This 1-minute video was recorded by Phil LeMontagne on the Coginchaug River on September 6, 2024. Each year in late summer, Red-winged Blackbirds feast upon the ripening wild rice in the Floating Meadows of Middletown and Cromwell. The Meadows, a rare freshwater tidal marshland, provides habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals, and nutrition for these wonderful migrating birds. Click on the image above or here to view.
The Wadsworth/Kerste DeBoer Arboretum looking south along the walking path parallel to Long Lane.
Enjoy an easy 45-minute guided tour of the Wadsworth/Kerste DeBoer Arboretum on Long Lane near the Wesleyan campus. Learn how to identify 12 of Middletown’s most common street trees and hear about the arboretum’s history and its 90 different tree varieties. 60% of the arboretum’s 200 trees are native species.
Park in the Long Hill Farm parking lot at 243 Long Lane. The arboretum is on the opposite side of Long Lane at this location.
Readers Theater
Directed by Anne Cassady & Richard Kamins
presents
THE OUTSIDER
by Paul Slade Smith
Ned Newley doesn’t even want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking; his poll numbers are impressively bad. To his ever-supportive Chief of Staff, Ned seems destined to fail. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office. Unless the public is looking for… the worst candidate to ever run for office. A timely and hilarious comedy that skewers politics and celebrates democracy.
Friday evening, October 25, 7 pm Oddfellows Playhouse, 128 Washington Street, Middletown (donations to OP welcome at door). Register for the event: email: info@oddfellows.org or call 860-347-6143. If your plans change, please remember to call or email with cancellation notice.
Sunday afternoon, October 27, 2 pm The Hubbard Room, Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown. Register for the event through Russell Library website: https://russelllibrary.org or call 860-347-2528 to reserve a seat.
If your plans change, please remember to call or email with cancellation notice.
We’ve gathered seven talented local actors to entertain you with this farcical story: Michael Eck, Joan Duquette, Nat Holmes, Melissa McLean, Norm Hicks, Danielle Truscott, & Ben Werblow.
Here’s another chance to get out on the water with others before you put your boat to bed for the winter. The recreational paddle is 2.5 miles around the shore of the lake. This event is to benefit Kuhn Employment Opportunities, a local nonprofit that provides job placement and support for people with disabilities. Silver Lake is in Berlin.
Photo by Chris Donnelly
A Middletown Urban Forestry Program
Russell Library, Hubbard Room
Thursday, September 19, 2024
5-6 pm
Introduction and Overview
Jane Harris, Chair, Middletown Urban Forestry Commission
Tree Grants, including the Street Tree Inventory
Chris Donnelly, Middletown Forester
In 2024, Middletown received a DEEP grant to conduct a tree inventory. Chris will describe ways in which you can be involved.
Tree Walks and the ‘Microforest’ Project
Steve Cronkite, Vice-Chair, Middletown Urban Forestry Commission
Steve will discuss an upcoming tree walk, open to the public, and plans for a ‘Microforest,’ based on the Miyawaki Forest concept.
Further Tree Discussions and a Look-Ahead
The people of Middletown have a great deal of interest in their trees, and trees are a fundamental part of the city’s environment. We all share in the benefits from trees. How can the community’s involvement with the urban forest be increased?
All are invited! Come hear about what is going on with the trees in Middletown. Find out how you can help.
Photo by Chris Donnelly
Join the Rich Earth Institute for a workshop on the paradigm-shifting practice of peecycling: reclaiming human “waste” as a resource to support local farms, prevent pollution, and conserve clean water. Continue reading
This summer, the Town of Portland constructed almost 1 mile of new sidewalk along Main Street, replacing the uneven and broken sidewalks between Arvid Street and Gildersleeve School. Before construction began, John Hall expressed concern about the danger that excavation would present to the roots of a majestic pin oak tree. With the support of residents Beau and Holly Doherty, Portland’s First Selectman Ryan Curley, and Director of Public Works Ryan O’Halpin, the original construction plan was modified to save this historic shade tree.
We thank all who responded to the Jonah Center’s February 2024 survey on Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices (ATESDs) also known as speed and red-light cameras. We submitted to the City of Middletown the list of names and addresses of those in favor of using this technology to make our streets safer. Read more about the issue here.
On September 3, 2024, Middletown’s Common Council passed an ordinance allowing the use of ATESDs. (Such an ordinance is required by state law prior to implementation by a municipality.) The Middletown Police Department must now apply to CT DOT for a permit to use ATESDs in specific locations justified by crash other safety data.
Shown above is Patch C in Pecausett Pond, before and after our evening work party in June,
This summer, Jonah Center volunteers and field workers removed approximately 24,000 pounds of invasive water chestnut plants from the Floating Meadows (Mattabesset River), Pecausett Pond, and the Connecticut River between Rocky Hill and Middle Haddam. Continue reading
During the pandemic, motor vehicle crashes increased in frequency, and they have not declined to pre-pandemic levels. Factors leading to more crashes are speeding, driving while intoxicated, and driving (or walking) while “distracted” (using one’s phone, texting, checking social media, etc.). Continue reading
The Jonah Center Board invites you to help celebrate our 20th Anniversary at our Forest and Garden Party on Saturday, June 22 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the South Middletown home of Jon Morris and Pam Frost.
Over the past 14 years, they have transformed their thirty-acre property into a beautiful and inspiring model of sustainable living, with highly productive vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a woodlot that they harvest selectively and keep free of invasive plants, a solar-heated swimming pool, perennial borders, solar panels, and decorative use of stone and wood. Continue reading
We urge the public to attend a special workshop on the route study for the Central CT Loop Trail segment from Portland to Cheshire, conducted by engineering firm VHB. The event will be held in the Council Chambers of Middletown’s City Hall on Monday, June 10, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., beginning with a formal presentation and followed by questions and comments from the public. Continue reading