Category: Event

Tom Hooker Hanford

Musician Tom Hooker Hanford performed on March 16, 2014, sharing a family-friendly program that he calls, “Fiddle Dee Dee: Children’s Folk Songs of Old New England.”

The musical celebration involved a number of songs from “Folk Songs of Old New England,” which was first published in 1939 by Editor Eloise Hubbard Linscott. She collected a variety of songs from elderly New Englanders. The musical pieces had been handed down for generations and some of the songs were 100 years old at the time of publication. “The old songs are fun and I’ve tried to interpret them in a way that stays faithful to the originals,” Hanford said.  Some songs, like “Billy Boy,” may be familiar favorites, while many others are less well known. “The Lumberman’s Alphabet” takes a humorous look at the life of a north woods logger. “Jolly Old Roger,” with its sign-along chorus is a droll portrait of a colonial tinker, Hanford said.

The program attracted children of all ages and their families. “I present the songs in a way that is appealing, playful and fun for all ages,” Hanford said.  Copies of his CD featuring the songs performed is available at www.tomhookerhanford.com/songs.html.

Civil War Medicine

The Kent Historical Society featured a presentation on May 18, 2014, on Civil War medicine by Harwinton resident Dane Deleppo. The presentation was a preview of a large ceremony that happened in Litchfield to honor one battle in the war.

Dane’s talk focused on the care given to soldiers in the Civil War. He also shared information about the training of doctors, misconceptions about the care, as well as which medical drugs were available. Poor hygiene in camps led to disease becoming rampant, and at the beginning of the war there were no hospitals to which to take the badly wounded. Eventually orders were issued that each regiment must have a surgeon. The development of medical practice during the Civil War had many different aspects.

Deleppo is a 25-year veteran of Civil War re-enacting and is the current president of the T. A. Hungerford Museum in Harwinton. Deleppo and his wife, Carol, received the 2012 Mary Tallmadge Chapter of the DAR award for historical preservation.

The Civil War Battle of Cold Harbor was remembered on Memorial Day weekend in Litchfield with a series of events organized by Litchfield’s Morgan-Weir American Legion Post 27 and the National Park Service. Deleppo was one of the featured speakers. Other presenters included Bert Dunkerly of the National Park Service, Civil War historian Peter Vermilyea, who also teaches history at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Western Connecticut State University, and the Connecticut Army National Guard Brass Pack. The battle of Cold Harbor was significant because so many local men were involved and because of its devastation. The 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery had trained on the Litchfield Green and suffered large losses in the battle. The organizers of the Litchfield event have a Facebook page “Litchfield County Connecticut Remembers Cold Water – 150 Year Anniversary.”