New Haven magazine July 2009

JULY 2009

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That Won’t Break the Bank

CRUISING THE THIMBLES

All aboard for the ‘Newport of Connecticut’

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Webster Bank scion Jim Smith

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New Haven is the place to be this summer for high-energy, high-value entertainment and activities. The season kicks off with Music on the Green, a FREE concert series starting in July.

Summer really heats up when top tennis players compete at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in August. Of course there’s always award-winning dining, world-class culture and unique shopping to choose from as well. New Haven.

A little Summer fun for everyone.

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Dining Downtown New Haven

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Downtown New Haven, exit 47 off I-95 or exit 3 off I-91. Parking is easy with over 15,000 convenient spaces.

Market New Haven is a public/private partnership funded by the City of New Haven & its Board of Aldermen, Yale University, Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Local Business Community.

New Haven I July/2009

08 Like Father, Like Son ONE2ONE interviews Webster Bank scion James C. Smith on the state of Connecticut banking

16 A Back-to-Basics Summer How to have family fun without breaking the bank this summer

22 Off the Grid Going green may not always be as easy as it looks

26 We Wuz Robbed A first person account of a crime that changed a family, and a neighborhood

30 Body & Soul For your season in the sun, skincancer hits and myths

32 Open-Ended Home To accommodate his extended family, a Stony Creek architect ‘extends’ his house

40 In the Swim INSTYLE helps you choose the best swimsuit for your body type

48 My Back Pages

Hartford’s Connecticut Science Center is a great day-trip destination for family fun.

A little-known literary gem struggles to remain relevant

50 Bang the Drum A spontaneous (East) Rock festival attracts drummers large and small

53 ‘Storytelling with Tools’ A stage lifer breathes new life into a moribund Elm City theater company

58 Words of Mouth Blue State Coffee makes waves on Wall Street

62 Cruising the Thimbles All aboard to visit the ‘Newport of Connecticut’

24 16 New Haven

| Vol. 2, No. 10 | July 2009

Publisher Mitchell Young, Editor Michael C. Bingham, Design Manager Larissa Wigglesworth, Design Consultant Terry Wells, Contributing Writers Brooks Appelbaum, Michael Harvey, Liese Klein, Cindy Marien, Melissa Nicefaro, Tashema Nichols, Joanna Pettas, Ron Ragozzino, Steven Scarpa, Cindy Simoneau, Editorial Assistant Sarah Politz, Photographers Steve Blazo, Anthony DeCarlo

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july 2009

Senior Publisher’s Representatives Mary W. Beard, Roberta Harris, Publisher’s Representative Cynthia Carlson New Haven is published 12 times annually by Second Wind Media Ltd., which also publishes Business New Haven, with offices at 85 Willow St., New Haven, CT 06511. 203-781-3480 (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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s summer no longer all it’s cracked up to be?

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For one thing, as I write this the meteorological summer has yet to rear its sunny head. Just as it seemed to take forever for the winter of our discontent to flee and spring to arrive, the first two weeks of June have been rainy, cool (if not downright cold) and just… gloomy — the coldest and wettest June on record. The snarky Web site Gawker.com has already proclaimed 2009 “The Year Without a Summer.” What’s up with that, Al Gore? (Just sayin’.)

But beyond that, the idea of summer as a time of rest, recreation and refuge from the tension and toil of the less-hospitable months seems under assault these days.

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The summer of our childhood memories was languid and embracing — long, leisurely days of playing outdoors and chasing lightning bugs in the gloaming. But somewhere along life’s path, summer vacation morphed into a kind of arms race, a competition among striving professionals to see who was successful enough to take the longest time away from the office, travel to the most exotic or remote locales or build the most ostentatious second homes.

Relax, dammit.

That paradigm doesn’t seem to function any more. And it’s not just the economy. Many of us find ourselves working longer and harder than ever before just to stay even. We need a break more than ever. Recreation, literally, means to “re-create” ourselves and our lives. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

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One of the most desultory linguistic inventions I’ve ever heard is “staycation,” invented last summer by Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s people to function as an exhortation to Connecticut residents to remain in the state for summer vacation instead of traveling to Cape Cod or, say, Palau.

How depressing — a little like telling a child that a dose of cod liver oil is really “chocolate milkshake.” As H. Ross Perot used to say, “Now that’s just sad.”

Nevertheless, the harsh realities of the economy and (again!?) soaring gasoline prices force most of us to be — what’s the word? — sensible about our 2009 summer vacations. That’s why Melissa Nicefaro has assembled a passel of fresh ideas for “back-to-basics” summer of fun without breaking the bank.

You can’t have summer without sun, and also in this issue, Karen Singer of our sister publication Business New Haven offers a first-person account of her long, quixotic but ultimately successful effort to take her home (mostly) off the grid and achieve a measure of energy independence. In this month of Independence Day, that’s surely a good thing, no?

Happy summer. v

— Michael C. Bingham, Editor

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july 2009

I NT EL Board Clerk Michael Mahoney told NHM he expected more municipalities to require zoning review for the placement of solar panels.

Sun Screen in Short Beach BRANFORD — The Short Beach community may have a reputation as one of the state’s most progressive, but that didn’t stop its Civic Association’s governing board from imposing new zoning restrictions on the installation of solar panels.

The board voted last month to require all solar panel installations to be subject to a approval of the full board, which meets monthly.

Branford itself has no zoning requirement for the rooftop installation of solar panels and that is the case for homeowners in many towns, including Orange (see related story, page 22).

Prior to the new requirement, Civic Association President David Peterson filed an appeal with the association’s Zoning Board of Appeals to issue a cease-and-desist order to halt the installation of solar panels on one residence.

The Zoning Appeals board voted to take up Peterson’s appeal, but didn’t order a halt to the installation. Civic Association

Green energy proponents, however, have been calling for a different civic approach.

According to buildbabybuild.com, whose motto is “Promoting a Nation of Energy Locovores”: “Renewable energy zoning, adopted by local jurisdictions, would help encourage development of wind, solar, biomass and other non-fossil fuel-based power plants and distributed generation projects.”

they will shoot in renovated studios in Stamford.

The soon to be even lower “budget” shows were lured to Connecticut in part by the state’s controversial film tax credit.

The “credit” is actually a direct subsidy, say some critics, and Connecticut taxpayers will be footing up to 30 percent of all costs, including the salaries of Mandel, Maury Povich, Springer and Wilkos.

Children’s advocacy group Connecticut Voices for Children (CVC) has released several studies, as has the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, challenging the economics of the subsidy. CVC claims the TV and film industries have already received nearly $113 million from Connecticut taxpayers, and that only a fraction of claimed expenses were actually incurred in the state. Stay tuned.

Invasion by Sea Deal Or No Deal?

WATERFORD — NBC Universal’s Deal Or No Deal? game show, hosted by Howie Mandel, will begin shooting this summer at Sonalysts Studios. According to industry sources, it’s the fourth NBC Universal show attracted to Connecticut to reduce costs.

NBC’s Maury, Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos shows are also relocating to Connecticut where

WEST HAVEN — Texas native and University of New Haven grad student Melody Wood has set out to help repel an invasion of Long Island Sound by Stylea clava, a marine invertebrate.

The tiny sea squirts, measuring just eight to 12 centimeters in length, “attack” by congregating on fishing equipment, ropes and the hulls of boats, increasing fuel costs and rendering crab and lobster pots useless. The invaders, which hail from Korea (no doubt North Korea), also besiege power and water-

treatment plants as they clog intake valves, causing downtime and large repair bills. Wood nder the guidance of Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Marine Biology Program at UNH, Carmela Cuomo, Wood is researching the invertebrate’s temperature tolerances to help determine its potential spread.

Swinging Seniors (Centers) MILFORD — According to the U. S. News & World Report, Milford is one of the top ten places in the U.S. for seniors — swingin’ seniors, that is. Indeed, according to the magazine 46 percent of Americans 65 and older are single. The magazine’sa demographer sought out places where senior singles might have the best chance of hooking up and a good overall retirement.

The Milford Senior Center’s dance and exercise lessons, tai chi, conversational Spanish, French and Italian classes and computer skills workshops were cited as the kind of place that seniors could expect to strike up a new relationship.

Is Your Hubby Hot? NHM is seeking nominations for greater New Haven’s “Hottest Husbands.”

Does you mate have a perfect physique, amazing intellect and a tender heart? Is he a superlative parent with an all-around lust for life? Then he may just be our guy and grace the pages of a future NHM feature spread. Send us an e-mail at news@ conntact.com and tell us why (in 300 words or less, please) what makes your mate so magnificent. Including a picture of that handsome devil also wouldn’t hurt.

Nominations are due by August 31.

new haven

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Like Father, Like Son

8

july 2009

PHOTOGRAPH:

Steve Blazo

Seven decades ago Harold Webster Smith founded a bank in the trough of a depression.

Today his son leads that same bank through a new financial crisis

J

ames C. Smith, 60, is CEO of Webster Financial Corp., parent of Waterbury’s Webster Bank. In 1935 Smith’s father, Harold Webster Smith, founded the bank at age 24 in the teeth of the Great Depression.

Exactly 40 years later Jim Smith joined the bank at age 26. Today, with nearly $20 billion in assets, Webster is the largest independent commercial bank in New England. While the bank remains well capitalized, the past six months has seen a significant decline in its stock price (NYSE: WBS) and accepted $400 million from Washington to bolster its capital base and allow the bank to continue to lend.

NHM Publisher Mitchell Young interviewed Smith for ONE2ONE.

vvv Most of us didn’t understand there was a true financial crisis until about October.

When did it become apparent to you?

We had an inkling that there were some issues in late 2007. We could see that non-performing loans were starting to rise. It wasn’t anything major, but in a very strong economy to see that kind of activity was a warning signal. We undertook some programs to tighten our belt and manage expenses very tightly early in 2008.

Why could you see problems while some very large financial institutions failed to react until late into 2008?

There were a lot of measures outside of people’s control. The assets that they owned, the securities that they owned — there was no market to sell them. By the first half of 2008 it was hard to sell the assets at what you thought they were worth. A lot of big institutions deluded themselves that those asset values would come back.

PHOTOGRAPH:

Steve Blazo

Many feel that the financial giants ‘caused’ this problem. How do you see that from the inside?

All financial institutions were affected by the rapid rise in asset values. Those assets were collateral against loans that were made. When it’s all around you it’s hard to appreciate that you’re in a credit bubble.

During the period of ’06 through early 2008, banks continued to lend. It turns out the collateral underlying loans was not

worth what it was appraised at. Whether [specific] institutions participated in creating the problem, all institutions were affected because of that rise in values.

I wouldn’t expect the ‘big boys’ to get trapped in a bubble like the rest of us.

We’re all lending into a market we believe exists. If it turns out those values aren’t there, then you look back and ask: Did you take the right steps to protect against those losses? In our case, we did protect ourselves. In late 2007 we had a national wholesale lending operation that we had had for eight or nine years. We had billions of dollars of loans in various parts of the country but close to two years ago we elected to curtail that program.

To sum it up…

There was so much credit available on more and more lenient terms with less and less equity required to make the investment, and then there was the ability to securitize and distribute these assets broadly around the world — to a demand that seemed insatiable.

That ultimately drove the desire to borrow, and it had an artificial upward impact on all asset values. It wasn’t just sub-prime; it was all of housing. And it was all other asset classes. It wasn’t a sub-prime bubble — it was a credit bubble.

Photography

So the government had to step in?

I think it was timely at least in terms of the investments they decided to make in the banks. They wanted to be sure the financial system would be stable even in an economic meltdown.

Late last year we were all pretty nervous.

But sitting here with almost $20 billion in assets, were you also scared?

I think it was a little bit scary for everyone. The No. 1 issue for us was capital. We’ve always been pretty careful to make sure we had enough capital regardless of what happens in an economic downturn. And our move to raise capital in the middle of 2008 just in case turned out to be a very smart thing to do.

When I saw how young new Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was, I thought, ‘Aren’t these the kids that got us into trouble in the first place?’ Would bankers

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It may be the case that some banks are ‘too big to fail’ — and that’s a bad thing.

The world goes in cycles. In one cycle you want to specialize in what you do best, are most passionate about, most committed, which we arrived at as our [current] strategy. [We want to be] less out-ofmarket, with virtually the entire focus [being] direct to customer, in market businesses, commercial banking, retail banking — a much narrower scope than we had four or five years ago.

I think the big banks are starting to look at life more that way as well. For a while a lot of big banks thought they could be the financial supermarkets for the world.

Would your father and his contemporaries have been lured into this credit bubble?

It has been a very challenging time for banks and their customers. We remember we are here to help them get through this distressed time. This is something my father would have wanted as well. But my father would have been less inclined to have been carried along with the tide, because of his roots and the way things were done when he started the bank [during the Depression]. I like to think of us as conservative today, but my father was arguably more conservative, and he might not have been as expansive in his view of what the company could achieve.

My father and I agreed on what the strategy for the bank ought to be back in the early 1990s, which was to grow and expand and enter commercial banking. ’The impact on the financial services companies has abated; now the big responsibility is to make sure we get our customers through this, because there is at least another six months of challenge.’

like your dad and his contemporaries have gotten us into this mess?

It’s hard to know who would have done what under the circumstances unless they were there. Financial innovation and technology made possible investment opportunities that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago and in the end outstripped the ability of regulations to control it. If there had been better macro regulations such as minimum capital levels, that would have made a huge difference. If there had been a clearinghouse for derivatives, that would have been a controller. But what drove everything was this blind belief that free markets would police themselves and that the risk was broadly distributed so it could not be a systemic threat. It turns 10

july 2009

out that is not true. The risk was broadly distributed, but there was so much of it that it could be a systemic threat.

Some banks are deemed ‘too big to fail.’

Should the question be: Are they too big to manage?

First I would say we are not a big bank; we’re the right size. We’re a regional commercial bank and, proud to say, the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in New England.

We’ve grown from the savings and loan association that was founded here in 1935 to help people buy and build their homes, to a commercial bank that is suited to meet all the needs of its commercial and consumer customers.

By any measure that strategy worked. What are the numbers?

When we went public in 1986 the bank had about $500 million in assets. In 1990-91 we had about $700 million, and we had built up our capital. Remember, that was the last really difficult [economic] time.

I don’t recall it being particularly perilous for Webster.

We had some commercial real estate exposure, but when things turned sour we were in a very strong position to acquire failed institutions from the FDIC. Then we got the notion to attract like-minded partners. Over the years we merged with about 25 banks and savings-and-loans in southern New England. We also had very good organic growth.

When did you enter the New Haven market?

Webster had the second charter for a federal savings-and-loan in Connecticut; First Federal Bank of New Haven had the first. First Fed became First Constitution

Bank, which failed in 1992. We bought it from the FDIC. First Constitution was bigger than Webster at the time.

The person that shepherded [First Constitution] through its difficulty at the time was John Crawford, who had been brought in to resolve the institution and protect customers. He’s now on our board and is our lead director.

We need more John Crawfords, I can tell you that. Turning to Connecticut’s economy, do you fear Hartford and New Haven becoming economic has-beens, or will some new force revive them?

I’d like to say there will be some new thing, but I am very concerned about the direction we’re headed. We seemed to think we have an unlimited ability to raise revenue from the high-end taxpayers in the state, and that will not happen. If the people who pay the bulk of taxes leave, that makes the burden that much greater for everyone else. We have to look at the level of spending in state government.

I think business groups and government have been too cozy to create the right dynamic to challenge the status quo.

It turned out that it wasn’t completely healthy back in the early ‘90s to have

adversarial relationships. CBIA [the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, for example] learned that constructive dialogue grounded by strong principles was the way to go. But I also agree there will come a point when a break [between business groups and state government] may be required to make the point that Connecticut is spending too much.

Webster supported the Connecticut Economic Resource Center’s ‘Benchmarking Connecticut 2006’ study, which detailed how the state’s economy needed to be retooled in order to remain competitive. But politicians pushed this report offstage before the public could digest it.

Most of the state’s revenue growth came from the exploding financial-services industry in Fairfield County. With that retrenching, what will it mean?

Fairfield County did very well because of the financial innovation we were talking about, and now they’re having a pretty difficult time. Fairfield County has provided an outsized amount of support in terms of the income tax, capital gains and dividend tax. Connecticut has been relying on [Fairfield County taxpayers] through the greatest bull market in history.

It isn’t as simple as saying we can find another revenue source. There isn’t one that can be viably tapped.

Can we retool government?

It’s very hard for a public entity to be able We were willing to step up and put to move at the same pace as a business. our name on it even though it was It takes a long time and you have to controversial. To have that kind of get a lot more agreement to make a law information out there is very positive. than to make a decision in a business. It What the study said was that [in 2006] doesn’t mean fundamental change for the Connecticut was in reasonably good shape, greater good cannot be made. My father, but we were living off our laurels and however, told me a long time ago you have longer term we were going to lose ground. to be careful about politics: ‘Remember We need to address these problems — your best customers are Republicans, of spending, investment, innovation, Democrats and independents.’ education — and transportation is a huge But you have been pretty active in the issue that needs massive investment. political process.

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Steve Blazo PHOTOGRAPH:

Can Connecticut’s economy support the growth your company needs to meet the needs of investors, employees and customers?

One of the reasons we got involved in some of the interests that [the bank] did was we were worried about the slow growing environment that had been vulnerable to the commercial real estate downturn [of the early 1990s]. There was a period when we decided to expand, and we got into a couple of regional and even national businesses.

We were not only growing the size of the company, but its complexity and the asset classes we were investing in. Based on a strategic review three or four years ago, we decided to focus on what we know best: retail banking in and around our primary market. I call it our ‘back to the future’ strategy — focus on retail banking, commercial banking, some investment services, direct to customers. Our vision is to be New England’s bank, and we are willing to take our chances on the local economy.

For a moment let’s go back to past. How at age 24 did your father start this bank in the midst of the Depression?

In the depth of the depression there was no construction lending going on.

If you went to a bank, they would say, ‘Why don’t you take one of these nice [foreclosed] properties over here?’ Under the Homeowners Loan Act, my father was able to borrow $25,000 from family and friends. The government matched it with $75,000 and he was able to open the doors to help people buy and build homes in 1935.

How long did it take for the bank to become an entity that mattered on a community scale?

Connecticut state government, says Smith, must ‘regroup and tighten [its] belt.’

We’ve tried to work constructively to advance an agenda that’s in the best interest of citizens. We’ve never been satisfied to simply be a reflection of our communities — we want to be a catalyst for positive economic change. That’s why we were willing to step up with the CERC study and why I was chairman of the Governor’s Council on Competitiveness for six years.

What can we do to get more personal involvement from bigger companies? Or are executives just too busy now?

No, there are distinct roles for the public and private sector. They can collaborate

12

july 2009

and come together, but they both have to be willing participants. For a CEO to have effective input on the local or the state level, that input has to be desired. Every CEO has to make their own call as to the level of involvement they want to have.

The demands on businesspeople are so much more than ten years ago it is hard to have the same amount of time.

If state government could do just one thing to benefit overall economic development, what would it be?

Cut spending. Spending in the state of Connecticut is too high. We need to regroup and tighten our belt.

My father was the only employee for about a year. They got to about a million dollars of assets in about two or three years. Their objective was to be the best bank in the neighborhood. They hit that critical mass in the community very gradually. By 1960 they had about 45 to 50 employees and about $100 million in assets.

When I got here in 1975, we had $165 million in assets.

So it wasn’t really until the bank bust of the late ‘80s that the bank really got traction?

The recession of the [early] 1980s and all the inflation caused a spike in interest rates — that got our attention. We were paying 11 percent for deposits and earning eight percent on the loan portfolio. My father would say, ‘We’re losing three

percent even before we open the doors’ We had a strong capital position and that got us through, but after that we said raise capital to insure we would not be vulnerable going forward. We also wanted to be able to expand, by offering broader services and by attracting like-minded institutions. That was all percolating from 1983 to ’86, in ’86 we went public.

[Pointing to boardroom portrait of Harold Webster Smith] What does your father ‘say’ about the current environment?

You can see right here. I sit down at that end [gestures to opposite end of table from the portrait] of the table during board meetings. I say to the directors, ‘I like to keep an eye on my dad.’ Of course they chuckle because it’s quite the other way around. My father would say that our eyes may have been bigger than our stomach, but that we honored our rules of risk.

Particularly when you have to work with your customers. Second, never take a risk you can’t afford. What’s happened to us, as in all downturns, we may get nicked — but we’re not going to get really hurt.

You have two college-age children. What are you learning from them?

One thing I’m learning is that banking

isn’t everything [laughs]. They’re enjoying life so much and they’re into so many different things it helps me to appreciate how big the opportunity is to contribute.

And to make time to spend a little more time with them and my spouse, because I’m so committed to what we’re doing here and my dad’s legacy. My kids are great; they keep Kathy and me grounded.

They love to kid me about our advertising — it’s just not mod enough, doesn’t have the Facebook touch.

You have an evident passion for the bank and its mission. How do you communicate that to Webster’s 3,000 employees?

It’s a great question. The culture is ultimately important to the strength and the optimism of an organization. First, you have to have [a culture] and know what it is. You have to communicate it as often as you can. One thing I like to do is meet with all new employees. I try every quarter to meet with those that have come in to Webster in the last 90 days and tell them in my own words and to thank them for joining us.

Over the last ten years I’m sure there were at least a half-dozen times that some really big institution came knocking on your door and said they want to acquire Webster

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Bank. Bank regulators had been pushing consolidation for years, but you said no.

Why? It may be too much of a good thing. After the early ‘90s, I think there was a view by regulators and by Congress that larger institutions would be better able to absorb risk. They would have a stronger capital position and a more diversiďŹ ed portfolio.

So if there was a hit such as came down in Texas in the ‘80s or New England in the [early] ‘90s, it would be less likely to destroy institutions. But also a lot of the consolidation was driven by ďŹ nancial innovation. What you can do with [MIS] systems today is extraordinary. You just couldn’t do it 20, even 15 years ago.

The stronger your systems, the more efďŹ ciently you manage.

With new technologies like remote deposits and online banking, do we really need all these bank branches that are still being built?

We’re a big proponent of these new technologies like remote deposits. But we are a big believer that you need a physical location that is close enough to your customers that they can come in and talk to you when they want. For the next Continued on 39

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PHOTOGRAPH:

Anthony DeCarlo

Dancing, Dudley says, ‘is like breathing — it just flows out of me.’

Following His Terpsichorean Muse An Elm City high-schooler vies to become Male Dancer of the Year

By Cindy Simoneau

W

hen it comes to planning for the future, Tavon Dudley is making all the right moves for a career in dance.

Seventeen-year-old Dudley, of Elm Street in New Haven, travels to Hollywood, Fla. this month to compete in the American Dance Awards (ADA), a national competition. He does so as the reigning Male Dancer of the Year from the March New Haven event, a qualifier for the nationals. This honor is one of three he achieved this year, the first he has ever entered as a competitor. He was also 14

july 2009

crowned Mr. Star Quest and Mr. IDC at Waterbury challenges.

“These past two years have really shown me that I should make dancing my future,” says Dudley during a conversation in the dance studio at New Haven’s Cooperative Arts & Humanities Magnet High School, from which he is a recent graduate. “I wasn’t sure how I would do at competitions. Now, I know how much I can achieve.”

The combination of studying dance at the magnet high school and at Rob Merante’s Academy of Dance in Wolcott

inspired Dudley to immerse himself in the world of dance. He also credits his sister, longtime dancer and instructor Alesha Riles, with being his role model for dancing. He says Riles, a teacher at Seven Star School of Performing Arts in Brewster, N.Y., has shown him the dedication and hard work it takes to excel in the competitive world of dance.

His favorite styles of dance? There are three: “Modern, because it is more abstract and the discipline it requires and the beautiful lines it creates. Lyrical because it is more flowing, and it tells wonderful stories. And, contemporary because of its natural, earthy style.” He also studies jazz, ballet and African dance. “I’m not interested in learning tap or ballroom, but I absorb all other forms of dance.”

It was lyrical dance solo, “Bleeding Love,” that gave him the win in the ADA qualifiers sending him to Florida where he will compete against 14 other men for the title of National Male Dancer of the Year.

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He’s a little anxious about the competition since it’s his first appearance on the national stage and the event takes place under the judges’ constant scrutiny over seven days of workshops and competitions.

He says once he started dancing he could not stop. “I danced wherever and whenever I could,” he recalls. “My sister and I, sometimes at home, will hear music and start dancing. We drive my mother crazy. I even will dance to the music in the supermarket.”

“I know it’s cliché, but to me, dancing is like breathing,” Dudley says. “It just flows out of me,” he adds, admitting he enjoys the onstage adrenaline rush he gets as he’s about to perform.

During the academic year, Dudley balances his day between schoolwork and dance. After school he heads to private lessons in Wolcott, where he is an instructor for young children’s classes.

“That’s really interesting, and frustrating at the same time,” he explains. “You have some kids who really pick it up and others who take many weeks to learn simple moves.” Teaching, he says, requires much patience and focus.

Dudley estimates he spends more time dancing each week than any other activity — including eating and sleeping. “I am in constant motion,” he says.

While he has little time for other pursuits, including participating in his former hiphop group, Dudley says he stays connected with his two best friends and they are there to support him at his events. He says, “They are also into their arts, so we all support each other.”

Dudley exudes an air of self-confidence as

he discusses the future and shrugs off his accolades. He was even nonplussed when New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. popped in during the interview to offer his congratulations and well wishes for the national competition. Dudley clearly takes the spotlight in stride. When WFSB-TV spotlighted the Cooperative Arts school on its Cool Schools feature, it was Tavon Dudley whom viewers saw dancing on the school’s stage.

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“All the attention is fine, but I need to stay focused on my plans,” he says.

Dudley says Merante, a New Haven native who has studied dance for 30 years, pushes him to excel. Dudley also studied with teacher Christine Kershaw at the arts high school. His choreographer is Jeffrey Pelletier of Merante’s academy staff.

The youngest of Deborah Dudley’s four children, Tavon says it was not until last year, his junior year of high school, that he realized dance is what he wanted to pursue “more than anything else or any other career.”

His mother reaction to his choice of careers? “She just said, ‘Go for it.’ She knows this will make me happy,” says Dudley.

Next year he will pursue masters’ dance study under Mercante and then he hopes to go to a university or join a dance company for more training. Ultimately, Dudley’s dream would be to land a spot in the world-famous Alvin Ailey Dance American Theater, and either move to New York City or Los Angeles for his art.

“To achieve that success,” he says, “would be absolutely phenomenal.” v

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Summer Beat the dog-day doldrums and take the kids out for some quality time

By Melissa Nicefaro

The ‘Forces In Motion’ gallery challenges visitors to levitate at the Connecticut Science Center.

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f you’ve got kids, you will positively hear the dreaded phrase at least once or twice over the course of the summer:

They’re bored.

Show them how you used to do it. Think back to the old days — when we were kids.

We maybe hit a theme park once over the summer. Then there was the annual visit to Mystic. But for the rest of the time, we played outside, often after dark, sometimes even playing cruel tricks on our fellow living creatures, the lightning bugs. If you’re afraid today’s kids are too reliant on all things electronic, we have a few ideas for getting back to the basics.

and more than $40 million in contributions from philanthropists, corporations and other donors, the 150,000square-foot center houses a 3-D movie theater, laboratory classrooms, a café, gift shop and on-site parking at the Science Center/Riverfront Garage, in addition to the interactive exhibits.

It may seem a shame to drive to Hartford when the shore is so inviting at this time of the year. If that’s the case, take the kids out for a good oldfashioned afternoon of fishing.

Two of the best spots in the area to fish are West Haven’s Sandy Point, better known by locals as the Sandbar, and at Fort Hale in New Haven.

‘We grew up in an era where people walked on the moon, but our great-grandparents knew more about the night sky than our kids do.’

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Get your imaginations working with a trip to the new Connecticut Science Center in Hartford, just opened in midJune. Visitors will experience more than 150 hands-on exhibits in ten galleries covering science topics such as space, energy, biology, sports, health and physics, sight and sound, geology and weather forecasting. The topics are meant to reflect the state’s elementary-school curriculum and reinforce what students are learning in school — except it’s so much fun, the kids won’t realize they’re learning. The Center’s traveling exhibit gallery opens with the exciting display Speed, about the science — and the thrill — of going fast.

Designed by New Haven architect César Pelli, the Connecticut Science Center was created to inspire learning through interactive and innovative experiences that explore our changing world through science. Funded by the state of Connecticut

According to fisherman Pat Juliano: “Generally, you want to fish from two hours before high tide to two hours after high tide at the West Haven Sandbar. You’ll get weakfish, bluefish, striped bass and fluke. It’s bait fishing or surf casting there, and there’s lots of parking available in the area.”

If you prefer to fish from a boat, Juliano has two. Reel Crazy is a 2001 SportCraft 24foot walkaround boat that can accommodate three people, and a 34-footer accommodates six. His company Reel Crazy Sportfishing fishes between West Haven and Guilford for about five or six hours, and takes groups on angling excursions.

“Right now striped bass are running and they’re running very hot,” he says. On one trip last month anglers on his boat caught huge fish that ranged in size up to 40-plus pounds.

“On most days I can put ten

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Shutter at the thought: Digital technology has enabled a whole new generation of camera buffs to perfect their art.

Heavens to Betsy: The Astronomical Society of New Haven can help reacquaint you with the nighttime sky.

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striped bass in the boat,” he says. But when the winds start blowing out of the east and there is rain, it makes for a raw day.

“Fish don’t really like low [barometric] pressure,” explains Juliano. “They usually feed before a low or when it starts to rise.”

With the opening of summer flounder fishing season on June 15, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection had anticipated enacting a new saltwater fishing license requirement, but the date came and went with no new legislation being enacted.

Juliano knows it’s coming, though. “I think the bill will be signed and it’s going to happen within the next few months and some people are so confused about it,” he says. “Some people only fish once or twice a year and they don’t want to pay for it.”

But when it does happen anglers can purchase a license at any bait shop that has a DEP licensing kiosk.

Juliano’s DEP charter permit will cover anybody fishing from his boat, so there’s no need for each individual who is fishing with him to obtain one.

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Captain Juliano has fished the waters of Long Island Sound for 25 years and knows most of the best fishing areas of the south-central Connecticut coastline.

His trips are perfect for families looking for a back-to-basics day on the water. His excursions sail from Short Beach Marina in East Haven.

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nother great way to get back to basics, especially at this time of the year, is to reacquaint yourself with the night sky.

Don’t you remember how exciting it was on those clear summer nights to bring out the telescope, set it up and gaze at the moon? It’s astronomical fun. (Get it?!)

The only downside about observing the sky during summer is that the nights are so brief, according to Bill Chellis, spokesman for the Astronomical Society of New Haven (ASNH). Since it doesn’t get truly dark until almost 10 p.m. in early July, stargazers should plan to stay up late.

The society holds stargazing gatherings on Friday or Saturday nights at Silver Sands State Park in Milford and also at its Bethany observatory station. For more information, visit the NHAS Web site at asnh.org.

“You get your best views of the Milky Way in the summer,” says Chellis. “It’s visible to the naked eye if you know where to

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Captain Pat Juliano’s wife, Christi, shows what a real fisherwoman can do.

look for it. It’s actually pretty large and pretty unmistakable once you realize what it is.

“People stay inside and watch TV now, when for thousands of years, that was late night television — seeing the sky and all the constellations,” Chellis adds. “[Constellations] are all figments of people’s imaginations.”

Light pollution can be a big problem for stargazers, especially in New Haven and along the shoreline since streetlights fill your view of the night sky, but according to Chellis, anything that gives you the dark sky to the south is typically a good

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spot to hunker down and watch the show.

To learn more about the night sky, Yale’s Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium (lfop.astro.yale.edu) is open every Tuesday night for a planetarium show and, weather permitting, public viewing from the observatory weekly.

According to the observatory’s director Michael Faison, on clear nights there are also some “sidewalk astronomy” opportunities at the city’s farmers market.

The observatory’s Tuesday programs are appropriate for all ages, although the 7 p.m. show (“Skyquest”) is targeted at younger kids (nine or ten years old and

up), and the 8 p.m. show (“Black Holes”) is targeted at adults.

Though the constellations don’t change much over the course of a person’s lifetime, there are changes in the sky every month, according to Chellis.

“The stars do change over the course of a year, though the constellations really don’t move, but the stars will be a little bit different from month to month and that has to do with the way the earth revolves around the sun,” he says.

The society’s public viewings are a great way to see “shooting stars,” though they really aren’t stars at all, but (mostly)

pea-sized meteorites entering the earth’s atmosphere. They enter at such a high rate of speed that they don’t combust; they become plasma and are incinerated about 60 miles up in the sky.

“You should be able to see them every night,” says Chellis. They’re not that uncommon at all — you just need the right conditions to see them.

“Many people are intimidated by things they don’t know and astronomy is one of those things,” says Chellis. “So many people get detached from it and think it’s more complicated than it is. We grew up in an era where people walked on the moon, but our great-grandparents knew more about the night sky than our kids do.”

The society currently has about 75 members and is always looking for more to share its passion for the night sky.

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ut maybe capturing daylight moments is more your thing. If you really want to get back to basics, grab a camera and go take some photographs. Today’s digital cameras can provide instant gratification and at the same time, an activity that can create memories to last a lifetime.

Lighthouse Point Park, the Grove Street

Cemetery, the Pardee Rose Garden, East Rock Park and Edgerton Park are all perfect — and popular — local spots to take pictures, according to photographer Ann Yost. She is president of the New Haven Camera Club, one of the oldest clubs in Connecticut, gearing up to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011.

“Any beautiful park with lots of flowers makes a great spot,” says Yost. “The West Haven beaches are always a nice place for sunrise pictures, and so are boat trips to the Thimble Islands (see DISCOVERED, page 62) in Branford and even on the Quinnipiack schooner. It’s fun to shoot pictures of a cruise, but also from land of the boat.”

At about $20 for a family, the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven’s antique trolley cars make for a spectacular photo op.

The keys times for a good picture are in morning light or evening light, according to Yost.

“The lighting in the middle of the day tends to be too bright, so early morning is really the best time for taking pictures,” she explains. “A couple of hours before sunset is another prime time and you won’t have people squinting.”

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Also, keep in mind not to place every subject dead-center in your viewfinder.

“They call it the rule of thirds. If you divide your view with two lines down and two lines across, where they intersect is where you want your main subject,” she explains. “You want a background and you want to be able to tell where you’ve been.

The background of a picture tells the story.

“Also, don’t hesitate to use fill flash or a light flash if the front of the face is looking too dark as opposed to the background,” Yost adds.

Yost, who uses a Canon Rebel SLR digital camera, recommends filters to add some extra interest to photos. “I especially like a polarizer, which is the one that tones down brightness and makes light blues look richer. They’re great for single lens reflex [SLR] cameras,” she says. A point-and-shoot can also be fun, however, since many of them do offer different settings for cloudy, shady, sunny and even nighttime conditions.

Night or day, some of the best memories we make are during the summertime, right in our own backyards. So next time the kids get that “look,” show them how you used to do it. v

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One homeowner’s quixotic quest for energy independence

By Karen Singer

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july 2009

The sudden change sent parents scurrying to buy wetsuits for their kids. Many seniors stopped coming to the pool. And lap swimmers, like me, finished workouts with blue lips.

The unpleasant chill made me wonder about other ways to heat the pool, as well as improve the energy efficiency of my home and reduce energy expenses in an environmentally friendly way.

I’ve written plenty of stories for Business New Haven about Connecticut companies and residents using state programs with incentives for energy audits and renewable energy systems. But I hadn’t seriously considered about how these programs might apply to me until I felt a sense of urgency about the need to warm the frigid pool water — which carried over into action on the home front.

Online I discovered municipalities that heat pools with solar power, and I asked my press contact at the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund if she knew any solar installers with such experience.

Soon I was speaking with Ron French about a project his company, Solar Works (now part of Wilton-based Alteris Renewables), had done for a southern Vermont recreation center, and sent the details to the Orange energy committee.

I also asked French about using solar energy for my home.

I was hoping to cut heating oil costs, but quickly abandoned

My roof’s southern orientation, however, is nearly perfect for solar photovoltaic panels, which could reduce my electricity bills.

Several days after our conversation, a Solar Works specialist measured my roof and attic, and asked for copies of my electric bills over the past 12 months.

Afterwards, he e-mailed me a proposal showing a 5.1kilowatt system with 30 solar panels that would produce enough electricity to cover around 94 percent of my household needs. The price tag was a hefty $39,330, but the net cost, still hardly cheap, would be $15,832 after a $21,498 rebate from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and a $2,000 federal tax credit. The payback period would be around a decade.

The project’s environmental impact was impressive. Over 25 years of producing emissionfree energy, my solar panels could reduce greenhouse gases by 127,044 pounds in carbon dioxide, 538 pounds in sulfur dioxide, and 212 pounds in nitrogen oxide — the equivalent of planting 593 trees.

I needed to sacrifice one tree, however: an old maple shading the roof. When it became a pile of wood chips, another rooftop measurement increased the system’s capacity by one percent, covering 95 percent of my household needs.

After contacting several installers, I hired Solar Works, which submitted an application to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund for the rebate.

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The water was in the Orange town pool, where I’ve been swimming for years. When oil topped $100 a barrel during the summer of 2008, the town’s Board of Selectmen decided to save money on energy by reducing the pool temperature from the mid-80s to the upper 70s.

the idea when I found out my house, a ranch built in the late 1950s, would need a radiant floor heating system to connect with solar thermal panels.

© 2008 Hospitality 3

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old water set me hot on the trail of energy independence.

The rebate confirmation letter came in November 2008, but I decided to hold off on the installation until 2009 to new haven

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PHOTOGRAPH:

Anthony DeCarlo

The author’s south-facing roof made it an ideal candidate for a photovoltaic array.

take advantage of new federal legislation improving the tax credit, which now covers 30 percent of the cost of the system.

While waiting, I signed up for the Connecticut Home Energy Solutions program, a residential energy efficiency audit offered by the utility companies (877-WISE-USE).

Last summer the audit cost $300 because I heat my home with fuel oil; it now costs $75 for customers with any type of heating.

After setting up a large fan in my front door to suck out air for a test to detect leaks, two men from Competitive Resources in Wallingford spent more than three hours caulking leaks around windows, doors and plumbing fixtures, sealing ducts, replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and putting in low-flow water faucets.

They gave me a Kill-a-Watt meter, which measures power usage of appliances, and provided rebates to buy energy-efficient models.

I used a $200 rebate to replace a 25-year old refrigerator, one of the biggest energy hogs in the house, and bought a new 24

july 2009

dehumidifier with a $100 rebate. If I hadn’t upgraded my electric washer and dryers to front loaders a few months earlier, I could have gotten another $200 rebate.

I also installed a locking chimney cap, to reduce air loss through the fireplace flue, and put more insulation in the attic.

I was amazed at the impact of these energy conservation measures. My electric bill went down nearly $25 a month, and I saved more than 300 gallons of heating oil last winter.

The solar installation began in late March and took nearly a month, with a few bumps along the way.

The first glitch occurred when the project manager went to Town Hall for a building permit, and didn’t have a required letter from an engineer reviewing the design for my solar system.

A few weeks earlier, Alteris had told me (rather late in the process, I thought) the attic rafters might need to be reinforced to handle the extra weight of the solar panels.

When the engineer recommended shoring up the rafters, the project manager assured

me I wouldn’t be charged more for the extra work.

He and an installer spent most of the first day adding lumber to rafters where they would attach racks for the solar panels.

One of my cats, Oedipus, endeavored to join them in the attic, climbing halfway up the pull-down stairs before I intervened.

Over the next couple of days, the project manager and two installers assembled the racks, secured them to the roof and wired in the solar panels — 14 on the left side of the gable over my front door and 16 on the right.

A crew of electricians from Sun Light of New Fairfield arrived the following week to run wiring from the panels through my attic, down the side of the house and into the basement, where they installed an inverter to convert DC power generated by the solar panels to AC, and a separate meter showing the total number of kilowatt hours of electricity produced by the system. They also installed an emergency cut-off switch on the side of the house and changed electric meter box

PHOTOGRAPH:

so the United Illuminating Co. (UI) could put in a new meter.

Anthony DeCarlo

Curious about how the system might sound, I asked one of the electricians if it would hum.

“Only if it doesn’t know the words,” he quipped.

While the electricians were in the house, I monitored opening and closing doors to make sure none of my indoor cats escaped or was trampled, and moved Blacky, a deaf and ailing 16-year-old, out of harm’s way several times.

The electricians briefly tested the system, and I felt a jolt of excitement as it surged with power — and hummed!

The following week the Orange building inspector approved the installation, after clarifying which rafters were to be reinforced.

Next, a UI inspector made sure the system stayed off for five minutes after pulling the emergency cut-off switch. It passed the test, and she gave the go-ahead to replace the electric meter — the final step before activation.

Several days later, a UI technician arrived with a “piggyback meter,” a unit containing two attached meters that monitor electricity coming into my house from the grid and power from my solar panels going to the grid.

“It’s blast-off time,” I thought, but my excitement turned into disappointment when the technician said the new meter wouldn’t fit in the box.

The electricians came the next day to put in the right box.

I had to wait another sun-filled weekend for the meter man to return on Monday.

As soon as he finished installing the piggyback meter, I called the solar project manager for permission to fire up the system. I twisted a knob on the inverter a quarter turn to the right, and — finally — began making power.

the electric meter dial going backward sometimes, but the new meters are digital, with rotating displays of numbers. On the electric meter, I can see the total number of kilowatt-hours I’ve purchased from the grid and the solar meter shows how many kilowatt-hours I’ve sold to the power company. When an arrow pointing to the right on the solar meter is blinking, I know I’m selling power.

Connecticut has net metering, which means if I’ve sold more electricity than I’ve used during a month, the extra kilowatt-hours are banked, kind of like rollover minutes on a cell phone. The extra kilowatt-hours are used to offset the number of kilowatt-hours I purchase from the grid when my panels aren’t generating electricity, and when I use more power than the system is producing.

Once a year starting in March 2010 I will be reimbursed (though only at a wholesale rate) for any excess kilowatt-hours remaining in the bank.

I’ve been keeping track of the total number of kilowatt-hours (kwh) the system makes each day.

So far, the most the panels have generated in a single day is 33 kwh.

On June 7, production topped 1,000 kwh, and a digital reading on the inverter showed a savings of 1,477 pounds of carbon dioxide.

When the first UI bill reflecting the impact of the solar panels arrived in early June, I was delighted to see zeros rather than numbers. I was charged nothing for generation services, and sold the grid more than three times as many kilowatthours as I had used!

electric water heater.

Since turning on the system, I’ve become more conscious about how I use electricity, and more vigilant about not wasting any. Tonya Morgan, the Connecticut operations manager for Alteris Renewables, tells me she often hears a similar response from other customers.

“They start playing a game,” she says, to see how much they can lower their utility bill.

I’ve become a player, turning off lights and power strips, and thinking about other ways to cut back.

I look at sunlight differently these days.

On overcast days, I keep wishing for the clouds to disappear. On sunny days, I find myself smiling and thinking, “It’s a good day to make electricity.”

I’m also feeling good about doing my bit to save the planet.

Also on the plus side, the town pool has become more pleasant in recent months.

In response to hundreds of complaints, town officials cranked up the water temperature a few degrees, and First Selectman James Zeoli has promised to install a solar or geothermal heating system as early as next summer.

I’m still a long way away from energy independence.

But I’m a lot closer than I was a year ago.

v

I still pay a basic monthly service charge to the utility and a rental fee for an

The system “wakes up” in the morning as soon as light starts hitting the solar panels and shuts itself off as darkness descends.

The panels produce electricity even on cloudy and rainy days, but make the most power on cool and cloudless days during spring and summer when there are more daylight hours, and around midday when the sun is directly overhead.

I thought I’d be able to watch

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A real-life crime touches a family and a neighborhood — and highlights the difference between TV justice and reallife justice

By Michael C. Bingham

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rimes, accidents, natural disasters — such are the dire events that fill the news media each day.

Calamity sells — and with good reason.

For one thing, it’s easier to report that a plane has crashed, or someone has been shot and killed, than to explain why the economy went into the toilet. And for another thing, we can view these kinds of dire events as freakish anomalies — bad things that happen to other people.

Until they happen to you.

Some time during the night of November 28, or the early morning of November 29, 2008 two young males broke into our home in Stratford. Our house, the “Curtis Mansion” (as it would have been considered in the 18th century, not now) sits on a street corner in an ancient residential neighborhood (it fronts on a street thought to be the oldest of all the post roads between Boston and New York), and because it is visible from the street on two sides, the average person would consider it an unlikely break-in target.

Due to its location and longevity (it was built on or about 1745 — so long ago that, hey, who really knows at this point?), our home is well known by residents of neighborhood. It’s an unusually stable neighborhood: Many of the ancient Colonials and saltboxes nearby have been occupied by the same families for generations. (Our family, for example, is only the fourth to occupy our 264-year-old home.)

It truly is a neighborhood. Having lived there for just ten years, we’re newcomers in the greater scheme of things. But we know our neighbors, and they us. We prefer to think that we all look out for one another.

And mostly we do. But not every moment of every day — that would be impossible. And our house had a particular vulnerability: The rear entrance is recessed and therefore invisible from the street. (Note to would-be copycat thieves: At substantial expense we have reinforced the rear entrance to the point where gaining entry will likely require a tactical nuclear weapon — perhaps Kim Jong Il can help you out.)

What apparently took place was that the “perps” grabbed a pair of garden shears that had been irresponsibly left outdoors (probably by me) and used them as a wedge to pry the door off its hinge to the point where it was weak enough to break down by brute force. A crude and

inefficient methodology, but it worked.

I should point out that my family and I were not home at the time. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and we were out of town from Thursday morning until dinnertime on Sunday, celebrating the holiday with family.

We returned to our home around 5 o’clock Sunday afternoon. Because we had lots of stuff with us — kids, pets, food, etc. — my wife Nancy and I had driven two cars.

She was about ten minutes ahead of me returning home, and as I pulled into the driveway she walked up to my car with obvious alarm on her face and announced, “Someone broke into our house.”

Because bad things, almost by definition, are things that happen to Other People, my initial reaction was: No, they didn’t.

Yes, they did. After we dialed 911 we quickly surveyed the disaster: Virtually everything of value had been removed — my wife’s family jewelry dating back to the 1870s, all our son’s electronic devices and games, musical instruments collected over a lifetime.

It was bad. And what was even more disturbing — it became quickly evident — was that the burglars had been very thorough, seemingly secure in the knowledge that we were out of town and unlikely to show up during the time they were in our home. Every drawer in every bureau and night table was pulled out and its contents rifled through. Musical instruments were carefully examined and only the most valuable taken.

The only thing left behind was my wife’s mother’s wedding ring, which must have dropped out of the jewelry box when the thieves emptied it. It was in the small white pouch that the funeral home returned to the family when she died.

People whose homes have been broken into often say they feel “violated.” Before, I always thought of that characterization as slightly hyperbolic — having your stuff taken is hardly comparable to, say, being raped.

But the sight of the most private places in our home being taken apart — drawers thrown asunder, mattresses turned over, they even removed the pillowcases from our son’s bed to stuff loot into — made us feel almost sick to our stomachs.

Two police officers responded to our 911 call, a patrolman and a detective. They didn’t seem terribly sympathetic, or offer very much hope. They didn’t ask terribly many questions or dust surfaces new haven

27

for fingerprints (they said most of the surfaces that had obviously been touched were too porous to yield good prints.)

When they left our house after 25 minutes or so, they didn’t leave us with a very good feeling about ever recovering our property.

To galvanize the neighborhood into greater vigilance, and to emphasize to the police that their vigor in investigating our case would be a public matter, we were able to generate media coverage of “our crime” in outlets including the Connecticut Post and NewsChannel 12 (whose endlessly repeating shot of the front of our house during a slow news cycle mortified our teenage son). Neighborhood meetings were organized. Our case was assigned to a detective, Greg Nilan, who promised action, if not results.

The first break in the case came when a young woman, Myrissa Hensley, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree forgery, a felony, and two counts of conspiracy to commit larceny, a misdemeanor. Hensley, who lives about two blocks from our home, had received three checks from my wife’s checkbook — presumably from the burglars — made two of them out to a Brandon Henderson in sums totaling $600, and signed my wife’s name. The next business day after the break-in — Monday, December 1 (ironically or coincidentally, that was the date my wife’s father was born and her mother died) — the checks were deposited in the ATM of a Wachovia bank branch at the corner of Church and Elm Streets in New Haven. (As for the third check, it mysteriously showed up in our mailbox one morning a couple weeks later. It had been made out for $900 but never cashed.)

Over the course of a number of phone conversations, Detective Nilan let us know that people in his department, using information supplied by informants, had a pretty good idea who had committed the break-in — a couple of 20-something dirtbags who lived a couple streets away and had a history of involvement with drugs (major surprise there, we thought). But maddeningly, the Stratford police lacked sufficient hard evidence to compel an arrest warrant for them — just mainly hearsay evidence from sources of questionable character.

After 260-plus years of weathering storms, floods, tornadoes and at least one earthquake, the ancient home was laid low by lowlifes.

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As I write this Hensley has had three court dates, with a fourth scheduled for June 25 (after this edition of NHM had gone to press). It was our hope that, in

order to escape a felony conviction and jail time she would rat out the lowlifes from whom she received my wife’s stolen checks.

That hasn’t happened yet, and at the most recent trial date in May her attorney had even petitioned the judge for so-called accelerated rehabilitation for her client on the basis that Hensley had no prior convictions. (This took place as her client stood before the court in flip-flops, for which if had I been the judge I would have sent her up the river for eight to ten. But that’s another story.)

“Accelerated rehabilitation” is one of the many tools the American criminal-justice system in 2009 uses to move perpetrators of crimes through — and out of — the penal system, presumably to make room for more crooks coming in the front door.

It seems there are far fewer effective mechanisms to protect the rights and property of victims, like us.

It is especially galling that the police believe they know who broke into our home — but can’t arrest them due to a paucity of sworn testimony. On TV and in the movies the police are not at all fussy about dealing with witnesses and accomplices to crimes (“We have ways of making you talk”), but in the topsy-turvy world we now inhabit in which seemingly intelligent people seek to advance the “rights” of Guantanamo Bay detainees who are pledged to kill American infidels, maybe it’s not so surprising that our rights as aggrieved citizens take a back seat to those of a newer class of societal victims — actual criminals.

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A

s a charge nurse at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), Ingrid M. Crocco oversees 20 operating rooms, “orchestrating scheduling and staffing” and assuring patients are cared for before, during and after surgery.

On her “vacations,” Crocco travels to far-flung corners of the planet to assist teams performing surgery on burn victims and children with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

She has visited Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Nepal, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and most recently, China, on trips she says have enhanced her nursing skills and enriched her life.

Foreign countries were hardly unfamiliar to Crocco, who grew up “an army brat” in Norway, Germany and Italy.

“For college, I came stateside to study at Radford University in Virginia,” she 6 October 2008

PHOTO: ANTHONY DECARLO

But every day when I come home, park the car and walk up to that back door, I just wonder: Has anyone else been here?

Who’s watching us? v

Community Service – Corporate

With Special Support From:

That reality makes me extremely pessimistic about America’s moral compass in the 21st century. But as a practical matter, we’ll never feel quite the same way again about our home since this happened.

Although Edward Curtis and his ax constructed it sturdily enough back in the mid-18th century that it has endured for 264 years, it no longer feels like the inviolable sanctuary it did before. In practical terms that’s probably a good thing — now we are much more careful than we used to be about things like locking the doors for even the briefest of absences.

Corporate Achievement

says. “My first passion was to be a and weekend shifts, Crocco had another veterinarian.” child and continued as a part-timer until She changed her mind during her 2005, when she was chosen to fill an sophomore year, when a German opening for an operating room charge shepherd injured her pet poodle. nurse.

“I couldn’t imagine how I could fi gure out “She was just a natural candidate,” says what was wrong with an injured animal,” Ena Williams, the hospital’s nursing she recalls. It was then she realized director for perioperative services. that “She’s caring for humans, whom “you can bright, knowledgeable, highly respected talk to,” was what she wanted to do. by her colleagues — and a real patient advocate who’s not afraid to speak After graduating in 1979 with a bachelor up about ways to make patients safe.” of science in nursing degree, Crocco moved to New Haven for a one-year Around the same time, Crocco also was perioperative program at Yale-New tapped to take part in a new program for Haven, which provides comprehensive patients with liver diseases. training in operating-room protocol.

“We hadn’t done livers at Yale for a long She became a staff nurse at YNHH time and were going to be doing very and in 1980 was promoted to assistant complicated procedures, and looked head nurse, a position she held until to her for her previous experience and 1985 when she left to have her first attention to detail,” Williams says. child. Returning to work on evening Thus Crocco became a member of the

first group of nurses on the nurses around,” Weinstein team, “which has grown says. “She’s dedicated to her tremendously and done a profession and helps me with number of firsts. “Ingrid had these missions, which are all broad-based experience in about pro bono.” cardiac surgery, neurosurgery Among Crocco’s many and trauma, and she had indelible memories of her the critical thinking skills to journeys is the story of a respond to events that may girl in Myanmar so severely occur during a procedure,” burned her jaw was fused to adds Williams. her chest.

Crocco believes her trips abroad have honed those “All she wanted was to look skills. up at the stars,” Crocco says.

“Mission accomplished.”

She first became involved in the mid-1990s, when Yale Before arriving in a country, plastic surgeon John Persing team members are briefed on was assembling a team to local customs to avoid major go to Manaus, Brazil for gaffes and try to learn a bit of Interplast, an organization the local lingo. sending surgical teams Crocco doesn’t bring a cell abroad to help burn, facial phone or computer, and asks and hand patients, and an family members to contact operating room nurse who her only “if there’s a death in had been on a previous trip the immediate family. asked her if she’d like to go.

“I want to live that trip and The team focused on fixing totally focus on the task at cleft lips and cleft palates for hand,” she says. children, which proved eyeopening for Crocco.

Crocco tries not to schedule trips during NCAA men’s “Families came from miles basketball tournament’s and days away to get there, “March Madness” so her and I was so humbled by the husband, Gene, can travel to commitment these parents had for their young children,” UConn Huskies games. she says. “We gave our In 2005, Crocco was among expertise and our time — and 300 recipients to receive these families allowed us a Nightingale Award for to be part of a life-altering Excellence in Nursing, chosen moment for them. from candidates nominated by more than 100 health care “It really put my life into organizations around the perspective — not only state. my personal life but my professional life,” says She plainly relishes her work.

Crocco. “What it also did for “You have to have passion me was enable me to think on for what you do or else the spot more clearly.” you’re not going to love life,” Following that trip, Crocco Crocco says. “It’s too short. adds, “I was hooked.”

“I’ve told my girls, ‘Do not get She has since gone on yourself in a position where similar journeys each year you wake up in the morning for Interplast, Healing for and you dread the day and Children and Changing your life is going to be hell.

Children’s Lives, a New Find your passion and just Haven non-profit formed ride the wave.’” by a local plastic surgeon — Karen Singer Mark Weinstein, who asked Crocco to be one of his board members.

“I’ve known Ingrid for years and she’s one of the best

Nurse of the Year Researcher of the Year Volunteers of the Year Advancements in Healthcare – Corporate Advancements in Healthcare – Individual

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B O D Y & SOUL

Sunshine On My Shoulder (Gives Me Cancer) That lobster look is so over; check out our sun protection tips

By Sarah Politz

T

he summer solstice occurred at 1:45 a.m. on June 21. This marks the longest day of the year and the day when the sun is highest in the sky, thus the time when its rays are the most intense.

This is precisely the time of year when we need to be most vigilant about protecting our skin from the sun, especially because the relatively mild temperatures of early summer can be deceptive. It’s easy to remember the sunscreen when you’re sweating on the beach, but it’s easy to forget to protect your back and neck when you attend a breezy outdoor event.

Connecticut has a very high incidence of melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer, compared to other states, says David Leffell, MD, professor of dermatology and surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. Other more common types of skin cancer, such as basal cell and squamous cell, are also prevalent in our state.

“When people talk about skin cancer, they tend to think about melanoma separately,” says Leffell. While the three types of cancer differ in severity and 30

july 2009

treatment, all share a common cause: exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Basal cell cancer develops in the bottom layer of the epidermis, the top layer of the skin, while squamous cell cancer develops higher up in the same layer. About three times as many people develop basal cell as squamous cell cancer worldwide.

darker complexions,” says Mario Sznol, MD, medical oncologist and co-director of the melanoma program at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “They’re still Caucasians, but they’re not the northern European phenotype.”

“There are all sorts of interesting stories,” says Leffell. “The rate of skin cancer Basal cell cancer will not spread to the in Australia is the highest because it bloodstream, but squamous cell cancer can, was a penal colony. They took all these which creates a risk that the cancer cells Englishmen and Irishmen in the 1850s will metastasize in other organs. People and moved them to Australia as a penal who develop one basal cell cancer have a colony; they also moved them to West 40 percent chance of developing another Virginia. So you put people with no similar cancer with five years. It tends natural sun protection in some of the to affect people of northern European strongest sun, and you reap the rewards ancestry the most, especially those with of that.” fair skin, blue, green or gray eyes and The form of skin cancer we hear light hair. These genetic characteristics about most often is also the most lifedeveloped in climates where it rains threatening. Melanoma is a cancer of the more often and sun exposure is not as pigment cells of the skin, which live in severe. People with African- and Asianthe bottom layer of the epidermis. One pigmented skin can still get melanoma, in 60 adults will develop melanoma in but it is infrequent and occurs on the his or her lifetime. “With melanoma, palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. because it has the potential to travel in the “We see a fair number of people come bloodstream, it turns out that the deeper through who have intermediate and it is, the greater the risk of it spreading,”

says Leffell. “That’s why all of our focus on melanoma is about educating about early detection.”

The good news is that most melanoma cases are diagnosed at the earliest, highly treatable stage. Generally they start small and grow over time. That’s why many groups offer public skin cancer screenings. The next public skin cancer screening in the area will take place with Jason McBean, MD at Jennings Beach in Fairfield on July 31 and August 14, sponsored by the Norwalk-based nonnonprofit Cancer Care.

A disturbing trend in cancer incidence is that it is being detected at younger ages.

The increase has been especially sharp among women in their 20s.

Leffell explains, “When you talk to them, the vast majority admits to having used tanning parlors when they were teenagers.

It’s a public health concern.” Most cancers take decades to develop, but with enough ultraviolet radiation, skin cancer can appear very quickly. According to Leffell, the average person receives 85 percent of his lifetime sun exposure by the time he reaches age 18.

Now that we’ve frightened you into

cowering in a closet on beach days, let’s talk prevention. “Sunscreen alone is not sufficient,” says Leffell. “It’s a critical part, but unless you’re going to live in the basement, you’re going to need sun protection when you go out. You’re going to need a brimmed hat. That’s a challenge.

Some people say, I wear a baseball cap.

Then the patient comes in with a skin cancer on his ear.”

Avoid the sun and take extra protective measures during the sun’s peak hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wear sun-protective clothing; a good online outlet is coolibar. com. And don’t forget to protect your eyes, because UV radiation can cause cataracts, too. Look for sunglasses that protect against both UVA and UVB rays.

Choose a sunscreen that has an SPF (sun protection factor) of 30. SPF is a multiple of the amount of time you can stay in the sun without burning your skin. (With an SPF of 30, it will take 300 minutes in the sun before you burn.) It refers only to UVB radiation, so check the label for the words “broad spectrum” or find a sunscreen containing “helioplex” to make sure you’re covered for UVA rays as well.

“Don’t get caught up in the numbers inflation,” says Leffell. “At an SPF of 30,

you’re getting about 94- to 96-percent UV protection. If you go up to an SPF of 45, it’s 97 percent. The bottom line is to find a sunscreen that you like and then reapply it every two hours while you’re active outdoors.”

Pay attention to the UV index on the weather forecast, which combines information about stratospheric ozone, the sun’s elevation angle, latitude, time of day, altitude, weather conditions, air pollution and surface reflection to produce a number from one to ten describing the risk of sunburn on a particular day. But know yourself and your skin. Some people can burn at a UV index of six or lower.

Do a self-skin exam once a month. Enlist your spouse or partner to check hard-tosee areas. “You want to get in front of a full-length mirror with good lighting and look yourself over,” says Leffell. “The classic thing is any changing mole, any new mole, anything that itches or bleeds.

You want to look for asymmetry, for an irregular border, for change in color, for a diameter greater than a pencil eraser.”

Leffell says that most of skin cancer cases could be avoided through more lifestyle choices. “The point is, it’s preventable.

How much in life is preventable?” v

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july 2009

To accommodate his extended family, a Stony Creek architect ‘extended’ his house

By Duo Dickinson

A classic street-facing ‘four square’ house was completely renovated and a new kitchen connection (right) attached it to new social and guest space.

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Anthony DeCarlo

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The existing living room and dining room were combined to create one large living space, with the existing chimney mass reworked to create a central fireplace — color and zesty lighting create a wholly new ambience in an older home.

ATH OME

S

a gaggle of aesthetically aware residents to find permanent homes in this classic coastal New England enclave. But even for newcomers who take up year-round residence, it takes a while for homeowners to become fully integrated into the fabric of this community.

tony Creek is teeming with architects, many propagated by the nearby Yale School of Architecture.

Quirky and at times ecstatically irreverent architecture (mostly in the form of new and antique houses) nestle next to each other in this town that still has a commercial fishing industry. The Branford neighborhood also has an outsized reputation in that its name is internationally renowned for the granite that was used to clad the “Chippendale Skyscraper” — the former AT&T Building in New York designed by Philip Johnson.

Mark Simon and Penny Bellamy are at the core of what makes Stony Creek such a special place to live. Residents for more than 30 years, they’ve led high-profile careers: Simon as a partner at Centerbook Architects and Bellamy as a lawyer in private practice, a full-on grandmother and a former director of Planned Parenthood in New Haven. Both have served on a numerous local and national boards and support an unending list of social and arts-related causes.

“Creekers” are those who live in the community year-round and are descended from families that have made a living there for generations. The architectural reputation of Stony Creek has attracted

But Simon and Bellamy are also heads of a family, and as such they initially needed a place to be together — a small house on one of the main streets in Stony Creek that Simon artfully renovated to include

34

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the then-groundbreaking idea that a house could actually generate hot water from the sun. But as their careers and family flourished, Simon and Bellamy thought beyond the “starter home” to the “20year home” — where kids are raised and from which they ultimately flee — and renovated their renovated house. But a few years ago they created what could best be called “The” home — not just a place where children can return (sometimes with children of their own), but where two careers could also be nurtured, all while remaining in the heart of their beloved Stony Creek.

But when Simon and Bellamy renovated that first house more than 30 years ago, they had little money to spend and needed to be resourceful. Once their careers were established, an opportunity arose to buy a house down the street from their upgraded starter home. They jumped on it, and a 2,000-square-foot, little semi-bungalow on a lot easily three times the typical size

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The curving kitchen space , which spans the existing home and new social and guest space, has a vaulted ceiling and expressive cabinetry to play off the stolid interiors of the existing home.

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found on the street presented both space and “good bones” for Mark’s architectural inspiration — to both respect the land and create a place that could respond to the next several decades of a very active couple’s need for safe harbor as well as family accommodation.

Despite all Simon’s careful design work to embrace his life partner’s life as well as his own, the final results were unexpected: “The house has been a wonderful surprise to us, despite our experience doing several other renovations,” says a bemused Simon.

“It has been designed around the way we actually live, and ignores the classic arrangement of public and private spaces.”

The lot was not only large; the location of the existing house was tight to the northerly boundary of the site, giving Mark a large canvas to build upon. The site also had a wonderful rise to it — perhaps 15 feet above the street level — giving more than a peek-a-boo view out over to Bradley’s Cove.

But the existing house was an architectural singularity. It had a classic Four Square plan centered on a fireplace with a porch that fronted the street, a tiny rear entry and a kitchen that simply did not function very well given today’s socially focused cooking. Simon and Bellamy needed a home that could handle a large variety of social functions as well as personal accommodation.

First and foremost they needed a living room that could better maximize the terrific elevated view, so they combined the two front “squares” (living and dining rooms) and filled the water-facing wall with glass. Secondly they needed private living space. Architecturally, Mark Simon knew that to deny the existing house would be both wasteful and confrontational to a street that has a real presence, so rather than tear down and create a larger, single house, Simon decided to do a cast off “Mini-Me” house — a virtual pavilion of informal living and office space with guest accommodations on its second floor to afford visitors complete autonomy.

When you create an architectural duet, the connector becomes exquisitely important.

The kitchen — the space that has changed the most in American domestic designs since the original house was built in 1918 — was relegated to a back corner “square” in the Four Square layout. The connecting “umbilical cord” between the existing house and its new smaller offspring allowed Simon to create an open kitchen.

The curving connector allows for separation between informal living space and the existing home, but provides a fun passage for those walking through the new ensemble of spaces.

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This connector has a curved shape that created a new generous kitchen with a great deal of incidental social space around it.

“Penny and I find that we spend most of our time together in the kitchen area; it’s right in the center of the house,” says Simon. “That space has wonderful water views and light and leads to all other parts: to the second floor as well as the family room, dining and terraces. It is ‘action central’ — the main stage of our lives now.”

This connection also created the nowmandatory legitimate rear entry (which Simon notes was intended to be the functional front door from the get-go, as it directly addresses parking). Additionally, new mudroom space provides for an effortless transition from outdoors to in.

Creating more than one architectural shape also makes the outdoor spaces in between the shapes very special. At the rear of the site, terraces could overlook the extraordinary backyard, but another terrace between the two buildings could fully appreciate the privacy provided by the site’s elevation and provide views of the water as well.

The interiors are redolent of the effervescent detailing, color and lighting that can be seen in Simon’s work over the last few decades, but the ambience is punctuated by natural wood appointments and zesty sculptures by Mark Simon’s father, Sidney Simon. Closets and builtins fill every available nook and cranny, leaving the rest of the plan open and filled with sunlight provided by Simon’s new outsized windows.

The existing 2,000-square-foot house has effectively doubled in size. Its bedroom count of three grew by one and the house gained some “swing spaces” that serve as places for kids of kids to crash, but its bathroom count more than doubled. This expansion occurred in the new castoff wing but also by building a rear extension to the existing house mass as well.

Dining is a centered focal space amid the flow — and creative light fixture design and color make a small space inviting.

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By making a house that accommodates all the activities of its occupants now and into the future, the danger that their home might become a limiting factor in Simon’s and Bellamy’s doubly busy life has been eliminated. This is an open-ended house for a couple that is at peak performance and social engagement, a place where personal moments and public celebrations can occur effortlessly — designed-in by one of the best architects in America (and perhaps even in Stony Creek!). v

The house is filled with the delightful sculptures by Mark Simon’s father, Sidney Simon.

One2One

Continued from 13

generation, at least, branches will still be a key part of successful banks, particularly regional banks.

Back to the banks that came calling — why did you say no?

For me it is about where we are in the evolution of the company — pretty much a continuation of where we’ve been for 75 years: Operating a strong business model that we believe in, with a clear vision to be New England’s bank. And we believe there are significant opportunities as we pursue that goal.

Is today’s financial environment going to create greater bank consolidation?

It will. [Financial] institutions overall will have less capital at the end of this economic downturn then they had going into it. And there is a new sense of the amount of capital required, there will be an increase in [required minimum] capital levels and a decrease in leverage.

You’re pretty accessible. Doesn’t that attract calls from disgruntled investors? How do you handle that?

We are accessible, and that’s our nature — whether we’re talking to investors or customers. We have had investors who are upset because the value of their investment went down. What we say is we have a very strong capital position to weather a downturn, and we’re looking ahead to what I think will be a golden era of banking.

[Interrupts] You mean TARP?

A golden era? Why?

We call it the Capital Purchase program [its actual name]. TARP [the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program] is General Motors, and AIG, Bank of America and Citigroup. We have made or renewed over $1 billion of loans in the last six months and have a foreclosure moratorium that has kept hundreds of families in their homes because of that.

Because of all the deposits going back into banks. Capital markets will be closed for a while and that means there will be more demand for credit from local and regional institutions.

Many business people in the past several months have had a lot of difficulty in managing their time, their business and personal lives. How has this environment affected you?

Will there be enough creditworthy customers given the tough economy to support bank growth?

We’ve been stressed. We were stressed in the 1970s, the ‘90s, and we’ve been stressed again. The impact on the financial services companies has abated; now the big responsibility is to make sure we get our customers through this, because there is at least another six months of challenge.

And then we have to figure out what the new ‘normal’ is.

With the heightened focus on capital levels in banks, banks are going to be very careful that they don’t run afoul of those hard rules. When customers are under stress, they’re not as likely to qualify for loans. That’s when a bank has its greatest responsibility. We have to work with them, we have to help them through.

When we decided to participate in the Capital Purchase program, we said every dollar we take into the communities…

Looking back on what we’ve been through that has been so rewarding is the strength of Webster bankers. And how important it is that you stand for something. That is what our unshakable core is all about. v

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INS TYLE

In the Swim This season’s swimsuits are well suited to different body types

By Jessica Misener

O

wning a swimsuit in New Haven is kind of like being on Twitter: fun, but if you’re honest with yourself, totally unnecessary. After all, there are only about two months a year when our weather’s warm enough to consider squeezing yourself into a bikini.

Yet it’s July, and if you’re planning on hitting the Sound on a sailboat, sunning at West Rock Park or packing a picnic for Hammonasset State Park, summer demands that dreaded meeting of spandex and your stretch marks.

With the right swimsuit, however, you won’t dread emerging from behind the barbecue grill to hose down the Slip ‘n’ Slide. When choosing a suit, keep in mind your activity level, as well as your personal fashion tastes.

“When I’m shopping for a swimsuit, I look for a balance between a good fit, which makes me feel comfortable, and style,” says Terry Dumansky, 30, of New Haven. Whereas you can lounge poolside in something itsy-bitsy and teeny-weeny, wearing a skimpy bikini while kayaking or diving runs major risk of epic embarrassment. Further, a stylish, well-chosen suit will make you radiate confidence, and any of your body image hang-ups will fade faster than your winter pallor in July sunshine.

Here’s your guide to sunning, swimming — or just sipping mojitos — at the shore in style this summer by choosing the right bathing suit for your body type.

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A feminine, flirty bikini can flatter a more toned build.

Trends to Remember

Nothing’s more chic this summer than retro swimwear. High-cut bikinis, ruching and halters are all stocking the shelves; picture the ladies of Mad Men sunning themselves by the pool after a threemartini lunch. Target stores in North Haven and Orange have a wide selection of retro suits in fun and flirty polka dots.

Another sizzling swimwear trend is the monokini, a one-piece suit with cutouts that make it devilishly masquerade as a bikini. One-shoulder, asymmetrical swimsuits are also here to put a cuttingedge spin on the classic maillot.

Plus-Size Figures

Lucky you! You’ve got the assets of Heidi Klum; yet, it can be a challenge finding a bathing suit that lets your curves be seductive and not sleazy. Downplay a large bust with a supportive halter neckline, which will give you enough

lift while still allowing for some figureelongating cleavage. This season’s asymmetrical necklines are another good bet for busty women, and scope out a suit with an underwire for even more support.

You’ll always look dazzling in a solid color, like sexy, slimming black.

For the Small-Busted

The key to adding some oomph to your curves? Lots and lots of details. Try on J. Crew’s ruffled bandeau top, currently at stores in Stamford and New Canaan for a recession-friendly $40. Triangle tops and demi-cut tops also put a little wind in your sails. This season’s tribal prints are another fantastic option for adding zing to your silhouette. One rule to swim by: while padded bras might give you a helping hand in your normal wardrobe, over-inflated tops are painfully obvious at the beach. A top with a built-in bra should be all the boost you need; otherwise, you

risk your suit being mistaken for a pair of children’s water wings.

attention to your upper half than showing a hint of cleavage. We’re just sayin’.

Petite Frames

Athletic Body

So you’re short on inches, but not on style.

Keep the color palette simple and don’t overwhelm your body with oversize prints and patterns. “For a petite body like mine, a higher cut on your hips will lengthen legs a little bit,” says Jennifer Lanzing, 25, of Westville, who also recommends avoiding boy-short bottoms to add height to your frame. A string bikini is ideal for elongating your frame and showing off your legs, and a plunging neckline will amplify your figure.

Maybe you’re more cut than curvaceous.

Your figure is perfect for rocking a monokini, with its sexy cutouts and minimalist silhouette. The new American Apparel store on Broadway in New Haven carries a cornucopia of chic and affordable cutout styles. If you’re going to wear a true one-piece, steer clear of solid colors and stripes and pick a vibrant pattern that will add sexy details to your figure. A feminine, flirty bikini will also underscore your toned body.

Pear-Shaped Women

Tummy Tamer

So you’ve got hips. Relax, you’re supposed to! Your curvy figure is the most common body shape, so make the best of your hourglass silhouette with a skirted swimsuit. Before you panic about looking like Aunt Dorothy paddling laps in Boca Raton, check out some of the new retro skirted-suits that add flounce without looking matronly. You can focus attention on your upper half by pairing a vivid bikini top with a dark-colored bottom. And there’s no better way to draw

A higher cut leg opening can help create the appearance of longer legs.

An untoned tummy doesn’t have to put a damper on your beach day. Empire waists draw the eye upward and away from the abs; look for a one-piece with a belted empire waist to really add sexy detail.

Tankinis are also figure-flattering while still camouflaging the belly. If you’re really concerned about your mid-section, many one-pieces come with built-in control panels to enhance your shape in all the right places. v

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july 2009

Anthony DeCarlo

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PHOTOGRAPH:

William Kent in his Durham studio.

Completely self-taught, he had no stone or woodworking experience before picking up a chisel in the 1940s. Today he is recognized as a woodcarver nonpareil (at right).

Perhaps the ‘greatest living carver of wood,’ Durham’s William Kent has spent six decades outside the art mainstream

By Brandon Benevento

W

illiam Kent, age 90, wheels into his converted cow barn studio, yanking the pull-cords of bare lights. The cords have tchotchkes tied on the ends — Donald Duck in a jeep; a doll’s head; a rubber chicken — adding canopy to the clutter. The fluorescents blink on, and 60 years of wood and stone carvings become visible.

Stacks of prints line every wall. Groves of sculpture fill the space.

Born in Kansas City, Miss., in 1919, he came to Connecticut in 1944 to study music at Yale under Paul Hindemith, whose operas he sometimes listens to while carving. He never married or had children. Instead he’s worked every day of the year, usually from 4:30 a.m. to noon, producing more than 200 large carvings

Yet Kent has struggled to attain commercial success. Though his prints enjoyed some popularity in the 1960s, featured with the likes of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns in the Whitney and given solo shows at the Castellane, he’s been largely forgotten since, receiving rejections from galleries such Wesleyan University’s Zilkha Gallery and even Mystic Seaport.

Anyone wondering where he gets ideas need not look far.

Nearby rests a five-foot-long carving of the iconic rubber chicken, executed in white pine with a mahogany comb.

Carved horizontally, it appears to be shooting, open mouthed, through space.

Other everyday objects have been similarly transformed.

There are crushed beer cans and giant sunglasses, corkscrews and six-foot safety pins. There’s pipewrenches and spigots; peppers, bananas and bean-pods—all huge, meticulously detailed, and often carved from a single block. One, a waist-high knotty-pine hand with a raised, bright orange middle finger, replicates a small plastic version on his desk. That gesture is for the art world, he says with a laugh.

PHOTOGRAPH:

Anthony DeCarlo

Kent has lived next door to the Durham barn since 1964, about the time he was let go from his last job — curator of New Haven’s John Slade Ely House — for exhibiting what was called obscene art.

bought by famed modern art collector Richard Brown Baker, have recently been acquired by the Yale University Art Gallery. Curatorial Fellow Jennifer Farrell explains how one, “Washing Machine Oil,” reinterprets a Lichtenstein painting.

“The sophistication is incredible,” she observes.

and 1,500 prints. “They wonder how I did all this,” he says. “Easy. I didn’t do anything else.”

Completely self-taught, Kent had no wood- or stone-working experience before picking up a chisel in the 1940s. “I saw what they were doing,” he says of other artists working in similar media, “and knew I could do it better.”

Many experts agree. Kent has been called “the greatest living carver of wood” by the New York Times. Some of his prints,

He’s been called reclusive, though he regularly promotes his work and visitors and telephone calls are frequent in his studio. He’s also been called bitter, a claim harder to dismiss.

Feeling overlooked despite his skill, Kent has no warm feelings for the mainstream art world, calling it “as corrupt as the Congress in Washington.” Actually, his contempt for the art scene seems on par with that for the government, and the two often overlap. He lifts a print bearing the legend “American Victory” under a woman in stars and stripes holding up new haven

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The earthy Kent is not above provoking his audience with crude double entendres, such as 1963’s ‘Eat Me.’

a winged phallus, and asks, “You think they’re ready for this?”

He points at another, which reads: “The Business of America is Business.” Indeed, his main complaint is the art world’s insistence on sales (and the larger culture’s rampant consumerism) which has left many galleries reluctant to show his outsized work. Moreover, he says, dealers

aren’t willing to wait five years or more for a large carving. It bothers him that nobody seems to care about quality. “That’s not second-class art,” he says gesturing around the barn. “It’s good stuff.”

Unquestionably true. Kent is a fantastic carver, of wood and stone. The sculptures display skilled celebrations of shape and form, comparable to the likes of Rodin

and Brancusi. The bas-relief slate carvings from which he prints are extraordinary, each a showcase of intricate, handcrafted detail. And there are dozens of them, some six feet tall — all made of salvaged blackboards. One, made on four interchangeable pieces, features abstract, Birmingham-like cityscapes and lines of 1960s policemen. Another, “The Birth

Of Kent’s ‘Washing Machine Oil,’ which riffs on a Lichtenstein painting, a Yale University Art Gallery curator observes, ‘The sophistication is incredible.’

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july 2009

Kent’s work has always had a strong political dimension, including ‘LBJ’ (left) and ‘They Have Made a Desert and Called It Peace.’

of Adam,” shows the first man, sourced from Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam,” touching hands with a monkey, sourced from a nature magazine.

“I use everything I get a hold of,” Kent explains. Beyond everyday items, this includes classical Greek, Egyptian and Indian images, photos of animals and politicians, and gravestone patterns rubbed from a 17th-century Durham cemetery.

Popular whittling forms, such as wooden chains and caged balls, are also employed.

His latest work he jokingly refers to as “wheelchair art” (Kent spends some time in a wheelchair having recently lost a leg to circulation problems). It features a head-sized ball, locked in a cage, dangling from a chain, all made from one piece of pine. He gives it a whack to show the independent movement of the pieces.

In addition to his stylistic uniqueness, Kent has also been a technical innovator, coming up with new ways of bonding different woods, as well as of hand printing. He doesn’t do numbered series: all are one-of-a-kind mono-prints created by varying ink colors, fabric, and the arrangement of the slate carvings. While

some are printed on whites, others are done on bright materials. One, a version of “The Birth of Adam,” is printed on sheets bearing the repeated image of Tinkerbelle. “See the angels?” he asks, thumbing the fabric.

— looking ready for the oven — rests atop a gorgeous curving base. Richard Nixon’s face adorns an American Eagle with extra-sharp talons. The humor doesn’t undermine the art but enhances it, conveying the wit of the artist.

In more than a few cases, the use of color gives the prints the appearance of being tie-dyed and, with the red, white and blue images of politicians, policemen and slogans (“End Your Silence” “Leave the Moon Alone”) the feel of belonging to a past generation — which, having been created in the 1960s, they of course are.

The work reflects a bemused probing of, among other things, himself. One self-portrait features a row of teeth atop a pepper with an erection. In another he represents himself as an empty shirt and pants — their folds improbably lifelike — protruding from beneath the weight of a giant, mahogany-handled iron.

Overall, Kent’s decision to reprint from the carvings is timely, showing how little changes in politics, culture and sex, and in the appreciation of shape and form. That’s what it’s all about. “Shape and form,” he asserts. “Only styles change.”

Whether Kent actually feels stifled in this way is difficult to tell. Though his bitterness toward the art world is never far from the surface, he is also happy with his work, pleased he’s managed to make it for so long. “I did what I set out to do,” he says, sitting in the sunshine outside the barn door. “Be a first-class artist.”

Aside from the detailed renderings of shapes and forms, the polished combination of modern and traditional, of classical and pop imagery, Kent’s art also reflects a rich sense of humor. A pair of grinning rabbits with scissor handles for ears straddle big carrots and sport little erections. A life-sized chicken roast

An exhibition of works by William Kent, Relevant Irreverence, will be on view at New Haven’s Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Avenue, July 9 through August 23 (artist reception 3-6 p.m. July 19). Call 203389-9555 or visit kehlerliddell.com. v new haven

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ART CREATING ART Drawing for Adults. Sharpen your drawing skills in this class designed for beginners and intermediates ages 18-plus. Learn observational drawing strategies and fundamental drawing skills with a focus on line, form, light and atmospheric conditions. Try 3-D drawing including observing nature.

Drawing exercises will also be given in multi-media and personal style.

6-8 p.m. Wednesdays throughout July at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green St., Middletown. $95/five sessions.

860-685-7871, gsac@wesleyan.edu, greenstreetartscenter.org.

Studio Tuesday is an informal, noninstructional “paint-in” that meets Tuesdays. Come work in a creative environment alongside other artists. 9 a.m.-noon July 7, 14, 21 & 28 at Margaret Egan Center, 35 Matthew St., Milford.

Free. 203-878-6647, milfordarts.org.

Bring your sewing, fine art or craft projects to the Contemporary Sewing Circle. Artists share ideas and get advice from one another the second Thursday of each month. 6-8 p.m. July 9 at Artspace, 50 Orange St., New Haven.

Free. 203-772-2709, artspacenh.org.

Paint the Evening Landscape with Diane Aeschliman. Come paint the evening landscape following in the tradition of the Lyme tonalists or explore the effects of various paint applications and supports. This four-week workshop, sponsored by the Lyme Art Association, will spend two evenings at the same location (weather permitting) to allow fuller development of participants’ paintings.

Participants may stay on and paint with the instructor after class. Some plein air experience helpful. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays July 10-31 at 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme. $125 members, $170 others.

860-434-7802.

Under the auspices of the Milford Fine Arts Council, Jeanne Board Fayumi leads a series of painting classes for young people, including this month’s Acrylic Painting Class, in which young artists can become familiar with one of the most popular media. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (ages 7-10), 1-3 p.m. (ages 11-15) July 14-17 at Center for the Arts. 40 Railroad Ave., Milford. $100. 203-878-6647, milfordarts. org.

GALLERY TALKS/TOURS A Talk by Artist Dana Ellyn: From Creative Youth to Creative Woman.

Dana Ellyn attended the Center for Creative Youth’s visual arts program in the summer of 1987 and earned a BA in fine arts and art history from George Washington. But only after leaving a corporate job in 2002 did she

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pursue painting as a full-time artist.

Now known for her risk-taking, colorful critiques of social mores, she seeks to create meaningful, socially conscious art that does more than just hang above the sofa. Dana will be showing examples of her often-controversial paintings while discussing the circuitous path her life and art have taken so far. 12:10-12:50 p.m. July 7 at Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Free. wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Take an Introductory Tour of the Yale Center for British Art’s permanent collection. 11 a.m. July 11, 25 at YCBA, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. 203432-2858, ycba.yale.edu.

Experience Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London (noon July 18, 11 a.m. July 23 and 2 p.m. July 26), get the inside scoop on Seascapes: Paintings and Watercolors from the U Collection (11 a.m. July 2, noon July 11) and learn a thing or two about Dalou in England: Portraits of Womanhood, 1871-1879 (11 a.m. July 16, noon July 25), all under the guidance of a YCBA docent in an Exhibition Tour.

YCBA, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Free.

203-432-2858, ycba.yale.edu.

a.m.-5 p.m. July 11-12 on Milford Green, Milford. 203-878-6647, milfordarts.org.

Ave., Milford. Open noon-5 p.m. Thurs.Sun. Free. 203-306-0016, milfordarts.org.

Lyme Art Colony painter Henry C. White (1861-1952) was the patriarch of a family of Connecticut artists and art patrons. Never-before-seen vibrant landscapes that provide insight into a new side of White’s art-making are on view in Visions of Mood: Henry C. White Pastels. A short catalogue featuring a remembrance by the artist’s grandson, painter Nelson H. White; an essay by the curator and a portfolio of illustrations accompanies the exhibition. Through July 12 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. $9 ($8 seniors, $7 students, free under 12). 860-434-5542, flogris.org.

Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London. Thomas Holloway (18001883), a self-made multi-millionaire, purchased a group of “modern” paintings that were the crowning gift of his generous endowment of a college for women, opened by Queen Victoria in 1886. This exhibition includes 60 works from the Holloway collection that exemplify a range of themes in midVictorian art. Through July 26 at YCBA, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.

Sun. 203-432-2858, ycba.yale.edu.

If it’s midsummer it must be time for the Guilford Art Center’s 52nd annual Craft Expo on the Guilford

In a world of Twitter, Facebook and instant messaging, keeping up to date with what everyone is up to is much easier than it ever has been. Status Update uses an “ancient” art to explore emerging online networking

EXHIBITIONS No Constraints defines an attitude.

Artists Emilia Dubicki and Edith Borax Morrison revel in a certain freedom.

Unstressed discipline, intellectual curiosity and a joyful compulsion to work are evident in this exhibition of abstract art. Dubicki’s paintings are inspired by nature and abstraction seen in the environment. Borax Morrison identifies with the mythological mortal Arachne, who, condemned for her great skills, is transformed into an endlessly weaving spider. Pen in hand, she creates endlessly weaving configurations of free-flowing images.

Through July 5 at Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sun. & by appt. 203389-9555, kehlerliddel.com.

Cellutations (slang for cell phone) is an evolving exhibition of cell-phone art. This unique art show features submissions from all over the world. It is an exhibition of instantly captured moments in time — fleeting scenes frozen by and shared through technology. Selected images will also be posted on the Arts Council’s Web site and/or blog. Works are not for sale and are replaced with other submitted cell-phone images as the show evolves. Through July 10 at Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free. 203-772-2788, newhavenarts.org.

The Milford Fine Arts Council presents its 23rd annual New England Arts & Crafts Festival. Juried festival represents finest work from artisans and craftspeople from throughout the region, as well as music and entertainment on the Milford Green.

Also, live theater and music at the neighboring Center for the Arts. 10

Janet Lage, ‘Hosed Sideways,’ 2009, oil, oil bar, graphite on canvas. From the exhibition Hose Me at Chester’s EO Art Lab.

Green. Handmade works by more than 170 artists from across the country, including ceramics, jewelry, fiber art, glass, metal, wood and more. Noon-9 p.m. July 16-17, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. July 18 on Guilford Green. $7 ($5 seniors; GAC members and under 13 free). 203-453-5947.

Judy Friday: The Wild Sky. Lyme artist Judy Friday returns for her third consecutive summer with new work exploring the moods and subtleties of the Connecticut River in all seasons.

Past exhibitions of her melodic paletteknife landscapes have been lauded for their ability to convey the movement of water and sky. Wild Sky promises to continue this tradition and become Friday’s most engaging show yet.

Through July 18 at Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tues.-Sat. Free. 860-434-8807, info@ cooleygallery.com, cooleygallery.com.

Cutting Edge. Cutting-edge art is neither new nor wild art. Artists in the 1950s started to rebel against traditional forms and media and began to employ ordinary objects and different materials to create art. The artists represented here draw their inspiration from those Avant Garde pioneers. View artwork and browse the Gallery Gift Shop. Through July 23 at Firehouse Art Gallery, 81 Naugatuck

technologies. Through August 1 at Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St., 9th floor, New Haven. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri. Free. 203-772-2788, newhavenarts.org.

Summer Painting & Sculpture Exhibition. Celebrating the joy of summer, nearly 300 works of art by Lyme Art Association member artists will be exhibited and for sale. All four galleries have displays. Through August 2 at Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Open 10-5 p.m.

Tues.-Sat. & 1-5 p.m. Sun. 860-434-7802, lymeartassociation.org.

Hose Me features the work of Connecticut artist Janet Lage, inspired by a garden hose in her back yard. In Lage’s paintings forms are found intuitively through the painting process. Colors, muted or clamorous, and dashed or looping lines, are caught in the act of their making, emphasizing the physicality of painting and the natural thrill of spontaneity. Through this connection with unconscious forces, Lage contacts the fresh and new.

July 1-August 2 (reception and artist talk 6-9 p.m. July 10) at EO Art Lab, 69 Main St., Chester. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.Fri., noon-6 p.m. Sun. or by appt. Free.

860-526-4833, chester@eoartlab.com, eoartlab.com.

Curated by Debbie Hesse and Joy Pepe, White Collar. Blue Collar. Pink Slip. explores the uncertainties, anxieties, and rewards of the workplaces that shape our identities. This installment is the first of a two-part exhibition called Home/Work. Through September 18 at the Parachute Factory Gallery, Erector Sq., 319 Peck St., Bldg. 1, New Haven.

On display 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wed., 12-5 p.m.

Thurs.-Fri. and by appointment. 203-7722788, newhavenarts.org.

Make a deposit (or withdrawal) and get your dose of art during your lunch break at Gallery 195. The gallery’s latest exhibition showcases visual meditations on nature by Connecticut artists Claudia Cron and Barbara Hocker. Cron’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows nationally.

Hocker has exhibited her work extensively in solo and group shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Last year, Hocker received a grant award through the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s New Boston Fund Individual Artist Fellowship Program. Through August 7 at Gallery 195, NewAlliance Bank, 195 Church St., Fourth Floor, New Haven.

203-772-2788, newhavenarts.org.

The Milford Fine Arts Council presents its Annual Members Art Show. Works in many media including painting, sculpture and photography — all for sale. July 24-August 8 (opening reception 6-9 p.m. July 24) at Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Ave., Milford. Free. 203-3060016, milfordarts.org.

David Apuzzo Photography & Art Gallery presents works by New Haven graphic artist James Polisky, whose work has been described as childlike, ferociously funny and clumsily tender.

“The creatures in his fanciful menagerie are somewhere between Gary Larson and James Booth,” observed Connecticut magazine. July 24-August 21 (artist reception 5-10 p.m. July 24) at David Apuzzo Photography and Art Gallery, 4133 Whitney Ave., Hamden.

Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 203-859-5825, davidapuzzo. com or mogwok.deviantart.com.

Ocean spray lovers will be ecstatic about Seascapes: Paintings and Watercolors From the U Collection, an exclusive, small but stunning exhibition of marine paintings and watercolors from the Dutch “Golden Age” and by noted British artists. More than 20 works spanning the 17th to the 19th centuries are displayed. Featured artists include Willem van de Velde (father and son), Peter Monamy, Nicholas Pocock, George Chambers, Edward Duncan and Thomas Sewell Robins.

Scenes of famous naval battles, warships, privateers, fishing boats and

‘The Orange Bridge’ (c. 1915) by William Chadwick, from the collection of Clement C. Moore, opening this month at the Florence Griswold Museum

historical vessels, including the HMS Bounty, will be on view. Through August 23 at Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.

Sun. 203-432-2858, ycba.yale.edu.

Westville’s Kehler Liddell Gallery features a rare guest exhibition: Relevant Irreverance: Prints & Sculpture of William Kent. The 90-yearold Kent has been sculpting wood and printing from carved slate for over 40 years out of his Durham studio. This exhibit includes prints on fabric that are political, tongue-in-cheek Americana and erotica. July 9-August 23 (artist reception 3-6 p.m. July 19) at Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. Open noon-6 p.m. Wed., 11 a.m.4 p.m. Thurs-Sun. Free. 203-389-9555, kehlerliddell.com.

In 1871, French sculptor Jules Dalou (1838–1902) was exiled from France for his left-wing connections. He lived in London for nine years, creating portrait sculptures and scenes of domesticity, seemingly at odds with his politically progressive reputation. Dalou in England: Portraits of Womanhood,

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1871-1879 examines this influential period of the artist’s life when he found his niche among the English aristocracy with the support of the Countess of Carlisle at Castle Howard and created a series of intimate statuettes on the theme of modern womanhood. In addition to Dalou’s sculptures, works from Yale collections

by French artists active in London before and during the same period will be on view. Through August 23 at YCBA, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven. Free. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.

Sun. 203-432-2858, ycba.yale.edu.

Time Will Tell: Ethics and Choices in Conservation examines the evolving science of conservation and the questions that arise in preserving works of art while staying faithful to the artists’ intentions, and uncovers the relationship between curators and conservators and the objects entrusted to their care. Through September 6 at YUAG, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven.

Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (Thurs. until 8 p.m.) & 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sun. Free.

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

Art of Antonella Cappuccio, Contemporary Italian Paintings.

Antonella Cappuccio was born on the island of Ischia in 1944. As a young child, she moved to Rome, where she currently lives and works.

Her works demonstrate a strong commitment to preserve the great traditions of Renaissance Italy. She does not separate the past styles from the present, nor does she ignore the accomplishments of earlier, renowned artists. Cappuccio has successfully used various mediums, passing from canvas to copper and iron, from glass to mirror. Her art is the complicated expression of truth and ideas. Recent portraits include those of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Through October 4 at Knights of Columbus Museum, One State St., New Haven.

Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. 203-8650400, kofcmuseum.org.

A significant collection of American Impressionist paintings by longtime Florence Griswold trustee Clement C. Moore is on view in Lyme in Mind: The Clement C. Moore Collection. Major works by the most notable members of the Lyme Art Colony, including Childe Hassam, William Chadwick, Frank Vincent DuMond, Edmund Greacen, Harry Hoffman, Willard Metcalf, Ivan Olinsky and Henry Ward Ranger. The paintings have never been shown together publicly. The collection conveys Moore’s personal and deeply felt appreciation for the Connecticut landscape, an affinity he shares with the colony painters. July 18-October 18 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. $9 ($8 seniors, $7 students, free under 12). 860434-5542, flogris.org.

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47

B IB L IOF I LE S PHOTOGRAPHS:

Anthony DeCarlo

The Institute Library on Chapel Street is a time capsule facing upcoming changes.

My Back Pages New Haven’s little-known literary jewel, the Institute Library struggles to stay relevant

By Sarah Politz

D

owntown New Haven on a hot, humid summer day is enough to make anyone long for a cool, exotic escape. Luckily, you need look no further than Chapel Street — and you won’t break the bank, either.

An intellectual oasis of sorts awaits those who climb the flight of stairs to investigate the Institute Library on the second floor at 847 Chapel Street. One of just a handful of membership libraries in the country, the Institute offers a brief trip to a time before electronics invaded every corner of our lives and when time moved 48

july 2009

more slowly, like a lazy river rounding a bend.

The Institute has been described by some as a “time capsule” — a space that seems to have never really left the 19th century and is proud of it. Cell phones are not allowed. There are no computers in sight, and the card catalog is the old fashioned kind, kept on alphabetized, hand-written cards in perfectly sized little drawers.

“I just think it’s magical there,” says Maryann Ott, who has been a member for four years. “It feels like the way a library should feel: welcoming. They know my

name; they know what I like to read. I like the quiet. I like the history and the attitude, the pace.”

“After we get to know the kind of books our members like, we’ll hold them aside for you. we’ll call you up and say, ‘Do you think you might like this book?’” says Head Librarian Becky McGaffin. It can be easier to get popular titles at the Institute, while the New Haven Free Public Library often has a waiting list with hundreds of names on it. The Institute Library will also mail books to its members.

Instead of the Dewey Decimal System, the library uses a little-known cataloguing system known as the Borden classification system, which is used only by New Haven’s Institute Library and the National Library of India. It was named for then-Yale student William Borden, who served as the Institute’s president from 1887 to 1910, excepting the two years after he left in 1895 to teach in India.

Other notable past presidents to grace the Institute’s distinguished history have included composer Charles Ives (183839) and legendary manufacturer Oliver Winchester (1855-59).

This haven from the bustle of downtown is one of the city’s secret treasures. But lately it has perhaps been a secret too well kept, as the past year’s economic turmoil has revealed. The stock market crash of last autumn and winter so decimated the Institute’s fragile endowment that it can no longer support operating expenses.

who wanted to get together for further education, but they couldn’t afford to go to college, so they formed a club. They would have speakers come and they started bringing their books to wherever they were meeting, and it just evolved into a library that way.” It was first called the Apprentices Library Association, and two years later was renamed the Young Mechanics Institute.

“The last couple of years I started to get alarmed because of our financial condition,” says board President Greg Pepe. “At one time we had a very healthy endowment. Just about the time I started to be concerned about the erosion of our endowment, we were clobbered by the sudden drop in the market last October and November when our endowment was cut in half.”

“We’re going to have to bring ourselves kicking and screaming into the 21st century,” says McGaffin. “If we want to get young people and keep the library going, we have to.”

“Slowly but surely we’re coming into the last century,” adds Pepe with a laugh.

The Institute Library predates the New Haven Free Public Library by 60 years and is home to 25,000 volumes rare and historical books, as well as more recent acquisitions of mysteries, fiction and bestsellers. The Institute Library is thought to have been founded by a young man named Eastman Minor in 1826.

According to McGaffin, the Institute library was started by “young men

The Institute has had eight different homes over the course of its history, but has been at its present location on Chapel Street for the longest tenure, since 1878.

It started out in the Glebe building at Church and Chapel Streets, and moved several times before constructing the Palladium Building at 139 Orange Street prior to the Civil War. When membership dropped during the war, the Institute could not pay the mortgage on the building and was without a home for several years before the 1875 erection of the four-story structure on Chapel Street where its collection is currently housed.

“During the 19th century it went through a number of transformations,” says Baker.

“Reading about it in the 19th century offers us a lot of ideas today about how to change with the times again.

Since February, the library has been open only two days a week instead of the customary five. Patrons now have access to the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., though beginning July 18 it will also be open on Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., staffed by board members and volunteers.

Membership in the Institute Library (which costs $25 annually) comprises 230 members and is growing, but the library is in the process of implementing several changes that it hopes will help it adapt to the changing world around it. Some changes will be small: a simple Web site and wireless access in the library by summer’s end. Others, such as selling overstock books and renting out the library’s upper floors for meetings and events, will be more dramatic.

speaking, drawing and art.”

Head Librarian Becky McGaffin reshelves books.

Since learning about the library in the fall, Will Baker, a master’s student in library science at Southern Connecticut State University, has been researching the history of the Institute. “New Haven was an extremely conservative town during the 19th century,” he says. “It was pretty closely tied to Southern industry, and Yale was one of the most conservative schools in the country, so it really buckled against progressive ideas that were popular in other parts of New England, upstate New York and Ohio.

“But the Young Men’s Institute would pull in these radical thinkers like Henry Ward Beecher, Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison,” Baker continues. “[Ralph Waldo] Emerson and Charles Dickens would come into town; this was one of the places that Dickens really liked in New England. A lot of these very controversial people — especially for New Haven — would come and deliver lectures. People who would not be in the socioeconomic classes where they could go to college used the Institute Library as a place to take courses in history, writing,

“I’m more interested in seeing it return to the way it was in its earlier history of an organization that can really make bold changes when it needs to and is very aware of the surrounding community and is a center for intellectual discourse,” Baker says. “I’d like to see it return to that dynamic stage for conversation. There’s just not enough communication between the Yale community, the professional community and the various other communities here. [The Institute Library] is a place where, in the 19th century, all those communities really intermingled.”

One community that is already taking advantage of the library’s space is the Word of Mouth poetry group, which meets there the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. The group often attracts 40 to 50 poets to its open meetings. “[The Institute Library] has always managed to survive because it never tried to be anything other than what it is,” says Ott. Today, busts of William Shakespeare and John Milton overlook a sunny reading room surrounded by volumes of biographies. The Institute seems at peace with its role as both library and museum.

But the view out the front windows displays an outside world that seems to have gone into fast-forward. Across the street, a young man sells sunglasses and soft drinks to the hot and harried. Inside the library, the patrons browse contentedly, taking a much-needed respite from the frenzied world below.

To learn more, phone the Institute Library at 203-562-4045. v

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O F N OT E S

An egalitarian (East) Rock festival takes spontaneous shape

By Sarah Politz

W

hen Jef Wilson witnessed a weekly gathering of 150 drummers during one of his frequent visits to the foothills of Montreal in the 1990s, the New Havener started imagining how a drum circle might be formed back at home.

“It left a big impression on me — how there were hundreds of people down around the monument at the base of the mountain,” he recalls. “Given my background in drumming, I figured I 50

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would see if that could have a home here.” Wilson is a veteran rock drummer, guitarist and bassist who also records and produces recordings.

But it wasn’t until last autumn that he started the East Rock drum circle, which began with a handful of participants meeting Sunday mornings at the Wilbur Cross High School bus stop. After changing the location and meeting time several times and taking the winter off, Wilson’s drum circle is back in full force.

“I figured out that 11 a.m. was too early for people with hangovers,” he jokes. The East Rock drum circle now meets at noon on Sundays on the summit of East Rock itself — perhaps now truly earning its name, as participants must either bike, hike or drive up to the top of the crag. Its new location has brought an increase in interest, with more families and passersby picking up percussion instruments and joining in.

Jonathan Mendez, 15, dropped by on a recent Sunday to play. He says he was drawn to the drum circle because he has studied African drumming at the Music & Arts Center in downtown Hartford.

He says the East Rock circle takes a more improvised approach, though: “They go straight to the momentum. How they feel it, they just play.”

Seasoned drummer Brian Jarawa Gray

Sarah Politz

Bang the Drum

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Brian (Jarawa) Gray, left, and Jef Wilson lay down a beat at the East Rock drum circle.

Wilson invites participants of all ages and skill levels to join.

Jonathan Mendez.

was also on hand, with three of his five children in tow. He had come upon the drum circle unintentionally the weekend prior when he took the kids up to East Rock to fly kites. “I’m a drummer myself, so I always have drums in my car,” he says. “I just went over there. They welcomed me.”

Born and raised in New Haven, Gray has been drumming and playing percussion for more than 40 years. His career has led him in and out of many bands, starting with the Coopers as a young musician, and expanding to include Déjà Vu, the drum ensemble Children of the Sun and a new avant-garde jazz group called Telepathy. He currently teaches drumming at the Amistad Academy, which affords him time to spend with his children, or his “tribe,” as he calls them. His youngest, three-year-old Ryan, seemed the most enthusiastic about playing drums with his dad.

“They keep me grounded,” says Gray.

“And I do most of my work with children.

It’s opened up my eyes.”

Many of the participants at a June drum circle gathering were pint-sized. However, Wilson says, “I’m enthused about kids of any age, whether they’re six or 60. More than it being simply an education, there’s an element of therapy. It’s a sense that I have that there’s a level of communication without talking that I can’t really explain. Because of that, I think there’s a therapeutic quality to it. Skill level is not a prerequisite.

Iwona Dobrucki, husband Wawosz and son Adam rock out.

“It’s just simply wanting to try and be a part of something instantaneous and musical, even though there are not necessarily skilled musicians involved,” adds Wilson. “But when there are skilled musicians involved, like Jarawa [Gray], who has an intense, lengthy history with hand percussion. If people were to tune into a player like him, I think there’s learning that can happen.”

“It’s a way of building bridges, breaking barriers,” agrees Gray. “I like how it’s evolved. It’s a good way of networking, stretching out with people from other cultures and other races. That’s the main positive energy that comes out of doing this.”

The fusion of world music and rock has been another of Wilson’s inspirations for the East Rock circle. “I always found that especially interesting, the meeting of different cultures, [like Peter Gabriel] being from Western civilization and then marrying with all this stuff that’s not typically found in Western music,” he says. “I’ve never lost that interest.”

Wilson’s drum circle is not the first to meet on East Rock, Gray says. “There’s a story to be told that is as old as the sun. The whole culture [of drumming] encourages us to respect the roots, the ancestors — not only African-American, but your own particular ancestry. In one way or another, we’re all connected, and we need to be respectful of that.

“We’ve been going on East Rock for years,” says Gray. “Since I was a child, that’s where we played. In the ’60s, when I was

about ten, we were going up on the Rock and playing, both West Rock and East Rock.” If the weather was good, drummers used to meet on the water at Long Wharf, or they would occasionally go down to Central Park in New York and meet other drummers there.

“The drum circle, originally how we did it, it wasn’t an organized thing,” Gray says.

“If you were a drummer, and you got the vibe that you wanted to play, and it was a nice day — most likely, there’s going to be other people who have the same idea.”

In that way, the East Rock drum circle is unusual for being so organized and publicly advertised, because news of most such gatherings usually travels by word of mouth alone. But lest we fear that it becomes too predictable, its “schedule” throws frequent curveballs. For example, the circle will be on hiatus until July 26, while Wilson goes to Scotland to study recording technology. His East Rock Studio sponsors the drum circle by providing percussion instruments, though people are encouraged to bring their own, branch out and experiment.

“I do want it to get larger,” says Wilson.

“Whenever I can do this drum circle, whether it’s by word of mouth or whatever, I think it will take on a life of its own, as I’ve witnessed these last few weekends, which is really all I could ever want.”

For updates on the East Rock drum circle, including schedule changes, e-mail jef@ eastrockstudio.com. v

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MUSIC CLASSICAL The Elm City’s signature Music on the Green series returns, and who better to kick it off than the New Haven Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Music Director William Boughton.

(Answer: no one.) FAURE Pélleas et Mélisande, Op. 80; BRUCH Violin Concerto in G minor (with soloist Sirena Huang); MENDELSSOHN Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” 6 p.m. July 11 on New Haven Green. Free. 203-773-9494, infonewhaven.com.

POPULAR Drum Circle. Bring any hand percussion, large or small, and a chair and join this improvised ensemble.

Noon every Sunday at the summit of East Rock, New Haven. Free. jef@eastrockstudio.com.

Milford’s Summer Nights by Harbor Lights Concert Series continues with a special Thursday evening performance by the Milford Concert Band of popular music and show tunes. 7 p.m. July 2 at Rotary Pavilion, Fowler Field, Milford.

Free.

The Clinton Chamber of Commerce kicks off the 2009 NewAlliance Bank Concert Series with Long Island Sound — the band, that is, and not the body of water — performing popular music from the 1940s right up until, well, right

Carter, Elvin Jones, Thelonius Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Led by drummer, recording artist and motivational speaker Mercel Blanchett, the group plays jazz with a contemporized edge using multimedia and guest vocalists. For this performance, sponsored by the Shoreline Arts Alliance, he’ll be joined

by Mike Asetta, bass, Brian Leary, piano, guitarists Ralph DeLucia and Peter Blanchet, and vocalists Katrina Cain, Lana Peck and Joell Jacob. 6:30 p.m.

July 5 on the Guilford Green (rain site Guilford Community Church, 32 Church St.). Free. 203-453-3890, shorelinearts.org.

Led by lead vocalist Rob Halford, Judas Priest gets little critical respect but have been fan favorites for more than two decades. This Independence Day weekend they’ll rock the Chevy, along with openers Whitesnake in this Live Nation production. 7 p.m. July 5 at Chevrolet Theatre, 95 S. Turnpike Rd., Wallingford. $65-$45. 203-265-1501, livenation.com.

The Branford Festival, Branford Recreation Department and Blue Plate Radio have conspired to create the “first annual” Thursday night jazz series on the Branford Town Green. First up will be the “smooth jazz” stylings of the six-piece Airborne. 6 p.m. July 9 on Branford Town Green. Free.

The Clinton Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 NewAlliance Bank Concert Series continues with Queen of Hearts performing contemporary country rock hits.

6:30 p.m. July 9 at Vece Gazebo, Pierson School, 75 E. Main St., Clinton. Free.

Heiress to the renowned Heifetz-Tononi violin willed to her by her teacher and mentor, Jascha Heifetz, Sherry Kloss performs John Corigliano’s Pulitzer Prizewinning work The Red Violin with the New Haven Symphony July 18 in Waterford.

In the month that gave us independence comes Made in America, the New Haven Symphony’s kaleidoscope of the distinctive color and flavor of American art music (plus Dvorak!). COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring; CORIGLIANO The Red Violin: Chaconne for Violin & Orchestra (with soloist Sherry Kloss); DVORAK Symphony No. 8; SOUSA Stars & Stripes Forever.

Under the baton of Sound Music Music Director and Conductor Martin Piecuch.

8 p.m. (pre-concert talk 7:15) July 18 at Harkness Park, Waterford. $38-$19. 860447-1050, newhavensymphony.com.

Join Sound Music musical director and conductor Martin Piecuch and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra for Mostly Mozart. Experience the tantalizing agility of the bassoon as solo instrument, as well as Mozart’s symphonic masterwork — his last symphony — which borders on the revolutionary, is bound to entice the discerning ear. MOZART Concerto for Bassoon in Bb Major (K. 193) with soloist Cynde Iverson, Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter,” K. 555); TCHAIKOVSKY Mozartiana Suite No. 4 in G Major (Op. 61). 8 p.m. (pre-concert talk 7:15) August 1 at Harkness Park, Waterford. $38-$19.

860-447-1050, newhavensymphony.com.

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now. 6:30 p.m. July 2 at Vece Gazebo, Pierson School, 75 E. Main St., Clinton.

Free.

Nation Beat is a six-member New York-based band that amalgamates rural music from northeastern Brazil and the American South. Nation Beat’s latest recording, Legends of the Preacher, is a fusion of thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming, New Orleans second-line rhythms, Appalachianinspired bluegrass music, funk, rock and country-blues. Their explosive live shows have attracted music fans from a wide demographic, including bluegrass and country music fans, Brazilian music lovers and outdoor festival-goers.

They will surely appeal to any lovers of dance and music. 7-9 p.m. July 2 at Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, Middletown. Free. wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Independence Day get rocking with Café Nine’s second annual Punk Rock Holiday BBQ Extravaganza with Whitework, the Cretins, Black Noise Scam and much more. July 3-4 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. 203-7898281, cafenine.com.

Marcel & Beyond the Sun is a jazz combo with a playlist that includes such greats as Miles Davis, Ron

Milford’s Summer Nights by Harbor Lights Concert Series continues with a concert of country-and-western favorite from the band Gunsmoke. 7 p.m.

July 10 at Rotary Pavilion, Fowler Field, Milford. Free.

The toothsome Peter Noone leads British Invasion legends Herman’s Hermits (“Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” “Henry the Eighth”) into Hamden for the first of the Hamden Arts Commission’s 2009 Free Summer Concert Series. Key word: free.

7:30 p.m. July 10 at Town Center Park, 2761 Dixwell Ave., Hamden. Free.

The queen of blue-eyed rock ‘n’ soul, Christine Ohlman returns to the Nine.

9 p.m. July 11 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. $8. 203-789-8281, cafenine. com.

Summer Soul presents Maze featuring Frankie Beverly & Friends. Dubbed the “best kept secret in the industry,” Frankie Beverly and Maze have gained worldwide appeal through their unique sound and legendary sold-out live performances. For more than 30 years, the group has pounded out a string of chart-topping hits including “We Are One,” “I Can’t Get Over You,” “The Morning After” and “Joy and Pain.”

In 2004, Maze released an 18-track Greatest Hits album featuring some of the most popular and successful songs of the group’s remarkable career. 8 p.m.

July 11 at Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waturbury. $80-$45. 203-755-4700, palacetheaterct.org.

Closed Till Dark is a “neo-soul” project that straddles the lines separating jazz, soul, R&B, funk and hip-hop. Catch them as part of the new Thursday night Branford jazz series. 6 p.m. July 16 on Branford Town Green. Free.

Staind has been one of the best alt/ rock bands over the last two decades by combining emotionally turbulent lyrics with gritty music to create outstanding albums like Break the Cycle and Chapter 5, both of which went to No. 1. In concert with Shinedown and Chevelle as part of this summer’s Stimulate This! Tour. 7 p.m. July 16 at at Chevrolet Theatre, 95 S. Turnpike Rd., Wallingford. $37.50-$29.50.

203-265-1501, livenation.com.

The Clinton Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 NewAlliance Bank Concert Series continues with jazz, swing, R&B and Motown favorites from the band Shaded Soul. 6:30 p.m. July 16 at Vece Gazebo, Pierson School, 75 E. Main St., Clinton. Free.

Milford’s Summer Nights by Harbor Lights Concert Series continues with a performance by Steve D’Agostino

Continued on 55

The Yale-New Haven Hospital Auxiliary provides lunch-noshers with Notes at Noon, a weekly summer concert series with jazz, folk, blues and rock & roll performances by area musicians.

The schedule includes: contemporary jazz by Airborne Jazz (July 10); jazz soloist Glen Roth (July 17); another jazzy afternoon with the Harry Strom Quartet (July 24) and folk & bluegrass solo with This Land is your Land (July 31). Noon in Hunter Courtyard (across from 20 York St. at Cedar St.), New Haven. Free. ynhh.org.

Legendary Scottish funksters (that may sound like an oxymoron, but it’s not) Average White Band cuts the cake on York Street, with opening act Rearview. 21-plus show. 9:30 p.m. July 11 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $20 ($17.50 advance). 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.

Former L.T.D. singer Jeffrey Osbourne became even more successful when he went solo, with hits such as ‘On the Wings of Love.’ The R&B song stylist rocks the New Haven Green July 25.

PHOTOGRAPH:

‘Storytelling with Tools’ A stage lifer breathes new life into a moribund theater company

By Brooks Appelbaum

T

. Paul Lowry, artistic director of the New Haven Theatre Co. and director of the recent New Haven smash hit, David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, says that “My definition of theater is ‘storytelling with tools.’” Example: Lowry set Glengarry Glen Ross in the ominous atmosphere of a vacant bank. The venue was his particular tool. For Lowry, a tool is “anything I want” that will enhance the story. His career and his four-yearold company have been shaped by this eagerness to engage the unconventional and change what needs changing.

Lowry’s sense of limitless possibilities stems largely from his youthful

experiences in Sierra Vista, Ariz. “Sierra Vista was a great place to grow up,” he says, “because there were a lot of retired people from the East Coast and Chicago, and they would talk about ‘the big shows.’

I never saw a Broadway show until I moved to New York as an adult.” This helped Lowry appreciate the work of local theaters and kept him hungry for innovation.

Like the famous character from A Chorus Line, Lowry saw his sister taking dance classes and started tap dancing when he was nine. “I really enjoyed the performing,” he recalls. “When you are a young guy, especially in a small town,

Anthony DeCarlo

Lowry ‘planted a lot of seeds’ to jump-start the New Haven Theatre Co., starting with smaller projects and letting them ‘cross-pollinate.’

and you dance, and if you can carry a tune and enjoy acting — all of a sudden you are going to be in everything.”

Lowry started his first theater company, TeenStage, in high school because the school offered only an autumn play and a spring musical. Speech, debate and forensics took him to Phoenix, “the Big City,” and there he found a new world.

“We were sitting in speech and debate rounds listening to kids performing people like Christopher Durang and Eric Bogosian, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is really awesome,’” he says. “I wanted to do stuff like that at home.

“We had a really supportive environment in which to do new and edgy stuff and never feel that we were ever not going to succeed,” he says. The town’s reaction to TeenStage solidified Lowry’s determination to make theater his career. It also gave him skills that served him well when he arrived in New York after college. Numerous gigs in off-off Broadway productions led to what Lowry calls his “grad school job” as a new haven

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Rebecca Vary

“bringing theater to an audience in a different way — really bringing theater to the people.”

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Continuing with his garden metaphor, Lowry says he “planted a lot of seeds” to jump start the company. Unlike other theaters, which typically start with large productions and then add new programs, Lowry wanted to start with smaller projects and “let them cross-pollinate from the very beginning, let them have both artists and audiences flow over from one to the other.” In Meter Theatre, Lowry’s actors present original and adapted pieces on city buses, sidewalks and in parking spaces. The Funny Stages gives performers a chance to hone their skills in improv comedy. You can discover the company’s other innovative projects (some quite new) on its Web site (newhaventheatercompany. com).

The NHTC’s production of ‘The Legend of Pedro’ (top), and the office set from a production of ‘Glengarry Glen Ross.’

dresser at Playwrights’ Horizons. Jobs at the more established off-Broadway theaters followed. Soon he had mastered every backstage position. “I would say I graduated from 42nd Street,” he says.

When he was hired at the last minute as wardrobe supervisor for Bat Boy: The Musical (ask him to tell you the long version), Lowry met commercial general managers and producers for the first time. “You hear these horror stories,” he says. “But these producers and general managers were just so cool, and they were the kind who understood that you have to do whatever it takes to get the job done. I really connected to them.”

The feeling was mutual. Lowry’s colleagues on Bat Boy: The Musical 54

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Glengarry Glen Ross represents a milestone as the company’s first full production in New Haven, with more to follow.

To further nurture New Haven talent, Lowry has begun a program called the Farm, which “grows local plays by local playwrights” through readings. The Farm gives the company “a chance to work with new directors and actors, with low risk.” The readings also help the company identify promising plays.

suggested that he should be producing.

There followed several years as company manager at places like the O’Neill Theatre and Long Wharf Theatre, where he worked until recently as associate producer.

Describing his wish for an artistic outlet in New Haven, Lowry uses the metaphor of a garden. He saw here “fertile ground,” especially when he discovered that there had once been an innovative group called New Haven Theatre Co. The artistic director had moved onto other things, but she gave him permission to use the name. Although Lowry has built the company in his own way, he welcomes former company members and notes the two companies share a similar mission:

Asked how his artistic vision has changed over the years, Lowry laughs and says, “It hasn’t changed at all, to be honest.” His ongoing re-definition of theater is “a rebellion against the people who say, ‘You can only do this or you can only do that; you have to do theater in this way.’ I’ve really rejected that mentality. It’s fine for a certain artist to say, ‘These are the structures or these are the tools that I’m going to use,’ but I don’t think it’s right to impose those same rules on other artists.”

Lowry is always looking for “tools” to bring more people into the theatre as audience (especially people who don’t think they like theater), or as actors (especially people don’t think they can act). “The things I like go right back to growing up,” Lowry says. “The best performances I’ve seen are these kids, standing in an eighth-grade history class, performing ten minutes of a play by Eric Bogosian.”

You’ll still find New Haven Theatre Co. performers on buses and in parking lots.

But as Lowry planned from the start, the garden is growing. v

CABARET How haunted can one house possibly be? Find out in The Mystery of Irma Vep, written by Charles Ludlam, directed by Michael Walkup and staged by those underground denizens of Summer Cabaret at Yale. Victoriam melodrama meets the ridiculous in this fast-paced tale of werewolves, murder and a love that refuses to die.

Through July 18 at Summer Cabaret at Yale, 217 Park St., New Haven. $30-$25 (senior, student discounts). 203-4321567, summercabaret@yale.edu, summercabaret.org.

Fly-By-Night, a brand-new musical written by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick and Kim Rosenstock. Who has the power when the lights go out?

Indie rock meets The Twilight Zone in this musical story of a group of New Yorkers whose lives fatefully intertwine on the night of a blackout. Erik Pearson directs. July 28-August 15 at Summer Cabaret at Yale, 217 Park St., New Haven. $30-$25 (senior, student discounts). 203432-1567, summercabaret@yale.edu, summercabaret.org.

THEATER The dazzling Broadway song-and-dance extravaganza 42nd Street is based on the book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble and features music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin (see review June 2009 NHM). It’s the ultimate fairy tale as a stage-struck understudy becomes an overnight

offer something “different,” like going “The Full Monty!” The musical had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. After 35 previews, the Broadway production opened on October 26, 2000 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, where it ran for 770 performances. Music and lyrics

by David Yazbek based on book by Terrence McNally. July 1-26 at Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main St., Ivoryton. 860767-7318, info@ivorytonplayhouse.org, ivorytonplayhouse.org.

Charles Ross wrote and performs his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy — a one-hour, high-energy blast through the three original George Lucas films — on the Long Wharf Mainstage star. Packed with plenty of pizzazz, it will set your heart pounding with its rhythmically tapping feet and hit parade of songs: “Lullaby of Broadway,” “We’re in the Money,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and of course “42nd Street.” Through July 4 at Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. $73-$31. 860873-8668, goodspeed.org.

Based on the hit film, the musical comedy The Full Monty tells the story of a group of unemployed steelworkers desperately in need of money. After listening to their girlfriends rave about some male dancers they saw, the guys decide to put on their own show. The boys are far from buff, and few can even dance, but they simply take these problems in stride and

Continued from 52 (“Singin’ and Swingin’ the Great American Standards”). 7 p.m. July 17 at Rotary Pavilion, Fowler Field, Milford.

Free.

Ashford & Simpson. The dynamic husband-and-wife singer/songwriter team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson have been winning over audiences with smooth pop/R&B stylings (“Solid,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”) since the 1960s. 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Town Center Park, 2761 Dixwell Ave., Hamden. Free.

The Hamden Arts Commission presents a free concert by one of Connecticut’s most enduringly popular bands, the rock/swing/jazz combo Eight to the Bar. 7:30 p.m. July 17 at Town Center Park, 2761 Dixwell Ave., Hamden. Free.

Milford’s Summer Nights by Harbor Lights Concert Series continues with rock ‘n’ roll from Vinnie Carr & the Party Band. 7 p.m. July 17 at Rotary Pavilion, Fowler Field, Milford. Free.

The Music on the Green series continues with Sister Hazel, the alt-rock band whose oeuvre straddles folk rock, pop and southern rock. The band’s single “All for You” hit No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. 7 p.m. (opening act 6 p.m.) July 18 on New Haven Green. Free.

203-773-9494, infonewhaven.com.

Experience the “one brief shining moment” that is the legendary LernerLoewe musical Camelot. Relive the enduring legend of King Arthur, Guenevere, Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table in an enchanting fable of chivalry, honor and brotherhood. Dazzling and spellbinding with sweeping romance and historic grandeur, this classic musical speaks to our time and for all time. The celebrated score includes the classics “If Ever I would Leave You,” “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood,”

PHOTOGRAPH: Anthony DeMeglio

Music Cal

‘Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3. Maripat Donovan’s latest “class” in this sinfully funny series. After teaching countless students about the saints, venial sins, limbo and more, Sister now offers up hilarious lessons on the Sacraments of Marriage and Last Rites, including her own wacky version of The Newlywed Game. July 8-August 16 on Stage II, Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. $27-$22. 203-7874282, longwharf.org.

ONSTAGE and “Camelot.” Winner of four Tony Awards. Directed by Rob Ruggiero, with choreography by Ralph Perkins. July 10-September 19 at Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. $73$31. 860-873-8668, goodspeed.org.

Charles Ross wrote and performs a One-Man Star Wars Trilogy on the Long Wharf Mainstage. A one-hour, high-energy blast through the three original George Lucas films. Watch as Ross plays all of the characters, recreates the effects, sings the music, flies the ships and fights (both sides) of the battles. July 14-26 at Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven. $27-$22. 203-7874282, longwharf.org.

The second annual Seven Angels Theatre/Palace Theater Community Summer Stock collaborative, Thoroughly Modern Millie brings a community cast of all ages to the Palace stage. Based on the 1967 film of the same name, this Tony Awardwinning musical tells the story of small-town girl Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love. 8 p.m. July 31August 1 at Palace Theater, 100 E. Main St., Waterbury. $30-$25. 203-755-4700, palacetheaterct.org.

Osbourne, who has scored major hits with 1982’s “On the Wings of Love” and the chart-topping “Love Power,” a duet with Dionne Warwick.

7 p.m. (opening act 6 p.m.) July 25 on New Haven Green. Free. 203-773-9494, infonewhaven.com.

It’s a midsummer hip-hop throwdown on York Street with Method Man, Redman and Ghost Face. Grimy emcee Mr. Mef has a new album, 4:21…The Day After, and he’ll be trading verse with his partner in rhyme, Redman.

9:30 p.m. July 26 at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven. $30 ($27.50 advance). 203-624-8623, toadsplace.com.

Jazz vocalist Dana Lauren has performed with such luminaries as Arturo Sandoval. Tonight she performs for you. 6 p.m. July 30 on Branford Town Green. Free.

Nation Beat is a six-member New York-based band that amalgamates rural music from northeastern Brazil and the American South. They play at Wesleyan July 2.

The Gary Grippo Quintet features a lineup of Café Nine jazz jam all-stars including Esdras Lubin, bass; Joe Demeo, reeds; Justin Octaviano, drums; Gary Grippo, guitar; and Laco Deczi, trumpet. Catch them as part of the new Thursday night Branford jazz series. 6 p.m. July 23 on Branford Town Green. Free.

The Digger Stevens Band plays “good time rhythm and blues.” Find out just how good as part of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 NewAlliance Bank Concert Series. 6:30 p.m. July 23 at Vece Gazebo, Pierson School, 75 E. Main St., Clinton. Free.

The Music on the Green series concludes with the cool soul stylings of R&B singer/songwriter Jeffrey

The Convertibles play good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll music. Check them out as part of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 NewAlliance Bank Concert Series.

6:30 p.m. July 30 at Vece Gazebo, Pierson School, 75 E. Main St., Clinton. Free.

It’s smoking summer rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s to the ‘80s from the eight-piece (horns included!) Atwood Express Oldies Band. Part of Milford’s Summer Nights by Harbor Lights Concert Series. 7 p.m. July 31 at Rotary Pavilion, Fowler Field, Milford. Free.

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CALENDAR BELLES LETTRES The Mystery Book Club meets the first Wednesday of each month to discuss a pre-selected book. Books available for loan in advance of discussion. 3-4 p.m.

July 1 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-483-6653, events@ blackstone.lioninc.org, blackstone. lioninc.org/booktalk.htm.

Writing Hot Summer Fiction, with Sari Rosenblatt. The summer heat can be a fine trigger and backdrop to fiction writing. Think rivers, picnics, reunions, skimpy clothes, bonfires, family vacations, aching bodies, crops of basil, bad moods, corn, cars, camp, lobster, hiking and humidity. You’ll have weekly short writing assignments and readings by John Cheever, Chris Offutt, Alice Munroe, Antonya Nelson Louise Erdrich. New and experienced writers ages 16-plus welcome. 6:30-8:30 p.m.

July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green St., Middletown. $95.

860-685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org.

the ground with a woman’s body inside, and the restaurant owner goes missing. Local reporter Annie Seymour investigates with the help of sexy Vinny DeLucia, marine biologist-turnedgumshoe. Books available for sale and signing. 6-7 p.m. July 8 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free. Registration. 203-946-7431, secondhandsmoke.eventbrite.com.

Haul those pages out of your drawer, dust them off and sharpen your prose for the Writers Out Loud: Open Mic. Green Street Arts Center offers writers a night to share works-in-progress, socialize and seek out constructive comments. Readings are limited to prose short stories or excerpts less than ten minutes. Limited to six readings, with time for one-on-one feedback and sharing afterward.

7-9 p.m. July 9 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green St., Middletown. $3 members, $5 others. 860-685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org.

Children’s Story Hour is a weekly Saturday get-together for children and parent story lovers alike. 10 a.m.

July 11, 18 & 25 at the Yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway, New Haven. Free. 203777-8440, crc-events@snet.net, yalebookstore.com.

New members are welcomed to the

CINEMA Milford Independent Film Festival. Milford will host screening events throughout July and August showcasing works of independent filmmakers of all ages. Competition is a joint effort by the Milford Public Library and the Milford Fine Arts Council. Final judging will take place August 1 at the Milford Public Library and screenings are open to the public. Films will also be screened at the Center for the Arts in Milford with a gala celebration at an Awards Ceremony on August 13. Films should be family-friendly and no longer than 30 minutes in duration.

Filmmakers’ works must be submitted no later than July 10 at the Milford Public Library, 57 New Haven Ave., Milford.

Entry fee of $15 for one, $10 for the second. 203-878-6647, milfordarts.org.

It Happened One Night (USA, 1934, 105 min.). Frank Capra directs Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in this grandest of romantic comedies, winner of five Academy Awards. 2 p.m. July 10 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free. 203-946-7431.

Meet John Doe (USA, 1941, 123 min.). Barbara Stanwyck stars as a reporter who ends her last column with a letter from a fictional “John Doe” who, angered at the ill treatment of America’s little people, announces he will jump off City Hall on Christmas Eve. Gary Cooper co-stars in one of his greatest roles in the Frank Capra heartstring-tugger. 2 p.m. July 17 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free. 203-946-7431.

Rear Window (USA, 1954, 112 min.).

James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in this classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller. 2 p.m. July 24 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free.

203-946-7431.

Following a 300-mile sail from Annapolis, Md., four NA-44 sailboats crewed my midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy will arrive at Milford Landing July 3 for an Independence Day weekend visit.

Screenwriting. Led by award-winning independent filmmaker Justin Liberman, course will examine the craft of writing for the cinema. All levels are encouraged and each student will learn the essential elements of storytelling as well as the step-by-step construction of a completed, feature-length screenplay.

Liberman will also give advice on what steps you should take once you have completed your screenplay. Ages 18-plus. 7-9 p.m. July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 at Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green St., Middletown. $95. 860-685-7871, greenstreetartscenter.org.

Writers Live! Author Karen Olson discusses her latest mystery, Secondhand Smoke. A cherished Italian restaurant in New Haven burns to

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Blackstone Library Book Group. The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month to discuss a pre-selected book. Books available for loan in advance of discussion. 6:45-8 p.m.

July 14 at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. Free. 203-488-1441, ext.

318, events@blackstone.lioninc.org, blackstone.lioninc.org/booktalk.htm.

Writers Live! Thomas Hollowell discusses his book Allah’s Garden, the story of his encounter with a doctor who was held for 25 years by the Polisario, a rebel movement working for the independence of Western Sahara. 6-7 p.m. July 15 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free. Registration. 203-946-7431, allah.eventbrite.com.

Naked City (USA, 1948, 96 min.). A young model is drowned in the bathtub of her Manhattan apartment, and a lot of jewelry she supposedly owned is missing. Film chronicles six days in the life of New York City that coincide with the murder and the subsequent investigation by Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Detective James Halloran (Don Taylor). Jules Dassin directs this seminal film noir. 2 p.m. July 31 at New Haven Free Public Library, 155 Elm St., New Haven. Free. 203-946-7431.

COMEDY Test your knowledge and have fun doing it at Anna Liffey’s Trivia Night. Teams of one to five members compete for prize money. Topics range from music to movies, politics to Shakespeare, geology to sports and everywhere in between. Ages 21 and older. Arrive early to get a table. 9 p.m.

July 7, 14, 21 & 28 at Anna Liffey’s, 17 Whitney Ave., New Haven. $10 per team.

203-773-1776, annaliffeys.com.

Beach Party Comedy Night. Four New York City comedians — Matt Christmas, Davvin Rosenblatt, Ray Penetti and Dan Wilson — take the Seven Angels

Theatre stage for a Saturday night of sidesplitting hilarity. 8 p.m. July 18 at Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Rd., Waterbury. $29-$24. 203-757-4676, sevenangelstheatre.org

CULINARY City Farmers Markets New Haven.

Enjoy food from local farms including seafood, meat, milk, cheese, organic greens, root vegetables, handcrafted bread and baked goods, honey, more. DOWNTOWN: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Wednesdays through November 25, Church St. at the Green. WOOSTER SQUARE: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through December 19 at Russo Park, corner Chapel St. and DePalma Ct. FAIR HAVEN: 3-7 p.m. Thursdays July 9-October 29 at Quinnipiac River Park, corner Grand Ave. and Front St. EDGEWOOD PARK: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Sundays through November 22 corner Whalley and West Rock Aves. 203-7733736, cityseed.org.

Chamard Vineyard’s Farmers Market.

Local producers gather on Cow Hill Road with some of the region’s freshest fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, flowers, maple syrup, honey, gourmet foods, breads and baked goods. Bring home everything you need for the week, including “Connecticut’s Best Wine” (Connecticut magazine 1998-2007).

Live music, too. Noon-3 p.m. Sundays through October 25 at 14 at Chamard Vineyards, 115 Cow Hill Rd., Clinton. 860664-0299, chamard.com/events.html.

Lyman Orchards’ Berry Fest celebrates midsummer berries and features a berry scavenger hunt, face-painting, blueberry pie-eating contest, live music and pick-your-own blueberries and raspberries. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. July 18 at Lyman Orchards, 32 Reeds Gap Rd., Middlefield. 860-349-1793, lymanorchards.com.

DANCE Founded in 1986 by the award-winning choreographer and director of its name, Doug Varone and Dancers is the resident company at the 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center in New York City. The company is distinguished for its technical prowess, versatility, dramatic lyricism and extensive range in choreographic repertoire. The group will perform three works: “Tomorrow,” “Lux” and “Boats Leaving.” “Tomorrow” features the use of intimate negative spaces formed by each dancer’s body and stillness. “Lux” celebrates freedom and explores the experience of dance and dreams. In “Boats Leaving,” Varone explores conversation and interactions, emphasizing the gravity of silence and stillness in speaking to how communities unravel. 8 p.m. July 9-10 at Center for the Arts Theater, Wesleyan University, Middletown. $22 ($18 seniors, WU faculty and staff; $12 students). 860685-3355, boxoffice@wesleyan.edu.

FAMILY EVENTS The U.S. Naval Academy’s Offshore Sail Training Squadron will visit

Milford Landing on Independence Day weekend. Crewed by midshipmen, four NA-44 sailboats will arrive on the morning of July 3 and stay until July 6. During the weekend the crews will participate in a host of public and private events, including public tours Saturday & Sunday afternoons. Noon-4 p.m. July 4-5 at Milford Landing, Milford.

Free. milfordct.com.

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 to repair flats.

10 a.m. Sundays at Lulu’s European Café, 49 Cottage St., New Haven. Free. 203773-9288, paulproulx@sbcglobal.net, elmcitycycling.org.

Friday Family Campfire: Bats with Caroline. Bat expert Caroline Glaser will share her knowledge and tall tales of our local bats. She will bring out our resident animal ambassador bats to see close up. Toast some marshmallows and make a s’more.

Bring along a blanket or folding chair.

7:30-9 p.m. July 17 at Earthplace, 10 Woodside La., Westport. $8 members, $10 non-members. Registration. 203-2277253, info@earthplace.org, earthplace.org.

Critical Mass. Participants meet at the flagpole on the New Haven Green at 5:30 p.m. on the last Friday of each month for a slow-paced ride through New Haven streets. The ride ranges from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on weather. Critical Mass is not an organization; it’s an “unorganized coincidence” — a movement of bicycles in the streets as traffic. After the event, everyone is invited to a potluck dinner at the Devil’s Gear Bike Shop. 5:30 p.m. July 31 at Temple and Chapel streets, New Haven. Free. elmcitycycling.org.

Touch-a-Bug Day. See insects close up!

They are all around us — in the house, in the garden, along woodland trails.

Get to know your tiny neighbors. Insect crafts like bug faces, noisemakers, butterfly costumes. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

July 18 at Earthplace, 10 Woodside La., Westport. $7 ($5 ages 12 and under and seniors). 203-227-7253, info@earthplace. org, earthplace.org.

MIND, BODY & SOUL Led by Nelie Doak, Yoga promotes a deep sense of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Classes 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 (no class 7/3) at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Branford. $10. 203-488-1441, ext. 313, yogidoakie@earthlink.net or events@ blackstone.lioninc.org, blackstone. lioninc.org.

Happiness Club of Greater Milford events are held the second Thursday of each month. All ages invited. Visitors should bring a food item (appetizer, munchie or dessert) to share. 6-8 p.m. July 9 at Golden Hill Health Care Center, 2028 Bridgeport Ave., Milford.

203-767-3582, plynn_135@hotmail.com, happinessclubmilford.ning.com.

Amity Cares, a group of volunteers from Woodbridge, Orange, Bethany

July is berry, berry good in Middlefield.

Pick your own blueberries and raspberries and celebrate the season July 18 at Lyman Orchards.

and Westville that partner with Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven, meets the third Thursday each month.

Amity Cares is working on building its third house, on Dewitt Street in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood. Volunteer information and forms available on the Amity Cares Web site. 6:30 p.m. July 16 at United Church of Christ Parish House on Woodbridge Town Green. Free. 203397-9433, amitycaresconcert@gmail.com, AmityCares.org.

SPORTS/RECREATION 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

Hikes Join the Connecticut Audubon Society for a fabulous Full Moon Walk. As the heat of the summer day dissipates and the cool of the evening comes on, walk the trails with Trail Wood Caretaker Vern Pursley and watch for the glow of the strawberry, buck and green corn moons. 7:30 p.m. July 5 at Trail Wood Sanctuary, 93 Kenyon Rd., Hampton.

Free. 860-928-4948, ctaudubon.org.

easthamptonoldhomedays.org/pdfs/ Gallop2009.pdf The 28th Trumbull Sunset Run is a 5K road race hosted by Trumbull Rotary.

USATF-certified course produced the fastest 5K time in the state in 2003 (Scott Larson’s 14:37). 6:45 p.m. (kids’ fun run 6:15) July 18 at Twin Brooks Park, White Plains Rd., Trumbull. $20 advance ($15 ages 18 and under), $25 day of race.

203-268-5934.

Spectator Sports Enjoy a hard-hitting roller mania extravaganza pitting the Connecticut Stepford Sabotage vs. Boston Massacre. 7 p.m. (6 pm doors open) June 19 at Connecticut Sports Center, 21 S. Bradley St., Woodbridge. $10 advance, $12 at door (children under 12 free with adult). ctrollerderby.com.

Please send CALENDAR information to CALENDAR@conntact.com no later than seven 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.

Road Races Declare your independence — from the other runners! — at the Courtney Honda Independence Day 5,000, which doubles as the USATF’s Connecticut 5K championship, sponsored by the Milford Road Runners. (Just to know what you’re shooting for, Gideon Mutisya’s course record is a brisk 15:02.) 9 a.m. (registration begins 7:30) at Foran High School, Milford. $25 ($10 under 12).

203-877-2091, Runbob48@aol.com.

Part of East Hampton’s annual Old Home Days celebration is the 11th annual Glorious Gallop 5K road race (non-sanctioned). 7:15 p.m. July 10 at Seven Hills Crossing, East Hampton. $15 ($10 advance; $8 ages 12 and under).

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“THE LUIGI BOARD” a zany musical directed by Joel Vig from Broadaway’s “HairSpray”

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The resident dance company at New York’s famed 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center, Doug Varone and Dancers perform three provocative pieces July 9-10 at Wesleyan.

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WO RD S of MOUT H

By Liese Klein

PHOTOGRAPH:

NEW EATS: Ola

Anthony DeCarlo

Nancy Lopez shows off a caña (salmon) dish, while Wagner Lopez offers a mojito de uva.

T

rendy “Nuevo Latino” cuisine isn’t just for city dwellers anymore, with the opening of several excellent eateries opening in towns like Ansonia, which blend tropical ingredients and Latin spice. Now Ola Martini’s, an ambitious bistro that opened two years ago on the Post Road in Orange, recently expanded and changed its name simply to Ola, is ready to take its place in the top ranks.

Even with the expanded 60-seat dining room, reservations are advised on weekends at Ola. A few meals there and you’ll understand why: Ola serves up some of the most vibrant and exciting food around and at very reasonable prices.

Ola’s dowdy storefront in a strip mall doesn’t promise much, and the interior’s vivid orange-and-blue color scheme hardly prepares you for fine dining. Not

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to mention the crystals and butterflies in the bathroom. But a look at the menu offers an exciting glimpse into the mind of a creative chef drawing from across the Latin world. Attentive and patient servers are also willing to guide diners through unfamiliar terrain.

Start with one of the potent mojitos, rum-based cocktails with mint and fruit purée. A touch of passion fruit’s sourness added dimension to my drink, half full of fresh mint and generously sized. A spear of fresh sugarcane served as both a stirrer and sweet treat at the end. Another hit was a bread plate that came with a sun-dried tomato “chimichurri” sauce as a richly flavored and slightly sweet spread.

An appetizer of “Latin Chowder” had this diner ready to abandon her New England and Manhattan chowder

loyalties: Chunks of fish, shellfish and corn in a spiced broth offered both knockout flavor and texture. It was warming, light and flavorful and worth a trip to Ola’s on its own.

Chef Melvin Lopez’s creativity was also on display in a main dish of salmon, perfectly cooked and artfully served within a halo of shredded fried plantain.

The quinoa salad on the side supplied a nice acidic note that brought the flavors and texture together.

Lopez and his family run Ola, and their passion for the restaurant comes through. Next time you’re on the Post Road, pass by the chains and give this inventive and satisfying eatery a try.

Ola, 350 Boston Post Rd., Orange (203-891-0522).

Anthony DeCarlo PHOTOGRAPH:

JUST A TASTE: Aniello’s Pizza & Italian

BREAKFAST/DINERS The Pantry, 2 Mechanic St., New Haven (203-7870392). Lines get long on weekend mornings at this East Rock institution, known for its breakfast goodies like gingerbread pancakes, fluffy waffles and hearty omelets.

Bella’s Cafe, 896 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203387-7107). Brunch with flair is the specialty at this Westville favorite. You can’t go wrong with the daily specials or omelets like the Tuscan with eggplant and peppers or the Tex-Mex with cheddar and salsa.

Parthenon Diner, 374 E. Main St., Branford (203-4810333). Open 24 hours for hearty, well-made Greek and diner fare, with some low-carb and vegetarian offerings. Another location (not 24/7) in Old Saybrook at 809 Boston Post Rd.

Salvatore Scotto and his son Antonio invite you to sample Aniello’s tasty secrets.

Copper Kitchen, 1008 Chapel St., New Haven (203777-8010). Downtown’s most convenient spot for a diner-style, affordable fry-up of eggs, bacon and toast. Cash only, but you won’t need much of it.

Patricia’s Restaurant, 18 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203-787-4500). Tasty and very affordable diner basics in an unironically retro setting near Broadway and the Yale campus.

S

hort of buying a plane ticket, you won’t get closer to Italy in the New Haven area than a trip to Aniello’s in East Haven — not the Italy of tourist traps and sky-high checks, but the off-the-beaten-track Italy of excellent food and truly hospitable service in an unpretentious setting. Aniello’s has been a local favorite for decades and draws chefs and foodies from around the region.

“Unpretentious” doesn’t do justice to Aniello’s location, next to a dollar store in a plaza dominated by a gargantuan Stop & Shop. Perhaps there is some charm in being able to pick up laundry detergent after your meal, but this may not be the place for a first date or splash-out evening. Unless your date is an Italian food lover, that is.

Aniello’s interior continues the humble theme, with worn if clean booths and chestnuts like “Time in a Bottle” on the soundtrack. But once that first glass of Chablis arrives — beautifully chilled, crisp and dry — you won’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

For an appetizer, try the pasta fagioli, a small bowl of soup brimming with tender white beans and tubetti pasta in a rich broth. The fresh, intense flavors are a hint of what’s to come, along with the basket of world-class Italian bread that comes with it. The bread looks and tastes homemade, and is perfect to sop

up the last drops of soup or sauce on your plate.

Also winning to start is the calamari Aniello, a show-stopping plate of breaded calamari tossed with deep-fried hot peppers and artichokes and served with a vivid marinara. You get calamari tentacles along with rings, adding to the range of textures and flavors. With its perfect balance of crisp and tender and painstaking presentation, this dish puts many versions in the area to shame.

That tasty marinara also works its magic on pastas and in sandwiches like the eggplant Parmesan. It also turned up on perfectly al dente linguini in a tuna Puttanesca special, which brought together seared tuna and a zesty combination of olives, anchovies and pine nuts.

The chef’s flair with plating brought the meal to a memorable close with a stunning tartufo: chocolate-coated ice cream dressed with chocolate sauce and candied cherries for an Old World touch. Once again texture and flavor married to mouthwatering effect.

With its excellent food, warm service and modest prices, Aniello’s deserves to be much more than a local favorite.

Aniello’s Pizza & Italian, 346 Hemingway Ave., East Haven (203-467-5694).

Athenian Diner, 1064 Boston Post Rd., Milford (203878-5680). Visible from Interstate 95 — if not from outer space — this chrome-and-glass landmark draws customers from all over the region with its hearty portions and tasty classics. Great Greek favorites and overstuffed sandwiches. Open 24 hours. Also open all night in New Haven at 1426 Whalley Ave.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN/KOREAN Bentara Restaurant, 76 Orange St., New Haven (203562-2511). 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 pre-nightlife stop. Open for lunch.

Kari Restaurant, 1451 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203389-1280). Bright flavors and unusual ingredients make this Malaysian restaurant worth the drive up Whalley. The friendly servers are happy to explain the cuisine to newcomers and highlight the catch of the day.

Pot-Au-Pho, 77 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203-7762248). Great for a quick bowl of pho, Vietnamese soup, along with tasty noodle dishes and affordable Asian specialties. Limited hours, so 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 and Asian drinks and sweets are also available.

Soho New Haven, 259 Orange St., New Haven (203-745-0960). Right downtown and in an elegant space, Soho draws a diverse crowd for its top-notch Korean fare. Try the mandu dumplings and fieryhot chicken galbi.

Midori, 3000 Whitney Ave., Hamden (203-248-3322).

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 and spicy bulgogi.

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Anthony DeCarlo

THAI Benjamin Wilkinson manages Blue State Coffee, which donates five percent of sales to local charities.

PHOTOGRAPH:

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.

Bangkok Gardens, 172 York St., New Haven (203-7898718). Tasty Thai in a charming, light-filled dining area with great service. Wide ranges of classics and vegetarian options.

Rice Pot Thai Restaurant, 1027 State St., 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 (203-2889888). Tangy curries and rich soups make this Thai eatery worth the drive from downtown, but leave time to find parking on this busy stretch of Dixwell.

The Terrace, 1559 Dixwell Ave., Hamden (203-2302077). The chef’s French training shows in this Thai eatery’s above-average plating and seductive flavor combinations.

EDITOR’S PICK: Blue State Coffee

Y

ou don’t have to have an Ivy League diploma — or the debt to prove it — to enjoy the Yale campus in summertime. The crowds are gone, the trees are in full bloom and acres of lovingly tended grounds await the visitor. There are also lots of studentoriented eateries amid the architectural smorgasbord that is Yale that are best visited in summer when lines are short.

Now is the time to enjoy a cone at Ashley’s Ice Cream — or try the trendy tart frozen yogurt at the new Liberry on High Street. Get some of the best iced coffee in town at Claire’s Corner Copia on Chapel, or try the competition at the stylish new Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea outlet in the revamped Yale School of Architecture building on York Street.

One new tenant on Wall Street is making waves — in coffee cups, that is. Blue State Coffee opened in January in the short commercial stretch across from Yale’s Silliman College and has attracted attention for its progressive politics as well as its tasty java.

If the name didn’t tip you off, the bags of compost near the counter bring home the political convictions behind the café, founded with an eye to advancing causes like fair-trade products and sustainability. In addition, five percent of sales go to local charities, says manager Benjamin Wilkinson.

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But you don’t have to be an Obama voter to enjoy the café’s expertly brewed coffee drinks, including a generously sized cappuccino, presented with an artful swirl of foam. Blue State’s quality beans and roast shine through with a deep, mellow richness that ranks with the best in town. Baked goods are also first-rate, with flaky croissants and pastries standing out from the pack.

With the departure of most Yalies for summer break, Blue State is debuting some cold drinks and hoping to expand its townie clientèle, Wilkinson says.

Try the Red Velvet — vanilla and raspberry flavors shaken with iced espresso. Yogurt smoothies and iced coffees are also on top to cool you off after a trek around campus. There is ample comfortable seating arranged so you’re not always staring at the back of someone’s laptop.

Blue State is worth a stroll across campus this summer, regardless of your politics.

Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea in the Yale School of Architecture, 194 York St., New Haven (203-789-8400).

Liberry, 45 High St., New Haven (203-503-0717).

Blue State Coffee, 84 Wall St., New Haven (203-764-2632).

Ayuthai, 2279 Boston Post Road, Guilford (203-4532988). Quality Thai in a casual setting. Excellent duck and curry plates, along with above-average papaya salad and desserts.

CHINESE/TAIWANESE Iron Chef, 1209 Campbell Ave., West Haven (203-9323888). Unusual Taiwanese specialties and wellexecuted classics shine at this student favorite.

House of Chao, 898 Whalley Ave., New Haven (203389-6624). This Westville institution draws diners from across the region for its bright flavors and eclectic menu.

Lao Sze Chaun, 1585 Boston Post Rd., Milford (203-7830558). You don’t get much more authentic locally than this outpost of Szechwan delicacies and tasty dim sum.

East Melange Too, 142 Howe St., New Haven (203848-3663). Affordable and authentic noodles and Cantonese classics keep this lively eatery near Yale hopping at all hours.

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 to this Yale-area spot.

COFFEE SHOPS Cafe Grounded, 20 Church St, Guilford (203-453-6400).

Tasty sandwiches and coffee drinks star at this aviation-themed cafe that operates inside a quonset hut near the town’s Green.

Publick Cup, 276 York St., New Haven (203-787-9929).

Top-notch sandwiches, coffee drinks and teas with a creative flair and a studious vibe that befits its oncampus location. You can even order ahead online.

Kasbah Garden Cafe, 105 Howe St., New Haven (203-777-5053). Quality teas, good conversation and Moroccan treats on New Haven’s best outdoor patio.

Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea, 258 Church St., New Haven, (203-777-7400). Enjoy both the low-key ambience and the region’s best selection of premium

roasts and rarities at this small chain. With Branford and Madison locations.

Bare Beans Coffee, 14 East Grand Ave., New Haven (203-260-1118). A funky new outpost of quality beans and drinks over the bridge in Fair Haven. Weekday mornings only for drinks; order top-quality organic, Fair Trade and eco-friendly beans online at barebeanscoffee.com.

Cafe Atlantique, 33 River St., Milford (203-8821602). Visit this neighborhood favorite for creative caffeinated classics, bistro food and wine and a charming indoor/outdoor seating area.

FUSION CUISINE Mickey’s Restaurant & Bar, 2323 Whitney Ave., Hamden (203-288-4700). This eatery’s sophisticated interior and artful blend of Israeli and Italian flavors bring big-city flair to downtown Hamden.

Sip a Mickey’s margarita with your Marrakech salmon and Israeli couscous and you’ll swear you’re on the beach in Tel Aviv.

Bespoke, 266 College St., New Haven (203-5624644). High-end Latin fusion with a flair, wit and excellent service. Try the lobster arepa and duckconfit empanada upstairs at Sabor, the in-house Latin lounge. Fixed-price pre-theater menu serves up three courses for only $29.

Friend House, 538 Boston Post Rd., Orange (203-7956888). In a plaza next to Trader Joe’s, Friend House brings together stylish sushi and Chinese and Thai favorites. Best bets are the inventive hand rolls with ingredients like mango, tempura flakes and mint.

Formosa, 132 Middletown Ave., North Haven (203239-0666). Creative and beautifully presented dishes with pan-Asian panache. Don’t miss the Szechwan “ravioli,” tender chicken dumplings in a delicate peanut sauce, or Taiwanese seafood specialties.

Foe, 576 Main St., Branford (203-483-5896). 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 and bar menu.

Kudeta, 27 Temple St., New Haven (203 562-8844).

Every major cuisine of Asia is represented on Kudeta’s menu, with something for every taste in an evocative interior. Generous and inventive drinks along with good sushi and noodle dishes.

Sage American Grill & Oyster Bar, 100 S. Water St., New Haven (203-787-3466). The tranquil harborfront view sets off skilled seafood and raw bar selections.

Excellent seasonal specials and a full bar add to the attractions of this veteran favorite.

FRENCH Union League Café, 1032 Chapel St., New Haven (203562-4299). New Haven’s most beautiful dining room and world-class cuisine near the heart of downtown.

Le Petit Café 225 Montowese St., Branford (203-4839791). Prix-fixe menu features beautifully prepared classics with a modern twist in a casual setting.

Caseus, 3 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203-624-3373).

Quiche and onion soup with top-notch cheeses stand out at this charming bistro.

Gastronomique, 25 High Street, New Haven (203776-7007).Classics like croque monsieur and steak tartare, plus sandwiches and burgers, expertly prepared at affordable prices. Takeout only.

AMERICAN Bespoke, 266 College St., New Haven (203 562-4644).

Cutting-edge presentation and flavor combinations take center stage at this successor to Roomba. Latin flavors are featured in the upstairs lounge, called Sabor. Open for lunch.

Let Eli’s Cater Your Next Event

Foster’s, 56-62 Orange St., New Haven (203-8596666). The chef himself is likely to bring over your meal at this acclaimed newcomer in Ninth Square.

Comfort food with cutting-edge flair like llama burgers on toasted brioche.

Zinc, 964 Chapel St., New Haven (203-624-0507).

Consistently excellent food, drinks and service in a central location. Innovative seafood like tamaricured tuna with wasabi oil is a good choice, along with the drink specials and seasonal desserts.

INDIAN Thali, 4 Orange St., New Haven (203-777-1177).

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.

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Adriana’s

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61

The Thimbles range in size from less than a half-acre to more than a dozen acres.

Seeking Treasure Without Spending Treasure All aboard to visit the ‘Newport of Connecticut’

By Susan E. Cornell

I

f you’re looking for an inexpensive field trip that features history, ecology and pirate lore, pack up a picnic lunch and head to a narrated cruise of the Thimble Islands off of Stony Creek.

Native Creeker Captain Bob Milne has navigated the islands, often called “a piece of the Maine coast in Long Island Sound” or “the Newport of Connecticut,” for 24 years, and delivers a sightseeing voyage back in time.

The “Thimbles,” as the islands are most commonly referred to, stretch over a four-mile radius around the Stony Creek town dock. They are said to be named after the thimbleberry, a relative of the black raspberry, although that plant is no 62

july 2009

longer seen in the area. The island chain comprises hundreds of rocks, ranging in size from less than half an acre to a dozen lush and luxurious acres with abodes including everything from those built in the Victorian Era to today’s supersized McMansions. Twenty-three of the islands are inhabited, with roughly 85 homes in total.

The tour aboard the 40-foot Volsunga IV packs plenty of neat, little-known facts about the area into 45 minutes, not to mention impressive scenery.

How many of us knew that the pink granite quarried from little Stony Creek has been used in the construction of the

base of the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, Boston’s South Station and the world’s largest single quarried stone, the Soldiers Monument at West Point?

And how many of us have given much thought to Captain Kidd in Connecticut?

Yes, as legend has it, Captain Kidd spread some of his booty on Money Island (hence the name), as well as on Pot Rock Island. The less notorious captain, Captain Bob, also retells Tom Thumb’s island trysts with “Miss Emily” on Cut-in-Two Island and, even better, the legend of Mother in Law Island, named for the meddling harridan who joined her daughter and son-in-law on their wedding night.

The Thimble Islands are located two miles south of Exit 56 of I-95. Boat tours run from May to October and cost $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students, and $5 for children 12 and under. Tours are scheduled regularly and walkons are welcome. Private charters can also be arranged. Reservations can be made for ten or more persons. For additional information, visit thimbleislands.com or phone 203-481-3345. v

Royal India, 140 Howe St., New Haven (203-787-9493).

Tasty North Indian fare in an intimate setting on Howe’s mini-restaurant row. Nice variety at lunch buffet with fresh bread.

Darbar India, 1070 Main St., Branford (203-481-8994).

Award-winning shoreline favorite with excellent atmosphere and north Indian classics, run by Royal India owner. Spicy vindaloos and tandooris are a good bet.

Coromandel, 185 Boston Post Rd., Orange (203-7959055). Great breads and regional specialties from the local outpost of a celebrated Fairfield chain. Try the shrimp in coconut sauce and unusual lentil dessert.

Swagat, 215 Boston Post Rd. West Haven (203-9310108). A tiny outpost of south Indian favorites near the University of New Haven. Best bets are the masala dosa and many vegetarian dishes, plus the friendly service.

ITALIAN 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.

Skappo Italian Wine Bar, 59 Crown St., 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 wines and small plates in an unpretentious setting.

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.

L’Orcio, 806 State St., New Haven (203-777-6670).

Outstanding modern Italian in an intimate setting.

You can’t go wrong with the pasta specials and perfectly cooked and seasoned steaks.

Roseland Apizza, 350 Hawthorne Ave., Derby (203735-0494). Don’t let the casual pizzeria decor fool you — this Valley favorite makes some serious Italian food. Look for the daily specials and enjoy.

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.

MEXICAN Moe’s Southwest Grill, 46 Whitney Ave., New Haven (203- 776-6637). Healthy burritos, tacos and other Tex-Mex favorites along with addictive queso cheese sauce. Beer and wine are served, along with margaritas.

Baja, 63 Boston Post Rd., Orange (203-799-2252). An expansive salsa bar and fish taco entrée appeal to homesick Californians and big eaters.

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

Jalapeno Heaven, 40 N. Main St., Branford (203-4816759). Tasty Americanized fare in a cozy setting with excellent margaritas.

Long Wharf Taco Trucks, Long Wharf Drive near Veterans Memorial Park, weekdays at lunch. Tacos as

they’re served in Mexico — just corn tortillas, meat, cilantro and a spicy sauce — eaten al fresco by New Haven Harbor.

Mezcal, 14 Mechanic St., New Haven (203-782-4828).

Big portions and wide-ranging menu with lots of surprises. No liquor license.

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 lipsmacking posole hominy soup.

Viva Zapata, 161 Park St., New Haven (203-562-2499).

Toothsome classics and a killer sangria in a festive pub atmosphere. Open for lunch.

MIDDLE EASTERN Mamoun’s, 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 (203787-3881). 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.

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. Also vegetarian and seafood options.

King Falafel, 240 College St., New Haven (203-8483076). Follow a trip to the Shubert with a tasty falafel sandwich across the street at this late-night favorite. Large portions of the freshest fried chickpea patties in town, with all the trimmings.

Kasbah Garden Café, 105 Howe St., New Haven (203777-5053). 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. The 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 beach or a coastal drive, with an ice cream stand onsite.

Guilford Mooring, 505 Whitfield St., Guilford (203458-2921). 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. 9343212. 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 (203-4887711). 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 (203-3874898). 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 sashimi “boat” and ask the chef to load up on the catch of the day.

Miya’s Sushi, 68 Howe St., New Haven (203-7779760). 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 infusedsake cocktails.

Number 1 Fish Market, 2239 State St., Hamden (203624-6171). 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 has updated its menu with lots of vegan options, of-the-moment meat substitutes and superfoods like acai berry juice. The homey ambience and great location seals the deal.

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.

Thali Too, 65 Broadway, New Haven (203-776-1600).

Tasty Indian vegetarian street food you won’t find anywhere else in the state, if not the region. Try the super-sized masala dosas and exotic yogurt drinks.

Ahimsa, 1227 Chapel St., New Haven (203-786-4774).

Wide-ranging vegan fare is featured at this (kosher) eatery that uses no animal products. South Indianstyle dals and curries star at the daily $10 lunch buffet, with extensive offerings at Sunday brunch.