Shakespeare’s Othello!
Tuesday, June 15th – Saturday, June 26th

Join your friends and neighbors this June at a performance of Othello, Shakespeare on the Sound’s 15th annual free outdoor Shakespeare production in Pinkney Park. Performances begin nightly – except Monday – at 7:30pm from June 15th to 26th, with a pre-performance program for children at 6:30pm. There is no admission fee, although a donation of $20 is appreciated. A limited number of seats are available for a $50.00 fee.

Bring your picnic and blanket and enjoy an evening of great theater with family and friends! You may set your blanket or chairs out to hold your space any time after 4:00pm. Please consider walking to the park to help us keep traffic in town to a minimum.

The Shakespeare Playground™, our annual week-long theatre workshop for children ages 8 to 13, will be held at the Rowayton United Methodist Church from June 28th to July 2nd from 1:30-5:30pm. Please call us early to reserve: this camp sells out!

Mark Schenker of Yale University will return to the Rowayton Library with his popular annual Shakespeare lecture on Friday, June 21. Please come for wine and cheese at 6:30pm and join the Othello conversation with Mark Schenker at 7:00pm.

For more information, including park policies and parking suggestions, please visit our website at www.shakespeareonthesound.org, or call Shakespeare on the Sound at 299-1300. We would also love to hear from you if you would like to volunteer.

RCA Rowayton Fun Run
Sunday, June 20th
Registration 9:00am, Start Time 9:30am

Bring out the whole family to participate in the 31st annual RCA Rowayton Fun Run, held on Father’s Day, June 20th at 9:30am at the Rowayton Community Center. Choose the 2.2 mile short course or the 4.4 mile long course. Divisions include 10 & under, 11-15, Open, Masters (45-59), Senior (60+), and Single, Double and Triple Jogger. Children under 15 may only run the short course, and children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult. T-shirts designed by local artist Lynn Stephens Massey will be awarded to the top five finishers in each division and to all runners as supplies last.

Registration runs from 9:00-9:25am on race day. The fee is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. For additional information, contact Erica Merrill at 853-7977 or ammetm@optonline.net, or Gail Jaques at 286-7858 or gailjaques@gmail.com.

RCA Rowayton River Ramble!
Saturday, July 10th, 11:00am-3:00pm
(rain date July 11th)

The 40th annual River Ramble, planned for Saturday, July 10th, will be another memorable Rowayton event. This annual tradition brings the community together for a day of fun and festivity at one of our cherished landmarks, Pinkney Park. For kids and young adults, there are plenty of fun games and activities such as a the “Ducky Derby” on 5 Mile River, a petting zoo, bouncy castle, water slide, obstacle course and the ever-popular dunk tank. Entertainment for the adults includes a wide variety of local vendors selling art, accessories, jewelry, gifts and Rowayton logo gear, a live auction and much more. Enjoy the famous raw bar, hamburgers, hot dogs and chili by the water. Wash it down with a cold beer or soda while a live band fills the air.

The River Ramble is the RCA’s largest fundraiser and finances many of our community events, including the Memorial Day Parade, Fireworks, Soccer, Summer Music Festival, Swim Races, Halloween Celebration and the Nativity Pageant – to name a few. The Auctions at the River Ramble are critical to this important fundraising. The hard-working Auction Committee is seeking a diverse assortment of donations from local businesses and residents.

We encourage everyone to get involved; participating in this great tradition will allow you to share a piece of Rowayton history and help support our community’s treasured events. We are also still looking for vendors. For more information on all the wonderful ways to help out, please contact Co-Chairs Kelly Brewer at kelbrew@gmail.com or June Anderson at juneand@optonline.net. Thank you in advance for your support in making the 2010 River Ramble a success!

RCA Arthur J. Ladrigan
Swim Races & Family Fun Day
Monday, September 6th, sign-up 8:30am

Celebrate the end of the summer season with the annual Arthur J. Ladrigan Swim Races and Family Fun Day at Bayley Beach, Labor Day Monday, September 6th. Sign-ups for the Lighthouse Race (a one-mile swim from Green’s Ledge Lighthouse to shore) will start at 8:30am. Following the challenging Lighthouse Race is the Buoy Race (a swim to the buoy and back to the shore). Last are the children’s swim races which are grouped by age and run parallel to the beach. After the awards ceremony, all are invited to join in the traditional beach games which include a tug-of-war, a pie-eating contest and a treasure hunt.

For more information, visit the RCA website at www.rowaytonct.com. To volunteer, call Mike Barbis at 838-7887 or Ted Hildner at 273-1526.

The Rowayton Historical Society will be hosting a special program in the fall on

New England Burying Grounds: Design & Symbolism in Rowayton

	Photo: Dana Laird

Ever curious about the stories behind the beautiful headstones in Rowayton’s historic cemeteries? Thousands of different religious and secular symbols and emblems have adorned tombstones through the ages, indicating attitudes towards death and the hereafter, membership in a fraternal or social organization, or an individual's trade, occupation or even ethnic identity.

Historic preservationist David Westmoreland will share fascinating stories behind the evolution of New England burying grounds and the changing of attitudes towards death from the puritanical Colonial Period through the exuberance of the Victorian Period. References to Rowayton cemeteries, tombstone designs and styles found in Norwalk will be included. Clamdigging and other local media will announce the date and time.

Special Exhibit Planned on Rowayton's Historic Cemeteries at the Pinkney House this fall

The RHS will be hosting a new exhibit on Rowayton's historic cemeteries in September and October including the histories of the Raymond, Hoyt-Bouton, and Union Cemeteries as well as the Revolutionary-era Brookside Cemetery on Rowayton Avenue.

Union Cemetery was founded in 1849 and among the inhabitants of Union Cemetery are members of the Dibble family, including Alphonso Dibble, resident of the Seeley-Dibble-Pinkney House in the late 1800s. The first grave in the cemetery was opened for the internment of George Henry Walmsley of Darien who died on September 15th, 1849 at the age of 5 months.

Raymond Cemetery is a private burial ground and one of the oldest cemeteries in Norwalk, established by the three sons of Gershom Raymond, Paul, Edward and Gershom II, in 1782 for their family and friends. The first burial was in 1783, at the end of the Revolutionary War.

The Hoyt-Bouton Cemetery, on Witch Lane, near Burchard is a small family plot that contains only 19 headstones, including that of fierce British Loyalist resident Captain Esaias Bouton.