Allan Appel Photo
Yum!
On Monday afternoon the city threw a birthday party for itself by showcasing its talent, honoring retiring or departing “treasures” who enriched the town with their service to the arts and humanities, and eating 379 cupcakes.
Actually, probably more, as the colorful treats were bite-sized.
The festivities attracted more than 100 partygoers to the atrium of City Hall Monday afternoon, where New Haven Arts, Culture, and Tourism Director Andy Wolf and Mayor Toni Harp presided over what has become a new city tradition: marking every municipal birthday with performances, commemorative installations or plantings, and honoring citizens who embody New Haven’s spirit.
Olivia Zlabysa, Alexis Williams, and Carolyn Munoz Herrera, of the Music Lanterns.
This year’s party, with the themes of “tradition, innovation, and idealism,” is a two-day celebration.
On Tuesday at the Yale University Art Gallery, the party goes on with more honorees and a keynote lecture by Yale School of Architecture Professor Alan Plattus on “New Haven’s Global Reach in City Planning and Design.”
That event begins at 4 p.m., but no word at press time on whether there will be more cupcakes.
Before the sweets on Monday, the audience was treated to civic tributes that included a witty ode by the New Haven Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s Sherry Sowinski (“It doesn’t look a day older than 370”); a rap encomium offered by Justin Johnson (“Ride the city bus / Come see the city with us”); and a string performance by Music Haven’s Music Lanterns, string players all between 9 and 11 years old.
City Spirit awardess John Bradley, Willie Ruff, Sheri Kaplan.
The 2017 City Spirit Awards — appreciations for departing or retiring arts and humanities leaders — were presented to former Arts & Ideas Festival executive director Mary Lou Aleskie (who could not be there as she was deep in the heart of a new job at Dartmouth College); Peter Webster, outgoing champion of the Historic Wooster Square Association and its Cherry Blossom Festival, whom Harp termed a “treasure”; John Bradley, whose more than 20 years with Liberty Community Services and its dedication to those with AIDS and the homeless the mayor termed “noble service”; Sheri Kaplan, the general manager of the Shubert, who Wolf said has presided over 1,625 performances, 629 rentals, and 896 community events; and retiring Yale School of Music Professor Willie Ruff, whom Harp called “maestro” and praised for, among other achievements, helping to introduce jazz to the Soviet Union and to China.
The mayor also cited for promoting civic pride Comcast, the new Elm City Express soccer team, the Yale-China Association, East Street Arts, and the family of Arnold George.
Carol Proctor, one of the Arnold George children, shows where her son helped with Eli Whitney’s lapel.
A longtime board member of the Merchants Bank — the historic building of which is on Chapel Street at Orange — George commissioned from artist Robert Reynolds three murals celebrating New Haven history back in the mid-1980s.
His hope was that schoolkids and others could study the murals, learn the city’s impressive history, and promote civic pride.
When the bank ceased functioning and George died, his children stored the murals. The murals are now on long-term loan on the second floor of City Hall and in the 200 Orange St. building.
Throughout the celebrations and the cupcake eating that followed, I had some fun asking attendees what it felt like to be 379 years old. Olivia, from the Music Lanterns, said to be 379 seemed “old and rusty.” Jasmine King, also a Lantern, said she thought at 379 you’d be “wise.”
Rhoda Zahler and Anthony Lupinacci discuss being 379 years old.
The Shubert’s Anthony Lupinacci said being 379 was no problem at all. “It feels wonderful, if you’re in New Haven,” said Rhoda Zahler, former city planner and coordinator of new historic walking tours from the Ethnic Heritage Society . “It feels like we’ve been building on foundations of people who came before us.”
Al Marder, of the Amistad Committee, said celebrating a 379th birthday made him feel pretty sprightly at age 95. “The struggle for justice [is what] keeps you young,” he added.
And Andy Wolf, interviewed just before the proceedings got underway, declared with irony, “I feel every minute of it!”
Tuesday’s awardees at the Yale University Art Gallery birthday lecture include Yale Dean Jonathan Holloway, architect Herb Newman, Yale University Art Gallery Director Jock Reynolds, and Gateway Community College President Dorsey Kendrick.
City Hall staffer Patti Lawlor, who purchased the cupcakes from Katalina’s bakery on Whitney Avenue, said there was no danger of running out. She bought 500 because they were so small. “I bet I don’t have any left. They’re one-bite size,” said Lawlor.
She ought to know. Lawlor has been working for the now 379-year-old New Haven for the last 57 of them.