I received a poetry e-newsletter last week that listed an event in North Canaan for the evening of Saturday, July 18th. The event, “Poetry is Music” was to be held at Railroad Plaza beginning at 7 p.m. and it was FREE. When I saw that Ameen-Storm Abo-Hamzy would be reading his poetry and Joseph Firecrow, award winning Native American flutist was going to perform…well I had to be there.

The Collin’s Diner (where the “Poetry is Music” event was to take place) is located at Railroad Plaza and is a National Historic Landmark, as is the old railroad station. You may recall, a few years back vandals set the station on fire doing extensive damage. Repairs have been made and it looked like exterior painting is in progress.

In the meantime, I heard on the radio (WJMJ) that St. Joseph Church in Canaan was hosting a BBQ chicken dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. that same night. The last time I was in that corner of the state was in the mid-1950s after the Mad River flooded and almost wiped Winsted off the map. I was not familiar with the lay of the land and figured I’d get there early, find the church chicken dinner and attend the evening event.

My friend, Barbara, went with me and we not only had a wonderful time, we hit the jackpot. The entire town of North Canaan was celebrating Railroad Days. There was a huge arts and crafts show, over 100 antique cars on display, a parade, the “Poetry is Music” event and fireworks, and, the St. Joseph chicken dinner was smack in the middle of it all. The Gods were smiling on us…I even found a parking space (nose in) right in front of the parking lot next to Collin’s Diner. We were able to watch and listen from the comfort of my car and regulate the blast from the band by rolling up the windows. We left at 10 p.m. and the town was just getting started. Route 44 is North Canaan’s Main Street. Can you imagine shutting down this heavily traveled route for over a half hour for fireworks? The town did just that. Folks were standing and sitting in the middle of Route 44 enjoying every burst and blast. This town knows how to party!

Joseph Firecrow was excellent, of course. And there was the belly dancer (Kate). North Canaan seems to have raised children with no inhibitions and there were several young girls trying to do what Kate was doing. Very cute!

There was one 3-4 year old girl...cute as a button...who had lots of rhythm and danced while the Steve Dunn band was playing. Then she danced to Joseph Firecrow’s flute and drum. She had the steps and rhythm perfect for that, too. Amazing child. I asked her mother where the little one gets her rhythm. The mother shrugged and said, “Darned if we can figure it out!”

Ameen didn’t do many poems, which was too bad. I had hoped he’d read at least as long as the other performers performed. He is the one who has been producing the “Poetry is Music” event for 14 years! Ameen is an amazing guy.

The drive was 1 1/2 hours over a beautiful scenic route...we went the back roads through Granby. However, we came home straight down Route 44 to North Main St in West Hartford, then out through Bloomfield, Windsor, etc., and finally East Windsor and South Windsor.

All in all, a great night. Barbara and I are going to keep this event on our radar and make sure we go next year and get there early so we can take in everything that’s going on. I heard that this was the last year for fireworks, but I’m not sure if that is true. Even without fireworks, this is a great family day in the Litchfield hills.