South Windsor library opens Nowashe Village Saturday
May 13—SOUTH WINDSOR — A Nowashe Village of the Native American tribal nation that once lived locally opens Saturday on the grounds of the Wood Memorial Library and Museum at 787 Main St.
The outdoor museum of Indigenous life comprises two wigwams, a sachem's house, seasonal Three Sisters garden, and a large gathering space around a communal fire.
Visitors will have access to a multimedia, self-guided tour on their personal electronic device, a special Native American artifact exhibit in the library's archaeology display case, and docents at the village stations.
Each week will highlight a theme and will include a story, demonstration of stone tools, domestic arts, and oftentimes special guests, crafts, or presentations.
On Saturday, free activities with admission will include:
—Storytelling: Historically, Native, or Indigenous, peoples did not employ a written language. Instead, they utilized oral tradition as a means to teach and transmit knowledge to tribal members. Nowashe Resident Storyteller Joan Degen will be featured. The program is suitable for all ages.
—Time Machine (Stone Tools through Time): Docents Maureen Bourne and Monica Duval will lead a program of the Paleo, Archaic, and Woodland periods. They will show the tools used to hunt giant creatures, such as the wooly mammoth and giant beaver. Stone-Age tools and their modern-day counterparts will also be explored.
—Artifact Exploration Table: This table will showcase important archaeological finds housed at Wood Memorial Library & Museum. The items featured were found in South Windsor and surrounding areas. Docent Lindsay Kiesewetter will discuss these artifacts and answer any audience questions.
Admission to the village is adults, $10; children 6 and older and college students with valid ID, $5; children 5 and younger, Native Americans with tribal membership card, and families up to four people with SNAP or EBT card, free.
Regular operating hours are Saturdays from 1 to 3 p.m. through Nov. 13.
In addition to the regular operating hours, special Explore More programs will be scattered throughout the 2021 season. These special programs will feature expert lecturers and Indigenous crafters and presenters.
For information about the village, including learning that the name Nowashe means "place between rivers," visit: nowashe.org
For information about Wood Library, call 860-289-1783 or go to:
Land trust tag sale
MANCHESTER — A giant tag sale to benefit the Manchester Land Conservation Trust and its work to preserve open space lands will be held Friday, May 21, through Saturday, May 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at 330 Bush Hill Road, in the old cider barn on the land trust's farm property.
Browse through 5,000 square feet of books, games, dishes, tools, artwork, curiosities, furniture, machinery, household and sports items, near-antiques, dollhouse furniture, glassware, and items both useful and decorative.
The land trust will accept donations through Thursday, May 20 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or call 860-643-1823.
The land trust has a special request for donations of folding chairs; it cannot accept computers, televisions, or encyclopedias.
On the same day, visitors can shop and hike the 3 1/2 miles of trails at the farm.
For information about the land trust and its events, visit:
—The Land Trust is seeking volunteers to help plant chestnut trees at the farm Sunday at 9 a.m. Park at the cider barn and walk about a half mile along the farm road to a special planting area near the apple trees. Bring work gloves.
The land trust will assist the Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation in its work to restore a population of healthy chestnut trees to the eastern U.S. hardwood forest.
The planting will be held rain or shine, but extreme weather cancels. For information, email: info@manchester.
Antique engine
and tractor show
VERNON — The Scantic Valley Antique Engine Club will hold its 43rd antique engine and tractor show Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Tolland Agricultural Center, 24 Hyde Ave. (Route 30).
Admission is $5 per adult; children younger than 12, free.
Parking is free.
Antique tractors, engines, farm equipment, and tools will be shown; some will be sold at the flea market.
The 4H Piston Pushers will put on a garden tractor pull at 10 a.m.
For information, visit on Facebook or go to: svaec.com
Church tag sale
ANDOVER — Andover Congregational Church, 359 Route 6, will hold its spring tag sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For information, call the church office at 860-742-7696 or email: churchandover1@gmail.com
Astronomy day
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Museums will celebrate the night skies during Astronomy Day on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
There will be in-person and virtual experiences to help participants become better acquainted with the stars and planets of our solar system.
Science Museum docent Joel Cummings will guide visitors through the science behind the spacesuit that astronauts wear on spacewalks outside the International Space Station.
Cummings will present his programs at 11:30 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m. in the Science Museum's Tolmam Hall.
Also in Tolman Hall, at noon, 1:30 and 3 p.m., there will be a computer-guided tours of Mars, the moon, and the May night sky, presented by Kevin Kopchynski, the Springfield Museum's science technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educator and the museum's planetarium manager.
On the Quadrangle, the Springfield Museums' family engagement team will give demonstrations and have hands-on activities between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Astronomy day activities are included at no extra charge with museums admission. Mask and social distancing will be observed in all locations.
The Springfield Museums are on the Quadrangle at 21 Edwards St., downtown Springfield.
Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The one-ticket admission to the five museums is adults, $25; older adults 60 and older and college students, $16.50; youth ages 3-17, $13; children younger than 3, free.
For information, call 413-263-6800 or visit:
Tag Sale to Benefit Animals
VERNON — A tag sale to benefit animals will be held Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the barn and barnyard at 711 Bolton Road (opposite Wildwood Road).
Attendees will choose which animal charity or rescue group the money will go to; write the name of the group and put it in the container at the head table. There will be a a drawing at 3 p.m. Saturday to select the charities.
