Treasures From Around The World 🌎

Good morning, Tolland County! Today is Monday 1/6, and that means it’s National Cuddle Up Day! Today is the perfect time to grab your favorite person, pet, of blanket and snuggle up. It’s been chilly lately, and what better way to stay warm than getting cozy with your favorite thing?

Also, a very Happy Birthday to my brother Kiel who is a big part of this newsletter as well! Alright, let’s get into it!

In Today’s Tolland County Buzz:

• Sweater Mug Paint Class ☕

• Super Bowl Beer and Snacks Pairing🍺🥨

• Book Box For Adults 📚

Let’s dive in!

-Tyler DiGiovanni

BRIEF BITES

• Gymnastics - Tri Town Gymnastics is building a state-of-the-art facility at 140 Tolland Stage Road, complete with expanded play areas, a preschool floor, climbing wall, and foam pits. The facility will feature 61 parking spaces, with room for more, and is set to open in about a month.

• Digitalization - The Vernon Historical Society has raised enough funds to digitize its collection of historic local newspapers, spanning from 1867 to 1984. Once uploaded to the Connecticut Digital Archive, these papers—covering towns like Rockville, Vernon, and Tolland County—will be freely available to the public, thanks to generous community support and grants.

• Art Awards - Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan is welcoming 25 new members into its Guild of Artists with a special exhibition showcasing diverse and innovative works. Congrats to Bolton local Barbara Hocker who made the cut!

• New Restaurant - Krispy Sicilian is set to open on Jan. 9th located at 650 Middle Turnpike in Mansfield. This take out restaurant will offer Italian favorites like raviolis and lasagna as well as homemade soups, sandwiches and more.

Sweater Mug Paint Workshop ☕

The Flour Girl (14 Main St, Hebron) is hosting a Sweater Mug painting session by Firestone Art Studio on Wednesday 1/8 from 6-7:30pm. So, what exactly is a sweater mug? Well, pretty much what you may think…sort of. Before you start scratching your head about if it would go in the dishwasher or the washing machine, the sweater part is just a design on the mug, no fabric involved.

Firestone is providing the mug and any other materials needed for the project. They’ll be teaching an “antiquing technique” to give your mug a broken-in feel (you’ll have to add your own tea/coffee stains). This is a beginner-friendly class, with plenty of room for creativity. Once finished, your pottery will be fired in Firestone’s kiln (takes about a week), and you’ll be contacted when it’s ready to pick up. If you’re interested, you can register for the event here.

Super Bowl Beer and Snack Pairing 🍺🥨

For most households, a Super Bowl party consists of a table full of chips, dips, chicken wings, and whatever other items you can find in a freezer at the supermarket. Oh, and beer, usually whatever is cheapest (guessing it has some variation of “lite” or “light” in the name). Well Tolland Public Library (21 Tolland Grn) is going to help your party be the event to remember.

Now, you might not associate “party” with “library” (and neither did I, to be honest), but the good folks at Tolland Public Library have invited Em Sauter (a nationally renowned cicerone a.k.a. craft beer expert) to help you pair your Super Bowl snacks with the perfect brew.

I’m sure it’s pretty clear, but you need to be 21 or older to participate (ID is required), and you should register sooner than later because space is limited. This event isn’t happening until Wednesday 1/22, but I wanted to make sure you all had a chance to sign up for it. You can reserve your spot here.

Book Box For Adults 📚

If you’re like me, you already have a reading list picked out for 2025, but if you’re stuck in a reading rut, Hall Memorial Library (93 Main St, Ellington) has got you covered. The library is offering a monthly box that contains two hand-selected books to read (whose hands? I don’t know) and some other goodies to keep.

You can register today (1/6) and tomorrow (1/7) by clicking here. Once you register, you’ll receive an email with a link to a Google Form, which you will need to complete to finish registering. It will also help them pick out books that you might enjoy. Boxes need to be picked up between 1/25-1/31. After you’re finished reading your selections, books should be returned to the library.

It should also be noted that a form must be completed every month you want to receive a box.

BEE LINE EVENTS

1/7

Stafford | Movie Screening | 3-5pm - Stafford Library (10 Levinthal Rd) is holding a showing of White Bird. This movie is for adults, teens, and mature/older children. Popcorn will be provided.

Tolland | Somatic Support Circle | 5-6pm $ - Resonance Healing Arts (60 Hartford Tpke) is holding a Somatic Support Circle for anyone that is on a healing journey after dealing with trauma. Resonance is also holding a yoga class afterwards. If you want to register for either event, you can do so here.

1/8

Hebron | Bad Movie Matinee | 1-3pm - There are hundreds of amazing movies with award winning performances. This is not one of them. Join Douglas Library (22 Main St), as they celebrate the not-so-great films that have been released. This week is a showing of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

1/9

Bolton | Bingo and Bites | 6-8pm $ - Bolton Congregational Church (228 Bolton Center Rd) is holding a night of Bingo and appetizers. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and cash prizes for Bingo. Sheets start at $2 each. You can RSVP here.

Ellington | Declutter | 7-8:30pm - Hall Memorial Library is holding an online session on the best ways to get tidy in the new year. For more information and to reserve your spot/get the link to the online session, register here.

Mansfield | Foodshare | 11:30am-12pm - Mansfield Human Services (303 Maple Rd) is once again offering a free foodshare to those that need it. Please remember to bring a box or bag for carrying your goods.

THE HIVE’S PICK

Today’s pick is a place that people drive by all the time and think, “Huh, I should go in there one day.” Well, I actually went in the other day. I’m talking about the Mansfield Art Center (285 Stafford Rd, Mansfield). While you might hear the name and think “Art gallery”, the sign out front definitely let’s you know that is not the case.

There are goods from, literally, around the world. Blankets made in Ecuador, handmade silk scarves crafted in Cambodia, jewelry created by a tribe in Pakistan, and that’s not even scratching the surface. You might be saying, but anyone can import stuff from the other side of the globe, but what makes this place unique is that everything is hand selected by the owners (it’s a local family owned/run business) and shipped back here, by them. They have personal relationships with the crafters of all the goods.

While the selection of goods is impressive, to say the least, one of the best parts of the shop is getting to hear stories about their travels and procurement of everything. I could listen to Ms. Hoover regale me with stories all day long (including one about how machines from the thread mill in Willimantic ended up in Ecuador)! Hours are going to be somewhat limited for the next 6 months due to another trip, but you can still check out the store on Saturdays (you’ll have to call for hours). And don’t worry, I’ll let you know when they’re back from their adventures, because I will be one of the first ones to check out when they brought back on this trip!

UCONN SPORTS

1/8 - Men’s Basketball @ Villanova | 6:30pm

1/8 - Women’s Basketball vs. Xavier | 7:30pm

That’s it for today! If you enjoyed today’s Tolland County Buzz, please share it with someone who has an obsession with healing crystals. We’ll see you on Thursday!

Tyler

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