News & Events

Traditional Irish Music and Dance for All Ages

Dancers will join Kitchen Ceili for a traditional Irish music concert on Saturday, March 8, 2pm in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown.  The musicians include Stan Scott on vocals, guitar and mandolin, Dora Hast on whistles and recorders and George Wilson on vocals, fiddle and banjo.  They will be joined by Tim and Sarah Hobson, a prize-winning brother-sister Irish Step dance duo from the Broesler School of Irish Dance in New York.  The concert is for all ages.

Dora Hast and Stan Scott are Middletown residents.  They both received their Ph.D‚s in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and co-authored Music in Ireland:  Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture.  Stan teaches fretted instruments at Wesleyan. Dora is an Assistant Professor of Music at Eastern Connecticut State University and teaches whistle in the local community.

George Wilson is a talented multi-instrumentalist whose repertoire includes traditional music of Ireland, Cape Breton, Quebec, the Adirondacks, Scotland and Shetland.  He plays with many bands throughout the Northeast and teaches in the Albany area.

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Connecticut Sisters in Crime; a Book Discussion Series

Author Carole Shmurak will lead this series which begins on Wednesday, March 12, 7pm in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street.  The book discussions will feature contemporary mystery novels written by female Connecticut authors.  The new heroines of these books are savvy, self-reliant, strong, often have a great sense of humor and deal with specific gender-related issues such as getting established in a male-dominated career.  The first novel Deadmistress by Carole Shmurak is about the investigation into the brutal murder of the headmistress of a posh private school for girls.  The other suspenseful mysteries in the series include Final Fore by Roberta Isleib on March 26, The Stiff and the Dead by Lori Avocato on April 9, and Restless Waters by Jessica Speart on April 23. Multiple copies of the books are available at the library.  

The facilitator, Carole Shmurak, is Professor Emeritus at Central Connecticut State University and the author of nine books, including two Susan Lombardi mysteries, Deadmistress, and Death by Committee.  As Carroll Thomas, she is the co-author of the Matty Trescott series, one of which, Ring Out Wild Bells, was nominated for the Agatha Award for best young adult mystery of 2001.  She lives in Farmington, Connecticut with her husband Steve and cat Ariel, and is at work on her third Susan Lombardi mystery.  These book discussions are made possible through a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council.

Click here to access calendar for Sisters in Crime Book Discussion

Mobile Mammography at Russell Library

On Tuesday, March 4, 9am-12:30pm, Hartford Hospital‚s mobile mammography unit will be in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown.  Please call 860-545-1141 to make an appointment; if hospital staff does not answer, you may leave a message and they will call you back.  Each screening takes approximately 15 minutes. Most insurance company plans are accepted and will be billed directly.  If you do not have insurance, there are donated funds available to pay for your mammogram.  The snow date for this program is Wednesday, March 5.

This vital service is offered through Hartford Hospital‚s Partnership for Breast Care. Approximately 2,800 women in Connecticut will discover they have breast cancer this year. Screening mammograms are the most effective method for the early detection of breast cancer in women with no apparent symptoms. Early detection and prompt treatment can lead to a greater than 90% chance of long-term survival.

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