Higganum Vision Group

By Dom Forcelli
Staff Writer

If you have followed the Blues in Connecticut, you will know that they have heart.  The generosity of the bands is a match for their talents.  This Saturday at The Gelston House it is Jammin’ for JUVI’, a benefit for Juvenile Diabetes.

One of the bands, The Basically Blues Band, has a generous spirit that makes for a band that is part of the community.  They bring to mind (and I paraphrase) the statement, no one stands so tall as when they stoop to help a child.  They will be helping those with Juvenile Diabetes.

The Basically Blues Band has a contagious sound.  Add horns and harmonica to the guitar sound and the evening will be fun.  Talk about a full evening of music.  Joining them are a number of other bands: T-Ray Taylor, Paul Fuller, the Mike Augeri Quintet, Greg Gennari of Celestial, The Clay Selmont Group, and UHF.

As with all blues gatherings, there will be food and refreshments.  For more information and tickets call (860) 873-1411.

Saturday, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters are stopping in at Infinity Music Hall.  The Norfolk venue continues to bring in a variety of talent including top-notch blues.

Earl is a legendary blues guitarist with a quality of playing that brings in large audiences.  He was born in Queens, but didn’t pick up his first guitar until twenty years later.  He began a musical journey that took him to the sides of some of the most respected and talented blues musicians in the world.  With inspirations from the likes of Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker and B.B. King, Earl quickly developed his six string skills, playing with an intensity that hasn’t cooled in over thirty-five years of playing.

Earl, who has been hailed by musicians and critics alike as one of the premier blues guitarists of his genre, has played with such greats as Carlos Santana, Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.  He has often joined up with some familiar names to put a band together.  He has had a number of singers including Joe Beard.  The guitar players will be out in force to see Earl.

On Thursday at Infinity, Dickey Betts & Great Southern will be playing.

Betts is a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band and has one of the most distinctive voices in music today.  He is known as one of the most influential guitar players of all time.  Betts has mastered a seamless style of lyrical melody and rhythm.  Listening to him you hear the marriage of country, jazz, blues, and rock into one unparalleled sound.  He is the purveyor of some classic guitar riffs,

The Ridgefield Theater has Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer on Friday.  They come in fresh from their tour with Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band.  Saxophonist and multi keyboardist Edgar Winter continues to thrill audiences with hits including “Frankenstein,” “Free Ride,” and “We All Had a Real Good Time.”

A child prodigy who achieved international success early on, he has found an audience in every major entertainment medium, music, film and television.  His brother Johnny is a pretty well known player in his own right.

A prolific writer, his music encompasses many different genres, including rock, jazz, blues, and pop. Winter from the beginning has demonstrated his unique style and ability to cross the genre lines and do the unexpected.  Winter was backed by his group White Trash, a group originally comprised of musicians from Texas and Louisiana.  White Trash enjoyed huge success.

Guitarist Rick Derringer is a rock and blues icon known for songs including “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo,” “Still Alive and Well,” “Hang On Sloopy,” and “Bad to the Bone.”

Friday, The Steve Polezonis Trio returns to the West Main Pizza & Lounge.  The cozy place with good food starts the show early, 7:30 pm.

Also on Friday, Tom Sanders Band is at Black-eyed Sally’s.  Sanders is a founding member of the Connecticut Blues Society and he brings a history with him.  Sanders’ blues rock show has been pleasing folks for years.

Saturday, River City Slim & the Zydeco Hogs bring the dancing shoes into the Maple Tree Café.

Thursday, the Luke Mulholland Band will be at The Hungry Tiger.  Some good friends, a band called Tumbleweed Co. will be opening up for LMB from 9-9:45 and then Mullholland plays from 10-12:30. 

Luke Mulholland is gaining in stature throughout the music world.  He’s the hotshot guitarist  who was sneaking into bars at the age of 14.  Taking up the guitar at age 10, he acquired a taste for classic rock, closely studying the blues tinged records of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin while honing riffs on his acoustic. 

Gigging regularly by his mid-teens, he developed a powerful blues baritone, a gritty, rough-edged voice that sounds older.  Add his phenomenal Les Paul blues leads, he picks up where Stevie Ray Vaughn left off.  Audiences were often drawn in by the curiosity of the artist’s age, before being blown away by his capabilities as a musician and vocalist.

Mullholland will be giving away free merchandise to anyone who comes out to see them.

B Blues and Friends have started a small 3 piece Blues thing at J Martins in Higganum on Tuesday nights from 6 till 9 pm.  Guests are invited to sit in and it is gaining in popularity.

Great news for Pocono fans.  Looks like Michael Cloeren has a deal with Blue Mountain ski resort for a replacement for the Pocono Blues Festival.

The Pennsylvania Blues Festival is July 30 and 31 at Blue Mountain Ski Resort, Palmerton, Pennsylvania a bit south of the old site.

Any questions or comments should be sent to Domenic Forcella at TWBlus@aol.com.

From Haddam Historical Society: 

As a proud member of Connecticut's Historic Gardens the Thankful Arnold House will participate in the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show to be held on Feb. 24 to Feb. 27, at the Connecticut Convention in Hartford. The CHG consortium will have an information booth to promote our sites. This year we will be at booth #513. If you are interested in volunteering at the booth, call Lisa at 860-345-2400.

The Haddam Historical Society has received a $1,500 grant from the Middlesex County Community Foundation to prepare "A Glance Back-Haddam 350," a traveling exhibit celebrating the town's 350th anniversary.

The Heritage Enhancement focus grant is funded by the Middlesex County Community Foundation and Connecticut Humanities Council. The project will cover 350 years of Haddam history from a riverfront agricultural plantation to suburban bedroom community.

The exhibit will open in January 2012 and will travel to communities around the state during the year.

Article originally posted here. 

A mention of the Higganum-based small company called City Bench. Link to the full article here. 

SUNDIAL GARDENS AND TEA SHOP This rustic shop in a restored 18th-century barn in Higganum, Conn., is a mecca for those who appreciate gardens, exotic teas, and one-of-a-kind teapots. It’s stocked with at least 75 varieties of loose tea, and Ragna Tischler-Goddard samples every one before she puts it on the shelf. Among the rarest types are Li Shan oolong, a tea grown at 7,000 feet, and Chinese been cha, a hard tea cake originally created for the czars before the Russian revolution. The handmade Yixing teapots are works of art: a spider on a lotus leaf, a frog atop a lily pad, delicate handles that look like bamboo. The rich colors of these unglazed pots — cerulean blue, sage green, eggplant — are the colors of the clay, which is found only in a small area of China. During the holidays the shop stocks goodies from Tischler-Goddard’s native Germany: baumkuchen, or tree cake; marzipan from Lubeck; and Dresden stollen. In summer visitors come for the formal gardens. 59 Hidden Lake Road, 860-345-4290, www.sundialgardens.com

In Haddam, Keeping An Agrarian Tradition: Cold Goats Farm Follows A Sustainable Model

November 15, 2010|By MELISSA PIONZIO, pionzio@courant.com

HADDAM — — As the shearing season at Cold Goats Farm winds down, Vivienne McGarry is busy transforming the fleece and mohair produced by her sheep and angora goats into textiles for local knitters, spinners and fiber artists.

McGarry's animals, named after flowering herbs and spices such as vetch, edelweiss and cinnamon, provide her with a regular supply of product and a deep satisfaction in knowing they're helping her preserve her land and continue a farming tradition.

"There is such value in keeping farms and open space," said McGarry, who runs the 5-acre farm in the town's Haddam Neck section with her husband, Bob. "People need it as a de-stressor, whether It's going for a walk, a drive, a jog — whatever — I think it's a really important thing. Some people just don't understand the value of green space."

In a full-circle process, the McGarrys give as much back to the land as they take. By rotating the use of their fields, the soil is less stressed. The hay they feed their animals is purchased from a neighbor, who harvests it from his own fields. The couple stores it for winter use in the farm's sturdy 1850s-era barn, which they refurbished with a new roof and supportive beams.

"It's good for everybody to buy locally. It's less expensive for us. We can take it off the field when it's ready, so there's no middleman," she said. "And it keeps that hayfield as open space."

Their sheep and goats keep poison ivy, barberry, bittersweet and other invasive plants at bay and help fertilize the farm's garden beds. By breeding the goats with their neighbor's goats, adjoining land is used for grazing and offspring are produced.

"We have an arrangement," McGarry said of her neighbor, Mary Ellis. "She wants to keep her fields open and she enjoys the animals and we need to breed ours. We also use solar panels, which we put in her field because we can move them around."

Steven K. Reviczky, executive director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau, said people like the McGarrys may be one reason farming appears to be on the rise in the state.

"Our membership is growing again," Reviczky said. "It had gone through a period of decline and now we are a growing organization again. There is a renewed interest in local — where people are getting their food from, where people are getting other farm products from. People don't want their food and products traveling 1,500 miles to get to them."

The Higganum Pharmacy is celebrating their Grand Opening this coming Saturday, 11/20 at 10am. Join the Higganum Vision Group, pharmacy owner Luis Moren, and Haddam First Selectman (Paul Destefano) for the festivities.

Luis Moren, the owner and pharmacist just opened his doors for business this weekend.  Hours are M-F, 9-7, Sat, 9-3 and Sun 9-1.  

Higganum Pharmacy
Phone: 860 345-3607
3A Candlewood Hill Road (next to Shearmetrix hair salon)

Higganum Pharmacy is set to open Friday, 10/29. The business is located next to Shearmetrix hair salon on Candlewood Hill Road.