata, Jeff Ostergren, Delphine Reist, Hiraki Sawa, Carrie Schneider and Tom Thayer.

Through January 22 at Artspace, 50 Orange St., New Haven. Open noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Thurs., noon-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Free. 203-772-2709, artspacenh.org.

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven and Haskins Laboratories present Mind Sets, which explores the potential for collaboration between artists and

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scientists. Curated by Cat Balco and Ariker:features ‘Some Debbie Hesse, exhibition peopleZachary don’t works by Fritz Horstman, Keating, Lucy Kim, Evahave Lee,much Martha in the way of 29 Lewis and others. Through January money300 to share, at Haskins Laboratories, George but everybody St. (9th Fl.), New Haven.

Open 10 hasFree. something a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri. 203-772-2788, they can give.’ newhavenarts.org.

With Needle & Brush: Schoolgirl Embroidery from the Connecticut River Valley. The Connecticut River Valley was an important center for the teaching and production of embroidered pictures by young women in private academies during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The first in-depth exhibition of its kind, With Needle and Brush contributes to the understanding of the traditions of needlework and provides insight into the nature of women’s schooling before the advent of widespread public education. Through January 30 at the Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Mon., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $14 ($13 seniors, $12 students, free under 13). 860434-5542, flogris.org.

Christmas in Asia, the sixth annual Christmas crèche exhibition, includes more 100 crèches (also known as Nativities) from 22 Asian countries.

The crèches come from the Holy Land in the Middle East, across Asia, to Japan in the Far East. Also included are original Holy Family paintings and prints from Japan, China and Korea.

The exhibition’s crèches and paintings are on loan from seven collections, including the Maryknoll Priests and Nuns of China. Through February 13 at Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Free. 203-865-0400, kofcmuseum.org.

Majestic Mosaics. The Knights of Columbus’ Incarnation Dome — a 3,800-square-foot mosaic at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. — depicts the Incarnation, or manifestation, of Jesus through the rendering of four New Testament scenes: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Wedding Feast at Cana and the Transfiguration. The pendentives (or corners) depict Old Testament Prophets who wrote of the manifestation of the Messiah.

The principal artist was Leandro Velasco. More than 2.4 million tiles (tesserae) in more than 1,000 colors were assembled by Travisanutto Mosaics SRL of Spilimbergo, Italy.

Thousands of sections of completed mosaics were installed like a giant jigsaw puzzle by a team of six artisans.

This exhibition includes photographs, design elements, mosaic tiles, artisans’ tools and a full-scale model, in mosaic, of the head of Christ represented in the finished dome. Continuing at Knights of Columbus Museum, 1 State St., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free.

203-865-0400, kofcmuseum.org.

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Art History I Fundamentals of Human Comm.

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MUSIC

classical, sacred and holiday pops favorites. 8 p.m. December 4 at the Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $45-$25. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

Classical As part of the Neighborhood Music School’s Bach’s Lunch series, NMS faculty artists Bethany Eby, viola, and pianist George Melillo perform: BACH Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1029, ENESCO Concertpiece for Viola and Piano, VON WEBER Andante e Rondo ungarese, MILHAUD The Wisconsonian, KREISLER Liebeslied, TCHAIKOVSKY Andante Cantabile. 12:10 p.m. December 3 at NMS, 100Audubon St., New Haven. Free. 203-624-5189, neighborhoodmusicschool.org.

Under the baton of Marguerite L. Brooks, the Yale Camerata perform its annual Advent concert. Featured work is Inexpressible Mystery, a new composition by Yale alumna Tawny Olson. Also, SCHUTZ: Hodie Christus natus est, J.S. BACH Mass in F, Wie schon Leuchtet der Morganstern, Concerto for Oboe & Violin, BWV 1060, Dona nobis pacem. 8 p.m. December 4 at Battell Chapel, 149 Elm St., New Haven.

Free. 203-432-5062, yale.edu/ism.

Join the Waterbury Chorale and Waterbury Chorale Festival Orchestra for Christmas at the Palace 2010, a heart-warming mélange of traditional

The 125-year-old Trinity Choir of Men & Boys performs its annual Christmas Concert, delightful mélange of sacred music, seasonal favorites and even singalongs. 4 p.m. December 5 at Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven. $10.

203-776-2616, trinitynewhaven.org.

The ensemble Opus One (Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Ida Kavafian, violin; Steven Tenenbom, viola; and Peter Wiley, cello) performs “with the exuberance of a jam session,” in the words of one critic. Featuring the East Coast premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s piano quartet, as well as SCHUMANN Quartet in E-flat major, MOZART Quartet in G minor. 8 p.m. December 7 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. $35-$25 (students $15). 203-4324158, music.yale.edu.

Under the direction of Shinik Hahm, the graduate Yale Philharmonia performs “New Music for Orchestra”

by Yale composers. Featured work Martin Bresnick’s Concerto for Flute with soloist Ransom Wilson. 8 p.m.

December 9 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale.edu.

Here’s something deliciously different: a performance by the Yale Percussion Group, an ensemble Steve Reich called

NOV. 19 – FEB. 13

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“truly extraordinary.” DE MEY Musique de Tables, REICH Sextet, WOOD Village Burial with Fire, KAGEL Dressur. Robert van Sice directs. 8 p.m. December 10 at Sprague Hall, 470 College St., New Haven. Free. 203-432-4158, music.yale. edu.

What could be better than a Christmastide performance of Handel’s Messiah by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra conducted by Music Director William Boughton and featuring the voices of the Cathedral of St. Joseph Schola Cantorum? Easy — two performances. 7 p.m. December 11 at First Congregational Church, 2 Ferry Rd., Old Lyme; 7 p.m. December 12 at First Congregational Church, 26 Meeting House La., Madison. $45-$30 (students $10). 203-865-0831, ext. 10, newhavensymphony.org.

It’s a holiday tradition for choral singers of all levels when the Yale Glee Club (abetted by the Yale Camerata and Yale Symphony Orchestra) host the annual Messiah Sing-In. Featured soloists from the Yale School of Music.

2 p.m. December 12 at Battell Chapel, 149 Elm St., New Haven. $5. (Scores available for purchase at door.) 203-4325062, yale.edu/ism.

Popular Saxophonist, composer and Wesleyan professor Anthony Braxton, known for his ground-breaking jazz and experimental music, performs in an

intimate, small-ensemble setting. 8 p.m.

December 2 at Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Ave., Middletown. $22 ($18 seniors, students). 860-685-3355, wesleyan.edu/ cfa.

A Peter White Christmas, featuring Rick Braun and Mindi Abair, come to SCSU for a wonderful evening of jazz with friends. 8 p.m. December 3 at Lyman Center, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent St., New Haven. $32 ($28 SCSU faculty/staff, $15 SCSU students). 203-392-6154, southernct.edu/ lymancenter.

Jennifer Leitham Trio. Jazz bassist, composer and vocalist Leitham has been characterized by jazz critic Leonard Feather as the “left-handed virtuoso of the upright bass. She spent a decade with both Mel Tormé and Doc Severinson and has also performed with Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan and Peggy Lee. 8 p.m. December 3 at Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Ave., Milford. $15. 203-878-6647, milfordarts. org.

Indulge your inner gook with The Nerds.

Dropshift, Redefine (and Incubus tribute band) and One Jack Move open.

9 p.m. December 3 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $15 ($12 advance).

203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.

Berklee-schooled, Brooklyn-based Elizabeth & the Catapult play smart, jazz-tinged, sometimes-topical indie pop music, fuse sweet chamber-pop

Bang the drum rapidly: The Yale Percussion Group in an April Carnegie Hall performance. On December 10 at Sprague, they’ll be previewing another New York performance two nights hence.

melodies with the charismatic vocals of Elizabeth Ziman. Locals Boy get the evening started. 9 p.m. December 8 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $8.

203-789-8281, cafénine.com.

Go Kat Go presents the Hi-Risers, who consider themselves a rock & roll band, but listeners will also hear rockabilly, rhythm & blues, country, doo-wop and surf in their music. They have shared bills with such diverse acts as NRBQ and the Ramones. 9 p.m. December 10 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $6. 203-789-8281, cafénine.com.

AlexFest. An all-day benefit for Alex DeFelice, a longtime New Haven music scene mover and shaker who is facing serious medical issues. Featuring the Moody Blossom Band, the Ivory Bills, the Jackies, the Hickups/Bandidos, Buzz Gordo and Gone Native. 2-7 p.m.

December 12 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $10. 203-789-8281, cafénine. com.

The Nine hosts a special Christmas Show with Members of the Blind Boys of Alabama (namely Jimmy Carter, Ricky McKinnie and Joey Williams), those Grammy-winning legends of gospel music whose career spans more than six decades. 7 p.m. December 13 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $25. 203-789-8281, cafénine.com.

Lipglosscrisis and the Red Light Burlesque & Variety Show present a Christmas Spectacular. Featuring burlesque performances by Lily La Vamp, Nikki Le Villian, Miss Kitty Katastrophe and Dot Mitzvah, magician Daniel GreenWolf and the amazing hula hooping of Lady Blaze.

Musical performances by Sweet Release, Death Prayers and the Gabba Ghouls. Hosted by the Miss Von

Danger and Commander Taint. 9 p.m.

December 17 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $10. 203-789-8281, cafénine. com.

In 1975 John Valby was playing ragtime piano on the bar circuit in Buffalo, N.Y. One night he blended three rather obscene songs into his act. The next night the bar was full of people who came just to hear the risqué material.

Thus was born the performer known as “Dr. Dirty,” who returns to York Street for his annual XXX-Mas Show. 10 p.m.

December 17 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $15 ($12 advance). 203-6248623, toadsplace.com.

World West African Drumming and Dance, featuring choreographer and Wesleyan artist-in-residence Iddi Saaka and drummer Nate Ash-Morgan, joined by students and guest artists. This invigorating performance showcases

the vibrancy of West African cultures through their music and dance forms.

8 p.m. December 14 at CFA Theater, ,Wesleyan University, Middletown. $5-$4.

860-685-3355, wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Get your freak on for Christmas with Hot Patootie! and DJ E-Bomb. An evening of grindin’ rhythm & blues, soul stomp, garage and primitive trash rock. 9 p.m. December 22 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. Free. 203-7898281, cafénine.com.

The family that plays (and sings!) together is the remarkable, musical Taubl Family (NHM, March 2008).

This multigenerational ensemble will perform a concert of Christmas favorites at Ansonia’s historic Christ Church. The concert is a benefit for Haitian musicians who lost their instruments and more in the devastating earthquake. The Taubls have partnered with local violin-masker Lawrence Wilke and are purchasing new instruments from China to donate to Haitian musicians. They have organized String Orchestra United for a New Day (SOUND), and plan to travel to Haiti in March to conduct music clinics for earthquake victims. So it’s for a good cause. 7:30 p.m. December 18 at Christ Church, 56 S. Cliff St., Ansonia.

Free (donations). Thetaublfamily.com.

From the frozen tundra of upstate New York come roots rockers the Hi-Risers to Café Nine December 10.

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CALENDAR BELLES LETTRES In celebration of the 40th anniversary of G.B. Trudeau’s syndicated comic strip Doonesbury, the exhibition Doonesbury in a Time of War traces the evolution of the quixotic yet representative figure B.D., a character known for his ever-present helmet.

Named for the Yale quarterback Brian Dowling, B.D.’s journey from Walden College football captain to injured Reservist in the Second Gulf War brings to light not only one of Doonesbury’s enduring themes, but the ways in which the subject of war permeates public consciousness. Through December 17 at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 121 Wall St., New Haven. Free.

Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat. 203-432-2977, beineckelibrary@yale.edu.

The Mystery Book Club meets the first Wednesday to discuss a pre-selected book. Books are available for check out prior to the meeting. 3-4 p.m. December 1 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-483-6653, blackstone. lioninc.org/booktalk.htm.

New members are welcomed to the Blackstone Library Second Tuesday Book Club. The group meets on the second Tuesday to discuss a preselected book. Books available for loan in advance of discussion. 6:45-8 p.m.

December 14 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-488-1441, ext. 318, blackstone.lioninc.org/booktalk. htm.

Release your inner poet. Time Out for Poetry meets third Thursdays and welcomes those who wish to share an original short poem, recite a stanza or simply to listen. Ogden Nash, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss and even the Burma Shave signs live again. 12:30-2 p.m. December 16 at Scranton Library, 801 Boston Post Rd., Madison. Free. 203-245-7365.

BENEFITS Giant Steps, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s 2010 Arts Awards Luncheon. Honorees include interior design maven Rosalyn Cama, smallbusinessman and arts activist Lou Cox, musician Bill Collins, the Shoreline Arts Alliance and Project Storefronts. C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement In & Contribution to the Arts to longtime Arts Council head Frances T. (Bitsie) Clark. 11:45 a.m. December 2 at New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Ave., New Haven. $70 members, $80 others. 203-772-2788, mewhavenarts.org.

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Lauralton Hall presents An Evening with Tony Dungy and Dan Patrick.

Dungy is a former NFL player, Super Bowl-winning coach of the Indianapolis Colts and analyst of NBC’s Football Night in America, which Patrick (also host of the Dan Patrick Show) co-hosts.

The pair will discuss a wide range of subjects including the state of the NFL, women’s sports, Super Bowl XLV predictions and much more. 7:30 p.m. December 10 at Lauralton Hall Gymnasium, 200 High St., Milford. $50 ($75 at door, $25 students; $150 includes 6 p.m. cocktail reception with speakers).

203-877-2786, ext. 137, development@ lauraltonhall.org.

COMEDY The college tour of NBC’s Stand-Up for Diversity comes to SCSU. Through this initiative comedians of diverse backgrounds have been launched to new career milestones. Checkout three of the finalists: Mal Hall, Erik Rivera and Hari Kondabolu. 8 p.m. December 1 at Lyman Center, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent St., New Haven. $10 (free with SCSU ID). 203392-6154, lyman.southernct.edu.

Long Island-born funnyman and musical parodist Paul Bond comes to Wooster Street. 8 p.m. December 3, 8 & 10:30 p.m. December 4 at Joker’s Wild, 232 Wooster St., New Haven. $15 (tw0-drink minimum). 203-773-0733, jokerswildclub.com.

CULINARY Consiglio’s hosts a special Cooking Class & Book Signing with Sheryll Bellman, author of the just-released America’s Little Italys. Bellman will demonstrate many of the recipes feature in the book as well as prepare a repast including Christmas soup, stuffed artichokes, homemade cavitelli and braciola topped off by chocolate mousse cake. 6:30 p.m. December 9 at Consiglio’s Restaurant, 165 Wooster St., New Haven. $75 (includes book).

Reservations. 203-865-4489, consiglios. com.

What could be tastier than a Culinary Tour of Downtown New Haven — a traveling feast led by New Haven Register food columnist Stephen Fries.

10:45 a.m. December 11 at Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, 155 Temple St., New Haven. $69. Reservations.

City Farmers Markets New Haven.

Eat local! Enjoy seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs from local farms including seafood, meat, milk, cheese, handcrafted bread and baked goods, honey, more. WOOSTER SQUARE: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through December 18 at Russo Park, corner Chapel St. and DePalma Ct. 203-773-3736, cityseed.org.

An international cast of acrobats, aerialists, singers, dancers and musicians perform astonishing feats that

DANCE The incomparable Mazowsze Polish Dance Ensemble whirl, leap, stamp and glide in a glorious outpouring of sound, motion, rhythm and music that celebrates the cultural legacy of Poland.

An ensemble of 65 dancers and singers are arrayed in a seemingly neverending series of handmade traditional costumes and dance together to create a thrilling kaleidoscopic display of dazzling movement, vibrant color and stunning beauty. 8 p.m. December 10 at the Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $125-$45. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

The New Haven Ballet production of holiday family fave The Nutcracker features guest artists from New York City Ballet. 7:30 p.m. December 10, 2

& 7:30 p.m. December 11 and 2 p.m.

December 12 at the Shubert Theater, 247 College St., New Haven. $53-$18. 203562-5666, 800-228-6622, shubert.com.

By no means is the Brass City immune from dances by Sugar Plums and Gumdrops, waltzing Flowers and leaping Snowflakes, as the Woodbury Ballet brings The Nutcracker to the Palace. 4 p.m. December 18 at the Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $43$28. 203-346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

FAMILY EVENTS Cirque Dreams Holidaze is a new musical extravaganza filled with spectacle, imagination and whimsical dreams. An international cast of

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Gonna Make Your Day...

www.CTcalendar.com new haven 53 48

October 2010

public viewing of planets, nebulae, star clusters and whatever happens to be interesting in the sky. Viewable celestial objects change seasonally. 7 & 8 p.m.

Tuesdays at Leitner Family Observatory, 355 Prospect St., New Haven. Free. cobb@astro.yale.edu, astro.yale.edu.

Theatreworks USA presents Season’s Greeting, a holiday-themed magic show complete with music, toy soldiers, holly wreaths and snow-white doves that will thrill and amaze those of all ages (best for grades pre-K–5). 2 p.m. December 11 at Paul Mellon Arts Center, Christian St., Wallingford. $15 ($12 children). 203-6972398, choate.edu/boxoffice.

The 16th annual Easter Seals Goodwill Industries Fantasy of Lights returns to Lighthouse Point, an enchanted land of sparkling holiday light displays, each sponsored by an area business, organization or individual. 5-9 p.m. (until 10 p.m. weekends) through December 31 at Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven. $10 per car/family van. ctgoodwill.org/fantasyoflights.

From Football Night in America to you come Dan Patrick (left) and Tony Dungy, coming in person to Lauralton Hall December 10

acrobats, aerialists, singers, dancers and musicians perform astonishing feats that celebrate the holiday season and showcase pageantry and breathtaking artistry. Add the pomp, cirque-umstance of gingerbread men

flipping through the air, toy soldiers marching on thin wires, and reindeer soaring high above a landscape of holiday wonderment and you have a winning night of entertainment. 7:30 p.m. December 7-9 at the Palace Theater,

100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $62-$47. 203346-2000, palacetheaterct.org.

Each Tuesday the Yale Astronomy Department hosts a Planetarium Show. Weather permitting there is also

HOLIDAY BAZAARS Tired of the same old crafts at every holiday bazaar? Then check out the Indie Craft Extravaganza for “edgy, unique and subversive” wares. More than 40 vendors will feature handmade fibers, jewelry, cards, photos,

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illustrated prints, silkscreened clothing, vintage wear, knitted and crocheted items, handmade clothing, burlesque hair pieces, handbags, tote bags and pouches and more.

Plus, sandwich bar, photo booth with props and chair massages. Noon-5 p.m.

December 5 at the Space, 795 Treadwell Ave., Hamden. Free. 203-288-6400, ctindiecrafters@gmail.com.

MIND, BODY & SOUL Led by Nelie Doak, Yoga promotes a deep sense of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Classes are designed to help cultivate breath and body awareness, improve flexibility, strengthen and tone muscles, detoxify the body and soothe the spirit. All levels welcome. Bring a yoga mat.

5-6:15 p.m. Fridays at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. $10. 203-4881441, ext. 313, yogidoakie@earthlink. net or events@blackstone.lioninc.org, blackstone.lioninc.org.

NATURAL HISTORY Black Holes: Space Warps & Time Twists. This Peabody exhibition explores some of the most mysterious and powerful objects in the universe: black holes. These regions in space, sometimes only a few kilometers across, have gravity so powerful that matter drawn into them is lost forever.

Einstein predicted black holes, but

doubted whether they could exist in nature. Today evidence suggests they are quite common. There is even a “supermassive black hole” at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Through May 1 at Yale Peabody Museum, 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, noon-5 p.m. Sun. $9 ($8 seniors, $5 children). 203-432-5050, peabody.yale.edu.

49 Cottage St., New Haven. Free. 203773-9288, paulproulx@sbcglobal.net, elmcitycycling.org.

SPORTS/RECREATION

Elm City Cycling monthly meeting occurs on the second Monday. ECC is a non-profit organization of cycling advocates who meet to discuss biking issues in New Haven. Dedicated to making New Haven friendlier and more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. 7 p.m. December 13 at City Hall Meeting Rm. 2, 165 Church St., New Haven. Free. elmcitycycling.org.

Cycling Elm City Cycling organizes Lulu’s Ride, weekly two- to four-hour rides for all levels (17-19 mph average).

Cyclists leave at 10 a.m. from Lulu’s European Café as a single group; no one is dropped. 10 a.m. Sundays at Lulu’s European Café, 49 Cottage St., New Haven. Free. 203-773-9288, elmcitycycling.org.

The Little Lulu (LL) is an alternative to the long-standing Sunday morning training ride. The route is usually 20-30 miles in length and the ride is no-drop, meaning that the group waits at hilltops and turns so that no rider is left behind. The LL is an opportunity for cyclists to get accustomed to riding in groups. Riders should come prepared with materials (tubes, tools, pumps and/or CO2 inflators) to repair flats. 10 a.m. Sundays at Lulu’s European Café,

Tradition!

Begin your own, give the gift of live theater!

January 28 & 29

Tuesday Night Canal Rides. Mediumpaced rides up the Farmington Canal into New Haven. May split into two groups based on riders’ speed but no one will be left behind to ride alone.

Lights are essential. 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Café Romeo, 534 Orange St., New Haven. Free. william.v.Kurtz@gmail. com.

Hikes Join the Sleeping Giant Park Association for a Holiday Hike & Social.

Join like-minded late-year trekkers for a 1:30 p.m. hike, followed at 3 p.m. by socializing and songs. No pets.

December 5 at Sleeping Giant Main Entrance, 200 Mt. Carmel Ave., Hamden.

Free. 203-789-7498, sgpa.org.

Road Races/Triathlons The Nichols Improvement Association presents its 21st annual Jingle Bell

Run, a scenic 5K course through the heart of Nichols (that’s Trumbull to you strangers) highlighted by what organizers promise is “one of the best race finishes in Fairfield County.” 9:30 a.m. December 4 at Nichols Firehouse, 100 Shelton Rd., Trumbull. $25 ($20 before 12/1). fpalmieri6134@earthlink. net.

Time for the sixth annual Christmas Village 5K Run & Family Fitness Walk.

10 a.m. December 11 at 7 Quarry Rd., Trumbull. $15 advance, $20 day of race.

203-751-2357, pal_buccaneers@yahoo. com.

It’s become an Elm City holiday tradition: Christopher Martins Christmas Run for Children, a flat, fast 5K along State and Orange streets as well as the New Haven Green.

Entry fee just $5 if you bring a new, unwrapped toy (which is the whole idea of the event). 10 a.m. December 12 at Christopher Martins, 860 State St., New Haven. $15 advance, $20 day of race (w/o toy). 203-481-5933, jbsports@ snet.net.

Please send CALENDAR information to CALENDAR@conntact.com no later than six weeks preceding calendar month of event. Please include date, time, location, event description, cost and contact information. Photographs must be at least 300 dpi resolution and are published at discretion of NEW HAVEN magazine.

Admission Tour Day Wednesday, November 17 at 9 am Wednesday, December 15 at 9 am RSVP to the Admission Office

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WO RDS of MOUT H

By Liese Klein

PHOTOGRAPH:

NEW EATS: Thai Stories

Anthony DeCarlo

Thaveree Ngamsettamas serves up a shrimp mango curry at Thai Stories in Woodbridge.

D

espite its name, Thai Stories is hardly sticking to the standard plot when it comes to local outposts of the popular southeast Asian cuisine. There’s no gilt, stylized elephants or kitschy prints on the wall at the Woodbridge eatery, and the menu is streamlined with items like “Seafood Madness” and veggie tempura deviating from the usual.

Chef Thawatchai (Bill) Boonyalai opened off Amity Road late this summer after a career cooking at Thai restaurants in Milford and Bridgeport. When he planned his own menu, the focus was on updating Thai classics.

“I wanted to make it more contemporary,” Boonyalai explains. “My style of cooking is a little bit different; I like to use traditional ingredients but keep everything simple.” He scours wholesalers for products straight from southeast Asia like fresh coconut milk,

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in addition to the best local produce.

That care pays off on the plate, with vivid flavors and stylish presentation to match the restaurant’s playful décor, textured in bamboo and rustic, embroidered fabrics. Instead of those elephants, diners are greeted with tinted photos of Thai scenes and a charming collection of wooden toys arranged on shelves in the middle of the space. A soundtrack of Norah Jones rather than Bangkok standards adds to the fusion atmosphere, along with a respectable list of wines by the glass and Belgian beers.

Reflecting the recent popularity of Asian noodles, the menu opens with a full range of noodle dishes, from classic Pad Thai to Vietnamese-style duck noodle soup. A rich, beefy broth brought out the richness of the duck in that dish, nicely offset by fresh herbs and delicate rice vermicelli.

“Yum Seafood Salad” harmonized on a lighter note, with delicate slabs of squid and scallop marinated ceviche-style in lime juice. Accented by colorful shards of red onion and a subtle hint of spice and cilantro, the salad was a refreshing change from the usual Thai options. A tofu appetizer was less successful, with a the bean curd fried beyond flavor to a brittle texture not abetted by a bland sauce.

The kitchen returned to form with a mango-cashew special enlivened with a nice spice blend and fragrant with fruit.

Tender sticky rice with coconut cream ended the meal on a sweet note.

Thai Stories’ offbeat interior and refreshing menu tells the real story — that Thai restaurants don’t have to stick to a formula to please diners.

Thai Stories, 16 Selden St., Woodbridge (203-389-3363).

SOUTHEAST ASIAN/KOREAN Bentara Restaurant, 76 Orange St., New Haven (203-562-2511). Supersized noodle soups and spicy curries are good bets at this Ninth Square Malaysian/fusion hotspot. The stylish interior and extensive cocktail list also make it an excellent prenightlife stop. Open for lunch as well.

You can make reservations by phone or online at opentable.com.

charming, bright dining area with great service. Wide range of classics and vegetarian options.

Rice Pot Thai Restaurant, 1027 State St. No. 1, New Haven (203-772-6679). Great

spot for a romantic dinner and some truly tasty Thai food. Try the impeccably fresh spring rolls, delicately flavored soups and assertive curries.

Thai Awesome, 1505 Dixwell Ave., Hamden

Pot-Au-Pho, 77 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203-776-2248). Great for a quick bowl of pho or Vietnamese soup, bubble tea, tasty noodle dishes and affordable Asian specialties. Limited hours; call ahead.

Oriental Pantry Grocery & Gifts, 486 Orange St., New Haven (203-865-2849). A foodie favorite for its home-style Korean dishes like soups and bibimbap. Takeout sushi, breakfast sandwiches, bento boxes, Asian drinks and sweets.

Midori, 3000 Whitney Ave., Hamden (203248-3322). Big flavors in a small space are the hallmark of this Korean/fusion restaurant, tucked away in a strip mall.

Best bets are soups, the fresh-tasting bibimbap, sushi rolls and spicy bulgogi.

Open for lunch.

Basil, 142 Howe St. No. 1, New Haven, (203865-4000). Malaysian curries and noodle dishes stand out at this student favorite, where the menu ranges from Vietnamese soups to Chinese stir fries. Cool the fires on your tongue with mango juice or one of the many bubble tea flavors on tap.

Cooking Classes $65 includes four-course dinner, instruction and recipe booklet.

Menus change monthly. Reservations required.

165 Wooster St, New Haven | 203.865.4489 | www.consiglios.com

THAI Thai Taste Restaurant, 1151 Chapel St., New Haven (203-776-9802). A standout on Chapel’s “Thai Row,” with toothsome basics like pad thai, drunken noodles and green curry. Open for lunch and dinner.

Wine Bar & Bistro

Bangkok Gardens, 172 York St., New Haven (203-789-8684). Tasty Thai in a

takeout & catering available Experience downtown New Haven as you never have before!

Our meticulously composed small plates provide our guests with a premier dining experience while offering seasonal American selections in the heart of downtown New Haven.

CAFFÉ BRAVO

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203.772.2728

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Enjoy thought provoking dishes and specialty cocktails that incorporate only the freshest ingredients each season has to offer.

Our signature cocktails incorporate fresh fruits, herbs, house made infusions and modern cooking techniques all for the sake of deliciousness.

Our guests can also enjoy an extensive wine list with over 27 wines by the glass, specialty beers and a vast selection of spirits.

200 Crown Street New Haven CT

203.787.0227

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new haven

57

PHOTOGRAPH:

Editor’s Pick: Mikro

Anthony DeCarlo

Team Mikro (chef Mike Fox, owner Mike Farber, bar manager John Gibbons) brings rare brews and quality eats to Whitney Avenue in Hamden.

L

ike fresh brew through a tap line, the beer-bar trend has migrated north on Whitney Avenue to Mikro in Hamden, the latest temple to craft suds in the area.

Opened by a former owner of Prime 16, New Haven’s popular beer haven, Mikro brings rare brews and quality food to a plaza just south of Quinnipiac University.

Pick a weeknight or early evening if you want to be sure of a table and audible conversation at Mikro, which parlays its proximity to campus into packed houses on Friday and Saturday nights. But the rich wood of the bar and stylish interior makes for a sophisticated setting for a couple’s night out or beer with buddies.

A glance at the appetizer menu also shows that Mikro is not your typical neighborhood pub: Confit chicken wings and fried cheese curds? As unappetizing as they sound to a non-Midwesterner, those curds are a crispy treat, lightly breaded and buttery with a mozzarella-like

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chewiness offset by smoky chipotle sauce.

But the stars of the starters are definitely those wings, which come in a modest portion but packing serious flavor. With meat literally falling off the bone, these wings outshine all rivals with a deep, meaty richness courtesy of pork fat. (For those avoiding pork or other meats, be warned that the menu may not list all ingredients.) Mellow bleu cheese dressing and lightly pickled carrots and celery add to interplay of textures and flavors.

You’ll be thirsty by now: In addition to two dozen top-quality craft beers, Mikro offers wine by the glass and a full bar. The friendly bar staff is happy to offer suggestions and match those new to craft beers to brews that match their preferences. For us, an assertive and tangy rye beer from Long Island’s Bluepoint was a worthy match to the wings.

Deep flavor and subtle seasoning also come through in entrées, such as mussels

in a delicate broth with crisp, deeply browned fries. A steak was tender and beefy without too much salt and complemented by a pile of greens in a tart vinaigrette. Mushroom flatbread scored with clear, assertive mushroom flavor and more of those tasty greens.

The chef’s deft touch was evident all way to the end of the meal, with a milk chocolate pot de crème elevated by caramel corn, the custard’s smoothness beautifully offset by a buttery crunch.

Yes, Mikro can get a bit raucous when the students cluster and conversations can get loud and…undergraduate. But with its wide-ranging taps and outstanding food, Mikro well deserves to become a destination for those in no danger of being carded.

Mikro, 3000 Whitney Ave., Hamden (203-5537676).

(203-288-9888). Tangy curries and rich Formosa, 132 Middletown Ave., North soups make this Thai eatery worth the Haven (203-239-0666). Creative and drive from downtown, but leave time beautifully presented dishes with panto find parking on this busy stretch of Asian panache. Don’t miss the Szechwan Dixwell. Also offers catering and take out. “ravioli,” tender chicken dumplings in a delicate peanut sauce, or Taiwanese The Terrace, 1559 Dixwell Ave., Hamden seafood specialties.

(203-230-2077). The chef’s French training shows in this Thai eatery’s above-average Kudeta, 27 Temple St., New Haven (203 plating and seductive flavor combinations. 562-8844). Every major cuisine of Asia For a spicy delight, try the Terrace Curry. is represented on Kudeta’s menu, with something for every taste in an evocative Ayuthai, 2279 Boston Post Rd., Guilford interior. Generous and inventive drinks (203-453-2988). Quality Thai in a casual along with good sushi and noodle dishes. setting. Excellent duck and curry plates, along with above-average papaya salad and desserts. Open seven days a week and FRENCH offers free delivery.

Union League Cafe, 1032 Chapel St. #A, New Haven (203-562-4299). New Haven’s CHINESE/TAIWANESE most beautiful dining room and worldclass cuisine near the heart of downtown.

Iron Chef, 1209 Campbell Ave. #G, West Open Monday-Saturday.

Haven (203-932-3888). Unusual Taiwanese specialties and well-executed classics Le Petit Cafe, 225 Montowese St. #7, shine at this student favorite. Limited Branford (203-483-9791). Prix-fixe menu table space, but takeout available. features beautifully prepared classics with a modern twist in a casual setting. Open House of Chao, 898 Whalley Ave., New Wednesday-Sunday with attentive service.

Haven (203-389-6624). This Westville institution draws diners from across the Caseus, 93 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203region for its bright flavors and eclectic 624-3373). Quiche and onion soup with topmenu. notch cheeses stand out at this charming bistro. Closed on Sundays.

Lao Sze Chaun, 1585 Boston Post Rd., Milford (203-783-0558). You don’t get much more authentic locally than this outpost of AMERICAN Szechwan delicacies and tasty dim sum.

Bespoke, 266 College St., New Haven (203 562-4644). Cutting-edge presentation and Shanghai Gourmet, 533 Boston Post flavor combinations take center stage at Road, Orange (203-891-8788). Fill up after this successor to Roomba. Latin flavors shopping at this Post Road outpost of are featured in the upstairs lounge, Sabor. superbly and healthily done classics like Open for lunch. a crispy General Tso’s chicken and tangy hot-and-sour soup, made all the more enjoyable by friendly service and a clean, bright dining room.

Great Wall of China, 67 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203-777-8886). Its location near downtown’s best Asian market and an affordable, high-quality buffet attracts a multicultural clientele.

FUSION CUISINE Bespoke, 266 College St., New Haven (203562-4644). High-end Latin fusion with flair, wit and excellent service. Try the lobster arepa and duck-confit empanada upstairs at Sabor, the in-house Latin lounge. Now open for lunch Fridays and Saturdays.

Tengda Asian Bistro & Hibachi, 1676 Boston Post Rd., Milford (203-877-8888). Big-city style and flavors in a cavernous setting off the Post Road. Try the exotic cocktails and seafood winners like lemongrass shrimp.

Dine in and take out both available.

Heirloom at the Study, 1157 Chapel St. (203-503-3919). Re-imagined classics in a stunning setting of wood, marble and chrome. A great place to take a date or enjoy a leisurely brunch while peoplewatching. Personal wines are welcome.

Uncle Willie’s BBQ, 403 Saw Mill Rd., West Haven (203-479-4017). A BBQ joint that would do any Southern state proud, with lip-smacking ribs, chicken and brisket with succulent sides. Closed Mon. Foe Bistro, 1114 Main St., Branford (203-4835896). The perfect setting for a romantic evening, Foe shines with sublime beef and pasta dishes. A black fig and cherry-glazed duck breast also showcases the chef’s sure hand with poultry. Lunch, bar, dinner and bistro tapas menus.

Press 200, 200 Crown St., New Haven (203-787-0227). Serving lunch, dinner and happy hour menus. Variety of tapas selections and seventeen wine-by-the glass

selections available. Walk-ins welcome, but reservations are recommended.

Sage American Grill & Oyster Bar, 100 S. Water St., New Haven (203-787-3466). The tranquil harbor-front view sets off skilled seafood and raw bar selections. Excellent seasonal specials and a full bar add to the attractions of this veteran favorite. Sunday Brunch menu.

Zinc, 964 Chapel St., New Haven (203624-0507). Consistently excellent food, drinks and service in a central location.

Innovative seafood like tamari-cured tuna with wasabi oil is a good choice, along with the drink specials and seasonal desserts.

IRISH PUBS Wicked Wolf Tavern, 144 Temple St., New Haven (203-752-0450). Try the fish and chips with fresh cod fried in house-made rosemary beer batter, or the Guinness stew—a bread bowl filled with meat and vegetables braised in Guinness stout.

Features live entertainment with local bands.

INDIAN Thali, 5 Orange St., New Haven (203-7771177). Downtown’s best Sunday buffet, with ample meat and vegetarian selections as well as fresh masala dosa crepes and unusual treats like goat curry and carrot pudding.

Zaroka Bar & Restaurant, 148 York St., New Haven (203-776-8644). Opulent setting for one of the city’s most popular Indian buffets. Enjoy the birayani pilafs, crunchy pappadum crackers and fluffy desserts.

10% on the Bulldog Card.

Darbar India, 1070 Main St., Branford (203-481-8994). Award-winning shoreline favorite with excellent atmosphere and north Indian classics. Spicy vindaloos and tandooris are a good bet.

Coromandel, 185 Boston Post Rd., Orange (203-795-9055). Great breads and regional specialties from the local outpost of a celebrated Fairfield chain. Try the shrimp in coconut sauce and unusual lentil dessert.

Offers catering and take out as well as dining in seating.

Swagat, 215 Boston Post Rd. West Haven (203-931-0108). A tiny outpost of south Indian favorites near the University of New Haven. Best bets are the masala dosa and many vegetarian dishes, enhanced by the friendly service.

new haven

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ITALIAN

reservations are recommended.

Adriana’s Restaurant, 771 Grand Ave., New Haven (203-865-6474). Meat is the thing at this Grand Avenue favorite, especially veal and sausages. Fresh pasta and classics in a formal setting. Features a wine bar boasting an expansive and varied menu.

Consiglio’s of New Haven, 165 Wooster St., New Haven (203-865-4489). Beautifully executed Italian classics and a warm, welcoming atmosphere set this Wooster Square eatery apart. Open for lunch and private parties; also hosts a series of cooking classes.

Tre Scalini Ristorante, 100 Wooster St., New Haven (203-777-3373). Acclaimed pasta, seafood and antipasti in an opulent Wooster Square setting. Also open for lunch.

Skappo Italian Wine Bar, 59 Crown St. #1, New Haven (203-773-1394). White truffles and chestnuts are two of the compelling flavors you’ll encounter at this cozy eatery in Ninth Square. A great place to sample

L’Orcio, 806 State St., New Haven (203777-6670). Outstanding modern Italian in an intimate setting. You can’t go wrong with the pasta specials and perfectly cooked, seasoned steaks. Closed Mondays.

Caffe Bravo, 794 Orange St., New Haven (203-772-2728). Offering fine dining and take out for lunch and dinner. For a refreshing pizza, try the Bravo Special with fresh basil, plum tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Open Monday-Saturday;

wines and small plates in an unpretentious setting. The menu features recommended wine listings per item.

JUST A TASTE: Tata’s and Jake’s

and exposed brick that you’d swear you were in a big city.

Beer prices at Jake’s can be quite steep for the area but well worth it if you’re in the mood for a rare brew like Ommegang Cup O Kyndnes, made with heather and smoked malt for a taste suggestive of peat and fine whiskey.

Small plates range from an underwhelming sashimi to a flavorful salad of peppery greens and olives in a punchy balsamic dressing.

Its unremarkable exterior belies the fact that Tata’s makes some of the tastiest Caribbean food in the region.

T

here are some roads in Argentina where you’ll attract police attention for driving 120 miles an hour — for going too slow.

That and other tidbits of information about travel in South America were overheard, in a mixture of English and Spanish, during a recent lunch at Tata’s Restaurant in Wallingford.

The intriguing conversation, plus some of the tastiest Caribbean food in the region, makes Tata’s one of a growing list of eateries that make it well worth forging north on I-91 or the Merritt to sample Wallingford’s charms.

Tata’s, just off the Merritt on

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Quinnipiac Street, offers a winning mix of hospitality, exotic ingredients and accessible flavors. Park in the back and take a seat in the spacious dining area — sparely styled, but clean and comfortable. Then let the bilingual and friendly servers guide you through a menu of Caribbean classics that range from roast pork through grilled sandwiches to seafood in garlicky sauces.

A lunch of pernil, the roasted pork shoulder beloved in Puerto Rico, transported this wind-chilled diner to sunnier climes with its savory spice blend and succulent texture.

Saffron-colored Spanish rice with savory beans added a

starchy complement to the filling dish.

A meal like this is best accompanied by Cubanstyle coffee, with its roasted fullness of flavor. End your meal with a milky coconut flan — who’s counting calories, anyway?

You’ll also want to take a break from dieting at a newer Wallingford eatery — JAKE’S ON CENTER STREET. This bar and restaurant offers some great small plates and entrées as well as quality beer on draught and one of the most beautiful bars around. Start your evening in that bar, so atmospheric and stylish with its dark wood

The kitchen comes into its own with entrées like a New York steak of generous size with an appetizing sear and expertly balanced seasoning.

A salmon dish was also memorable, arriving gently cooked with a tasty side of mashed potatoes. Its richness offset by an intense raspberry sauce, fresh cheesecake made for the perfect finale.

With its charming neighborhoods and good schools, Wallingford has long been a destination for those seeking the suburban good life. And with its quality mainstays and notable new eateries, this leafy town is also growing into its own as a dining destination.

Tata’s Restaurant, 104 Quinnipiac St., Wallingford (203-294-4303). Jake’s, 179 Center St., Wallingford (203793-1782).

Roseland Apizza, 350 Hawthorne Ave., Derby (203-735-0494). Don’t let the casual pizzeria decor fool you — this Valley favorite makes some serious Italian food.

Look for the daily specials and enjoy.

MEXICAN Ay! Salsa, 25 High Street, New Haven (203752-0517). Sweet, cheesy arepas are the star at this tiny take-out place near the British Art Center. Enjoy them with vegetables or a variety of spiced meats and wash them down with tart sangria-flavored soda.

Guadalupe la Poblanita, 136 Chapel St., New Haven (203-752-1017). Simple, authentic cuisine from Puebla in a downhome atmosphere.

Jalapeno Heaven, 40 N. Main St., Branford (203-481-6759). Tasty Americanized fare in a cozy setting with excellent margaritas and excellent service.

Mezcal, 14 Mechanic St., New Haven (203782-4828). Big portions and wide-ranging menu with lots of surprises. Outdoor seating and take out available.

Taqueria Mexico No. 1, 850 S. Colony Rd. Wallingford (203-265-0567). The best tortas — or small sandwiches — in the area, filled with spiced meat and accompanied on the weekends by a lip-smacking posole hominy soup.

Viva Zapata, 161 Park St., New Haven (203562-2499). Toothsome classics and a killer sangria in a festive pub atmosphere. Open for lunch.

MIDDLE EASTERN Mamoun’s Falafel Restaurant, 85 Howe St., New Haven (203-562-8444). Cheap plates of falafel and Syrian-style specialties like stuffed eggplant keep this student favorite hopping late into the night. Make sure the fryer’s fired up and stick with the classics, like the silky baklava.

Istanbul Café, 245 Crown St., New Haven (203-787-3881). With its airy yet opulent interior, this critics’ favorite has the best ambience in town and consistently flavorful food. A grilled octopus salad and red lentil soup are standouts, along with lamb dishes. For a unique and tasty flavor, sample the teas (particularly apple tea).

Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven (203-933-0002). Every kind of kebab imaginable, from doner to minced chicken to cubes of lamb, is on tap at this neighborhood eatery. Along with a delicious seafood menu, try authentic Turkish cuisine such as the pide and some

baklava for dessert.

Kasbah Garden Cafe, 105 Howe St., New Haven (203-777-5053). Moroccan-style lamb and vegetable dishes prevail on the limited but tasty menu. Savor mint tea and baklava outside on the idiosyncratically landscaped patio.

SEAFOOD Lenny’s Indian Head Inn, 205 S. Montowese St., Branford (203-488-1500). Fried clams praised by national critics and the freshest steamers around make Lenny’s a local favorite. Shore Dinner covers all the bases with cherrystones, corn on the cob, lobster and steamers.

Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale, 1301 Boston Post Rd., Madison (203-245-7289). What it lacks in formality it makes up for in taste — the freshest, crispest fried seafood around.

The perfect spot for quick eats after the beach or a coastal drive, with an ice cream stand and merry-go-round onsite.

Guilford Mooring, 505 Whitfield St., Guilford (203-458-2921). Live entertainment, tasty pasta dishes, a stellar chowder and a full range of grilled fish set this shoreline favorite apart. And where else can you savor Lazy Man’s Stuffed Lobster as you watch lobstermen at work on the Sound?

YellowFin’s Seafood Grille, 1027 South Main St., Cheshire (203-250-9999). Flavors are light and bright at this fusion eatery, with a menu that ranges from cioppino to Asian scallop salad to Tilapia St. Tropez.

A raw bar and house-brewed beer round out the offerings.

Jimmie’s of Savin Rock, 5 Rock St., West Haven. 934-3212. Take the family out and enjoy the boardwalk view at this West Haven institution, known for its moderate prices and casual atmosphere. All the fried favorites, a full menu of broiled fish and lobster and the famous split hot dog.

SUSHI Wasabi, 280 Branford Rd., North Branford (203-488-7711). Good quality rolls and sashimi at reasonable prices, along with Korean specialties like mandu dumplings and bibimbap rice bowls. The sake flows freely on Monday nights, a favorite with students.

Akasaka, 1450 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203-387-4898). Unusual specials like baby octopus and blowfish make this veteran eatery worth a visit. Live sea urchin roe and scallops are also a best bet, along with tasty pickled vegetables.

Sono Bana, 1206 Dixwell Ave., Hamden (203-281-9922). Fresh fish, inventive rolls and extensive combo options make this a neighborhood favorite. Try a fruity saketini with your Sono Bana Boat and ask the chef to load up on the catch of the day.

Miya’s Sushi, 68 Howe St., New Haven (203-777-9760). Unusual combinations like rolls with cheese and Ethiopian spices are the draw at this Elm City institution. Let go of your preconceptions about sushi with help from some of the beguiling sake-infused cocktails.

Number 1 Fish Market, 2239 State St., Hamden (203-624-6171). Make your own sushi at home with fresh seafood from this market, which supplies many area restaurants. The helpful staff will steer you toward the best quality tuna, salmon, scallops and red snapper; items like sea urchin roe are available to order.

VEGETARIAN Claire’s Corner Copia, 1000 Chapel St., New Haven (203-562-3888). This veggie veteran menu features lots of vegan options, of-the-moment meat substitutes and superfoods like acai berry juice. The homey ambience and great location seals the deal. For a sweet tooth, try the chocolate peanut butter cake.

Edge of the Woods, 379 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203-787-1055). The natural market offers a superb selection of vegetarian products in addition to a lunchtime buffet with salad bar, hot entrées like lasagna and seitan stir-fry and a colorful array of main-dish salads.

Shoreline Diner & Vegetarian Enclave, 345 Boston Post Rd., Guilford (203-458-7380).

Non-veg diner fare along with vegan favorites like a tempeh Reuben with sauerkraut on grilled rye and “Twin Towers” of vegetable strudel. Great place for groups with different dining preferences. Now features seasonal outdoor dining and free local delivery.

Elaine’s Healthy Choice, 117 Whalley Ave. #125, New Haven (203-773-1897). Jamaican vegan fare served with a smile at this neighborhood favorite. Try the barbecue “chicken” or savory meatballs made from soy and other meat substitutes. Open Sundays-Fridays.

To have your restaurant added or to modify a listing please contact newhaven@conntact.com or call 203781-3480 x 104

new haven

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Get Trashed at This Museum Made from 2,000 or refuse, Trash-o-saurus is the star of the show inside the Garbage Museum.

By Susan E. Cornell

A

museum, according to MerriamWebster, is “an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study and display of objects of lasting interest or value.”

When it comes to the Garbage Museum, one of two museums in the state where the focus is on our refuse, let’s go with the “lasting interest” scenario.

There are those of us who are interested in how to Save the Earth stuff (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover), those in the Boy Scout/ Girl Scout set who like to fix things, those in the arty set who find treasures in trash, and then those of us who think it’s just plain cool to watch recycling in action from a skybox. Whatever group you fall into, the Garbage Museum in Stratford is anything but the same old field trip.

“It’s the happiest place in Connecticut,” according to Paul Nonnenmacher, director of public affairs for the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, the quasipublic agency that runs the place.

Trash-o-saurus is the star of the show inside the Garbage Museum and an icon in the state’s sustainability community.

He (or she, or it) is made from one ton of trash, which is about the amount each of us discards each year.

On the museum’s exterior is a statue of Trash-o-saurus as well as a parking area made from “glasphalt,” an amalgam of 62

december 2010

glass and asphalt. Inside one finds handson activities as well as a skybox where one can view the dumping, sorting and crushing of recyclables.

Over the past year the museum has become increasingly focused on art.

“We’ve had two exhibits of art created by professional artists who work in the medium of what they call ‘found objects,’ but it’s garbage — stuff that they’ve pulled out of dumpsters, landfills, curbsides, wherever they find things,” explains Nonnenmacher Originally, the idea behind the museum was to teach kids to recycle, because if kids were taught, they would in turn teach their parents. “That continues to be the case today,” Nonnenmacher says.

Programs are definitely not just for kids, though. “We have high-school groups, college classes, senior citizens. We have stuff everyone likes to see. Some like the art, some like the exhibits, some like the hands-on stuff, and some like to watch the trucks and equipment pushing the materials around and sorting.”

The Garbage Museum ranked 12th (based on number of visitors) among the region’s tourist and cultural attractions, so it can’t be as geeky as it might sound. In all, over 320,000 people have visited the Garbage Museum to learn sustainability concepts.

But back up a bit. The Garbage Museum itself was on the verge of consignment to the dustbin just last year. “Until June 2009 the Garbage Museum and its educational programs were funded by revenues from the sale of recyclables delivered from a collective of cities and towns to the adjacent recycling processing center,” says Nonnenmacher.

But long-term contracts to sell the Stratford facility’s recyclables ended in 2009, not long after the global recession caused commodity prices to crater. At the same time, six towns left the collective, so the reduced tonnages sold at lower prices no longer generate enough money to cover the Garbage Museum’s operating costs.

Thank goodness the end never came.

Through a very modest admission fee ($2 if you’re older than 3) and through donations, the museum remains open, albeit with reduced hours. The museum continues to seek grants, corporate sponsorships and individual contributions.

And if one trove of trash isn’t enough, the CRRA Trash Museum in Hartford offers another 6,500 square feet of educational exhibits — an offer you can’t, um, refuse.

CRRA Garbage Museum, 1410 Honeyspot Rd. Ext., Stratford (203-381-9571). Open noon-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri. (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri. JulyAugust) or by appointment.

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