Skeeter's Toybox will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing with an exclusive photography exhibit and special space-themed reception. The exhibit, "Gemini 5: Bridge to the Moon" will feature never-before seen photos of the recovery of the Gemini 5 space capsule and astronauts. The photos were taken by the store owner's father, David Bielski, Sr., when he was stationed aboard the recovery aircraft carrier in 1965.
"My dad was a meteorologist aboard the USS Lake Champlain," said David Bielski, Jr., owner of Skeeter's Toybox. "He was an avid photographer, and he captured the moments the capsule came up and out of the water. With the Apollo 11 anniversary upon us, I thought it was time the world got to see these images of history in the making."
The photographs will be unveiled at the next First Friday, July 5th, in the Montgomery Ward Atrium at 5pm. They will be on display until the end of the month. Admission is free.
Mission artifacts, vintage space toys and other items will be added to the exhibit throughout the month of July. The complete exhibit will open on Saturday, July 20th to coincide with the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. On that day, Skeeter's Toybox will host a special space-themed reception in the Montgomery Ward Atrium from 1-3pm. The event will feature a space-themed LEGO build table, and light refreshments will be served. The public is invited, and admission is free.
]]>"In The End Only Two Kingdoms Remained"
Skeeter's Toybox is participating in a massive art installation, entitled "WINTER IS COMING", which will be fully unveiled on Saturday, February 9th for Putnam's Fire & Ice Festival. Several local businesses and local artists have joined forces to create a pair of Kingdoms inspired by The Game Of Thrones. Two Kingdoms will be available on Main Street: "Castle Victoria" at Victoria Station Cafe, and "Castle Montgomery" in the Montgomery Ward atrium. Both locations will be great places for warming up and taking extraordinary selfies! Costumes are encouraged!! Dress as your favorite knight, princess, wizard, or GOT character. Skeeter's Toybox will be debuting its collection of Great Pretenders dress-up items in conjunction with this event! Other participating merchants will be playing along too! Be sure to visit Victoria Station Cafe, Flying Carpet Studio, and other Montgomery Ward shops for more fun!
The Fire & Ice Festival is the country's largest single-block ice sculpture competition that will take place right on Main Street. There will also be a series of pre-made sculptures on display, torches, and fire performers. This will be Putnam's ninth annual installment of Fire & Ice. With every business participating in some unique way, you won't want to miss this!
For more updates on "WINTER IS COMING", please follow us on Facebook or RSVP to our Facebook event.
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Skeeter's Toybox is excited to announce that we have been approved to carry LEGO brand building sets! Visitors to the store may have noticed that we already have small selection of sets. These were acquired via a distributor which only has a limited selection. When we opened, we felt it was better to have some LEGO sets rather than none at all. We also added BanBao sets to tide people over while we worked through the "new customer" process with The LEGO Group.
Our initial wave of LEGO sets will include DUPLO, LEGO City, LEGO Friends, The LEGO Movie 2, and Star Wars. We expect to order at several points during the year, so if there is something you're looking for, please let us know so that we can add your wishes to our shopping list.
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Skeeter's Toybox celebrated its Grand Opening on Saturday, December 1, 2018. The specialty toy retailer, having premiered its lower level since mid-October, unveiled its improved two-floor layout with its new "loft" featuring games, puzzles, crafts and science kits. The festivities included a ribbon cutting ceremony with family and friends present, along with members of the Putnam Business Association, Putnam Department of Economic & Community Development, and local politicians. Later in the day, WINY Radio stopped in to interview Skeeter live on the radio. The event was covered by Villager Newspapers.
Located at 112 Main Street #13, (former home of Arts & Framing), Skeeter’s Toybox offers beautiful classic toys that do not require a phone or an app. Nostalgic toys including brands such as BRIO, Playmobil, Melissa & Doug, Calico Critters, Ravensburger, Sesame Street plush, and much more are offered in a classy, quiet setting specializing in vintage, fun and colorful toys.
Photo courtesy Villager Newspapers. For more photos of this event, please visit Villager's Facebook Post.
]]>When we set out to open Skeeter's Toybox, we wanted to get the word out as quickly as possible that we were "coming soon" while preparing the new store. We signed our lease about a week before the September 2018 First Friday, so our first task was to decorate our window lots of toys and a large "coming soon" banner. Meanwhile, we worked to refinish floors, paint walls, build and install shelves, and order LOTS of fun stuff. Meanwhile, the window did its job and suddenly we were the talk of the town.
By the time the October First Friday came around, we were ready to do an "open house" with a sneak peek and complimentary refreshments. People seemed genuinely excited about a back-to-basics toy store on their Main Street. We couldn't have been more happy with the positive feedback. We still had a boatload of work to do, so we waited to finish the upstairs loft so that we could officially "soft open" our doors on October 19th, which coincided with Putnam's Annual Pumpkin Festival.
One quiet afternoon, we had the incredible luck of having our local Hartford Courant corespondent, Denise Coffey, paying Skeeter's Toybox a visit. She came specifically to report on us and the story behind our business. With several weeks to go before our official grand opening, the story ran on November 19, 2018. We couldn't be more happy to see the community building so much excitement about our store!
Click here to read the Hartford Courant story about Skeeter's Toybox.
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