Wed.  Sept. 27
Art Exhibit
PUTNAM --- “A Cacophony of Greys” Exhibit and Reception by Steve Veilleux  will be on display in The Corridor Gallery at the Putnam Municipal Complex through Sept. 30. Features a series of black and white and monotone photographs. All welcome. Free. PutnamCtArtsCouncil.com for gallery hours and info.

Art Exhibit
THOMPSON --- For the month of September The Friends of the Thompson Public Library will present, as part of its Art @ the Library, “Falling Water: Photography by Steve and Danny Veilleux.” In the display case will be: “Our U.S. Constitution  by Ida Ransom.”  860-923-9779.

Fall Seminar
PUTNAM --- A free Fall Prevention in our Quiet Corner program will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Municipal Complex. Spots are still available, and there is a simple form required. For info or to sign up call 860-963-6800 ext 140.

Sat.  Sept. 30
BBQ
WOODSTOCK --- The Bungay Fire Brigade will host its fall 2023 Chicken BBQ from 4 to 6 p.m. www.bungay.com.

Community Day
THOMPSON --- The Town of Thompson’s 19th Annual Thompson Community Day will be held from 11 a.m.  to 4 p.m. at Riverside Park. Oct. 1 is the rain date.

Empty Bowls
THOMPSON --- The Empty Bowls fund-raiser will have two seatings, at 5 and 6:30 p.m., at TEEG. Tickets are $25 for the bowl and soup. $5 for ice cream and $20 for an additional bowl. For tickets: teegonline.org/events/empty-bowls.

Camp Day
WOODSTOCK --- The Windham-Tolland 4-H Camp Day fund-raiser at Bucks will be from 2 to 6 p.m. at Buck’s Soft Serve, 88 Kenyonville Road. Bake sale, ice cream eating contests, dunk the director and Buck’s famous soft serve ice cream treats.  Portion of sales goes to support the Windham Tolland 4-H Camp Dam Restoration Fund.  

Band
PUTNAM --- The Albert J. Breault VFW Post 1523 Canteen will present Stone County Band from 7 to 11 p.m. $5 cover.

Sun.  Oct. 1
Concert
CHEPACHET --- Music at the Meeting House will open its 34th year with a concert by Stanley & Grimm, titled "Celtic Tunes and Songs,” at 2:30 p.m. at the Chepachet Meeting House, home to the Chepachet Baptist Church, on Rt. 44. Refreshments follow. All welcome. Free but a free will offering will be taken. chepachetbaptist.org.

Wed.  Oct. 4
Stone Wall Program
POMFRET --- The Connecticut Audubon Society at Pomfret will present “Stone Walls in New England: History, Inventory, and Recommendations for Conservation,” a presentation by UConn professor Robert Thorson, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the center on Day Road. $5 for CAS members; $10 for nonmembers. Registration requested.

Fri.  Oct. 6
‘The Addams Family’
PUTNAM --- The Bradley Playhouse will present “The Addams Family” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6, 7, 13, 14 and 21 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 8, 15 and 22. $27 for adults and $24 for seniors, students, veterans and first responders. www.thebradleyplayhouse.org  or 860-928-7887.

Fri.  Nov. 3
‘Mind Candy’
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Rotary Club and the Bradley Playhouse will present “Mind Candy: A Night of Mind Reading & Magic” at 7:30 p.m. Wayne Hoffman, mentalist and illusionist. For info, tickets: www.TheBradleyPlayhouse.org/MindCandy.

Sat.  Nov. 11
Dueling Pianos
THOMPSON --- The DKH Dueling Pianos fund-raiser will be held at 6 p.m. at the Raceway Restaurant and Banquet Hall. Benefits Day Kimball Healthcare At Home services of HomeCare, HomeMakers, and Hospice & Palliative Care of Northeastern Connecticut. Food, drawings and more. Tickets $45, must be purchased in advance. daykimball.org/pianos.

Yuletide Festival
PUTNAM --- The Daughters of Isabella will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Mary Church Hall. Vendors sought. 413-612-8358.

Meet the Author
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Public Library will present “Meet the Author: Nathaniel Philbrick” at 1 p.m. in Community Room 112/113 at the Municipal Complex.

Sun.  Dec. 3
Tree of Life
The DKH 34th Annual Hospice Tree of Life Ceremonies will be held at 5 p.m. in 11 towns throughout northeastern Connecticut. The purchase of memorial lights on each community's Tree of Life benefits Hospice & Palliative Care of Northeastern Connecticut. For info: daykimball.org/treeoflife.

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PUTNAM — The Zombie Fashion Show will kick off at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Bandstand stage in Rotary Park.
From mini-monsters, creepy couples, fiendish families, and more the Zombie Fashion Show has it all!  
Join the fun!
The event will feature: Youth (ages 2 – 12, 2 entrants or less), Adult (ages 13+, 2 entrants or less), Group (3 entrants or more) and Corporately Corpsing (business entry) with prizes awarded in each category. To be part of the Corporately Corpsing category a business must incorporate their company name within their zombie name.
Preregistration is required and space is limited. Visit https://www.discoverputnam.com/zombiefashionshow to register.
The spectacle begins shortly after 7 p.m. Oct. 6 with a special introductory performance by The Complex Performing and Creative Arts Centre. Following the performance, zombies of all ages, stroll their decaying corpses across the runway for prizes to a killer soundtrack provided by DJ “Scary” (Gary) O of WINY Radio.
Spectators are encouraged to come early and bring chairs or blankets.
A graveful many “Thank Yous” to sponsors: Byrnes Agency Insurance, D.B.C Solutions, Gerardi Insurance | Hilb Group, Lehto Design Build and Tom and Kathy Borner for making this show come alive!
For sponsorship opportunities, questions on how to get involved or entertainment inquires please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
PARKING: Parking is available in the Riverfront Commons parking lot or in the public lots on the corner of Kennedy Dr./Pomfret Street, in Union Square, along the railroad tracks on South Main Street, in the smaller lots on Kennedy Drive along the River Trail, or on the 2 level public lot on Providence Street. Additional street parking is available on South Main Street and behind The Stacks (formerly the Putnam Public Library).

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POMFRET — A program on stone walls will be presented from 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Connecticut Audubon Society Center on Day road. Admission is $5 for CAS members and $10 for nonmembers.
Registration requested. Call 860-928-4948.
Dry stone walls are the most noticeable features of the larger domain of stone objects that also includes cellar holes, cairns, piles, lines, scatters, and individual notable stones.
UConn professor of earth sciences and author, Dr. Robert Thorson will outline the history of our quintessentially New England fieldstone walls, provide several key clues to interpreting them, link them to modern habitats, and make recommendations for their conservation and management.
Thorson is the author of “Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History of New England Stone Walls,” the 2003 Connecticut Book Award winner for nonfiction, and “Exploring Stone Walls,” the first field guide to stone walls. We will be giving away one copy of the latter title. He coordinates The Stone Wall Initiative (https://stonewall.uconn.edu/) website, an online resource for those interested in the historic stone walls of New England.
Beginning with his field guide, Thorson has worked out a naming and classification system for relict stone walls. His thinking is that an objective tool and scientific approach to their study will lead to better documentation, inventorying, and environmental management. He suggests there are parallels between wetlands conservation and stone wall conservation.
If you have spent any time in the woods, you are more likely than not to have come across an old stone wall. Maps produced by aerial imaging systems, such as LiDAR (Light Direction and Ranging) which “look” through the forest canopy, reveal an abundance of them. They are indicative of early agricultural and industrial impacts on the landscape.
When European colonists first came to Connecticut, the land was heavily forested with huge chestnut, oak, and pine trees. By the mid-1800s, only 20 percent of the state was forested. The trees had been cut, and stone walls built to clear the land for agriculture and construction, pen livestock, and mark boundaries. For several reasons, in the second half of the 19th century, the cleared land was abandoned, and the forests and woods reclaimed it. Like pottery and tools, the walls remained as artifacts of times past.
CAS Northeast Corner Director Sarah Heminway said: “Our hope is this program helps to foster a deeper awareness of and appreciation for the many stone walls in our Quiet Corner towns.” At Trail Wood in Hampton, donated to CAS by Edwin Way Teale and Nellie, his wife, Edwin measured 5 miles of “stone fences” on the property. He wrote about them in his book, A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm. The best walls at Trail Wood are made of schist from the Hebron Gneiss formation, a stone that naturally splits into tablets and slabs and was especially good for capstones. Teale also considered the natural history of his stone walls – a hunting ground for long-tailed weasels, food storage for squirrels, a travel route for a red fox, shelter for a blue jay, homes for field mice...
While advocating for a scientific approach to their management, Thorson deeply appreciates the old stone walls for enhancing our lives and he hopes to see them conserved. When he moved to Connecticut, he came to understand “the … cultural bond between New England’s stone walls and its regional identity.” Thorson sums it up this way, “The soul of New England perches on a rock.”

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