Wed. Feb. 19

Ice Cream Social

THOMPSON --- The Thompson Recreation Department will present a Senior Ice Cream Social at 12:15 p.m. Open to all local seniors. Pre-register 860-923-9440.   

 

Art Exhibit

PUTNAM --- The Pomfret School Art Exhibit "Lindsay Lehmann - Photography by Pomfret Students and Faculty," will run through March 18 at the Silver Circle Gallery in downtown Putnam.

 

Thur. Feb. 20

Garden Show

HARTFORD --- The CT Flower and Garden Show will be held Feb. 20-23 at the Connecticut Convention Center. The UConn soil testing lab will offer free soil pH testing each day. Bring in ½ cup of soil. Free gardening handouts.

 

Bartender Fund-raiser

PUTNAM --- The IHSP-Diaper Bank of NECT will hold a celebrity bartender night from 5 to 9 p.m. at Winners at JD Cooper's. 

 

Fri. Feb. 21

'Odd Couple'

PUTNAM --- The Bradley Playhouse will present "The Odd Couple - Female Version" at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 22, 28, and March 1 and 8 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 23, March 2 and 9. Tickets: 860-928-7887.

 

‘Chicago’

WOODSTOCK --- Drama students at Hyde School will perform Samuel French’s Chicago at 8 p.m. Feb. 21 and Feb. 27 in the Hyde School Cultural Center.  The show is free (although donations will be accepted and refreshments sold), and is open to the public on both evenings.

 

Nature Program

POMFRET --- The Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret will present "Owl Walk" at  6 p.m. starting at the  Grassland Bird Conservation Center on Day Road. $5 for members; $10 for nonmembers. 928-4948.

 

Sat. Feb. 22

Tag Sale

PUTNAM --- The Congregational Church of Putnam on Main Street will hold a winter tag sale from 9 a.m. to 3  p.m. Donations accepted. Snow date March 1. 860-942-4205.

 

Stuffed Potato Fund-raiser

PUTNAM --- The Boy Scout Troop 21 dinner fund-raiser will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the St. Mary church Hall. $5. All you can eat. Takeout available.

 

Musical

POMFRET --- Pomfret School will present its winter musical, “In the Heights,” at 8 p.m. Feb. 22 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 23 in Hard Auditorium. The Feb. 22 performance will be preceded by an Empty Bowls supper at 5 p.m. in the dining Hall and the “Broadway Nights” cabaret at 7 in the Jahn Reading room. For information  call 963-5260 or 963-5687.

  

Registration

PUTNAM --- The Putnam Little League registration will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the Putnam Middle School gym. For information on fees, documents needed, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Sun. Feb. 23

Nature, Stew, Story

HAMPTON --- The Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret will present its fourth annual Stroll, Story, Stew & Song fund-raiser to benefit Trail Wood: The Edwin Way Teale Memorial Sanctuary. Call for info: 928-4948.

 

Fri. Feb. 28

Italian Dinner Cabaret

PUTNAM --- The Putnam High School Music Department will hold an Italian Dinner Cabaret from 5 to 7 p.m. in the PHS cafeteria. Dine in or out. $10 for adults (10 and older); $6 for kids 3-9 and seniors 60 and older.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Sun. March 2

Train Show

CHESHIRE --- The Cheshire High School Band Parents Association will present a train show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school on Rt. 10. $6 for adults; under 10 admitted free. 203-265-7527.

 

Concert

WILLIMANTIC --- The Willimantic Orchestra will present its free Winter Concert, “And Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet,” at  3 p.m. at Shafer Auditorium, ECSU. Donations welcomed. 860.429.0864.

 

Thur. March 6

Art Program

POMFRET CENTER --- The Northeast CT Art Group will present Normand Chartier speaking about his life in painting, and working on Sesame Street project at 6:30 p.m. at the Grassland Audubon center on Day road. Free. All welcome. http://nectartguild.blogspot.com/

 

Fri. March 7

Day of Prayer

DANIELSON --- World Day of Prayer will be held at 1 p.m. in the Community Room of Maple Courts on Upper Maple Street. Handicapped accessible. (860) 928-0308.

 

Teen Weekend

POMFRET --- Winter Teen Weekend will be held from 5:30 p.m. March 7 through 9:30 a.m. March 9 at the Windham-Tolland 4-H Camp on Taft Pond Road. $50. Bring a friend that has not been to camp or teen weekend and one of you can come for $30.  Preregistration required by Feb. 28. Call 860-974-3379 to register or email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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During the past tourism season, The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) worked with Witan Intelligence Strategies to update its tourism impact survey for the National Heritage Corridor.  Since The Last Green Valley has its own unique geography (26 towns in Connecticut and 9 in Massachusetts) a customized intercept survey is required.  Visitor interviews were conducted at 22 sites on different occasions during the summer and fall of 2013.  The results were analyzed and compared with statistics gathered for the State of Connecticut.  

The Last Green Valley visitors are 66 percent day trippers, compared to Connecticut’s 35 percent.   In the past that figure was 74 percent, indicating a substantial increase in overnight stays to the region.  The average spending per party per trip is $349, an increase of 25 percent from the 2010 baseline survey.  Visitors make 5.5 trips per year to the region.

The economic value of each visiting party to The Last Green Valley annually is $2,477, an increase of 21 percent over the 2010 baseline.  The total economic impact of tourism to the National Heritage Corridor is $278 million for 2013, based on documented attendance figures of 1.9 million people.

Ninety-five percent of visitors to The Last Green Valley said that they have been here before and 91 percent are likely to return.  Those numbers are steady from 2010.  Seventy-eight percent reported a high degree of satisfaction with their visit to The Last Green Valley compared to a 75 percent rating for the State of Connecticut.

“The results of the 2013 survey clearly support what we have been saying all along – The Last Green Valley has a loyal customer base and the tourism industry is steadily growing in the National Heritage Corridor,” said Charlene Perkins Cutler, TLGV executive director and CEO.  “The really interesting fact emerging from the analysis this year is that 18-34 year olds have the greatest economic impact on the region, spending $426 per visit and making 8.7 visits per year.”

The Last Green Valley is a National Heritage Corridor – the last stretch of dark night sky in the coastal sprawl between Boston and Washington, D.C.  A dynamic nonprofit organization, TLGV is a steward of that special place, working to celebrate our heritage, conserve our natural resources and respect our working lands.

 

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Charter Oak

top mortgage 

lender in eastern

Connecticut

GROTON — Charter Oak Federal Credit Union is once again the top mortgage lender in eastern Connecticut, according to annual figures compiled by The Warren Group, earning the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive year by originating more than 1,100 mortgages in 2013.

Charter Oak took top honors in the number of residential mortgage transactions in New London and Windham counties combined based on The Warren Group’s Residential Mortgage Marketshare Report. Charter Oak originated 1,169 mortgages during 2013, outpacing all the other local and national banks and credit unions serving eastern Connecticut. The next closest competitor is listed as originating 810 mortgages.

In addition, Charter Oak ranked first in the total value of mortgages for both counties combined, with more than $139 million in residential mortgages during 2013, based on The Warren Group’s report. “This is a significant and unprecedented honor for Charter Oak to be the lending leader for four years in a row,” said Brian A. Orenstein, Charter Oak’s CEO. “It represents a tremendous amount of hard work by our mortgage originators, our Lending Department and all of our branches,” he said.

Charter Oak offers a broad array of mortgage products, from adjustable-rate products to conventional 15- and 30-year terms, as well as its popular Accelerator and Cost Saver mortgages. Charter Oak also began offering VA Mortgages in 2014, adding to its suite of government-insured loans that also includes FHA and USDA mortgages.

 

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