Holiday Bazaar, III

Waterbury, CT

Holiday Bazaar, II

Waterbury, CT

"Your husband called..."

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Holiday Bazaar, I

Waterbury, CT

In the basement of the Shrine of St. Anne.

Veterans Day, IV (11/11/09)

Shelton, CT

Ceremony, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.



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Good Friday Procession, II

Litchfield, CT

Good Friday Procession, I

Litchfield, CT

Procession

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

A special weekend at The Shrine of Divine Mercy.

Memorial Day One

Waterville, CT

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the Waterbury Veterans Committee held a ceremony honoring Civil War dead buried in the Fort Hill cemetery. An impersonator read the Gettysburg Address as Abraham Lincoln.

Waterville, CT

Shrine

I see these roadside memorials frequently on highways and country roads—often just past a sharp curve—but it's unusual to find one in the middle of a city.

Shrine III

Another private shrine in the side yard of the house in yesterday's post.

Front Yard Shrine

The masonry and stonework are probably also a legacy of Italian owners or builders, past or present.

Nativity Scene

More Christmas-related stuff still standing in mid February.

Front Yard Shrine

Waterbury was an industrial power in the 19th century and into the 20th. It's still nicknamed The Brass City, though the mills are closed. Many of the mill workers were Italian immigrants. It's said that the entire populations of able-bodied men from some small towns in Italy were transplanted en mass to work in Waterbury's mills. As families joined them, 'little Italy' enclaves grew up all around the hilly terrain. These Catholic newcomers built numerous churches, and private shrines abound to this day, though many of them are now kept up by the Hispanic residents who have become a major part of today's population.

I was struck by the plastic door with its tiny padlock protecting this statue. The safeguards would hardly hamper a determined thief or vandal.

Our Lady of the Samurai

There are a lot of shrines around Waterbury (more on this later) but this scene made me wonder if the figure had been swiped from someplace else and left here as a prank. The empty Corona bottle adds to this impression. Have to go back and see if it's a permanent installation or not.