What's Up at the Custom House - April 23, 2012

This March, the French Musee national de Marine opened a magnificent exhibition: PHARES -- Lighthouses.  If you don't plan to be in Paris before the show ends on November 4, visit the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Research Library at the Custom House Maritime Museum to see the exhibition catalog.    

Much of France's maritime history is told using ship models. Above, the entrance to PHARES.  Log on to Flickr to see how the PHARES exhibition was assembled.   

Every Wednesday, from 5 to 6 o'clock PM  Watch Custom House Maritime Matters, on New London Metrocast cable, channel 25, with host Dr. George Sprecace, president of the New London Maritime Society.   Replayed on ComCast and Thames Valley on Fridays at 7 PM  on Channel 12.  This week George's guests are friends from the Connecticut Marine Modelmakers Society: Tom Kane, president, Nick Damuck & Justin Camarata --modelmakers, all, to give a preview of the Ship Model Conference & Show coming up this Saturday (see below)!   

SHIP MODEL CONFERENCE AND SHOW

30th Annual Northeast Joint Clubs - Saturday, April 28, 9 AM to 4 PM at the Port 'N Starboard Convention Center, Ocean Beach Park, New London, Connecticut. Public welcome! See detailed models from award-winning craftsmen and artists. $5 admission (children under age 12 are free).

For Lighthouse lovers, only, go to the pharesmonde group pool of lighthouse images associated with the Paris exhibition (&, yes, New London Harbor Light is there!).

next Monday -  Attend our Skill-Building Workshops with Harriet Grayson  Public-Private Partnerships    Monday, April 30, 9 AM - noon  - $65. This workshop looks at the big picture -- the need for collaboration and cooperation between the nonprofit community and the public sector and business community. As money tightens the need for maximizing the use of finite resources becomes more important than ever. Discussion will focus on successes across the country and how those lessons can be applied to communities in southern New England. Pre-registration is required.
Space is limited. Call 860-447-2501 to register.   Contact for Course Information:  Harriet Grayson   Bio: Harriet Grayson, President of 5 Star Seminars and Publisher of Ocean Breeze Press, is an accomplished speaker, author, fundraising consultant (previously a partner in Focus Fundraising) and former insurance executive and urban planner.  She has worked in the private, public and non-profit sectors. As an urban planner, she has worked with diverse organizations to create cooperative plans that are inclusive and effective. As a grants writer she has focused on collaborative projects that are more likely to be funded and successful. In addition, she has planned, organized and created special events. She was educated as an urban planner (M.U.P., NYU) and urban sociologist/demographer (B.A. Queens College, M.A. University of Denver). .      

Augustin-Jean Fresnel - best-known as the inventor of the Fresnel Lens. 

New London Harbor Light Tours  - New London Harbor Light will open for visitor tours on Wednesdays in May and June, 2012. Space is limited to six visitors per tour and advance reservations are required. Visitors meet at the Custom House Maritime Museum at 1 and 3 PM. The tours raise funds for the restoration of New London Harbor Light--the oldest & tallest lighthouse on Long Island Sound.   New London Harbor Lighthouse is located onshore, approximately three miles from the downtown, and offers breathtaking views over the Sound.
Visitors receive a guided tour as they climb the 119 steps to the lighthouse lantern. Call 860-447-2501 to make a reservation. Suggested donation is $35 for adults and $15 for children ages 8 to 14.  

NLMS trustee John Desjardins will present a talk on New London Harbor Lighthouse to the Montville Historical Society this Thursday, April 26,  7:30 PM, at the Montville Senior Center. The talk is free and open to the public. 

Buy your tickets now

Make Mine Wine -  May 11, 6:30-8:30

The Waterford Rotary Annual Charity Wine Tasting & Silent Auction.  It's delicious, it's fun, & it benefits the Custom House(!), Sound Community Services and Women's Center of SE CT. At the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Waterford. Tickets are available at the Custom House - 860-447-2501.

This event will be closely followed by the 4th Annual Chowda' Fest  and the official opening of our next exhibition, Sgott Mackenzie's Further Adventures of the Giant Squid & the Seagull.

They BOTH take place Saturday, May 19, from 1 to 3 PM. 

A poetry notebook--a  special tribute to Amelia Earhart, The Amelia Project, will be on view at the Custom House through April--National Poetry Month--at the Custom House Maritime Museum.   The project, developed by Anastasia Clark, is a poetic tribute to the aviator, who has been missing for 75 years.  

Save the date: Monday, June 4, 2012 

Join NLMS for a day trip to colonial Newport on Monday, June 4, 2012. Highlights include a visit to Doris Duke's incredible 17th-18th century furniture collection in an 1811 mansion with magnificent gardens, and to the Redwood  - the oldest lending library in the country. A terrific lunch is included. Member price $80, non-members $95. Call 860-447-2501 or email for reservations.

A 2nd trip is also in the works for late June - to visit the USS Constitution!
Watch our Web site and Facebook place page to get all the details.


There are just three weeks left until New London's U.S. Coast Guard Museum reopens with a special Open House on Saturday, May 12. We'll post full details next week.

A friend at the USCG forwarded this link:  The Sisters of Sciuate Light, writing  'As the summer draws near, events to commemorate the bi-centennial of the War of 1812 will start to capture everyone's attention.  To help us better understand and enjoy the planned events this summer, the USCG public affairs office is creating short, informational videos detailing how are predecessors help make history and a difference for our young nation.
Part three of our six-part series tells the tale of Scituate Light, and how the two young daughters of the light keeper may have thwarted a landing of British troops just south of Boston. 

Just for the fun of it --  this Thursday at the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden... 

The figurehead from  Marite Antoinette's Pleasure Barge, from the French Musee national de Marine. This figurehead graced the front of the barge used by Marie Antoinette (1755-93) on the Grand Canal in the gardens of the Versailles. During the height of Versailles' glory as the seat of power of the French monarchy, a section of the gardens was known as "Little Venice" and was filled with ornate boats and boathouses. After years of neglect in revolutionary and republican France, Marie Antoinette's barge was discovered in deteriorated condition in the nineteenth century. The vessel's decay was so advanced that only the bow and stern could be preserved.

Have a sparkling day!