Elm City Beat

Join Creative Arts Workshop this Saturday, March 27, for the Seventh Annual Edible Book Tea! This year's tea will be held in the Laura K. Lada-Mocarski Book Bindery at CAW, at 10 am. There is no fee to contribute, view or eat - just bring some tea.

What is an edible book? It's made of something you can eat and it looks like a book or makes reference to a book title or structure. Past books have included Ronel Namde's A Stack of Poetry Anthologies, made of chocolate cake books; Cathy Reeve's Jane Austen's Book Club (Sandwich), including bread, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo; and Sandy Rhodes' Farenheit 451, a conflagration of pretzels, fruit leather, fondant, and candy.

Make a "book" or go see the show! Click here to download more detailed information and an event schedule.

Join in New Haven's Largest Earth Day Celebration!

Here's how it works: You and a few hundred other riders will travel between West Rock and East Rock, with celebrations on both sides of the city. Along the way, you will eat tasty food, hear great music, take on environmental challenges and service projects, and explore the city's parks. You will travel along the Farmington Canal Trail and official city bike lanes, pass through many of the city's beautiful neighborhoods, and make stops in Edgewood and Beaver Pond Parks on their way between the Rocks. Think you're hard-core? Take detours to the top of the two rocks. Have a little kid in tow? Join in from Common Ground to Edgewood Park. Families and college students, 20-something hipsters and teenagers, young and old, serious riders and weekend warriors will all be welcomed. Join the rock band. div>

http://www.rocktorock.org/

Support Great Local Environmental Organizations! Your registration fees go to support the organizing partners who are making Rock to Rock run:

Common Ground, Solar Youth, and the nature centers run by the New Haven Parks Department. When you collect pledges, you can choose to focus your fundraising energy on one of the following organizations, or have it go to all of the great Rock to Rock participating partners: The Urban Resources Initiative, Common Ground, Solar Youth, New Haven Parks, Friends of East Rock Park, Friends of Beaver Pond Park, Friends of Edgewood Park, Sierra Club's Inner City Outings, and Elm City Cycling. Get in on the act.

NEW HAVEN – The homeless youth population in New Haven is no longer invisible. There are more than 1,000 of them seeking jobs, housing and striving to further their education every day. Transportation is just one of the many obstacles they face to achieve these goals; and Long Wharf Theater is reaching out with aid.

Long Wharf Theatre wiil be accepting donations of bus tokens and 10-Ride Ticket passes on behalf of Youth Continuum during each performance of No Child …, running from March 17 through April 18 on Long Wharf Theatre’s Stage II, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven.

Bus passes/tokens may be purchased online at cttransit.com, participating Stop and Shops and at the Connecticut Transit Center at the corner of Chapel and Church streets in downtown New Haven.

"The number of homeless youth served by Youth Continuum in is expected to double this year," commented Michelle Doheny, Director of Fund Development. "Unfortunately, there are no other agencies like ours in the state - and we're now seeing kids from Hartford, Bridgeport and New London desperately in need of transportation to our facilities and to achieve their goals locally."

Youth Continuum’s operates the MacMullen Center in New Haven where food, clothing, clinical services, educational support, job training, enrichment activities and supportive housing options are provided to homeless youth.

Annie DiMartino, Long Wharf Theatre’s director of education, gave a workshop about life in the theatre business to a group of Youth at MacMullen Center earlier in the 2009-10 season. “The students posed a lot of thoughtful questions and had an obvious interest in wanting to better themselves and their situation,” she said. “What struck me the most, and something you don’t see very often, is that the kids weren’t focused on the glitter and glamour of being stars. They were focused on the business and sustainable living, which is what I think the Youth Continuum helps and allows kids to understand.”

Long Wharf Theatre’s production of No Child is sponsored by Southern Connecticut State University, Bank of America and Carlton Highsmith.

For more information about the play, visit www.longwharf.org. For further information on Youth Continuum’s work in the community, go to www.youthcontinuum.org.

On March 14, the Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Parade Committee will stage the 54th annual celebration of its Irish‑American heritage. The centerpiece of this celebration is the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade that commences at 1:00 pm DST at Sherman Avenue and Chapel Street.

James J. McGovern, a North Haven resident and long time member of the parade committee, will lead the parade as its Grand Marshal,. McGovern said: “"Serving as Grand Marshal of the 2010 Greater New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade is an incredible honor for me. I am very proud to be a part of this event that is enjoyed by so many people; the parade is a great celebration not only for Irish Americans but for our entire community. It will be a very special day for me when I lead this parade with my family along side me."

Once again parade organizers expect over 300,000 spectators, making it the largest single-day spectator event in the state. As the 6th oldest parade in the nation, its fame was recognized by the Library of Congress in 1999. This keepsake of New Haven’s Irish community became a national keepsake when the Library of Congress selected the Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade as an outstanding example of American folk life.

The Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade is sponsored by The Associated Irish Societies consisting of the Knights of St. Patrick, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the West Haven Irish American Club, and the New Haven Football and Hurling Club.

The parade is delight for children of all ages and a special treat this year will be an appearance by Philadelphia’s second oldest string band known as the Aqua String Band. Colorful costumes and engaging strutting are the signature features of this entertaining musical group. Check out youtube.com for a video clip of their 2010 appearance in this year’s annual Mummers New Year’s Day parade.

Returning for their fifth appearance in the parade is the very popular Star Wars Costume Club known as the 501st CT Garrison. A number of new floats will appear for the first time in this year’s parade and at least three of the floats will carry musical bands. In addition to the official Parade Queen, Lindsey Stamp, and her honor attendant, Kristina Conroy, there will be several other pageant titleholders, highlighted by the appearance of Miss Connecticut, 2009 Sharalynn Kuziak.

Parade Coordinator, Eileen Sullivan Donadio, reports “Over 3600 parade participants from 150 musical and marching units are expected to march with the wind at their back and the sun smiling warmly on their faces.” Parade Chairman, Walter Nester, promises a well-organized event and said “This year’s parade will be a great family event for old and young alike.”

Spectators can watch the parade along the parade route from Chapel to Church Streets ending at Grove and Orange Streets. Free automobile parking is allowed in all Yale University parking lots around the Yale campus except for the restricted lots with red signs which are gate controlled. For more information, such as parade maps, city information, and parade orders, visit the parade website at www.stpatricksdayparade.org