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Welcoming friends from near and far!
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FROM THE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"Supposing is good, but finding out is better." -Mark Twain
Hello, friends!
With all of the activity going on at The Mark Twain House & Museum, you may be "supposing" that everything is going well - and you would be right. We just published our Annual Report for our most recent fiscal year, which ended January 31, 2015. Please take a few minutes to review the report, because we agree that "finding out is better."
The report includes the names of all of the generous donors, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters whose belief in our mission ensures our ability to preserve the Clemens family home and keep it open for visitors from around the world.
If your name is missing from the report, please consider donating or volunteering with us. There is so much to accomplish here, and we simply cannot do it without you.
Thank you for all you do - from donating to shopping in our store to attending events to bringing friends and family to visit.
With gratitude,
Cindy Lovell, Executive Director
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LATE JULY EVENTS
For more details on all our events, please visit our website.
Our Ice Cream Social!
Thursday, July 30, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
I scream, you scream, did someone say FREE ice cream? The summer heat is on its way, but we've got you covered (in sprinkles,that is)! The Mark Twain House & Museum invites everyone to its 7th annual free Ice Cream Social on the Nook Farm Nook patio. Come on down and enjoy delicious frozen treats, sundaes with your favorite toppings ,and maybe some old fashioned lemonade from 'Huck's Lem'nade Stand' served up by The Friends of The Mark Twain House & Museum! If that's not enough, how about a triple scoop of entertainment? There will be music by local artists Horizon Blue, face painting, and a bubble making station too! Top it all off with arts and crafts and a story time for the little ones, and you've got a cool, fun-filled recipe fit for the whole family! The music for this event is generously supported by the Evelyn W. Preston Memorial Trust Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee.
In addition, there will be discounted tours of the first floor of the Mark Twain House ($5 for adults, seniors, and children; under age 6 free). Come have a pleasant summer evening of free ice cream, music, and more on the grounds of the historic Mark Twain House!
This event is generously supported by the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Bank of America, N.A. and Alan S. Parker, Trustees.
This is a free event!
CLUE Tours of the Mark Twain House
Thursday, July 30, Tours step off every 15 minutes starting at 7:00 p.m.
Our popular CLUE Tours will be offered one-night-only this summer at The Mark Twain House. The classic board game comes to life using the various rooms (secret passageway, conservatory, billiards room, and more) of the Twain house -- and some of the author's favorite literary characters -- as part of the game. Who killed that varmint Pap Finn? Was it Tom Sawyer in the Library with the Wrench? Merlin in the Billiard Room with the Knife? The Pauper in the Kitchen with the Rope? This hour-long tour featuring the famed comedy troupe SEA TEA IMPROV as Twain's beloved characters/suspects. CLUE Tours provide all the murder, mayhem and merriment you expect in a whodunit. Our Clue Tours were featured on an episode of the Travel Channel show Wackiest Tours!
The CLUE Tours are supported by Webster Bank.
Reservations are required, and tours sell out, so please book early. Tickets are $22; museum members are $17; children 6 to 17 are $15. To purchase tickets, please call (860) 280-3130 or click here.
AUGUST EVENTS
BOOK/MARK: Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist with author Stephen Kurkjian
Tuesday, August 4, 7:00 p.m.
This is the definitive story of the greatest art theft in history.
In a secret meeting in 1981, a low-level Boston thief gave career gangster Ralph Rossetti the tip of a lifetime: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was a big score waiting to happen. Though its collections included priceless artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and others, its security was cheap, mismanaged, and out of date. And now, it seemed, the whole Boston criminal underworld knew it.
Nearly a decade passed before the Museum was finally hit. But when it finally happened, the theft quickly became one of the most infamous art heists in history: thirteen works of art valued at up to $500 million, by some of the most famous artists in the world, were taken. The Boston FBI took control of the investigation, but twenty-five years later the case is still unsolved and the artwork is still missing.
This story also leads to central Connecticut--federal agents have searched the Manchester home and yard of reputed Hartford mobster Robert Gentile, who is believed to have participated in the art heist. During an April 2015 court hearing, the prosecutor said that the FBI has a recording of Gentile offering to sell some of the stolen art to an undercover agent. Learn more about all of this at this exciting event
This program will be moderated by Hartford Courant reporter Edmund Mahoney, who has written extensively about this story for the Courant.
The Book/Mark Series is supported by a generous grant from the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Bank of America, N.A. and Alan S. Parker, Trustees.
Followed by a book sale and signing. This is a free event but reservations are recommended. Please call (860) 280-3130.
BOOK/MARK: Diary of a Puerto Rican Demigod with acclaimed playwright and author Edwin Sanchez
Wednesday, August 12, 7:00 p.m.
After twenty years of unwedded bliss to billionaire Jason Wilcox, former chorus boy Javier Rivera (Javi), has his world turned upside down when he is traded in for Javi 2.0. and goes from being a trophy boy to a trophy geezer. Banished from the Mount Olympus he shared with Jason and refusing to take any money from the man he still loves, Javi finds himself in the basement apartment of his parents' building. After a brief pity party for one, and with no marketable or discernible skills to fall back on, Javi sets out to rebuild his life.
Edwin Sanchez is well-know playwright and has strong ties to Connecticut. He is graduate of the Yale School of Drama, and was once the Playwrite in Residence at Hartford Stage. Several of his plays have previewed at Hartford Stage, including Clean and Diosa. He also contributed a segment to the acclaimed play Christmas on the Rocks at Theaterworks.
Moderated by Bessy Reyna, award-winning Connecticut poet and writer.
The Book/Mark Series is supported by a generous grant from the George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Bank of America, N.A. and Alan S. Parker, Trustees.
This is a free event and is followed by a book sale and signing. Please call (860) 280-3130.
National Theatre of the Deaf performs "The Experience of the McWilliamses"
Sunday, August 16, 6:00 p.m.
The National Theatre of the Deaf will perform an adaptation of Mark Twain's humorous short story, titled "The Experience of the McWilliamses." Join Mortimer and Caroline while they deal with the household upheaval of having a sick child as only Mark Twain could spin this tale.
As a special addition to the performance, the National Theatre of the Deaf will perform with the actors from the Theatre Immersion Program, in the original show "The W-5 Stories Behind Who, What, Where, When, & Why."
The Theatre Immersion Program is a new initiative from the National Theatre of the Deaf to provide equivalent theater training to deaf and hearing high school students. For an entire week, the students have been immersed in workshops and rehearsals in preparation for tonight's performance. The students will also get a taste of touring when they join National Theatre of the Deaf actors performing in various venues in Connecticut.
Proceeds from this performance will be used to support ongoing programming for both The Mark Twain House and the National Theatre of the Deaf.
Tickets for this performance are $10. Please call (860) 280-3130.
Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours
Friday & Saturday, August 28 & 29, at 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
We reprise our popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours for spooky summer chills. The Mark Twain House has been featured on Syfy Channel's Ghost Hunters and the Biography Channel's My Ghost Story. On these tours, participants will hear about these investigations -- and learn about Mark Twain's own interest in the supernatural. Filled with haunted history, dark tales and Victorian traditions surrounding seances and spiritualism, these nighttime tours are as educational as they are goosebump-inducing. Most Ghost tours sell out fast, so be sure to call soon to make your reservations!
The tours are tsponsored by Tsunami Tsolutions.
$22 with discounts available for members and children. Please call (860) 280-3130 for more information & ticketing.
PLUS: there are more events coming up this fall including Henry Rollins, R.A. Salvatore, Stuart Woods, and Mark My Words V: In A Galaxy Far, Far Away. Check our website for details!
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THANK YOU TO OUR NEW & RENEWING
(June 25 through July 22)
Douglas W. & Pamela K. Abbott
Carolyn Arvidson
David Biklen & Blanche Capilos
Thomas Bradley
Sara & David Carson
Katherine Civitillo
Barry Cornelius
Michelle & Don Daniels
David L. Dutka
Michelle Garabedian
Bruce & Kristin Guillemette
Kenneth & Gail Hamblett
Donna Lynn & Jay Hilton
Joan Holycross-Otto
Dianne Hunt-Mason
Alice Jena
Laurie-Rae Lallier
Rhonda Lane
Amanda LeTard
Yvon Maday
Dr. Conrad L. & Dr. Claudia G. Mallett
Erin Marx
Robin Mazzola
Jock McDonald
Michael K. Miller
Deborah & Bradley Muro
Patrick T. Nolan
Bhawani Ojha
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Dick Pantalone
Claude Parmely
Raymond J. & Elizabeth C. Payne
Rich Picone
Thomas & Gloria Ranney
Dr. Wayne S. Rawlins & Ms. Janet E. Flagg
Karen Richstad
Tom & Sally Roe
Sam Rosenthal
Bryan Sayers
Scott Schooley & Giuliana Musilli
David & Deborah Schultz
Gretchen S. Skelley
Corey Spaulding
Linda A. Starr
Ziva Stauber
Julie Steyaert
William & Mauricette Stwalley
Shiyun Tang
Jeanette Taylor
Paul & Gail Tine
Joan Walden & Jake Mendelsshon
James Wallin
Jared M. Wasserman
Katherine Willard
Patricia Williams
Christy Zody
Paul B. Zolan & Kate Steinway
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THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS (June 25 throught July 22)
INDIVIDUAL
Nancy Aquila
Robin Atwater
Ramani & Louise Ayer
Linda Biancalani
Ruth Bortolan
Philip E. Brencher, Jr.
Alexander Burns
Linda Cummins
Maureen Czerpak
Derren Duburguet
John Fussell
John Gaetano
Kathryn Gonnerman
Michael Gordon
Peter C. Grzybala & Diane W. Korntheuer
Richard Heldmann
Joan Holycross-Otto
Jay F. & Diana Huntington
Karen A. Kelleher
Craig Kelly
Mariela Kelly
Lisa M. Lombardo
Luis Lugo
Maia Mamulashvili
Seth Max
Brendan Mckenna
Melanie Myers
Donald Nemecek
Christina Nemicas
Aimee Page
Kenneth Pearson
Patricia Pino
Allan Polak & Deborah Zipkin
Sal Presutti
Steve Raboin
Glen Rapoport
Dr. Wayne S. Rawlins & Ms. Janet E. Flagg
Heather Rockwell
Patricia Ross
Georgina Salls
Michael Sames
Bryan Sayers
Michael Shelby
Judith Siegel
Frank & Linda Sousa
Jean Stewart
J. Brett Williams
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INSTITUTIONAL
Burns & McDonnell
Stanley D. and Hinda N. Fisher Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Travelers
Watkinson School
IN HONOR OF JACQUES LAMARRE
Joan B. & Robert N. Hedman
IN HONOR OF JAMES GOLDEN
Susan Tane
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Make the most of your donation - be sure to ask your employer about matching gifts.
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The Mark Twain House & Museum's Writing Classes, Workshops and Intensives
Be the writer you've always wanted to be by studying at the home of America's greatest writer!
Writing Intensives (4 consecutive DAYS) $180
Both start on August 3
-- Playwriting Monologues
-- Beginning | Middle | End - Writing the Short Story
Writing Workshops
(One-Day Workshops) $40
-- Writing Nature Poetry (August 29)
-- Nature Writing (September 12)
Writing Classes
(Six-Week Classes) $265
All Classes start on September 2
-- Writing the Land
-- Fiction
-- Nonfiction
-- Storytelling
Don't miss out -- for the complete schedule of ALL classes and workshops, or to register, please visit www.marktwainhouse.org or call (860) 280-3130.
Questions? Email [email protected]
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MARK TWAIN STORE FEATURED ITEM OF THE MONTH:
Mark Twain Logo Hat
Embroidered locally especially for us.
Show your Mark Twain House pride and keep the sun out of your eyes during the dog days of summer!
Mark Twain House custom Logo Embroidered Cap with low profile, six-panel, Sewn eyelets, cloth strap back buckle. 100% cotton. One size.
$15.95. Visit our store or buy it online here.
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Connecticut Association for Reading Research
Presents
Kylene Beers & Bob Probst on Reading Nonfiction: Notice & Note Signposts and Questions
Thursday, September 17 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
CARR, the Connecticut Association for Reading Research, an Honor Council of the International Literacy Association, is proud to present two of the most respected authorities on reading and writing: Kylene Beers and Bob Probst!
Come get a sneak peek inside some of the strategies in their upcoming book Reading Nonfiction: Notice and Note Signposts and Questions a month before the release date! Light refreshments will be served and beverages will be available. We hope you will join us!
$45. For tickets, please click here.
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