Kathy Jones, Groton holds up her ponytails after getting her hair cut.
story & photo
by Crystal Harpstreit
Kiesha Murphy, the owner of Spoiled Salon in New London and her staff hosted a Wigs for Kids event. The organization collects hair and makes it into wigs for sick children, many of whom are cancer patients going through chemotherapy or have alopecia, a condition which causes hair to fall out.
Kiesha and her staff incorporated the event into Sailfest where they used their tent as an outdoor salon. They hoped to collect several, 13 inch long ponytails to donate to the organization ,”If I can collect ten ponytails, I’ll be happy,” said Kiesha.
She also stated that, “The hair needs to be in good condition and not bleached, if you want to donate.” Six, 12 inch long ponytails are needed in order to make one wig for a child who has lost their hair.
“This was going to be Locks of Love, but a client didn’t want to donate because they charge for the hairpieces.”
Kiesha learned about Wigs for Kids through a friend who was looking for a salon that would donate her hair. It turned out that Wigs for Kids was her friend’s favorite hair donation charity because every single hairpiece they make is given to a child and their family free of charge.
During the first day of the event, on Saturday, July 10, the salon was able to collect two ponytails.
The main event of the day was Wigs for Kids, but people interested in donating to a good cause were not turned away if they didn’t have extremely long hair. The staff gave trims and that hair was donated to Matter of Trust which is an organization that uses human hair, fleece, feathers and fur clippings to clean up oil spills.
Kiesha says, “I’ve been doing hair for almost 25 years.” She worked in different salons until she was given the chance to manage and decided that she wanted to open her own salon. She says, “I think it’s the happiest that I’ve been because I get to do stuff like this,” of holding events to help others
Dawn Drum, co-owner, Oweneco Farms Sugar Shack, inside the sugar shack where Maple Syrup is made by boiling tree sap.
story & photo
by Crystal Harpstreit
Even though, Oweneco Farms Sugar Shack, Lebanon, opened in 1991, Dawn Drum and her family have been making maple syrup since sugar rationing during World War II. The farm is more than 300-years old.
Dawn says that in the 1940s, “We made it [maple syrup] for ourselves.” When people found out that the family was making their own maple syrup, in the 1970s, they asked if they could have some too. Interest grew until Dawn decided to go into business with her husband, John, her brother Frank Spafford Grabber and his wife, Evelyn. Although Frank passed away in 2008, his family continues making maple syrup to honor him.
Making maple syrup is hard work and the family’s dedication to the process is what keeps the sugar shack going. John says, “It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun.”
In February, with cold nights and sunny days, the weather is ideal for maple syrup making. Dawn says, “We need the temperature to go down to the 20s at night and to be in the 40s during the day.” During the winter, the sap stays in the roots of the trees and the warmer temperature during the day causes it to run.
In January, the family puts up about 100 taps. Thin blue pipes run from tree to tree in the sugar bush. These are beginning to replace the buckets that everyone is used to seeing. “We use pipe lines because they’re cleaner and easier for us,” says Dawn.
“No more than three taps are put on one tree at a time,” says John and if a tree isn’t healthy looking, it will not be tapped. Once the sap flows out of the trees, it all ends up in a single tank. From there, it goes to the sugar shack to be boiled down. Sometimes extra tanks are used if there is an especially high volume of sap flowing.
At Oweneco Farms, Dawn and her family always use pine slabs to make their fires because pine burns hot and fast. The high temperature is important because, most of the water in the sap needs to be boiled off and, as Dawn says, “Sap is 98% water and 2% sugar.”
After the sap is boiled down, the syrup is filtered. In the beginning, Dawn’s family used paper and wool filtering cones. Now, they use a filtering press with paper filters because less syrup is lost. The filtration process gets rid of any particles left in the maple syrup, but is mostly for looks since nothing in the syrup is harmful.
At the beginning of the season, the sap that is collected creates light, golden colored syrup, known as Grade A Light or Fancy. As the season goes on, the syrup becomes darker and is called Grade B. Grade B syrup can be bitter, but the strong flavor is good for cooking. It’s often used to make food such as maple flavored ice cream.
Once in a while, Dawn and her family make maple sugar candy. To do this, the finished maple syrup needs to be heated again, this time to 238 degrees Fahrenheit and stirred. When it’s the right consistency, it is poured into molds and left to set. The family usually saves candymaking for kids that come to visit with school and Girl Scout and Boy Scout trips. Though, anytime visitors come to the farm they can get a tour, John says, “If we’re here and you’re here, we give a tour.”
Oweneco Farms is named after Oweneco, the son of Uncas, the first Mohegan sachem. Dawn’s ancestor, Thomas Spafford purchased the land from Oweneco in 1701. The name means black drake and this is represented through the farm’s logo which is an Indian with black ducks flying by.
Mystic Resident, Stafford McLean, a graduate student at Quinnipiac University, traveled to Nicaragua to help raise money at two different radio stations in Leon.
by Crystal Harpstreit
This January, Mystic resident, Stafford McLean, a graduate student at Quinnipiac University, traveled to Nicaragua to help raise money at two different radio stations and to learn about Nicaraguan culture. He traveled with a number of other students from Quinnipiac calling the group a “mixed bag.”
The two radio stations that Stafford and his fellow students worked at are called Radio Dario, named after Ruben Dario, a celebrated Nicaraguan poet, and Radio Amistad. “The radio station is looking to raise money for cameras and other equipment,” said Stafford of Radio Dario. This is so that its journalists can cover local events with ease. Stafford says that currently journalists use cell phones to call back and forth to the station from the event they are covering. Journalists and radio broadcasters are also expected to sponsor their own ads. Stafford says that Quinnipiac is, “Looking to fund some grants and to promote the well being of the two radio stations in Leon.”
The other facet of this trip was for the students to obtain knowledge about Nicaraguan culture. The Quinnipiac students were housed by local families who Stafford described as “very warm,” even noting that it is common for students to call their hosts mom and dad. Stafford joked that his host family was a bit confused when they first met him, he calls himself “an older student” and as most families are used to housing students in their twenties, they thought that Stafford was a professor.
(l-r) Lindsay Peterson, Thing 1 and Josh Medieros, The Cat in the Hat enjoy the theme day at the Mystic Education Center.
story & photo
by Crystal Harpstreit
Face paint and Cat in the Hat inspired accessories were the universal them on Saturday, January 31st at the Mystic Education Center. The costumes were all part of a special day of Dr. Seuss themed swimming lessons. Kids ages three to 15 and those from the beginner swim level to advanced participated in the event and instructors dressed up as well.
There was a feeling of excitement in the air as the kids got their costumes together and got ready to jump in the pool. Josh Medieros, the program director says, “I’m really big into themes, I wanted to bring that energy in.” Josh also works at a camp during the summer where he says that they have regular, “Theme days,” as well.
The students swam, laughed and splashed around in the pool as they improved their swimming skills and socialized. Swim lessons were accompanied by story time with the swim instructors who read Dr. Seuss’ classic books to the children. Even parents, such as Lisa Lambert sat with her son Luke and listened on as Erin Blette read “Green Eggs and Ham” aloud in the lobby of the Mystic Education Center. Erin will soon take over as the new director when Josh, a recent Southern Connecticut State University graduate, leaves.
Games were part of the day as well. Josh says, “We’re going all out with it,” about the Dr. Seuss themed day.
On coming up with the idea for the Dr. Seuss theme, Josh says that the Mystic Education Center’s employees, including Lindsay Peterson, Kevin Grant and Cory Calamari came up with the idea after some, “Brainstorming.” Instructors decided that the Dr. Seuss theme would be enjoyable because his books are such a well known part of American pop-culture and are, just plain fun. This event is part of the 10 week winter session which began last fall.
Theming the day is very popular with everyone involved and there will be more in the future, Josh says, “We look forward to doing more themed events in the future and hope that more people come to see what we’re about.”
The Mystic Education Center is located at 240 Oral School Road.
Christine Pirello,host of Christina Cooks Naturally, jokingly looks away while pouring plenty of monounsaturated fats like this avacado oil.
story by Crystal Harpstreit
photo by Tyler Williams
Sun Winefest 2010 at Mohegan Sun showcased many talented chefs and wine makers. A few of those were women who were able to break into predominantly male dominated career paths.
Two female chefs who were showcased at the event were Christina Pirello, a vegan chef and Mary Ann Esposito an Italian chef. Both participated in the celebrity chef cook offs on the DACOR Culinary Event Stage in the Uncas Ballroom.
Christine Pirello, host of Christina Cooks Naturally was first to appear and created a Crispy Tofu and Artichoke with Radish Salad. Before the demonstration began, Christina pulled an unsuspecting member of the audience up to the stage.
He ended up helping with the dish by frying the tofu in avocado oil until it turned a perfect golden brown. The end result was a colorful and fresh dish.
Christina recommends cooking with monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, walnut oil and macadamia nut oil, which she joked, “Is so expensive you’ll have to re-finance your house once you buy it.” She also recommends that all the food you purchase be organic.
Christina became an advocate of whole or unprocessed and unrefined and organic foods after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 26. Her cancer was gone within 14 months of beginning the change to whole foods.
Later in the day came Mary Ann Esposito, who is the host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito.
Mary Ann cooked up a dish of Spaghetti a la Carbonara. As she began boiling the water she entertained the audience with questions about pasta and life in Italy.
“Do you think that one pound of pasta is enough for four people?” she asked. Many audience members replied, “No.”
However, in Italy she stated that pasta is served as an appetizer instead of as a main dish, therefore it is fine to have only one pound since each person will only get about a cup.
Mary Ann also shared her knowledge of how to tell when pasta is done cooking, which is very useful. She said, “Doing this will not tell you anything,” as she tossed a string of spaghetti over her shoulder and it clung to one of the cabinets.
Instead, she recommended breaking a string of the spaghetti in half. “If you see any white in the middle it’s not cooked.”
Sampling her meal was a rare treat, the pancetta, what many call the equivalent of Italian bacon, was pan fried to a crispy yet chewy texture, the pasta was cooked to an al dente perfection and the egg sauce was rich and creamy.
Mary Ann learned to cook from her two Italian grandmothers and later on, in formal classes. Her show on PBS is in its 20th season and going strong.
One of the wine exhibitors, Bedell Cellars of Long Island, New York is proud to say that they employ one of the few female wine makers in the business and the only female wine maker on Long Island. Her name is Kelly Urbanik.
Kelly graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Viticulture and Enology; she was later selected as a Laureate by the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in Burgundy.
Though Kelly did not appear at Sun Winefest 2010, her work in the wine cellars was appreciated by many who attended. Her First Crush White 2008 which is aged in steel and never touches oak was light and refreshing.
Kelly has already won many awards for her work. She will be on the wine scene for years to come.
These women achieved prestige in their careers and are paving the way for the many who will come after them.
