Derby Neck offers movies, games, book discussion, birthday celebration

DERBY - Derby Neck Library, 307 Hawthorne Ave., hosts Dinner and a Movie at 5:30 p.m. May 1 for adults ages 18 and older.  
Watch a high-definition recent movie on our large screen and enjoy a free pizza dinner at intermission. 
This program occurs each month. This month’s feature film will be interesting and entertaining.

Ancient Games

The Library presents Ancient Games at 6 p.m. May 6.
This free program for teens and adults offers instruction in the games of Go, Mahjong, Parcheesi, and Mancala.  All game boards and pieces are provided by the library. 
Bring a friend or relative and enjoy new fun strategy challenges. 

Music and Movement

At 6:30 p.m. May 14 join Miss Kathi for the monthly children’s program, Bedtime Music and Movement.  Wear your pajamas and bring a favorite stuffed animal to dance and sing along with you.

Photo from website

Celebrating Frances Kellogg; author to sign books

At 6 p.m. May 15 join the Library staff in celebrating the birthday of our donor, Frances Osborne Kellogg. 
Vicki Kain, noted Derby author of “Travels with Judy,” which chronicles her journeys in the U.S. with her dog, will describe her writing and sign copies of her book. 

After her presentation,  the library will host an open-mic session for participants to read from their original works—poetry, prose, non-fiction, sketches, or such. 
Birthday cake to celebrate Kellogg will be served to round out the evening.  

Women's group

Women’s Forum, a discussion group for women focusing on literature, history, and current issues will be held at 12:30 p.m. May 19. This month we discuss two short stories by Noel Coward—“Traveler’s Joy” and “Stop Me if You’ve Heard This.”  
Free copies of the two stories are available at the library. Come enjoy the brisk, biting, and sometimes whimsical humor of  Coward.  Feel free to bring a light lunch. Free coffee and tea. 

 Teen movie

All teens and tweens are invited to Teen Movie Night at 5:30 p.m. May 20.
Neck Library, 307 Hawthorne Ave.  This month’s feature is “I Frankenstein” shown in high definition on a large screen.  
A free pizza supper is served at intermission. Registration is required as seating is limited. 

Tech Talks

At 10:30 a.m. May 21 the Library will host Tech Talks.
This month’s topic is Internet Searching - featuring some basic tips on refining your searches as well as a highlight of some new technological features.  Registration is required.

Read to canines

Children are invited to the  Library at 6 p.m. May 21 to read to Thor and Bailey, two listening dogs.  
This monthly program called B.A.R.K. (Be a Reading Kid), which promotes good reading skills in children. 
Each child registered has a 15-minute session; call the library at 203-734-1492 to register your child.

For information or to register for any programs, call 203-734-1492.


This is a press release from Patricia Sweeney, reference librarian, Derby Neck Library.

Visiting Osborne Homestead in Derby is always a treat

Curator Susan Robinson points out hand-made ornaments on a Christmas tree with a literary theme in the library of the Osborne Homestead Museum.

DERBY - I didn't realize how many photos I took Friday while doing a story at the Osborne Homestead Museum. The museum at 500 Hawthorne Ave. is run by the state Department of Energy and Economic Development.

I shared some photos Saturday and thought I'd post a few more today. Each room is decorated so nicely.

A cookie-cutter trimmed tree stands in the kitchen, which was decorated by the Derby Garden Society.

 

A decorative cow made from beeswax hangs in a window in the milk room. The Osborne family ran a dairy farm with prize-winning Holsteins for many years.

This wreath hanging in the studio features a toy submarine to denote the fact the first sub was built in Groton, Ct. Another wreath is adorned with a toy Sikorsky helicopter. Sikorsky in Stratford is the home of the first mass-produced helicopter.  
The studio was decorated to represent 'technology and innovation' in Connecticut.

 A collection of clocks made in Connecticut is on display in the library.

A tree in the living room is decorated with ornaments made with Woodbury Pewter.

Part of the decorations illuminating Frances Osborne Kellogg's childhood bedroom.

One of the bathtubs is filled with Wiffle balls manufactured in Shelton.

Another tub features chocolate candies that were once made in Naugatuck.

 The house always feels so inviting. Take a tour this holiday season and you'll see what I mean!

A peek inside Osborne Homestead in Derby

DERBY - My daughter Allegra and I were fortunate Friday morning to have curator Susan Robinson give us a tour of the beautiful Osborne Homestead Museum.
In a tradition going back more than two decades it was decorated by area garden clubs for the holiday season.
 

Homestead curator/museum educator Susan Robinson shows off the dining room decorated by the Olde Kellogg Garden Society. 

The theme this year is Holiday in Connecticut. The attention to detail is simply stunning! I highly recommend a visit. You won't be disappointed.

The home at 500 Hawthorne Ave. is open for holiday tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday through Dec. 21 and for twilight tours from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6, 13 and 20.

 

This tree in the solarium was donated by Jones Family Farms in Shelton.

One of the ornaments on the tree in the solarium. I think it's a dragonfly.

Stay tuned for a story in the New Haven Register.

Poet to read works at Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby

DERBY - Philanthropist Francis Osborne Kellogg deeded her 350-acre property to the state of Connecticut for a state park, which led to the creation of Osbornedale State Park.

Kellogg, who died in 1956, supported the arts and brought many famous speakers and performers to the Valley during her lifetime.

To help continue the tradition all are invited to celebrate spring and Mother’s Day at a special poetry reading and book signing by Marilyn Nelson at the Kellogg Environmental Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave.

The program will be held at 2 p.m. May 11.


Nelson will open the season with readings from her collection of poems, "Carver: A Life in Poems."

This collection provides young readers with a compelling, lyrical account of the life of revered African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver.
Born in 1864 and raised by white slave owners, Carver left home in search of an education and eventually earned a master's degree in agriculture.
Rising to head the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute and known for his studies on sweet potatoes, cow peas and peanuts, Carver provided the world with many products and agricultural innovations.
Nelson tells his story through 44 poems celebrating the man and his accomplishments. She is the author or translator of 15 books and five chapbooks.

Image Journal writes, "American history as conceived by Marilyn Nelson is the inside-out, last-shall-be-first version. She inhabits the voices of the overlooked and disenfranchised and shines light into forgotten corners that reveal essential truths about the whole....But if she is a revisionist historian’s poet, she is also a child’s poet, a mother’s poet, a housekeeper’s poet, and scientist’s poet....It’s this breadth of perspective, from pole to pole, past to present, from spheres domestic to atmospheric, that make her so remarkable. Nelson is also an openhanded citizen of the nation of writers." 

Nelson's honors include two NEA creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, an A.C.L.S. Contemplative Practices Fellowship, the Department of the Army's Commander's Award for Public Service.
In addition, she has received a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, a fellowship from the J.S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Frost Medal—the Poetry Society of America's most prestigious award, for a "distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry."

Nelson is a professor emerita of English at the University of Connecticut. She was (2004-2010) founder/director and host of Soul Mountain Retreat, a small non-profit writers' colony; and held the office of Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut from 2001-2006. 

The staff of the Kellogg Environmental Center is honored to host Nelson.

The program is offered free, but donations are gratefully accepted. Refreshments will be provided.

The Kellogg Environmental Center, operated by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information call 203-734-2513.

This post is taken from a press release from Kellogg Environmental Center.

Library to mark founder's birthday, host club meetings

DERBY - Derby Neck Library founder Frances Osborne Kellogg’s birthday will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. May 15 at the library, 307 Hawthorne Ave.
A speaker from the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame will give a presentation, followed by a power point show on the early days of the library. Cake and punch will be served.

* * *
The Culture Club, a literary discussion group, will meet at the library 12:30-1:30 p.m. May 21. from  Members may bring a light lunch; free coffee and tea available. The topic focuses on two short stories available at the library.

* * *
The Current Events Club, a group that discusses and analyzes the news—including the arts, politics, medicine, finance, and the like, will hold its monthly meeting from 6:30-7:30 p.m. May 22.
Call 203-734-1492 for information on all of the above events.