During the holiday madness I kept thinking to myself, "Things will calm down after the first of the year.  There's always a lull in January and February."  I must have been thinking about my past life because I feel as busy as ever.  There is a little more than one week until Valentine's Day and that leads right into February school vacation.  I've been thinking a lot about both of these events and trying to come up with some creative ideas and then I thought why not ask all of you for help.

We will randomly give away National Amusement movie passes to a few of our readers who do any of the following: 

1.  School vacation activities.  If you know of any great events or activities taking place around New Haven County during the school vacation, send an email to info@elmcityparent.com with the details or post the event on our Event Calendar.

2.  Share your best Valentine idea.  We want to know about unique ideas for class cards, favorite family activities, or simply what you plan to do this year with your kids or your sweetheart on our Family Favorites page.  

We will continue to add as many activities as we can find for school vacation week so check the Events Calendar frequently.

The Team At ElmCityParent.com

Aspiring student photographers will have the opportunity to focus in on their classrooms as they click away in hopes of winning digital cameras for their school and having their work displayed.   Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury and Olympus Imaging America Inc. are teaming up to present the Fourth Annual Photo Essay Contest For Students with divisions for elementary, middle and high schools.  The theme of this year's essay is "Our School: Preparing Youth For Life." Imaging America, Inc. will provide digital cameras to the first place entry in all three divisions. First place entries will also receive 20 Quassy Amusement Park passes that may be used for school fundraisers or student awards.  Additional awards will also be given.  Please visit our blog for more information or www.quassy.com for contest rules and entry forms.

The Women & Family Life Center and State Comptroller Nancy Wyman are pleased to announce the keynote speakers for the 8th Annual Women's Health Conference, which will take place on Sunday, March 14, from 8:00am to 4:00pm at the Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa: nationally renowned health expert Dr. Marie Savard, MD and New York Times best-selling author Amy Bloom.  To learn more about the conference or to register online, visit the Women and Family Life Center website, or go directly to http://www.etouches.com/wflchealthconference. Registrations can also be done by mail, phone or fax. Scholarships for Sunday's conference are also available. Call WFLC at 203-458-6699.

Join the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Music Director William Boughton on Thursday, February 18, at 7:30pm, at Woolsey Hall featuring Schubert's charming Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major featuring NHSO Concertmaster Ani Kavafian, Music Alive Composer-in-Residence, Augusta Read Thomas's original work Prayer & Celebration and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in Bb Major Op.60. Encore Performance: Friday, February 19, 7:00pm, Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts, Sacred Heart University.

Below is only a partial list of upcoming events and activities so be sure to click on our EVENT CALENDAR so you do not miss anything >>

Use the PARENT PLANNER to click on events and resources you are interested in and click PRINT MY PLANNER to print or email your list.