Norwalk Oyster Festival

The Norwalk Seaport Association will hold its 33rd annual Oyster Festival this weekend, September 10,11 and 12th. Located in Veterans Park, the event will feature arts and crafts booths, live music, children's activities, and lots of food.

What started out as a moderately-sized event in 1978 to raise funds and awareness for Norwalk's maritime heritage, has grown into a large, late summer ritual in Fairfield County.

Unfortunately, there were years when the Oyster Festival had become a victim of its own success. As the event grew in size, it seemed to turn its back on the original purpose. Large tents packed with hucksters selling miracle cleaners, Catskill real estate, and singing bass had replaced the harbor tours and other nautical  attractions.  There were plenty of booths selling fried dough and beef-on-a-stick, but very few oysters. For a while, it had become just another street fair.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one  turned off by this. The festival this year will include the return of an oyster pavilion, harbor tours, as well as the Schooners Quinnipiack, and Soundwater. Larry Flynn of Long Tails will also be on hand to give presentations on the wildlife of the Norwalk Islands.  I welcome this decision with enthusiasm.

The Norwalk Seaport Association has played a vital role in the rehabilitation of Norwalk Harbor. Their work includes the restoration of Sheffield Island Lighthouse; the preservation of the Norwalk Islands; as well as many environmental and educational programs and projects.

Their purpose is:

"to foster public awareness of our maritime resources, environment and heritage through research, education and preservation; and also to foster the preservation and rehabilitation of the area of historical value in Norwalk Harbor and Long Island Sound."

This weekend's festival serves as the primary fundraising source for the invaluable work they do.

Tickets can be purchased at the gate, or online on their website.

Norwalk Oyster Festival

Norwalk Seaport Association

Soundbounder: Norwalk Winter Oystering

Soundbounder: Peck Ledge Lighthouse

Soundbounder: Sheffield Island Ruins

Soundbounder: Norwalk Oyster Plant

CT Plus: Putting The Pearl Back In The Oyster

photo credit: (top) Norwalk Seaport; (bottom) Quinnipiack: SchoonerInc

"Boating Local" Visits Noank

Tom Richardson of Boating Local paid a visit to Noank recently, and spent a few hours aboard Carina  for a tour of the local waters. We visited some obvious landmarks such as the local lighthouses, along with West Harbor on Fishers Island, and a few small islands that dot the charts.

For those of you not familiar with Boating Local, it was started by Tom and several others who previously worked for the now defunct Offshore Magazine (aka Northeast Boating). Based out of Buzzards Bay, the site covers boating and fishing for the entire New England coast. Along with marine-related news, they have done some excellent work profiling the harbors and towns from Connecticut to Maine.

I haven't spent much time in front of a camera and I must admit to being a bit nervous. Maybe not nervous, but certainly aware of the camera at all times and self conscious about it. I'm sure there were entire segments he couldn't use because of my constant slurring and tripping over words.

I did however gain a new appreciation for video work. It is not easy being on a rocking boat and putting together a film segment in a relatively small cockpit with the wind blowing. The camera itself was small, but there were tripods, battery packs, and an assortment of equipment needed to put this together.

One of the nice features about Boating Local is that along with the stories, there are often  video segments accompanying  them.  It is a nice touch that bridges the gap between periodicals and generic, stock  footage.



I'll be contributing some stories to Boating Local, and I am glad to be aboard.



Here are some recent profiles of New England harbors:

BoatingLocal: Destinations  

BoatingLocal: Homepage 

BoatingLocal Meets Soundbounder: Companion Story To Video

Strolling in the rain...

We had a most enjoyable if rainy day in Pont Aven, with many taking advantage of nice restaurants, shops and caf�s before and after walking. Leaving the town via the Xavier Grall river gardens, we made our way up to the Chapelle de Tremalo to see Gauguin's inspiration for his famous Yellow Christ painting. Then a pleasant stroll through the Bois d'Amour and back along the river. It was great to see regulars and holiday makers alike (thanks to the Central Brittany Journal's kind publicity), and to meet Brittany Walks latest addition, Roger and Sue's puppy Megan, photographed by Lesley.

Heading For New Haven

Tugboat Connecticut; south of West Haven; August

It's Alwase Nice To Remember The Good Ol' Days

My sister Di told me about this, which she re-discovered recently:

She wrote it in her "Babysitters' Club Little Sister Diary" when she was about 8 and I was about 11. It's pretty funny!

Pont Aven - Tues 7th, 2pm (new start time)

We have a short walk at the pretty artists' town of Pont Aven on Tuesday 7th, starting at 2pm (NOTE NEW START TIME). This is an easy stroll on leafy lanes and woodland tracks. The meeting point is at the wooden passerelle over the river in the rue du Port, near the restaurant Le Moulin du Grand Poulguin (about 300m south of road bridge in town centre). Please note that this is market day, and parking in the area very near the meeting point may be difficult in the morning. After the walk some of us will be visiting the town art gallery, which has many examples of the famous Pont Aven school of painting, a style developed in the late 19th century by a group including Gauguin, Bernard and S�rusier.

Pictures of the Day: August 25 - September 2, 2010

Hi Everyone! Here are the Pictures of the Day from the last few days. Hopefully there's something interesting for you in there:

August 25: "We're all equal in our big, happy world... except you, Pablo. We hate your scarf. You're out."
This was in a classroom where I teach in the evening. It's a grade school during the day.

August 26: I've seen this sign quite a few times on the way out of San Jose, but it's always been too dark (and possibly unsafe) to take a picture, so I made it a point to go a bit early and get this picture before my class on Thursday.
In any case, that seems like a very appropriate visual image for a rehabilitation school.

August 27: Some cheflera (schefflera, in English, I believe) that Angela was planting in our yard. Looks good photographed. I still think it's incredible you can just put a little stick of this in the ground and you'll have a bush within a year!

August 28: When we got back home from work, the power was out again, and it was getting dark. Plus, it had been raining all day and the condensation from the morning's showers was still on the windows.
Basically, a good time to take a nap.

August 29: Some flowers at Lucy's house. She invited us over to play Scrabble and drink coffee. Good times!

August 30: A pair of earrings that my grandma gave to Angela.

August 31: If you went to Timnath Elementary School in the late 80s and early 90s, this may look familiar to you. Or it may not. I remember being taught how to multiply this way. I was trying to explain it to some coworkers, so I went back into the past, drew up the grid, and multiplied some numbers. This is 312 times 725 which, as we all know, is 226,200. I can't believe three things:
1. That this technique for multiplying numbers actually exits and works
2. That I remembered the technique
3. That they actually TAUGHT this technique to us in 5th or 6th grade

September 1: The faucets in my hotel in Guanacaste. I started teaching an English class on Wednesday nights in a resort up there (Guanacaste is the northwest province in Costa Rica, where the most tourists go, but where I had only passed through previously). It was very nice, and I'm looking forward to continuing the class for the next seven weeks!

September 2: A windmill on the side of the road in Guanacaste. It was the first time I'd really spent any significant time or driven around much in that province, and I can see why it's the big tourist place in the country. It was pretty nice, and quite a bit different from where I live.

So, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!