ECDHA Spring Plow Match

The Eastern Connecticut Draft Horse Association (ECDHA) Plow Match is Saturday, April 16, Saturday at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Start time is 9 a.m.

Fee, $10 per teamster. Open to members and nonmembers; spectators welcome. Judge to be announced.

Food concessions, ribbons and trophies. Bring your own lunch. For more information, call Dale Naegeli (860) 742-7117

Childrens' Book Fair At UConn

Connecticut Children's Book Fair is Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rome Commons Ballroom, Rome Hall, South Campus Complex University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Meet many well-known children's authors and illustrators, including Tedd Arnold, Holly Black, P.W. Catanese, Katie Davis, Diane deGroat, Gail Gauthier, Rudy Gutierrez, Janet Lawler, Lois Lowry, Wendell and Florence Minor, Leslea Newman, Anitia Riggio, Pegi Deitz Shea, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Mark Teague, Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, and Hans Wilhelm.

Storybook characters include visits with Clifford the Big Red Dog, Maisy, Chet Gecko, and Stella Luna. Enjoy sing-a-longs, crafts and stories out loud.

Admission is free. For more information visit the UConn Co-op web site or call (860) 486-5027.

Note: Since the book fair is a fundraiser for the Northeast Children's Literature Collection, no books from home.

Proceeds from sales at the event are used for the growth of the Northeast Children's Literature Collection in the Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

Under Glass, Beauty In Bloom, Tour Feb. 14

Oh the beauty of what grows and blooms under glass in February.

The public is offered a treat for winter-weary senses - the opportunity to tour plant collections in a special presentation Sugar and Spice and Chocolate!, led by UConn Ecology & Evolutionary (EEB) greenhouse staff on Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to noon.

The UConn EEB greenhouses hold one of the most diverse teaching plant collections in the United States, including many connected to the food and medical industries. Learn about plant sources of many spices, foods, and medicines. (A great family outing to see how vanilla or cloves or pineapples grow.)

Clinton Morse, EEB plant growth facilities manager, posts photographs of plants blooming as of Feb 11, 2009, available for viewing online. (According to the site, some 126 different blooms at present.)

“This series is an exciting opportunity to bring together many talented experts from the University of Connecticut and beyond,” says Jeremy Teitelbaum, new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For more information or directions check the listings at this link, or call (860) 486-4460. The greenhouses are located at the main UConn Storrs campus.

Photography of visual beauty inside the greenhouses, courtesy of Clinton Morse, UConn EEB plant growth facilities manager.