Community chorus invites new members

MIDDLEFIELD >> A brand new Community Chorus has been formed, and anyone over 20 years old is invited to join. Lisa Larsen, recently retired Choral Director from Coginchaug High School, is starting this new group because “I have worked with kids for many years and have always hoped to start a group for adults. There is nothing like the magic of creating and breathing together through music. It can transport you, make you laugh or cry and relieve stress,” she said.

The group will learn and perform music from the lighter side including pop, folk, Broadway and more in a fun and relaxed environment. The choir will rehearse Mondays beginning Feb. 6 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Middlefield Federated Church Fellowship Hall. Rehearsals will continue Feb. 13, 27 and March 6, 13, 20, 27. A public concert will be held at Middlefield Federated on Monday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. Larsen also explained that the choir is for singers of all abilities.

The desire to sing and $20 for music all that is needed. Sign up by emailing llarsen35@yahoo.com or calling 860-349-8236.

Bridal Open House set at Saybrook Point

OLD SAYBROOK >> Saybrook Point Inn & Spa will host a Bridal Open House for newlyengaged couples to visualize their wedding at the waterfront property in historic Old Saybrook, Connecticut. This event is designed especially for newly-engaged couples; attendance is complimentary. Guests are asked to register by calling 860-388-4809. The open house will be held Saturday, Jan. 21, 1 to 4 p.m. at the inn’s Soundview Ballroom, 2 Bridge St., Old Saybrook.

During the informative Open House, guests will be provided with a tour of the property’s picturesque and well-appointed guestrooms including the luxury guest houses: Three Stories and Tall Tales, plus the unique waterside Lighthouse Suite. In addition, they will experience the panoramic views and incredible amenities offered at the Inn, plus an exquisite champagne tasting and delightful hors d’oeuvres as they meet the professional and knowledgeable wedding team at Saybrook Point. The Inn offers two outdoor ceremony venues; The Garden Terrace, and Compass Rose. Guests also have the opportunity to enter to win a free overnight stay in a Luxury Water View Room including breakfast.

More information is available at www.saybrook.com.

Author to discuss ‘Ships for the Trade’

MIDDLETOWN >> The hammering and sawing sounds of shipbuilding echoed through the air in the lower Connecticut River Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries. Brenda Milkofsky will explore the shipbuilding trade in “Ships for the Trade & the Rise of the Middletown Customs Port” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library as the Middlesex County Historical Society continues its special speaker series. This free presentation is open to all.

As examined in the “Vanished Port” exhibit currently on display, Middletown was uniquely situated to play a major role in the West Indies Trade. The fertile Central Valley to the north yielded the produce desired by the sugarproducing islands of the Caribbean and the Connecticut River to the south provided a navigable pathway to the sea. Thus, the Valley was a perfect landscape for the development of the shipbuilding industry evolving into a lucrative trade that lasted for some 200 years. During this period, plentiful wood and falling water attracted skilled artisans who built thousands of vessels, most of them for the Caribbean trade. It is this astonishing record that made for the establishment of a Federal Customs House, uncommonly located 32 nautical miles from salt water.

Milkofsky was the founding director of the Connecticut River Museum at Steamboat Dock in Essex and retired as their Senior Curator. A graduate of Central Connecticut State College, she also served for nine years as Director of the Wethersfield Historical Society.

She has written and lectured on a variety of topics about Connecticut Valley history and currently works as a museum consultant in exhibition development. Most recently, she designed and managed the “Vanished Port” exhibit.

“A Vanished Port: Middletown and the Caribbean, 17501824” is a recently opened exhibit at the Middlesex County Historical Society, 151 Main Street, Middletown, that illuminates the culture of prosperity that grew from Middletown’s trade relationships with the slave-worked sugar plantations of the English Caribbean.

The Russell Library is located at 123 Broad Street in Middletown and is handicap accessible. For more information on this presentation or on “A Vanished Port,” call 860346-0746 or visit www.mchsct.org