Gardeners can cook, bake too: Book marks club's 50th anniversary

NEW HARTFORD-- While taking a drive through New Hartford, it's impossible to miss, and easy to take for granted, the work of the town's group of dedicated green thumbs.

For half a century, the New Hartford Garden Club has been collecting gardening expertise that comes in handy for sprucing up the town. Now, those tips, as well as 85 of the members' favorite recipes, are available in the New Hartford Garden Club's 50^th anniversary cookbook.

Madeline McMahon has seen the club change a lot in her 17 years as a member. At 80, McMahon is the oldest active member.

“Before, it was quite a few older women and the ideas were older,” McMahon said. “These are younger people and a lot of them have been out in the business world. What we didn't think of, they do.”

The original club, which was founded in 1960 or 1962 depending on who you ask, had 24 female members. Membership dipped in the nineties until only a few members remained. McMahon was one of the driving forces behind making the club what it is today, spearheading civic programs and helping membership thrive during her time serving as the club's president from 2004 to 2006.

“It's different but yet it's still the same because it's still women who love to get together and talk about their gardens,” McMahon said.

Today, the club has 45 members including retirees, businesswomen, stay-at-home mothers and even two men. It boasts members from Farmington, Harwinton, Winsted, Torrington, Canton and West Hartland.

Sibyl Pellum, the club's present, said the laid-back way the club is run is what draws people in who may not have much time to devote to a club in their own town. Members pay $15 a year and are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the events. The dues help pay for projects, outside speakers and membership in the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, an organization of 144 clubs in the state.

“It's sort of a low key club,” Pellum said. “There are no hardfast rules about anything.”

The gardeners meet year-round, hosting garden tours, educational workshops, presentations and fundraisers. The most successful annual fundraiser is the plant sale held the day before Mother's Day. Members grow all the plants that are sold and any leftover produce is donated to local food banks. This Spring, the sale raised $2,500, which will go toward funding the club's various community projects.

The gardeners maintain the flora surrounding the “Welcome to New Hartford” signs and various other signs around town. Members are also responsible for the plantings at Nepaug Cemetary, Brodie Park, South End Fire House, Town Center Green the post office, Riverview Park, Town Hall and the veteran's memorial.

Gardening and food go hand-in-hand, so it's only natural that many of the members love to cook and bake. They decided to memorialize the 50^th anniversary with a cookbook so other can enjoy the same treats the members do each month at their meetings.

“We always have these wonderful, tasty foods,” said Mary Lou Ringklib, an active member and former club president.

Much of the club's knowledge, which is shared in six pages of monthly gardening tips in the cookbook, come from the presence of eight graduates of the Master Gardener program, an Education Outreach Program that is part of the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System.

Besides gardening tips, the 95-page cookbook features appetizers, breads, desserts, entrees, soups, salads, vegetables and side dishes. Twenty-three of the recipes were pulled from the club's original cookbook published in the late eighties.

GET YOURS

Cookbooks are available for purchase for $9 at the New Hartford Garden Club's annual Holiday Luncheon on Dec. 1 at 11:30 a.m. at the South End Fire House. To reserve a copy, contact Sibyl Pellum at (860) 379-3722. Proceeds will help support the club's many community projects.

RECIPES

Try these easy recipes from the New Hartford Garden Club Cookbook, 50^th Anniversary Edition. Reprinted with permission of the New Hartford Garden Club.

Pumpkin Curry By Sibyl Pellum

2 cups (1 lb) cubed pumpkin

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp margarine/butter

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

4 slices bacon, chopped

2 tsp curry powder

8 oz tomato sauce (1 small can)

salt and pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

Fry the onion, green pepper and bacon in the oil and butter for about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook for another minute or two. Add the pumpkin in 1/2” cubes, the tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer very gently for 20-30 minutes until the pumpkin is very soft and starts to disintegrate. Stir occasionally to make sure that the pumpkin is not sticking and add a little water if necessary. Stir in the crushed garlic a few minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Mini-Quiches By Mary Lou Ringklib

1 pkg. Refrigerator Pillsbury Butterflake Dinner Rolls

1 cup deveined shrimp (small)

1 beaten egg

½ cup light cream

1 Tbsp brandy

½ tsp salt

Dash of pepper

2 slices of Swiss cheese

Grease 2 dozen 1-3/4” muffin pans (mini). Separate each dinner roll in half; press into the muffin pans to make shell. Combine egg, cream, brandy, salt and pepper. Divide shrimp evenly among the shells, using 2-3 to each. Pour egg mixture into muffin pans; slice cheese into 24 pieces. Place atop each appetizer. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately. Freezes well; wrap with foil.

Cheesecake Cookies By Madeline McMahon

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

2 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese, soft

1 cup chopped walnuts

4 Tbsp heavy cream or milk

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2/3 cup melted butter

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Combine brown sugar, chopped nuts, and flour in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter; mix well until light and crumbly. Remove 2 cups of the mixture and set aside for the topping. Place remaining in a 9” x 13” pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese until smooth with ½ cup sugar; beat in eggs, cream, juice and vanilla. Pour into baked crust. Return to 350 oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for about 4 hours. Cut into squares and serve.

Originally appeared Dec. 1, 2010 on the Republican-American's ACCENT page.

Celebrating Christmas, the old-fashioned way

BARKHAMSTED - The Riverton Merchant's Association is channeling the ghost of Christmas past with an old-fashioned Christmas celebration.
Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, village merchants are coming together to host Christmas in Riverton, an annual event meant to showcase local businesses and the village's historic charm.
"It's magical, it really is," said Inez Hazen, owner of Rose's Kitchen and president of the Riverton Merchant's Association. "It's pretty and it takes you back to old times for a few hours and it's an awful lot of fun."
Hazen said the village will turn into a "fairy land" for two days, with 500 luminarias lining the sidewalks. The village tree will be lit at 7 p.m. Friday and Santa will be greeting children from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Other attractions include a children's craft workshop, ice carving, a puppet show, horse-drawn carriage rides, glass blowing, caroling and a chili fest.
A wine tour will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. For $20, guests will be given a glass and can sample wines provided by Ledgebrook Spirit Shop at seven stops in the village. A portion of the proceeds from the tour will be donated to the Tiny Tim Fund, a charity that provides financial assistance for children with medical needs. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling (860) 738-9958.
Christmas in Riverton was originally designed to coincide with a production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" by the Riverton Congregational Church.
This is the first year in more than 20 years the play is not being performed because of casting issues.
Leslie DiMartino, owner of the Riverton General Store and one of the event coordinators, said the merchant's association wanted to continue the Christmas event despite the show not being performed, as it is expected to return next year.
"If we didn't have this as well as the play, it might have been more difficult to get people back next year," DiMartino said.
The event draws droves of people to the village, and although organizers don't know an exact number of visitors, they estimate it's in the hundreds.
For a full list of events and a walking map of merchants participating in the event, visit www.RivertonCT.com.

Originally appeared Nov. 27, 2010 in the Republican-American.

Wind drops tree on house: New Hartford home incurs extensive storm damage

Chris Gorski points out the damage to his 135 Reservoir Road home in New Hartford on Wednesday. Gorski was the only one home when strong winds caused a large pine tree to fall on his family's home causing serious damage. Kristen Domonell Republican-American.

By Kristen Domonell and Alec Johnson

Chris Gorski had heard gusty winds all night outside his New Hartford home, and then, about 6:45 a.m., heard what he thought was a loud thunderclap.
He opened his bedroom door to smell of pine, and found a massive old pine tree had snapped at the base and toppled onto his New Hartford home.
The tree, about two feet wide and at least 60 feet tall, smashed into a guest bedroom, the same room his brother-in-law had just moved out of Sunday after living there for two years, said Gorski, 40, of 135 Reservoir Road.
It was one of the more dramatic and damaging troubles Wednesday as winds gusted up to 50 miles per hour across Northwest Connecticut. In Cornwall, a downed tree on Dibble Hill Road forced the road to be closed and took out power for several hours. The wind proved a concern a nearby house fire in Cornwall, where firefighters worried the high winds would feed and carry the flames. They were able to successfully stop the fire and limit the damage.
In Torrington, north end residents lost power when a tree on Winsted Road downed wires at 6:45 a.m. About 2,200 customers were without power for much of the day, confirmed Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Connecticut Light & Power. Power was restored about 3:30 p.m.
In New Hartford, Gorski was glad his wife and two daughters were out of town for the holiday. "Nobody was in the room, so as far as I'm concerned, it's all going to get fixed and it's going to be OK," he said.
Inside the one-story home, branches stuck through the living room ceiling. Insulation and pine needles covered the bed in the guest bedroom, and a pale blue curtain sat in a heap at the base of a shattered window.
John Porcelli, the town's building inspector, said after the tree is removed, a contractor will have to make the house weathertight before the family can return to their home and repairs can begin. The electricity will be rerouted into the home from a temporary electrical pole because the electricity enters the home near where the tree struck. It will be a couple days before power is restored. He said there appears to be major structural damage to the heating, plumbing and ventilating systems.
Gorski said he will stay with his sister in Harwinton until his family returns and they can figure out what to do next.
Carl Jacobs, 78, lives on Meadow Street and is Gorski's neighbor through woods between their houses. A retired plumber and friend of the family, Jacobs came to help drain the radiators and lend support.
"At one time they were talking about taking this tree down," Jacobs said, lamenting that the family had just had new siding and windows put on the home, some of which were destroyed by the fallen tree.
Meteorologist John J. Bagioni, owner of Fax Alert Weather Service in Burlington, said it was so windy Wednesday because the area was stuck between a high pressure system to the west and a low pressure system to the north. "Wind is always a function of pressure differences across the region," he said. "The air moves because somewhere it is being pushed down and somewhere else it is being pushed up."
"We are right in the way," he said. "The air goes rushing by us to get off the ground."
Wednesday night, the wind had subsided, and Bagioni said today will start being bright, sunny and cold. The day will cloud up in the afternoon with a chance of rain in the evening. "There could be some slippery spots in Litchfield County," he said, noting the chance for freezing rain.
- Jim Moore contributed to this report.

Originally appeared Nov. 25, 2010 in the Republican-American.

Skate park opens in New Hartford

Mike Seaman, 19, rides his bike over one of the newly erected ramps at the grand opening of NH Sk8 on Saturday. The skate park, at Brodie Park in New Hartford, was the result of five years of planning and fundraising. Kristen Domonell Republican-American.

NEW HARTFORD - Five years ago, Seth Pierce and Mike Seaman dreamed of having a skate park in their hometown. Many people thought it would never happen, but with a committee of children and parents from eight New Hartford families, NH Sk8 had its grand opening Saturday.
"Back then we skated a lot and biked a lot and we realized our town needed something for kids our age," said Pierce, now 19 and a sophomore at Keene State College.
The skate park in Brodie Park opened a little late for Pierce and Seaman, who are both in college and don't skate and bike as often as they used to. The two said they kept helping the Sk8 committee so a new generation of New Hartford kids can be introduced to the sport.
"The fundraising was sometimes stressful, but it was a lot of fun knowing we were going for a goal and we actually made it and turned our dream into a reality," Pierce said.
After having the park approved by the town, the committee raised $60,000 through fundraisers including music nights, a brewfest at Sundown, and a "flamingo flocking" that involved putting a flock of plastic flamingos on people's yards with a note that they could pay $20 to have it removed or $30 to send it to someone else. The flamingo flocking alone raised $5,000.
The group received a grant from the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut and donations from dozens of local businesses.
Wendy Penn, who was recruited to chair the committee, recalled how it all began five years ago. She was organizing a children's triathlon and asked Pierce and Seaman if they would enter.
They would, they said, if Penn helped them get a skate park in town. The boys came in first place and held Penn to her word.
"You might think I'm crazy for working on a project for five years when they only gave me an hour," Penn said, surrounded by 13 children who were on the committee. "These kids are the most responsible and hardworking kids I've ever met."
The park's equipment includes jibs, rails, boxes, a picnic table, spine, quarter pipe, fly box and a flat bank.
The committee asks that anyone who uses it wears a helmet, abides by the few posted rules and takes care of it so the town can enjoy it for years to come.

Originally appeared 10/24/10 in the Republican-American

Chili, Zombies Downtown: Harvest Festival brings crowd to Torrington's Main Street

TORRINGTON - A full moon cast a ghostly glow over downtown as the brave toured the city's oldest cemetery and zombie look-alikes and mortals alike gobbled warm chili, soup, sandwiches and popcorn in the chilly Friday evening air at the Northwest Connecticut Harvest Festival.
Master of Ceremonies Keith Paul, claiming to be 128 years old in his zombie getup, carried around a bag of plastic skeletons and insects, posing for photos and entertaining Main Street's guests.
"It's a wonderful town and I'm glad we're having this event," said Paul, of Torrington, who was recruited for the night for his theater background and over-the-top personality.
The festival, organized by the city's Arts and Culture Commission, was an extension of Main Street Marketplace, the well-attended series held on nine Thursdays this summer.
Steve Criss, the commission's chairman, said people were so fond of the summer event, they wanted it to run every Thursday through the fall. Though they couldn't do that, the commission hoped to tap into the momentum generated by the summer festival to host a one-night fall event that would draw attention to the city's arts scene and businesses.
"It's been a lot of fun and ultimately it's good to get people on the street doing something," Criss said. "That was our ultimate goal, to get people to our city and exploring downtown, and in that way it's succeeded."
The festival coincided with Ghost Hunters Live at the Warner Theatre and The Rocky Horror Show at the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theater, and Criss said at least 2,000 people were downtown, if only passing through, for those shows. He said that crowd is comparable to those during the summer event, and that he had heard of many people planning to come from out of town and out of state.
Sue Longo, 40, of East Providence, R.I., was in town with her 8-year-old daughter and 11-year-old nephew. They were here for the Warner and a stay at the Yankee Pedlar, but the children took advantage of the festivities, having their faces painted and posing for photos in the street.
"We came to see the Ghost Hunters and this just made it more fun," Longo said.
To set a festive tone for the night, anyone dressed as a zombie was awarded a "zombie punch card," good for drink specials at downtown bars and discounts from Main Street shops. There was a carved pumpkin contest with awards for funniest, scariest, most creative and best in show. Bands, a contortionist and people on stilts performed, and the Torrington Historical Society led tours of Center Cemetary behind City Hall throughout the evening.
Though the street festival season has come to a close, the Main Street Marketplace will return next year from June through August, for 12 weeks rather than nine weeks. The commission plans to double the number of vendors and the Harvest Festival is expected to be an annual event.

Originally appeared 10/23/10 in the Republican-American

Electronic signs slow traffic: Resident trooper sees results on road where 2 teens died

HARWINTON - South Road residents have asked the town to help slow traffic in their neighborhood after an accident killed two local teenagers there in August. They may have their answer in the form of electronic speed signs.
Resident Trooper Ian Nicholson said since beginning the use of speed signs a month ago when residents first brought their concerns to the selectmen and since police patrols became public knowledge, he has only given out two warnings for speeding on South Road. He believes the use of speed signs is "a lot more effective" than installing stop signs.
"I personally love them because it really helps," Nicholson said.
South Road residents Louise and Bob O'Donnell agreed to allow the town to place a permanent metal post in their yard that would hold the portable sign.
The couple and Nicholson agreed this would deter residents on the road who do not approve of the sign from complaining.
The 35 mph speed limit will be posted below. Increased police patrols will continue on the road.
Patrols initially increased after Aug. 5 when Charles Buonocore, 18, of Harwinton and his girlfriend, Melissa Andrew, 17, of Avon died in a head-on collision on South Road. Police said speed was a factor when Buonocore's Honda crossed the yellow line into the path of a pickup truck driven by the lone survivor, John Kelley, 17, of Harwinton.
Theresa Ponte, a Lake Harwinton Road resident, said speeding has always been an issue on her road and that she would like to see more patrols and a speed sign there, too.
"We really need to change something because what happened on South Road could happen anywhere," Ponte said.
Selectman Michael R. Criss said the town's roads are being used as cutoffs and that trucks speed through using residential roads as thruways.
"The traffic in the town overall has become a major issue because of the towns around us," Criss said. "The towns around us are developing all around us and it makes our roads more susceptible to heavier amounts of traffic."
Each electronic speed sign cost $5,000 and Criss proposed setting up a fund so anyone concerned can donate for the purchase of more signs to slow speeders throughout town. The selectmen will be asking the Board of Finance to set this up.

Originally appeared 10/21/10 in the Republican-American

Eclairs are still big as store reopens

Addison Todd, above, owner of the Colebrook Store, left, mans the register on his second day in business. Todd, who has lived in Colebrook for five years, hopes to keep old traditions alive, like éclairs, penny candy and Friday night pizza. Kristen Domonell Republican-American.











COLEBROOK - Bob Grigg remembers the taste of the Colebrook Store's éclairs with great fondness.
"They had a recipe for éclairs that they shouldn't have allowed it to be sold it was so good," Grigg said. "People came from miles away, they really did. They were huge and God only knows how many calories were in them and they were so good and they were so big."
After being without for more than three years, residents of Colebrook will have their beloved éclairs back.
The Colebrook Store reopened under new ownership Monday, bringing basic necessities and a favorite gathering spot back to town. The éclairs sold out in the first hour.
Grigg, 77, was born in Colebrook and retired here. He served as the curator of the Colebrook Historical Society and is now the municipal historian. He said he has been "sick at heart" over the store being closed and is glad to have it back.
"In a small community (of 1,532 residents), such as Colebrook, you need some cohesiveness," Grigg said. "You've got the town hall, the church and the historical society; all of them are open to the public but they aren't places the public would necessarily go to or gather. The store more or less rounds out what constitutes a small town, a small village."
Addison Todd, 40, a 1998 graduate of Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts and a Colebrook resident for five years, has reopened the store, keeping old traditions at the forefront of his business plan.
He plans to make pizza next Friday, Oct. 29, in keeping with the popular tradition of Friday night pizza. At some point in the future, he'd also like to sell prime rib takeout dinners on the weekends. And he hasn't forgotten about the éclairs - they're as big as ever - although now he knows he'll have to make the batch a whole lot larger each day.
"My dad actually commented, 'Son, how on earth could one person eat that, I think you should make them normal sized, normal éclairs,'" Todd said. "I said, 'Dad, you don't know the history of the éclairs.'"
Todd grew up having penny candy and éclairs from the general store when he'd visit his grandfather on weekends and holidays. The store had closed in the summer of 2007. When Todd purchased it just over a year ago, there was so much water damage to the floor that he couldn't open one of the front doors.
"I live in town and I kept driving by this beautiful building that was just going into the ground," he said. "I don't think anyone had walked in for two and a half years. It was so close to being the end."
The interior has been refurbished and a few antique signs and the like have been recovered from the basement, but there weren't many left. The rest of the antiques decorating the store have been in Todd's family for years.
Right now, Todd is slowly working on bringing in more inventory, but patrons can find locally-grown organic eggs from North Woods Farm in Colebrook, milk, butter, yogurt, bottled beverages, coffee and tea, and bathroom and pet necessities. The deli menu features soups, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and baked goods.
In coming weeks, Todd plans to stock the shelves with odds and ends that Colebrook residents can easily get in a pinch without having to drive to Winsted or Torrington, as well as penny candies, olive oils and specialty food items. In a month he hopes to be licensed to sell beer. Todd said he foresees catering as the "bread and butter of the operation," but he hasn't gotten that far yet.
Before the previous owner of the store, Lora Murphy, closed shop without warning in July 2007, the Colebrook Store, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, had been the oldest continuously-operated general store in the state, opening in 1812. Todd said he may look into the legality of the issue and see if he is able to "rescue that claim to fame."
"It's sad," Todd said, of the years lost. "I can make T-shirts that say 'Was the oldest general store. Two hundred more years to go.'"

Originally appeared 10/20/10 in the Republican-American

'We always saw the light': Norfolk goes solar to keep tower glowing

NORFOLK - Bob Jacquier remembers that when he and his wife Dorothy moved from Barkhamsted to Norfolk in 1948 to pursue his dream of owning a dairy farm, the lights that shone brightly from the stone tower atop nearby Haystack Mountain welcomed him home.
"I always saw that light, and as we were a young couple and you got up in the morning and went up pasture and drove the cows down, the light was on," Jacquier, now 81, said. "And at night you saw it. And then as we farmed down in the valley, we always saw the light."
Ellen Battel Stoeckel donated $50,000 to the state in 1929 to erect a tower atop Haystack Mountain that would be perpetually lit in memory of her father and brother. She never could have imagined that 81 years later those lights would be powered by the sun, but even the first tower lights were innovative for their time.
According to a Nov. 16, 1929 article in the now defunct The Hartford Times, the lights were lighted every night with eight 100-watt lamps inside the tower and four 100-watt lamps facing Norfolk village, and were visible 15 to 20 miles in clear weather. The wires ran 1,500 feet underground up the side of the mountain.
The lights glowed from 1929 until the war years in the 1940s, when they were turned off in keeping with government blackout policies. After the war, the lights were turned on again for a few years, but then they went out for good. It's been Jacquier's dream since then to turn the lights back on.
Now it's reality. The state Department of Environmental Protection has placed a solar panel atop a newly-built information kiosk next to the tower. A wire runs inside the walls of the tower, sending energy from the sun to four lights around the roof. At least one can be seen from any direction.
Town and state officials, as well as family and friends of those in the town who helped the project come to fruition, gathered Monday at Town Hall to commemorate the lights, which began working late last month. Sen. Andrew W. Roraback, R-Goshen, has been invested in the project since before solar panels were first discussed in 2006.
"Four and a half years later, which is actually lightning speed for the state of Connecticut, we're here to thank the DEP for making Mr. Jacquier's vision a reality," Roraback said.
Jacquier recalls climbing to the top of the tower with his friends Hank Taylor and Alex Vagliano, who shared his dream of restoring the lights, only a short time before the two men died.
"I just felt then I just had to get this done," Jacquier said. "Both of these men were very minded of agriculture and of the country life here in these towns and thought this was a way to help preserve it with that light."
Alex Vagliano's son, Justin Vagliano, lives next door to Jacquier and was at the ceremony with his son Andrew.
"It was a last wish of my father's and you started right off soon after he died and never let it go," Vagliano said, thanking Jacquier for his efforts.

Originally appeared 10/19/10 in the Republican-American

Haunting and helping: Tough challenge doesn't stop drive to give

Jonathan Nevin poses with a few props from Frankenstein's Haunted House at RJB Construction in Torrington. The haunted house will open Friday, Oct. 22 for the first time since Nevin was diagnosed with cancer. Kristen Domonell Republican-American

TORRINGTON - Nobody ever does, but as Jonathan Nevin says, "I never knew I was going to have cancer."
Psychic he's not, but for nine years before his diagnosis with neck cancer in late 2007, Nevin had been making donations to the facility where he underwent treatment.
Owner of J.W. Hair Salon on New Harwinton Road, Nevin is the organizer of Frankenstein's Haunted House that opens this weekend. In a decade, the haunted house and various other fundraisers Nevin puts on with his friends each year have raised more than $200,000 for dozens of charities. The main benefactors are the Torrington Area Youth Service Bureau and, by sheer coincidence, the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Center for Cancer Care.
The Haunted House started in 1999, years before Nevin, at age 41, got his cancer diagnosis. That fall of 2007, in the midst of orchestrating that year's haunted house, Nevin was undergoing testing to find the cause of a lump on his neck. He recalls having bone marrow taken, then putting on his Frankenstein costume that evening. About 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with piercing blue eyes, Nevin is hardly a first pick to play the towering green monster. He wears platform boots to make him look appropriately taller for the part.
A month later, he was diagnosed with neck cancer, which attacks the lymph nodes in the neck and is more common in men much older than he.
"I went to Yale, I went to Hartford, I was all over the place," said Nevin, a lifelong Torrington resident. "I chose to come back to Torrington. Not only was it closer, but there's not a person there that isn't wonderful, from the receptionist right down to your doctor and everybody in between."
Liz Weingart of Torrington, one of Nevin's friends and a client at his salon, remembers when he heard the news. "That's always a difficult time, although that time was very brief with Jonathan," Weingart said. "Then he demonstrated determination and was upbeat and he never complained about anything."
In November of that year, Nevin had surgery to remove the lump from his neck, and in December his doctor performed a procedure called neck dissection, which involves removing the lymph nodes and the surrounding tissues to prevent the cancer from spreading to other organs.
Nevin's doctors informed him that because the cancer was in the lymph nodes of his neck, it had to have developed somewhere else in his body, though they were never able to pinpoint the source. For this reason, Nevin underwent chemotherapy once a week and full radiation every day for six weeks at the Center for Cancer Care.
Cancer-free for more than two and a half years, Nevin sometimes worries that it might come back, but he doesn't let those thoughts run his life. He gets a full body scan every six months to monitor his body's tissues and gain peace of mind.
Now 43, Nevin is filled with energy and boyish excitement, not jaded by his hardship. He's always on the move, whether he's cutting hair, raising money to carry out the haunted house, or planning other charity events like the Butterfly Affair, a fundraiser for the Center for Cancer Care where cancer patients and survivors release butterflies in honor of their survival.
Nevin said he can't explain why he loves fundraising.
"I don't really know, I get myself involved," Nevin said. "Me and my friends always try to help out and have fun doing it."
Frankenstein's Haunted House opened in 1999 at Agway after the owners there asked Nevin to put on a fundraiser on their premises because they knew his cousins ran a haunted house in Barkhamsted and later in Coe Park in Torrington when Nevin was a child. He gathered a group of Halloween-loving friends and they started the tradition.
The haunted house has since moved to a much larger space in a warehouse at RJB Construction, 588 Winsted Road, where the owners "literally make way for us for a month," Nevin said. It is returning this year for the first time since Nevin's diagnosis.
"I started with the cancer center but now I give them more just because I was a patient there and I know what it costs to actually go through cancer and it could financially ruin you," Nevin said.
Diana Gath of Torrington is a longtime friend of Nevin who has helped with the haunted house since day one. She described Nevin as a "character" with a strong personality and "a vast amount of friends and acquaintances" who are always willing to help him out.
"People never say no to Jonathan," Gath said, laughing.
She's with Nevin through every step of planning, but said "it's Jonathan's way or it's no way, and that's in a good sense. Nobody can do what he does."
Planning for the haunted house begins a few months out, with Nevin gathering donations, handing out fliers and rounding up volunteers. There are typically 40 to 50 volunteers inside the haunted house and six outside. The Torrington Fire Department and the Torringford Volunteer Fire Department staff the event, and Nevin makes a donation to the volunteer department in exchange for its services. Like all the donations he makes, Nevin doesn't designate the funds, allowing the organization to decide how the money is spent.
During the monthlong process of turning RJB Construction from a warehouse to a haunted house, Nevin styles hair by day and builds and decorates by night. Gath said the layout and decorations are all conceptualized by Nevin and the product is better every year.
"He is the mastermind," Gath said. "He is Frankenstein." But unlike Mary Shelley's famous Frankenstein, Nevin doesn't just create the monsters, he creates the whole production. And with 30 rooms, mazes and hallways complete with cornstalks, strobe lights and 40 volunteer goblins, monsters and ghouls, that's no small feat.

Originally appeared 10/17/10 in the Republican-American

Rain drain on bottom line: Spring-like summer sorry springboard for outdoor businesses

Many businesses are facing money struggles, but for those that provide outdoor recreation, it is the gloomy weather — not the economy — that’s got them down.
It rained or was cloudy and unseasonably cold about half the days in June and July, making it difficult for places like Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury to attract large crowds, said Ron Gustafson, director of marketing and public relations for the park.
“When it’s nice out, people are taking advantage to come out and do things,” he said.
The down economy has not been a huge threat to the park, as its tickets are priced lower than other parks in the area, but he said there is no way Quassy will surpass profits from the past two record years, when the economy was solid and the weather cooperated.
The weather certainly has not cooperated this summer.
According to Geoff Fox, meteorologist at WTNH News Channel 8 in New Haven, it rained 13 days in June, totaling 11.17 inches, and six other days were “gloomy and rotten.” There were 10 days of rain in July, totaling 6.27 inches, and four more days when the sun never so much as peeked out from be¬hind the clouds.
“It’s not only how much rain we’ve had, but it’s how many days of rain we’ve had that was a real problem (for businesses),” Fox said.
This summer also has seen unseasonably low temperatures. The temperature was 2.2 degrees below average in June and 3.5 degrees below average in July.
Fox said those numbers, while they may seem insignificant, are actually large departures from the average as far as temperatures go. He pointed out that on June 9, the temperature did not surpass 61 degrees.
The bad weather is a serious problem for businesses like R&B Sportsworld in Winsted that rely on warm, sunny days to attract customers. R&B offers miniature golf, batting cages and go-carts. Owner Bob Moore said that although he has 10,000 square feet of indoor activities, his is a weather driven business. He said that when the sun is out, business is good, because his customers prefer outdoor activities to indoor ones.
“That’s part of summer time fun,” he said.
He said the economy hasn’t hit his business as hard as others because his activities are priced competitively. A round of miniature golf costs $4.50, while a go-cart ride ranges from $4.50 to $5.50. For $10 you can hit 150 baseballs at various speeds.
In early June, Tony Sharillo, director of Camp Mataucha in Watertown and Camp Oakasha in Southbury, was expecting enrollment to be down due to the economy. He said the numbers turned out better than anticipated, although they were slightly lower than in previous years.
Weather wise, the camps have had to adjust. Sharillo said inclement weather usually comes after camp hours, allowing campers to participate in special events and field trips. Counselors are trained to lead indoor group games on days when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
“If it’s thundering and the younger kids get a little scared we try to sing songs as loud as we can and try to scare away the thunder,” Sharillo said. “We try to keep the kids’ minds on what’s going on inside and not what’s going on outside.”
It’s not just children’s recreation that has been impacted. Golf courses rely on good weather to thrive. At Eastwood Country Club in Torrington, golfers have flocked to the course on days when the rain held off. Greg Miller, the club’s golf pro, said business has dropped this season, but not significantly.
“I kind of figure it is a little more weather-related than economy-related,” Miller said.
August has been a dry month so far, and, according to Fox, the extended forecast calls for nothing but average rainfall.
“Hey, at this point, average would be very good,” he said.

Originally appeared 8/10/2009 on pages 1A and 4B of the Republican-American©.

Car dealers mistrustful of Uncle Sam: Rebates wanted before scrapping

The popularity of the cash-for-clunkers program has gotten many gas-guzzlers off the streets, but not many have made it into junk yards.
Despite the sale of nearly 250,000 new vehicles since the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, debuted July 24, many old cars remain on dealers’ lots. Dealers are reluctant to junk the cars until they receive the federal government’s promised rebate.
“You don’t want to send them (away) and disable them until you’ve been paid,” said Howard Danoff, sales manager at Shaker’s Lincoln, Mercury, Kia in Watertown.
Under the program, Americans who buy cars that get 10 mpg more than their current cars can receive a $4,500 dis¬count, if their old cars aver¬aged less than 18 miles per gallon of gasoline. Car dealerships then apply for a government rebate. But many car dealers, Danoff said, are reluctant to disable a potentially valuable used car until they receive the government check. Until then, the clunkers sit in the dealers’ lots.
Shaker’s has 27 trade-ins, mostly SUVs, being stored in a lot behind the dealership normally used for employee parking. The dealership has completed the arduous task of filing the necessary paperwork for those rebates.
Once dealers receive the re¬bate, they have seven days to destroy the clunker’s engine. The dealers employ a lethal injection of sodium silicate, or liquid glass, that eats away at the internal engine parts, rendering the engine inoperable.
Dealers then contact an authorized recycling company, which has 180 days to strip any wanted parts and to then crush or shred the vehicle.
Tom’s Foreign Auto Parts in Waterbury is one of these authorized recycling companies. Owner Jim Eitvydas said his shop has received eight clunkers from the program, but he expects he’ll get many more.
“All of (the dealers) are very, very nervous about getting paid from the government,” Eitvydas said. “Nobody’s got¬ten paid yet.”
While extra cars coming through his shop mean more parts to be sold, Eitvydas isn’t yet sure if the cash-for-clunkers program is going to be beneficial to his company.
He can add some of the parts, including headlights, taillights, grills and car computers, to his 30,000-item eBay inventory, which currently includes items like an Audi A4 side view mirror for $99.99, a Mazda 3 steering wheel for $129.99 and a Lexus GS350 headlight for $1,199.99.
But Eitvydas can’t sell the engines, which are the most ex¬pensive items on the used parts market. Some sell for more than $3,000, depending on the make.
It is also more expensive and difficult to dismantle a clunker than a normal scrap vehicle, because the sodium silicate must be disposed of separately from other fluids to avoid contamination.
Not to mention the paper¬work.
CARS has numerous guidelines to safeguard against fraud. The dealer must label three sides of the vehicle with the word “CARS” or “clunker” to avoid any confusion and must report the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to the government upon making the deal. After the recycling company receives the clunker, it has seven days to report the VIN.
Eitvydas said the 134-page law was extremely confusing to dealers and recyclers alike, but important for everyone to grasp.
“If the cars aren’t reported properly the recycler could get big fines (of up to $15,000), and if the new car dealer doesn’t re¬port it properly they can be asked to give the money back. There’s a lot of responsibility on both ends,” Eitvydas said.
Ultimately, the result of CARS is tons of pounds of scrap metal in the hands of recycling companies, but how the pulverizing of so much metal will affect the price of steel is uncertain.
At this time last year, steel was priced at $550 per ton, but dropped to about $125 per ton in September and October. Currently, steel is priced at $230 per ton.
Bruce Savage, vice president of communications for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, said the only way recycling companies will benefit from the program is if it prompts Americans to buy new cars, thereby prompting automakers to build more cars.
“Their making more cars would drive up demand for materials, which would drive up the price (of steel),” Savage said.

Originally appeared 8/6/2009 on pages 1A and 5A of the Republican-American©.

Allowing same-sex marriages on agenda

The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut will soon decide if its priests will be allowed to preside over same-sex marriages.
Some Connecticut priests have already been blessing same-sex marriages performed by other clergymen or by civil authorities, but the church does not allow them to perform marriage ceremonies.
That may change soon.
The Episcopal Church's general convention last week in Anaheim, Calif., adopted a resolution allowing the election and consecration of gay bishops. Also at the convention, the church took up a resolution that would create a liturgy to bless same-sex couples.
These decisions promise to deepen an existing rift between liberals and conservatives in the American Episcopal Church and between the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, a global network of churches of which the Episcopal Church is a branch.
For the last six years, since the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire elected the first openly gay bishop, Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the church and the communion have been divided over the issue of homosexuality.
Some Episcopal priests in Connecticut have already been blessing same-sex marriages and civil partnerships but aren't permitted by the state diocese to perform marriage ceremonies or sign marriage certificates for same-sex couples. Those priests who wish to bless same-sex marriages now have the national approval of the church.
Others who object to same-sex marriage will not be required to give their blessing, just as they are not required to bless all traditional marriages.
According to the Rev. James G. Bradley of St. John's Church on the Waterbury Green, the decisions made at the convention reflect a church struggling with theology rather than with civil rights. He strongly supports allowing priests to perform marriages for same-sex couples.
"We believe that baptism is baptism is baptism. We believe it is once and for all and every baptized person is equal within the church," Bradley said. "If that is in fact our theology, how can we deny any sacrament (to anyone)?"
Bradley said there have been no same-sex marriages at St. John's, but that he has blessed same-sex marriages outside the church. On June 4, he officiated at a marriage between an Episcopal priest and his partner at Trinity College in Hartford.
"I'm not a stranger to it and I really support the move," Bradley said.
The marriage at Trinity was between two male alumni in their 70s who married in the Episcopal chapel on the college's campus. Mark Silk, professor of religion in public life at the college, said the school's chaplain did not perform the marriage ceremony, in compliance with the rules of the state diocese. Instead, a minister from the United Church of Christ married the couple.
"That gives you some idea of the kind of delicacy with which this whole issue has been handled," Silk said.
In states where same-sex marriage is legal, Episcopal dioceses are about to begin discussing the role priests can play in same-sex marriages.
Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith said the House of Bishops agreed to give leeway to these states to respond to same-sex couples who go to parishes seeking marriages and the church's blessing.
"Bishops in the affected states of the United States are now going to begin to work together to determine what that means and what that doesn't mean," Smith said.
One thing he is certain of is that if the decision is to allow priests at the 172 Episcopal churches in the state to perform same-sex marriages, the ceremonies would not be identical to those of straight marriages.
"It does not mean that we can simply use the same service in the prayer book for same-sex couples," Smith said. "At this point, I don't know what it will mean for us. None of us want to delay on making that kind of decision."

Originally appeared 7/23/2009 on pages 1a and 7a of the Republican-American©

Salvaging New Milford’s big red barn: Preservation group grant awarded to Weatinogue land trust

NEW MILFORD — A $6,500 grant will help preserve an early 19th century barn at Smyrski Farm on Merryall Road.
The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, through the Historic Barns of Connecticut program, awarded the grant to the Weatinogue Heritage Land Trust.
The hayloft at the farm is still in use and Black Angus cows from Greyledge Farm in Bridgewater graze in a nearby pasture on the farmland.
But paint is peeling from the outside of the barn in thick strips. Inside, cobwebs hang from thick wooden beams that, despite being centuries old, are still intact.
"It's actually one of the finest examples of a New England bank barn in the region," said Liba H. Furhman, executive director of the land trust. "It's this wonderful barn with a fabulous hay loft."
Weatinogue, a regional land trust based in town with 8,500 acres in its care throughout Litchfield and Fairfield counties, applied for the grant to help replace the roof, which Furhman said could leak. Part of the grant, $5,000, will pay a small portion of the $32,000 it will cost to replace the rood.
Another $15,000 from an anonymous donor will also help, and Weatinogue is counting on donations for the rest.
Weatinogue will hire an architect to assess the building with $1,500 of the grant the Connecticut Trust has designated for an adaptive use feasibility study.
"The red barn is really not being used by the farming operation, and that's why we're trying to determine what would be a good use. Perhaps as an education center, community facility .. or perhaps it just remains a barn," Furhman said. "We will also be seeking neighborhood input."
Todd Levine, director of the Historic Barns of Connecticut program, said of 75 preliminary applications, 15 barns were funded. The grant awarded to Weatinogue is the largest amount available.
The trust awarded $81,000 this year.
"The goal is really to bring awareness to the plight that our historic barns face in terms of demolition by neglect or demolition by design," Levine said. "In one case you don't have the money to upkeep your barn, and eventually it deteriorates until it is no longer safe to be standing. In the other case, when you have a barn in the middle of an area that is targeted for development, there's no place for a historic barn. Sometimes developers can find a way to incorporate them, but not often."
The farm was formerly owned by Sophie and John Smyrski.
In 1988, the Smyrski siblings sold the farm's development rights so it would never be subdivided or developed. Their vision was to give the land as a gift to future generations who would restore it to working farmland.
In 2008, in accordance with their wills, the land was donated to Weatinogue.
Soon after, the trust purchased the barn.

Originally appeared 7/17/2009 on page B1 and B4 of the Republican-American©

Agreement clears way for Kent sewer project

KENT - The Sewer Commission may be on its way toward receiving the funds necessary to replace 290 feet of sewage pipe on Bridge Street. The 123-year old portion of the line is believed to be in imminent danger of failure.
Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting ended a long debate between the Board of Selectmen and the Sewer Commission over who should be responsible for paying for the project. The commission believes it is the town's responsibility, while the selectmen originally conveyed that it should be a shared cost between the commission and the users of the line.
At the meeting, the commission convinced First Selectman Ruth S. Epstein and Selectman Bruce K. Adams that the costs should be shared between the commission and the town. Epstein will recommend to the Board of Finance an appropriation from the town of up to $250,000 for replacement and repair of the line. The project is estimated to cost $330,000. If approved by the town, the commission will be responsible for paying $75,000.
"It's an absolutely, utterly complete change (from one month ago)," said Selectman Vincent D. LaFontan, who voted against the appropriation.
He said he was not convinced that replacing the line is considered a capital project and proposed a $25,000 per year capital infusion for 10 years from the town that the commission would be able to put toward this or any other project.
One alternative does exist. Relining the existing pipes rather than replacing them would cost about $50,000 to $75,000, but Sewer Commission Chairman William Gawel Jr. said this repair would be good for about 50 years. Replacing the existing 10- and 8-inch pipes with uniform 10-inch pipes and removing curves in the line would relieve problems for about 250 years, according to the commission.
"The Sewer Commission in office today wants to do it once and do it right," Gawel said. "If money was no object we could patch it up and then tear it down in a year and replace it."
Epstein said she was swayed by the immediacy of the issue and the possibility that the line could fail at any moment. Because the users did not want to pay for the entire project and the commission wants to replace rather than repair the line, she said she was left with no choice.
"I'm reversing because we have a real public health issue," Epstein said.
Adams, who has a septic system for his home and is therefore not a user, said he believed the project was important for the infrastructure of the town, despite the fact that his taxes would go up, as shops and restaurants crucial to the town's economy use the line.
"There's a school, town hall and town garage on this system," Adams said. "I think everyone should be responsible for that."
The Board of Finance will decide July 21 whether or not to bring the appropriation to a town meeting vote.

Originally appeared 7/9/2009 on page 2B of the Republican-American ©

Alas, grounds for closing: Coffee House Plus ending 44 years on East Main Street

TORRINGTON - Joe Lamanna helped build the brick building that sits on the corner of East Main and East Elm streets when he worked for a company called LaBruno Building in 1965.
The building housed Bess Eaton, the first of the Ponte family coffee and doughnut shops to spring up in the town. Back then, an iced coffee sold for 15 cents.
"I've been coming here ever since," said Lamanna, 81, of Torrington.
After 44 years in operation, the shop now known as Coffee House Plus will serve its last coffee at the East Main Street location Friday. Lamanna and the many friends he has made among the regulars over the years will have to find a new hangout.
Time has aged the building, but Lamanna said the shop is "basically the same as it used to be." It's a simple place. Newspaper clippings featuring Torrington High School athletes clutter one wall. Plain white menu boards display the prices of doughnuts, bagels, muffins and coffee in a variety of flavors.
None of that fancy stuff for Lamanna, who sticks to a small regular coffee with cream and sugar.
Chris Crespo, 57, of Torrington, reminisced about her memories as a Coffee House Plus employee as she prepared herself for what will be her last day after eight years. She has forged a close relationship with many of her customers. She greets most by name and has many orders memorized and already made as customers walk through the door.
Sandy Beatrice, 47, of Torrington, has been working at the coffee shop for 29 years — since she was 18. "Customers became family," she said.
After all, it's a family business.
Tony Ponte, 51, of Torrington, owns the shop, as well as another on South Main Street. He is consolidating the two because he couldn't afford to renew his lease at the East Main address.
The business has been in decline since his brother John Ponte, with whom he ran the shops, died in August 2004 and the family decided to put the shops on the market.
"At that point it wasn't fun for me without John. He was my best friend, my buddy, as well as my brother," Ponte said. "It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, being that it was the starting point of my parents' legacy," Ponte said.
Before this, the Ponte family had a long history of owning coffee and doughnut shops. Tony Ponte's uncle, Angelo Gencarelli, founded the original Bess Eaton in Westerly, R.I. in 1951, the same year Dunkin' Donuts was founded.
Gencarelli wanted to keep the franchises among several of his brothers and brothers-in-law instead of going national, so Antonio Ponte Sr. and his wife Angeline opened the first Bess Eaton west of Hartford at East Main and East Elm.
The Ponte sons later bought the business from their father after his health prohibited him from running the operation and their mother had died of lung cancer in 1986. After the sons grew the business from five stores to 12, Kenny Ponte proposed to buyout all the shops from his brothers.
The buyout failed, leaving seven abandoned stores and the company bankrupt.
In 1994, Maria and Rose Ponte, the wives of Tony and John Ponte, formed a new entity and reopened the seven abandoned stores under Jammer Inc., doing business as Coffee House Plus. Since then, the remaining stores have been closed or sold, leaving only the original shop and another on South Main Street.
"The reason we've even been able to stay (this long) is because our loyal customer base has allowed us to compete against the major chains," Ponte said. "We've always been a family oriented business in a time when large businesses seem to dominate the business scene and local mom-and-pops don't really have a chance."
He hopes his regulars, as well as any other customers Coffee House Plus has served in the past will continue to support his business at the South Main Street location. After about three or four years operating at only one location, Ponte said he hopes he will be able to market and sell the business, but "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

This article appeared July 1, 2009 on pages B1 and B3 in the Republican-American newspaper, Waterbury, CT©

Greening state schools: New legislation ends use of cleaners with harsh chemicals

Connecticut schools will soon be jumping on the green bandwagon. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed into law a bill that aims to keep children and school staff healthier by eliminating the use of cleaning products containing harsh chemicals and replacing them with "green clean" products.
Cleaning agents for bathrooms, glass and carpets, as well as hand soaps, floor finishers and floor strippers, will have to meet nationally certified guidelines and be approved by the state Department of Administrative Services by July 1, 2011.
Some school districts, including Region 6 and Torrington, have already begun the process.
Tom Murphy, sales manager for RoVic Innovative Cleaning Solutions of Manchester, said his company supplies "literally dozens" of school districts, including Region 6. He said green cleaning involves more than just chemicals, and includes training and "looking at the entire program from cradle to grave."
“It means products like sustainable matting and sustainable mops, machines that use less water, less chemicals, less power... just different processes that make sure you use fewer chemicals and don't put chemicals down drains," Murphy said. "Different types of chemicals that can be harmful to humans can't be used."
Murphy said there are hundreds of ingredients in cleaning products that can cause harm, but that ammonia and bleach [Dash] "bleach in particular" [Dash] are two major chemicals he looks to eliminate from all his clients' cleaning regimens.
The green-cleaning bill has drawn broad support from educators, the environmental community, health professionals and parents. They cite a study from the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health claiming 12 percent of work-related asthma can be attributed to cleaning products.
In Connecticut, 10.5 percent of school children have asthma, and that rate can be as high as 20 percent in urban communities. The national average is 8 percent.
Margaret LaCroix, spokeswoman for the American Lung Association of New England, said mold and other things in the classroom are often triggers for children and staff who have asthma. "If you take a look at any given classroom, it's really important that school personnel be aware and that they use cleaning products that won't be exacerbating problems for children with asthma," she said.
The Connecticut Foundation for Environmentally Safe Schools and the Sierra Club, the largest grassroots environmental organization in the country, were the leading proponents of the bill. Martin Mador, legislative chairman for both organizations, said he lobbied for the bill because "the intentional introduction of toxic substances into our environment is a very important environmental issue."
According to Mador, many schools are making the switch without the legal requirement.
Torrington Middle School has been fighting a mold problem for several years, causing the replacement of carpeting with tiles and lawsuits against the town because of claims that children became sick from the mold.
Rep. Michelle L. Cook, D-Torrington, a member of the Education Committee and co-sponsor of the bill, said while Torrington has been using green clean products for a few years, she is unsure if 100 percent of the products are green. She said green clean products eliminate mold as well as their harsher counterparts at no extra cost to school districts.
"Their ability to fight things off is just as good, so you're not losing their strength or their potency by 'going green,' so to speak," Cook said.
The use of green products will eliminate harsh chemical aromas in school facilities that Cook said "often interfere with (a child's) educational learning experience."
"The bottom line was it was clearly about making safe schools and since a lot of the teachers as well as the students spend quite a lot of time in their school systems, you want to make sure they're as healthy as possible," Cook said.

Originally appeared 6/30/09 on pages 1A and 7A of the Republican-American, Waterbury CT ©

Hello muddah, I'll see you at home: ECONOMY THROWING COLD WATER ON MANY CAMPFIRES

It's no secret people are looking for ways to save money this summer. Children's recreation is no exception in a long list of ways families are cutting back.
Most summer camps in Greater Waterbury and Litchfield County are preparing for the worst. As applications slowly trickle in, camp directors and those who oversee camps are expecting enrollment declines of as much as 15 percent from last year.
In Torrington, Camp Torymca director Kate Dziedzic said registrations are lagging this year.
"Because of the times, we are seeing a little bit of a decline in enrollment," Dziedzic said. "People just don't have jobs and they just don't have the money to send their children to camp."
On the other hand, Dziedzic said, she has received new registrations from families where one parent used to stay home and is now working. The cost for a week of camp is $155.
The American Camp Association oversees camp programs across the country. Bette Bussel, executive director of ACA New England, said about 2.5 million children attend camp in New England. She was unsure how many attend Connecticut camps, but said there are 230 camps currently licensed in the state. Municipal camps are not included in the count, as they do not need to be licensed.
Bussel said that, as of February, enrollment had been projected to drop 5 to 15 percent in some camps. Those estimates have proven accurate, she said, though the trend is not consistent.
"It doesn't matter whether a camp is a day camp or an overnight camp, privately owned or agency owned," Bussel said. "Some are doing as well or better, some are doing the same, and some are doing a little worse."
Tony Sharillo, director of Camp Mataucha in Watertown, said enrollment is coming in slower than it has in the past, but "we seem to be picking up speed." Enrollment starts at $340 per two-week session.
Sharillo said most of the campers are from Waterbury, Watertown, Thomaston and Naugatuck. "We hope that our numbers will be about the same (as last year), but we are prepared for them to be down," Sharillo said.
Girl Scouts of Connecticut operates 11 camps across the state for girls entering grades 1 through 12, including Camp An-Se-Ox in Oxford, which charges $180 a week and draws day campers from Naugatuck Valley communities from Shelton to Waterbury.
"Like others, we are feeling the effects of the current economy and are seeing families holding off on their decisions for summer camp," said Communications and Public Relations Manager Dana Rogers. "We are currently experiencing a decrease of approximately 25 percent over last year, but we have noticed a recent pick-up in enrollments that we hope will continue."
Day camps aren't the only ones feeling the effects of the economy. Camp Mohawk, an overnight camp in Litchfield, pulls girls from more than 200 cities and towns. Patrick Marchand, camp director, said enrollment is "not too bad," but is "definitely down from last year overall." He said a normal two-week session is priced at $1,250.
"People are still waiting, it seems, to find out if they have enough money for camp," Marchand said.
Not all camps are hurting.
Tucked away in the northern woods of Torrington is Camp Wah-Nee, where campers have access to an Olympic-sized heated swimming pool, indoor gymnasium, a climbing wall and bumper boats, among other amenities. Enrollment has increased from last year. Parents incur an $8,545 tuition fee for the 51-day overnight session, making a summer here more costly than a year's worth of in-state tuition at the University of Connecticut.
Camp Owner Dave Stricker said his camp is "the top echelon of camping" and that it will be filled to its capacity of 400 campers when the session begins June 30. Most of these campers aren't local.
"People are so depressed about the economy," Stricker said. "What they don't often realize is you're going to spend money to entertain your kids at home. Even if they don't go anywhere, it's still going to cost money."

This article appeared on pages 1A and 8A in the June 17, 2009 issue of the Republican-American, Waterbury CT©

CIVIL WAR LED ABOLITIONIST TO SUMMER CAMPING

WASHINGTON, Conn. — Be it summer camp for the kids, or a family vacation to a campground, camping is a quintessential American getaway. So pitch a tent and unroll that sleeping bag this summer, but remember, you have a Connecticut man to thank.
The American Camp Association credits Frederick Gunn, founder of The Gunnery prep school in Washington, with creating the first organized American camp in 1861.
Bette Bussel, executive director of ACA New England, said Gunn decided that students needed to "get outside" and "be with nature" in the summer.
"Many people consider that the first camp," Bussel said.
Paula Krimsky, director of communication for The Gunnery, said Gunn was an abolitionist involved in the Underground Railroad. He wanted his students to experience what camping was like for the Union soldiers, so he walked with them 40 miles from Washington to Milford, where they camped on the beach for two to three weeks at a time.
"They sang songs, they wrote poems, they fished," she said.
The students learned camping, cooking and military skills every other year for five years until the Civil War ended.
"It was so popular and the kids were so fond of it that they started doing it on Lake Waramaug in Washington," Krimsky said. "This continued practically until (Gunn) died. We're not exactly sure, but we think the last one was about 1879."
Today, 148 years after Gunn planted the recreational camping seed, there are 230 licensed camps and at least 52 campgrounds in Connecticut alone.

This article appeared on page 8A in the June 17, 2009 issue of the Republican-American, Waterbury CT©

Flu fells Waterbury woman: 'Underlying conditions' increased risks from H1N1 virus

WATERBURY — A Waterbury woman died of swine flu early Monday morning at Waterbury Hospital after a two-week hospitalization.
Dr. Steve Aronin, head of infectious diseases at the hospital, confirmed the death at an afternoon news conference Monday. He said the woman, who was described as in her early 40s, had underlying conditions that "would increase the risks" of swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus. He would not comment on the specifics of those conditions.
The woman was admitted to the hospital June 1 with respiratory symptoms.
"We believe that the virus had likely been incubating within her system because she didn't appear to have the flu when she first came to the hospital," Aronin said in a statement released by the hospital.
The woman is the third Waterbury resident — so far the only three people in the state — to die after being diagnosed with swine flu.
Last Friday, a 6-year-old Waterbury boy with prior health problems that prevented him from attending school died at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Before him, a woman in her 60s, who also had previous ailments, died at Saint Mary's Hospital on June 2.
As of June 11, there were 637 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Connecticut, and as of June 12, 17,855 confirmed cases nationwide. There are 22 patients hospitalized with the virus in hospitals across the state.
"There are no other critically ill patients at Waterbury Hospital with H1N1 virus," Aronin said.
The Waterbury Hospital statement indicated that officials believe the laboratory-confirmed cases represent only a fraction of the likely number of swine flu cases in Connecticut, because people with mild symptoms do not seek doctor or hospital care, and instead recover at home.
Roseann Wright, director of the Waterbury Department of Public Health, said she has been working with local hospitals and the school system to educate residents about precautions to take to prevent contracting the virus. She said 18,000 pamphlets have been sent out to students at the city's schools.
Wright said she continues to emphasize to residents to "wash their hands, cover their coughs and stay home when ill." With city schools nearing summer vacation, she said this will eliminate the daily contact children have in schools and decrease some of the risk to children of acquiring the virus.
As of June 10, the sate Department of Public Health had reported 47 confirmed cases of swine flu in Waterbury. This was the state's third highest consolidation of cases, behind New Haven's 56 and Greenwich's 50. The health department will update this count Wednesday.

Originally appeared 6/16/09 on pages 1A and 7A in the Republican-American, Waterbury, CT ©

State digests calorie bill: Chains would be required to publish diet numbers

The calorie debate may be over in the state House and Senate, but it's not over for diners, who are deciding whether they need to know — or even care to know — how many calories they're consuming in restaurants.
The state legislature has approved a bill requiring chains with at least 15 restaurants in the state to publish the number of calories of each food item on their menus and menu boards. The measure is on its way to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has not decided whether to sign it.
Supporters say the bill will give Connecticut consumers important information that could help stem what has been described as an epidemic of obesity. Opponents say it is a needless intrusion of government into private business affairs.
For consumers and restaurant operators, the issue is stirring a lively discussion.
"I think it's important for people to know what they're eating, especially at fast food chains," said Jason Schwarz, 34, of Waterbury, as he ate a chicken sandwich in the McDonald's on Union Street in Waterbury on Tuesday. "It takes the mystery out of it."
Sharon Zaldumbide, 19, of Beacon Falls and Katy Hyland, 19, of Prospect, while eating in this same McDonald's, decided that knowing how many calories they were consuming wouldn't change the way they order.
Zaldumbide said she thinks "people don't really care," while Hyland said she's "not really worried about it."
Carla Angevine, a registered dietitian at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, said she believes the bill is only a "step in the right direction."
"I think many people don't know how many calories they need, so they need further education, along with what the restaurant chains will be giving them," Angevine said.
Angevine suggests that, to make healthier choices at restaurants, people should "watch portions, try to get things that come with sauces or dressings on the side, and always start a meal with a salad instead of the bread basket."
Restaurant chains in the state, including Chili's Grill & Bar, Ninety Nine and the Max Restaurant Group, as well as the Connecticut Restaurant Association, are publicly opposed, believing the state should wait for national legislation.
Shirley Taradash, owner of the McDonald's restaurant on Chase Avenue in Waterbury, said the bill is "absolutely not" necessary. She said customers will continue to eat what they want, regardless of this new caloric knowledge.
Taradash recalled the "McLean burger" that McDonald's marketed for a short time beginning in 1991. She said this product contained only 1 percent fat and that "we advertised a whole lot that this was healthy and wonderful."
"The majority of people who came in would order it with large fries, a shake, and put extra mayonnaise on it. The customer wasn't interested that it was low-calorie and low-fat," Taradash said.
Numerous organizations focused on health issues, including Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and the Connecticut Cancer Partnership, believe the bill will help reverse the growing rate of obesity in the state.
They cite a 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey that determined 70 percent of Connecticut adults are overweight, with 24 percent of adults and 12 percent of high school students classified as obese.
Dr. Pat Checko, prevention committee co-chairwoman for the Connecticut Cancer Partnership, called obesity an "epidemic throughout the United States."
"It's not just a personal individual behavior and choice thing," Checko said. "You've got to change both policy and the environment to have a comprehensive approach to how we actually help people."
Roberta Friedman, director of public policy for the Rudd Center, said her organization's goal is to educate policy-makers and the public.
"A lot of the available scientific evidence supports the practice of menu labeling," Friedman said. "The point of it is to have people start to make more informed decisions about what they're buying."
Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Cheshire, a member of the legislature's Public Health Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill, said placing calorie counts on menus is important not only for general public health, but to help control the cost of health care.
"I think there's so much concern about obesity, and that's such a huge expense for us as part of our health care system," Esty said. "Fifty percent of all health care is based on actual behavioral decisions people make. A huge part of that is what we eat and how much we eat."
Esty said the cost to the chains to implement this would be minimal since the only thing the restaurants would have to do is "put a couple more numbers on your menu board."
"I think it will help people to think about how they want to spend their calories," Esty said.

Originally published Tuesday, June 9, 2009 in the Republican-American. ©

Recession hitting Greenwich hard, but local hairstylists still doing fine

Inside the Wild Strawberry Salon and Day Spa in Waterbury, every chair was filled as hairdressers cut, colored and styled the hair of their customers. Trish Mauriello bundled up to leave the warmth of the busy salon and brave the frigid air after a recent monthly visit.
Mauriello, 60, of Watertown, is one of many in the area who don't plan to let their beauty rituals become victims of the struggling economy.
"There are other things that I would eliminate before I eliminate this," Mauriello said.
That's not the case in Greenwich. Day spa and salon owners in one of the nation's wealthiest towns say the recession is taking its toll and are reporting declines in business by as much as 70 percent. However, spas and salons in Greater Waterbury and Litchfield County are reporting business as usual.
Robert Accetura, owner of the Wild Strawberry, described his business as "very steadfast." He said the holiday season brought in a large increase of new clients and overall the salon is experiencing a "really good season."
"There are a few customers that instead of coming every four weeks come every five or six, or instead of six, are stretching it to seven or eight, but they're a minority," Accetura said.
Accetura attributes his loyal customers, like Mauriello, who said she has been going to Accetura for 30 years, to his experienced, personable and service-oriented employees.
"If we can continue giving that even in the bad economy, we will be successful," Accetura said.
JoAnn Cantele, owner of Shear Dimensions in Torrington, also said some of her customers are waiting longer between visits, but haven't stopped coming. Cantele, who has been in business for almost 24 years, said she anticipated economic problems about a year ago and started preparing for them by changing some of the products she uses to lower her costs.
"It made my business run more economically so I was able to not raise prices for clients," Cantele said.
At Tres Jolie Day Spa in Southbury, owner Jeff Krizan said he guessed his spa was less impacted by the recession because of its location in the Heritage Hotel Resort and Conference Center.
Krizan said as long as the hotel business continues, he thinks his business will remain successful, but he doesn't expect substantial growth in 2009.
"Even though there's an economic downturn, there's a significant amount of stress our corporate friends and neighbors are experiencing," Krizan said. "What better way to escape that, what better way to rehabilitate yourself."
Ailyn Urzua-Geghan, owner of Ecolife and Spa Care in Watertown, also has managed to avoid recessionary effects.
"I am fortunate to say that our client base has been pretty steady and loyal so I haven't really seen a decline," Urzua-Geghan said.

Originally appeared 2/2/2009 in the Republican-American