Your attendance is requested… on Sunday, especially. Branford’s Veteran’s Day Parade steps off from the town green at 1 p.m. Attendance has been down in recent years and its future is in jeopardy. So forego the football game and pay your respects to the brave veterans who have defended our country. In between, there are plenty of opportunities to meet with authors, take in some great music, and get acquainted with local artists. Got a cool event? Email [email protected] by Wednesday noon.
Saturday, Nov. 4
Fundraiser for the Dravet Syndrome Foundation
The Fox Family will host its third annual fundraiser for the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, Boogie With Brenna, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at St. Therese Church, 105 Leetes Island Road. The disease, which causes seizures, afflicts 9‑year-old Brenna, a fifth-generation Stony Creek resident.
Activities include Zumba by Natalie, Walsh Dance Team Performance, Hipnotic Hooopla (hula hoop dancing with Kailey), performance by Ballroom Dancin’ Fools, face painting, crafts, food, touch a truck, and silent auction. Admission is $15.
Autumn Jazz: American & Cuban Jazz
Cuban jazz pianist, Carlos Manuel Gomez, performs an hour of both American and Cuban jazz songs on piano from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Blackstone Library, 785 Main St.
A Cuban-born jazz pianist, Carlos Gomez was trained in classical piano at the National School of Art in Havana and the Carl Nielson International Conservatory in Moscow. Gomez’s passion turned to Jazz in his late teens, influenced by Irakere and the rapidly growing jazz movement in Cuba in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Much of his inspiration has come from Cuban pianists such as Chucho Valdez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and also American pianist, Chick Corea. After graduating from the NSA, Gomez was a music professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota for over a decade. In Miami he managed a Jazz Trio for two years at the St. Regis Wine Bar in Bal Harbour and has played Jazz at numerous events at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, including the popular Jazz @ MOCA series. Gomez has also played several concerts at Amadeus Piano in Stamford, where he is currently recording a CD with Amadeus Records.
Registration required. Call 203 – 488-1441, extension 318.
An Evening With Adam Greenberg
Adam Greenberg, famous for the one pitch that changed his life forever, appears at the Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., Saturday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m.
A 93-mile-an-hour first pitch fastball to the back of the head on his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs gave Adam the record for being one of the only two players in history to have an official at-bat without ever taking the field. After seven years of continued hustle to get back, Greenberg signed a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins in 2012. He was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Tickets are $75, include a signed copy of Greenberg’s book plus wine/whiskey/beer tasting by Wine 101. Proceeds benefit the Campaign for the Blackstone. Purchase tickets at colinsheehanevents.com.
Sunday, Nov. 5
Veterans Day Parade
Branford’s 2017 Veteran’s Day Parade will begin with ceremonies Sunday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m. on the Town Green, instead of at the Cenotaph behind Town Hall as in previous years. The parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. heading west on Main Street to North Harbor Street and returning to the Green.
There will be six bands and fife and drum corps including the Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps, the Second Company Governors Foot Guard, the Branford High School Marching Band, Totoket Ancient Fife & Drum Corps and the St. Mary’s School Fife & Drum Corps. The Branford Town Band will remain on the Green and play a variety of military songs while the parade is in process. In addition, there will be various floats. Town and state officials are expected to attend. Elliott Hastings, Commander of the VFW Post 12106, will give the address at this Sunday’s ceremonies.
Attendance has been down in recent years, so townspeople are encouraged to attend to keep up the tradition. And while you are there stop by to take in the Garden Club’s annual scarecrow exhibit on the town green.
Life Happens, Are YOU Ready?
Shoreline Eldercare Alliance hosts a panel discussion, titled “Life Happens, Are YOU Ready?” on Sunday, Nov. 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Willoughby Wallace Library, 146 Thimble Island Road.
Presenters will be Janet Woxland, RN, administrator, Branford Hills Health Care Center; Steve Cudgma, account executive, The Richard Squeri Insurance Agency; Joan Reed Wilson, attorney at law, Wilson, Pinder and Snow, LLC; and Jeff Klarman, WS Clancy Funeral Home. The moderator will be Bernadette DiGiulian, Geriatric Care aanager, Elder Caring, LLC.
Questions to be discussed include: Are all necessary documents in place? Are you in the best Medicare plan FOR YOU? What do you know about Medicaid benefits? Do you know about pre-planning for your funeral?
For more information, visit shorelineeldercarealliance.org for more details.
Tuesday, Nov. 7
Get Out and Vote
Municipal elections take place today. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting locations are as follows:
First District: Branford High School – old gym, 185 Main St.
Second District: St. Therese’s Church Hall, 105 Leetes Island Road.
Third District: Orchard House Adult Day Care, 421 Shore Drive.
Fourth District: Fire Headquarters, 45 North Main St.
Fifth District: New Indian Neck School (Early Years Center), 12 Melrose Ave.
Sixth District: Mary T. Murphy School, 14 Brushy Plain Road.
Seventh District: Walsh Intermediate School, 185 Damascus Road.
Details at http://branford-ct.gov/Voter.
Color Away Your Stress
The adult coloring phenomenon has provided an island of calm in a stressful world. Sally Bahner will host a workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Branford Art Center, 1229 Main St.
There are hundreds of books on the market, tailored to all interests and skill levels, designs simple and complicated, mandalas, animals, florals, landscapes and more. Artists such as Joanna Basford and Hanna Karlzon have gained huge followings. Some handouts and supplies will be available. Feel free to bring your own. Donation, $5.
To register or for more information, call Yvonne, 860 – 334-4642 or Sally, 203 – 488-3495.
Wednesday, Nov. 8
A Field Guide to Long Island Sound
Patrick Lynch will discuss his guidebook, “A Field Guide to Long Island Sound,” to the rich natural history of Long Island Sound and its coastlines, a region beloved by millions of people. Menunkatuck Audubon Society will host the lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 8, from 7 to 8 p.m. at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St.
Long Island Sound consists of a diverse collection of unique marine, estuarine, and terrestrial ecosystems located in one of the most densely populated regions in the United States. The Sound and its coastlines are home not only to myriad species of plants and animals – from shorebirds and turtles to whales, seals, and fish – but also to more than 20y million people.
Until now there has been no one-stop reference for those interested in exploring the Long Island Sound’s rich natural history. Author, photographer, and scientific illustrator Patrick Lynch has filled this gap with his Field Guide to Long Island Sound. Brimming with maps, photographs, and drawings, Lynch’s guide introduces readers to the full breadth of the Sound’s environs from shorelines to deepest waters, highlighting areas at particular risk.
Lynch is an author, illustrator, photographer, and artist. He retired from Yale University after 45 years as an interactive media designer, medical illustrator, biomedical and scientific photographer, video producer, a director of media and communications departments, and a designer of interactive multimedia teaching, training, and informational software and websites.
Refreshments will be served. For more info, call Carl R. Harvey at 203 – 389-6076 or email [email protected].
Thursday, Nov. 9
Beethoven’s Ninth
New Haven Symphony and the Yale Glee Club will perform Beethoven’s exuberant and masterful Symphony No. 9, known best for its timeless “Ode to Joy” melody, plus Brahms’s hauntingly beautiful Schicksalslied – Song of Destiny on Thursday, Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., at Woolsey Hall, New Haven.
Metropolitan Opera favorite Jennifer Johnson Cano makes her NHSO debut with Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody. Featured will be William Boughton, conductor; Jeffrey Douma, conductor; Yale Glee Club; Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez, soprano; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo soprano; Jason Wickson, tenor; and Barrington Lee, baritone.
Tickets are $15-$74; KidTix free with adult; college students, $10. Go to https://www.choicesecure03.net/mainapp/eventschedule.aspx?Clientid=NewHavenSymphony&prod=cs003.
Saturday, Nov. 11
One-Man Minstrel Show
Bob Zentz, who has been described as a one-man minstrel show, brings his smorgasbord of contemporary, traditional and original songs and stories to the Branford Folk Music Society on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the First Congregational Church of Branford, 1009 Main St.
Zentz is from the Tidewater region of Virginia and has been performing for more than five decades. He offers a program that is a unique testimony to this vast repertoire and varied personal interests. Concertgoers can expect to hear a concert that includes traditional Celtic tunes and ballads, science fiction songs, sea chanteys, tales of “old timers and old rhymers,” and the work of poets that he’s set to music.
He has been described in many ways, all of them right on and to the point, including a singer of songs, old and new, about people, places and times gone by; a player of dozens of the usual (and unusual!) “unplugged” folk instruments and a scholar of the evolution of “homemade music.”
Admission is $20 for non-members, $17 for members and $5 for children age 12 and under. For more information, call 203 – 488-7715 or visit http://branfordfolk.org/
Friday, Nov. 17
Read to a Dog
The Building Literacy Skills with Pet Partners program takes place at Blackstone Library, 758 Main St., from 4 to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17. Since research shows that children reading aloud to dogs reduces stress and creates a slight gain in reading ability, the library has paired up with Pet Partners to provide therapy dog read-aloud sessions.
The program runs for an hour once a month where participants will sign up for 15 minutes blocks to read aloud to a dog of their choice with a book provided by the library or from home. All participating dogs have been vetted through the Pet Partners program; which means they have passed all of their therapy dog training, are up to date on their vaccines, and have experience working with a range of people and ages.
This program is for kindergarten through fourth grade and registration is required. To RSVP call 203 – 488-1441, extension 323.
Through Tuesday, Nov. 21
Avian Art of Michael DiGiorgio
An exhibit of Avian art, featuring nationally recognized artist Michael DiGiorgio takes place in the Keyes Gallery at Willoughby Wallace Library through Nov. 21. DiGiorgio’s work has appeared in a variety of nature books and journals, including the latest& Peterson Field Guide to Birds, Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil, and Bird Watcher’s Digest.
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