The New England Anomaly

I want to remind readers out there (all two of you) that the Windham Textile & History Museum is presenting their annual Snow Ball event. A little late in the season, but it shouldn’t deter anyone from having a good time.

This year’s theme is: The Snow Ball goes Hollywood — movies of the 30s and 40s.

Price: $60 per person; Snow Angels $100 per person. Black tie optional — or come as your favorite movie character!

Where: The Bruce Bellingham Auditorium in Windham Town Hall, 979 Main Street, Willimantic, CT

When: March 3 (Saturday), 2012, 8:00 PM to midnight

Music provided by The Flamingos, a great all-female classic jazz band. There will be refreshments, a cash bar, and the famous Silent Auction. Make reservations by calling 860-428-7573, or by sending a check to: WTHM, 411 Main Street, Willimantic, CT 06226

This is a huge fundraiser for the Mill Museum, so come and support local history and dance the night away! Don’t miss seeing me and the hubby in a tux and gown…it’s the only time you’ll witness us this formally dressed (Joey looks very fetching in his gown and I will rock the tux).

See you there!

Cranky

A (groundhog) nose for weather

Cranky Yankee — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:26:07 +0000

Happy Groundhog Day and blessed Imbolc!

Punxsutawney Phil has poked his nose out of Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania and proclaimed six more weeks of winter.

But not so fast says many of his rivals, including Connecticut’s very own Chuckles the Groundhog of the Lutz Children’s Museum in Manchester. She and the others say spring has sprung!

You can read about the contradiction issue here and see a video of Chuckles here.

Chuckles and other groundhogs may be on to something. This year’s weather patterns are due to some unusual mass air pressure positions. But after last year’s snowy winter, most people are welcoming the mild season.

In the meantime, the contradictions in forecasts wasn’t the only controversy being stirred up by Chuckles, who along with her weather prediction added, “Go Patriots!”

Chuckles, afterall, is a true New Englander.

Heh…

Cranky

Cemetery News

Cranky Yankee — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:09:11 +0000

Here’s the first round of New England cemetery news for 2012…

First, some good news!

Man Who Catalogued Cemetery Given Highest Geneology Award

Middletown Patch, January 23, 2012

They shouldn’t have to clean up after inconsiderate people

New London cemetery cleans graffiti from monuments

New London Day, January 3, 2012

New London man makes his voice heard in Ohio

Captain’s opinion etched in stone

Marietta Times, January 3, 2012

A new headstone for a local hero.

Remembering a hero of the Revolution

Minuteman News Center, January 18, 2012

Massachusetts town sees the future and it’s in ashes.

Braintree councilors approve Blue Hills Cemetery request for crematory

Boston.com, January 25, 2012

All we can say is….oops!

Out-of-state truck gets stuck in Auburn cemetery

Worcester Telegram/Gazette, January 30, 2012

This is so sad…

Vandals Damage 100-Year-Old Headstones

NBC Connecticut, January 30, 2012

And now more (not so good) news about Arlington and the National Cemetery Administration.

Burial problems found at VA cemeteries

Washington Post, January 23, 2012

Arlington Cemetery disputes reports, says $12 million isn’t missing

Washington Post, January 26, 2012

And last but not least…

Mark it on your calendar, folks! The Connecticut Gravestone Network‘s Annual Symposium will be held on March 31, 2012 at the their headquarters in the East Hartford Senior Center, in East Hartford, CT. See you there!!

Cranky

New Year and New Beginnings

Cranky Yankee — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:46:46 +0000

Welcome to 2012! And what better way to celebrate a new year than with a new marriage!

Congratulations goes out to my friends George and Donna who got married this past weekend. What makes this wedding so special is that they performed their nuptials in a library. And not just any library…but a genuine New England anomaly library…namely the oldest continuously operating library in the country! How cool is that?!

The Abington Social Library is nestled in the rural village of Abington in the Town of Pomfret, CT on Rt. 97…just down the street from the Abington Burial Grounds (you knew I would bring in a cemetery somehow, didn’t you?). Although the building has only been around since 1885, the library itself has existed non-stop in one form or another since 1793, including a stint as a women’s library in the early 1800s. All this was told to me by the library’s director, Bonnie Duncan, who just so happens to be a justice of the peace and oversaw the ceremony. It’s a neat building, divided up into two halves…one side is the main adult section. Like any library, they carry the latest fiction titles, reference books, video and DVD tapes, and the other side is a well stocked children’s room filled with toys, game tables and lots of good reading for the young ones. And like any good historic library, there is also a section with books dedicated to local history.

I noticed a nearly life-size, wooden wolf statue in the corner. That, says Duncan, was a gift from a patron to honor the last wolf in Connecticut. As some may know, the last wolf in Connecticut was killed in Pomfret by none other than Israel Putnam, hero of the American Revolution. To read the story, go here. Ms. Duncan also confined to me that the library is said to be haunted that same wolf’s spirit. While I personally don’t believe in ghosts, it’s a cool story, never-the-less. The library was recently written up in the Woodstock Villager newspaper. You can read about the library here.

So, why get married here? George and Donna are long-time library folks and scholars themselves, so it all makes sense to be married by a librarian in a library. They picked the Abington Social Library when they heard about it from a friend. It was small, historic and personable…what every community library strides to be.

It was a wonderful ceremony, with self-written vows (and a hand-shake deal to boot!). They make an awesome couple. We were honored to be there and we at the New England Anomaly wish them the very best in their lives. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple. Bright Blessings to them both.

And as for the rest of you, if you’re in north-eastern Connecticut, make sure to stop by the Abington Social Library and say hi to Bonnie Duncan and the ghost wolf! Pet the wolf statue for me, too.

George and Donna

Happy Holidays!

Cranky Yankee — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:04:18 +0000

Happy Winter Solstice and a Blessed Yule to you all!

Have fun and be safe.

photo by C. LeBeau

Cemetery News

Cranky Yankee — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:11:17 +0000

One more Cemetery News update before the end of the year…

Gardening and cemeteries go hand in hand…

New Hartford preservation Garden club looks into ways to ensure care for cemetery

Waterbury Republican American, Nov. 28, 2011

And speaking of garden cemeteries…

WHO LIES HERE: Mt. Pleasant Cemetery third in country designed to evoke European outdoor spaces

Taunton Daily Gazette, Nov 24, 2011

A long-lost stone comes home…

Infant’s long-missing gravestone returned

New London Day, Dec. 7, 2011

Heartless, especially this time of year…

Little girl’s grave among 16 vandalized at Griswold cemetery

Norwich Bulletin, Dec. 11, 2011

And if you think thieves can’t sink low enough, this happens…

Massive bronze statues stolen from Waterbury cemetery

WFSB.com, Ch. 3, Dec. 13, 2011

Shadowy death figure, other bronze statues stolen from Waterbury cemetery

Waterbury Republican American, Dec. 12, 2011

Luckily, the pieces were found, and the thieves caught…

Two Charged With Stealing Cemetery Statues

NBC Connecticut, Dec. 16, 2011

And now an update on the happenings at Arlington Cemetery…

GAO: Improvements Under Way At Arlington Cemetery

Huffington Post, December 12, 2011

From the Assoc. for Gravestone Studies newsletter…a photo blog about Vermont cemeteries!

Green Mountain Graveyards

And speaking of AGS…here’s the latest info on the upcoming AGS annual Conference

Call for Papers and Participation/Class Sessions
2012 AGS Conference and Annual Meeting
Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey
June 19 – 24, 2012

That’s it for now. See you on this side of the grass!
Cranky

Voynich Manuscript

Cranky Yankee — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:51:37 +0000

Thanks to bOING bOING for the heads up on this one… (You don’t read bOING bOING? You should!! It’s AWESOME!)

That great New England “anomaly” known as The Voynich Manuscript is now online!

Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library finally put the entire Voynich Manuscript on the web for perusal. The Voynich Manuscript is a controversial book that is said to date back to the 15th century. Experts don’t know much about the book because the writing in it has been undecipherable, but it is interesting none-the-less. It looks to some like a medicinal or alchemy handbook. It’s full of hand-drawn plants, images, and other weird doodles and written in a text nobody can read. Some say its an elaborate hoax put out by the bookdealer for who the manuscript is named after. The book has been in Yale’s possession since 1969.

Mystery, hoax, or yet unknown universal truth, the Voynich Manuscript continues to fascinate and frustrate academics. Now everyone can join the ranks of the perplexed as they leaf through its pages on the web…and best of all, it’s right here in Connecticut.

Let the deciphering begin!

Cranky

Food Coma and food for thought

Cranky Yankee — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:53:43 +0000

So how’s that food coma coming along now that Thanksgiving is over? Maybe there’s some room for food for thought…

Yesterday, while driving to a destination, I listened to the radio show “Back Story” with the American History Guys (What? No American History Gals?), as they explained Thanksgiving in this country.

As I listened to them yak about Pilgrims, New England, and (ugh) football, all I kept thinking was, “Tony Horwitz says Thanksgiving began in St. Augustine.” That went through my mind several times during the show, then about half way through, a woman named “Robin” phoned in to talk about just that. They don’t identify her, but I’m guessing it was Robyn Gioia, author of the book America’s First Real Thanksgiving, and she set The American History Guys straight (An American History Gal! Yea Robyn!). Yes, the first celebrated Thanksgiving in America took place in St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 by the Spanish, led in particular by Pedro Menendez. But as the American History Guys and Robyn all pointed out, thanksgiving celebrations occurred regularly all over the Christian world. And in this case, Menendez and his crew gave thanks for a safe passage…and the extermination of the French [Huguenots] who just happened to be there at the time.

Happy Thanksgiving! Prepare to die!! I’m sure the French didn’t think it was too happy. Neither did Natives Americans since this same scenario can be used for Jamestown and Plymouth in context to relations between settlers and the Indians.

So what brought this all up? Good timing, basically. I just finished reading Tony Horwitz‘ book A Voyage Long and Strange earlier that day before I heard the radio show, and of course, we all just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A. Horwitz’s book covers the years after Columbus and before, since he also researches the Vikings and the Basques visitations as well. [Note: for more detailed information on why the Basques were here, read Mark Kurlansky's Cod: a Biography of the Fish that Changed the World.] Horwitz gives a lot of pages over to the Spanish who were making treks all over the southeast long before the English even thought about turkeys and Pilgrim hats. Half the fun of Horwitz’s book is his Notes on Sources and bibliography. The guy certainly does his homework. I loved that he also mentions some New England “anomalies” such as Old Colony Club, Fort St. George, and Dighton’s Rock in his notes. I’m looking forward to reading his new book, Midnight Rising [check out the awesome NY Times book review here].

And where does the Pilgrims and Plimouth Plantation fit in to all of this? As both Horwitz and the American History Guys point out, it was all good PR on someone’s part. Godey’s Lady’s Book & Magazine and the myth of America’s English roots…that’s what it all comes down to. And like many American holidays, Thanksgiving has changed over the years to something totally different than what it originally began as.

But, like the person who changes the subject among the feuding relatives at the dinner table, I’m not here to get into the pros and cons of why this all happened. For me, Thanksgiving just means getting together with friends and family, sharing repast, and truly being thankful for what I have. Isn’t that what we all want?

Happy Thanksgiving…and I mean it, too.

Cranky

The Unique Gift Holiday Fair

Cranky Yankee — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:12:46 +0000

Hi all,

I was asked to pass this on to everyone. I think it’s a great idea. Check it out!

The Unique Gift Holiday Fair

Saturday, December 3rd, from 9AM to 4PM and Sunday December 4, from 10AM to 3PM
South End Senior Center, 70 Canterbury Street, East Hartford, CT

Refreshments available: Coffee, Tea, Hot Cider and snacks.

Got a Historian or Budding Genealogist in the family? How about someone interested in a mystical or the magical side of living? This is gift giving like you’ll find nowhere else and all under one roof!

Featuring historic cemetery and mourning themed artwork, jewelry, and crafts. Introduction to some organizations, memberships and books, or certificates for Tarot Card reading, Hand Writing Analysis or time with a professional genealogist to help get someone off to the right start. A great place to start your journey into your ancestral past and appreciation for history!

Items include photography, books, paintings, stained glass, Victorian mourning jewelry, sculpture, t-shirts, cards, pins, old coins, genealogy books, and more. Vendors include but are not limited to: Sabrina’s Grave Art, Mourning Jewelry by Mary Carroll, Stained Glass by BillieJo, Enchantments Witch Shoppe & School, The Gravestone Girls, Connecticut Gravestone Network (resource handouts and local history information), Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Descendents & Founders of Ancestral Windsor and more.

On Saturday, December 3, a professional handwriting detective will be on site to analyze present day and ancestral handwriting samples you provide.

Attendees interested in genealogy may purchase a gift membership to one of the attendant genealogical organizations or a consultation with a genealogy professional.

The show is sponsored by East Hartford’s Friends of Center Cemetery, Inc. and Connecticut Gravestone Network.

For more information about the art & craft show and/or the associated Genealogy Help Sessions, call 860-643-5652, or e-mail shapbrown@cox.net.