Cow Parade Auctions

They paraded through West Hartford Center last year, and now they are heading off to the auction block.

The CowParade West Hartford online auction begins March 1, 2008. Featuring over forty masterpiece cows, the auction benefits Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut® and the West Hartford Library Foundation, along with other local non-profit organizations.

Bidding Dates. Bidding will open on all cows on March 1, 2008. The cows are grouped into five herds. Each herd closes on a separate date, beginning with Herd 1 closing on Monday, March 11. Herd 5 concludes the auction, which closes for bidding on Thursday, March 21.

To make a bid please visit:
http://www.cowparade.cmarket.com

Cow Parade West Hartford

The Cows are coming home to West Hartford Center! After an evening kick-off event tonight, the artistically designed fiberglass cows will be put out on the streets of West Hartford, and will be on display throughout town when West Hartford residents wake up the following morning!

A total of 59 Cows will be on display throughout the town center through January 4th.

Many of the cows from CowParade West Hartford 2007 will be sold at an auction at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, January 26th. Other CowParade West Hartford 2007 cows will be sold at an online auction. 50% of the proceeds from these auctions will benefit the three official charities of CowParade West Hartford 2007: Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Connecticut Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the West Hartford Public Library. The other 50% of the auction proceeds will go to charities chosen by the businesses and organizations that have sponsored CowParade cows.

Official CowParade merchandise is available at The Greeting Shoppe on Farmington Avenue.

For photos, info and directions please click here.

Elizabeth Park Annual Rose Weekend

I had the pleasure of spending some time in West Hartford's Elizabeth Park this weekend. The park boasts some 15,000 roses in full-bloom at this time of year, and the people turned out in droves to see them. I was there at around 1 pm on Saturday, and it was packed with people and cars and dogs I thought I was early enough to beat the crowds! The weather was gorgous, and so was the park.

Here are a few photos I took while I was there. (Note, you can actually click on any of these photos to see a larger size).

See Elizabeth Park's website www.elizabethpark.org to see what else is coming up over the next few months. It's a beautiful park to visit any time of the year!




Pink is the new....



Love the creativeness of this flag recreation, just the right time of year too!



A view of the elaborate garden.



Wow, these arches are gloriously pink!



Another arch path-way has light-pink roses in bloom.



The view from the road that runs through the park looking towards the gazebo.



Another view of the gazebo.



The gazebo through the arches.



Looking up at some pink and white roses.



Look! More arches!



There was a poetry reading at the Gazebo.



A view of the footbridge.



Inside the greenhouse...



And finally, some more of the arches...