newsandviewsjb

NEWS&VIEWS by Jacqueline Bennett

Posts from the “New England” Category

Lighthouses & Fort Trumbull Replica Builder Devoted to his Craft

Posted on July 23, 2014

Story & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com Once a week Bob Landry stops by Fort Trumbull State Park in New London, Connecticut to check on the replicas he built of the fort, and lighthouses off the nearby shoreline. Landry took up the craft after retiring from his position as a carpenters’ general foreman with Electric Boat. Now, he devotes his time to building the replicas and hopes his efforts contribute to the preservation of the area’s rich maritime history. “The Fort Trumbull replica took me 700 hours to build. See the spiral stairs inside the tower,” Landry said during a recent interview there, pointing to that intricate piece of workmanship. His replicas are on loan to the state. “For as long as they take care…

Categories: American Maritime History, Lighthouses, New England, New England Maritime History, NEWS, Paranormal, Replica building

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Only New England Stop – Exhibit Features Stage & Screen Legend Katharine Hepburn

Posted on May 14, 2014

Write-up by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb  Old film buffs and fashionistas might want to set aside time to visit an exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society, featuring stage and screen legend Katharine Hepburn. The daughter of a Hartford doctor and suffragette, Hepburn hailed from Connecticut. Famously, her family had a summer home in the Fenwick section of Old Saybrook. In 2003, she passed away there at age 96. In its only New England stop, stories about the four-time Academy Award winning actress’ life in Connecticut will be added to the exhibit, according to the CHS web page. Titled “Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen”, the visiting exhibit was organized by the Kent State University Museum. It looks at Hepburn’s personal fashion sense of “informal…

Categories: Fashion, Free exhibits, Hollywood legends, New England, NEWS

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Destination: UConn Dairy Bar, Storrs Connecticut

Posted on May 12, 2014

Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb Made from the milk of UConn cows, UConn Dairy Bar ice cream is an experience not to be missed. Producing 24 flavors as varied as Strawberry Cheesecake and Coffee Espresso Crunch, the iconic dairy bar was selected as a 2013 Best of New England Editor’s Choice by Yankee Magazine and as the maker of the best ice cream in the state by Connecticut Magazine. Located in rural, picturesque Storrs, the University of Connecticut began as an agricultural college. Those origins are never more apparent than during a visit to the dairy bar on Horsebarn Hill – a campus gem that began as a teaching and research facility in the early 1900’s. It remains part of the College…

Categories: Food, Ice Cream, New England, NEWS

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Sugar Meister Makes Maple Magic at Northwest Park in Windsor, Connecticut

Posted on February 22, 2013

Article & Photos by By:Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb For twenty-seven years the Sugar Meister of Northwest Park, a.k.a. Chuck Drake, has been making maple magic in Windsor, Connecticut. Working as a volunteer, Drake has overseen growth of the park’s maple sugaring program from seven up to 210 tree taps. Using a wood-fired evaporator, within a five week period the program hand produces between forty to sixty gallons of pure maple syrup annually and hosts demonstrations of the process each weekend from mid-February to mid-March. A March 23 Friends of Northwest Park Pancake Breakfast will culminate the yearly maple sugaring ritual where as many as 600 breakfasts are expected to be served at the park. “The key is always making sure you have liquid in the…

Categories: Maple syrup production, New England, NEWS

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Destination : The Putney Inn & (Update – now closed)

Posted on October 7, 2011

Update 10/8/2014 – I came across disappointing news today while checking The Putney Inn Website – the inn is closed. The message on their site reads: “I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of patrons who have graced my door over my four decades as innkeeper -ess.” According to on-line reports in the Rutland Herald, the Battleboro Reformer and Vermont Today, a deal with a Connecticut real estate developer to buy the 11.25 acre historic site, to make renovations and reopen this past spring fell through. The property, including adjacent motel rooms, was said to have been listed at $895,000. Last month innkeeper Randi Ziter faced a foreclosure auction. It was some fifteen years ago that I spotted The Putney Inn just off I-91…

Categories: New England, NEWS, Restaurants, Tourism

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