Government/Town

Suffield Winter Farmer’s Market

By |

The Suffield Winter Farmer’s Market “December Holiday Edition” is teaming up again with the Agriscience program, making local produce and craft items available for the holidays. This Winter Market will be held indoors at the Large Animal Facility (LAF) in the northeast corner of the high school parking lot (behind the green house) at 1060 Sheldon Street in West Suffield. This means shoppers and vendors can do business in a great area, with easy access and parking. There will be over sixteen vendors joining the students who are selling their wonderful wreaths and other seasonal décor. Many have supported this great sale in the past and enjoyed the local holiday spirit.

Government/Town

Lots of Brass: Great Music

By |

When the 102nd Army Band of the Connecticut National Guard came to town, concertgoers at Suffield High School on October 19 were greeted outside the auditorium by a jazz group, a talented sub-unit of the band. That nice surprise was a good start to what turned out to be a top-notch concert. Sponsored by the First Church’s Music on High program as the beginning of a yearlong celebration of Suffield’s 350th anniversary, the event was free. As First Selectman Melissa Mack was unable to attend, Selectman Mel Chafetz opened the event with a welcome and some notes on the sponsorship and the band, and 350th Chair Kacy Colston spoke of 350th events to come. The concert itself opened with the Army’s brass band sub-unit: a dozen musicians down in front of the stage with an assortment of shiny instruments ranging from two small trumpets to a giant Sousaphone.

Organizations

Phelps-Hatheway House to Host Teas

By |

Please join the staff of the Phelps-Hatheway House and Garden for two delightful occasions sure to make your holidays bright! On Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8 at 11 a.m., the door to our historic Pine Room will open to welcome families to a Teddy Bear Tea. Bring your beloved bear for a sweet treat and celebration of the holidays. Tea sandwiches, a variety of cookies and a tasty herbal tea will warm the heart and body. A short story dedicated to the bear you love and a visit from a special North Pole resident will finish our time together.

History

The Hanukkah Story

By |

According to Jewish custom, Hanukkah is considered a “minor” Jewish festival, but today it ranks—along with Passover, Purim and High Holidays—as one of the most beloved Jewish holidays, full of light and joy and family celebration. Unlike many Jewish holidays, Hanukkah (also known as the Festival of Lights) is not mentioned in the Bible. The historical events upon which the celebration is based are recorded in Maccabees I and II, two books contained within a later collection of writings known as the Apocrypha. As the story goes, in the year 168 B.C.E., the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes sent his soldiers to Jerusalem. The Syrians desecrated the Temple, the holiest place for Jews at that time.

Library

Local Author Entertains

By |

Mike Chase, Suffield native and author of the book How to Become a Federal Criminal: an Illustrated Handbook for the Aspiring Offender, spoke to an appreciative audience at Kent Memorial Library on Thursday, November 7. The talk was sponsored by Suffield Public Library Foundation as part of their yearly speaker’s event. Mel Chafetz, president of the Foundation and one of Mike’s former school principals, introduced Mike, and Carl Casinghino, another Foundation member and one of Mike’s former teachers, made further introductions along with some personal comments about their connections both at Suffield High School and since Mike graduated. “Mike spends his days as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer. He is also the legal humorist behind the @CrimeADay Twitter feed, where he offers up a daily dose of his extensive research into the curious, intriguing and often amusing history of America’s expansive criminal laws.

Government/Town

Six Towns Share Haz Waste Disposal

By |

Suffield has joined with five other towns to support periodic disposal of household hazardous waste, and our first participation took place on Saturday, November 9, at the Simsbury public works facility on Town Forest Road in that town.The set-up there turned out to be very satisfactory and easy to find, though it did take this reporter about 45 minutes and over 16 miles to drive there from Suffield Center. Just like previous disposal events in Suffield, the first stop was for information and ID verification. Then two queues led to drive-through lanes in a giant, sixteen-truck parking garage, emptied for the occasion, where hazardous waste was unloaded. The rest of the building was filled with sorting and crating spaces. The tractor-trailers of MXI, the main disposal company present, were parked nearby.

Director’s Corner

The Gift

By |

The holidays are upon us and with it the promise of gifts. Lewis Hyde in his book The Gift, first published in 1983, and never out of print, offers a thoughtful exploration on gifts. Gift giving and gratitude for the gift are  common human activities. A gift can be as simple as holding a door open or as opulent as a potlatch, a ceremonial feast of Indians living on our northwest coast, where possessions are given away. Gifts are part of the culture of Christmas, Halloween, Día de los Muertos, Hanukkah, Diwali and many other holidays.