Historic Lordship Tour on Saturday, June 13

On Saturday June 13, 2009 (10am to 4pm) a coalition of Lordship community groups will host a celebration of Lordship's history and its present, the "Historic Lordship Tour," to remember and celebrate those days of long ago when the Trolley brought tourists to enjoy the beach and the new-fangled horseless carriages ran along Prospect Drive.

For one day, the trolleys will come back to Lordship, bringing the community together for some old-fashioned fun. The trolley cars will circuit Lordship with guided tours, stopping at the three churches (with free parking and bathroom facilities), Audubon Center, the firehouse, Stratford Point Lighthouse, and Civil Air Patrol.

The Audubon Society will conduct tours of the old Remington Gun Club and the Firehouse. The Father's Club Building and the retired firemen will give tours of their facilities. And for the first time in decades, the Stratford Point Lighthouse (a fully functional Coast Guard operational lighthouse) and the Civil Air Patrol will be open to the public.

Each stop will feature a special display of historical highlights via video, photographs and special events lik a storyteller impersonating Igor Sikorsky. Eateries and booths along the way will provide ample opportunity for folks to go home full of goodies and memories. An antique car show, roller skating demonstration, live music by the Stratford High School Jazz Band, a quilt exhibition, and a booth about local history resources at the Stratford library will add to the fun. The participating organizations are the Lordship Fathers’ Club, Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph National Catholic Church, and the Lordship Community Church, and the Stratford Civil Air Patrol.

Tickets are $10 per person or $20 per family and can be purchased at the Stratford Library by check or cash. For more information please see http://www.lordshiphistory.com/ or call: Christine Griffin -203-378-3537.

Memorial Day

The Library will be open on the Saturday before Memorial Day, from 10 am - 5 pm, but we will be closed on both Sunday, May 24 and Memorial Day, May 25. Maya Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC is one of the most well-known pieces of sculpture in our country, despite the fact that it is less than 30 years old. The Library of Congress holds the archives of papers relating to the design contest which Lin won and to the building of the memorial. Looking at Lin's original submission to the contest, it seems somewhat amazing that the judges were able to visualize how profound and moving her design would be once built. In her text that accompanied her drawings, Ms. Lin wrote that "these names, seemingly infinite in number, [would] convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying these individuals into a whole." After Lin's design was chosen as the winner, the contest committee evidently felt that a more conventional drawing was needed in order to convey a sense of what the monument would look like to the visitor. Architect Paul Stevenson Oles was asked if he could create several drawings in just a matter of hours that would show the Lin's design in a more conventional manner. Oles checked with Lin to make sure that his drawing fit her conception. She asked him (shyly, as he recalls) if she could be included in his drawing. She seems to be the young lady standing at the top of the Wall looking down. More details of this story, and more pictures of her sketches, can be found at the Library of Congress's American Treasures website.

"Eating Healthy on a Budget" - May 19th

The Health & Wellness series continues at the Stratford Library in May. This is a free series presented by the Office of the Mayor & the Stratford Health Department. Join us on Tuesday, May 19th at 5:30 pm in the Lovell Room for: "Eating Healthy on a Budget" with Dr. Susan Rzucidlo, a Naturopath from The Center for Naturopathic Medicine, Inc. in Stratford. The talk will provide information on how to shop, eat and cook in a healthy way. "In todays' economy many Americans are looking for ways to lower their grocery bill," said Dr. Rzucidlo. "Eating healthy when on a budget is easier than you may think. It is important to keep in mind that health is the untimate wealth." Dr. Rzucidlo's talk is free & open to the public. Please contact Jennfer Sloat at the Stratford Health Department at 203-385-4090 or jsloat@townofstratford.com to register.

Glass Menagerie -at Stratford Library & at Long Wharf Theatre

Join us to discuss "The Glass Menagerie" on May 12th, then purchase a ticket to the Long Wharf production (running May 13th -June 7th) & get $5 off with your Library Card!

Script Talk - at the Stratford Library:

"The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams will be discussed on Tuesday, May 12th beginning at noon in the library’s Lovell Room. The Emmy Award winning film version of “The Glass Menagerie” starring Katharine Hepburn and Michael Moriarty will be shown after the talk. Discussion is moderated by area theatre and library programming director Tom Holehan. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch to the program – coffee and tea will be served. For further information, call the Stratford Library’s Public Relations and Programming Office at 203.385.4162 or http://www.stratfordlibrary.org/

The Play - at Long Wharf Theatre (May 13th - June 7th) :

Starring Judith Ivey of “Designing Women”, Josh Charles of “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Sportsnight”, Patch Darragh and Keira Keeley.

Get $5 off all tickets to Long Wharf Theatre’s production of The Glass Menagerie with a library card or a receipt from one of the following bookstores: The Book Trader Café, Labyrinth Books, Atticus Bookstore (New Haven); RJ Julia Booksellers (Madison); and Breakwater Books (Guilford). Or, for groups of 10 or more, get up to 35% off the regular ticket price. Call Leah Dudley at (203) 772-8242 for more information or www.longwharf.org

Percy Jackson Party

Saturday, May 9 from 10:30 a.m. to noon The Stratford Library Children’s Department will host a special party to celebrate the release of The Last Olympian, the fifth and final book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, created by Rick Riordan. This event will take place on Saturday, May 9 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Children’s Department. The program is free and open to all children 8 years and older.

In the first book, The Lightning Thief, readers meet Percy Jackson, who seems to be an average New York City kid until he learns his father is Poseidon, the Ancient Greek god of the sea. The other books in the series continue his adventures in a war between good and evil forces.

Activities at the party will include crafts, games, and Greek snacks. Copies of Mr. Riordan’s books will be available for reviewing and check out. Children are encouraged to dress as their favorite Greek character and will win prizes for their knowledge of Ancient Greece. For further information or to register, call the Stratford Library Children’s Department at 203.385.4165 or visit its website at http://www.stratfordlibrary.org/.

Urban legends, hoaxes and frauds

Have you heard that entering your ATM code backwards will automatically summon the police? Or that Revlon lipstick contains dangerous amounts of lead? These are some of the most popular rumors pinging around the internet right now.

At the library, when we hear a rumor that seems a little too much like an urban legend, we use one of our favorite websites, http://www.snopes.com/ to find out the truth. Snopes.com's authors are Barb and David Mikkelson, a married couple who turned their hobby -- documenting urban legends -- into a full-time job. Read about their passion for truth and fiction in this interesting profile of the Mikkelsons just published by Reader's Digest.

We love the Mikkelsons and snopes.com. They save us hours of work when patrons call us and ask, "Was John Denver a military sniper in Vietnam?"*

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*No, he wasn't. See the snopes.com article: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/denver.asp

New Health & Wellness Series at the Library

The library will be hosting a monthly series of Health & Wellness programs sponsored by the Office of the Mayor & Health Department.

These programs are part of the Mayor's Passport to Health initiative.

Join us on Tuesday, April 21st at 6:15 pm in the Lovell Room -

Dr. David Brady, a licensed Naturopathic Physician and Nutritionist from Bridgeport, will be speaking about what you need to know to stay vital, resilient and healthy in today's unhealthy world.

Dr Brady is also the author of "Dr. Brady's Healthy Revolution: What You Really Need to Know to Stay Healthy in a Sick World"

If you would like to attend or want to know more about the programs - contact Jennifer Sloat at the Stratford Health Department at 385-4090.