🌱Open House At Spectrum Art + Vaping Workshop For Parents

Hey, everybody. It's Saturday in Essex-Chester-Deep River and I'm back in your inbox to get you caught up on the most important things happening in town. Because community news matters! Today's issue includes...

• Open house at Spectrum Art.
• Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau is offering a vaping workshop!
• 17th Annual Festival of New Musicals.

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But first, today's weather:

Partly sunny and breezy. High: 49 Low: 35.

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Here are the top three stories today in Essex-Chester-Deep River:

1. You're invited to an open house weekend, which starts today at 1 p.m. at Spectrum Art Gallery and Artisans Store of Centerbrook. The Gallery will be presenting The Unique Still Life, the Gallery's first exhibition of 2023. The open house ends today at 6 p.m. and will be open again on Sunday, January 30 from 1 to 5 p.m. Artwork by established and emerging artists from throughout Connecticut, the Tri-State Area, and New England will be on display. Although a still life typically focuses on commonplace, natural and/or man-made objects, how these objects are chosen and arranged is what makes the painting, drawing, mixed media piece, and photograph unique. The Gallery launched the show with an Open Reception, Friday, January 27 (6:30-9pm) and an Open House Weekend, today (1-6pm) and Sunday, January 30 (1-5pm) at 61 Main Street, Centerbrook, Connecticut. The Unique Still Liferuns through Saturday, March 11. (Spectrum Art Gallery)
2. Parents take note! Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau is offering a Vaping Workshop program for parents of 5th to 8th graders. It will be available on Zoom, and is being offered on Monday, February 6. Join Tricia Dahl, from the Yale Schoo of Medicine who will be leading the workshop, which will cover information about the latest research and risks of vaping. Hope to see you there!" (Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau via Facebook)
3. Mark your calendars! On March 17-19 the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam will be holding the 17th Annual Festival of New Musicals. The much-anticipated three-day festival will feature brand-new works, insider events, seminars, cabarets and staged readings. The Festival kicks off on Friday, March 17 with a staged reading of Double Helix. This exciting new tuner features book, music and lyrics by Madeline Myers. Saturday, March 18 will be highlighted by a staged reading of The Great Emu War, a humorous new musical based on true events, which has a book by Cal Silberstein and music and lyrics by Paul Hodge. The final day of the Festival features Little Miss Perfect, a new musical inspired by the viral single song of the same name with book, music and lyrics by Joriah Kwamé. Additional Festival events―including seminars, symposiums and exclusive cabarets―will round out this exciting weekend. Single tickets are $25 for each staged reading, and $15 each for students. Goodspeed's ever-popular Festival Package will offer patrons a weekend full of special events. The $100 package includes admission to all three staged readings, three Festival seminar sessions, the Festival Symposium, a season preview of the 2023 Terris Theatre offerings and the Meet the Writers question and answer session. For more information or to purchase tickets go to www.goodspeed.org. (Good Speed Opera House)

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Today in Essex-Chester-Deep River:

• STEAM Saturdays: Straw Airplane (Gr. K-6) (10:00 AM)
• STEAM Saturdays: Kinetic Sand (Gr. K-6) (10:00 AM)
• Essex Ed's Groundhog Day Parade Author and Illustrator Event (12:00 PM)

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From my notebook:

• Essex Board of Trade: "Well, well, look how cute?! Get ready for the Essex Ed Groundhog Day parade Sunday at 2 p.m.! Get your groundhog swag at Goods & Curiosities - The Griswold Inn Store and Toys Ahoy!" (Essex Board of Trade via Facebook)
• Town of Essex – Government: "Woohoo! Your package has arrived, but before tossing your plastic shipping envelope, please consider taking it to your local grocery store. These can be recycled there, but not at your home. #Shopping #Recycle #Recycling" (Town of Essex – Government via Facebook)
• Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau: "The thing you didn't know you needed to see today! 🦙" (Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau via Facebook)
• Deep River Public Library: "#readersofinstagram #readersgonnaread #readingtime #reading #bookaddict #books #book #booknerd #bookstagram #library #librarylife Not sure what library this is, but we love this!" (Deep River Public Library via Facebook)
• Town of Chester Connecticut: "Envirotip From the Conservation Commission Beautiful Nature Around Us: Who doesn't love seeing a Cardinal at their feeder? Often depicted against a snowy background and shown in Christmas scenes, the iconic red bird is a regular." (Town of Chester Connecticut via Facebook)
• Ivoryton Library Association: "Learn about Passive House building practices that save energy. February 11 at the Essex Library" (Ivoryton Library Association via Facebook)
• Essex Library: "Kids! Join us tomorrow at noon for our Essex Ed's Groundhog Day Parade author and illustrator event! Then, join us on Sunday to march in the parade! Register today! Call 860-767-1560 or e-mail staff.essexlib@gmail.com" (Essex Library via Facebook)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Saturday. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Karena Garrity

About me: I am a native of Connecticut, who currently resides in the Tri-Town community of Chester, Deep River and Essex. I have been a community reporter for the better part of the past 20 years. I love my small-town community and I am honored to be a part of Patch.com. You can reach me at; karena.garrity@patch.com.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Essex-Chester-Deep River Daily? Contact me at karena.garrity@patch.com