North End Farmer's Market

Get your fresh tomatoes, peppers and local honey! (Sometimes...that stuff is so elusive! They need to put out a friggin mailing list or something)

Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 27) the North End Farmer's Market will open for the season. If the North End seems a little far, then maybe you need to re-examine your life and your choices because this is Hartford and the entire city is about a block long. But maybe you're like, "Tianna, I don't have a car, it really is far for me!" To which I say, "Oh man, that really sucks. How do you get McDonald's?" And you're like, "Well, I don't really eat McDonald's because I can't just stop by there whenever I feel like it like people with cars can." And I'm like, "Oh, yeah I guess that's true *nodding my head in agreement*" And you're like, "If you think about it, I'm pretty sure most people only eat fast food in a jam because it's always in driving distance and you don't have to leave your car." And I'm like, "That's true and what a shame because I'm sure that plays a hand in our poor overall health overall. I'd love to further pick your brain about this, but we're going to have to stop talking about this now because I could really go for a snackwrap." And you shake your head because people who don't eat McDonald's think those that do are just walking anthrax. 

And that head shake makes me feel bad, because I should be treating my body like a temple. I should be eating fresh food grown by people who have to suffer the same traffic on 84W as I, and shaking the stung hands of the man who cautiously collected my honey! So I gather my cloth grocery bags, hop on my bike and head to my nearest Farmer's Market while humming "Heal the World". My nearest Farmer's Market is just so happens to be the North End Farmer's Market on 80 Coventry Street, but there's way more than that running from the summer into the fall, so no need to examine your life and choices after all. (Unless you want to and if so by all means, examine away. If you're human, there's a 99% chance you're messed up anyway. May as well try to sort that whole thing out.)

Here are the Hartford Farmer's Markets (list pulled from the CT Department of Agriculture website)

Hartford ‐ Billings Forge Farmers’ Market

Thursdays 11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.

May 3 ‐ December 27

539 Broad Street, Grassy Courtyard on Billings Forge Campus

FMNP Authorized WF&V SNAP

Hartford ‐ Capitol Ave Farmers’ Market

Mondays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.

July 2 ‐ October 29

First Presbyterian Church Next to Bushnell, 156 Capitol Avenue

FMNP Authorized WF&V

Hartford ‐ Homestead Farmers’ Market NEW! in 2012CT DoAG

2012 Certified Farmers’ Markets

Wednesdays 3 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m.

June 27 ‐ October 10

255 Homestead Avenue, Chrysalis Center Inc

FMNP Authorized    SNAP

Hartford ‐ North End Farmers’ Market

Wednesdays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.

June 27 ‐ October 31

80 Coventry Street, In front of North end Senior Center

FMNP Authorized WF&V SNAP

Hartford ‐ Old State House Farmers’ Market

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.

June 26 ‐ October 26

Old State House, 800 Main Street

FMNP Authorized WF&V

Hartford ‐ Park Street Farmers’ Market

Mondays 9:30 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.

July 9 ‐ October 29

Walgreen's Parking Lot, Corner of Park and Washington Streets

FMNP Authorized   

Hartford ‐ West End Farmers’ Market

Tuesdays & Fridays 4 p.m. ‐ 7 p.m., 3:30 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m. (Sept‐Oct)

June 4 ‐ October 30

United Methodist Church ‐ 571 Farmington Avenue @ South Whitney Street

Charter Oak Cultural Center - Juneteenth Pilgrimage & More!

Photo courtesy of Charter Oak Cultural Center's Facebook page

I'm coming to you while taking a break from sipping iced tea on my lanai to tell you about some new haps here in the Capital City. (That's not entirely true. I don't really like iced tea I don't have a lanai. I don't even really know what a lanai is but ever since my girlfriend Charmane and I have started watching Golden Girls while we fall asleep every night, we've started referring to our balcony as a lanai.)

I've been meaning to write for a while about the Charter Oak Cultural Center. I'm sure you've seen the big and beautiful former synagogue (CT's oldest) when turning on Charter Oak Avenue, but may not have known what was inside. Since the late 1970's, it has been the home of a thriving multi-cultural arts center that offers a ton of arts and educational services to the community. From their website:

Charter Oak Cultural Center harnesses the power of the arts to create positive social change. We host cutting-edge, thought-provoking visual and performing arts, including dance, theater, film, concerts, readings, gallery exhibits and much more.  Our overall goal is to give access to the arts to all who hunger for them. 

I've been to a few events here at the Cultural Center over the last few months and all of them have been fun. My main thought when coming though is, "I really wish more people had come." I'll tell my friends and coworkers about it and they all say pretty much the same thing; something along the lines of, "Oh, I've never heard of that place." Well, now I'm telling you, so put them in your mental Rolodex of places in Hartford that you must check out.

Now to get black on you, as I like to do, I'll tell you about one of the brown events coming up. As always, EVERYONE is welcome at any event I post on my blog. The greater goal here is integration and working on this whole de facto segregation thing we've got going on. But the event I'm talking about is for Juneteenth, so I'm sort of inclined to lead with that because I don't want to get haunted by the ghost of Frederick Douglass, I just don't, guys. This coming Tuesday is Juneteenth, which is the holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery. The Charter Oak Cultural Center will be holding a pilgrimage to Hartford's African Burial Ground for a ceremony of "reflection and rejoicing". The cost is free and this is a very family-friendly event, so bring the kids for something enlightening to kick off their summer vacation.

Of course, this is only one event being held at the center. Be sure to keep up with their calendar and their Facebook page for new events, but just to let you know about a couple things coming up within the next month are musicians featured for the UMOJA Music Series and Indie Fest on July 14th, a huge roster of indie bands playing in the courtyard that sounds SUPER fun!

Then later in August, you need to mark your calendars NOW because MaPeach Productions will be coming to the Charter Oak Cultural Center putting on a production of The Wiz unlike any that you've ever seen! Of course I'll be writing about this in greater detail later because as you can probably tell, that's my partner Charmagne playing the role of the Scarecrow. But in the meantime, you can buy your tickets right now! The show will run from August 9 - August 12.

Here are the details for the Juneteenth pilgrimage once again:
When: Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
Where: Meet at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT
Time: 5:30pm
Cost: Free

Additional details: The flyer says that it will be a pilgrimage, which means walking. Not a ton of walking, but you will want to wear comfortable shoes. Bring the kids!

Judy Blume Comes to Hartford!

What's up fellow fun-seekers? Happy almost summer! I love this time of year and the city is buzzing with things to do so I'll jump right in.


Next Thursday, June 21, the one and only Judy Blume will be coming to the Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford Campus. The event is being sponsored by The Mark Twain House & Museum.

I'm sure most of the 80's babies out there are familiar with Ms. Blume's work. I remember when my school's librarian hooked me on Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing back when I was a third grade nothing. And I'm pretty sure you couldn't be a girl starting 6th grade without a copy of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret that was embarrassingly given to you by a well-meaning aunt who stage-whispered "it's about getting your period!" in front of everyone at a backyard cookout...No, just me?

But the great thing about these books is that not just us 80's babies benefited. There's a reason that most people I know have a story of being gifted a Judy Blume book at some point in their life and that's because her writing covers such a wide range of topics. Reading Are You There God? as a sixth grader meant a lot to me simply because it was a book about a teenage girl (like me!) preparing for the big to-do that is puberty (like me!). But as I got older and re-read the synopsis, I realized the book covered some very real themes that I didn't remember, or possibly didn't catch the first time around. These books weren't just about kids that were bummed about their situation, but also stories of children dealing with things that people don't normally talk to kids so frankly about. Because of her frank delivery and subject matter, many of her books have been banned, much like a famous Hartford author you may know.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Judy Blume's career. I'm sure during her evening, she'll talk about all of that and much more. Your job is to buy a ticket, get your butt in the seat and have a great night in the company of a legend!

Here's the skinny, if you don't feel like reading the poster:
Where: Lincoln Theater (on the campus of The University of Hartford)
When: 7:30pm Thursday, June 21, 2012
Cost: Tickets are $25/$40 or VIP seating with pre-event reception for $85
Buy: To buy tickets online: http://harttweb.hartford.edu/tickets.aspx
By phone: (860) 768-4228

If you feel like you need a refresher course before you get to the event, Julia Pistell has been re-reading the Judy Blume collection and blogging the experience. Be sure to check that out before you walk in the door, just in case your memory isn't what you think it is!