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RTCTPowerPolitics07042026BBlock230pm

Welcome back to Power in Politics. I'm Mark Sudall. Joining me now is Cindy Tolosa from the Connecticut Humanities. Welcome to the program. Hi Mark, thanks so much for having me today. So talk to us a little bit about what's going on here in Greenwich. So we're here in Greenwich on one of our tall ships today, which is super exciting. Um, and so in Greenwich today is, uh, the celebration of America 250. So across the water from us in the park there will be a full day event, um, reenactors, uh, blacksmith shop, community vendors are gonna be here sharing information about organizations and what they're doing for America 250. Um, some speaking parts, so we're really excited to be here with folks in Greenwich and pretty cool that we're on a ship. Exactly. It's pretty cool, yeah, not every day you get to hang out on a boat. Not every day, no. So, uh, look, I mean, as you know, Connecticut is doing many 250 celebrations. What are some of the biggest ones we. Know about, yeah, so, uh, long weekend is happening July 1st through 5th in Hartford, and as part of that is Hartford Bonanza on July 4th. Uh, the commission will be there and we are gonna have a whole America 250 zone where organizations from all over the state will be tabling, sharing information. Um, there will be music going all day. Um, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra is performing at 7:30 and are going to be doing a great concert, um, 250 years of American music, and then we'll be wrapping up with fireworks over the Capitol, so it's gonna be an amazing day. A celebration of all things 250, all things Connecticut, um, and we're really excited for that. Wow. Any other parts of the state? Oh, of course, um, so I know that Middletown is going to be having a parade for all of Middlesex County kicking off at 10:00 a.m. Uh, and Willimantic we're gonna see the boombox parade, which is always a huge hit classic. Yeah, uh, I got my old boss Wayne Norman at ILI. That's right. There you go. Yeah, I got to march for the first time 2 years ago and it was a great day. Um, and so outside of that there are tons of parades all over the state. Um, in Middlebury they are, uh, unveiling a Revolutionary War monument which is really exciting, um, honoring the soldiers who fought from Middlebury, um. And yeah it's gonna be a busy weekend and it doesn't stop there. Uh, things are happening for the next 6 months. Um, I mean short term we have Celebrate New London on July 11th and lots of other fireworks that following weekend, um, but then really events are going on all the way through at least November and I'm sure there will be more after that. Wow, and I guess there's gonna be some like special bell ringings around the state as well, yes, so at 2 p.m. Uh, there was legislation passed back in 1963 that all bells across the country should ring 13 times in honor of the 13 colonies at 2 p.m. on July 4th, so that was a huge tradition. It really, like during the bicentennial, it was a big thing, um, and so we are bringing that back for the 250th, um, so in Hartford we're gonna have a moment of silence so you can hear the bells toll all over the city. And we're anticipating that across other towns the same will be happening, and I wish I had one of them with me, but my hometown of East Hampton, Belltown, uh, had produced these beautiful cowbells with, uh, you know, CT 250. Pretty cool, yeah, and they have, um, they are able to produce things with the America 250 logo, so it is a very special semi-quincentennial bell, um, and so it is Bevan's bells. They are the only American. Uh, bell manufacturer left and the oldest American bell manufacturer, so it is very special that they're here in Connecticut. That's right. It used to be gong Bell years ago. I could, I could go on and on. Um, what about this, uh, Connecticut passport program? Tell us about that. So we put together a Connecticut passport. It features 40 places around the state where you can learn about the last 250 years of Connecticut history. Um, we really put a lot of thought into making sure that there's something for everyone, so we have some state parks. If you are not a museum person and just wanna be outside and learn history, there are history museums, art museums, um, and other like historic homes where you can get a variety of different stories about the last 250 years. I'm excited. I love museums, but I have not gotten around to all of the museums here in Connecticut, so I'm excited to check out the places that I have. Haven't seen already and we're hoping uh other folks will do the same but you can get yours at any of the participating museums and then at many local libraries all over the state so we've been using them to distribute and making sure people are able to get them. wow. What about uh reenactments? Any reenactments going on at all? Yeah, so we'll have one today, um, but then in addition to that there are yesterday there was a huge reenactment actually in North Stonington. Um, there are other ones happening. Fairfield is September 6th and 7th, and then, um, there will be a huge reenactment in Durham in October, and I keep getting the date wrong, so I'm not going to try, um, but check out 250MCT.com has all of the dates and all of the events that are happening around the state. And usually, I don't know if you know this, usually, uh, Ridgefield does a big reenactment of course there was the, the burning of Danbury during the revolution. Um, is there going to be one going on there as well, or, um, that is a great question. So they will have one in April of next year, so that will be the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Ridgefield, um, so it is the last weekend in April, I believe. So, um. Things to look forward to next year too. There is always something to look forward to in our great state of Connecticut. I mean, so many events obviously going on to think that we're celebrating 250, yeah, I remember, I remember 200, but 250 is like that's huge. Exactly. All right, we're gonna, I'm sorry to cut you off there. We're going to continue with our conversation with Cindy when we come back.

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RTCTPowerPoliticss07042026CBlock230pm

Welcome back to Power and Politics. We continue our conversation with Cindy Tolosa from Connecticut Humanities. Thank you again so much for giving us the time on this special edition of Power and Politics. I mean, look, we both know that Connecticut played a huge role in the Revolutionary War, uh, provisions on and on and on. Tell, tell us a little bit about it. Yeah, I am not a historian. But I've learned a lot about Connecticut history over the last few years, um, so Connecticut was known as the Provision State, and people think that because there weren't tons of battles fought here in Connecticut that we didn't have a big role to play in the Revolutionary War, but we really did, um, as far back as during Lexington and Concord, um. Um, Connecticut was sending food. They were sending, um, munitions and other things over to the colonists who were, uh, fighting against the British. So, uh, tons of sheep actually were sent over from, um, Lebanon, uh, Wyndham, that area of the state. Uh, up to Boston and that kept the colonists fed it kept them clothed and was really important to the success of those early battles, um, in addition to that there is a lot of iron here in Connecticut, so. Because of that there were iron foundries and a huge percentage of the munitions that includes uh bullets, cannonballs were made here in Connecticut and then sent over to troops across the country. Um, in particular, there's a great story of, uh, the statue of King George that was torn down after the Declaration of Independence was signed, and so that statue was torn down in Bowling Green in New York City and then brought up through Fairfield County up to Litchfield County. Um, it was melted at, uh, Marion Wolett's home. She was the daughter of Oliver Wolett, one of the signers of the Declaration. He had an iron foundry and so that statue was melted and turned into bullets and then used by the Revolutionary War soldiers. So great stories. That is great information. And again you have some other events. I always thought this was a cool one, having grown up kind of in Middlesex County. Deep River muster is really. Yeah, so that is July 18th this year. It is the national muster, so, uh, fife and drum corps from all over the country are gonna be coming to Deep River, Connecticut. They will have an encampment in Deep River, huge parade on the morning of July 18th. If you like drums and if you like, uh, colonial music, go listen and participate. It's a great time. Cindy, thank you so much for the time. I'm Mark Sudall. Thanks for watching.

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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and America 250, Connecticut Commission Project Manager Cyndi Tolosa join the show this week.

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