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Celebrate the Holidays by taking a
Holiday Museum Tour
"Holiday at the Symphony"
Osborne Homestead Museum, Derby
For several weeks each winter, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Osborne Homestead Museum is transformed into a holiday showcase. Talented and dedicated garden clubs beautifully decorate all the rooms in this historic homestead. Those that visit at this time of year enjoy the sights and sounds of a traditional holiday celebration during a special guided tour.
The museum will be open November 28 - December 20 for daytime tours Thursdays through Sundays from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Holiday Twilight Tours will also be offered on Fridays - December 5, 12 and 19 from 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM. Groups of 8 or more are requested to call to reserve a tour date and time. Donations are gratefully accepted.
"Step Back in Time for a Turn of the Century Christmas" Gillette Castle State Park, East Haddam
It looks like a medieval fortress, but a step inside the stone castle reveals the built-in couches, table trackway, and woodcarvings that all point to the creative genius that was William Gillette.
Holiday Hours:
The Castle will be open Saturdays and Sundays from November 29 through December 21,10:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m. Tickets are sold until 3:30 p.m.The Castle will be open weekends only, weather permitting.
Castle entrance is $6 for adults and children 13 and older, $2 for children ages 6 - 12, and FREE for children ages 5 and under. For more information please contact the Castle at (860) 526-2336 or visit ct.gov/deep/GilletteCastle
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No Child Left Inside® Winter Festival
Mark your calendars now! Even though we are only on the cusp of winter, we are already making plans to host the best Winter Festival yet! This year the festival will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm at Burr Pond State Park in Torrington. We are planning a full day of outdoor adventure with activities that will include ice fishing, snowshoeing, tracking, ice safety rescue demonstrations, a bonfire complete with a marshmallow roast and storytelling, and much more!
The festival is FREE and requires no registration.
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The Sky's the Limit Challenge
Our final Centennial Event has ended, but The Sky's the Limit Challenge is just beginning!
We have selected these 14 peaks in Connecticut's State Parks & Forests for the Challenge. You must complete 10 hikes to win a medallion. If you complete all 14 hikes, your family will win a hiking staff. The event will kick-off on January 1, 2015. Stay tuned for more information and rules for this challenge.
- Dennis Hill State Park, Route 272, Norfolk
- Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, Park Avenue, Groton
- Hurd State Park, Route 151, Hebron
- Haystack Mountain State Park, Route 272, Norfolk
- Lovers Leap State Park, Lovers Leap Road, New Milford
- Macedonia Brook State Park, 159 Macedonia Brook Road, Kent
- Mohawk Mountain State Park, 20 Mohawk Mountain Road, Goshen
- Mount Tom State Park, Route 202, Litchfield
- Pachaug State Forest, Route 49, Voluntown
- Shenipsit State Forest, Gulf Road, Somers
- Sleeping Giant State Park, 200 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden
- Southford Falls State Park, 175 Quaker Farms Road, Southbury
- Talcott Mountain State Park, Route 185, Simsbury
- West Rock Ridge State Park, Wintergreen Avenue, Hamden
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Featured Events
Raptor Program by a Place Called Hope
Tuesday, December 30, 1 PM
For more information contact:
Dinosaur State Park: 860-529-8423
A live raptor program sponsored by the Friends of Dinosaur Park and Arboretum. Meet these magnificent descendants of dinosaurs! Recommended for ages 5 and older. Tickets are available with admission at 9:00 AM on the day of the program. Admission is $6.00 for ages 13 and up, $2.00 for ages 6-12 and 5 and under is free. Space is limited to 100 visitors. The Bobcat: Connecticut's Secretive Wild Cat Saturday, January 17, 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM For more information contact: Sessions Woods: (860) 675-8130 laura.rogers-castro@ct.gov
Visit Sessions Woods to learn about the natural history of bobcats, including diet, breeding habits, and habitat needs.
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24 Authors & Artists
To Pen Serialized
CT Storybook
In The Great CT Caper,
Kid Detectives Search for Missing Landmark
Gillette Castle in East Haddam has vanished. Now it's up to a couple of kids to scour Connecticut, piece together clues to unravel the mystery of its disappearance and, hopefully, restore the treasure. That's the plot of
The Great Connecticut Caper, a serialized suspense storybook for fourth through seventh graders being published online by Connecticut Humanities (CTH), with help from the University of Connecticut and a NewAlliance Foundation grant.
CTH selected five Connecticut landmarks for potential disappearance. Online voters chose Gillette Castle, a 24-room mansion reminiscent of a medieval castle, which is a national historic landmark owned and managed by the state.
Twelve Connecticut authors and 12 state artists are volunteering to write or illustrate a chapter, with only the chapters that came before and their own imaginations as their guides. Connecticut is the first state to create a state-specific, collaborative mystery story, tapping into the skills of its own writers and artists.
Connecticut Humanities is modeling this e-book after a serialized episodic book released in 2011 by the national Center for the Book office at the Library of Congress. That book, called
The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, was read by hundreds of thousands of children and adults from across the country and abroad.
"Connecticut has a rich cultural heritage along with significant literary and artistic talent," says Amanda Roy, program officer for Connecticut Humanities. "We want to share all of this with the young people of Connecticut. So what better way than a mystery story?"
The first chapter of The Great Connecticut Caper is scheduled to be released online
Jan. 4, 2015, with a new chapter and illustration released every two weeks thereafter until June.
Students and staff from UConn's digital scholarship and data curation department are melding text and images to create the e-book. In addition, the staff is working with Roy to create interactive games connected to the story's scenes and plot. The online games will be launched this November.
For example, there will be online puzzle games and interactive maps, where players can learn about Gillette Castle and its builder, William Gillette, a playwright, director and actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage and in film. Connecticut Humanities plans to have an audio recording of the story made after the book has been completed.
About Connecticut Center for the Book
The Connecticut Center for the Book promotes reading, writing and Connecticut's literary heritage. It is a state affiliate of the Library of Congress' Center for the Book. The Great Connecticut Caper is made possible through a grant from NewAlliance Foundation.
About Connecticut Humanities
Connecticut Humanities (CTH) is a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds, creates and collaborates on hundreds of cultural programs across Connecticut each year. It is headquartered in Middletown. Learn more by visiting www.cthumanities.org |
No Child Left Inside® is an initiative of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to complying with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please contact us at (860) 418-5910 or deep.accommodations@ct.gov if you: have a disability and need a communication aid or service; have limited proficiency in English and may need information in another language; or if you wish to file an ADA or Title VI discrimination complaint. Any person needing a hearing accommodation may call the State of Connecticut relay number - 711. Requests for accommodations must be made at least two weeks prior to any agency hearing, program or event.
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