May 20, 2024: Annual Meeting and Dinner
The Annual Dinner! Including a State of the Society presentation by our President, election of officers and directors, all at a private dinner at Noodle Pudding in Brooklyn Heights.
April 28, 2024: Plymouth Church Underground Railroad Tour
A special tour of Plymouth Church led by member Joseph Louzonis, with an emphasis on the Church’s vital role as a stop on the Underground Railroad to freedom for enslaved Black Americans. Then brunch nearby.
March 12, 2024: Tour of the Center For Brooklyn History
We will enjoy a private tour of the “Brooklyn Is…” exhibition at the Center for Brooklyn History (formerly the Brooklyn Historical Society, now part of the Brooklyn Public Library) and then have dinner nearby.
Past Events
December 20, 2023
We held our annual Holiday Party and Scholars Reception at Grace Episcopal Church. Several of the Scholars that receive scholarships from us attended and we celebrated their accomplishments while enjoying holiday cheer.
November 2023
We came together again in black tie at the Heights Casino for our annual Fall Harvest Dinner, for cocktails followed by a delicious multi-course menu and wines prepared for us by the Heights Casino’s executive chef. Dinner was accompanied by the cocktail music of Joe Rutowski. [Photos]
October 2023
We gathered for happy conversation and good New England food at the Lobster Pound in Red Hook for a full dinner of soup, whole lobster with corn on the cob, dessert, and beer/wine. [Photos]
June 2023
On this distinctive architecture tour, we gained a perspective on the city that many visitors don’t; by boat, as we circled around the island of Manhattan and saw Brooklyn from the harbor. We rode aboard a climate-controlled 1920s-style yacht, enjoyed a refreshing beverage, and listened to our guide-a trained architect-tell us about the historic and newly build buildings, bridges and structures that make up our great city. [Photos]
April 2023
We had our Annual Meeting Dinner and heard about the Society’s accomplishments over the past year. Dinner was provided by Chef Antonio at Noodle Pudding (map), customized for the Society’s members, with outstanding service by manager Tom Walser’s staff. We heard from our president, Hank Michael, about plans for the Society’s future. [Photos]
December 2022
We had our annual Holiday Party and Scholars Reception at the Meeting Rooms at Grace Church. Our Scholarships Committee introduced three of our current Scholars; hearing them tell their personal stories is one of the Society’s “feel-good” events of the year. It was a great way to finish the year before we scattered for the year-end holiday! [Photos]
November 2022
The Heights Casino was again host our fall dinner, with a menu custom prepared for us by executive chef, John Connelly, and wines chosen to compliment the meal. Dinner was accompanied by the cocktail music of Joe Rutowski. Our members got out their tuxedos and dresses and enjoyed a pleasant evening with their fellow members and guests. [Photos]
We also had our new traditional Fall Kickoff event at the Lobster Pound on in Red Hook on Wednesday, November 3, including a full dinner of soup, boiled lobster with corn on the cob, dessert, and beer/wine. It was a pleasure for members to see each other in person after our enforced COVID separation, and catch up on summer doings! [Photos]
April 2022
Our 141st Annual Meeting took place at Noodle Pudding, where manager Tom and Chef Antonio provided us with an open bar and their usual delicious dinner. Between the main course and dessert, we had a short business meeting, where we elected new Directors and Officers, and heard a State of the Society report by our President, Hank Michael. [Photos]
March 2022
We had our largest Zoom event to date, a presentation and discussion with Craig R. Whitney, retired reporter, foreign correspondent, and editor at The New York Times and a long-time Society member. Craig shared his perspective on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its implications for Eastern Europe, and his thoughts about developing relations between Russia and the West. Learn more about Craig and his writings on the New York Times website. [Photos]
December 2021
Unfortunately, due to recent surges in the Omnicron COVID variant, we decided, for the second straight year, to cancel the Holiday Party and Scholars Reception. We hope we can make up for it in the near future. In the meantime, Happy Holidays everyone!.
November 20, 2021
We had our traditional Fall Harvest Dinner at the Heights Casino. This was a formal dinner, an elegant evening backed by the cabaret piano of Joe Gutowski, who also played at our last dinner in 2019. Chef John Donnelly of the Heights Casino designed a special menu for us. [Photos]
November 3, 2021
We had our fall kickoff Lobster Dinner at the Lobster Pound in Red Hook. The Lobster Pound provided us with an ample and delicious dinner of lobster, corn, soup, and drinks to celebrate our first in-person event since the virus hit us. [Photos]
June 23, 2021
We held our first in-person post-COVID fellowship event. On a balmy late-spring evening, a group of stalwart members enjoyed an evening at the ballpark, watching the Brooklyn Cyclones defeat a New Jersey team (due to league re-alignments there were no New England teams on the schedule). The ballpark food was tasty, and we had our first chance to get re-acquainted in person since March 2020. [Photos]
April 28, 2021
Via Zoom, we had an evening of college humor, organized by Hank Michael and his former colleagues at the Yale Record, the college humor magazine. Five Record staffers each gave us a five-minute repertory of jokes, a few focused on New England. [Photos]
April 13, 2021
We had our Annual Meeting (a remote Zoom event), including a State of the Society presentation by our President, Hank Michael, and elections for Directors and Officers. After the business meeting, Tom Wilcox, the former Maine Maritime Museum Director and New England Historic Genealogical Society VP and Chief Operating Officer, will bring us into the picture of what is now New York harbor in the winter of 1613-1614, where we will learn of the hardships and fortitude of a small group of Europeans, aided by the Indigenous Lenape, and the unlikely result of their efforts. Time for Q & A followed Tom’s remarks.
March 18, 2021
We held a joint event with our sister organization, the New England Society of New York City. The evening included a remote Zoom trivia game night, with questions about historical events in New England, provided by Bill Everdell and Kate Pennell. This was an opportunity to meet like-minded fellow New Englanders and extend our relationships across the river. Thanks to Hank Michael, Jack Griem, and Kate Pennell for organizing this event!
2020
December 21, 2020
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims, we held a Zoom call on December 21. Two members of the Society, Claude Scales and Kate Hill, read selections from the late Bernard Bailyn’s book about the encounter of two cultures at Plymouth, The Barbarous Years: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675. (This wonderful book is listed on the Society website, in The Library.) [Photos]
November 2020
Due to the COVID pandemic, sadly the 2020 NES Fall Harvest Dinner was cancelled.
October 27, 2020
The Society held its first remote event, a virtual Chowder and Cocktail Supper and Presidential Bingo game. On the afternoon of the event, members received at their homes bag with a bowl of chowder, the makings of a New England cocktail, and a Bingo card. We had a review of recent activities and plans for the near future by the NES’s President, Hank Michael. At 7pm supper officially began, with the opportunity for members to share news in small groups, followed by Presidential Bingo, with the results having no official effect at all! [Photos]
May 18, 2020
Due to the COVID epidemic, the Society’s Annual Meeting took place via telephone conference call. Hank Michael was confirmed as President and Tom Hill as First Vice President. Also, Susan Ciaccio, Martha Foley, Norman Jones, and Ira Simmonds were each elected to another four-year term as Directors
February 27, 2020
Tour of the American Indian Museum and dinner at historic Fraunces Tavern [Photos]
2019
December 18, 2019
Scholars reception and holiday party, held in the Reception Room at Plymouth Church [Photos]
December 8, 2019
A guided bus tour of the holiday lights in Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights, with dinner at Baci Ristorante in Bay Ridge afterward [Photos]
November 23, 2019
Fall Harvest Dinner at the Heights Casino (black tie)
October 22, 2019
New England Lobster Dinner at the Lobster Pound in Brooklyn [Photos]
Summer 2019
Summer recess
April 2019
The Society’s Annual Meeting Dinner at Noodle Pudding restaurant, 38 Henry Street. A wonderful Italian buffet dinner, a short business meeting, and an author speaker. [Photos]
April 2019
A tour of the South Street Seaport’s square-rigged Wavertree, their recently restored sailing ship, similar to those that sailed out of Brooklyn harbor to China under the ownership of New Englander, A. A. Lowe. [Photos]
March 2019
Newer Members Reception: New England cheese (think: Vermont!) and craft beer tasting, held at the Solarium at 1 Pierrepont Street [Photos]
2018
December 2018
Holiday Party and Scholarship Recipients Reception [Photos]
November 2018
Fall Harvest Dinner
October 2018
New England “Clambake” at Lobster Pound, Red Hook [Photos]
July and August 2018
Summer recess
June 2018
An Evening at the ballpark, a baseball game between the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Lowell, Mass., Spinners, at MCU Field in Coney Island. Ballpark food: hot dogs, knishes, soda, and beer. [Photos]
Menu from the Society’s 5th Annual Festival
May 2018
The Society’s Annual Meeting at Noodle Pudding Restaurant
April 2018
A tour of Green-Wood Cemetery, focused on New Englanders buried there [Photos]
February 2018
A tour of the New England contributions to the Metropolitan Museum of NYC followed by dinner in the Museum Members’ private Dining Room [Photos]
2017
December 2017
The Annual Reception for the New England Society’s Scholars at the Governor’s Room at Plymouth Church [Photos]
November 2017
The Society’s Annual Fall Harvest Dinner at the Heights Casino [Photos]
October 2017
Tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, followed by dinner at La Nonna Restaurant in Williamsburg, with an evening return to Brooklyn Heights on the new NYC Ferry [Photos]
Summer 2017
Summer Break
June 2017
Tour of Brooklyn Historical Society’s new Dumbo branch, followed by supper at local El Mar restaurant [Photos]