newsandviewsjb

NEWS&VIEWS by Jacqueline Bennett

Posts tagged “Jacqueline Bennett”

Cruisin’ On Main 2014 Postponed to Sunday, August 10

Posted on August 5, 2014

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com Due to the threat of rain the 14th Annual Cruisin’ on Main in Manchester, Connecticut originally scheduled for August 3 was postponed to this coming Sunday, August 10. Not everyone heard of the postponement. About a dozen people showed up anyway last Sunday morning looking for the enormous display of vintage vehicles that usually fills downtown Manchester on Cruisin’ day and draws thousands of viewers. One vintage car owner also showed up and a trailer truck from the motorcycle museum. Those who came milled about the area in front of Mary Cheney Library. “We didn’t know it was postponed,” said the vintage car owner. The change put in a crimp in the plans of a man on…

Categories: Free events in New England, NEWS, Vintage Car show

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Mom’s Recipe Box: Candy from Candy

Posted on August 1, 2014

                    (Candy from Candy) Marshmallow Fudge I watched my mother make this recipe when I was quite young. Then little by little she let me help, until the first time I made it myself and I was so proud and happy. My mother noted on the recipe card that it was originally tested by one of her best friends – Evelyn Wallen. Then Mom tested it herself. The Marshmallow Fudge is sweet – just like the memories of cooking in the kitchen with Mom. – Candy Bennett       INGREDIENTS 3 cups sugar; three fourths cup milk; 2 teaspoons cornstarch; 1 teaspoon vanilla; pinch of salt; 1 tablespoon butter; one half cup cocoa; one half…

Categories: Cooking, Family, Food, NEWS, Recipes

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Dragon Boat Races & Asian Festival Coming to Hartford, Connecticut

Posted on July 31, 2014

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival, a two-day event, returns to Hartford, Connecticut from August 16-17. The festival will be held on Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, where boat races can also be viewed. Colorfully decorated boats powered by competitive rowers race along the Connecticut River making for an eye-catching sight. Each athlete has a story of his or her own to tell – three years ago when I covered this event I interviewed a group of women from Pennsylvania, all breast cancer survivors, who got involved in the competition to help empower themselves physically and spiritually.   Participation in the boat races is fee-based and is now closed, with 92 teams signed on. First held in 2000, the…

Categories: Dragon Boat Races, festivals, NEWS

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Wild Bunch a Swiss Hit at Colchester Fife & Drum Muster

Posted on July 29, 2014

Article & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com The Wild Bunch, an American-style fife and drum corps from Switzerland was warmly welcomed at a muster held July 26 in Colchester, Connecticut. Led by the Colchester Continentals Fife and Drum Corps, the event began with a short parade onto the town green where performances from approximately a dozen groups was punctuated by the Swiss visitors. The day before, the Wild Bunch had taken part in a large muster in Deep River and their corps was scheduled to participate in another one near Old Saybrook the following day. Members, who hail from Basel, Switzerland, and an American from New York, praised the congeniality they said greeted them everywhere they went in the United States, as well as,…

Categories: American history, Fife & Drum music, Music, Musters, NEWS, Swiss American Fife & Drum Corps

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If You Value Local Newspapers – Show It

Posted on July 27, 2014

Commentary by: Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com    Over the weekend I was out-of-town and stopped into a grocery store where, as I always do, I went in search of the newspaper rack. I found a three-tiered rack with the state newspaper and New York Times on the top shelf, the Boston Globe on the second shelf and tucked on the bottom shelf  in the left hand corner, barely visible, was the local newspaper. I am proud to say I have written for both the New York Times and the Boston Globe. As well, I have a writing assignment on tap with a nationally circulated periodical. That said, most of my career in journalism has been spent as a local newspaper reporter. This translates into countless…

Categories: demise of local newspapers, NEWS, Preserve democracy

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Mom’s Recipe Box: Macaroni And Cheese For Two From Jane

Posted on July 25, 2014

                                        MACARONI & CHEESE for TWO           INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons melted margarine; 2 tablespoons cornstarch (flour can be used if you don’t have cornstarch); 1 and one half cups of milk; 8 ounces Velveeta cheese chopped into small cubes; salt and pepper; 1 cup elbow macaroni.           PREPARATION Butter one and a half quart casserole or aluminum pan. Cook elbow macaroni according to directions on box – set aside. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In small sauce pan melt margarine, mix in cornstarch, then add milk – over medium heat stir occasionally until milk is warm; add…

Categories: Cooking, Family, Food, NEWS, Recipes

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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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Destination: Fred’s Shanty New London, Connecticut

Posted on July 21, 2014

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com    Tucked along Pequot Avenue on the waterfront in New London, Connecticut is Fred’s Shanty. Clam chowder was the first menu item I tried here. It was late summer, September, and my family decided we would drive down that weekend and take a look at the water one last time before the end of the season. There was a slight chill in the air and we were all wearing sweatshirts or light jackets. Dusk was falling when we came upon this marvelous roadside clam and hotdog shack on our way back from Ocean Beach. I have been returning at least once a summer ever since.   Fred’s Shanty overlooks a marina which makes for a pleasing vista…

Categories: Connecticut Shoreline Vacations, Food, NEWS, Restaurants, waterfront eateries

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National Ice Cream Month Conjures Up Recollections of a Kathy Johns I.C. Girl

Posted on July 20, 2014

Write-Up & Photo by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   As someone who spent her college years scooping ice cream at a popular ice cream and sandwich shop, I particularly enjoyed a recent article highlighting July as national ice cream month in Yankee Magazine’s New England Minute. The writer spoke of her days working in an ice cream store and recognizing customers for what they ordered. When I wasn’t waiting tables, I was assigned to “i.c.” at Kathy Johns in Storrs, Connecticut, located at the Four Corners about one mile from the University of Connecticut campus. That meant on a given night I made all the sundaes ordered. On Sunday nights, when students returned to campus often with their families in tow, lines overflowed out the…

Categories: Ice Cream, ice cream parlors, National Ice Cream Day, NEWS

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Mom’s Recipe Box: “Good Any Time” Rich Muffins from Dixie-Sue

Posted on July 18, 2014

                  (Good Any Time) Rich Muffins   Rich muffins are delicious fresh from the oven and piping hot for breakfast. Really they are good any time! Made from staple ingredients generally on hand in the household, they were always a go to treat to bake quickly and serve to unexpected guests. These were a favorite of our family doctor, who was also a friend of the family. – Dixie-Sue Bennett-Larned          INGREDIENTS 2 cups flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; pinch (one quarter teaspoon) of salt;  one third cup sugar; two eggs; one half cup vegetable oil; 1 cup milk.   PREPARATION Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat…

Categories: Baking, Family, Food, NEWS, Recipes

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