New London Main Street is leading its site with an effort to help out the Gemma E. Moran Labor Food Center through the Rink at Parade Plaza. Starting on Friday and continuing each Friday through February, the organization and Citizens Bank are pairing up for “Outskate Hunger.” Bring a non-perishable food item and enjoy free admission and skate rental from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
In other events coming up this week, music is taking the lead. At the Garde Arts Center, the Hot Club of Detroit takes the Oasis Room stage at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday to bring the sounds of Gypsy jazz to New London; tickets are $43. The theater also brings in Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday; tickets are $56. Shows at Connecticut College are back, with the music department performing "Masterpieces of the Romantic and Modern Eras” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Cummings Arts Center. And the Coast Guard Band celebrates Black History Month with a 2 p.m. concert on Sunday at Leamy Hall.
Studio 33 changes exhibits in the next week, taking down the work of Marlene McLoughlin and Martha Wakeman on Thursday and bringing in Nancy DiTullio’s plein air oil paintings on Monday. It’s been up for quite awhile, but Saturday is your last chance to see the “Dinotopia” illustrations of James Gurney at Lyman Allyn Art Museum. Ongoing exhibits include the Hygienix XXXIV Salon des Independents at Hygienic Art, Denny Moers’ “Near Water’s Edge” at the Custom House Maritime Museum, and Traci Cremeans’ “Ego’s Last Bask: I Found My Answer in Your Ecstatic Substance” at Spirit Gallery. You can also check out a basket weaving workshop hosted by Nancy Potter at 1 p.m. on Sunday at New London Landmarks; it’s limited to 10 people and the $60 cost includes materials.
Finally, a couple of food-related events are happening in the next week. 2 Wives Pizza brings in its fourth annual “Evening of Wine and Chocolate,” featuring a buffet, music, door prizes, and food tastings; the cost is $15 per person or $25 per couple. And Fiddleheads Food Co-op celebrates its fifth anniversary on Saturday with specials, vendors, music, and more from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
