All Funk'd Up plays funky music, Ansonia audience loves it

All Funk'd Up, featuring Roni White, keyboardist and lead vocalist, performed Wednesday night to an appreciative crowd at Veterans Park in the final concert of Ansonia's summer series hosted by the Cultural Commission. 

Shelton jeweler to host fundraiser for The Valley Goes Pink

Update: Date of event changed to Oct. 26

Marks of Design selling buckets for Sept. 28 'Diamond Dig'  

SHELTON - Kate Marks, owner of Marks of Design at 389 Bridgeport Ave. will host a .90 carat 'diamond dig' from 3-7 p.m. Sept. 28 at her store. 
Participants may purchase a bucket like the one pictured above for $40 to participate in the fund-raising "dig" for a chance to find the diamond. 
All donations will go to The Valley Goes Pink to support the Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin Hospital in Derby.

I bought my bucket today; as a six-year breast cancer survivor how could I not support such a great cause?

Derby Neck Library to host World War I talk, book club, more

DERBY - The Derby Neck Library will host Women’s Forum, a discussion group which focuses on short stories and local history, at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 18.
This month’s meeting features “The Valley in World War One,” a powerpoint presentation by Patricia Sweeney. Attendees may wish to bring a light lunch. Free coffee and tea served.

Tech Talks
At 10:30 a.m. Sept. 20 the Library hosts Tech Talks, a monthly program devoted to what is new in technology and how to best use it in your daily life.

Evening Book Club
The Evening Book Club, moderated by Patricia Sweeney, Ph.D. will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25.

This month’s featured novel is “Murder in Mount Holly,” a mystery by Paul Theroux. Copies of the book are available at the library. Join us for an informative and stimulating discussion.

Afternoon Tea-V
The Library will host a new program,“Afternoon Tea-V,” at 1 p.m. Sept. 26.

The event features the showing of streaming-only programs, such as the first selection, “The Crown.” 

Join us for the showing and stay for a discussion. Free coffee, tea, and biscuits will be served. This will be a weekly event. 

For information on all programs call 203-734-1492. The Library is at 307 Hawthorne Ave.


This is a press release from Patricia Sweeney, reference librarian, Derby Neck Library.

Ansonia resident to receive Freemasons' award at dinner in Wallingford

Congratulations go out to Diane Stroman of Ansonia, vice president of TEAM, on receiving this recognition! 

Call for vendors for annual Ansonia Harvest Festival

'Turnback Tuesday' features war games in Derby

In the summer of 1912, the New England and New York National Guards 'invaded' Derby in a war game. War games are a type of military exercise to test or improve tactical skills.
The two groups combined and collaborated so that each 'army' had a mix of soldiers from each guard. This image depicts the invading Red army which arrived with 50 carloads of soldiers, horses and equipment at Derby Depot on August 12. The next day they crossed the bridge into Shelton. On August 17 the defending Blue army was declared 'defeated' in Newtown.


Thanks to the Derby Public Library for sharing this interesting local history each week!

Recuperation journey: Trying my hand at water colors (again)

Valley Arts Council prez teaches water color painting at Derby Public Library

Valley Arts Council President Rich DiCarlo leads a step-by-step class in water color painting Monday at Derby Public Library. At upper right is DiCarlo's portrait of a woman that the class followed.

Here's what I drew to start: It was the easy part of the class.

As I've said before, using water color paints is quite the challenge. I was trying not to get frustrated by the drips and drops of water on my paper. One needs to do a lot of blotting and wiping throughout the process.

Class members work on their paintings.

One man's final product.

My daughter, Allegra, and I weren't too happy with our final products. 
She doesn't want to keep hers; I won't go that far! 
But I don't think I'll post a picture of my version.

Meanwhile we'll look forward to DiCarlo's next class when we'll try again to get the hang of it.