Spring is in the air – unlike earlier this week – and so are music and good food. There are two opportunities to hear some fine jazz and choice for every palate – seafood, vegan/vegetarian, Italian, Indian, Thai, and more. Leave the leftovers behind and dine out this week.
Restaurant of the Week
It’s your choice! Branford celebrates the 5th annual Restaurant Week, running from March 28 to April 2. Participating restaurants include 56 Diner, Allegra, Asti, Burrata, Campania, Darbar, Dockside, Donovan’s Reef, G‑Café, G‑Zen, Home, IlForno, Jojoito, Lenny’s, Marco Pizzeria, Nellie Green’s, Parthenon Diner, Som Siam, and USS Chowder Pot. There will be prix-fix meals and special menus. To view their menus, go to http://branfordrestaurantweek.com/
It’s All About Jazz!
Wednesday, March 30
Jazz at the Stony Creek Brewery
The special event to benefit the Branford Jazz Music Scholarship Fund will feature Dr. Joe and Friends, Donn Trenner, Jeff Fuller, Ben Bilello, and Chris Coulter, and premium crafted beer, of course. It takes place at the Brewery, 5 Indian Neck Ave., from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25, which includes an exclusive pint glass and your first beer. Food trucks will be on the premises or you can bring your own. For tickets, call 203 – 488-8304 or go to branfordjazz.com.
Branford Jazz on the Green this summer runs from Thursday, June 25, to Thursday, Aug. 20. All shows begin at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 3
2016 Stan Wheeler Memorial Jazz Concert
Marcia Chambers Photo
Jazz aficionados have come to anticipate this annual celebration of Yale Law School professor and jazz musician Stanton Wheeler. Fittingly, the concert takes place at the Levinson Auditorium at Yale Law School, 127 Wall St., New Haven, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The Reunion Jazz Ensemble concert is free and open to the public. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
Here’s What Else Is Happening
April 1
Branford Walkers
The group will hike Branford Trail 2, Pine Orchard from Pine Orchard Road to Stony Creek. Meet at 8:45 a.m. at the West Point Road ball field, off Thimble Island Road. For more information, call Sam Saulys, 203 – 887-5213.
Saturday, April 2
Paper, Petals & Pages, a Springtime Exhibit /strong>
Check out this Springtime Exhibit at the Martha Link Walsh Gallery. Celebrate the arrival of April at Paper, Petals & Pages, featuring the papercuttings of Martha Link Walsh, festive floral arrangements by Cynthia’s Flower Shop, garden and landscape paintings by Margaret B. Dean, and a collection of treasured flower and garden-themed books from the Secret Garden Bookshop. The show will run during the month of April, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
The Martha Link Walsh Gallery is located at 188 North Main St. Call Martha at 203 – 481-3505 for more information, or visit www.marthalinkwalsh.com.
Dudley Farm Winter Market
It may be spring, but the Winter Market at the Dudley Farm continues from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., featuring baked goods, eggs, handmade art and crafts, honey and maple syrup, jams and jellies, naturally raised meats, pickles, winter vegetables and more. Craft vendors rotate during the winter months.
The market is subject to cancellation due to inclement weather. The Dudley Farm is located at 2351 Durham Road in North Guilford. Call 860 – 349-3917 or visit www.dudleyfarm.com for more information. Check out the Dudley Farm Museum on Facebook for special winter events at the Farm.
Explorations: Photographs by Roslyn Meyer
Willoughby Wallace Library, 146 Thimble Islands Road, hosts an exhibit of photography by Roslyn Meyer, beginning with an opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. The exhibit will run through April 27.
Meyer says her first love was landscapes – wild, untouched places, the breathtaking beauty of the natural world. She is also intrigued by reflections, the way surface and substance interact in an image. She was then drawn into the lives and being of people and animals.
For more information on Meyer, visit www.roslynmeyerphotos.smugmug.com.
Wednesday, April 6
Solar Challenge
Branford Solar Challenge will hold a free solar workshop at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6 at the James Blackstone Memorial Library. Also attending will be New England Smart Energy, which will provide information on programs to increase energy efficiency at home and work.
CT Solar Challenge is a grassroots community-based program that promotes adoption of solar energy through installation cost reduction, community outreach and& education. The program’s partners include the shoreline communities of Madison, Guilford, Westbrook, Old Saybrook, and Clinton along with seven other Connecticut towns.
Aegis Solar Energy, the program’s preferred contractor, will make a $75 donation to the Branford Food Pantry for every solar installation completed through the Branford Solar Challenge.
Workshop attendees will have the chance to swap their inefficient incandescent light blubs for energy-saving LED models at no charge. The first 100 people to register and attend the event will receive two LED light bulbs in exchange for two incandescent bulbs. Registration is required at CTSolarChallenge.com. Space is limited.
Saturday, April 9
Orchestra New England
Orchestra New England will perform Mahler Symphony No. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at United Church on the Green, New Haven. James Sinclair leads a modern reorchestration of Mahler’s 1909 last completed symphony, at once a memory of his youth and a foreboding of his all-too-soon death in 1911.
Reserved seating is $35; general admission is $20; and students are $5. Purchase online http://orchestranewengland.tix.com/Event.aspx?EventCode=783145, or call 203 – 777-4690.
Sunday, April 10
A Conversation with Kate Walbert and Amy Bloom
In Celebration of National Library Week 2016 authors Amy Bloom and Kate Walbert will speak at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library at 4 p.m. Professor Mark Schenker of Yale will moderate A Conversation with Kate and Amy.
Walbert is the author of novels and short stories. Her most recent novel The Sunken Cathedral was published in 2015. Amy Bloom is the author of three novels, three collections of short stories, a children’s book and a collection of essays. Her most recent novel Lucky Us was published in 2014.
Comedy Night for Joker
The Exchange Club of Branford will hold a K‑9 Bullet-Proof Vest Fundraiser, beginning at 6 p.m. at Bill Miller’s Castle, 834 East Main St. The event will be hosted by comedian Vincent McElhone.
Bullet-proof vests for dogs can cost from $1,400 to $2,200.
Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door, and include dinner buffet and the comedy show.
For more information, call 203 – 901-7982 or email [email protected].
Sunday, April 17
Teacups & Catwalk
“Downton Abbey” is off the air, but you can still have a spot of tea, scrumptious finger foods and sweets and catch up on the latest spring fashions at Branford Compassion Club’s “Teacups & Catwalk,” a spring tea and fashion show benefit from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Pine Orchard Yacht & Country Club. Donna Urso, manager of Saybrook Country Barn, is the fashion coordinator for the event, which includes a silent auction (cash and checks only) and raffle. BCC members and supporters will serve as models. Tickets for the traditional tea are $45 and are available by email at [email protected] in 1997, Branford Compassion Club’s mission is to educate the public about the importance of spay/neuter population control, responsible pet ownership and kindness to animals. For more information, visit branfordcompasionclub.org. ###
