The Kenilworth Historical Society will host an African Tea Ceremony on Sunday, February 19, in celebration of Black History Month. The ceremony, to be presented by certified tea specialist and tea educator Darlene Meyers-Perry, will take place at the historic Oswald J. Nitschke House (49 South 21 Street, Kenilworth) at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children under the age of 12. Advance registration is requested, as seating is limited. For information/reservations, please call 908-709- 0434.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn about and experience the West African tea ritual known as “attaya,” which comprises three rounds of tea symbolizing the three stages of life (childhood, mid-life, old age). They also will learn about the ceremonial tea, its preparation and its significance.
Featured speaker Darlene Meyers-Perry is owner/president of The Tea Lover’s Archives. As a certified tea specialist and tea educator, Meyers- Perry has a 22-year relationship with tea that has allowed her to cross paths and build friendships with other tea enthusiasts throughout the world. Her tea experiences led her to establish a blog, “The Tea Enthusiast’s Scrapbook” (www.theteaenthusiastsscrapbook.com), and an online retail store, “The Tea Lover’s Archives” (www.thetealoversarchives.com).
Meyers-Perry is a board member and vice president of the Mid Atlantic Tea Association and is a member of many other professional organizations as well, including the Tea Association of the USA, The Association of Tea Bloggers and the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners. She graduated from the Specialty Tea Institute in 2012 and has lectured and exhibited extensively at numerous tea expositions/events, including the World Tea Expo and the New York City Coffee and Tea Festival. She also has traveled internationally, including participation in the Floating Leaves Taiwan Tea Tour, where she acquired firsthand knowledge about tea from tea masters.
Proceeds from the February 19 event will benefit the Kenilworth Historical Society’s Oswald J. Nitschke House (c. 1880) “living history” museum and cultural arts center by helping defray programming costs. The Nitschke House has an elevator and is fully accessible.
(above) Shown here at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, certified tea specialist and tea educator Darlene Meyers-Perry will present an African Tea Ceremony during the Kenilworth Historical Society’s Black History Month Celebration at the historic Oswald J. Nitschke House on February 19 at 1:30 p.m.
