Monthly Newsletter: November 2023 (No.22)
Welcome to Our Technicolor Life Monthly Newsletter!
Welcome back to another exciting edition of Our Technicolor Life's monthly newsletter! We're thrilled to have you join us on our colorful journey through the many facets of our adventurous lives. As always, we're Jeff and Carrie Ketterman, a dynamic husband and wife duo who are passionate about embracing a vintage lifestyle in the most vibrant way possible.
A Glimpse into Our Lives
In case you're new here, let us introduce ourselves once again. Jeff spends his days immersed in the bustling world of rail transportation as the General Manager at Kasgro Rail Corporation Management Division. With a fleet of over 500 heavy-duty railcars, Jeff is at the forefront of providing innovative solutions for the ever-evolving rail industry.
Meanwhile, Carrie's days are filled with creativity and artistic expression. As a painter, illustrator, and author, she breathes life into murals and paintings that tell stories with every brushstroke.
Adventures Await
After our workday concludes, the real excitement begins! Our historic home, known as The Old Capitol Tea Room, transforms into a hub of themed tea parties that transport us and our guests to different eras and worlds. From the glitz and glamour of the 1920s to the groovy vibes of the 1960s, we've hosted an array of captivating events this past month that ignite the senses and spark joy.
Speaking of our musical passions, our bands are another cornerstone of Our Technicolor Life. Rosie & the Rockabillies, a vivacious 1950s-style band, and The Tin Pan Alley Cats, a toe-tapping 1920s-style ensemble, allow us to spread our love for music and nostalgia far and wide.
TEA
Halloween is our absolute favorite holiday, and every October is always, so jam packed of delightful spooky tea events! We've often joked that we should just become the holiday tearoom because we have so many themes between October - December and especially some of our favorites during the month of October. We hosted fan favorite Hocus Pocus, actually 4 Hocus Pocus tea parties! We also hosted Beetlejuice Tea & Trivia. I'm not going to lie, I quite like that most people in town call us The Beetlejuice house. We hosted a Haunted Mansion tea with live spooky tunes by The Tin Pan Alley Cats, a Nightmare Before Christmas story time with Jack and Sally, and several radio dramas. We love to visit Sleepy Hollow whenever we travel the East coast and there's just something about this classic tale. I look forward to any of the old-time radio dramas we perform but I especially enjoy our Sleepy Hollow and Dracula radio dramas that we perform with our fantastic cast, The Old Capitol Players.
Hocus Pocus Tea Party
Beetlejuice Tea & Trivia
Sleepy Hollow Radio Show
Haunted Mansion Tea Party
Dracula Radio Show
Nightmare Before Christmas Storytime Tea
TRAVEL
It can't be all work and no play. It's incredibly important to make time for a little adventure even if you're just exploring, your own backyard. This past month we headed to the circus, Harvest Homecoming, a murder mystery, the St. James Art Show, Chautauqua in Madison, and the Covered Bridge Festival.
Chautauqua - Madison, IN.
Fall is definitely our season! We do much of our traveling - short trips and long - during the months of September through November.
In between two Halloween tea events at The Old Capitol Tea Room, we made it up to one of Indiana’s great, historic river towns, Madison, for their Chautauqua Arts Festival. We have always talked about eventually moving to a little historic river town like Madison, or maybe Parkersburg, WV or Natchez, MS or…so many others that we have once visited. Madison is an Indiana jewel, for sure. Throw in an autumn arts festival weekend, and it is a must-do on the fall calendar!
We took the long way home for a stop at the annual Persimmon Festival in Mitchell, IN! We have probably 2 gallons of persimmon pulp in our freezer from collecting and pulping persimmons over the last few years. I’ve got my persimmon cookbook back out and I’m ready to make some true fall desserts!
Harvest Homecoming
We had a great time at Harvest Homecoming in New Albany. It had been several years since we had a chance to visit. This is one of southern Indiana’s biggest annual festivals - going strong now for 55 years and is listed as the fifth highest-attended yearly festival in Indiana! Put it on your calendar for 2024 as dates will be October 5-13, with the booth weekend set for the 10-13. I also got to bust out my new Frankenstein classic monster skirt!
Covered Bridge Festival
Another great Indiana fall festival that we had the chance to visit - The Covered Bridge Festival in Parke County, Indiana!
The 10-day festival begins on the second Friday in October every year and celebrates the 31 historic covered bridges in Central Indiana’s Parke County. YES, 31! This is Indiana’s largest festival, and it is truly huge!! Ten towns participate in the festival and we only had a day to explore, so obviously we only saw a small part of the festival. Bridgeton is a town that you should absolutely include if you ever plan to attend this festival. The town itself is charming, and during the festival it us transformed into Mecca of food, arts, crafts and music. Be prepared to join thousands that attend this festival, which makes traffic move at a crawl sometimes as you approach the various towns. We’re talking Hoosier backroads, so there is not much you can do but join the “crawl”, but it is worth it!!
We were SO glad we had our friend Julie and her husband, Michael, as our tour guides. Julie has family in Parke County and grew up visiting them quite often and has been to this festival many times, so she knew ways to avoid some of the traffic congestion. Thank you, Julie and Michael!
Vernardos Circus
If you have time to catch the Vernardos Circus, please do yourself a favor and visit when they are in town (Louisville). These talented people are amazing and such a joy to watch. Their passion for what they do filters straight down from their gregarious owner/ringmaster, Kevin Venardos. This man’s dream to start a traveling circus years ago began with what little money he had in his pockets (he was living out of his car), a few acts that he could coerce into joining him, no tents, no promises, BUT a HUGE heart. He fostered that dream into beautiful traveling circus that now spends 40 weeks a year on the road, moving from town to town, and bringing smiles and memories to new generations of “circus” fanatics and families alike. (Kevin shares his “dream” story before each performance. If you have a heart, you will be moved and will root for this little circus from that point on.) The Venardos Circus deserves to have every show sold out wherever they go.
Support their BIG dream and be inspired in the process.
Bloomfield Apple Festival
We checked out another great Indiana fall festival - the Bloomfield Apple Festival. We ate all the apple goodies we could muster, AND brought a goldfish home.
The festival runs through today, so you can still check it out! Bloomfield is located 38 miles southwest of Bloomington in Greene County.
I have to admit, our favorite apple treat was the “walking apple pie”. They took a small bag of Golden Grahams, cut the top off the bag, put a scoop of warm apple pie filling in the bag, added a little whip cream & caramel sauce, and handed you a spoon. Ingenious and SO good.
Whodunnit Murder Mystery
I FINALLY got to wear a dress that she found in a vintage clothing shop in Cincinnati last year. When I tried it on for the first time, it was like it had been tailor-made for me. I figured that a murder mystery set in 1899 Savannah would be perfect for the debut of this dress. Of course, people thought I was a character in the show. It was great to see a couple of theatre friends on stage and doing their thing! Rita Hight and John Lina, so good to see you both and wonderful job!
100th Birthday at the Brown
We grabbed last-minute tickets for The Brown Hotel’s 100 Year Gala last night, celebrating their opening date of October 25, 1923. It was, of course, a Roaring Twenties theme, so we didn’t have to dig too far into the closet to come up with something appropriate for that.
Great event! Great hotel! We learned some interesting things about the hotel’s history.
Did you know that James Graham Brown (original owner of The Brown Hotel) was born a Hoosier?! Yup! Born in Madison, IN. Later in life and after becoming the wealthiest man in Kentucky, philanthropy became his legacy. His entire estate, valued at over $100 million, was donated to various schools, hospitals, and organizations upon his death in 1969. To date the James Graham Brown Foundation claims nearly half a billion dollars in donations that have benefited Louisville and Kentucky! An amazing man and a tremendous legacy!
ENTERTAINMENT
This past month also saw a few opportunities to take our show on the road. We spent a lunch hour bringing a bit of Wonderland to our local library and packed up our murder mystery to perform at the gorgeous, Magnolia.
Alice In Wonderland Story Time
Alice and Hatter took a bit of Wonderland to the Floyd County Library for a very special story time.
Murder at the Magnolia
A fun, frightening, murder mystery night with The Old Capitol Players at The Magnolia! There were many suspicious characters and Madame Leora was…well…let’s just say she is a handsome woman.
Thank you Brian and Matt for creating such a wonderful venue, and inviting us to come play!
-The Edgar Allan Poe Murder Mystery-
ART
October means pumpkins! It was my third year creating pumpkins at the Iroquois Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. I ended up drawing and carving 21 pumpkins this season which was more than I have ever done. We start work on pumpkins in September by drawing and then when we get the go ahead later in the season, closer to opening day, we then begin to carve. There are a bunch of artists working in the studio and a whole team in charge of actually gutting and placing the pumpkins on the trail. Once the trail is open, thousands of people stroll the path and see the spectacular. This year's theme was Wanderlust and all about the adventures of getting someplace.
Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I had an idea to create a children's story about Hazel, a witch who hosts tea parties. Just in time for the spooky season, I wrote and illustrated Witch Hazel's Moonlit Tea Party. Join Witch Hazel on a whimsical journey as she brews up a magical night of delight! In this enchanting rhyming children's book, Witch Hazel plans a tea party like no other in her magical garden on Halloween night.
With charming illustrations that bring the story to life, little ghouls will be captivated by the spellbinding scenes as Witch Hazel prepares her garden for a moonlit celebration.
From pumpkin tea cups to ghostly treats. the garden transforms into a whimsical wonderland for all creatures of the night. As the moon rises high, Witch Hazel welcomes a delightful cast of spooky friends to her tea party. The rhythmic verses make it the perfect bedtime story, weaving a tale of friendship, laughter, and the magic that unfolds when witches and ghouls gather under the moon.
Witch Hazel's Moonlit Tea Party is a spirited tale that will leave little ones dreaming of magical garden and moonlit adventures. Share this enchanting story with your little ghosts and ghouls, and let the magic of Halloween come alive in every bedtime tale.
Order a copy of Witch Hazel's Moonlit Tea Party:
This concludes our October as we move into November in Our Technicolor Life! Please explore the website and share with friends and family! This website is our stop shop for all of our events and information. Don't forget to subscribe so you stay in the loop and check out our upcoming events section right on the home page!
Yours truly,
Carrie & Jeff
AT A GLANCE - NOVEMBER EVENTS
Thursday November 23rd - Happy Thanksgiving
Friday November 24th - Polar Express Tea Party - SOLD OUT
Corydon, IN
Saturday November 25th - Light Up Corydon
Corydon, IN
Sunday November 26th - Polar Express Tea Party - SOLD OUT
Corydon, IN
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