Learn about Islam at Faith Lutheran Church

MIDDLETOWN >> The public is invited to Faith Lutheran Church for Islam 101, providing an opportunity for residents to learn more about Islam and Muslim men and women. A Q&A will follow. Join Pastor Cathy Rohrs and presenter/peacemaker Imam Sami Abdul Aziz on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 2-4 p.m. in the sanctuary of Faith Lutheran Church, 300 Washington St., Middletown. “The Imam and Pastor are following God’s call to fight against misunderstanding, ignorance, hatred, and fear of Muslims. This is an excellent opportunity for our community to begin to understand another culture and to help spread a message of peace which is at the core of both Christianity and Islam,” church members said in a written statement. A free will offering will be collected to offset costs.

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 sugar-producing 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, Brenda designed & 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 860-346-0746 or visit www.mchsct.org

Volunteers needed for homeless youth count

MIDDLETOWN >> Women and Families Center is leading the local effort in Middletown, Meriden, and Wallingford region alongside the second statewide count of unstably housed and homeless youth ages 13-24 from Jan. 25-31, being conducted by the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. The 2017 CT Youth Count will provide information essential to our efforts to advance toward the goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020. Volunteers are needed to support this effort throughout the community.

Unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults are a largely hidden population. Some homeless young people are identified during the annual Point-in-Time Count census of homelessness, but many are missed because they do not typically access adult emergency shelters or other homeless services. The January 24th, 2017 PIT Count will be followed by a week-long effort to count homeless youth, powered by schools, youth providers, state agencies, faith-based groups, and youth themselves. These partners head the effort to collect the data we need to have a better understanding of homelessness and housing instability among youth in Connecticut.

Connecticut’s 2015 Youth Count indicated that some 3,000 young people were experiencing homelessness in the state. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that 2017 will be used as the baseline year for federal data collection on homeless youth.

The success of the 2017 CT Youth Count depends on the participation of volunteers. Volunteers for the count can participate according to their availability during the week of Jan. 25-31 in their communities.

To register as a volunteer for the 2017 Youth Count or Pointin-Time Count, go to http://cceh. org/volunteer-registration-2017/. For information, contact Sarah Chess at schess@cceh.org.