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PRESS
LOCAL NEWS •
S P O RT S • E N T E RTA I N M E N T • A N D M O R E
In Sports
Almost
time to
‘play ball’
PAGE 17
Vol. 4, Edition 12
Thursday
March 21, 2013
In The Press
Van Winkle
gives budget
presentation
Town Manager Ron Van Winkle presented his sixth budget
in his position with the town of
West Hartford – one that reﬂects the lowest spending increase in more than two
decades – to the Town Council last week. e ﬁscal year
2013-14 budget he proposed
totals $241,554,357 and reﬂects
a 1.58 percent increase, the
lowest in 21 years. PAGE 13.
Living by every letter
Above: Students from the Hebrew High School of New England hold on to the quill of sofer Rabbi Levi Selwyn during a Torah writing experience Monday, March 11. Beth El Temple is celebrating its 60th anniversary by writing a Torah in the “Beth El Torah Experience: Inscribing Our Legacy for Generations” event. Read more on page 3. To read about the 125th anniversary of the oldest Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the Hartford area, Congregation
Agudas Achim, turn to page 13.
Photo by Alison Jalbert
Quotes
of Note
Orchids in bloom
News
This week
Arts & Entertainment
5
Social Butterfly
8
Kids
6
The Buzz
9
News
11
Editorial
16
Sports
17
Calendar
20
Crossword
21
Classifieds
21
“People sometimes
take it for granted that
you can trace [a
community] back
generations. ere are
a lot of communities
that can’t boast that.
It’s a testimony to our
history.”
-Rabbi Ari Weiss in “... synagogue
turns 125” on page 13
Pictured is a scene from the Nutmeg State Orchid Society “Come See Our Bloomers!” show held last
weekend at the West Hartford Town Hall. For more details and photos, see page 8.
Photo by Abigail Albair
-Ron Van Winkle in “Van Winkle
gives budget proposal” on page 13
NEWS & Notes
10
CTfastrak project
13
“We have done well
and we should be
proud of our ability to
withstand swings and
arrows of outrageous
misfortune and
bounce back.”
Stage one of the Flatbush Avenue reconstruction began Friday,
March 15. Flatbush will be reduced
to one lane in the eastbound direction from New Park to the I-84
ramps; Newﬁeld will be reduced to
one lane in the northbound direction from the shopping plaza drive
to Flatbush. Construction will be
separated from vehicular and
pedestrian traﬃc with concrete
barriers.
Gino Giansanti named
Police Oﬃcer of the
Year
Detective Gino Giansanti has
been named 2013 Police Oﬃcer of
the Year and will be recognized at
a ceremony April 3 hosted by the
West Hartford Exchange Club at
The Valley’s only Full Service Hand Car Wash
its Public Safety Night.
Giansanti joined the Police
Department in 1995 and has
served on SWAT and the Honor
Guard. During his career, he was a
bike oﬃcer and ﬁeld training oﬃcer.
He was promoted to detective
in 2010 and is currently working in
the Youth Services Division where
his professionalism and compassion are demonstrated in cases of
crimes against children.
Public hearings on the
budget
e community will have an
opportunity to voice their opinions
on the proposed ﬁscal 2013-14
budget at two public hearings that
will be held March 28 at 2 p.m. and
April 11 at 6 p.m. in the Legislative
Chambers, Room 314.
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The West
Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
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‘Inscribing our legacy’
Beth El celebrates 60 years with community
Torah writing event
By Alison Jalbert
Editorial Assistant
Beth El Temple is celebrating
its 60th anniversary by writing a
Torah in the “Beth El Torah Experience: Inscribing Our Legacy for
Generations” event.
e Torah is the central, sacred text of the Jewish religion and
contains 613 commandments in it,
which are laws and rules by which
Jewish people live.
e very last mitzvah, or good
deed, of the 613 commandments
in the Torah instructs Jewish people to personally write a Torah
during their lifetime. Event CoChair Dan Kulakofsky explained
that this mitzvah is fulﬁlled by
writing a single letter in the Torah,
as every one of the 304,805 letters
of the Torah is essential.
“If you’ve written one letter, it’s
as though you’ve written the whole
Torah,” he said.
Torahs can only be written by
a trained scribe, or sofer, so Beth El
has brought in Rabbi Levi Selwyn
to help in the process.
Scribes have to ﬁnd somebody willing to teach them, then
spend years in an apprenticeship
to be trained in how to write a
Torah.
Kulakofsky said that the letters in the Torah have to be perfect. ey cannot be out of shape,
misplaced or mis-spaced. If that
occurs, the Torah is rendered unusable.
is is why a sofer must be
present and why the members of
the Beth El family are not actually
writing the letter themselves, but
rather holding the quill as the sofer
writes a letter.
e Torah has to be written in
a very speciﬁc way using only certain ingredients, which Selwyn explained during a Torah signing at
the Hebrew High School of New
England Monday, March 11. e
Torah cannot be written on paper,
but rather on parchment made
from cow hide, as it will hold up
over time.
e pieces of parchment are
sewn together using animal sinew,
and the quill used to write the letters is often from a turkey. e ink
is kosher and composed of very
speciﬁc formula/ingredients.
As the students lined up to
hold on to the quill as Selwyn
wrote letters in the Torah, he reminded them that this was not
just something that you do, that
the act was very holy and very important.
“We live by every letter in the
Torah. Everything is in the Torah,”
he said.
Kulakofsky said that at Beth
El, they read from the Torah three
times a week, and once this Torah
is completed, it will be the one
they read from. “It’s called a dedication Torah, in that a community
participated in writing it,” he said.
e Torah writing experience
has already been to Hebrew
Healthcare, SummerWood, e
McCauley and the Hebrew High
School of New England, with other
planned stops including the
Solomon Schechter Day School.
Future writing dates include April
21 and 22 and June 9.
Anyone interested in participating can contact the Beth El ofﬁce at 860-233-9696 or e-mail
bethelwh.torah@gmail.com. ere
is a small charge for non-Beth El
members.
Part of what’s been so great
about the Torah writing project is
opening it up to the community,
Kulakofsky said.
“We had people from other
congregations come to Beth El and
have been welcomed to join us
and fulﬁll the commandment. It
doesn’t happen often. It’s once in a
lifetime, once in a generation that
you create a Torah,” he said. “It’s
been our pleasure to welcome people from other congregations.”
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Students from the Hebrew High School of New England hold on to the quill of Sofer Rabbi Levi Selwyn during a
Torah writing experience Monday, March 11.
Photo by Alison Jalbert
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March 21, 2013
The West
Hartford Press
3
Gardens cropping up at schools for education enhancement
By Jennifer Senofonte
Staﬀ Writer
Students across the nation are
headed outdoors for learning this
spring – and not just for gym class.
UConn College of Agriculture
Master Gardener Sarah Bailey has
made it her mission to bring a
school garden to as many communities as possible so children can
learn at an early age where their
food comes from and be a part of its
growth.
She said that over the last ﬁve
to 10 years, a national movement
has begun to bring horticulture to
school-aged children through interactive gardens. She has brought together other local interested parties
to brainstorm how to make this a reality.
“ere is nothing like the look
on a kid’s face who pulls the carrot
out of the ground and bites into it
while it’s still warm and goes,
‘Wow!’” Bailey said, noting that children who grow their own food take
pride in being part of the process
and therefore are more willing to try
vegetables.
West Hartford parent-volunteer group Growing Great Schools
has been working with Bailey to
make it happen in that district’s elementary schools. Duﬀy parents and
Growing Great Schools’ members
Rachel Stein and Susan Kamin said
a main goal for their work is to bring
the food that the children grow into
the cafeterias for lunch meals.
“e kids are going to beneﬁt
from any activities outside just to
connect with living organisms and
to see how their food is coming out
of the ground,” Stein said. “For that
alone, it’s so valuable.”
A hurdle that the dedicated
group – that meets at UConn’s West
Hartford campus – has come upon
is writing a curriculum around the
gardens that meets state standards
and will continue to as they shift to
the Common Core State Standards.
“If you can get your kids outside in a garden, there are tremendous educational aspects from it,”
Bailey said, explaining that gardening lessons shed light on a variety of
subjects like science, math, language
arts and social studies. One curriculum that has been written according
to state standards is called “Food,
Land and People.” It was developed
to help students understand the
connections between agriculture,
the environment and people. It includes pre-k through 12th-grade science and social studies-based units.
What’s already growing
West Hartford has school gardens at or in the works at six of its
elementary schools. “Each school
does what works for them,” Stein
and Kamin explained of how and
when the gardens are being utilized.
At Duﬀy, teachers are collaborating
with Growing Great Schools to develop lessons around the school garden including art and music.
Duﬀy teachers have been enthusiastic in the process and have
ideas to develop speciﬁc units that
align with what the kids are already
learning, they said.
Another obstacle for Connecticut is working around the prime
growing season, which is during
summer break.
Alice Gold is a master gardener
and volunteer for the garden club
program at Capital Preparatory
Magnet School in Hartford where
school gardens are being used to
A display during an event earlier this year, promoting efforts to build a garden at Hall High.
promote awareness of what students are eating, how it aﬀects their
bodies, communities, economy and
more.
Because funding presents another barrier, Capital Prep has
sought donations for seeds, gardening tools and other materials to
keep the lessons going through the
growing season as they meet yearround and have break for just the
month of June. Gold said they have
arranged for junior master gardeners to tend to the garden during that
month as part of their internship.
e Farmington Valley YMCA
has year-round programs and, with
ﬁve school gardens in the works including two in Granby and one in
Canton, it is arranging for youth and
team leaders from the Y to oversee
the care for those in the summer.
“ey would take [the harvested produce] to the farmers market,” nutrition for the Farmington
Valley YMCA, Alicia Newton said.
All of the planned gardens except
for one will be for after-school
YMCA programs to promote
healthy living.
“Even just getting the kids into
the garden and seeing the process of
how their food grows makes them
more likely to eat whatever’s in the
lunch room,” Newton said, pointing
out that, recently, new nutrition
standards have brought healthier
foods into public schools, but kids
are a little reluctant to try the fare.
In West Hartford, Growing
Great Schools has started a salad
bar once a week at some of the
schools and, ideally, the group
would like to have lettuce grown
from the school gardens brought in
for the salad bar.
West Hartford Scout troops
have organized to tend to the gardens for the summer growing season. Another way the schools are not
letting the summer season stop the
gardens is to plant squash and corn
so come fall, they can harvest it.
Hall High school is currently
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The West
Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
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working to build a garden at its
school, and Whiting Lane is building a greenhouse for a living classroom initiative. Nearby, at the 4H
Auer Farm in Bloomﬁeld, a four-season greenhouse is being built. Auer
Farm is a statewide farm, which is
available to any school and to
adults.
Funding the gardens
Financing can be diﬃcult, and
Bailey said as unfunded mandates
come from the state level, new programs like the school gardens get
put on the backburner, but that
there are grants available to cover
start-up costs for tools and materials.
“e Connecticut Master Gardeners Association oﬀers grants to
master gardener projects,” she said,
noting grants are also available
through the United States Department of Agriculture, Whole Foods
and others. “is is a growing interest.”
Growing Great Schools has
funded the initiative across the elementary schools through fundraising events, donations and food
tasting nights at the cafeterias. One
way Duﬀy has used existing supplies is through composting fruit
and veggie scraps, “which completes the cycle,” Kamin said,
adding another learning feature to
the process.
Gold said one of the next steps
is to survey the whole state to see
how many schools actually have
school garden programs and how
they are running.
“It’s all about learning what
works and what hasn’t worked,” she
said. “If you get enough people that
are doing it, it raises the consciousness of everyone and people say,
‘is is what we should be doing.’”
e Edible Schoolyard Project,
Newton mentioned, is one resource
to see what other schools around
the world are doing in the realm of
bringing kids outside and into a
garden. For more information visit
edibleschoolyard.org.
PRESSA&E
West Hartford’s
Cookin’ this
weekend
University of Hartford’s
WWUH presents Dervish
e best Irish traditional band touring today will return to the
University of Hartford, 200 Bloomﬁeld Ave., Saturday, March 23 from
7:30-9:30 p.m. in Lincoln eater. Dervish made its American debut
here June 6, 1996. Since then, it has gained world renown, performing
for crowds as large as 100,000+ (Carnival, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, 2006).
e band will have a new studio album ready to promote during its
March 2013 tour of the USA.
Courtesy photo
Mandell JCC presents
City of Gold, works by Dara Alter
e Mandell JCC presents
City of Gold, works by Dara Alter,
in the Chase Family Gallery at
the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus,
335 Bloomﬁeld Ave. e free exhibit runs Sunday, March 24-Friday, April 26.
Alter lives
thousands of miles from the
place she thinks of as home, Israel. She produces aerial landscapes, examining the North
American Jewish nostalgia for an
idealized Israel. City of Gold examines place, identity and belonging through aerial landscape
‘We Have a Pope’
ﬁlm showing
e West Hartford Public Library will be showing the ﬁlm “We
Have a Pope” Sunday, March 24, at
2 p.m.
e ﬁlm, by Nanni Moretti,
tells the story of a cardinal who
suddenly ﬁnds himself elected
Pope and isn’t sure he is ready for
the job. e ﬁlm uses comedy to
explore a serious subject, and it focuses on the human element of
the papacy. “We Have a Pope” was
an oﬃcial selection at both the
Cannes Film Festival and the
Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. More information
about the ﬁlm is available at
www.ifcﬁlms.com/ﬁlms/we-havea-pope. e movie is in Italian with
English subtitles and the running
time is 105 minutes. is event is
free, seating is ﬁrst-come. Doors
will open at 1:45 p.m. For more information call 860-561-6993.
painting. Shifted points of perspective and the juxtaposition of
abstraction and representation
foster a feeling of separation or
alienation from the land. It is a visual experience that mirrors
what all people who have loved a
place and then left it feel. e exhibit is free and open to the community. For more information,
contact Jill Ziplow, 860-231-6331,
jziplow@mandelljcc.org,
the
Mandell JCC’s Member Services
Center at 860-236-4571, or visit
www.mandelljcc.org.
e 11th annual West
Hartford’s Cookin’ fundraiser
for the Foundation for West
Hartford Public Schools will be
held Saturday, March 23 from
6:30-9 p.m. in the West Hartford Town Hall auditorium.
e event will celebrate the
Foundation’s success in providing over $1 million invested in
unique educational opportunities in all 16 West Hartford
public schools from preschool
through high school.
Over 30 education, business and civic leaders will be
“celebrity chefs” for the evening,
including West Hartford Mayor
Scott Slifka, Deputy Mayor
Shari Cantor and WHPS Superintendent Karen List.
is year’s honorary chair
is William Kovel, chef/owner of
Catalyst Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass. Kovel and his
team have earned rave reviews
including a coveted 3 star review from e Boston Globe as
well as being named e People’s Best New Chef New England by FOOD & WINE
magazine in March 2012.
Chef Kovel is a native of
West Hartford and a graduate
of the West Hartford public
school system. Tom Moore, assistant superintendent of
WHPS, will serve as master of
ceremonies.
Contact the Foundation
oﬃce at 860-561-8755 for more
information or to order tickets.
Easter Sunday
at La Trattoria
Brunch 11:00-3:00
Dinner 12:00-8:00
Join us!
The Universalist Players celebrates its 30th anniversary season with
the production of the musical “Stone Soup.”
Courtesy photo
e Universalist Players celebrates
30th anniversary with ‘Stone Soup’
e Universalist Players celebrates its 30th anniversary season with the production of the
musical “Stone Soup” for its annual intergenerational production March 22-24 at the church,
433 Fern St.
e musical – based on the
classic folk story – will be performed by student and adult actors, whose ages range from 10 to
70 years old, with connections to
the Universalist Church of West
Hartford.
e blend of ages – along
with the mix of drama, live music
and memorable songs – add to
the magic that makes for another
family-friendly
production.
“Stone Soup” is the story of three
traveling soldiers and their multitalented horse – carrying nothing more than an empty cooking
pot – which come upon a village
of very “unneighborly” residents.
With the help of a magical stone,
these hungry strangers teach the
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local townsfolk a valuable lesson
of cooperation. e cast features
Sam Lanza, Nikhil Saxena and
Katie Konigsberg as the traveling
soldiers, Mish, Mash and Mush.
e entire intergenerational
cast includes more than 20 actors who embody the storyteller,
the “unneighborly” townsfolk
(the butcher, baker and candlestick maker families) and, of
course, the horse. Susan Jane
Stamm directs the production,
and the book and lyrics are written by Anne Glasner, with music
by Betty Hollinger.
Performances are Friday,
March 22 at 7 p.m., Saturday and
Sunday, March 23 and 24 at 1:30
p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults
and $6 for students, and audience members are encouraged to
bring a can of soup to donate to
the West Hartford Food Pantry.
Tickets are available at the door
or by calling 860-233-3669, ext.
309 for reservations.
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March 21, 2013
The West
Hartford Press
5
PRESSKIDS
Accomplished author speaks at NWC
as part of Black History Month education
Northwest Catholic High
School welcomed Dr. Mark Naison Feb. 25 for a special multimedia Black History Month
presentation. Naison, a professor
of history and African American
studies at Fordham University,
used music and videos to educate students on hip hop music’s
original purpose and its multicultural origins in the poor and
forgotten neighborhoods of the
Bronx in the 1970s.
“It is important to recognize
where hip hop came from,” he
said. “While it was created in
hardship, in areas of segregation
and poverty, it was shared in joy
with everyone. e young people
who created it reached out to the
broadest audience, crossing
racial, cultural, ethnic, economical and even national lines.”
e presentation struck a
chord with students, encouraging them to participate in the
demonstration. Several students
showed oﬀ their dance moves,
while another beat boxed to Naison’s rapping. Other students
clapped and cheered from their
seats.
Naison is the author of four
books and over 100 articles on
African American politics, social
movements and American culture and sports, and is the principal investigator of the Bronx
African American History Project, one of the largest community-based oral history projects
in the nation. During the last ﬁve
years, he has presented historical "raps" in Bronx schools under
the nickname of "Notorious
PhD."
Northwest Catholic junior Barre Mohamood shows off his beat boxing
skills as he accompanies Dr. Mark Naison during a Black History Month
hip hop presentation.
Courtesy photo
Bugbee Yellow Jackets are pictured last October presenting their team second place trophy from the Annual
UConn K-8 Scholastic Tournament to Bugbee Principal Noam Sturm. From left to right are: Ethan Striff-Cave,
grade 2; Teddy Braiewa, grade 1; Samuel Lumelsky, grade 2; and Sean Dyson, grade 4.
Courtesy photo
Bugbee Yellow Jackets best elementary
chess team in the state
By Jennifer Senofonte
Staﬀ Writer
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e Bugbee Yellow Jackets
have been named the number one
elementary school chess team in
the state after winning ﬁrst place at
the Scholastic State Championship.
e state competition is held
annually in New Haven at Hopkins
School and is sponsored by the
Connecticut Chess Association.
is year was the Bugbee Yellow Jackets’ ﬁrst time at the competition and they outperformed
their opponents in the elementary
school division.
e team of Sean Dyson,
Tobey Siegel, Sam Aronow, Samuel
Lumelsky, Connor Farquhar, Ethan
Striﬀ-Cave, eodore Braiewa and
Jake Lumelsky scored 12.5 out of 20
possible team points to take ﬁrst
place overall in the K-6 section of
the event, which lasted over 10
hours.
“[Playing chess] adds a degree
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Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
of maturity with the elementary
kids,” parent and coach Alex Lumelsky said.
He started the chess club and
team at Bugbee Elementary School
last April and said he has a group of
dedicated youngsters who meet
once a week to improve their game.
ere are about 20 students who
participate in the club and, of those,
eight are team members who compete.
“You can see a diﬀerence between what they were like before
chess and what they are like now,”
he added, explaining that the game
of chess hones life skills for the elementary kids like logic, self-conﬁdence, decision making and tactical
thinking.
e Bugbee Yellow Jackets
have competed in seven competitions since they started last year
and have always scored ﬁrst or second place.
At the Scholastic State Championship, which was held March 9,
the team brought home the ﬁrst
place trophy and also had an individual second place winner, Jake
Lumelsky.
A Bugbee kindergartner, Jake
scored 2.5 out of 5 against mixed
opposition of ﬁrst graders and
kindergartners, thereby becoming
the second best kindergarten player
in the state, Alex Lumelsky, who is
his father, said.
“ey are dedicated kids who
like to win,” he said.
Lumelsky cited a research
study done by the Fairﬁeld County
Chess Club that proves the beneﬁts
of chess for children like using
chess as a classroom tool for a stimulating and rewarding activity that
teaches discipline, concentration,
planning and other skills. e game
also brings basic principles into
play like memory, pattern recognition and reasoning, and enhances
reading skills, according to the research.
“Chess creates a pattern or
thinking system that, when used
faithfully, breeds success. e
chess-playing students had become
accustomed to looking for more
and diﬀerent alternatives, which resulted in higher scores in ﬂuency
and originality,” as stated in the research summary, which was derived from a study that tested over
400 elementary students.
“You can see a diﬀerence between what they were
like before chess and what they are like now,”
Lumelsky added, explaining that the game of
chess hones life skills for the elementary kids like
logic, self-conﬁdence, decision making
and tactical thinking.
-Parent volunteer coach Alex Lumelsky
‘Care beyond self:’
Students challenge one another in food drive
In the days following a Martin
Luther King Jr. Day assembly about
economic injustice, students at
Kingswood Oxford School were
haunted by the information and
images that were shared – especially about the prevalence of
hunger among children just blocks
away in Hartford.
So, 18 of these students – two
separate “advisee groups” – decided to do something about it.
Advisee groups are clusters of 8-10
KO students who meet for a short
time during each school day with
an adult adviser; they are almost
like little families within the larger
student body. e adviser, a KO
faculty member, helps the students
with the full range of intellectual,
physical and emotional challenges
of teenage life, including homework, stress, time management
and social issues.
e students in Nancy
Solomon’s advisee group started a
food drive in response to the MLK
Day Assembly and challenged another advisee group, led by history
teacher David Baker ’04, to see
who could bring in more contributions.
By the end, no one seemed to
notice who won, because the real
winner was the West Hartford
Food Pantry, which received 160
food items.
“David and I feel that it's important to keep the KO mission
and core values in the forefront
with our advisees, and we try every
day to live up to those tenets,” said
Solomon, the KO librarian. “Our
food drive challenge demonstrated
our commitment to ‘care beyond
self,’ one of KO’s core values, and
we're both very proud of these 18
students.”
Pictured right: Two Kingswood Oxford advisee groups collected 160
items for the West Hartford Food
Pantry in response to a Martin
Luther King Jr. Day assembly
about economic injustice.
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Panera launches
‘Cookies for Kids’
campaign
e 14 Panera Bread/HBG bakery-cafes in Connecticut announced
last week that they will be conducting a “Cookies for Kids!” campaign
through Easter Sunday, March 31
through which 10 percent of the
sales from every freshly baked
Easter cookie sold will go directly to
local charity, Channel 3 Kids Camp
in Andover.
e egg-shaped shortbread
cookies are decorated with yellow
icing and topped with milk chocolate candies. All the participating
Panera Bread bakery-cafes, including West Hartford, are owned by one
of Panera’s top franchises, the Howley Bread Group, LTD of Cumberland, R.I.
Since 1910, Channel 3 Kids
Camp has oﬀered children ages 6-16
an accessible, inclusive and aﬀordable overnight and day camping experience. For more information, visit
www.channel3kidscamp.org,
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or adv
advances
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credit
edit is paid off and closed during the first
36 months,
months, an early ttermination
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condominiums, and 2nd/v
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deductible. CCheck
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March 21, 2013
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Hartford Press
7
Nutmeg State Orchid Society presents
‘Come See Our
Bloomers!’
Photos by Abigail Albair
Jamie Bellenoit
PhD, LMFT, LLC
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8
The West
Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
e Nutmeg State Orchid Society held its fourth “Come See Our
Bloomers!” show and sale last
weekend in the West Hartford
Town Hall auditorium. e show
was judged by the American Orchid Society. e show chairperson was Diane Dean. e show
committee is pictured above.
Members include: Society President Jeanne McDermott, Tom McDermott, Alan Stauch, Jeannie
Falco, Troy Jordan, Russ Muller,
Julie Haverl, Ginna Plude, Walter
Doer, Harriett Doer, Darcy Peterson, Sue Lofgren and Jim
Lebandowski. e Nutmeg State
Orchid Society was awarded best
display. Best in Show went to Belle
Ribicoﬀ of the Nutmeg State Orchid Society for her dendrobium
“Adera Nighi.” e award for best
hobbyist-grown went to Susanne
Parsons of the Ocean State Orchid
Society for her cymbidium “Sleeping Angel.” For more photos and
for photos in full color, ﬁnd e
West Hartford Press on Facebook.
USJ appoints
director of Teaching
and Learning Center
omas McManus, Ph.D. has
been appointed as the inaugural
director of the Teaching and
Learning Center at the University
of Saint Joseph.
A Texas native, he has recently relocated to Connecticut
and is a resident of Farmington.
In his new role, McManus will
provide strategic vision and leadership to support faculty development,
enrich
pedagogical
practices and student learning
outcomes. His responsibilities will
encompass new faculty orientation; the eﬀective use of technology by faculty in all educational
settings; assisting faculty in adapting teaching strategies for diverse
learners; and supporting the development of professional and
scholarly pursuits within the faculty.
“McManus brings a wealth of
faculty development, administrative and teaching experience along
with an impressive record of
scholarship to the University of
Saint Joseph,” said USJ Provost
Michelle M. Kalis, Ph.D.
Prior to joining USJ, McManus served as associate professor and director of educational
methodology and technology at
the U.S. Army War College in
Carlisle, Pa. He was previously an
associate professor and department chair of educational leadership at Saginaw Valley State
University (University Center,
Mich.).
McManus was recognized as
a Fulbright Scholar in 2001, serving as a lecturer/researcher at the
University of Oulu in Finland. In
2004, McManus was a visiting professor at the University of Shikoku
in Japan where he taught English
and American culture.
His background also includes
private sector expertise in ﬁlm and
video production for clients such
as IBM, Dell and PBS.
McManus earned his Ph.D.
in instructional technology from
the University of Texas at Austin.
Additionally, he holds an M.Ed.
in curriculum and instruction
and a B.S. in radio-television-film
from the University of Texas at
Austin.
e Teaching and Learning
Center at USJ is partially supported by a grant awarded from
the Davis Educational Foundation
established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’ retirement as chairman of Shaw’s
Supermarkets, Inc.
We’ve formed a
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We’re bringing together five of the area’s top physician groups—
Hartford Medical Group, Hartford Specialists, Doctors of Central
Connecticut, MidState Medical Group and Windham Family Medical
Services—in a new, multi-specialty practice: Hartford HealthCare
Medical Group. Connecting our practices provides easier access to a
broad range of primary and specialty care; and connecting our records
helps to ensure that care is well coordinated. With more than 225
physicians, surgeons and advanced practitioners, 60 locations and
more than 30 specialties, we’re confident our new family can better
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HartfordHealthCareMedicalGroup.org
March 21, 2013
The West
Hartford Press
9
Hoﬀman SummerWood
celebrates Dr. Seuss
Children from the Beatrice
Fox Auerbach Early Childhood
Center, Lollipop Tree Nursery
School, Solomon Schechter Day
School and Noah’s Ark Preschool
attended a Dr. Seuss 109th birthday celebration at Hoﬀman SummerWood Community on March
3. e children donned red and
white “Cat in the Hat” hats as they
enjoyed some Dr. Seuss stories
read by SummerWood residents
Silvia Pasternak and Kayleen
Goldstein.
After cupcakes and popcorn,
the children and their families
viewed the movie “e Lorax.” A
large number of new and gently
used books were collected to be
donated to e Connecticut
Children’s Medical Center in
Hartford.
For more information, call
860-523-3808 or visit www.hoﬀmansummerwood.org.
Pictured left: Gennifer Delay
Pasternak and her daughter
Hayden
Grace Nelson '14 of Manchester as Maria; on Maria's left, Sophie Brown '19 of West Hartford; on Maria's right,
Idalis Garcia '16 of Windsor. Far left, Isabel Fitzsimmons '18 of Hartford; middle left, Elena Wallace '18 of Bloomfeld; top left Zacary Hodkin '17 of Simsbury. Top right, Strother Cech '17 of West Hartford, and bottom far right,
Sophia Volpe '16 of West Hartford
Courtesy photo
Local residents participate in ‘e Sound of Music’
Watkinson School recently
presented “e Sound of Music,”
written and originally directed by
Rodgers & Hammerstein II and a
favorite among generations.
e ensemble of 35 actors in
grades 6-12 played multiple roles
with demanding vocals.
Watkinson's production was
directed by Angela Boratko and
under the musical direction of
Luke Nelson. Members of the Creative Arts Program, Cyrus Duﬀ, '14,
and Katherine Adomeit, '14, both
of West Hartford, provided the
musical score along with Nelson.
Isabel Volpe, '13, played Sister
Berthe, while Kate Needle, '13,
played Frau Schmidt and Hayley
Madigan, '16, was a Nonnberg
Abbey nun and Ursula. e role of
Liesl Von Trapp was played by
Sophia Volpe, '16. Sophie Brown,
'19, performed as Gretel Von Trapp,
Strother Cech, '17, played Friedrich
Von Trapp, along with Jessie
Feingold, '15, who played Rolf.
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The
West Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
Twelve seniors inducted into Kingswood Oxford Honor Society
In a ceremony Tuesday
evening, Feb. 26, a dozen outstanding seniors were inducted into the
Cum Laude Society at Kingswood
Oxford School.
e Cum Laude Society is a na-
tional honor society for independent schools. To qualify, students
must be in the top 20 percent of
their class by the end of the ﬁrst semester of senior year and must have
demonstrated good citizenship.
"We are so pleased to honor
these students who are committed
to doing an outstanding job in all
their classes, in addition to the many
other activities that make their lives
so full,” said Ann Serow, Ph.D., the
chair of KO’s history department
and the president of KO’s Cum
Laude Society.
e newest members of KO’s
chapter of the Cum Laude Society
include West Hartford residents
Lauren Goldman, daughter of Julie
and Ethan; Brooke Goldsmith,
daughter of Laurie and Bruce Goldsmith; and Caley Henderson, daughter of Michael and Ann Walsh
Henderson.
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March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
11
PRESSBUSINESS
People on
the move
Relay For Life of West
Hartford co-chair
wins national award
American Cancer Society Relay
For Life of West Hartford co- chair
Stephanie Sokolowski is a recipient
of the 2013 Sandra C. Labaree New
England Volunteer Values Award.
Sokolowski’s passion and values live
on through this award to support
communities in their ﬁght against
cancer. She is one of 45 volunteers
from throughout New England to
receive the award.
After just a few short years as a
volunteer-at-large,
Sokolowski
started her own team, became an
active committee member, leading
to her being the obvious choice for
co-chair of the Relay For Life of West
Hartford Committee. Her enthusiastic dedication and ability to show
appreciation initiated relationships
with e Home Depot, TD Bank
North, the Knights of Columbus, A
Little Something Bakery and many
other local businesses. West Hartford Relay For Life will take place on
June 1 and 2 at Northwest Catholic
High School. Last year, over 500 people participated in the event, which
raised more than $140,000 for research, education and patient services.
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OF CANTON
New weight loss clinic helps
patients lose pounds
By Alison Jalbert
Editorial Assistant
A new West Hartford business
seeks to help residents lose weight
in a medically supervised way.
Pounds Medical Weight Loss,
located at 125 LaSalle Road, has
been open since the beginning of
the year. Owner Michelle Cavo explained that Pounds is a medically
supervised weight loss program.
is means they take into account
that obesity is a disease and that it
is usually a metabolic dysfunction
that prevents people from losing
weight.
Not all Pounds patients are
classiﬁed as obese. Anyone age 12
and up who wants to lose 10 or
more pounds can be a Pounds patient. Cavo said that new patients
are given a full physical and health
evaluation before starting the program.
“Pounds is special because the
FDA has now approved a few new
By Alison Jalbert
Editorial Assistant
Parents and caregivers in West
Hartford and the Farmington Valley looking for all things kid-friendly
can now ﬁnd that in one place: Hu-
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Professionally Managed
12
The
West Hartford Press
Pounds Medical Weight Loss is located at 125 LaSalle Road in suite 208.
The building is located across from Max Burger.
Photo by Abigail Albair
there is not a lot of thinking, counting or points to keep track of.”
Patients are required to come
in for a weekly visit to monitor their
progress and make any necessary
adjustments. e weekly visits provide accountability, Cavo said.
Maintenance is also a major part of
Pounds’ program, with clients coming back every year to weigh in.
Cavo, a West Hartford resident, is a physician’s assistant who
worked in primary care for 12 years.
She said she got frustrated with
hearing overweight patients say, “I
know there’s something wrong with
my blood,” as they struggled to lose
weight. She became certiﬁed
through the American Society of
Bariatric Physicians and decided to
“jump and open up a place to help
people.”
“Weight loss is so overwhelming,” she said. “We simplify the
process. We focus on education so
you have everything you need to be
successful.”
Pounds is located at 125 LaSalle
Road. For more information, e-mail
pounds@poundsmwlt.com, call 860906-1289, or visit www.poundsmedicalweightloss.com.
Parents launch local online community guide in national network
Active Adults 55+
The Village at Yorkshire
medications that assist in weight
loss. We prescribe them,” Cavo said.
“We use medically supervised dietary products to help us with aggressive weight loss.”
Patients can expect to lose
about three to ﬁve pounds a week,
which Cavo said is like surgical results without an invasive surgery.
Nutritional counseling begins at the
start of the program, but exercise is
not added until about three to four
weeks in. “[e program] is 90 percent diet, 10 percent exercise,” Cavo
said.
Along with the nutritional
counseling, Pounds also oﬀers its
patients tips on behavioral modiﬁcation and ways to maintain the
weight loss. Pounds oﬀers a complete menu of grocery store foods.
It oﬀers over 90 products from
three diﬀerent companies.
Cavo said that every person
who comes in gets an individualized program. “We’re not a franchise. … is is an easy program;
Financed by CHFA,DECD
March 21, 2013
lafrog.com.
Hulafrog is a national network
of local community guides for parents that oﬀers a daily look at the
best activities, destinations, deals
and other family resources. Both a
Farmington Valley guide, published
by Debbie Szczepanski, and a West
Hartford guide, published by Annie
Steckroth, are now available for
area parents.
According to a press release,
Hulafrog was launched in 2010 by
two entrepreneur mothers in the
New York City area who were looking for a better way to keep track of
all there was for kids to do in their
community. Since then, local Hulafrog sites have developed across
the country. Each site is run by a
mother, who is the site’s publisher,
as a part-time business that covers
about a dozen towns within a 15mile radius.
Steckroth said Hulafrog sites
list child-friendly events, activities
and restaurants, as well as a list of
pediatricians and pediatric dentists. “is is not just an activity
site,” she said. Szczepanski explained that each Hulafrog site has
a directory component and a calendar component. Along with
events in area towns, the Hulafrog
sites highlight signiﬁcant events
happening outside the 20-mile radius, such as a kid-friendly show at
the Oakdale eatre in Wallingford
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or the XL Center in Hartford.
Both parents and businesses
can create Hulafrog proﬁles. Parents can rate events they’ve been to
and businesses they’ve patronized.
ey can also share their experiences with local preschools or doctors. ey can also save a business
as a ‘favorite’ and get notiﬁcations
on new events and oﬀers from their
favorites. Businesses can update
their proﬁle, add events and post
updates. “It’s helpful to businesses
in that they don’t have to pay to be
on it,” Steckroth said.
Both Szczepanski and Steckroth are parents, so they see the
value in Hulafrog sites, as they centralize all the important information. Szczepanski said when her
oldest child was born, she remembers “scouring the Internet” for
things to do. “ere are so many
great local businesses to go to, but I
had to piece things together from
diﬀerent websites to make our day
complete,” she said.
Steckroth started using Hulafrog with one of its New Jersey
sites, which is where she lived in between her husband’s naval stations.
She would wake up and go into Hulafrog to see what she and her kids
were going to do for the day.
“Hulafrog centralizes everything in one place,” she said. “We
probably have about 15-20 events a
day.”
For the Farmington Valley Hulafrog page, visit farmingtonvalley.hulafrog.com. For the West
Hartford Hulafrog page, visit westhartford.hulafrog.com.
PRESSNews
Van Winkle
gives budget
proposal
Spending increase the
lowest in 21 years
By Abigail Albair
Editor
Town Manager Ron Van Winkle presented his sixth budget in
his position with the town of West
Hartford – one that reﬂects the
lowest spending increase in more
than two decades – to the Town
Council last week.
“I’m personally very proud of
the work we’ve done together over
the past ﬁve years and you should
be, too,” he told the Council on
Tuesday, March 12, noting the economic recession the country has
endured over that time.
“If ﬁnancial market storms
weren’t enough, Mother Nature had
several surprises for us,” he added,
referencing both Hurricane Irene in
2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012
as well as the freak October snowstorm in 2011 and the most recent
blizzard just over a month ago.
“We have persevered and
managed our way through these
trying times,” he said, adding that
union negotiations on the board
side resulted in changes that will
beneﬁt the budget and he anticipates the same will be true on the
town side. “We’ve run surpluses in
the budget over the years – not
deﬁcits – and we expect and will
have surplus this coming year.”
e ﬁscal year 2013-14 budget
he proposed totals $241,554,357
and reﬂects a 1.58 percent increase, the lowest increase in 21
years.
e new mill rate would be
See BUDGET on page 15
Lambing season on the farm
Westmoor Park welcomed two new additions earlier this month when Daphne, a ewe, gave birth to Tenley and Katie, both female lambs. They
are currently being kept inside, but "as the weather warms and they gain strength, they will be out and about in the farmyard," a post on the
park's website reads. The park is a self-funded environmental education center located on Flagg Road. Farm Day will be held at Westmoor
Park Saturday, May 18.
Courtesy photo
Oldest Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the area turns 125
By Alison Jalbert
Editorial Assistant
A common Jewish blessing is
to wish another person to live
until 120. Congregation Agudas
Achim in West Hartford will be
celebrating its 125th anniversary
this year.
“Celebrating 125 years is like
taking a glimpse beyond someone’s life,” Rabbi Ari Weiss said.
Agudas Achim, located at
1244 North Main St., opened Oct.
4, 1887, according to synagogue
President Gary Sigal. It originated
in Hartford, where it was in three
separate locations before moving
to the North Main Street building
44 years ago.
Over the synagogue’s 125
years, 10 rabbis have provided
leadership to the congregation.
e synagogue’s ﬁrst rabbi, Isaac
Hurewitz, served for 42 years,
from 1893 to 1935. e second
longest-serving rabbi was Abraham AvRutick, who held the position for 36 years from 1946 to
1982.
Weiss, who has served as
rabbi for four years, said Agudas
Achim has always been blessed
with outstanding leadership.
“ere has been something
spectacular about the various
spiritual leadership over the years;
the lay leadership as well. e
board has always been very committed and devoted,” he said.
Agudas Achim is the oldest
orthodox Jewish synagogue in the
Hartford area, Weiss said. “As a
newcomer, I’m always struck by
the history that this synagogue really has within the Jewish
See SYNAGOGUE on page 15
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March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
13
CIP proposal includes school security
improvements, repairs to roads and bridges
By Abigail Albair
Editor
More than 250 people attend 2013
Greater Hartford MS Taste of Hope
National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter, President Lisa Gerrol (left)
poses with Peter Wade, M.D., and his wife, Joyce, while at the 2013
Greater Hartford MS Taste of Hope, held March 13 at The Society
Room in Hartford. More than 250 people attended, helping to raise
almost $17,000 to benefit people in Connecticut battling the potentially debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. Gerrol lives in West
Harford. Peter Wade, who is medical director of neurology at The
Mandell Center for Comprehensive MS Care, and his wife reside in
Farmington. For more information on multiple sclerosis and the
many ways the National MS Society assists people living with MS,
visit www.ctfightsMS.org.
Courtesy photo
As part of the proposed 201314 ﬁscal year budget, $72,350,000 in
capital improvement project funding is proposed for the years 2014
and 2015.
Of the total project amount
proposed, $40,334,000, or 56 percent, is to be funded through bonds,
$2,068,000, or 3 percent, is to be
funded through the Capital and
NonRecurring Expenditure Fund,
and $29,948,000, or 41 percent, is to
be funded through grants according to the budget proposal.
“e Capital Improvement
Program for ﬁscal years 2014 and
2015 continues the long-term commitment to the maintenance of
public schools, roads, storm sewers,
parks and other public infrastructure,” the proposed budget document reads. “In addition, it
addresses several new projects
such as school security improvements ($250,000), a new ﬁnancial
management system ($1 million),
and repairs to the North Main
Street ($400,000) and Still Road
bridges ($250,000).”
Transportation and circulation
projects account for $9,248,000 of
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the plan over the two years, parks
and recreation accounts for
$2,184,000, town building improvements accounts for $2,930,000 and
other miscellaneous improvements
account for $5,093,000.
Education accounts for the
largest portion totaling $52,895,000,
but $45 million of that amount is a
placeholder for the Charter Oak
School project. After state funding,
it is anticipated that the local cost
will be $16,650,000, oﬃcials have
said.
Included under transportation
and circulation, in addition to street
resurfacing and arterial and neighborhood street reconstruction
among other things, traﬃc system
management accounts for $366,000
of the cost in year one.
In the past six years, 43 of the
town’s traﬃc signals were replaced,
according to the proposal. ree of
the remaining 17 need to be replaced, and the goal is to replace
one every other year beginning
with the signal at the intersection
of King Philip Drive and Mohawk
Drive for $200,000.
Also included is a proposed increase of $100,000 for relamping in
the downtown area of Farmington
Avenue, LaSalle Road and South
Main Street to inprove energy eﬃciency via LED lighting.
Asbestos removal, heating and
ventilation system upgrades, school
building improvements, athletic
ﬁeld improvements, and stage and
auditorium renovations are all included as education capital projects.
Additionally, a partial roof replacement will be done at Conard
High School and masonry repairs
will be done at Sedgwick Middle
School in 2014. In 2015, a partial
roof replacement will be done at
King Philip Middle School, and masonry repair will be done at Sedgwick and Hall High School.
School security improvements
will include card access entry systems, exterior lock changes, installation of a “panic button” and
automatic buildingwide notiﬁcation systems at all schools. Exterior
camera systems at secondary
schools will also be upgraded to
provide for secure Internet access
to video by administrative and public safety personnel.
In Parks and Recreation, improvements and renovations will
be made to Cornerstone Pool, and
repairs will be made to outdoor
pools and playscapes, among other
things.
Also included in the capital
improvement plan are the purchase
of a new pumper/ladder truck for
the ﬁre department in year one and
a quint, and a combination ladder
truck and pumper truck, in year
two.
“e town’s capital program
has always to a large extent been a
ﬁnancially driven program that
carefully considers the community
ability to pay along with the assessment of our capital needs,” the proposal reads.
“is recommended program
reﬂects the reconsideration of the
community’s ability to pay within
the content of the current economic conditions.”
e Town Council will adopt
the Capital Improvement Plan separately when it adopts the ﬁscal
year 2013-2014 budget in April.
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The
West Hartford Press
March 21, 2013
BUDGET
from page 13
36.35, an increase of .06 of a mill or
1.68 percent from the current ﬁscal
year.
While Van Winkle said, “In the
past, the mill rate didn’t reﬂect necessarily the increase in taxes an individual might pay,” the 1.68 percent
will be the actual tax increase.
Van Winkle said the budget is
driven primarily by the school
budget that also reﬂects a minimal
increase: .93 percent, the lowest in
at least 30 years, and totals $140.06
million.
e town side of the budget totals $87,512,545, an increase of 3.13
percent, while the capital budget
totals $13,985,913, a decrease of 1.31
percent.
Van Winkle touched on the
pension plan, the market value of
which has declined since the beginning of the century to just under
$150 million.
e normal cost of the pension
plan has declined since 1998 from
12 to 6 percent, reﬂecting progress,
Van Winkle said.
“We have a plan to return the
pension fund to health, although
we recognize it is in a precarious
position,” he said, explaining that
last year the town updated
longevity tables, reduced the longterm expected investment returns,
fully funded the [Annual Required
Contribution] and negotiated employee beneﬁt changes.
e capital budget is driven by
the proposed investment in a new
Charter Oak school building that
would carry a local cost of $16.65
million after state reimbursements
for the $45 million project.
Van Winkle referenced the
“avoided costs” that come with constructing a new building thereby
eliminating certain ongoing renovation costs as a beneﬁt. “From an
economic perspective, it makes this
somewhat of a no-brainer,” he said.
Of the total revenues in the
budget, 86.6 percent are taxes.
“Property taxes themselves are
the workhorse of our system,” Van
Winkle said. “We collect 99 percent
of the taxes [levied] and will continue to project this collection rate.”
Other revenues include $20.8
million in intergovernmental revenues, $4.79 million in charges for
services and $1.95 million in miscellaneous dollars.
e grand list has increased by
what Van Winkle called a “relatively
slow” .23 percent, or $13,564,933, to
a total of $5,893,896,106.
A problem for West Hartford
will be the fact that the grand list is
becoming dominated by the value
of realty, Van Winkle said.
“We used to tax manufacturers’
equipment ... at was taken away
last year and a reimbursement was
given to us, which the governor’s
budget this year takes away,” he said.
... “at which we tax is shrinking.”
He referenced the governor’s
currently proposed car tax elimination, which would eliminate the tax
on cars assessed below $20,000 and
would be mandatory by the summer of 2015 – a plan which is not
considered in the 2013-14 proposed
budget as it has not yet passed the
legislature.
He said that of the 47,090 vehicles on the 2012 grand list, 93 percent of cars registered were below
the $20,000 mark. e governor’s
plan would therefore reduce tax
collections by $14,978,000, which
could result in an increase of 2.77
mills on real estate and personal
property, an increase of 7.7 percent.
“We’re sort of stuck,” Van Winkle said regarding the need to rely
on realty. “If we can grow our grand
list, we can increase our tax base …
but we’re a fully [developed] town.
… Obviously, we’re never going to be
able to do a new Blue Back Square.”
Regarding the budget overall,
Van Winkle said, “I think we’ve really made some great progress. We
can’t turn this organization in a moment and we really have been able
to make some adjustments to our
budget to get us into a better place.”
Two public hearings will be
held on the budget: March 28 at 2
p.m. and April 11 at 6 p.m. e
budget is scheduled to be adopted
April 23.
“We have done well and we
should be proud of our ability to
withstand swings and arrows of
outrageous misfortune and bounce
back,” Van Winkle said. “I’m proud
to be your town manager.”
SYNAGOGUE
from page 13
community in Hartford.”
He said he ﬁnds it interesting
that just three years before the
synagogue opened, Mark Twain
was penning his classic novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
“He was living down the street.”
e history of Hartford and
its Jewish community can be
traced through the synagogue,
Weiss said. “All the things that
happened in Hartford went
through the synagogue. is is a
historic occasion and a historic
location.”
Agudas Achim marked the
historic occasion with a celebration Sunday, March 17. e
evening consisted of an address
by the congregation’s former spiritual leader, Rabbi Shlomo Yaﬀe,
and a keynote address by Rabbi
Avi Weiss of Riverdale, N.Y. Sigal
described Avi Weiss as being very
prominent in the Jewish community. “He has a diﬀerent perspective from some people.”
Rabbi Ari Weiss is Avi
Weiss’ nephew, but he said having his uncle speak at Agudas
Achim was a great honor. “He’s
a world-renowned speaker and
in very high demand. He’s
known for his activism, both
Jewish and on every front. He
used to rally when it was not
popular. … We’re proud to be
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“Most people don’t
make decisions looking
125 years in the future.
We’re very blessed to be
in this position.”
-Rabbi Ari Weiss
able to feature him at such an
event.”
Avi Weiss has been vocal on
many issues, Weiss explained. He
was an early leader of the Student
Struggle for Soviet Jewry in 1964,
working to free Russian Jews who
were not allowed to emigrate
during Soviet leadership.
“He protests wherever a
voice was needed,” Weiss said,
which relates to the mission of
Agudas Achim. e synagogue’s
byline is “warm and welcoming,”
and Weiss said that his uncle’s
idea and mission is deﬁned in the
synagogue. “Everything he does
reﬂects a lot in what we believe.
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We have signs in front of the synagogue for Darfur and Israel.
When nobody else was putting
up signs, we put up signs. We
thought there should be a voice.”
Both Sigal and Weiss are
proud of the synagogue’s anniversary. “We do a wonderful job and
make people’s lives better,” Sigal
said. “We hope to continue doing
this for years to come.”
Weiss thought that the anniversary reﬂects the idea of history and the history of a
community. “People sometimes
take it for granted that you can
trace [a community] back generations. ere are a lot of communities that can’t boast that. It’s a
testimony to our history.”
Weiss said he wondered if
the people who started the synagogue in 1887 ever thought that it
would last for 125 years. “Most
people don’t make decisions looking 125 years in the future. We’re
very blessed to be in this position.”
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March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
15
PRESSOPINION
EDITORIAL
West Hartford lost one of its
greatest supporters when Richard
Patrissi passed away on March 7.
During his 76-year lifetime, Patrissi
had ﬁve children and 10 grandchildren: but he will be missed by not
just family and friends, but an entire
community through which his presence resonated, even to those who
never knew him personally.
Patrissi lived in West Hartford all
his life. He graduated from Hall High
School where he served as class president in 1955. He owned Patrissi
Nursery for many years in town. He
was a member of the Chamber and
various committees and he led revitalization eﬀorts in the Park Road
area by, among other things, chairing
the Park Road Parade and organizing
and serving as vice president of the
Park Road Association.
Dubbed unoﬃcially the “Mayor
of Park Road,” Patrissi was loved by
many.
In 2008 he received a Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Park
Road Association for his dedication
to the neighborhood.
Mayor Scott Slifka said last week
before asking for a moment of silence to begin the Town Council
meeting on March 12 in Patrissi’s
memory, “We lost one of our own
and perhaps maybe the best guy any
of us had ever met.”
He spoke of how Patrissi served
the town regardless of party designation and how he inﬂuenced so
many celebrations of town pride.
Slifka called Patrissi an extraordinary man, West Hartford’s greatest
supporter and, arguably, most importantly, he called him a friend.
Even to those who never knew
him, or those who spoke with him
only brieﬂy in passing, the legacy he
left is already extremely evident in
the words of those who grieve for
him and the memories they share.
It is not the grief, but the joy that
the community must carry forward.
Do not take the celebrations that
this man poured his heart and soul
into for granted. It is clear that he
loved his hometown and believed in
all that was good in it.
He had pride as a business owner
and for the business owners, and
dedicated so much of his life to sharing his devotion to West Hartford
with others.
West Hartford lost one of its
greatest supporters. It is important
that the community keep his spirit
alive; that all remember him with
each Park Road Parade and every
day.
It is important that everyone
works to keep West Hartford the
place Richard Patrissi helped it to be.
16
The
West Hartford Press
West Hartford
Honor the
memory
of Richard
Patrissi
PRESS
540 Hopmeadow St.
Simsbury, CT 06070
Phone 860-651-4700
Fax 860-606-9599
www.WestHartfordPress.com
guest column
Mermaid for a day: my experience
swimming with dolphins
By Abigail Albair
Editor
Doesn’t every little girl at one time or another
imagine herself as a mermaid, swimming with the
dolphins?
Maybe not, but then I suppose my confession
of the day is that I did imagine myself as such.
As a young child, I fancied myself a future marine
biologist until I realized I was more of a Walt Whitman than a Jacques Cousteau. My grades in English
far surpassed those in any of the sciences, but I did
have an undying love for certain creatures of the sea.
For years I hung onto the dream of one day
swimming with the dolphins.
Given the fact that I cannot breathe under water
and thus stay submerged for long periods of time
while I ﬂip my nonexistent ﬁns, once I ﬁnally had the
chance at this swimming with ﬂipper experience, it
wasn’t quite the gliding underwater with one hand
gripping the dolphin’s dorsal ﬁn that I had pictured.
But it was magical.
To begin with, I had imagined that dolphins
would feel like rubber to the touch. eir dark, gray
skin seems as though it must be so sturdy, but in reality, dolphins feel more delicate that human adults.
As part of my swimming with the dolphins experience on Blue Lagoon Island in the Bahamas, one
of the two adult female dolphins my group swam
with passed in front of us as we ﬂoated in a line donning life jackets and allowed us to gently rub our hand
along ﬁrst its back and then it’s belly.
Its body was as soft as a baby’s and gave to slight
pressure as a down comforter or pillow does.
e dolphins were playful. Each time they accomplished a task their trainer commanded them to,
they jumped in the air – one reaching 25 feet in
height – and clicked and whistled at one another.
Each of the dolphins had a baby that swam in
the same cove as us, though as these young ones
were not fully trained, we were not permitted to interact with them. However, they would occasionally
almost tease us by swimming near us and brushing
against us.
On more than one occasion, one of the babies
– either feeling neglected or simply bored – used its
nose to toss a ball at the trainers who were working
with us and our adult dolphin partners. At one point,
the ball caught a trainer oﬀ guard and bounced oﬀ
March 21, 2013
her shoulder.
She laughed. “Not right now, we’re working,” she
said to the baby.
After we became acquainted with our dolphin
friends, we ﬁrst were able to hug them. Two at a time
we came forward and stretched out our arms toward
them. Suddenly, they dove down and then popped
out of the water, resting their heads on our shoulders.
As I wrapped my arms around my dolphin, I was
startled by its size as it ﬂoated vertically against me in
the water. It’s tail extended below my toes and I reveled for a moment in the full body hug.
Next, the dolphins retrieved a small ﬁsh from
their trainer and brought it to us. We were meant to
hold it up in the air and they would jump to take it
from us.
A bird dove at my husband and snatched the
ﬁsh from him, much to his dolphin partner’s dismay.
“Did he let your ﬁsh get stolen?” the trainer said
to the dolphin. “Tell him to get it together.”
e dolphin eagerly turned and began spitting
water at Mike and clicking at him.
We then had the chance to dance with the dolphins. As we tapped our hands on the water’s surface, they popped up and allowed as to grab their ﬁns
as they rapidly moved their tails, bopping back and
forth and occasionally doing a full spin.
e dolphins kissed us on the cheek and “giggled” at us and let us touch their teeth.
It was amazing, but nothing was as thrilling as
the grand ﬁnale.
Each one of us was sent out into the middle of
the cove where we ﬂoated on our stomach with our
arms stretched out in front of us and our feet behind
us, toes pointing toward the ocean ﬂoor.
Suddenly, both dolphins in perfect synchronization each placed their nose on the bottom of one of
my feet and began to push me forward.
For several yards I traveled this way, the top half
of my body curved up out of the water as the dolphins carried me away.
I wasn’t quite a mermaid, but I felt like King Triton in his chariot pulled by dolphins.
It was a feeling unlike anything I’ve ever had before.
e intelligence and emotion of the dolphins
that I experienced in a mere 45 minutes was overwhelming and incredible: something I hope I have the
chance to encounter again.
The West Hartford Press
is a publication of
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Delivering local news,
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and more to the
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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
If you laugh, you think, and you cry,
that's a full day. That's a heck of a
day. You do that seven days a week,
you're going to have something special.
Jim Valvano
PRESSSports
Matters
By Scott Gray
Left: Hall right-hander Jacob Kochen, in the foreground, and Aaron Jones were among the eight pitchers who threw off a mound inside
the school gymnasium March 12 during the weeklong conditioning period. Right: The baseball season doesn’t start until April 3, but Northwest Catholic pitcher Zach Niziolek had his game face on last week during a five-day conditioning stint.
Photos by David Heuschkel
It’s beginning to sound a lot like
baseball season
By David Heuschkel
Sports Editor
e sound of a splash signaled the oﬃcial end to the
winter sports season for the
West Hartford high schools as
swimmers and divers from
Conard, Hall and Northwest
Catholic competed in the state
championship meets last week.
is week, the crack of a
bat and the smacking sound of
a ball hitting a glove indicated
that the spring season is just
around the corner.
March 18 oﬃcially marked
the ﬁrst day baseball, softball
and other teams could begin
holding full-squad practices.
e CIAC, the statewide sanctioning body for high school
sports, allowed baseball teams
to work on conditioning and
other drills.
Pitchers and catchers at
Conard, Hall and Northwest
began throwing and receiving
inside the school gymnasiums
on March 11.
“To me, this is the most
important part of the year,”
Conard coach Ty Bongiovanni
said. “is is the only time we
get to focus solely on pitching.”
Conard had four indoor
mounds and Hall used three.
Northwest Catholic pitchers
threw on the ﬂat wooden ﬂoor.
“We do a lot of running, a
lot of conditioning and kind of
simulated bullpen [work],”
Northwest coach Cory Carlson
said. “It’s my 10th year doing it,
so we stick with the program
that works for us.”
e Indians have one of
the top pitchers in the CCC
West, Fairﬁeld-bound righthander Mac Crispino. Northwest Catholic also has one of
the biggest hurlers, 6-foot-6
John Arel. Connor Dunn, a
promising sophomore, rounds
out a strong rotation.
“We’ve got our whole
pitching staﬀ back,” Carlson
said. “We got some other guys
See BASEBALL on page 19
New lacrosse coach at NW Catholic is a pro
By David Heuschkel
Sports Editor
Peter Vlahakis has been
playing lacrosse since the third
grade. e Long Island native
played at a high level in high
school and college. He’s played
professionally for the past
decade and plans on resuming
his career this summer for a
team in Canada. Most recently,
he played indoor lacrosse for
the Boston Rockhoppers.
His resume also includes
coaching, both in high school
and college. So, Vlahakis had
strong credentials to become
the new head coach at Northwest Catholic. He was appointed to the position over
the winter. He succeeds Chris
Gallagher, who began the program 12 years ago.
When the coaching position was vacated following Gallagher’s departure last year,
Vlahakis, who had moved to
West Hartford in September
2011, decided to apply for it.
“I love the area,” Vlahakis
said.
But Vlahakis will be a familiar face on the sidelines and
in the immediate area. Last
spring, he was a few blocks
away from Wampanoag Road,
coaching the JV team at Hall
and occasionally working with
the varsity squad, coached by
Phil Orzech.
“I’m deﬁnitely going to
come in more organized right
from the get-go,” said Vlahakis,
who also assisted Orzech at
Central Connecticut State University. “I’ve seen the level of
play. I know what to expect.”
In some ways, though,
Vlahakis feels he is starting
from scratch. “I’m coming in
pretty cold,” he said.
Vlahakis began to impart
his vast knowledge of the sport
See LACROSSE on page 19
You'd think we'd know better by now, but we don't. Every
year, we get drawn in again, believing our head-scratching,
brain-wracking, watched-everygame-we-could-absorb-beforeour-brain-turned-to-mush analysis of all things college basketball is going to beat
the receptionist who doesn't know basketball from
water polo but has a particular fondness for certain
uniform colors in the oﬃce bracketology pool.
Never has happened, never will happen. e more
you know about college basketball, the worse your
chances of ﬁlling in the most accurate bracket.
Knowing too much leads to way too much second-guessing.
With that in mind, here's a brief primer on
what you can pretty much expect every year from
the men's NCAA basketball tournament.
1. "First round" is an arbitrary designation. e
NCAA refers to the four games in Dayton, Ohio, on
Tuesday and Wednesday as the ﬁrst round. ose
games in Dayton serve myriad purpsoses for the
NCAA, none of them has anything to do with providing competition for any round beyond the
round of 64 teams. e "First Round" (NCAA deﬁnition) teams give the NCAA an opportunity to
brag a little about how many mid-major teams
now get at-large berths. ose teams are like Woolworth's turtles (remember them?). Don't give them
names, they won't be around long. In this case their
names are Liberty, North Carolina A&T, LIU and
James Madison, mid-majors who earned automatic
berths by winning their conference tournaments,
and Middle Tennessee State, Saint Mary's of California, Boise State and LaSalle, mid-major at-large
entries, of which there are 11 this year for the
NCAA to brag about. e four "First Round" games
in Dayton give the NCAA four extra games to sell
to television. Translation: It's all about the money.
To college basketball purists, the real "First Round"
tips oﬀ on ursday.
2. A number one seeding is no guarantee of
success. As recently as two years ago, UConn came
out of the bottom half of its bracket to win the entire tournament. A lot of it has to do with which
team is hot at the moment, but then, hot against
what kind of competition? UConn entering the
tournament oﬀ ﬁve straight wins in the Big East
Tournament is a far cry from Albany going in oﬀ
ﬁve straight wins in the America East. But, that can
also be a double-edged sword. A team coming into
the tournament out of the Big East Tournament is
likely to be a bit more beat up than a team coming
out of the comparatively gentle PAC 12 or Conference USA.
3. Speaking of double-edged swords, pay particular attention to veteran teams. A team primarily
made up of juniors and seniors may have been to
the tournament before, but players who play four
years in college aren't the same talent level as freshmen and sophomores over whom NBA teams are
salivating come draft time. It's hard to take a veteran team to a tournament when your freshmen
and sophomores are being picked oﬀ every year. A
good example of that philosophy this year could
come up in the South region, where I expect top
seed Kansas and 2nd seed Georgetown to advance
all the way through to the ﬁnal. Georgetown's key
player is sophomore Otto Porter Jr. Kansas is
See GRAY MATTERS on page 19
March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
17
Boys swimming: top three finishes for Warren,
DiBella; top 10 for Conard, Hall
By Reid L. Walmark
Correspondent
MIDDLETOWN – e two West Hartford public high
schools ﬁnished a bit lower than a year ago at the CIAC
Class L boys swimming and diving championships March
12 at Wesleyan University, though each placed in the top 10
among the 21 teams competing.
Conard, which placed fourth a year ago, slipped to seventh place with 356 points. e Chieftains were two spots
better than Hall, which ﬁnished ninth (284). e Warriors
were eighth a year ago.
Conard senior Chris Warren ﬁnished third in the 100
backstroke (53.65 seconds), improving his ﬁnish and time
from last year when he was sixth (55.29), and also took third
place in the 100 butterﬂy (52.85). Both times were personal
bests, Conard coach John Smachetti said.
“No one works harder than Chris both in the water and
out of the water with his dry-land training. He had an excellent day. He was All-State in both,” Smachetti said. “He’s
still chasing the school record in the backstroke. He’s within
0.35 of a second. It would be a nice way for him to end his
high school career [in the State Open] by taking that record
down.”
“My goal was to be in the 52s,” Warren said. “If I did my
time, I’d be happy no matter what [place].”
Hall senior Jacob DiBella also swam a personal best and
broke his school record by ﬁnishing second in the 500
freestyle (4:42.15), eclipsing his previous mark of 4:42.54 he
set in last year’s Class L meet.
DiBella was a couple body lengths behind Wilton sophomore Stephen Holmquist (4:40.23) and edged Wilton senior Mason Molina (4:42.16) for second. In plain view, it
appeared to be a tie, but the digital timing gave second to
DiBella, who was also the runner-up in the Class L 500 free
Hall senior Jacob DiBella finished second in the 500-yard freestyle (4:42.15) at the Class L swimming and diving champiPhoto by David Heuschkel
onships March 12, breaking his own school record (4:42.54) he set as a junior.
last year.
DiBella placed eighth in the 200 freestyle as well. His
senior teammate, Charles Blaschinski, was eighth in the
diving on March 6 at Wesleyan. Ethan Swain was fifth in
the 100-yard breaststroke and seventh in the butterfly.
Brendan McClure finished eighth in the backstroke.
In the relays, Hall finished fifth in the 200-yard medley relay with DiBella, juniors Swain, McClure and Ethan
Freund. The Warriors were one place ahead of Conard,
which had Warren, freshman John Rinald, senior Tyree
Seymour and junior Ryan Josiah. Hall (DiBella, senior
Aaron Meyers-Weinerman, Freund, McClure) was seventh
and Conard (sophomore Christian Bouzyk, junior David
Walsh, Josiah, Warren) eighth in the 400 freestyle relay.
Conard was 10th and Hall 12th in the 200 freestyle relay.
No other Chieftains, besides Warren, placed in the
top eight in any individual events. Conard, though,
outscored Hall with more points from more finishes in
the two slower heats of eight swimmers. Those heats
were each worth fewer points than the fastest heat reserved for the swimmers with the eight best times from
the trials.
Johnny’s Jog
e third annual Johnny’s Jog
for Charity 5K is scheduled for
March 23 in West Hartford Center. e event is inspired by
Johnny Moran, the 6-year-old son
of West Hartford residents Dan
and Laura Moran who has battled
an unknown neuromuscular condition since birth. Proceeds from
the St. Patrick’s Day-themed
event will beneﬁt three local nonproﬁt children’s organizations:
Sadie Martinez
First Tee
Outstanding
Participant
e Covenant Preparatory School
of Hartford, e Molly Ann Tango
Memorial Foundation and e
Miracle League of Connecticut.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.;
the 5K starts at 11 a.m. Free parking will be provided at the Town
Hall outdoor lot at 50 South Main
St. To register for the 5K, make a
donation, or to inquire about corporate
sponsorship
visit
www.johnnysjog.com.
Northwest Catholic senior Sadie Martinez, a member of the girls’ golf
team, was chosen as the lone representative from Connecticut to attend
the inaugural First Tee Outstanding
Participant Leadership Summit from
Feb. 28 to March 2 in Nashville, Tenn.
Her selection was based on academic
achievement, community service,
chapter involvement with the First
Tee of Connecticut, leadership, essay
responses and letters of recommendation. She has been a member of
the First Team of Connecticut since
she was 7.
Courtesy photo
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March 21, 2013
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Attention high school
coaches: West Hartford Press
spring sports preview forms
were emailed to coaches earlier this week. Please take a few
minutes to complete and return to sports editor David
Heuschkel at dheuschkel@thevalleypress.net.
There will be several new faces on the mound for the Hall High baseball team this spring. The pitchers went through the motions inside the school gymnasium last week, practicing their delivery to
the plate under the watchful eyes of new pitching coach Nick Winn.
BASEBALL
from page 17
who might throw. We’ve got
six guys who can chuck it.”
Conard senior right-hander
Charlie Fisher resumes his role as
the No. 1 starter for the Chieftains.
LACROSSE
from page 17
this week when the Indians
held their ﬁrst oﬃcial practice
under the new coach. It began
with a 30-minute Power Point
presentation before heading to the
ﬁeld at St. omas Seminary.
“I’m very organized with paying attention to details. e motto
is play hard, play smart, play together,” Vlahakis said. “I don’t
focus on winning. I focus on those
three things, and, hopefully, if you
do those things you will win. I
don’t go out and say we need to
win, win, win.”
Northwest went 9-8 last year,
GRAY MATTERS
from page 17
stocked with veterans. Georgetown plays offense at a deliberate
pace and defense with alarming ferocity, Kansas has been struggling (see
primer subheading #2). I'm picking
Georgetown to survive to the final
four.
4. All the top seeds advancing to
the final four is as rare as feet on fish.
If you have all the number one seeds
advancing to the final four, you're
likely to lose someone along the way
who's going to cost you a lot of wins
as the brackets play out. Most prognosticators make their selections on
which top seeds won't make it based
on the difficulty of the bracket; the
more difficult the bracket, the more
likely the top seed will get knocked
out. I take an opposite view. I believe
the greater the challenge, the more
likely the cream will rise to the top.
This year's most difficult bracket is the
East, with five past national champi-
Conard pitcher Charlie Fisher isn’t throwing in the towel. However, he is working on his
extension and building muscles by slapping a towel in the glove of a teammate.
He’ll be throwing to All-State
catcher Brendon Rossmeisl. Max
Vogel-Freedman, a junior lefthander, is also expected to take a
regular turn in the rotation.
Unlike his counterparts at
Conard and Northwest Catholic,
Hall coach Jeﬀ Billing has to ﬁll the
top two pitchers. All-CCC West
pitcher George Lund and Pat Kearney graduated, as did catcher T.J.
Cook. Among the pitchers competing for spots in the rotation are
Zach Dobbins, Neil Kelley, Aaron
Jones, Jacob Kochen and Patrick
McHale.
losing to Ledyard in the ﬁrst round
of the Division S state tournament.
e Indians open April 4 against
Conard.
“I don’t think Northwest has
ever beaten them,” Vlahakis said.
“I actually played summer league
with a lot of Conard guys that I
have become friends with.”
Vlahakis said two of them,
Hoang Vu and John Frobel, will be
his assistants. Both played at Central Connecticut State University
and were all-conference players.
Vlahakis said he will stress
up-tempo game and preach the
importance of transition. He
wants his players to push right oﬀ
the faceoﬀ. His experience – expertise, really – of winning draws
will be a huge beneﬁt to the team.
In college, Vlahakis played at
Fairﬁeld and was the school’s alltime leader in faceoﬀ wins and
percentage.
After graduating in 2004, he
played in Major League Lacrosse
and set several MLL faceoﬀ
records, including career wins and
percentage.
“We’re going to spend a lot of
time on that every day,” he said.
“I’ve learned a lot. I’m going to
kind of use a lot of box, indoor
game, hybrid style. It should be
pretty exciting.”
ons and three other teams that have
advanced to a regional final. But in
many cases, that's ancient history and,
while quality programs do have a tendency to regenerate themselves, the
past has little bearing on the here and
now. I have the top seed in the East,
Indiana, advancing to the final four,
one of only two top seeds I string out
that far, Louisville being the other,
from the Midwest. I have Louisville
beating West number two seed Ohio
State and Indiana beating Georgetown to advance to the final, where I
have Louisville winning it all.
5. And this is the most important part of this primer. The chances
of anyone picking a perfect bracket
are 9.2 quintillion to one. Your
chances of analyzing all this information and beating the receptionist in
the office pool are worse than that.
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Photos by David Heuschkel
“I think the most important
part of [conditioning week] is
learning the routines,” Billing said.
“e guys are going through the
drills that they need to do.”
e Warriors are scheduled to
play their season opener April 3 at
Weaver. Conard and Northwest
Catholic also open on the road
that day. e Chieftains play East
Hartford and the Indians travel to
Manchester. e second annual
Mayor’s Cup Classic between Hall
and Conard is May 3 at the University of Hartford’s Fiondella
Field.
All-American girl
Northwest Catholic senior Sarah Gillespie took home a medal and
earned All-American honors when she finished fifth in the mile race at
the New Balance Indoor Track and Field Nationals March 10 in New York.
Her time was 4:52.53, a personal best for an indoor event. The top six
finishers in all the events were named All-American.
Courtesy photo
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19
To submit an event for the calendar, e-mail Sally at sedwards@thevalleypress.net
Pops ‘n Jazz
Pops ‘n Jazz, featuring Hall High School’s jazz
bands, dancers and singers, continues ThursdaySaturday, March 21-23 in the school’s auditorium, 975 North Main St. Doors open at 7 p.m.,
performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Scott Wendholt (trumpet) will be the invited guest March
21 and Gregg Kallor (piano) March 22. The King
Philip Jazz Band will perform March 21 and the
Sixth Dimension March 22. Tickets are $15 and
available at the Hall High box office.
following, for info call 860-233-9696:
• Shabbat Experience Saturday, March 23, 10:45
a.m., grades K-2
• Tumbling with Torah Saturday, March 23, 11
a.m. (860-233-9891)
• The Jews of China with Dr. and Rabbi Richard
Freund Wednesday, April 3, noon-2 p.m., R.S.V.P.
by March 29 to Lois Reiner at 860-233-6507 or
Dr. Morton Goldberg at 860-523-0608
• Family Service and Shabbat Dinner Friday, April
5, 6 p.m., R.S.V.P by noon on April 4
Kindergarten registration
For those who have a child who will be eligible
to enter kindergarten in the fall of 2013 (he or
she will be 5 years of age on or before Jan. 1,
2014), plan on attending the kindergarten parent orientation night at the elementary school
where the child will be enrolled. Whiting Lane
School, 47 Whiting Lane, orientation will be
Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m. Contact the
school so that the child’s name can be added
to the list of incoming kindergarten students.
Johnny’s Jog for Charity 5K
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in “style” while benefiting three non-profit children’s organizations –
Covenant Preparatory School of Hartford, Molly
Ann Tango Memorial Foundation and the Miracle League of Connecticut. Come out to run,
walk, push strollers or just be festive Saturday,
March 23 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The event starts
and finishes at Town Hall, 50 South Main St.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. There will be
bagpipers, prizes for best Irish garb, face painting,
Irish music and dancing and more. An afterparty will be hosted by McLadden’s Irish Publick House in West Hartford Center. For
registration, donation or corporate sponsorship,
visit www.johnnysjog.com.
Horticultural Society’s Eat the View
Learn from Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners
International, based in Scarborough, Maine, why
one might want to grow fruits and vegetables
in your flower beds and how to do it. Doiron’s
talk to the Connecticut Horticultural Society
will be Thursday, March 21, 7:30 p.m., at
Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive. Fee:
$10, nonmembers; free to CHS members. Visit
www.cthort.org.
Daffodil Days
Celebrate the arrival of spring and bring hope
to cancer patients by purchasing fresh cut daffodil bouquets Thursday, March 21 at Stop &
Shop, 1235 Farmington Ave. and Thursday and
Friday, March 21 and 22 at Crown Market, 2471
Albany Ave.
Magnet school applications due
Magnet school enrollment applications must
be received by the Residency Office, Room 154,
town Hall, 50 South Main St., by 4 p.m. on Friday,
March 22. The lottery results will be mailed April
5.
Trip to Grand Oak Villa
There will be a trip to Grand Oak Villa Friday,
March 22 to see “Serenata” starring Rob Zappula singing favorite Italian songs and his sevenpiece band. There will be crackers, cheeses and
pepperoni followed by a family style meal of
garden salad, pasta, chicken parmesan or sliced
pork loin, potato, vegetable, desserts and complimentary wine. Depart 10 a.m., estimated return is 4:30 p.m. Cost is $68 members, $73
residents, $74 nonresidents. Contact the West
Hartford Senior Center at 860-561-7583.
Music Together Around the World Party!
Music Together of West Hartford and Farmington Valley presents a participatory family music
concert to celebrate 25 years of Music Together,
an internationally recognized music and movement program for children and the grown-ups
who love them, Friday, March 22, 5-6 p.m., at
Elmwood Community Center Auditorium,
1106 New Britain Ave. Live musical performances will be by Music Together recording artist
“Uncle” Gerry Dignan, local modern-folk band
The Auburn Mode, local Music Together teachers and more. Advance tickets: $7 per person or
$25 per family, children under 1 free. Tickets at
door: $8 per person, or $30 per family, children
under 1 free. Purchase tickets at www.musictogetherwhfv.com or by calling 860-206-8962.
Craft and karaoke
There will be a special needs event of a craft and
karaoke Friday, March 22 from 7-9 p.m. at the
Elmwood Community Center, 1106 New Britain
Ave., for high school and older friends with special needs. Have fun and take home a project.
The karaoke machine will make one want to
sing along after doing the craft. Desserts will be
available. Pre-register at 860-561-8160. $12.
‘Peter Pan – The Musical’ at Conard High
Conard High School will present “Peter Pan The Musical” Friday and Saturday, March 22 and
23 at 7 p.m. at Conard High School. Tickets are
$15 each and can be purchased on the website www.conardhighschoolmusical.com. Tickets will also be available at the box office two
hours prior to each show.
Beth El Temple events
Beth El Temple, 2626 Albany Ave., will offer the
20
The
West Hartford Press
West Hartford’s Cookin’
West Hartford’s Cookin’ will take place Saturday,
March 23 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in the West Hartford Town Hall auditorium. Join West Hartford’s
“celebrity” chefs as they don chefs’ aprons for an
evening of food sampling, fun and silent auction to benefit The Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools. Tickets are $50 in
advance/$60 at the door. Visit www.fwhps.org,
or call 860-561-8755.
Junior League’s Denim & Diamonds
Join in the fun with friends and fellow volunteers
during the Junior League of Hartford’s Denim &
Diamonds – the “un-Gala” Saturday, March 23,
7-11 p.m. at Wampanoag Country Club, 60
Wampanoag Drive. Tickets are $75 per person
(cash bar). Visit www.jlhartfor.org or call 860233-4300. It will be an evening of food, spirits,
dancing and live entertainment by the Rock
Bottom Band, a seven-piece band. Proceeds
support the mission of the JLH and its programs
and projects.
A Sparkling Celebration to benefit Autism
Families CONNECTicut
Autism Families CONNECTicut will host its
fourth annual fundraising event, “A Sparkling
Celebration” Saturday, March 23, 7-10 p.m., at
The Clubhouse at Gillette Ridge Residences,
Bloomfield. The event will benefit AFC’s recreational, social and family activities for children
living with autism and their families. The Celebration will feature catered food and wine,
champagne and desserts, and live and silent
auction items. The honorary chair of the event
is Tizziana Weber, director of communications
at Pratt & Whitney, while the presenting sponsor is Pratt & Whitney. Tickets are $40 and are
available at www.autismfamiliesct.org or by
sending a check to AFC, P.O Box 370162, West
Hartford, 06137. For more information, e-mail
afc@autismfamiliesct.org.
Senior Center events
West Hartford Senior Center, 15 Starkel Road,
860-561-7583
• Movie Thursdays, 1 p.m.: March 21 “The
Words” and March 28 “To Rome with Love”
• Book Discussion Tuesday, March 26, 10 a.m.,
“Mount Vernon Love Story” by Mary Higgins
Clark
• Diabetes presentation Wednesday, March 27,
1 p.m. with Ann Lanza, pre-register
• AARP Safe Drive Class March 27, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.,
$12/$14, pre-register
• Free help with state and federal tax return
Mondays thru April 15, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Elmwood Senior Center, 1106 New Britain
Ave., 860-561-8180
• Trip to Portofino’s Restaurant in Kensington
March 27, 11:15 a.m.-2:15 p.m., choice of chicken
marsala, veal parmigiana or sole stuffed with
fresh crabmeat, $20/$23/$24, call to register
• Free help with state and federal tax return
Thursdays thru April 11, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Arts in the Center, a concert
The musical talent of First Church of Christ
Congregational will perform in a spring concert
Sunday, March 24, 4 p.m., at the church, 12
South Main St. The first half will feature the
Whitechapel Bell Choir and vocal soloists. In the
March 21, 2013
second half there will be a complete performance of Faure’s “Requiem” by the Adult Choir of
First Church. A donation of $10 is requested;
children under 12 with a nonperishable food
item are free. Sponsored by the Music Ministry,
the concert will benefit the Music and Fine Arts
Fund of the church, a fund used for special
events such as the summer carillon series. This
concert is the second of a series entitled “Arts in
the Center,” presented by First Church of Christ
Congregational. For more information call the
church at 860-233-9605.
Auditions for ‘Cabaret’
Playhouse on Park is seeking AEA and non-AEA
actors for male and female roles for the musical,
“Cabaret.” A production of the 1998 revival
“Cabaret” will be directed by Sean Harris, with
music direction by Colin Britt and choreography by Darlene Zoller. See www.playhouseonpark.org for full character list and descriptions.
All positions are paid. Must be 18 or older to audition. Rehearsals begin May 21 and performances run June 12-July 21. Auditions by
appointment only will be held Monday, March
25 beginning at 6 p.m. To make an appointment
call 860-523-5900, ext.10.
Keefe-Bruyette Symposium
The School for Young Children at the University of Saint Joseph will host its 11th annual
Keefe-Bruyette Symposium on Early Learning in
Math and Science Monday, March 25 beginning at 8:15 a.m. (registration followed by the
keynote address at 9 a.m.) in the Bruyette
Athenaeum’s Hoffman Auditorium, 1678 Asylum Ave. The daylong symposium draws early
childhood and elementary educators from
throughout the state who participate in workshops led by their peers. This year’s keynote
speaker is Diana Wehrell-Grabowski, Ph.D., chief
executive officer and principal owner of Mobile
Science Education Consulting Services. Registration is required. Contact Diane Morton at
860-231-5565 or dmorton@usj.edu or Sue
O’Donnell at 860-231-5561 or sodonnell@usj.edu.
Presentation on language
Hall High School PTO & Hello! West Hartford
will have a joint presentation on Language, Diversity & Identity – Revealing how language
shapes learning and self-image. Professor Harry
van der Hulst, University of Connecticut Department of Linguistics, and Professor Enrique
Sepulveda, University of Saint Joseph Department of Education, will present on the topic
Wednesday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at Hall High
School
in
Room
E131.
Contact
hallpto@gmail.com with any questions.
WH SEPTA discussion
There will be a panel discussion presented by
the special education PTA Wednesday, March
27, 7 p.m., at Whiting Lane School, 47 Whiting
Lane. The panel will discuss estate and insurance
planning, guardianship and trusts, transitioning
and Social Security issues. The panel will be:
Suzanne Neville, parent and attorney; Chera
Gerstein, parent and financial planner; Mary
Stark, DDS transition coordinator; and Dave
Hampton, professional secure assistance. Contact Lisa Roland at lawr888@comcast.net if
there are any questions. To ask one of the panel
members a question, e-mail Roland ahead of
time. The meeting is free and all are welcome.
Economic development update
Join the West Hartford Chamber for Rob Rowlson’s economic development update Thursday,
March 28, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at 1877 Club,
Gray Conference Center University of Hartford,
200 Bloomfield Ave. See what is in store for the
local economy and learn how the region will be
impacted. Rowlson, director of Community
Services, will give his annual economic development report. Be prepared for a lively discussion
with lots of information and the up-to-theminute report on each section of West Hartford.
A buffet luncheon will be provided by the 1877
Club. Limited amount of tickets available – first
come, first serve. $15 for Chamber members; $25
for non-members. Pre-registration is required;
walk-ins will not be accepted. To reserve a seat
for the event, www.whchamber.com/calendar_detail.aspx?ID=887.
Artbeat exhibit
Artbeat, an exhibit that showcases work by
West Hartford public school students, is currently on display at the West Hartford Art
League through Friday, March 29. ArtBeat is
sponsored by West Hartford public schools and
check it out
the West Hartford Art League. Selected student
work, kindergarten-12th grade, is on exhibit. The
display showcases artistic talent and highlights
the valuable role of the visual arts in West Hartford’s public schools. The Saltbox and Clubhouse Galleries are located at 37 Buena Vista Road.
Gallery Hours are Thursday-Sunday from 1-4
p.m. (860-231-8019, www.westhartfordart.org)
Youth acting classes at Playhouse on Park
At Playhouse on Park, children and pre-teens
ranging from kindergarten-aged to fifth grade
and teens from grades 6-8 can discover their
inner performer in theater classes to be offered
this spring. Through a variety of group games,
skits and learning exercises, young actors will
learn how to create characters using their voices
and bodies and develop the basic skills needed
to bring them to life for friends, family, or an audience. Classes, led by Dawn Loveland, for
grades 6-8 begin April 6 and for kingergarten to
grade five begin April 8. Class size is limited and
advanced registration is required. For registration forms and more information visit
www.PlayhouseOnPark.org or call 860-5235900, ext 10. Note: If a child is registered at least
10 days in advance of the first class of the session, receive a voucher for one student ticket to
an upcoming show free. Also, inquire about sibling deals. All new students receive free “Actor
in Training” T-shirt.
Jazz Brunch
The West Hartford Rotary Club will present its
Jazz Brunch at the Hartford Club Sunday, April
7 from noon-4 p.m. with featured artist Renee
Rosnes, jazz pianist and composer. Tickets are
$75. Call Hap Leabman at 860-409-6883.
Swim, Pedal and Sprint triathlon
The Mandell JCC’s 7th annual Women’s Indoor
Spring Triathlon will take place Sunday, April 7 at
1 p.m. at the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335
Bloomfield Ave. Registration is $25 for Mandell
JCC members, $30 for non-members and $15
for students. Teams of two or three are
$30/$36 per team. Registration ends Wednesday, April 3. Call 860-236-4571.
DJ Skate
Every Friday night from 6:45-8:15 p.m. is DJ Skate
at the Veterans Memorial Skating Rink, 56
Buena Vista Road. For more information, visit
www.skatevmsr.com.
Miracle League registration
The Miracle League of Connecticut announces
that registration is open for the spring baseball
season. The League is open to Connecticut children age 4-18 who have physical or cognitive issues. All games are played on a specially
designed baseball field in the Little League complex at the corner of Trout Brook Drive and Asylum Avenue. All players are paired with “buddies
“who can assist them as needed. The league also
needs volunteer buddies and coaches for the
upcoming season. Buddies should be at least 12
years old. Players and volunteers can register online at www.miracleleaguect.org.
at the library
Noah Webster Library,
20 South Main St., 860-561-6980
• iPad and Photographs, ursday, March
21, 1:30 p.m.
• Film: “We Have a Pope” Sunday, March 24,
2 p.m., doors open at 1:45 p.m.
• Favorite Lecture Series: Professors’ Choice
Monday, March 25, 6-7 p.m., “Music of Our
Time, e Forgotten Corner” (signiﬁcant recent music works that touch upon events
all have experienced) with Arthur Hernandez, DMA, Capital Community College
• Backstage: Hartford Stage at the Library
ursday, March 28, 7-8 p.m., discussing
“Abundance”
• Art Scholz: Watercolors & Whimsical
Wood Sculptures in the art gallery until
March 31
• Author Sue Miller appearing April 15, 7
p.m.
Faxon Branch Library, 1073 New Britain
Ave.
• Race Matters 2013, “Let’s Talk About It –
A Film and Book Discussion Series”
Wednesday, March 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m., “Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little
Rock” by David Margolick
Coming Attractions
Trout Unlimited annual banquet Friday, March 22, 6 p.m., at the USS Chowder Pot, Brainard Road, Hartford, tickets
$40, public invited, call Bill Case at 860678-7245 for reservations
“Jamaica, Farewell,” one-woman play
about escape from Manley Era, Friday,
March 22, 7:30 p.m., in The Bruyette
Athenaeum’s Hoffman Auditorium, University of Saint Joseph, 1678 Asylum Ave.,
tickets at 860-231-5555 or tickets.usj.edu
At Bridge Street Live, 41 Bridge St.,
Collinsville, 860-693-9763: March 21, Johnny
A., 9 p.m.; March 22, 9 p.m., Andy McKee
w/Craig D’Andrea; March 23, 7:30 p.m., benefit concert for lupus featuring Jr Krauss &
The Shakes, Steven Jones and Becky
Kessler; March 28, 9 p.m., Grayson Hugh
At Hartt School, 200 Bloomfield Ave.,
West Hartford: Hartt Community Division Piano Honors Recital March 23, 23:30 p.m., 4-5:30 p.m., 6-7:30 p.m., Berkman
Recital Hall; Irish band Dervish March 23,
7:30-9:30 p.m., Lincoln Theater; Musical
Club of Hartford – History of Piano Ensemble, March 24, 3-5 p.m., Lincoln Theater; West End String Quartet Concert
March 24, 7-8:30 p.m., Berkman Recital
Hall
At Infinity Hall, Rte. 44, Norfolk, toll free
1-866-666-6306: March 22, 8 p.m., Soul
Band Revue; March 23, 8 p.m., Ronnie Earl
and The Broadcasters; March 24, 1:30 p.m.,
Jasper Sstring Quartet; March 24, 7:30 p.m.,
Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson; March
25, 8 p.m., Bacon Brothers; March 27, 8
p.m., The Stick Men; March 28, 8 p.m., Arrival from Sweden-Music of Abba
“Iphigenia and Other Daughters” Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23 at the
Black Box Theater at the Greater Hartford
Academy of the Arts at the Learning Center, 15 Vernon St., Hartford
In honor of Women’s History Month and
Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Windsor
Historical Society presents “They Called
Me Lizzy: From Slavery to the White
House” Saturday, March 23 at 3 p.m., at
the historical society, 96 Palisado Ave.
Friends of Northwest Park Pancake
Breakfast Saturday, March 23, 8-11 a.m.
at Northwest Park in Windsor, tickets
$6/$4 (860-285-1886)
Baby Grand Jazz Series with Earl MacDonald Sunday, March 24, 3 p.m., at the
Hartford Public Library (Atrium), 500
Main St., Hartford, free
Connecticut Guitar Society and MCC
on Main CD release free concert for guitarist and composer Norman Johnson’s
“Get It While You Can” Sunday, March 24,
3 p.m., at Manchester Community College, 903 Main St., Manchester; Johnson is
a teacher at the Artist Collective and instructor at The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts
“Play It Again, Sam” at Playhouse on Park,
244 Park Road, West Hartford, thru Sunday,
March 24, tickets $22.50-$32.50, www.PlayhouseOnPark.org – Wednesdays and
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Bach! By CONCORA and the Hartford
Symphony Orchestra Sunday, March 24,
4 p.m., Immanuel Congregational Church,
10 Woodland St., Hartford (860-2930567)
“The Shadow Box” thru March 30 at
Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main St.,
New Britain, Fridays and Saturdays at 8
p.m., Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., tickets at
www.hitw.org or at 860-229-3049
CLUES ACROSS
1. Mexican President Camacho
6. Egyptian statesman Anwar
11. March 17, 2013
14. Don't know when yet
15. Russian country house
16. No longer is
18. E.g. club soda or fruit
juice
21. Hindu holy man
23. Viverridae cat
25. Long sound diacritical
mark
26. Yellow-fever mosquitos
28. Dead and rotting flesh
29. Those who are present
31. Royal Mail Service
34. Not in
35. Slope stability radar
(abbr.)
36. Fast ballroom dance
39. A writ issued by authority
of law
40. Lots
44. Concrete ingredient
45. Counterweights
47. Lower in esteem
48. Having the head uncovered
50. A way to plead
51. Henry __ Lodge, American politician
56. Before
57. Portable communicator
62. Marten having luxuriant
dark brown fur
63. Game table fabric
CLUES DOWN
1. Inability to coordinate
muscular movement
2. Biden or Cheney
3. Farm state
4. Confined condition (abbr.)
5. Macaws
6. Space Center Houston
7. Alias
8. "Chevy Show" star initials
9. A public promotion
10. More meretricious
11. Invests in little enterprises
12. Integrated circuit
13. Rednecks
14. Atomic #69
17. Legume hemp
19. Adam's garden partner
20. The color of blood
21. Orange-red chalcedony
22. Units of land area
24. Green, sweet or Earl Grey
25. Any member of the family Hominidae
27. Received thrust (Geology)
28. Mexican treasury certificates
30. Ancient Egyptian king
31. Searches through
32. Silent actors
See answers at right
33. Biscuitlike tea pastry
36. Largest Canadian
province
37. Chess horseman (abbr.)
38. Theater orchestra area
39. One who replaces a
striker
41. The bill in a restaurant
42. A major division of geological time
43. Imperturbable
46. Used esp. of dry vegetation
49. Delaware
51. A passage with access
only at one end
52. Brew
53. Common degree
54. Shape of a sphere
55. Yearly tonnage (abbr.)
58. City of Angels
59. Pound
60. Hello
61. Wizard of __
Administrative Assistant
Part time for a small beverage
company located in Newington.
Computer knowledge a must.
Good customer services skills phone and collections. Flexible
daytime hours. Fax resume to 860666-7876.
FOR SALE $6,750
1991 Nissan 300 ZX
109,000 miles. Fun Fast
Ride. Very Cool Rare Car.
Excellent motor. New
clutch, alternator, water
pump, radiator, & belts.
Very clean. No rust. Extremely rare to find in
such good condition.
860-808-9104.
Help Wanted
Full Time Driver
Drive box truck for small beverage
company to deliver soda. Good
people skills. Able to work independently. Capable of using handheld
device.
Drug
free
environment. Drug test required.
Fax resume to 860-666-7876.
HHA Supervisor - McLean Home
Care and Hospice Provides training and supervision to
paraprofessional staff; ensures
quality of care by making home visits
within 20 mile radius; Prefer BSN;
Consider RN with experience; Full time,
full benefits. Proud to be a 2012 Connecticut Top Workplace! McLean,
Simsbury, 860-658-3724. EOE
470 Oakwood Avenue, West Hartford
American Animal Hospital Association Certified
Call 860.233.8564
Also Serving
Windsor
620 Bloomfield Ave.
860-688-2026
Classifieds
Help Wanted
Connecticut Veterinary
Center & The Pet E.R.
Help Wanted
Family Practice & Internal Medicine
Physicians - First Choice Health
Centers, Inc., fast growing medical
and dental office, looking for F/T
providers. Competitive salary plus
incentive pay opportunities. Full benefits including 401k.
Send CVs to
MGonzalez@firstchc.org;
Fax: 290-4142
INTERESTED IN REACHING
POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
IN THE FARMINGTON
VALLEY?
WEST HARTFORD PRESS
ADVERTISERS CAN GET UP TO
50% OFF IN THE VALLEY PRESS
Call for rates and information
860-651-4700
IRELAND 2013:
Join our 14th annual Getaway, this year to Galway and the
West Coast, November 3 to 9 from Boston. Local coach to
Logan at cost, 5 nights hotel, most meals, air, all taxes and
insurance, $1899 per person double.
Details at: www.ddtvl.com/itinerary2013.htm.
D&D Travel, 860-243-9458
Affiliate
Kensington
Glastonbury
Animal Clinic Hartford
88 High Road
860-229-8960
11 Naubuc Avenue
860-657-3965
505 Wetherfield Ave.
860-296-7187
860-651-4700
email: classifieds@thevalleypress.net
Kief Protective Mutual
Benefit Association
45 Wintonbury Avenue
Bloomfield, Connecticut 06002-2470
Telephone (860) 242-3700
Fax (860) 242-3070
Kief Protective Mutual Benefit Association (‘Kief’) is a
108 year old, member-owned, Credit Union servicing
Hartford County. Kief is currently offering free
membership and competitive loans for autos, boats,
motorcycles and home equity loans to qualified
borrowers.
Please contact us so that
Kief can be of service to you.
Our office is open 9AM–2PM Monday through Friday
or you can reach us at our e-mail: kiefmba@aol.com.
Kief is federally insured by the National Credit Union Association, a U.S. Government agency.
March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
21
Classifieds
At Your Service
HOUSE CLEANING
HOME & OFFICE CLEANING
serving the Valley for 15 years
Second Cleaning 1/2 Price
Quality work at affordable prices
For free estimates call
860-676-2729
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email: classifieds@thevalleypress.net
Classifieds are now online at
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FOR INDIVIDUALS, SMALL BUSINESSES. ACCOUNTANT WITH 30+
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For long lasting job,
call for free estimate
Cell:860-916-6287
Home 860-523-4151
Home Safety Evaluations are now available.
Falls are one the leading causes of injury among
seniors. We can help you prevent falls and
enhance the safety of your loved ones.
Call Lisa today at Accessible Home
in West Hartford at 860 726 9600 for more
information or to book an appointment .
Who Does It?
BATHROOMS
Remodeling Your Bathroom?
Suffield
668-8000
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ELECTRICAL
Brannack Electric Inc.
Residential * Commercial * Industrial
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• New home wiring
• Upgrading or rewiring
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860-242-6486 35 Peters Road • Bloomfield
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HANDYMAN
22
The
West Hartford Press
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232-8002
CEILINGS
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March 21, 2013
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GUTTERS
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Siding • Roofing • Rubber Roofing• Power Washing
Interior-Exterior Repairs & Renovations
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with complete roof installation
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Lic. #00555658
14 years experience • Free Estimates
860-347-0509
HANDYMAN
STUART A. WILEY
STU@SAWCARPENTRY.COM
SAW Carpentry Services, LLC
Building, Remodeling & Handyman Services
Have projects?
Is your TO DO LIST getting too long?
Time to call a Handyman? Give us a call today.
860-930-6485
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GUTTER CLEANING
GUTTER CLEANING
POWER WASHING
ROOF CLEANING
We offer roof stain prevention.
860-982-3300
RobPolo.com
HOME IMPROVEMEN T
Foam Insulation
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• ATTICS
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Green Energy Saver, LLC
www.greenenergysaver.com
860-693-8289
Recognized as a “GREEN and INNOVATIVE” Contractor.
Proudly Serving the New England Region over 35 years!
HOME IMPROVEMENT
McNally’s
MODERN MAINTENANCE, LLC
• Gutter Cleaning, Installation and Repairs Professional
and
• Interior Painting and Wallpaper
Courteous
• Kitchen and Bathroom Restoration
• Carpentry Work • Additions
Free Estimates
Insured
• Grab Bar Installation
Lic#569912
• Odd Jobs - no jobs too small!
West Hartford Connecticut
860-561-9654
Email: info@mcnallysllc.com
www.mcnallysllc.com
HOME IMPROVEMENT
BARRETT ENTERPRISES LLC
• Complete Basement Renovations
• Kitchen & Bathrooms Updated
• Windows/Doors Installed
• Pre-Finished Floorings • Custom Ceramic Tile
• Maintenance-Free Decks • Finish Carpentry
• Complete Painting Service • Custom Countertops
CT. LIC. #602130 • Office (860) 796-0131
HOME IMPROVEMENT
860-250-1715
HOME IMPROVEMENT
CT License #0621224
860-307-4221
MASONRY
JR’S LAWN CARE
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Stonewalls • Brick Walls
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Fireplaces • Chimneys
Patios • Sidewalks
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We can also do all
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860-680-5440
PAINTING
PAINTING
860-673-7280
OIL
PROFESSIONAL HOME
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ZIBBY DRZAZGOWSKI
(860) 675-4025
Farmington
KITCHENS - BATHROOMS - WALLPAPER
TILES- BASEMENTS - ATTICS
ALUMINUM SIDING - CEILING REPAIR
drzazgowski@sbcglobal.net
CONN. LICENSE NO. 536406 COMPLETE INSURANCE
OIL
TIME TO SAVE
3.099
HOME IMPROVEMENT
“Call Today... Gone Today
...That’s Frank’s Way”
Frank Niwinski
(860) 836-3193
Serving West Hartford &
Surrounding Areas For Over 40 Years
PAINTING
PAINTING &
CEILING REPAIR
Small renovations,
home repair, carpentry
& painting.
Complete prep.
T.C. Home Improvement
Cell 860-916-6287
Free
Estimates Home 860-523-4151
PAVING
ER PA
EWSince 1958 VI
COMMERCIAL &
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Driveways
Parking Lots
Excavating
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PETS
dogs are fun.
dog poop is not.
Weekly service
starts at $14.95
We Scoop Dog Poop
Visit www.POOP911.com or call
1.877.POOP.911 for more information.
CPA REG. #593039
860-521-6942
Senior Citizen Discounts • Insured & Guaranteed
PLUMBING
POOP 911 provides pet waste removal services
for homeowners and communities in your area.
We offer service weekly, bi-weekly, monthy,
or a customized schedule just for you.
ROOFING
860-236-8450
Become A New Preferred
Automatic Delivery Account.
Call for details. Expires 3/28/13.
860-645-3758
www.ezoil.net
Call Jake (860) 995-7490
Jacob-Cohen@att.net
MARK’S PLUMBING
$
E-Z Oil
PAINTING
G
PAINTING
Power Washing,
Deck Staining, Light Carpentry
Reg #0562179
• ADDITIONS • REMODELING • GARAGES
• COMPOSITE DECKS • PORCHES
Don DeLeo
Home (860) 232-6917 • Cell (860) 883-6703
Ct. Lic. #0626103
ROOF SNOW REMOVAL
Interior & Exterior Painting
25 years of experience
in Farmington Valley
BUILDERS LLC
N
BRECHUN PAINTING
EPA
CERTIFIED
hhi.mengual@yahoo.com
Serving the Farmington Valley since 2004
Insured and ct licensed # HIC.0605076
Free estimates, fully insured. License # 611901
AAA
Dump Runs
DELEO
BR
LANDSCAPING
Fully Insured.
You take pride in your home… I take pride in my work.
My prices are fair and your satisfaction is guaranteed.
DESIGN AND REMODEL YOUR HOME
Professional Service
Office: (860) 426-1578 Fax: (860) 426-1676
Email: chassebuild@aol.com
Bathrooms • Kitchens • Additions
Basements • Doors • Windows • Decks
Fire & Water Damage Restoration
Exclusive Renovations, LLC
Renovations and home repairs of
all kinds, From kitchens to baths,
from basements to porches.
djzshrake@cox.net
Old Fashioned
Carpentry &
• Installation and Repair
of doors, windows,
decks, stairs, siding
and trim
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with seasonal promotions
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Cabinetry
HOME IMPROVEMENT
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Home Improvement Contractor
So Many Amateurs . . . So Few Professionals!!
Jim Barrett, Owner
HOME IMPROVEMENT
HOME IMPROVEMENT
HOD 58
Tank Removal & Replacement
ROOFING
JP
Carroll
Roofing is our only business!
Call us for a Free Estimate at
860.586.8857
jpcarrollroofing.com
We specialize in:
Architectural Asphalt shingles • EPDM Rubber
Slate • Cedar • Copper fabrications • Gutters
Established Leak Response Team!
We have served Central CT for over 20 years
Fully Licensed and Insured; CT Reg # 544304
- No Dumpsters on-site -
Join us in our efforts to go green...we recycle all tear-off materials.
Family owned & operated
$
3.539 cod, subject to change
Complete Tune-ups & Cleaning $135
Full Service
HOD.0001011
860-698-9472
TOOLS
Complete Plumbing Service
AFFORDABLE, PROMPT &
DEPENDABLE
Lic #:HIC0607969
Repair or Replace all
your plumbing needs.
Lic. #277593 & Insured
For immediate response anytime call 860-712-9461
TREES
The TOOL CONSIGNMENT Store
560 NEW PARK AVE., WEST HARTFORD
We Buy & Sell Used Tools
Thousands of TOOLS in stock...at great prices
We SELL REBURBISHED TOOLS TOO!
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WINDOW WASHING
Jonathan’s
Window Washing
Invest in a bright future,
have Jonathan clean
your windows!
Commercial & Residential
Glass Restoration Specialists
860-693-6898
NOW OFFERING
REPAIRS - DUMP RUNS
www.jwwct.com
(860) 263-7908
Visit our web site for more information.
Serving the Valley since 1990
Free Estimates • Insured
www.A2ZToolConsignment.com
March 21, 2013
The
West Hartford Press
23
Fresh
Prices
good
from
March 14, 2013
through
March 20, 2013
Lobster Tails
$
4/ 20
Meat Department
Tilapia Fillets
$ 99
Reserve your Easter Meats Today!
John Morrell E-Z Cut Hams
Triple M Budaball Boneless Hams
Spiral Hams
Fresh American Leg of Lamb
Crown Roast of Lamb or Pork
3
6
lb.
Center Cut Bone-In
lb.
THE TEN PACK - TEN 1”
FILET MIGNON STEAKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each 6 oz. avg. $39.90
pkg.
10 LB. BAG ALL NATURAL BONELESS SKINLESS
bag
CHICKEN BREASTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$19.90
20 BLACK ANGUS 1/2 LB OR MIX AND MATCH 8 OF YOUR
FAVORITE GOURMET FLAVORED BURGERS
BOX OF BURGERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ONLY
box
GROUND SIRLOIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 lbs. or more $2.99
MEATLOAF MIX
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 lbs. or more
Fresh
Seedless Grapes
1
$ 99
lb .
Convenient parking in the rear & our lot to the east of Hall’s
The
West Hartford Press
$2.99 lb.
March 21, 2013
9
lb.
Deli
Honey Ham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4.99 lb.
Hall’s Own Roast Beef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7.99 lb.
Perdue 5 Star Roast Turkey Breast . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5.99 lb.
Land O’ Lakes American Cheese . . . Sliced - 1 lb. minimum $2.99 lb.
Cheddar Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5.99 lb.
Pepperjack Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6.99 lb.
Egg Potato Salad . . . . . . . . . . .$3.99 lb
Coleslaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.99 lb.
Fuscilli Pasta Salad . . . . . . . . . .$4.99 lb.
with sun dried tomatoes, corn & fresh asparagus!
Our best Pulled Pork . . . . . . . .$6.99 lb.
Tuna Pasta Salad . . . . . . . . . . .$4.99 lb.
Weekly Hot Soup Schedule:
Monday: Tomato Tortellini, Chicken Noodle & Chili
Tuesday: Beef Barley, Split Pea & Chili
Wednesday: Cream of Broccoli, Sausage Soup & Chili
Thursday: Beef Stew, Chicken Noodle & Chili
Friday: New England Clam Chowder & Chili
Saturday: Tomato Basil & Chili
Oven
Fresh
GREEN HOUSE TOMATOES . . . .lb.$1.99
ICEBERG LETTUCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .each $1.69
LARGE GREEN PEPPERS . . . . . . . . .lb. $1.69
SWEET POTAOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lb. 79¢
D’ANJOU PEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lb $1.49
331 Park Road, West Hartford, CT • 860-232-1075
24
lb.
Produce
Red & Green
lb.
each +tax
our own tuna salad with tomato & cheddar on toasted wheat bread
.............
FRESHLY GROUND STORE MADE
9
pkg.
$ 99
Tuna Melt $4.99
$16.95
FRESHLY GROUND STORE MADE BLACK ANGUS
$ 99
Sandwich of the Week - Egg Salad . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1.99each + tax
Grinder of the Week - Hard Salami . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.99each + tax
Gourmet Sandwich of the Week
buy one get one FREE
PORK TENDERLOINS
6
lb.
$ 99
3
$ 49
Pork Chops 2
SAVE
$1.50 lb.
Salmon $ 99
lb.
Fillets
Fresh Market
Salmon
Smoked Salmon Florentine Cod Fillets
8 oz. avg
$ 99
Beef Briskets
Fresh, Atlantic
New! Hall’s
Prime Rib
Fresh Store Made Kielbasa
Nutmeg Smoked Kielbasa
Fresh American Rack of Lamb
Lamb Loins
Fresh USDA Choice Whole
Seafood
Bakery
Pie o f the Week
Apple
3
$ 99
each
8”
C oo kie o f th e W ee k
Oatmeal Raisin
$ 49
10for 2
Hot Cross Buns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pkg. $3.99
ASSORTED EASTER CUPCAKES & COOKIES
Freshly Baked French Bread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .loaf $1.69
Freshly Baked Blueberry Muffins . . . . . . . . .4 pk. $3.99
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9am to 6pm; Sat. 8am to 6pm; Closed Sundays
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