Wine on Main Street

Following on the success of the annual Brass City Brew Fest, Main Street Waterbury has launched a similar event for wine lovers. I've been looking forward to this event since I first heard about it over a year ago, and it was great!

The event started at Howland-Hughes on Bank Street a little after noon. After signing a waiver, I was given my souvenir wine glass and my passport, with my group assignment (701). 

The hundred or so participants were organized into seven "flight" groups. Seven restaurants participated, each representing a different country, pairing sample wines with appropriate foods (so, for example, our Spain stop featured Spanish wines and paella).

Our passport booklet was filled with coupons for each of the participating restaurants.

Participants spent some time socializing at Howland-Hughes while we waited for our "flights" to depart just before 1 p.m.

People browsed the plaques of the Waterbury Hall of Fame and checked out some of the Waterbury-related displays.

Raffle prizes.

The "boarding area" for each flight group.

When the groups gathered together at the start of the event, everyone seemed a little nervous, unsure who these strangers in their group might be, wondering if they would enjoy spending the next four or five hours together, wondering what was in store for them at this new event. By the end of the first hour, everyone was having a great time together.

The first stop for my flight was California.

California (Signature's Restaurant)

This was a great event for exploring downtown restaurants and bars. We spent half an hour at each location, sampling their food and ambiance along with the wine. Quite a few participants discovered new restaurants that they really liked and would never have known about otherwise.

Each location had a wine menu explaining what we were sampling. I made notes about each wine and whether or not I liked it. One of the event organizers, Nutmeg Wine and Liquor, offered a special tasting day order form, giving us a chance to buy the wines we sampled at a discounted price at the end of the day (with 5% of the proceeds being donated to Main Street Waterbury).

And, of course, there was the food. Signature's served pastries stuffed with broccoli rabe and with steak tips. The orange slices were marinated in olive oil and garlic, sprinkled with black pepper. The flavor was surprisingly good.

South America (Braza Churrascaria)

We walked from one venue to the next, allowing participants to discover businesses they didn't know about before. You notice so much more when you're walking than when you're driving. Several times I overheard someone say "I didn't know this was here!"

Artist Eduardo Paredes had an easel set up outside of Braza on Bank Street, creating a painting inspired by the Wine event.

Braza is one of my favorite Waterbury restaurants, but it is strictly for meat lovers. Their Brazilian BBQ special features eleven different meats.

Group 701 checking out the setup at Braza.

The wines sampled at Braza.

The food served at Braza for the wine lovers: a salad with carmelized pears, walnuts, and goat cheese; and chicken sausages with peppers and onions.

On the left, in Wine on Main burgundy shirts, our flight attendants: Main Street Waterbury volunteers who escorted us from venue to venue, keeping us moving and on time.

Northern California (City Hall Cafe)

The longest walk was to City Hall Cafe, but we had a good time. We passed a few people, waiting for a bus, who looked very confused to see a cheery group of people carrying empty wine glasses through downtown.

The weather was nice enough to use the outdoor patio at City Hall Cafe.

The wine samples were served up in plastic shot glasses. The server explained which food was intended to be paired with which wine.

Crab cakes, bacon-wrapped steak, mini quiches, and spanakopita.

France (Tryst Lounge)

Every so often, we crossed paths with one of the other groups. They all seemed as happy as our group. Wine has that effect on people. In fact, a couple of people in my group were so happy, they declared this to be the best Saturday they'd ever had.

We spent a little more time at Tryst than at other locations, largely because most of our group had never been there before and went upstairs for a tour of The Loft.

Toasted pita bread, cheese, and an olive/cheese spread.

Fresh-cooked mussels in a delicious sauce.

This couple was celebrating their 11th anniversary with Wine on Main.

Another one of the groups, waiting for their turn at Tryst.

Spain (Courtyard by Marriott)

Chorizo in apple cider, asparagus and artichokes, tapas paella.

Italy (Diorio)

We cut through the hotel building to go to Diorio's without stepping outside.

The food for the Italian wines was gemelli and sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, mascarpone cream sauce.

Leaving Diorio's for the last stop on our tour.

Australia (The Shamrock)

By the time we got to The Shamrock, we were all ready to stay put for a while.

My ride arrived (no way would I plan to drive after spending an afternoon drinking!) around 6 p.m. and hung out with the remaining group members while I placed my order for the wines I liked. We were on the patio until it got dark out.

This was a fantastic event, fun for everyone who participated and a boost for the participating restaurants. I'm definitely looking forward to doing this again next year, although getting a ticket might be harder. Everyone had such a great time, they'll be telling everyone they know to try it next year.

Waterbury's Trolls

As you may know, the internet has spawned a new category of people called trolls. Trolls typically spend a lot of time posting hate-filled comments on news articles, Twitter posts, and elsewhere online. Trolls are typically anonymous, hiding their true identities behind screen names. Trolls love to argue. Trolls are also very self-righteous and love attention.

The only way to deal with trolls is to block them, to ban them from posting comments on your website, Twitter feed, etc. Trolls can also be reported to the authorities if they have written any threatening comments.

Trolls are venomous creatures, who like to dominate online conversations, bullying anyone who disagrees with them, driving away polite discourse, and shaping public perception.

The Rep-Am newspaper website is severely plagued with trolls. There have been many times when I have read an interesting article online, then scrolled down a little further to read the comments, and then been disgusted, repulsed, and sickened by the comments.

The Waterbury trolls are fairly predictable. If a Rep-Am article has anything to do with minorities, the poor, or city government, the trolls will fill the comments with their venom.

Take, for example, a recent article titled "Hispanics nearly half of city's student population." Although the Rep-Am has deleted some of the worst comments, many of the ones that remain are disgusting. Here are a few examples (I have refrained from pointing out the false information in them; hopefully it is self-evident to you):

saints wrote on Oct 14, 2013 7:55 AM:

"Is anyone checking on the legal status of these students parents just to make sure they're not stealing education? Never mind; I already know the answer to that. Do they still have American Flags in each classroom or have they taken them down yet? There might be room for a few more flags yet. "

Truth wrote on Oct 14, 2013 8:20 AM:

" The article should answer the question, how many residents are taxpayers? The city welfare population is destroying this society! "

Donna wrote on Oct 14, 2013 10:03 AM:

"We used to shop in Waterbury but get angry when we see hoards of Hispanic teens pushing expensive baby carriages, dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry, or packed into the nail salons, while we worked our entire lives and can't afford to buy anything. I can't count how many times I have remarked that they must have gone to college at 12, graduated and become professionals to have that much disposable cash while raising two or three children at the age of 20. In Torrington, they fill the shelter for "abused women" and their kids run wild while they have men in their rooms. During the day they pick through garbage cans for bottles and push them around in shopping carts which they also use for baby carriages. Welcome to the new America.. "

conservative1 wrote on Oct 15, 2013 10:33 AM:

" Jimmy..came on earlier boats? No one here came on earlier boat than blacks. And the Hispanics either fly in or cross the border by foot (with backpacks full of drugs). If you're referring to Europeans, They came here legally and EARNED that place. They didn't come here for free stuff. They came here to work hard and succeed. Just as they are coming from Eastern Europe right now. They are skipping right over blacks and hispanics by working hard and earning respect. They learn the language and are proud to be a part of America.
As I've said before, stop listening to democrats that tell you you are being held down by whitey, that you are too stupid to take care of yourself, that you need the government to take care of you, because it's not true. You can do it Jimmy. All on your own. "

conservative1 wrote on Oct 18, 2013 9:39 AM:

" The BOE wants to celebrate the latino heritage in Waterbury. Freeloading and crime. What a bunch of gutless votewhores. "

Want more? Here are some "gems" posted to the article "Waterbury school board member questions integrity of magnet school lottery": 

conservative1 wrote on Oct 15, 2013 10:06 AM:

" Ginny have to agree and disagree. The Board is corrupt and backward thinking and are ALL COWARDS. Yes Ms Harvey is a racist. We have a school board that rewards laziness and irresponsibility. That is why it is so expensive and still failing.
We need someone with the balls to say to parent, yes parent because these kids only have one (if that). That as the adult responsible for the student YOU WILL BE INVOLVED or your child will be expelled. Sports are for HONOR students only. Want to play B-Ball? Get your grades up. Cause trouble or habitually absent. EXPELLED.
It's time to take a hard line with education or we are just setting these kids up for failure in the real world.

As far as these "lotteries" they were fixed during Giordano and Jarjura administrations. Assuming things haven't changed. I'd argue they are fixed for MINORITIES though. The reason they are "whiter" than the general population is because whites come in from other towns and WHITE parents bother to fill out the lottery applications in higher numbers than minority parent. "

conservative1 wrote on Oct 15, 2013 10:12 AM:

" @ Tax payer. your kids better off . These maggot schools are no better than the regular pre-prison schools. The idea behind them was ok but there are just as many trouble makers in them.
Pay the money, your kids will thank you when they are older. I would also suggest moving out of this dump. Assuming you are a homeowner. Between your $8000 in tuition and you're $ 6000-$10000 in property taxes you're getting killed. You could live anywhere in the state for that amount. "

And then there's this lovely comment posted to "Effort to rename school dropped":

conservative1 wrote on Oct 18, 2013 9:29 AM:

" The Entire BOE needs to be replaced.
Board of Education member Karen Harvey urged Hispanic residents not to give up their attempt to name a city school.
RACIST

"I really think we as a community need to come together and say it is time, it is time to honor our Latino heritage in Waterbury," Brown said. OK Ms Brown. WHAT HISPANIC IS DESERVING OF A SCHOOL NAMED AFTER THEM???? The Latino heritage in Waterbury is of freeloading and committing crime. You really want to celebrate that?? Ms Brown is a typical politician.

@ Mayoral aide Geraldo Reyes . I ask the same question. WHAT LATINO IS DESERVING?? You don't honor a race just because we haven't yet. That just dishonors those previously honored justly. You sir should be "let go".
To Mayor OLeary and the BOE Is there anyone in this city's history more deserving honor than Mario Generali? "

 

These examples are relatively mild compared to some of the other comments I've seen posted on the Rep-Am site, but they are still horrific for one simple reason: the writers are demonizing an entire class of people. This is unacceptable.

If you are black or Hispanic, the Waterbury trolls are against you. If you are poor, the Waterbury trolls are against you. If you don't own your own home or a car (and therefore are "not a taxpayer"), the Waterbury trolls are against you. If you are a city official, the Waterbury trolls are against you.

There are a handful of trolls who frequent the Rep-Am's website and poison the online discussions. Their screen names include: conservative1 (the worst offender, in my opinion), al.cap, wtbywtchdog, stanley, blue star, ratsmik, and Truth. Other comment writers fall prey to their bait and engage them in argument, which is what the trolls love. Occasionally, there are other trolls who surface to add their venom to a discussion. As a result, the comment sections are filled with insults, derogatory comments, and bullying. Anyone who isn't a troll winds up feeling angry and frustrated. The trolls create an atmosphere that makes people lose interest in Waterbury.

Ultimately, the responsibility for the content of the Rep-Am's comment sections lies with the Rep-Am. The newspaper is privately owned, which means they have full authority to ban certain types of comments. If the trolls really want to get their message out there, they can get their own blog and stop polluting the Rep-Am.

While the Rep-Am does delete the most offensive comments, they still let the trolls control the dialogue. I recently dropped my subscription to the Rep-Am for this reason. Until they change their standards and ban the trolls, as well as any comment that demonizes an entire class of people, I will not spend any money on the Rep-Am. This is a personal decision, part of a larger rethinking of what I will and will not tolerate. I will not tolerate trolls, and I will not support anyone who enables them. If they are allowed to make hate-filled statements targeting minorities and the poor and whoever else online, pretty soon it will be commonplace to say such things in public. The venomous comments posted by the trolls is like a cancer that threatens to spread, and it needs to be stopped.

Art at Cup of Praise

I dropped by Cup of Praise on Wolcott Street this evening for a reception featuring the art of Eduardo Paredes (and enjoyed some delicious flan while I was there).

I took advantage of a moment when everyone was over by the counter to take this photo. The artist is working in the corner.

Eduardo Paredes posing with some of his art.

Eduardo's sculptures are created from recycled materials. He joked that this is one way to deal with blight in Waterbury--use it to create art. This sculpture is composed of papier-mâché, computer/phone parts, and other found objects.

This sculpture is made with cement...

...with a happy face on its back.

The artist at work.

Waterbury and the Underground Railroad

During the decades leading up to the Civil War, the anti-slavery (abolition) movement became increasingly influential. In Connecticut, slavery was gradually phased out. The last person to be enslaved in Waterbury was given her freedom shortly after 1810. In 1840, there were seventeen people enslaved in Connecticut; in 1848, the state finally outlawed slavery completely. Additionally, a Connecticut law from 1844 prohibited any fugitive slave escaping to this state from being arrested or detained and returned to his owner.

It's tempting to pat ourselves on the back and feel good about Connecticut having given up slavery before the Civil War, but it's very misleading to think that all of Connecticut opposed slavery. Throughout the state, some were adamantly opposed, viewing slavery as an evil to be eradicated, but many were ambivalent--slavery was an abstract concept, something that happened far away, something that didn't impact them directly.

In Waterbury, as in every other town in Connecticut, there were people who supported the right of southern states to continue slavery. Green Kendrick, one of Waterbury's most prominent citizens, was originally from North Carolina and was a public supporter of slavery. Kendrick was also a supporter of sending free blacks to Liberia, donating to the American Colonization Society in 1858.

Waterbury also had active abolitionists and two safe houses on the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a loose, dangerous route traveled by people who escaped from slavery. Escaped slaves, if discovered by the wrong person, could be captured and returned to slavery. At each safe house on the Underground Railroad, refugees would be given a place to sleep and food to eat, before being given transportation to the next stop north.

From Waterbury, refugees most likely continued on to Plymouth, then to Torrington and Winsted, continuing north until they reached Canada. It was a dangerous, furtive path to take, with no guarantees of safety.

In 1860, a refugee, traveling alone, made it as far as Stamford, where he hired someone with a wagon to take him to Norwalk (the story was related in the Columbian Register newspaper, January 28, 1860). The refugee, unnamed in the newspaper article, for unknown reasons (but we can imagine!), suddenly leapt out of the wagon, leaving his coat behind. The wagon driver rifled through his pockets, decided that he must be an escaped criminal, and chased him into a Presbyterian Church. Apparently the man was briefly held captive, until a Trustee of the church arrived, figured out that he was an escaped slave from Charlestown, Virginia, and ordered him to be set free. The story had a happy ending, with the refugee given a place to stay for the night and safe passage to an underground railroad station, but it highlights some of the risks involved.

Back in Waterbury, Timothy Porter, a deacon in the Baptist church (and grandfather of Carrie Welton), was a firm believer that slavery was wrong. Beginning around 1840, Porter decided that abolishing slavery was his mission in life. For the next two decades, he hosted anti-slavery meetings in his home and, on one memorable occasion, publicly debated the topic with Green Kendrick. Porter also helped escaped slaves on their journey to freedom in Canada, using his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. I have not yet been able to identify where his house was; the building is unlikely to still be standing, but it is still worthwhile to track down the approximate location.

Timothy Porter, illustrated in
Anderson's History of Waterbury, Volume III

Timothy Porter's opposition to slavery may have been shaped by his family history. His great-uncle was Dr. Preserved Porter, a slave owner who, when one of his slaves, a man named Fortune, died, chose to dissect the body, boiling the bones and keeping them for medical study. Fortune's skeleton remained with Dr. Porter's son--Timothy Porter was six when Fortune died, and would have been well aware of what happened to him.


John Miles Stocking, a deacon in the Congregational church, was the other Waterbury abolitionist who was active in the Underground Railroad. Stocking had a barn which he used as a resting station for escaped slaves. Stocking raised his children to be anti-slavery, reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and other abolitionist material to them. The Stocking family took pride in knowing that every eligible man in their family served during the Civil war.



On a related note, Waterbury artist Louise Chessi McKinney has recently published two children's books about the Underground Railroad: The Journey to Freedom on the Underground Railroad and Follow the North Star. Check them out!

Finally!

After many years of complaints from the WOW neighborhood, the abandoned, blighted building at the corner of Wood and Walnut Streets has finally been torn down!

Before (2009)

After (earlier today)

The first time I wrote about this building was in 2009. I was appalled that this was a school bus stop. What clearer symbol of an uncaring city government could there be than requiring elementary school children to wait for the bus next to a building that looked like it was about to collapse on them? 

I wrote about it again in 2011. Then-Mayor Jarjura had attended a WOW community meeting and had promised to tear down both of the buildings at the corner of Wood and Walnut Streets. Only one of the two buildings was torn down. The one at the bus stop, the one blocking drivers' view of traffic, was left standing.

Now, finally, the problem building is gone. Thank you to whoever authorized its demolition!

Of course, the question remains: what comes next? Will the lot remain empty and abandoned? If a new building is constructed at the site, will it be set back from the road, or will the builders use the same footprint? I certainly hope not. In a residential neighborhood, even in a small city like Waterbury, buildings that are constructed right up against the street, leaving barely enough room for a sidewalk, are a bad idea.

There are two pre-fab duplex houses being built by WDC at the same intersection, diagonally across from the blighted building that was just torn down. They're set back from the road, surrounded by enough yard to make them feel comfortable, not packed in tight like sardines. Even buildings need elbow room.

Race Relations

There's been a lot in the news this week about the burial of Mr. Fortune, a man who was enslaved in Waterbury more than 200 years ago. About a decade ago, when I worked at the Mattatuck Museum, I spent a lot of time researching his life, his family, and the lives of other people who were enslaved here. I spent a lot of time with his skeleton, handling the bones, assisting with the project as I could. I spent a lot of time wondering exactly what happened when he died, what happened to his flesh after it was stripped from the bones, how his wife and children reacted to the trauma of his death and dismemberment.

His story has stayed with me all these years. Every so often, I pour through archival records, looking for any hint of what happened to Dinah, Roxa, Mira, Jacob, and Africa. They all left or were sent away from Waterbury soon after Fortune's death. How could they stay with his bones lying out for them to see?

I wasn't able to attend the funeral this week (I had to work in Norwalk), but I read every news article I could find. It was so powerful, so moving, to see how many people attended the funeral, to see how many people were touched by Fortune's story.

Earlier today, someone posted a link on Facebook and Twitter to Mr. Fortune's obituary in the Rep-Am . I hadn't read it yet, so I clicked on the link. The obituary was sparse, and I soon found myself reading three comments posted by anonymous readers. The comments made me ill. The "authors" were apparently outraged that an African American, who had suffered outrageous treatment sanctioned by the state during his life and during his death, was finally being honored and laid to rest. A sacred moment in history was being denigrated by a trio of ignorant people who were more concerned about pushing their agenda than respecting the weight of history.

I normally avoid engaging internet trolls in any form of discussion, but I felt obligated to at least try to show them why the events of this week, of Mr. Fortune lying in state at the Capitol, of being escorted back to Waterbury, of his funeral being national news, were so important. Weirdly, the most long-winded of the trio accused me of being a racist and claimed that I had accused him of the same.

Perhaps foolishly, I read more of the comments posted to articles about Fortune on the Rep-Am website. Many of them were steeped in disturbing resentment towards African Americans. I've been pondering this all evening. How could such a powerful, beautiful day inspire such venom?

We've come a long way in race relations, but we still have a ways to go.