3.13.10 The New London Maritime Society is very pleased to accept the gift of a submarine model of the U.S.S. Connecticut, made by Dick Alexander, & presented to us on the occasion of a visit by the Connecticut Marine Model Society to the Custom House. Dick, a former Navy Commander, is shown far left with Tom Kane, president of the CMMS. He is shown again, near right, presenting us with the model. Thank you, Commander Alexander!
The actual Connecticut sub was built just a couple of years ago across the river in Groton. The gift of this model is perfectly timed for next Thursday's presentation on the history of submarine escapes--and is a great counterpoint to earlier submarine examples in the U.S.S. Squalus exhibition, which also opens on Thursday.
3.13.10 What a day! Although Saturday's All Things Oyster excursion to Trumbull & Black Rock was postponed until April 3, Saturday rocked. Volunteer programmer, Bob Kammer, a friend of NLMS trustee Carolyn Leuze, showed up early in the morning to transform our members/donors database into FileMaker Pro--which, we hope, will add a little 'Pro' to our operation... (Bob is shown at his laptop at the near left.)
Longtime volunteers, greeter Ruth Nagle and head docent Bill LaRoue, were hard at work Saturday to break in our splendid new front desk--a donation from Alva Greenberg, who recently closed the wonderful ALVA Gallery on State Street. Thank you, Alva! We'd also like to thank John Russell and the crew at Homeward Bound Treasures for moving this grand piece to our lobby.
And speaking of thanks, in the upper near left is Dick Dewick, who visited later on Saturday with the Connecticut Marine Modelmakers Society (the group is shown assembled in the large photo above left). Years before, while working at Mitchell College, Dick built an oak podium for the museum. The podium is now ithe focalpoint in our Amistad Gallery--an elegant & essential part of our set-up for each lecture, presentation & NLMS board meeting!
3.12.10 Of late, we've had some visitors to the museum who are passionate about certain exhibitions. Just today we were visited by The Shell Club of Mystic (below left), a Navy diver, HM1 Micha Avignone (left), who saw the dive helmet in our front window & stopped in to show us his tat, and volunteer Emily Galvin. Emily,shown near left with her father and NLMS treasurer John Desjardins, was just elected to the Honor Society.
It was The Shell Club of Mystic, which, in 1989, petitioned the state & succeeded (Bill no. 263) in making the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, Connecticut's official state shell. Why a state shell? The Club wrote (back in 1989) "A national effort is being made to secure endorsement of a shell to represent the state in which it lives." The Purpose? "A symbolic gesture by the State of Connecticut to represent what this natural resource had given to us both historically and economically." The Club contributed their oyster board, seen at the back center of the photo at left, to our Awesome Oyster exhibition. Shown here are three members of the club, who shared their photo scrapbook made of the Custom House's exhibit: The Awesome Oyster. From left: Barbara Bauduccio, Martha Bauduccio, Trudy Alduk.
3.6.10 Cartooning classes with Jon Buller are back! They began today with a one-session introductory workshop.
There's still time to sign up for what's next-- a series of four cartooning classes, which begin Thursday, March 18.
3.5.10 Our hard-working crew--(from left) Kendrick McCarthy, Tobey Leske, & Brian McCarthy--is about finished assembling the Squalus memorial exhibition--an all-volunteer effort.
The official exhibition opening will be a part of March 18's Third Thursday event: a Jibboom roundtable on the Squalus story, last survivor Carl Bryson of New London, and submarine life. The exhibit will close on the last day of the Squalus' 75th anniversary year--the date of the ship's disaster, May 24.
3.4.10 A delegation from the New London Maritime Society walked down Bank Street to the train station Thursday night to receive the annual New London Landmarks RESCUE Award, as part of the group's annual meeting. NLMS won the award for taking on stewardship of that icon of the City: New London Harbor Light -- an effort spearheaded and guided over the past nine years by NLMS trustee and past president Ben Martin. Accepting the award--a check towards our Lighthouse Fund, current NLMS president George Sprecace reminded those assembled of another great rescue which he and others, including Claire Dale and Frank McGuire, took on & WON: the rescue of New London's Union Railroad Station. Having had a tour of the handsome H.H. Richardson-designed station just moments before, we can only say: thank you, George & Union Railway Preservation Trust~! Shown far left is the NLMS delegation: trustee & treasurer John Desjardins, director Susan Tamulevich, trustee & past president Ben Martin, trustee & president George Sprecace. In photo at near left, George Sprecace receives the RESCUE award from New London Landmarks president Susan Munger. photos courtesy Laura Cordes.
2.28.10 Friday night, the Custom House was scene to a rollicking private event: a 50th-birthday surprise party for Jean Tuneski. Jean's husband, Bob, transformed the museum complete with an 8-piece band in the 2nd-floor Showalter gallery, raw bar from Grossman's of Mystic on the museum's first floor, and baby-blue shirted 'Party Staff' helping out in the kitchen on the lower level. Dancing went on until midnight, when a small group of insiders moved downstairs to sip cognac & relax in the Archie Chester Reading Room.
2.26.10 These days we're not just partnering with New London groups, but with the larger world -- & in the grandest sense; Later this month, we hope to bring an exhibition about the Amistad and New London to the United Nations! Through the intervention of our friends at Amistad America, Inc., who are just about to embark on an historic sail to Havana, Cuba, we are discussing placing an exhibition about slavery & rebellion in the lobby of the U.N. Our exhibition will combine the work of a Haitian artist and a West Indies cultural component with portions of the Custom House's new Amistad exhibition.
SAVE THE DATE: May 20 is the day our new Amistad exhibition opens at the Custom House Maritime Museum, the freedom schooner Amistad sails into New London and, working with Kente Cultural Center and Provenance Gallery-- New London launches three days of Slavery, Rebellion & Freedom events.
2.25.10 The Custom House Maritime Museum currently is participating in several City-wide efforts, among these a Preserve America grant application filed in mid February by Cara Pianka, Community Development/Lead Coordinator of the New London Planning Department, and planning committee meetings to plot the inauguration of the Parade activities on June 4-5 (lead by City Manager Martin Berliner). In March, we will be on the steering committee for a historic downtown neighborhood study, lead by City Planner Harry Smith, who was awarded the study grant from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation.
An NPR broadcast of the program Where We Live, organized by Rich Martin, was held Thursday morning at the Hygienic Gallery. There was a terrific turn-out representing most aspects of downtown for-profit and non-profit groups. The biggest concerns expressed?: how do we keep the city affordable for artists, get Shore Line East to run into New London in the mornings, and what's the best strategy to boost downtown activity???
2.24.10 UCONN's Public History class has adopted the Custom House Maritime Museum for the semester. They have held two classes so far at the museum. (Students are shown left working on their topics in the Frank McGuire Maritime Research Library.) The class project is to get the Custom House listed as a National Park Service Network to Freedom site.
2.20.10 Submarine-object collector and sub historian Ed Uditis and his friend Dalia stopped by today with more items for the Squalis / Carl Bryson memorial exhibition. At left Ed holds a vintage Morse Code plaque from a submarine. The plaque illustrates the alphabet in code. In case of an emergency, the submariners could tap a message in Morse Code on the inside of the hull to communicate with rescue divers outside the sub. Dalia holds a poster illustrating use of a Momsen Lung.
If anyone has material to contribute to our Squalus / Carl Bryson memorial exhibition, please call Susan at 860-447-2501. The exhibit is expected to open at the end of February and run through May 23.
2.18.10 We have something of a diving theme at the Custom House this month with both the Squalus exhibition going up and our Third Thursday presentation tonight, which featured shipwreck sleuth Mark Munro. Mark's talk brought in a record crowd of near 100 to hear about his investigation of three wrecks in Fisher's Island Sound. Mark is ingenius in building his own dive gear, including a breathing device that recycles his air! Our own board president, George Sprecace, shown near left with Mark, turns out to be a diver, too, although he prefers the warmer climes.
2.17.10 We continue to gather objects for the Squalus/Carl Bruson Memorial exhibition. This week, Jay Kane of Shoreline Diving, brought in an evocative vintage deep-sea diving suit--all 300 pounds of it! Although this example dates from the 1940s or '50s, it is the same Mark V-model suit used by the divers who rescued the Squalus crew. In fact, this model was in use by the Navy from the early 20th century up until 1980.
A coincidence is that, back in 1988, Jay taught Mark Munro to dive!
At near-left are Brian McCarthy and Tobey Leske holding up an 1918 flag from Brian's collection. It is a flag used to signal that a submarine rescue is in progress--keep away!
2.12.10 Longtime NLMS trustee Lonnie Braxton stopped by the Custom House Friday to discuss plans for our new Amistad exhibition, set to open in mid May. A gift from the Connecticut Historical Society, the exhibition opening will coincide with AmistadAmerica sailing into New London direct from Cuba! We are looking for volunteers to help with our Amistad-related activities. If you'd like to volunteer, please call Susan at 860-447-2501. Meanwhile, watch this Web site for information about upcoming Amistad events.
Friday nights in February at 7 PM, Lonnie Braxton is introducing offerings at the African American Film Festival at the Public Library of New London, an event which is sponsored, in part, by your New London Maritime Society.
2.12.10 The display of two boats in our lobby (photo near left) built by David McCulloch repeatedly raises the question: what differentiates a kayak from a canoe? David explains the two boat types here. (Hint: the kayak is to the left...)
2.12.10 It was Brian McCarthy, who urged we mount an exhibition both documenting the rescue of the submarine Squalus & commemorating its last survivor, Carl Bryson of New London. Brian has contributed a number of items to the show and also has brought in a number of other collectors with Squalus material. He is shown far left with volunteer Tobey Leske, who has taken on the organization of this important exhibition. The main source of Squalus material is from Allyn Donath, the daughter of Carl Bryson; Carl died just one year ago. The Squalus rescue occurred 75 years ago last May. Our Squalus exhibition opens at the end of February and will run through the end of the 75th anniversary year.
2.12.10 Andy Strode, a new volunteer, and George Spragg have taken on the task of removing chipped paint from the Ingoldsby Work Crawford Gallery walls on the museum's first floor. It is tedious going, as the work requires much preemptive care to keep nearby exhibitions clean and dust-free. The two work stealthily, starting early in the morning and finally sweeping up the last paint chip prior to 1 PM when the Custom House opens for visitors.
2.9.10 NLMS trustee & tugboat captain Rob Groves just emailed us two photos of New London Harbor Light in the grey of early February. It reminds us to write that, 250 years ago this year, the decision was made to establish a lighthouse at New London. It was the first lighthouse on the Sound and fourth in all of North America! Next year, 2011, will mark the 250th birthday of the light,itself. You can see Rob's photo near left. Far left is an image of the United States Geological Survey marker on the rocks at the base of the light.
1.30.10 Fisher's Island third & fourth graders sent us this photo of the Oyster posters they made upon their return from a visit to the Custom House.
1. 29.10 John Niekrash (far left), founder of the Groton-based charity Work Vessels for Vets, visited the Custom House for the first time Friday to discuss possible future collaborations. John, a lobsterman, started the effort two years ago when he bought a new lobster boat and donated his old one to help a veteran start his own business. Work Vessels for Vets is an all-volunteer movement assisting returning veterans begin their civilian careers or educational pursuits by acquiring and distributing the necessary start-up tools. If you have products, both new and used, such as boats, computers, vehicles, machinery and tools to name a few, that could assist a veteran build a company, start a new job, learn a new trade. Please contact John who will endeavor to match that donation to the veteran.
Ruth Reluga visited the library last week (shown far left), as did new library volunteers Laurie and John Deredita, who donated a laptop computer to the library. Now, our library collection, online at iconn.org, is finally searchable in our own library!!! Laurie, John & the machine are shown near left with Brian Rogers.
Gordon Napier, shown at left with the director and near left with Ivan Metzger, Archie Chester and Rob Pittaway, brought by two boxes of additions to his already splendid donation of books on submarines, Electric Boat, and small-boat construction. These fine volumes fill several important gaps in our library's maritime research collection.
1.28.10 The New London Maritime Society Finance Committee worked out the nitty-gritty details of the 2010 budget. Members present were Archie Chester, Ben Martin, Bill LaRoue, George Sprecace, hard-working NLMS treasurer John Desjardins, and Susan Tamulevich (taking the photo).
1.23.10 About a dozen intrepid birders followed Maggie Jones, executive director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, out to Fort Trumbull, Pfizer, Waterford Park & Ocean Beach on Saturday to seek out winter water birds. It was the continuation of a winter birding celebration at the Custom House, featuring Maggie's Third Thursday talk on Winter Birds along the Shoreline, two small hand-built boats by David McCulloch, and an exhibit of avian photographs by Hank Golet.
Our efforts paid off immediately with the siting of two mergansers, several coots and a few loons (amidst swans, gulls and mallard ducks) off Fort Trumbull. A peregrine falcon staked a claim atop the Pfizer headquarters, a harbor seal was seen basking on an rocky outcrop off Waterford beach, and several solitary brandts were spied in the water just off Pequot Avenue as we drove back to town. Brandts, says Maggie, can dive depths of 200 feet and digest whole clams (shell included)!
1.22.10 What fun to get students in to the museum specifically to see The Awesome Oyster exhibition! On Friday, two classes from Fisher's Island School took the ferry to New London and visited the Custom House. After a brief introduction to US Customs, whaling, & lighthouses, the students tackled oysters in depth. Next spring, the students--several the children of fishermen-- will visit a real oyster nursery & farm on Fisher's Island!
1.21.10 Third Thursday's talk on Winter Waterfowl brought some surprising birders out from the usual Custom House crew! Our guide was Maggie Jones, executive director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, who presented an amazing array of feathered visitors to our shore along with some astounding facts as to their habits, diet, and patterns of migration.
That evening was also the opening for Hank Golet's photography exhibit. Hank, an avid birder, lives in Old Lyme very near to the famous sparrow roost! His bird pictures were taken using a scope and, for the most part, show birds in Connecticut.
1.16.010 Saturday, January 16, saw two special events at the Custom House: our first wedding and a reception by area shellfish farmers.
A hip New London crowd showed up just after noon for a happy celebration of the marriage of David and Leslie. The event featured old time roots & folk music performed by Elizabeth Larson and Craig Edwards; delicious hors d'oeuvres and chocolate cupcakes prepared by NL's own East Coast Catering; and a surprise, special treat: a photo booth, which allowed guests to create images for a wedding book--both the guests & wedding couple received copies of the picture strips!
Later that evening the Custom House was pleased to host a reception on behalf of several of our local shellfish farmers. Members of the federal and local governments, FDA, local shellfish commissions, and the press were invited to a sumptuous oyster feast while hearing about changes in the laws related to the oyster-farming industry. The good news is that the system works... and what last fall had been anticipated as a problem has now been resolved through the cooperation of the Shellfish Commission and area farmers!
A truly Awesome Oyster evening, oyster dishes of every variety were prepared by Steve Plant and Karen Rivara, Kate Blacker manned a raw bar, and Custom House volunteers Ivan and Izzy Metzger stepped in to help with the serving of the food. We'd like to thank Cottrell's Brewing Company, Chamard Vineyards and Stonington Vineyards for their support of this important event!
1.01.10 Best Wishes for 2010 from the Custom House.
12.22.09 Custom House Volunteers celebrated the season with an impromptu festive lunch on Tuesday--the last day the museum opened before the holidays. The party inaugurated the newly-named Archibald J. Chester Reading Room (formally dedicated at our Winter Celebration December 17), and you can see Archie, himself, at the far end of the table. Volunteers attending are (seated from Left) Vinnie Belbruno, Mary Desjardins, Kathy Gaynor, John Desjardins, Archibald J. Chester, Robert Pittaway, Jennifer Hillhouse & William LaRoue; standing are George Spragg, Pauline Demarco, Susan Tamulevich; photo by Russ DeMarco. Additional photos of the group are on the volunteer page of this Web site.
