Terri Takacs of Naugatuck in her creates crazy quilts in her studio. - LARAINE WESCHLER

NAUGATUCK — Terri Takacs’ studio is crammed with color-coded thread, hand-dyed ribbon, and beads, all arranged in neat little holders along the wall, drawers, and cubby-holes.

Takacs uses the materials to stitch together scraps of fabric with intricate designs into pillows, purses, and quilts.

This style of “crazy quilting” with irregular shapes and embellishments has been around since the late 1800s. Takacs’ pieces feature “silkies,” replicas of turn of the century photos printed on fabric that cigarette companies used to include in packages to entice women. She said women used to use scraps of clothing and cover rips in the fabric and seams with pretty stitches.

Takacs said not many people in Naugatuck have heard of crazy quilting, but it’s very popular online. Takacs’ studio includes a magazine rack full of volumes devoted to the subject. She has even contributed articles to her friend’s magazine, “Crazy Quilt Gatherings.”

Takacs’ work has earned her first place at the Big E for needlework, since there wasn’t a category for any “crazy quilting.”

“They don’t really know what to do with me,” she said.

Takacs’ passion for quilting started over a decade ago when her mother bought her a book on stitching. Soon after, she took a quilting class at Naugatuck High School.

“I’ve just been doing it on my own ever since,” Takacs said.

For Takacs, each quilt has a special meaning. Some are for friends going through hard times. Some include pictures of lost loved ones and pets. Twice, Takacs said she was inspired by an obituary picture and made a piece which she sent to a complete stranger.
Takacs said she would like to make money with her hobby, but it’s hard. She recently sold a change purse that took her three long nights to create for $32.

“So far it’s been more of a way to give,” Takacs said.

While she gives most of her work away, Takacs is keeping one piece for herself. Each month, she is creating a block, which will eventually become a quilt to hang in her home, and posting it on her blog.

Takacs said she was almost embarrassed to admit how much time she spends on her projects, which averages about four hours per day.

Terri Takacs created this 'crazy quilt' clutch from scraps of silk and fine threads. -LARAINE WESCHLER

“It’s pretty much my life, besides my family,” she said. Besides her husband, Takacs has four children and two dogs to keep her busy.

When it comes to making her crazy quilts, Takacs said she likes to sit down with a Red Bull and some music and let her creative side take over.

“It creates itself, really,” she said.

With crazy quilting, there are no rules.

“You have to be comfortable with your creativity and confident in yourself that you’re going to creating something beautiful,” Takacs said.

She said everyone should have something they are passionate about.

“It’s like a spiritual thing to me. … It’s a great feeling,” Takacs said.

Local Creations is a series that will highlight the creative side of a local resident.

Terri’s Thread Art

Artist: Terri Takacs

Medium: crazy quilts

Website: www.etsy.com/shop/TerrisThreadArt

www.lavenderbetweenthecracks.blogspot.com

Jackie Fretz of Naugatuck makes plush animal backpacks, like the penguin backpack above, for children in her spare time. - LARAINE WESCHLER

NAUGATUCK — What do a lady bug, a penguin, and a purple monster have in common? Local artist Jackie Fretz has tamed these wild animals into plush backpacks for children.

Fretz said she started out making animal figurines for her son, Corbin, 3, and friends’ children when one friend suggested she make backpacks.

Now she sells her unique backpacks at craft shows and on her online Etsy store, a website for artists and crafters.

Fretz said she doesn’t make a lot of money on backpacks, which go for $39, but it’s enough to support her creative streak. Through her online store, Fretz sells to people all over the United States.

“My crafts support my other crafts,” Fretz said.

She had high praise for Etsy, a website for artists and crafters to display and sell their work.

“It’s just so neat to be able to get in contact with people from across the world, who are still making things themselves. It’s not mass-produced. Everything is unique and original,” Fretz said.

Fretz said she has always been artsy and loved learning to sew in her sixth grade home economics class. She also enjoys painting, drawing, and scrapbooking.

Fretz makes her brightly-colored frogs, finches, and sharks from fleece with vinyl lining. She said the most popular animals are the bumble bee and orca whale.

“The fun part is working out how you’re going to lay out the animal’s face and body in the backpack shape,” Fretz said.

Fretz’s backpacks are 15-by-13 inches, just the right size for a preschooler or elementary student.

However, it’s not only children that enjoy her fun backpacks. She recently made a larger orca whale for a 20-year-old.

Fretz said it takes her four to five hours to make a backpack, which she does one or two nights a week, after her son goes to bed.

For Fretz, creating backpacks is a way for her to decompress after a stressful day working as a research scientist in the Yale orthopedics department.

“It always makes me feel better,” Fretz said.

Crafting might seem like a strange pastime for a scientist, but Fretz said the creative process is very similar. She majored in biochemistry and minored in art at the University of New Hampshire, where the biochemistry department had an annual art show. As a scientist, Fretz designs experiments and comes up with novel theories to investigate, she said.

“They’re actually not that far apart, if you think about it,” Fretz said.

Local Creations is a series that will highlight the creative side of a local resident.

E F Gee! Handicrafts

Artist: Jackie Fretz

Medium: Animal backpacks

Website: www.etsy.com/shop/EFGeeHandicrafts

Kristen Jacobsen, left, playing Anne, and Rob Richnavsky, playing Will Shakespeare, rehearse a scene from ‘Writer’s Cramp (Or How Will Shakespeare Got Into Show Biz).’ Monday night. The play will open Saturday at the Phoenix Stage Company in Naugatuck.

NAUGATUCK — The old bard’s at it again.

The Phoenix Stage Company is poised to take its audience on a rollicking journey through pseudo-history with its latest play, “Writer’s Cramp (Or How Will Shakespeare Got Into Show Biz.”

The play reimagines the “lost years” of Shakespeare’s life, when he disappeared from public records and into public myth.

“It’s a comedic look at his life before he became a famous playwright and how he got his inspiration to write his plays,” said Ed Bassett, co-founder of the Phoenix and director of the play.

Expect plenty of witty dialogue and one-liners as Shakespeare navigates the pitfalls of domestic life in his quest to become a true poet.

Six other players join Shakespeare, played by East Haven’s Rob Richnavsky, on the stage in this bawdy look at the bard’s life circa 1585.

Naugatuck resident Rick Dufresne will take the stage for the first time as Old Jack, a travelling actor and the play’s narrator.

Dufresne said he decided to try out after the encouragement of a friend in one of the Phoenix’s other productions. His only other experience in acting was playing Santa Claus for area children and presenting sales seminars for engineers. When asked what part he was trying out for, Dufresne put down, “old bald guy.” Luckily for him, that was one of the roles available.

“I am absolutely loving it. … It’s really interesting to be learning something from the young kids,” Dufresne said, referring to the other actors, mostly several decades his junior.

Dufresne said his church group has already reserved 41 seats for his final performance.

“It’s nice to be able to be active in something in the community,” Dufresne said.

The play is a new work by New Mexican author Larry Glaister. It won the Connecticut Playwright’s Project at the Thomaston Opera House in 2009, as well as several playwriting awards in other states.

“We are actually the first theatre that will be producing this work and paying royalties to do so,” Bassett said. “This is a really important step for the author to have his play published,” Bassett said.

Since winning the Connecticut playwriting competition, Glaister rewrote the play to work out some of the kinks. In order to get published, Bassett said the play needs to be performed in an established theatre and reviewed by a critic.

“It’s one of the easier plays that I’ve every directed because it is so well written. It flows and you don’t have to force a lot,” Bassett said.

Bassett said the Phoenix’s audiences like seeing theatrical readings and new works.

“This just seemed like a good fit for us,” Bassett said.

Bassett said he contacted Glaister when the Phoenix decided to do the play, and cast members have been e-mailing him with questions.

“It was nice to have that contact with the playwright,” Bassett said.

Glaister will be flying out for the play’s opening Saturday night. Bassett said he hopes the playwright will enjoy the performance.

“As a playwright myself, I know what it’s like when you turn your work over to someone and you see it and it’s not exactly what you have in mind. … As a director, you have a 50/50 shot of getting it exactly the nail on the head as to what the writer meant,” Bassett said.

From left, Chris Evans, playing Hamnet, Kristen Jacobsen, playing Anne, Bailey Cummings, playing Ned, and Rick Dufresne, playing Old Jack, rehearse a scene from ‘Writer’s Cramp (Or How Will Shakespeare Got Into Show Biz).’ Monday night. The play will open Saturday at the Phoenix Stage Company in Naugatuck.

Bassett felt he kept it true to the writer’s intentions while adding some Phoenix flavor to it.

“We know what our audiences like and what kind of comedy they like,” Bassett said.

With the Phoenix’s intimate setting, Bassett said audiences are not afraid to relax and have a good laugh.

Although the play is about Shakespeare, Bassett said the language is not Shakespearian.

“By focusing on the comedy … it just makes it really easy to have fun with the show,” he said.

He said the play is accessible to everyone.

“If you know Shakespeare, you will get all the inferences to the plays and quotes. If you don’t know Shakespeare, the comedy built around it supports the material,” Bassett said.

The Rundown

What: “Writer’s Cramp, or How Will Shakespeare got into Show Biz”

When: Jan.21, 27, 28, Feb. 3 & 4 at 8 p.m.

Jan. 22 & 29 at 2 p.m.

Where: Phoenix Stage Company, 686 Rubber Ave., Naugatuck

Tickets:

Regular Admission:  $22

Students & Teachers:  $18

Seniors (60+):  $18

Groups of 12 or more:  $17

Box office: (203) 632-8546

Info: Phoenixstagecompany.org

Beacon Falls resident and actress Erin Moffat is starring in the original musical she wrote ‘Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams: Erin K. Moffat the Musical’ this weekend at the Strand Theater in Seymour. The show is based on her life and her broken dreams of becoming an actress.

Growing up, Erin Moffat’s dreams of becoming an actress were shattered.

“I wanted to be an actress as a kid, and it didn’t work out,” Moffet said.

This weekend, those broken pieces will be put back together on stage at the Strand Theater in Seymour.

“Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams: Erin K. Moffat the Musical” will premiere Friday night at the Strand with a second showing on Saturday. Moffat, a Beacon Falls native who still calls the town home, wrote, stars in, and directs the original musical.

The musical is based on Moffat’s life. It follows her pursuit of her acting dream, and the setbacks along the way, from her childhood up to the present.

“I think the show’s core is really about beating the odds,” Moffat said.

Moffat can’t recall what exactly sparked her love of acting, but it’s a fire that has burned inside of her since she was a young girl. As a child, Moffat adored musicals, especially “Annie.” While other girls played with Barbie dolls, Moffet would spend her time pretending to the spunky redheaded title character who overcame the odds to go from living in an orphanage to calling a mansion home.

As the years passed, Moffet’s acting dream didn’t fade. When it came to deciding where to go to high school — at the time Woodland Regional High School didn’t exist — Moffat chose Masuk High School in Monroe because of the school’s musical theater department.

Things didn’t work out as planned, however.

“I got cut from every single musical,” Moffat said.

While she never graced the stage at Masuk, as a teenager Moffat found a home with the Talent Hut Players at the Strand and performed in, but never starred in, a handful of shows. After graduating high school in 1996, Moffat worked to hone her craft and went on to study dance and theater at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

Four years ago, she took matters into her own hands and began writing a one-woman comedic show.

“I said, ‘I might as well create my own destiny and create my own show,’” Moffat said.

Over those four years, the one-woman show evolved into “Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams,” which features a cast of 12 and 11 new original songs of varying styles from show tunes to hip-hop.

Although the show shines the spotlight brightest on Moffat, Friday’s premiere wouldn’t be possible without the help and sacrifice of her family, friends, the show’s cast and some new friends she made in the course of bringing her show to the stage.

To help narrate the story and fulfill some more of Moffat’s acting dreams of starring in TV shows, the musical features several short movie interludes shot and edited by the digital media class at Woodland Regional High School. The class, especially teacher Ralph Riello and student Anthony Cuda, went above and beyond to make the movies, Moffat said.

As for the show’s 11 original songs, those were composed by Bradley Scoville of Terryville, who Moffat met through a mutual friend during the development stage of the musical.

“The show would not be possible without him,” Moffat said.

Then, there’s her family and friends who have always supported her dream chasing.

“They sacrificed a lot for me,” Moffat said.

As the premiere of “Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams: Erin K. Moffat the Musical” approaches, Moffat described her emotions as a “mixed-bag.” However, one feeling in particular rose to the top of the bag.

“It’s exciting,” Moffat said. “I’ve been waiting a long time.”

“Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams: Erin K. Moffat the Musical” will be shown at the Strand Theater, 165 Main St., Seymour, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. For tickets visit www.unbrokendreams.com or the box office at the Strand Theatre.

The Rundown

What: “Bucket List of Unbroken Dreams: Erin K. Moffat the Musical.”

When: Jan. 13 and 14, 8 p.m.

Where: Strand Theater, 165 Main St., Seymour.

Tickets: $15, www.unbrokendreams.com or the box office.

From left, Rachel Sturdevant, playing Bobby, Alyssa Korzon, playing Terry, and Lily Fontaine, playing Judith, rehearse a scene from the Woodland production of 'Stage Door.' at Woodland Regional High School Monday.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly reported that the Woodland Theatre Department has never produced a play. The department has not produced a play since Susan Cinoman has been director. This version has been updated to make the necessary corrections.

BEACON FALLS — Theatre history is on stage with Woodland’s new production of “Stage Door.”

Woodland theatre teacher Susan Cinoman is directing “Stage Door,” by George Kauffman and Edna Ferber, the first play she has directed at the school.

The play follows the lives of a group of aspiring young actresses who board together at the Footlights Club in New York circa 1938.

“This play is all about their lives and their friendships,” Cinoman said.

Woodland has won the Halo award for its musicals in categories including most fearless musical, best actor, best supporting actor, and set design. Sponsored by the Seven Angels Theatre, schools across northern Connecticut, including Pomperaug, Torrington, Wolcott, Cheshire, and Bristol compete for top honors each year.

“We’re excited to show the judges something new,” Cinoman said.

Students have rehearsed every day for “Stage Door” starting in mid-October, Cinoman said.

Rachel Sturdevant, left, playing Bobby, and Karlee Vogel, playing Pat, rehearse a scene from the Woodland production of 'Stage Door.' at Woodland Regional High School Monday.

Cinoman said she chose the play because she “was looking for something that had a preponderance of female roles.”

She also wanted a show that would challenge her young actors and give them a background in theatre history.

“Some students have never seen a live performance,” Cinoman said.

The play makes plenty of references to old Broadway stars and shows, many of which few now remember.

“It’s like a lost, dying art form,” Cinoman said.

She said the high school students relate to the characters in the play because they’re the same age and facing many of the same struggles.

“They love it. They’re really into it,” Cinoman said.

Just like the young women in the 1930s, students now struggle to find jobs, decide who and when to marry, and figure out how to balance their careers and social lives.

“They understand these parts. They’re not that far away from them in terms of their life experience,” Cinoman said.

Junior Alyssa Korzon, who plays Terry Randall in “Stage Door,” said she can really relate to her character. Randall has opportunities to be in movies, but she says she’d rather be in plays because they’re more alive.

“I kind of feel the same way. I’d rather be in a play than I movie,” Korzon said.

Sophomore Catherine Pelkey said she likes her character, Mrs. Orcutt, because she is so different. Mrs. Orcutt is a mean old lady who reminisces about her glory days, Pelkey said.

“I like that the characters have so many dimensions,” Pelkey said.

Korzon said she likes being in a play better than the musicals because she’s not a strong singer.

“I’d rather see musicals, but I like being in plays better,” Korzon said.

Pelkey agreed.

“You get more of a chance to shine in a play,” she said, pointing out that individuals are often lost in large musical ensembles.

Pelkey and Korzon have both been in Woodland musicals since their freshman year, and said they love theatre and are thinking about pursuing it as a career.

“I’m usually really shy off stage, but onstage, I’m more outgoing,” Korzon said.

Pelkey said she tries to be on stage as much as possible. Besides Woodland, she’s been in two musicals in Bridgeport.

Cinoman, who is a playwright herself, has been teaching theatre at Woodland for the past four years. Before that, she taught English and theatre in Wilton. She has published and produced several plays and made two independent films. One Woodland student is currently in Cinoman’s play, “All Me, All the Time.”

“I’ve always been able to combine my work with kids with my own writing,” Cinoman said.

She said there’s a growing interest in theatre at Woodland, where students can take acting from beginner to advanced as part of their arts curriculum.

“My classes are completely packed,” Cinoman said.

She said such a strong theatre program is unusual in a public school.

“Our district really sustains the theatre in a big way,” Cinoman said.

Woodland students rehearse a scene from the Woodland production of 'Stage Door.' at Woodland Regional High School Monday.

Most of the students in “Stage Door,” have also taken one of Cinoman’s classes, she said.

Korzon, who has taken acting one and two and is taking advanced acting next semester, said she would never have discovered her interest in theatre without the class.

“My life would be completely different if we didn’t have it,” she said.

She said she was one of the few students who took the class seriously. Other students signed up for the class because they thought it would be easy, according to Korzon.

“I feel lucky that we offer it,” said Pelkey, who has taken one acting class so far.

“Stage Door” opens Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. at Woodland Regional High School with a second showing Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10. To reserve tickets, call (203) 906-3584.

Pelkey and Korzon said they will be ready for the show’s opening. Korzon said memorizing all her lines it a little overwhelming, but she’s comfortable on stage.

“I think, collectively, we’ll be very good,” Pelkey said.

When Beacon Falls police Officer Greg Nutcher is not fighting crime, the 42-year-old keeps busy making movies.

Greg Nutcher, a 42-year-old retired police detective who works part-time with the Beacon Falls Police Department, believes that his extensive work on the force prepared him for his true passion — acting.

“Any successful police detective needs to develop different characters that adapt to the person you are attempting to obtain information from,” Nutcher said.

Nutcher said that while he always wanted to be an actor, he realized the field of law enforcement was must more likely to offer him a stable career. At the age of 20, he was hired by the Hamden Police Department. He retired from the force in 2006, having received over 25 awards and commendations.

After retiring, Nutcher attended acting school in New York City and was cast in several minor roles that he never felt satisfied with. His dissatisfaction with these films fed his desire to be more involved with the films on a creative level.

“I started writing my own screenplays in the hopes of getting them made,” Nutcher said, “Once I wrote them, I couldn’t imagine anyone else being able to have the same vision for a film I had.”

On Nov. 4 three short films-“Eeny, Meeny, Miny, MOE,” “Ethan,” and “Going Home”- featuring Nutcher premiered at Seymour’s Strand Theatre.

“Eeny, Meeny, Miny, MOE” features two scenes filmed in Beacon Falls — one at Full Harvest Bar & Grill and one on Cold Springs Road. Nutcher said the town was ideal for filming because of how quiet it is and because of its “picturesque” look.

Nutcher is most proud of his film “Going Home,” which he personally wrote, cast, and filmed.  It tells the story of Brian Hill, a man recently released from prison on parole who tries to exonerate himself in the eyes of his estranged daughter. Nutcher said that the story was based on experiences he had throughout his two decades as a police officer.

Nutcher submitted “Going Home” to the Sundance film festival, which he hopes will draw interest to the film and financing for future film projects.

For more information on Greg Nutcher and his films, visit www.gregnutcher.com.

Naugatuck High School journalism students produced a documentary about life at the school. The documentary will be shown Nov. 2. CONTRIBUTED

Titled “Life@NHS,” the 20-minute long film is the culmination of an entire school year’s worth of filming and editing for 10 journalism students from the class of English teacher Caroline Messenger.

“We studied documentaries in class, and the students looked up the style of a lot of different film makers,” Messenger said. “They came to understand that good documentaries are about things you care a lot about, and so they chose to do it about the high school.”

The documentary features interviews from freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as supplementary interviews from members of the school’s faculty.

“We just wanted to highlight all the positive aspects of our school, but we showed the hardships too,” said Halley Lisieski, a senior at the school and editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper. “We just wanted to show people what it meant to be here today.”

The project has stimulated an encouraging amount of interest, Lisieski said. But she added that the project only came as a result of an enormous amount of dedication and passion from all of the students involved.

“We’d never handled so much media at one time, and we had to get so many things done outside of class since we did our filming and editing in class,” Lisieski said.

Messenger said making the documentary was a learning experience for her students and not just in movie making.
“They learned an awful lot. They learned that it’s hard,” Messenger said. “But they learned about themselves, too — about endurance.”

A test cut of the film premiered in April was very well received, Messenger said. The final cut of the film will be shown on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m at Naugatuck High School. Tickets are $2.

Branford artist JoAnn Moran, right, leads Long River Middle School students Jesse Burns and Taran Myers in painting a mural for the school’s cafeteria Oct. 6. - LARAINE WESCHLER

PROSPECT – Tiny dots of pink, red, blue, green and yellow popped from two nearly-finished community murals at Long River Middle School on Tuesday.

Students, staff and parents are using this dotting technique, called pointillism, to create the works of art expected to be installed on one wall of the school’s cafeteria on Friday.

Assistant Principal Kristin Reichelt-Bernier said 580 sixth- through eighth-graders are participating in the project, plus 50 staff members and parents. Even Superintendent James C. Agostine has stopped by to chip in.

“The point of it is a real community effort,” Reichelt-Bernier said.

Led by visiting artist JoAnn Moran of Branford, the project originally called for one mural revolving around one quote, but staff and students wound up selecting two quotes that resonated with them, Reichelt-Bernier said.

They are Aesop’s: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” and Gandhi’s: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

The students were asked to draw on a piece of white paper what they visualized for each quote.

Transparencies were made of the drawings and an overhead projector was used to help facilitate drawing the pictures onto large white panels for the murals. Each mural has six panels.

“It’s all kid drawings and kid graphics,” Reichelt-Bernier said.

Long River Middle School students, from left, Shane Rosenberry, Matt Covello, Aria Benevedes, and Erin Mascoli use q-tips to paint a mural last week. - LARAINE WESCHLER

Using the dot technique allows everyone to participate, as it takes a longer time to paint, she said.

Pictures of hands, hearts, a rainbow, two smiling turtles saying “thank you” and more help illustrate Aesop’s kindness quote. And images of two large hands cupping a world, words of “wish” and “peace” and two young adults holding up a sign that reads “No War” and other drawings depict Gandhi’s message.

Eighth-grader Donovan White, 14, said the murals are a great idea, and believes the two quotes selected represent what they are as a school.

Bianca Poehailos, 13, also an eighth-grader, said Gandhi’s quote is her favorite.

Long River Middle School student McKayla DeBrizzi, teacher Cathy Barone, and students Lisa Thrasher and Heather Bernier work on the mural Oct. 6. - LARAINE WESCHLER

“If we all work together, we can change anything,” Bianca said.

Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, a few staff and students diligently applied dots of green, blue and other vivid hues to the large plastic panels. One measures 9 feet high and about 20 feet wide; the other, 9 feet high and about 24 feet wide, Moran said.

Moran has accomplished about 200 community projects in the state, and has worked in Utah, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida as well, she said. She mostly works on these projects with schools, she said.

Erica Liberatore, an art teacher who was painting on a panel Tuesday, said, “I think it’s a great collaborative project.”

St. Anthony Church’s 2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch will open for the season on Saturday. All of the proceeds from the patch will go to benefit the church’s HOPE ministry. CONTRIBUTED

“It was very successful for us last year so we want to keep it going,” said Bob Schepis, co-chair of the pumpkin committee.

The HOPE ministry helps people both within the congregation and the town of Prospect at large who are having financial difficulty. The ministry offers assistance, connects people with lawyers and accountants who can help, and tries to determine the root cause of the problems and help individuals change their lifestyle so they don’t end up in need again.

“It’s for a good cause and that’s most of the reason we’ve done well last year and hopefully we continue to do well,” Schepis said.

In addition to pumpkins, the patch will have entertainment and activities for children, including bouncy houses, a maze, hay rides, a scarecrow for pictures and games like bean bag toss.

Volunteers are cooking hotdogs, hamburgers, and baked goods to sell on the weekends, when most people come by.
The weekends will also feature live entertainment, including karate demonstrations, country singing, and a performance by the Horgan Academy of Irish Dance Oct. 29.

During the week, the patch will entertain field trips from local schools, Schepis said.

The pumpkins are coming by truck from a Navajo Indian reservation in New Mexico. The church doesn’t pay any money for the pumpkins upfront, but shares a percentage of the profit.

“It’s a good deal all the way around,” Schepis said.

Last year, the group brought in 2,500 pumpkins in two loads. Unsold pumpkins were donated to the Bridgeport Zoo and Goshen Wildlife to feed the animals.

With all those pumpkins and activities, St. Anthony’s needs plenty of volunteers. People can sign up for two to three hour shifts. The patch generally uses about 10 volunteers at any given time on the weekends and five during the week.

“We had no problem last year filling all the time slots,” Schepis said. “There’s enough there to help the folks out.”

Anyone interested in volunteering or finding our more about the patch can visit www.prospectpumpkinpatch.com.

Borough cellist Thirzah Bendokas has toured as a solo artist all over New England.

NAUGATUCK — Borough cellist Thirzah Bendokas is on a mission to take her instrument from the back of the orchestra to the forefront of classical and popular music.

The instrument many people associate with the base line in a string quartet is actually the only string instrument with the full range of human voices, from bass to soprano, according to Bendokas.

“My object is always to introduce the public to the beautiful singing voices of the cello,” Bendokas said.

Back in the Valley following a whirlwind tour of Cape Cod, Bendokas is doing just that.

“I let the cello play a lot of melody. … I am showing it off as a soloist,” she said.

Her Cape Cod tour took her to 10 concerts from Falmouth, Mass. to Hyannis Port, Mass. over four days the week of Sept. 11.

“I didn’t see much other than concert halls,” Bendokas said.

She said most people in her audiences haven’t heard cello as a solo instrument before.

“People say, ‘I couldn’t believe that came out of the cello.’ They just seem very happy and delighted to learn about the cello and what it can play,” Bendokas said.

Bendokas has been touring New England as a professional cellist for years. How many, she won’t say. She’s been soloist with virtually every symphony in Connecticut.

Bendokas said playing the cello takes a lot of work and hours of study to memorize the songs.

“I think it makes a better connection with the audience if you can perform directly to them without a music stand between you and the audience,” Bendokas said.

She said she can express herself better when a song is in her mind rather than reading notes.

“It’s just a more complete interpretation of the music. That’s instantly felt by the audience,” Bendokas said.

Bendokas approaches each piece of new music slowly and analytically.

“It’s kind of a natural process. The more you work on a piece, the more it becomes part of you, then the more you can interpret it,” Bendokas said.

She said each musician has a completely different take on the same piece. Once, Bendokas said she was working on a Hungarian rhapsody and thought she really understood the music and was playing it as the composer intended. She asked for advice from a Hungarian music director she was working with at the time and found his interpretation was very different from her own.

“I found that very enlightening. … As long as yours is a sincere interpretation and you do it honestly from you heart, it’s correct,” Bendokas said.

When putting together a concert, Bendokas said she chooses some of her own favorites, audience favorites, something classical, exciting, or new. Sometimes the concert has a theme built around a specific composer or country.

“My program does change all the time. … It’s whatever I’m inspired by at the moment,” Bendokas said.

For Bendokas, stringed instruments reverberate deep in her family. Her parents were both amateur musicians, and he sister is professional violinist in Orlando, Fla. Her uncle and grandparents played violin as well.

With all the violins in the family, Bendokas said, cello was actually her mother’s idea. She had heard it on the radio and thought it was the most beautiful song she had ever heard, Bendokas said.

As a teenager, Bendokas studied with a famous cellist. After high school, she attended Mannes College of Music in New York City for two years before transferring to Julliard School.

“Being a Julliard graduate, of course I have quite a large classical repertoire,” Bendokas said.

She also plays opera and popular songs from Disney to Broadway show tunes. Bendokas even plays the occasional Irish jig.

“I always felt that the cello was at a great disadvantage to the violin playing an Irish jig. When a violin plays an Irish jig, it becomes a fiddle,” Bendokas said.

So she came up with a solution. She calls her jig-playing cello the “cello-ello.”

“The audience gets a kick out of that. … Now it’s all even-steven with the violin,” Bendokas said.

Bendokas will be playing a free outdoor concert at the L.B.D. Performing Arts Center at Westover School in Middlebury Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. The concert will be recorded live for a CD and filmed for cable television, Bendokas said.

A CD of Bendokas’ music, “Cellobration” is available to order by e-mailing her at ctconcerts@gmail.com. Bendokas said she’s working on a second CD.

“I feel very lucky to be a musician. It makes people happy when you play for them and of course that makes you very glad. It seems to be quite a positive thing. … You meet wonderful people,” Bendokas said.