Piano rags filled the air as waiters and waitresses bedecked in Gay Nineties clothing served the libations. A woman in a bear costume mingled with the crowd. A mime performed. Outside, a horse hitched to a carriage whinnied in the crisp, winter night.

And who was in the carriage, trotting dignitaries up and down Chapel Street? Who else but Joel Schiavone, New Haven’s flashiest builder, a flamboyant developer who believed — and proved — that showmanship is as much an ingredient of success as business sense.

The event was the opening of Schiavone’s refurbished Warner Apartments and, as with everything else he did, Schiavone wanted people to notice. Schiavone carefully cultivated an image as the man who could save downtown, have fun, and make a fortune doing it.

Source: https://rogershermanhouse.com/2019/09/11/dream-for-a-theater-district-coming-true-by-kristi-vaughn/

“The story of Connecticut... has two parts, the place and the people. Either part can be studied alone, but to produce the whole story of Connecticut they must be put together. The story began before any people lived there… Nevertheless, most of our story will be about the people… Back many thousands of years ago, when the world was young, the mountains of Connecticut rose thousands of feet into the air..."

Source: https://rogershermanhouse.com/2019/12/16/the-landforms-of-connecticut-by-joseph-bixby-hoyt/