Birdcraft Museum Celebrates Migratory Birds’ Return

Birdcraft Museum Celebrates Migratory Birds’ Return:

Birds bagged, measured, 

tagged and released

By Mike Lauterborn

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 5/14)

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

5/14/11

Fairfield, CT – It was the perfect time to be bagging birds. Cloudy, cool and early enough that the birds would be focused on finding breakfast and not on the mesh nets all around the property set there to capture them.

All the flap was around “International Migratory Bird Day” being celebrated Saturday morning at the Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary, 314 Unquowa Road. The event marked the peak period during which insect-eating birds return to the area from their tropical retreats and are temporarily captured, catalogued, banded and released.

Master Bander Judy Richardson, who has been leading the banding at the Birdcraft since 1988, was like a wide-eyed kid, excitedly walking the 6.5 acre sanctuary to unfurl some seventeen 8’H x 40’W fine mesh nets along most of the trails and encircling the pond. While Richardson is a long-time veteran, bird monitoring at Birdcraft began in the 1970s.

The morning was cloudy and overcast, which Richardson said was ideal in terms of capturing birds. “The nets are almost invisible, and they’ve been through a long night and are hungry,” she said.

Richardson said they began monitoring the migratory birds’ return since April 1 and will wrap up around Memorial Day, but that this period now is the peak time when most return. “These birds, like the Wood Thrush, can’t live here in the winter,” she said. “We’re essentially welcoming them back from places like Central and South America. The birds follow the coast and this is not far from it. As they’re flying over Fairfield, they see this green patch, like a mini Central Park, amid an otherwise developed area. The Sanctuary is a perfect stopping place.”

Richardson explained that bird monitoring is done as they are a tremendous indicator of the condition of the environment. “If things aren’t going well for them, things are not going to go well for us,” she said.

The nets stay up from about 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The birds essentially fly into and get tangled in them, flap a little then wait. The nets are patrolled by a team of about seven banders, who check them hourly or more often. They carefully remove the birds and place them into cotton bags, which are warm and comforting. They are then brought inside to a banding lab to be processed. The nets are never put up in the rain as the birds’ feathers would get wet and their health might be compromised.

“It’s such a pleasure to see these birds arrive knowing they’ve traveled thousands of miles to get here,” said Richardson, as she removed a Common Yellowthroat from a net. “This one’s coming from South America and nests in the Sanctuary. It makes a witchity witchity witch sound. It’s hard to see as its coloring is yellow and green like the leaves at this time of year.”

Richardson said migration can be hard. “Birds can be blown out to sea, hurt in storms, hit buildings and be eaten by hawks,” she said. “It’s amazing they get through, and how do they know how to do it? They come back like clockwork, almost to the day. It’s magical. This is like Christmas. You go around to the nets and you don’t know what you’re going to get.”

Richardson added that housecats are among the greatest threats to birds. “House cats should really be kept indoors,” she said. “They kill up to 300 birds each per year. If a cat were to come onto the property here and see a wiggling bird in a net, it would go right after it.”

Processing was conducted at a table in the Museum, on which a box of tools and log books were placed. Several visitors came to view the process, which Richardson led and explained step by step. Information the banders capture includes time caught, place caught, bander, band number, species, age and how age was determined, sex and how sex was determined, wing length, body fat and weight.

“Romans started banding birds first, putting strings around their legs,” said Richardson. “It’s been done for a long long time.”

Classic Cars Dazzle at Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield

Classic Cars Dazzle at Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield:

Vintage makes from the 50s to the 80s displayed

By Mike Lauterborn
(for Fairfield Citizen)

5/13/11

Fairfield, CT – They looked as new as the day they rolled off the assembly line and, for a while, shared the spotlight with many of their newer brethren.

On Friday morning May 13, Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield, 165 Commerce Drive, made accessible to the general public a collection of rare vintage Mercedes-Benzes. The classic automobiles – nine in all dating from 1955 to 1983 and part of a private collection owned by Margaret and Bruce Ianelli – were displayed in the dealer’s showroom in celebration of the carmaker’s 125th anniversary. A tenth classic car was contributed by a local customer. “The Best or Nothing” event, as it was titled, kicked off with a private reception for clients Thursday night. The cars were scheduled to be on display through 6 p.m. Friday and featured again from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 14.

“The Ianelli’s own an exotic pre-owned car dealership in New Jersey and we have a collaborative business relationship with them,” said General Manager Eric Ferits, with regard to how the display came about. “They offered the cars to help mark the anniversary. Every single car is fully reconditioned and certified by MB Classic Center in California, which restores classic Benzes. The nine have all their original parts and mileage and a collective value of upwards of $3 million.”

In addition to showcasing the cars, the dealership was showing off its new space, after a rebuild last year and reopening in September as an “auto haus”. Business development representative Terry Doll said, “The space allows us to entertain the local community with activities appropriate to all ages while highlighting exciting new cars like the 2012 CLS 63 AMG, which is scheduled to debut in the U.S. next month.”

One of the highlight vintage cars on display was a 1956 Binz 300c Station Wagon, of which only one was produced. “It was ordered in 1956 by Mrs. Caroline Folke from NYC,” said Ferits. “In order to accommodate her order, Benz had to outfit a regular C sedan. MB shipped the finished car from Stuttgart to the Binz Coachworks Co., one of the few remaining custom coach builders in Germany. Legend has it that Mrs. Folke was so fond of the splendid vehicle that, whenever she traveled, she had it shipped by air to each of her homes in Paris, New York and Palm Beach.”

Another remarkable car was the 1971 280 SE 3.5 convertible. “It was presented at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1969 as a luxury model and was originally purchased for $100,000,” said Ferits. “It took two years to restore at a cost of $200,000.”

A red 1955 190 SLR Roadster was a standout. It debuted in 1954 at the New York International Motorsports Show. “This was a prototype race car that was not ultimately tested,” said Ferits. “It has lightweight doors with no door handles and a small plexiglass windshield.”

A Fairfield customer who got wind of the show offered his own Benz classic, a 1956 300 SL Gullwing, for display. “It has been consistently serviced here by Paul Berg, our top master technician,” said Ferits, proudly.

Events like these, as well as top service, sales and satisfaction, may be the reason the dealership has been named by MB USA among the top 20 Mercedes-Benz dealers in the country for five years, including the last two consecutive years under Ferit’s oversight.

Dealer events also seek to tie in other local luxury businesses, which enhances community relations. “Our partner for this event is Harry’s Wine & Liquor Market,” said Doll. “As part of their support, we had a brand new C-class parked at their store and allowed its clients to enter for a chance of usage over a weekend.”

Man About Town: Sun Tavern Will Serve Town Again

Man About Town: Sun Tavern 
Will Serve Town Again

(column for May 13 

Fairfield Citizen news)

By Mike Lauterborn

5/10/11

Fairfield teems with historical structures and one of the most recognizable is the Sun Tavern, adjacent to Old Town Hall at the southwest corner of Old Post Road and Beach Road. On a recent weekday, it became the target of my latest Man About Town adventure. Walt Matis, the volunteer coordinator at Fairfield Museum and History Center, which maintains the property, joined me for the visit.

The 1,500-square-foot, three-story white shingled home, with its shake roof and shutterless windows, is believed to have been built from scratch by Samuel Penfield in 1780, just a year after British forces burned Fairfield. The land had originally been given to Reverend John Jones, the first minister of the nearby First Congregational Church, in 1644. Jones’ wife sold it to Thomas and Hannah Gibbs in 1681, who in turn sold it to Penfield in 1761.

There are a few theories as to why Penfield established the tavern. “He may have been trying to draw area citizenry from adjacent Bulkley’s Tavern, which some believed had Loyalist leanings,” said Matis. “It also sits along what was once the King’s Highway, a major thoroughfare between leading east coast cities. Old Town Hall was also the County Courthouse, which was a focal point for county legal proceedings, so would have been a busy center.”

Sun Tavern became a stopping place for food, drink and a puff on a clay pipe, and offered beds for weary travelers. It was also a key place for the exchange of news – “the CNN of its day” as Matis described it. He added that the tavern was “pretty much a man’s world as, generally, it was not appropriate for women or children to enter or stay in such a place.”

Notably, though much debated, it is thought that General George Washington stayed overnight here, on his way northeast toward New Haven.

Several fireplaces heated the structure, warming rough-hewn wide-plank floors that today slope as the ground has shifted over time. The actual bar room is thought to have been on the main level to the right of the front entry, and may have featured an opening in the wall that served as the bar counter. The word “bar”, said Matis, was derived from the fact that iron bars could be pulled down to secure liquor supplies behind the counter, in the event of a fight or attempted theft.

Overnight accommodations were on the second floor. The third’s floor, the ceiling of which is high and arched throughout, may have served as a ballroom, though more likely as a meeting space for local masons or sleeping quarters for travelers of lesser means, who could not afford a bed.

Sam Penfield died in 1811 and it is not known how long the Tavern operated afterwards, though it had definitely ceased business as of 1818, when the property was sold to Rebecca Hewitt. She was the wife of Reverend Nathaniel Hewitt, a man of temperance, who converted the tavern into a private residence. It changed hands and was modified a number of times over the years until the town purchased the property in 1978. Town historian Bill Lee and his wife moved in as caretakers in 1980, and spent 15 years renovating it.

In 1996, the Museum contracted with the town to manage it. While undergoing further renovation, it has mostly stood unused. However, Matis said, “There is discussion about recreating the tavern room with tables, chairs and card games, and using the adjacent front room to tell the story of Fairfield’s Colonial history and the significance of taverns during the period.”

With a tip of my hat, I thanked Matis for the informative tour and traveled on, eager to explore another fantastic Fairfield facet.

“Where’s the Party?” Is a Loaded Question Says Panel

“Where’s the Party?” Is a Loaded Question Says Panel:

Warde-hosted interactive session focuses on underage drinking

By Mike Lauterborn

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 5/12)

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

5/11/11

Fairfield, CT – Bad decisions can have dire consequences especially when it comes to underage drinking.

That was the message drilled home Wednesday night in the Fairfield Warde High School auditorium by a team of moderators and the Interactive Educational Theatre group, which performed a series of skits illustrating all too common scenarios related to alcohol and minors. The theatre group, a non-profit touring company that specializes in social issue education, was comprised of teachers Erika Nelson-Hayden, Tony Republicano and Magda Skomal. The moderators were Fairfield criminal defense attorney Megan McLoughlin, Fairfield Police Chief Gary McNamara and Fairfield Police Lt. Tom Mrozek. About two dozen local parents of teens attended.

“Titled ‘Where’s the Party?’, the program is designed to raise awareness about underage drinking issues at hand in town and surrounding communities and comes on the heels of a 2010 online survey conducted by the Fairfield Cares Task Force,” said PTA volunteer and event co-chair Debbie Strachan. “Questions were tailored to parents and showed many surprises in terms of what parents thought their children were doing compared with what the kids said they were doing.”

For example, the Survey showed that 11% of Fairfield parents of juniors and seniors think their kids have ridden with a drunk driver, while 26% of Fairfield kids report they have ridden with a drunk driver.

In between each skit, the moderators provided crime statistics and insights, and took questions from the audience. Parents like Marie Lavigne found the program particularly relevant. “I have a son in 10^th grade and a daughter in 8^th grade and want to be aware of what kids are doing,” she said. “We think we’ve seen it all, but things have changed. Kids find ways to get alcohol.”

The theatre group led off the program by reading actual, startling headlines, that were pulled from local news services, about alcohol-related incidents involving minors. This was a segue to the first skit, which opened with three responsible kids getting together while parents were away, other kids finding out about the gathering and it getting out of control, with alcohol and drunk driving ultimate results.

McNamara said the situation happens frequently. “We often get calls to break up a party that has gotten out of control,” he said. “Kids party hop. We try to prevent that all over town.”

Attorney McLoughlin said the consequences are more serious when there is an adult present while alcohol is being consumed by a minor in a home. “Whether the adult is aware of the consumption or not, they can be charged with reckless endangerment or risk of injury to a minor, felonies that carry stiff penalties, even mandatory jail time.”

Lt. Mrozek said that when they find a party, they call in additional manpower and try to lock it down. Then they hold the kids, call parents and release the kids to their parents when they appear. “Communication is such these days that kids will quickly let other kids know that we’ve shown up and they won’t go.”

He added, “If a parent has sponsored the party, there are going to be arrests. We had a case of a schoolteacher that was present at a party we broke up, but hiding in a closet. We only found out afterwards but still arrested the teacher two weeks later.”

McNamara said the community can help the police department do its job by reporting anything they’ve heard or know right away. “If we get info early enough about an anticipated party, we’ll investigate it. We need you as much as you need us,” he said.

Another hazard related to underage drinking is acquaintance rape, the focus of another skit. In the scenario, a girl is out of it at a party and encouraged by the male host to lie down in his room. He lets on to the audience that he has put something in her drink.

“There are twisted people out there who will drug someone or feed them too much alcohol and take advantage of them,” said Skomal.

In a related scenario, a couple has a few beers, strolls to the beach and has sex. She apparently resisted and said ‘no’; he says he never heard her say no and thought it was consensual.

“A majority of the time, a girl doesn’t make a report because chances are they’re going to be victimized by a criminal defense lawyer like me,” said McLoughlin. “This he-said, she-said situation is also a grey area. Again, though, sexual assault is a symptom of underage drinking. People don’t think about the collateral damage.”

McLoughlin added, “Kids are listening to you, but hearing their friends, too. You have to keep telling them.”

New Station on Track for October Opening

New Station on Track 
for October Opening:

Platforms and pedestrian 

crossover essentially completed

By Mike Lauterborn

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 5/12)

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

5/10/11

Fairfield, CT – A project years in the planning, Fairfield’s third train station, along Commerce Drive, is finally nearing completion. Both north and south going platforms, with covered waiting shelters, as well as a pedestrian crossover from north to south sides, are, for the better part, complete.

Keith Shove, a Metro North conductor, who was onsite on a recent sunny Tuesday morning, provided a quick update on remaining work on the site. “With regard to the platforms and crossover, we’re just going through a punch list, with paint touch-up, hand railings, etc. to be done. Then the state will sign off.”

As to the parking lot, for which a crushed rock base had been put down, Shove said it would be completed by October, if not sooner, and “as soon as people have a place to park, the station will be open.”

Meanwhile, crews are finishing the main roadways in and out of the site, drainage is in, contaminated soil has been capped, and the main contractor, Guerrera Construction, is ahead of schedule with building the ticket station.

He added, “The vendor slots for the ticket station are all sold out as are the parking spaces. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the state grab up more land, especially for parking.”

As to surrounding property, Shove said values have gone very high and adjacent land owners have been toying with putting in parking garages and retail attractions.

Shove said one immediate neighbor, Bigelow Tea, which owns a building to the east of the station, is “not happy about the project as they’ll need to put up fences and a security shack to keep commuters from parking in their lot.”

Destructive teens have been another issue, as evidenced by graffiti tags on platform walls. “The building material is pre-cast concrete and it’s going to cost about $4,000 to remove the graffiti,” he said.

“All in all, though, for a large construction site like this, problems have been few,” said Shove, summing up.

Local Author Promotes Vegan Sweets

Local Author Promotes Vegan Sweets:

Hannah Kaminsky offers 

healthy dessert recipes

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Westport News)

5/7/11

Westport, CT – When you think of a book signing at a mainstream bookstore franchise, most imagine the author will be a conservative looking, plainly dressed type. Hannah Kaminsky, with her lace-up boots, four-inch heels, black attire, multiple piercings and reddish hair, shatters that notion.

The 22-year-old Fairfield-based author was on hand early Saturday afternoon at Barnes & Noble bookstore, 1076 Post Road East, to introduce and autograph her new book, “Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season.” She also offered a few samples of her baked treats, including five-spice snaps. The book is her second; “My Sweet Vegan” was her first, introduced in 2007.

“I had a lot of friends that were vegetarians and I thought that was interesting, and toyed with joining them as a fun thing,” said Kaminsky. “But then I did research into animal rights and the industry and, after a month, went straight Vegan and haven’t looked back. That was 8 or 9 years ago.”

Kaminsky’s mom, Margo, who was on hand for the signing, said she was concerned when Hannah first started pursuing a Vegan lifestyle. “I was worried she wouldn’t get the proper nutrition, so we met with a nutritionist to ensure that,” she said.

Five years ago, Kaminsky started a blog, centered on crafts at first and the various handicrafts that she also enjoyed doing. “Then I got into cooking and baking,” she said, “which seemed like its own craft. As I got more comfortable with baking, which I learned through trial and error, I started creating recipes. Then I got entirely lucky and a publisher approached me to create my initial book, which was about Vegan baking in general.”

Kaminsky describes her new book “Vegan Desserts” as seasonal, focused on the ingredients and some of the nostalgia around baked goods at the holidays and certain seasonal periods. “For summer, I have an Ant Hill Cake, which is essentially a yellow cake with chocolate sprinkles inside, that makes you think of picnics,” she said. “For the Fourth of July, I have a red, white and blue layer cake, made of different berries and whipped frosting.”

The young author said Vegan cuisine is becoming more mainstream and accepted, though there’s still a stigma. “In Fairfield, though, there are three restaurants that have a Vegan focus,” she said. “One of those is Health in a Hurry on the Post Road, where I work part-time as a cook.”

Besides the book signings and cooking, Kaminsky continues to blog, trying to put up three new entries a week, bakes almost every day and is finishing her studies at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. “I’m schooling myself online,” she explained.

For the moment, though, she is just trying to encourage people to think about Vegan baking and try something different. “Years ago, Vegan desserts weren’t as good, and that may have stayed with people,” she said. “They’ve become much improved due to recipes being fine-tuned. It’s about learning from the past and not making the same nut loaf.”

Mom Margo said she’s not a Vegan herself, but admires Kaminsky’s passion. “She’s very inspiring and has convinced many of my friends that Vegan desserts are good,” she said. “Often I would bring samples into my workplace, which were embraced and changed a lot of minds about Vegan food.”

Stepping up to purchase a book, Alberto Mignucci of Westport said he was impressed that someone Kaminsky’s age has written two successful books, with another on the way. “She’s very prolific and passionate about providing healthy food choices to the public,” he said.

Scooping up a five-spice cookie, another passerby, Cal Kish, said, “I’m not a Vegan, but my wife is kind of one and teaches yoga. These spice cookies are excellent. If I didn’t know it had a Vegan base, I would be none the wiser.”

Chappaqua Neurologist Pursues Cure for Epilepsy

Chappaqua Neurologist 
Pursues Cure for Epilepsy

By Mike Lauterborn

(for June issue of

Inside Chappaqua magazine)

4/5/11

For the past 35 years, Chappaqua resident and pediatric neurologist Dr. Solomon Moshe has worked tirelessly toward finding a cure for epilepsy, a condition that affects over 50 million people worldwide. While his work at all levels has improved clinical care and an understanding of the disease, he says research will continue until such time as epileptologists are out of business.

“There are more people with epilepsy than people with cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy combined,” said Moshe, who is Vice Chairman of the Dept. of Neurology and Director of Pediatric Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. “It’s more common than autism, has many forms and can affect any age, though it’s mostly apparent in children and seniors over age 70. One in 100 people have epilepsy.”

Moshe said the condition can manifest itself in several ways. “The most common appearance is a sudden inability to communicate, but also generalized spasms and contractions,” he said. “In young children, we often see spasms, and parents think their child will die. And while more people die from epilepsy than women with breast cancer every year, less than one percent of the 50 million people with epilepsy will die annually.”

He said the common approach to the condition has been to try and prevent it from happening by using existing medications effectively. However, realizing that one-third of people with epilepsy don’t respond to medication, he and his team have developed new medications and other treatments such as surgery. They are also trying to identify beforehand those that may have the condition by doing elaborate testing, including genetic testing.

“One part of research involves developing biomarkers that can predict if seizures will be controlled or if they will be associated with other bad outcomes such as learning difficulties, autism, depression and even sudden death,” he said, “although not all people with epilepsy will exhibit these conditions.”

Moshe said they have made significant progress. “We are getting close in understanding all the crucial factors involved in the better diagnosis and treatment of all people with epilepsy,” he said.

He cited the work of several associates at Einstein. “Dr. Aristea Galanopoulou has identified new molecules that are effective in lab animal testing,” he said. “Other studies we have done uniquely involve a condition call status epilepticus, which is a very long seizure. Most often in children it’s associated with fever. Dr. Shlomo Shinnar has received government funding to identify biomarkers that will predict which children will develop epilepsy after the first bout of status epilepticus. This will lead to treatments that will influence the biomarkers early and prevent the consequences.”

Another area Moshe and his team are investigating is what makes seizures stop. “We found out that there are specific centers in the brain that can stop seizures as a function of age and gender,” he said. “This will lead to very individualized treatments.”

Moshe’s colleague Dr. Sheryl Haut is working on identifying stress factors that may precipitate a seizure in a person with epilepsy. “Once these are clearly identified, the treatment can start at the time the person first experiences the stress rather than waiting for the seizure and all the negative effects to occur,” he said.

“The last area we have pioneered is understanding the relationship between epilepsy and autism and studying the common factors that may allow the two conditions to co-exist, to design treatments that can affect both.”

Moshe said epilepsy at times can be genetic, either because there is a gene that causes the seizure or a gene that increases the susceptibility of having a seizure. “Seizure epilepsy can also happen after head trauma or a difficult birth or as a result of infections or tumors,” he added. “But even now it can be a challenge to identify a cause.”

Dr. Moshe’s peers, like Dr. Douglas Nordli, Jr., Division Head of the Epilepsy Center of the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL, commend him on his dedication to the cause. “He is an extraordinary individual whose research, teaching and advocacy efforts have influenced the lives of countless patients and scores of medical professionals. It is safe to say that he is the best-known and most influential pediatric epileptologist in the world.”

Moshe remains committed to the fight to eradicate and bring greater visibility to the disease. “We are trying to bring epilepsy to the forefront of awareness with government officials and public institutions so there’s better support to promote both better care and research,” he said. “As many of these patients are children and can’t speak for themselves, they need advocates. With all the emphasis and research on how the brain functions, the time is now to develop cures.”