Brown Bag Speaker Series at Hitchcock Academy
Hitchcock Free Academy will proudly host its first Brown Bag Speaker Series installation of the new year on January 21 – Gail Ward Olmsted will present “Designing America: The Olmsted Effect”. The talk will begin at 12:30pm with an optional lunch at noon. Attendees may reserve a lunch ahead of time or bring one in. Reservations are required for both ($10 for the talk with an additional $10 due for the lunch at the event). The talk will likely run approximately one hour, and additional time is reserved for questions and discussion.
Frederick Law Olmsted is considered the father of American landscape architecture. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut April 26, 1822. His most famous work is Central Park in New York City designed in 1857. Other works include the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, the grounds of the United States Capitol, the grounds of the White House, the 1893 Columbia Exposition (The White City) in Chicago, Illinois, and the Main Quad at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Mr. Olmsted also was informally involved in the design of Forest Park in Springfield. He retired in 1895 and his sons John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. continued their father’s firm doing business as the Olmsted Brothers which lasted until 1980. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr died in 1903.
Married to a descendant of Olmsted, Massachusetts author Gail Ward Olmsted will discuss Olmsted’s body of work, share some little-known facts about him and read an excerpt from her critically acclaimed historical novel: Landscape of a Marriage. Signed copies of all her books will be available for sale.
Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a full-time basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband's, and his wife Mary. Olmsted enjoys writing about quirky, wonderful women in search of a second chance at a happy ever after. When not writing, she loves being on the water, especially in a kayak.
The Brown Bag Speaker Series is presented with support from The Shirley Frye Memorial Fund.
Also offered in January is a “Baking Bread Made Easy” workshop on the 31st. Local baker Lee Fernandez of Turnabout Farm Bakery and Brimfield Farmers’ Market will share her baking secrets while guiding attendees in the preparation of their choice of Honey Wheat Oatmeal or an Italian loaf with roasted garlic and Italian herbs to bake and take home. The workshop will run from 10am to 2pm and costs $65. Regular fitness offerings such as Yoga, UpBeat Barre, Pilates, Fencing, High Fitness, Judo/Ju-Jitsu continue, along with Music Lessons, K-9 Nosework and additional workshops routinely added.
For more information, visit www.hitchcockacademy.org. Hitchcock Academy is a community center located at 2 Brookfield Road in Brimfield serving the community with educational, recreational, and cultural programming.
