Monday, May 5

Town Plan & Zoning Meeting, 7:00pm

Election Forums at the Mandell JCC, First Tuesday of the Month at 7:30 PM
Are you tired of listening to the “talking heads” on TV?  Want to voice your own opinion and ask questions about the upcoming election?  Join Bobby Newman, local political pundit and expert in public relations and the media, as he moderates monthly discussions about democracy, elect-ability vs. leadership and if we are really ready for change as a result of this year’s election. 

Upcoming forum dates: June 3, July 1, August 5, September 2, October 7, November 4 at 7:30 pm. FREE. Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, http://www.mandelljcc.org Drop in or RSVP to Elana MacGilpin at 231-6327 or emacgilpin@mandelljcc.org.

Tuesday, May 6

Celebrity Breakfast at Effie's Restaurant, 7:00 AM- 10:00 AM
Bring your appetite and $10 to Effie’s Place Family Restaurant, 91 Park Road, on Tuesday, May 6 from 7:00 to 10:00AM and you will receive your choice of breakfast served by local celebrities. The money raised will help the Park Road Business Association pay various expenses for the 9th annual Park Road Parade to be held on Saturday, October 4, 2008. Radio personality Brad Davis will be broadcasting his morning show live from Effie's. For more information, call Richard Patrissi at 233-2447.

Wednesday, May 7

Commission on Persons with Disabilities, 7:00pm

Intensive Education Insight Breakfast: IEA will hold an Insight Breakfast on May 7, 2008, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM at the school, 840 North Main Street, WH. Guests will have the opportunity to learn the history of the school, the curriculum offered for special education and a tour will be offered. Coffee and pastry will be served. Due to space limitations, reservations are requested. Please call the school at (860) 236-2049, ext 12.

Thursday, May 8

Board of Assessors meeting, 8:00am

Thursday, May 8

Substance Abuse Prevention Commission, 5:00-6:30pm, Town Hall, room 400

West Hartford Garden Club meeting focuses on Creative Design with speaker: Kaye Vosburgh. Kaye will give a demonstration of ikebana and freestyle designs utilizing basic design principles.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard
For more information, call 860-561-0724
Guest donation $10.00 - Light lunch included

THURSDAY, MAY 8 at 7:30 PM
SUE HALPERN "Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research" Halpern spent years in the company of the neuroscientists, pharmacologists, psychologists, nutritionists, and inventors who are hunting for the genes and molecules, the drugs and foods, the machines, the prosthetics, the behaviors and therapies that will stave off Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and keep our minds–and memories–intact. [Book signing follows at Barnes & Noble, next door to library]

RESERVE SEATS for these book readings by clicking the link above, then visiting the reservations page. All events are at the Noah Webster (Main) Library, 20 S. Main Street, West Hartford, unless otherwise noted. Call the library for more details: 860-561-6990. http://www.westhartfordlibrary.org/authorslive/

Mercy Community Health will hold two special events on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at Saint Mary Home, 2021 Albany Avenue in West Hartford, to support those living with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias.  At 10:00 a.m. in the Chapel at Saint Mary Home, a Mass will be offered in memory of people who have died or who are living with the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease; all are welcome.  Then, at 4:30 p.m. in the Center 1 Dining Room at Saint Mary Home, an Alzheimer’s and Dementia Family Caregiver Support Group Meeting will be held.  First-time participants are welcome. For more information, or to register in advance for the Caregiver Support Group, call Eileen Cleary at 860.570.8335.  Walk-ins are also permitted.

Thursday, May 8

The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce will be holding its May Business After Hours, their premier monthly networking event, at University of Connecticut – Greater Hartford Campus located at 1800 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford. The event will take place on Thursday, May 8, 2008 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

There is no charge for members or potential members, non-members will pay $20 each visit. Admission includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, beverages and unlimited business networking. To make a reservation or for more information on this or other Chamber events, please call the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce at (860) 521-2300, e-mail info@WHChamber.com or visit www.WHChamber.com.

The Bishops Corner Library and the Bishops Corner Neighborhood Group invite you to attend their monthly meeting on May 8, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. The guest speaker will be Ron VanWinkle who will discuss zoning issues. Area residents are encouraged to attend and voice their comments and concerns. The meeting will be held in the Bishops Corner Senior Center's large meeting room.

Friday, May 9

The West Hartford Public Library will screen a triple feature on FRIDAY, MAY 9: THE WAR IN IRAQ: 3 FILMS with OSCAR NOMINATIONS. Admission is free. For more information, please visit: http://www.westhartfordlibrary.org/programs/films/

All films are free. Coffee is provided. All films will be shown in the West Hartford Public Library's meeting room, 20 S. Main Street, West Hartford, CT 06107. For more information, please call the library at: 860-561-6990.

Fern Street Market: Calling all gardeners, collectors of antiques and uniques, and savvy shoppers who will not want to miss this annual Mother’s Day Weekend treasure fest at the Universalist Church of West Hartford, 433 Fern Street between N. Main St. and Trout Brook. 

The Market will be open 6:30 – 8:30 pm Friday night and 9am – 1pm Saturday. Friday’s Preview Night from 6:30 – 8:30 pm offers buyers the first choice of items for sale, along with appetizers and desserts.  Tickets at the door are $8 for adults and $4 for children.  For advance tickets ($6 for adults and $3 for children) call 233-3669. Saturday from 9 am – 1 pm admission is free and along with all the great items for sale, there will be a snack bar for lunch and a bake sale.  From 12-1 pm there will be a $10 bag sale for all items in the Clothing Boutique.

GalaSaurus, The Children’s Museum 12th Annual Gala, will be held Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Tumble Brook Country Club. The Presenting Sponsor is TD Banknorth. Highlights of the fundraising gala to benefit the Children’s Museum’s educational programming include specialty martinis, sumptuous food, entertainment, silent and live auctions, and our unique Animal Sponsorship auction, offering guests the opportunity to provide the care and feeding for an animal in our wildlife sanctuary for the upcoming year.  Local radio personality Brad Davis will serve as emcee and co-auctioneer.

Tickets are $150.  Patron tickets, which include a pre-event VIP reception, are $250.  Sponsorships are available, beginning at $2,500.  For more information, visit the Museum’s website or contact Dawn Veillette Diana at 860.231.2830 x51 or ddiana@thechildrensmuseumct.org.

Saturday, May 10

West Hartford Figure Skating Show
Come to Veterans Memorial Ice Skating Rink for the spring skating show where local skaters will showcase their talents. The event starts at 12:00 noon. General admission is $7. For more information, visit www.skatevmsr.com or call the rink at 521-1573.

Low-Cost Rabies Vaccine Clinic for Cats and Dogs from any Town.
Saturday, May 10, 2-4 PM at the Blue Hills Fire Dept., 1021 Blue Hills Ave. Bloomfield. Fee: $15 CASH. Bring pet’s current rabies certificate. Dogs must be on leash, Cats in carriers.

For more information, call the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District at 860-561-7900 or the Windsor Health Department at 860-285-1823 or Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association at 860-635-7770. One FREE pet rabies vaccine to individuals presenting their own state medical assistance card.

The Children’s Museum, featuring the new Travelers Science Dome, will be hosting Astronomy Day May 10, 2008 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  In order to support the national theme of Astronomy Day, “Bringing Astronomy to the People,” The Children’s Museum is organizing a series of courses and shows that children, families and adults can all participate in.  This year, staff astronomers and educators will be leading courses that will include learning about black holes, rockets, telescopes, and of course the intricacies of the night sky.  In addition, there will be special StarGazing 101 talks by Staff Astronomer Jason Archer, a feature presentation of Oasis in Space planetarium show and solar observing in the courtyard (weather permitting). 

Throughout the day, The Children’s Museum will have free give-aways and hand-outs, and will be raffling off a Meade ETX‑80 Telescope on site to one lucky astronomy enthusiast.  Like in years past, all attendees will have the chance to win the grand prize, an 8-inch LX 90 Schmit-Cassegrain Telescope. All give-aways and prizes are made possible thanks to The Meade Instruments 4M Community and Astronomy Magazine.  This year’s event at The Children’s Museum is sponsored in part by Cabot Creamery. 

Pre-registration for the courses is highly recommended, since they may fill up prior to the event.  For more information about courses, planetarium shows, available packages and to learn more about astronomy, please visit The Children’s Museum website at http://www.TheChildrensMuseumCT.org.  To register, call 860.231.2830, ext. 44 or events@thechildrensmusuemct.org.  Astronomy is certainly looking up!

Saturday, May 10

Improv/Comedy Night at The Grounds
Come laugh 'til it hurts at The Grounds. Saturday night, May 10, 2008 from 7:30 PM until 11:00 PM at the former Barnes & Noble store at 333 North Main Street in West Hartford. Scheduled to appear are "Off The Cuff", a professional improv group and West Hartford's own "The Answer". Try your luck at Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Wii, sing your hearts out at karaoke, play ping pong, foosball, indoor mini golf or air hockey, listen to your one of your favorite West Hartford high school bands or simply chill with your friends. This event is exclusively for high school students from Hall, Conard, Kingswood-Oxford, Northwest Catholic, Watkinson and all other West Hartford high schools. It is also open to all West Hartford high school age students who attend schools outside of West Hartford. High school id is required for entry. Food will be available for sale. Space is limited! The Grounds is always looking for local West Hartford high school talent to perform at its events. If you play an instrument, are part of a band, are a budding comedian or have another talent which you would like to showcase in front of your friends, please e-mail the Grounds at info@westhartfordgrounds.com. For more information about The Grounds, please log on to www.westhartfordgrounds.com.

Saturday, May 10

Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra: “From the Acorn”
Saturday, May 10th 2008 at 8:00 pm
Millard Auditorium, University of Hartford, West Hartford

This colorful concert of Russian music features some of the country’s most important composers. The FVSO plays Glinka’s Kamarinskaya; Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto with soloist Sarah Cicchetti; the prelude to Khovanschina by Moussorgsky and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Tchaikovsky claimed "the Russian symphonic school is all in Kamarinskaya as the whole oak is in the acorn".

Tickets: adults $15, seniors $12, students $7, and children under 12 are free. For more information call 800-975-FVSO (3876) or visit the website at http://www.fvso.org.

Saturday, May 10 and Sunday, May 11

The Zachs Memorial Lecture series features ELEONORA SHIFRIN, one of the most politically active, prolific, and public-spirited persons in Israel on Saturday, May 10th after services (at approx. 12:30 p.m.) $12 per adult and $6 per child

The topic of discussion is “Israel: Can it be Jewish and Democratic? Israeli democracy and its effect on the future of Jewish people in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora.”

On Sunday, May 11th at 10 a.m. the topic of discussion is “What can YOU (in the Diaspora) do (if anything) to help Israel survive? $5 per person

For more information please contact Renana Kadden at 236-2200. RSVP to Synagogue office 233-6241 or visit our webpage www.agudas.org for the flyer.

Agudas Achim is located at 1244 North Main Street, West Hartford, CT