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PAIDGLASTONBURY CITIZEN, INC.

Volume 37, Number 20                                                   Published by The Glastonbury Citizen                                                                        August 24, 2012

RIVEREASTP.O. BOX 373, GLASTONBURY, CT, 06033

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Bacon Academy ReadyFor New School Year

RHAM Schools Prepare for New Year

The empty hallways of Bacon Academy will soon be filled with over 1,000 studentsreturning for the 2012-13 school year, starting with a kick-off celebration and somefriendly competitions.

by Katelyn KelleherThe hallways of Bacon Academy may be dull

and grey now, but they’ll soon be filled withabout 1,000 students in colorful bandanas, cel-ebrating instead of dreading the first day ofanother school year.

Wednesday, the first day of school at Bacon,will be marked with more celebration thanwork. Each year, a group of students put on“First Day the Bacon Way,” a pep rally-like“School-wide Amping” followed by activitiesout on the football field. Students, guided by afaculty facilitator, raise money over the sum-mer and organize the event.

Usually the students are given T-shirts basedon their grade, but this year they’ll receive ban-danas.

“It’s a great way to start the school year on apositive note, rather than ‘here’s your syllabus,here are the rules,’” Interim Principal MarkAmbruso said.

When students head back to the classroomson day two, they might notice a few changes.

Some administrative changes have alreadybeen implemented, including former BaconAcademy principal Jeffry Mathieu making themove over to central office to start as superin-tendent of schools following the recent resig-nation of Karen Loiselle-Goodwin. Ambruso,formerly one of Bacon’s two assistant princi-

pals, became interim principal.Monday, Ambruso said there have been some

last-minute staff changes at the high school inrecent weeks.

“There has been some change in staff wedidn’t anticipate, but some people have eitherleft or retired,” he said. “A lot of shifts.”

Ambruso was one of those shifts, leaving oneassistant principal office vacant. Two applicants,one internal and one external candidate, wentthrough a final interview for the interim posi-tion with Mathieu Tuesday. “If it’s internal, ittakes another shift,” Ambruso said.

Mathieu said Wednesday a hire has beenmade but the candidate has not yet signed thedocuments.

In addition to administration changes,Ambruso said he was holding interviews thisweek to replace a business teacher who resignedtwo weeks ago, had replaced the football coachand hired a choral instructor to replace a staffmember who left after more than a decade atBacon. There was also an unexpected openingin the physics department and for a half-timenurse.

“Things are moving light-speed here,” hesaid. “A couple weeks ago none of [these staffchanges were] in place, none of this was even

by Geeta SchrayterThe days of summer are dwindling down.

The dipping nighttime temperatures, the LaborDay references, the Halloween candy that al-ready lines the grocery store shelves and theconstant commercials touting sales on clothesand shoes, backpacks and pencils can onlymean one thing: it’s time to head back to school.

For students, the thought of returning to theclassroom was probably pushed as far from theirthoughts as possible – for as long as possible –replaced instead with trips to the beach, after-noon barbecues, late nights with friends andsleeping in. But over at RHAM Middle School,preparations for the arrival of the kids that, asthe school’s assistant principal Carri-Ann Bellsaid, “make the school feel alive again,” beganshortly after they left in June.

RHAM Middle School Principal MikeSeroussi said Monday the preparations havebeen going “very well.” The building wascleaned weeks ago, he explained, saying thecustodians did “a really nice job getting it doneinside and out around the grounds.”

Students have also been coming in on differ-ent days throughout the summer to walk aroundand meet with their guidance counselors.

Bell said summer is the time to work on allof the paperwork, teacher evaluations, student

schedules and initiatives.Seroussi added there wasn’t anything new

going on for the 2012-13 school year, but re-turning for the second year is the One Book,One School program as part of their school cli-mate plan to address bullying. The entire school– both students and teachers – will read the samebook, then take part in a variety of activitiessuch as a themed dance or visit from the authorrelating to the read. This year, the selection isSchooled by Gordon Korman, the story of ayoung boy who is tossed into public middleschool after being home-schooled by his grand-mother in an isolated community.

“A lot of the biggest things [from the book]carry into working on school climate, the bul-lying issue and trying to resolve it and be pro-active and positive,” said Seroussi.

“The book shows how kids do or do not ac-cept him,” added Bell.

At the high school, Principal Scott Leslie saidMonday work on the safe school climate plan– and a committee to go along with it – wascontinuing, as well.

Leslie explained the committee will work to“more effectively open communication” aroundbullying. He said there were already differentplans in place to address the issue such as the

Preparations for the start of school have been taking place at RHAM throughoutthe summer. In history teacher Kristen DeBona’s class at the high school, everythingis ready for the arrival of her students on August 27.

Bacon Academy cont. from Front Pageplanned, so certainly we’re moving ahead. Ithink the first obstacle that’s come up is hiring.”

Despite the changes, Ambruso said the tran-sition into the school year will go smoothly.“Students probably will not notice a difference,staff should not notice a difference,” he said.“Day one should start with no hiccups.”

Being appointed interim principal has helpedsmooth out the start of school. Last month, theBoard of Education announced Loiselle-Goodwin would retire from her position as su-perintendent at the end of December, at whichpoint Mathieu would take over the position. Theboard hoped to have a new principal in place atBacon Academy to replace Mathieu within thefirst few weeks of school; however, earlier thismonth Loiselle-Goodwin accepted a principalposition in New York and asked to be releasedfrom her duties in Colchester earlier than ex-pected.

As a result, the board decided to postponethe principal search until next spring and ap-point Ambruso as interim principal, as he hadapplied for the principal position when it wasposted and expressed strong interest in the in-terim position, Board of Education ChairmanRon Goldstein said.

“If we were interviewing right now [for theprincipal position] I wouldn’t know what role Iwas doing,” Ambruso said. “Am I responsiblefor hiring? Am I responsible for scheduling?Am I responsible for discipline? Now it’s inplace as far as what my responsibilities are.”

Due to budgetary constraints, not much elsehas changed at the high school. The only newprogram implemented this year is a ninth-grade

electronic portfolio. Ambruso explained a NewEngland Association of Schools and Colleges(NEASC) evaluating committee, which putsschools through a comprehensive evaluationprocess for accreditation at least once every 10years, made the recommendation to create aportfolio piece, either electronic or paper, “sothat students can demonstrate, not just get agrade, but actually demonstrate their profi-ciency and mastery.

“What’s happening now is colleges are do-ing Google searches, they’re seeing what’s outthere and they’re seeing what a student hasachieved,” he said. “A letter grade is great, testscores are great, but they don’t always showeverything.”

In addition, parents will be able to sign intothe program and see what their children arelearning and how they are faring.

The program will begin with the incomingfreshman class and be implemented for eachclass after, and is grant-funded for the first year.A free program was tested on a small group ofstudents and teachers. “Every time you’re us-ing a free program, it’s not always successful,so we’re hoping for more success this year go-ing in,” Ambruso said, adding the program isstill a pilot.

He said the portfolio “hopefully will follow[students] so that when they leave Bacon Acad-emy they will have evidence of what workthey’ve mastered.”

There are few significant program and staffchanges at Colchester Elementary School, asPrincipal Jacqueline Somberg said, “we alreadyhave the best,” but for the first time, studentscan walk from the school to their after-school

Parking spaces at Bacon Academy are open for the taking for another few days,but the lot will fill up as soon as school is back in session Wednesday, Aug. 29.

programs. Because the town put crosswalks andsidewalks from the school to the programs, thechildren who go to CASTLE and Apple TreeLearning Center can now be walked there fromthe school. Somberg said elementary schoolstaff members have been properly trained tobring the children down and across the streetsafely.

Somberg said the school sent out a letter thisweek asking parents to grant permission to al-

low their children to be walked. Previously, stu-dents were bussed just the short trip down thestreet to the programs. Somberg said the bus-ses will only be used in cases of emergency,such as weather.

District-wide, 40 teachers will be piloting anew evaluation program, in line with a programimplemented in several districts by the state,Mathieu said. Otherwise, classes will carry onas usual.

Words of encouragement adorn the windows at the entrance to RHAM MiddleSchool, ready to welcome students on a positive note as the year begins Aug. 27.

RHAM Schools cont. from Front PagePower of Words, which teaches how wordscan either bring up or tear down another per-son, and various support groups. But in thepast, there wasn’t an anonymous way for stu-dents to report instances of bullying.

“So I think it’ll help us,” he said. “In termsof how we respond to [bullying] I don’t thinkthat’s going to change so much – it’s more ongetting information.”

Other changes at the high school revolvearound state mandates.

“I think it’s a really, really interesting time,”Leslie said, because along with the “typical”things that go on to prepare for the year suchas the aforementioned cleaning of the build-ing, scheduling, updating the student hand-book, curriculum-writing and “reflecting onpolicies and procedures,” the school needs towork to be in line with the mandates.

“I feel like those are the things that we’rereally gearing up for,” he said, referring tothem as “uncharted territory.”

He explained the biggest piece the schoolis preparing for is the new teacher evaluations.In the new evaluations, there’s a greater focuson student achievement and feedback fromstudents and parents. Leslie said the newevaluations wouldn’t be piloted until the 2013-14 year but the school was still preparing forits start.

“The biggest change – and this is a goodthing – is there’s going to be a greater respon-sibility on our shoulders to make sure studentsachieve and do well,” he said.

Leslie explained a school can’t say a stu-dent isn’t engaged or that it’s the student’sfault they’re not doing well.

“We need to make sure support systems arein place to help the student out,” he said.

One of those systems is a freshman sup-

port team. New this year, the support teammade up of four freshman teachers will takeincoming freshmen who may have struggledin terms of completing their homework orstaying focused and work with them. Lesliesaid the teachers will have the same duty pe-riods and meet on a daily basis “to provideinterventions for those students.”

A new data team of teachers and counse-lors will also take a look at and assess testingdata to see where students are in terms of theirachievement, “and what kind of interventionsshould be used to support them.”

Attempts will also be made to address theparking situation at the school. Leslie ex-plained there aren’t enough parking spaces forall the student drivers. He said more kids aredriving to school, and since, due to state driv-ing laws, they can’t carpool, there are simplymore cars.

“It’s as much a management issue as any-thing,” he said.

Toward the beginning of the year, Lesliesaid the school will be looking to get somenew signs out for better direction in terms oftraffic flow. He added the town has been “in-credibly generous” in allowing the school touse Veterans Memorial Park for some park-ing.

“I think we have to continue to work withthe town for the best solution,” he said.

As far as challenges, Leslie said the mainthing will be ensuring the school has “a firmfoundation for addressing the state mandates”as they come down the line.

“We want to do as much as we can to pre-pare ourselves and students for thosechanges,” he said.

But challenges and changes aside, at bothschools the faculty and administrators are justready for the kids to return.

On Monday, history teacher KristenDeBona could be found prepping her class-room: it was neat and orderly, with the smellof cleaners wafting out into the hall.

“I kind of attacked it with Windex,” shelaughed, adding, “I’m looking forward to allof my freshman classes – I love their energyand their excitement.”

DeBona, who is also one of the senior classadvisors, said she’s looking forward to plan-ning the senior events.

Leslie added he always looks forward “togetting my students back.”

“I always find it a kick to be able to workwith the current senior class which oftencomes with unique challenges,” he smiled,adding he liked “bringing up the freshman”as well.

“We’re looking forward to having the kidsin the building,” said Seroussi. “We get boredwhen it’s summer and then we get to sit hereand read a lot,” he laughed.

But with the start of school only three daysaway, they won’t have to be bored muchlonger. The first day of school is slated forMonday, Aug. 27.

Marlborough Elementary Ready for New Year

Another Bright, Successful Marlborough Dayby Katelyn Kelleher

In an annual effort to give back to the com-munity, the Marlborough Business Associationopened up the gates of the usually residents-only Blish Park Sunday for Marlborough Day.

Free food, games, prizes, and plenty of liveentertainment brought people out to Blish Parkon a bright, sunny Sunday. Regular beach-goersmixed with out-of-towners and local politiciansto partake in the festivities.

Marlborough Day is a decades-long traditionhighlighting the services offered in town. Al-though the annual summer celebration took ashort hiatus during the mid-2000s, theMarlborough Business Association brought itback five years ago. Sunday, residents fromMarlborough and elsewhere turned out to ex-perience all the town has to offer.

Dante, Seraphina and Gratiana Marino, alongwith their mother, Nancy, have been going toMarlborough Day since it restarted five yearsago and seemed to be enjoying the day. Thethree kids showed off some fresh ink – airbrushtattoos – that they got at one of the booths.Dante liked the games best. Along with yardgames and plenty of Frisbee and catch goingon, East Hampton gardening center Paul’s andSandy’s Too sponsored the Monster MobileArcade, a trailer full of arcade games.

Gratiana liked looking at all the booths,which were offering face painting, crafts, food,and some small items for sale. The highlightfor the family, Seraphina said, was the enter-tainment, particularly local band Dino and theNo Names. The kids’ brother, Dino Marino,fronts the band.

The three were excited to see the band per-form twice, opening and closing the stage atMarlborough Day. The five RHAM students,Jake Fenton, Dan Busa, Tom D’Auria, RyanDiPasquale and Marino, missed out on theirchance to perform at last year’s MarlboroughDay. Rain forced the 2011 festival to end early,right before Dino and the No Names got to per-form. To make up for it, and because the band

was generous enough to lend their sound sys-tem for the entire day, they took the stage twice.

The Jacqueline Roach School of Dance hadanother successful dance demonstration thisyear. Director and choreographer ShannonYager said the dance school has held a boothand a demonstration at Marlborough Day forthe past five years. This year, about 20 kids,ages three and older, participated in a Zumbaand hip-hop dance demonstration. Yager saidthe dance school always provides a sample ofwhat they teach in their classes when they cometo Marlborough Day.

The audience also welcomed back a favoriteentertainer, magician Jonathan Jacques, spon-sored by Liberty Bank. Jacques took volunteerson stage as he performed at his fifthMarlborough Day.

Even the Marlborough Volunteer Fire De-partment got in on the fun, shooting a streamof water from a truck into the middle of LakeTerramuggus.

While the food, games and dancing woundup all the kids, adults were able to wind downwith a free chair massage from the OneidaHolistic Health Center booth. Plenty stoppedby to enjoy a free massage, massage therapistSue Barrett said, even a child supervised by hergrandmother. Oneida offered several body prod-ucts and bracelets for sale at their booth.

One of the newest businesses in town, intui-tive coach and energy healer Maria Olympia,said building a clientele base started slowly buthas been growing, and Marlborough Day washelping them spread the word about their FirstFriday Free Healing nights. Olympia explainedthe first Friday of each month from 7 to 8:30p.m. Oneida’s practitioners offer free 10-15-minute healing sessions.

Joining the town officials at the Democraticand Republican town committee booths wereRepublican U.S. Senate candidate LindaMcMahon, Republican state Rep. Pam Sawyer,Democratic state Senate candidate Cathy Ostenand her Republican opponent, state Rep. Chris

by Katelyn KelleherMarlborough Elementary School will enter

the new school year with funding to furtherdevelop its STEAM Room.

No, the elementary school hasn’t installed asauna. The STEAM Room, a designated spaceto practice the school’s Science, Technology,Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative, isdesigned to instill modern-day community andworkplace skills in students. According to theMarlborough Education Foundation, the acro-nym was changed to STEAM to include arts.The initiative was put in place beginning withthe 2011-12 school year.

One of the highlights of the new year hasbeen receiving a grant to make enhancementsto the STEAM Room, Principal ScottNierendorf said.

The approximately $25,000 grant fromLowe’s will be used over the next two years topurchase instructional supplies, storage andsafety equipment, Nierendorf said.

Another grant from the State Education Re-source Center (SERC) will be used for profes-sional development over the next three years.Nierendorf said the nearly $10,000 grant willfocus on positive behavior support and literacy.

Staff will receive six days of professionaldevelopment at the elementary school andspend an additional six days getting on-sitecoaching at SERC in Middletown. Nierendorfsaid approximately $3,000 of the grant moneywill be used to cover substitute teachers duringthis time.

Due to a new state mandate, Student Suc-cess Plan (SSP) software will be implementedfor all sixth-grade students. The program is re-quired for all students in grades six through 12.

Nierendorf said the program teaches careerreadiness and lifelong learning skills.

“They’re going to be making a plan for thenext phase in their education,” he said, mean-ing the students will set goals and go throughsteps to prepare for middle school. Furtherdown the line, students will continue to use theprogram to plan for the next step.

Teachers at the elementary school are con-tinuing to focus this year on upholding the Com-

mon Core State Standards Initiative, a nationaleffort to align curriculums at schools in allstates. Currently, 45 states have formallyadopted the Common Core standards.Nierendorf said the standards will hopefully bein place in all states by 2015.

According to the Common Core website, thestandards “were developed in collaboration withteachers, school administrators and experts toprovide a clear and consistent framework toprepare…children for college and theworkforce.”

The Common Core standards mandate cer-tain reading, writing, language, media and tech-nology and mathematics content and skills tobe taught in the classroom.

Nierendorf said teachers at MarlboroughElementary School will continue to workcollaboratively with Andover and Hebron teach-ers to implement the Common Core standards.

The adopted 2012-13 fiscal year budget re-sulted in a few changes in the school this year,most notably the elimination of the Spanishprogram at the elementary school level. TheBoard of Education made the decision in thespring to reduce the inevitable budget increaseby eliminating the program, much to the ob-jection of several parents, community membersand some Board of Education members. Someof the concern was over Marlborough studentsheading into RHAM Middle School behindother students, as Andover and Hebron elemen-tary schools both have Spanish programs.

However, members of the Board of Educa-tion expressed intent during the budget seasonto restore an even stronger Spanish program inthe budget when financially possible.

A new face will greet students heading intoclass Monday. In late June, Dr. Maureen Ryanwas appointed assistant principal and directorof special education, following the resignationof Dina DeJulius, who accepted a principalposition at Captain Nathan Hale Middle Schoolin Coventry earlier this year.

Ryan, who came to Marlborough fromStaffordville Elementary School in Stafford,started July 2. While she said having a month

Airbrush tattoos were a hit at Marlborough Day last weekend. From left, Gratiana,Seraphina and Dante Marino show off their ink.

Coutu – the latter of which had a campaign carfor supporters to sign.

As afternoon hit, more people took shadeunder the pavilion and enjoyed the music oflocal bands The Sweetest Key and the ModernRiffs.

Marlborough Business Association admin-istrative assistant Jessica Olander, who was sta-tioned at the welcome center at the entrance tothe park, said the day was another success, add-

ing the turnout was reflective of the beautifulweather.

At 5 p.m., the grand prize of the day wasgiven out, a flat-screen television sponsored byMarlborough Health Care Center. Shortly af-ter, the gates closed and Blish Park returned toa place where there’s no free massage or frieddough or magic show – until Marlborough Day2013.

to settle in was helpful, there was a lot to ac-complish.

“I haven’t even gotten it all done yet,” shesaid, adding that, due to her position, she isessentially doing the work of two jobs.

Ryan said the office staff has been extremelyhelpful during her transition into MarlboroughElementary School, and was looking forwardto the return of all the school’s staff, and, of

course, the students.“I’ve already met about half the teachers and

I’m looking forward to meeting the rest verysoon,” she said.

Aside from Ryan, there were few staffchanges from last year, with the exception of apart-time special education resource teacher.Kasha Morris was brought in to replace DianaHansen, who left for another district.

An old-fashioned letter sign welcomes Marlborough students back, but inside theschool, the latest technologies await.

Class Soon Back in Session for Belltownby Joshua Anusewicz

Labor Day weekend will mark the literal andfigurative end of summer for the youth of EastHampton, as students will be returning to schoolon Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Last year, the beginning of the school yearwas marked by fresh faces – not just of newstudents, but of new teachers and administra-tors as well. Fourteen new teachers were intro-duced last year across the four schools, as wellas the first year as high school principal for JohnFidler and middle school principal NancyBriere, who replaced Fidler.

This year, the administration will remainmostly intact, except for one prominent name:Superintendent of Schools Dr. Judith Golden.

Golden announced her retirement back inMarch, leaving big shoes to fill at the top of thedistrict. Golden will stay on board until hercontract expires on Dec. 31 as the Board ofEducation searches for a new superintendent, aprocess Golden said is going well even thoughshe has remained hands-off.

“It’s [the board’s] job and they’re doing itwell,” Golden said Monday. She added that theboard has already hired a consultant to help inthe search and a public forum was held Thurs-day after press time to get community input.

In the meantime, Golden and the rest of thetown’s school staff have been hard at work pre-paring for the beginning of the school year.Golden said the schools are “moving forward”with the district’s common core curriculum,looking closely at instruction and tracking stu-dent progress. This student progress aspect be-gan last year with the development of a “pro-fessional learning community,” which allowsthe entire district to track a student’s progressas they go through the school system.

East Hampton students have seen continuedsuccess in standardized testing, but Golden saidthe district plans to raise the standards for itsstudents even higher. Golden said this will bedone through tracking student progress and “im-proving work habits” for students who appearto be struggling.

“It’s not acceptable for anyone to fail,”Golden said.

Despite the recent education reform comingdown from the state, East Hampton will not betaking part in the state’s “pilot program” forteacher evaluation. Golden said the districtplans to monitor faculty as it has in the past,while waiting for results of the pilot programfrom other towns. Starting in the followingschool year, Golden said the district will “planaccordingly” based on the state mandates.

On the first day of school, students – andparents – will also notice significant changesto two of the community’s schools. The mostnoticeable change will be at Memorial School,where the finishing touches are being placedon a new roof for the school. The roof colorhas been changed from blue to dark green, andthe much-needed repairs are expected to becompleted by the first day of school.

Another change will be the addition of a stu-dent drop-off area at Center School. Over thesummer, the area was created on Bevin Boule-vard to reduce the number of students beingdeposited in the parking lot of East HamptonCongregational Church. Golden said parentswill not be able to park in the drop-off area.

There is also a construction project loomingon the horizon: the high school renovationproject. The new high school building commit-tee has been meeting for several months, Goldensaid, and is currently in the process of hiringan architect for the project. The committee isexpected to finalize a plan within the next year,in hopes of applying for state funding that wouldgreatly reduce the cost of the project to the town.The high school facility is currently goingthrough a 10-year accreditation process by theNew England Association of Schools and Col-leges (NEASC), which expressed the need forvarious structural changes at the school, par-ticularly in the dated science labs.

One of the issues during budget deliberationsearlier this year was the lack of technologicaladvancements at the schools. While Goldenagreed that the district wouldn’t be seeing asmuch new technology as they would have liked,some schools will see new programs, as wellas the continued integration of technology in-troduced last year.

Nancy Briere, principal at East HamptonMiddle School, was excited to announce thatmost of the classrooms at the school were nowequipped with “interactive whiteboards” –SMART boards and similar models – thatwould be integrated into the curriculum. Thesame interactive whiteboards will continue tobe used at Center School as well. At the highschool, students will continue to utilize “thinclients” that were introduced last year, whichallow several students to use individual com-puters while working together on one main-frame.

Briere added that the middle school will con-tinue to utilize its Positive Behavioral Interven-tion Support (PBIS) program, which directsstudents to make positive decisions in hopes ofimproving the school climate by reducing bul-lying. The program, which helps satisfy thestate’s anti-bullying initiatives, has been a suc-cess so far, Briere said.

“We don’t have a lot of bullying here, and Ithink that’s because of our PBIS program,” sheadded.

The middle school will also continue to trackstudent academic progress through the EdLineprogram, which allows parents to monitor theirchild’s grades and access teacher websites tofollow assignments.

But with all of the new programs, construc-tion projects, and state mandates aside, theschool year, like every year, will come down tostudents learning and teachers teaching. Thequiet hallways will soon be filled with activity,a welcome sight for Briere, who probably spokefor most faculty and staff when she shared her

Parents of Center School student who plan to drive their children to school cannow use this newly-constructed drop-off area, located on Bevin Blvd. The area wasbuilt to curb the use of the parking lot of the neighboring East HamptonCongregational Church as a drop-off point, which has caused substantial traffic inthe past.

The finishing touches are being put on a new roof at Memorial School, a projectthat has lasted the entire summer and is expected to be finished by the first day ofschool. The familiar blue color of the roof will now look considerably different withits dark green shade.

excitement for the start of the school year.“We’re really looking forward to the kids

coming in,” she said. “We have a great groupof kids here.”

As for Golden, it’s a different type of excite-ment than she’s used to experiencing this timeof year.

“It’s exciting because it’s my last year,” shesaid, “but it’s going to be a little nostalgic. I’malways excited for the first day of school,though.”

Even though they might not admit it, quite afew students will be, too.

Middlefield Voters Approve Hayes’ Purchase of Ski Areaby Joshua Anusewicz

After it drew support from the town’s Boardof Selectmen, Middlefield residents approvedan agreement last Thursday, Aug. 16, to sellthe Powder Ridge ski area to Sean Hayes, theowner of Brownstone Exploration and Discov-ery Park in Portland.

The sale of the 226-acre property was passedat a town referendum by a 1,132-466 vote.

The land, which was purchased by the townof Middlefield in 2008 when Powder Ridgeclosed, was purchased for $700,000 by Hayes,who plans to develop the land into a winter parkfor skiing, snowboarding and snow-tubing thatwould complement his current summer park atBrownstone. Hayes has pledged to put inroughly $2 million worth of work into the prop-erty, with plans to open for business by De-cember 2013.

Hayes said Monday he was relieved to havethe support of the Middlefield residents.

“I’m very pleased to see the residents got

behind our project and gave it a resounding‘yes,’” Hayes said.

The former ski area, Hayes said, has beenon his radar for two years as a potential site foranother park. While other areas around the statehad looked promising, Hayes said the property’sproximity to Brownstone provided a uniquemarketing opportunity.

“With [Powder Ridge] being so close, webelieve we could market the two parks as oneyear-round facility,” Hayes said. “We’ve proventhat an extreme board park can work in this area,and we believe we can do the same thing inMiddlefield.”

Another aspect that appealed to Hayes wasthe chance to accommodate all walks of out-door enthusiasts. Hayes said that while Pow-der Ridge was always considered a ski areawell-suited for beginners, the mountain featuredone of the most difficult terrain parks in NewEngland, as well as the only half-pipe in Con-

necticut. Hayes added that he plans to includeother challenging obstacles at the park, includ-ing racing courses and jumps of varying diffi-culty.

“You will still be able to come and learn howto ski and snowboard, and others can enjoy themore extreme side of the sport,” he said.

Now that the sale is all but final, Hayesdoesn’t plan to waste any time developing thepark. He said Monday that in the next fewweeks, he plans to close the sale and begin se-curing and enclosing the property before win-ter comes. (Over the past few years, the prop-erty has been susceptible to theft of property,particularly copper.) Hayes said he hopes tobegin renovating some of the structures on site,as they are in poor shape.

“They are in bad shape,” Hayes said of thebuildings. “They absolutely will not surviveanother winter, so our objective is to restore

those structures.” According to the contract hesigned for the purchase, Hayes is expected toinvest at least $2 million into the property.

Hayes hopes to build off the success ofBrownstone, which has been a success story inPortland since it opened in 2007; on most sum-mer days, the park can be seen filled to capac-ity. Brownstone has also been an asset to thetown, providing jobs, drawing out-of-townersto Portland businesses and broadening the taxbase.

With the Portland park stable, Hayes said hefelt the company was ready to expand.

“I think the timing was right for Brownstone,because the company has matured,” he said.

So next summer, when the wakeboards andzip lines are put away at Brownstone, don’t fret;just break out your winter jackets andsnowboard and head across the bridge toMiddlefield, to the area’s newest ski park.

Emergency management coordinator Richard Klotzbier welcomed a group of 15residents this week that will serve as the town’s first Community EmergencyResponse Team (CERT). The group will be activated to assist residents duringnumerous situations, including natural disasters and large fires.

East Hampton’s FirstCERT Team Sworn In

by Joshua AnusewiczOn Tuesday night, 15 volunteers were offi-

cially sworn in as East Hampton’s first Com-munity Emergency Response Team (CERT).

The team completed 20 hours of training overeight weeks, and is now certified to assist dur-ing emergencies in town. According to Rich-ard Klotzbier, the town’s emergency manage-ment coordinator, the team will be available tohelp in numerous situations, including sheltermanagement, crowd control, and evacuations.

The need for a CERT became apparent overthe past year, with a tropical storm, a freaknor’easter and the devastating Bevin Bell fireall taking place in the past 12 months. Klotzbiersaid that in all of those instances, the CERTcould have been called in to assist.

Klotzbier called the team of volunteers “am-bitious” and prepared to serve in times of need.

“We’ve got a good team here,” he said of theCERT. “It’s a great start.” Klotzbier added thatthe group plans to go through additional train-ing almost every month, which will includeshelter building by the Red Cross, search and

rescue, and first aid.The 15 members of the CERT are: William

Avery, Rachel Farkas, Victoria Farkas, EricGermain, William Hiers, Judy Klotzbier, AnneKlotzbier, Michael Lavoie, Karen Olson,Maureen Perrotti, Angela Sarahina, DavidShulman, Theresa Shulman, Richard Spiess andKevin Visintainer. Each of the members’ certi-fications will be good for one year.

Town Manager Michael Maniscalco andTown Council Chairwoman Sue Weintraubwere also on hand Tuesday to welcome the newvolunteers and thank them for their efforts.

“The number one priority in our communityis safety,” said Weintraub.

“We appreciate your volunteer efforts,”Maniscalco added. “A lot of things wouldn’tgo on in town without the participation ofpeople like yourselves.”

The CERT will be run under the direction ofKlotzbier, who will contact the state to activatethe team in times of need. To find out moreabout CERT, visit citizencorps.gov/cert.

Andover Elementary Spiffed Up for the School Yearby Geeta Schrayter

The corridors on the bottom level of AndoverElementary School are freshly painted and thenewly waxed floors shine and reflect the sun-light that pours in through the windows. Thebulletin boards are laden with words of wel-come and the names of students and teachersand the classrooms are clean and orderly, withdesks all aligned and books neatly stacked.

But those gleaming hallways and organizedclassrooms are empty: the “life” of the build-ing is missing. And according to Principal DaveGriffin, it will remain that way until Monday.

“Having the children come back – that’s whatputs the life into our building,” he said.

But while the faculty and staff at the schoolanxiously await the arrival of the students,they’ve kept busy preparing for another year.

“Our teachers, honest to goodness, it’s justamazing – from the time they get the call thattheir rooms are ready they’re back in here,” saidGriffin. “They’ve been in here since July so thebuilding’s really not been empty.”

Third grade teacher Jen Pugh could be foundin her room on Tuesday. She said everythingwas just about set for the students and she wasexcited about “starting life fresh.”

“It’s wonderful: a new set of students com-ing in that are just excited – it’s great. I can’twait. It’s here before you know it,” she said.

And while the teachers prepared their class-rooms, other staff and administrators workedon other routine summer work like redoing theschedules, ensuring the staff handbook is up-to-date, filing records, compiling the recordsfor last year’s sixth-graders moving over to themiddle school and “a lot of curriculum work.”

“It’s a busy time of the year,” said Griffin.“You come in here and you’re busy right untilthe last minute.”

As far as the building goes, Griffin said alongwith the usual cleaning routine – the buildingwas “95 percent spic-and-span” on Tuesday -the lower corridors and the stairwell werepainted, a few holes were fixed and some old

heating pipes were removed.“It looks very neat and clean and very wel-

coming to students and staff,” he said.Academic-wise, Griffin explained they were

preparing for the shift over to the Common CoreState Standards.

“Kindergarten and first grade will be fullyimmersed in Common Core curriculum” thisyear, he said, while second through sixth gradestudents will have a transition piece developedby the state.

“So in addition to the Connecticut state stan-dards we’re currently operating under, teach-ers will also have those additional pieces of theCommon Core” to implement.

Griffin continued on to say the different statemandates coming down would prove challeng-ing for the district. For instance, he explainedunder the Student Success Plan, the school hasto track student progress beginning in sixthgrade. Each sixth grade student will have to sitwith an advisor to take inventory of theirprogress.

“They’ll have to come up with a [career]goal,” he said, adding “that’s kind of a chal-lenge in a way because we’re talking about asixth-grader deciding on a goal for down theline – and again I think what they want are chil-dren to start thinking about options in life.”

Griffin added he had also received a piece oflegislature explaining the school will now needto survey the community to identify the num-ber of immigrants.

“In our reporting we used to have to reportnationalities, now it’s immigrant status… I’mnot quite sure how all that is fitting in. I imag-ine it has something to do with the new immi-gration laws and policies,” he said.

Also, under the new safe school climate leg-islation, students, parents and teachers will haveto be surveyed “on a number of items related toschool,” such as how they feel about the schooland academics and if they feel the school is asafe place to be. Two grades will take part inthe survey, which must occur every two years.

“So we’re going to have to choose the grades,survey, tally, then report to the state,” Griffinsaid.

Griffin also noted new teacher evaluationswould be implemented in the coming years andteachers will now be evaluated in part based onthe growth of their students.

“So those are some of the challenges that arecoming forward that should be interesting,” hesaid.

There will be some new equipment at theschool this year as well. In the preschool class,Griffin said a SMART Table had been pur-chased, “which is really cool.”

The children sit at the table and work throughdifferent tasks, such as manipulating shapes or

coordinating colors, with a partner.“So now for preschool all the way up to sixth

grade we have SMART Board technology,”Griffin said.

He added the bus company would also beinstalling new monitoring devices that recordvoice as well as video in all of their buses.

“This way it takes the grayness out of whodid what because it has sound and it also hasvisual,” he said, adding the monitors were a signof the times and just one more safety precau-tion.

But, of course, the hope is the big yellowbuses will be incident-free this year, which be-gins when they drop Andover’s kids off for theirfirst day of school on August 27.

At Andover Elementary School, the classrooms are primed and ready for thereturn of students and of the new year, which begins August 27.

Fire Destroys Portland Homeby Joshua Anusewicz

An early morning fire Wednesday rippedthrough a Portland home and burned for overan hour as firefighters battled the “difficult”blaze.

Portland Fire Marshal Ray Sajdak said thefire occurred just before 2 a.m. Wednesdayon 25 Breezy Corner Rd. Firefighters thatreached the scene first observed a “fully-in-volved” fire in the upstairs apartment of anattached garage, Sajdak said.

With mutual aid from several towns, in-cluding Glastonbury, East Hampton, EastHaddam and Middletown, firefighters workedfor roughly an hour and a half on the blaze,which Sajdak said spread into the second floorand roof of the home.

Sajdak said the fire was a difficult one tobattle, as the remote area is not equipped withfire hydrants. Firefighters were forced to

shuttle water from tanker trucks to the house,which sits about 800 feet from the road andover 100 feet uphill. Sajdak added that thegarage also held various chemicals from thehomeowner’s son’s landscaping business,which forced firefighters to “back off a littlebit” several times.

The one occupant of the home was able toescape the house with no injuries, Sajdak said.The homeowner, according to Sajdak, wasfirst alerted to the fire by the smell of smokecoming through the air conditioning, then see-ing an orange glow in the window.

The fire caused “extensive” damage to thehome, Sajdak said, and is no longer habitable.Sajdak said that the cause of the fire has yetto be determined and, due to the extensivedamage, may not be determined at all. Headded that the fire was not deemed “suspi-cious.”

Portland Boat Works Owner Passes Away

Almost Time to Hit the Books in Portland

Those familiar with Portland BoatWorks will remember Jarvis Barton,who passed away earlier this month,cruising around in his golf cart with hisfriend, Tommy Girl.

by Joshua AnusewiczIt’s safe to say that Portland has valued its

shipbuilders over the years, and with the townresting on the shores of the Connecticut River,the longest river in New England, there havebeen plenty of them.

The most prominent name in the town’s ship-building history is Gildersleeve, the family thathelped drive the town’s shipping industry in the1800s and is now memorialized throughout thecommunity. Gildersleeve ships helped transportthe town’s brownstone across the world, put-ting Portland on the map as a place of industry.

Though the quarries no longer producebrownstone, and old shipping vessels have beenreplaced with modern pleasure crafts, boatingstill plays a major role in Portland, as marinasrun up and down the town’s stretch of river. Andfor over 60 years, the town’s boaters – and manyothers in the area – have known and respectedanother name in the Portland boating commu-nity: Jarvis Barton.

Barton, the former owner and founder ofPortland Boat Works on Grove Street, passedaway on Thursday, Aug. 9, at the age of 91. AU.S. Navy veteran, Barton leaves behind hiswife of 67 years, Doris, and his three children:Gregory, Paul and Jean.

Barton – affectionately known as “Jarv” –was born June 10, 1921, in East Hampton, andattended East Hampton schools as a child. Af-ter graduating high school, Barton served inU.S. Navy during World War II, serving on theU.S.S. Runner. During his service, Barton wasstationed in Tokyo Bay during the signing of

the peace treaty on Sept. 2, 1945, that effec-tively ended the war.

It was when he came back from his tour ofduty that he began his career in boating. Afterbeing employed at the former Holter’s BoatYard, Barton purchased the company from theowner after he passed away, thereupon found-ing Portland Boat Works. The family-ownedbusiness has been a mainstay in the commu-nity ever since, housing and servicing hundredsof boats over the years, forging strong relation-ships with all of those who did business withhim.

One local who had a strong relationship withBarton is Don Snyder, who knew Barton forover 20 years, ever since his father began keep-ing his boat at Portland Boat Works in 1990.Having lost both of his grandfathers before turn-ing one year of age, the young Snyder lookedup to Barton as a grandfather, a bond they main-tained until the day he died.

“He was just a fun-loving guy who loved life,loved his family,” recalled Snyder, who nowkeeps his own boat at Portland Boat Works.“They broke the mold with guys like Jarvis.They don’t build them like that anymore.”

They don’t build boats like they used to any-more, either, but nobody told Barton that. Whenhe wasn’t working – which wasn’t often; “heworked seven days a week, right up until theend,” Snyder said – Barton was usually tinker-ing on some kind of project, which includedthe restoration of antique cars, vintage boats,carousel horses and band organs. Barton even

by Joshua AnusewiczThe days are getting shorter, the nights are

getting a little cooler and the children of Port-land might be feeling a little droopy lately. Asthe summer winds down, they know what timeit is – time to go back to school.

While parents and students have been busymaking trips to the store for new clothes andschool supplies, the faculty and staff of all fivePortland schools have been hard at work pre-paring for the return of their pupils nextWednesday, Aug. 29.

Like other towns across the state, this yearwill be marked by sweeping changes in thePortland school system, all a part of the state’snew education reform. The new legislation willsee the most change in how students, teachers,and administrators are evaluated, holding theschool districts accountable for adhering to thestrict new guidelines.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sally Doyensaid Tuesday integrating the changes into theschool system was not going to be easy.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” she said, “butI’m looking forward to working with the teach-ers and administration to get it done.”

Portland schools will not be a part of thestate’s “pilot program” for teacher evaluation,Doyen said, but the school district will be work-ing to implement the evaluations over the nexttwo years.

Along with state reforms, the district – andparticularly the Board of Education – will befocused on two particular issues throughout thenext school year, Doyen said. The first, she re-lated, was the possibility of adding all-day kin-dergarten. While the discussion is currently inthe preliminary stages, Doyen said it has beenconsidered by the board as a possibility “downthe road,” with the current focus being on re-searching teacher availability and classroomspace. Doyen said the board would also bemeeting with the schools’ PTOs and the com-munity at large to gather input.

The other matter the board plans to look intois the future of the modular classrooms at Val-ley View School. The modular classrooms,which house the first-grade students, have out-lived their life expectancy by a considerablemargin, but have remained functional “thanksto the upkeep of the maintenance staff” for theschool district, Doyen said. The matter has beenaddressed by the board and a separate schoolbuilding committee in the past year, but Doyensaid “no major changes” have been decidedupon yet.

As the district as a whole looks into changeson the horizon, Doyen said there will be sub-stantial changes awaiting students in the threeelementary schools on Wednesday. At ValleyView, Gildersleeve and Brownstone Interme-

diate schools, iPads will now be part of the cur-riculum; Doyen said that each school will beequipped with two carts of 25 devices each,which will be shared by the entire school.Doyen said the iPads will be used in variouscapacities by the students, particularly in read-ing; she said the iPads are equipped with “read-ing instruction applications” that will providethe students with a wide range of tools to im-prove reading skills, including recording theirvoices while reading and looking up the defi-nitions of words.

Eileen Katz, principal at Gildersleeve, saidthat the school would also have a cart ofMacBooks for student use, as well. On top ofbeing used as part of the school’s curriculum,Katz said the new technology would be used tomonitor student progress, an idea that beganlast year with the implementation of handheldcameras and video recorders used to create a“portfolio” for each student. Katz said the hopeis to use the portfolios throughout the students’time in Portland schools to see how much theyhave progressed.

And if the iPads and MacBooks aren’tenough, all of the classes in Gildersleeve areequipped with SMART boards as well, Katzsaid.

Another addition Katz mentioned is the in-tegration of a new writing and reading programfrom kindergarten through sixth grade; last year,the elementary schools utilized a similar pro-gram in math that Katz called “a huge success.”

“It’s been a great fit with students and teach-ers,” Katz said of the math program, adding thatthe district saw improved Connecticut MasteryTest (CMT) scores in the subject.

Gildersleeve School will also see a uniqueaddition this year, as Katz said trash and fooddisposed of at lunches will now be put into alarge composter. The compost, Katz said, isplanned to be used on the school grounds, pos-sibly to create a garden.

At the middle school/high school, Doyensaid there will be no major changes in technol-ogy or student programs, but there will be anew handicapped parking area located withinthe drop-off circle in front of the building. Theparking area, Doyen said, will be cut into thegrass circle in the middle of the drop-off area.

With changes in place and more changes onthe horizon, the excitement in Portland schoolsis building. But the excitement is highest forthe start of the school year; Katz said she’s al-ready seen teachers and new students comingin and out of the building in recent weeks, pre-paring for what is hoped to be yet another suc-cessful year.

“You can feel the buzz and the anticipation,”Katz said.

built an entire boat by himself once, Snydersaid, naming it the George E. Bumstead, aftera former employee of his who had passed away,a true sign of the type of person he was.

“He just went above and beyond for peopleall of the time,” Snyder said. “He was a greatjudge of character; he had a natural ability forit.”

That showed in the people he employed,many of whom have been with the companyfor many years. Employees like Irene Nicholscan recall Barton being “very good to work for”and the mutual respect shared between him andhis customers.

“He had a lot of friends and customers whothought very highly of him,” Nichols said. “Heworked well with everyone.”

Snyder mentioned Barton’s great relationshipwith the customers, as well, remembering himzipping around the boat yard in his golf cart,chatting with people as he went.

The loss of Barton has had a sobering effecton those who knew him, as employees and cus-tomers alike have taken his passing hard. LastFriday, over 250 people – some from out of state– attended a memorial service for Barton atPortland Boat Works, a tribute to his life andthe effect it had on others.

“It just tells you the kind of person he was,”Nichols said of the high attendance. She added,“I’m not sure you could even cover all that hedid over the years. He was a very giving per-son, but he did it quietly.”

Nichols said she will remember Barton like

It’s hard to believe, but in less than a week, these chairs will be in their properposition and filled by Portland High School students, ready to learn. All Portlandstudents will report to class on the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 29.

This quiet, empty, and clean hallway at Portland High School will soon be chock-full of students, busily visiting their lockers as they go from class to class. Teachersand administrators have been hard at work, preparing their classrooms and holdinglast-minute meetings to prepare for the upcoming school year.

most probably will – always working, alwaystinkering on a new project, or sketching for thenext project. While his legacy will live on inhis work, for those who knew Barton, he willbe remembered most for the relationships heforged with those around him, which won’tsoon be forgotten.

Colchester Selectmen OK Reorganizing of Departmentsby Katelyn Kelleher

The Board of Selectmen voted Thursday,Aug. 16, to accept a proposed reorganizationof the facilities and public works departments,and authorized the first selectman to sign allnecessary documents to implement the changes.

Under the new organization, the director offacilities, operations and grounds would be-come the director of operations, responsible forsupervising the custodians, transportation andfood services for the school district. For theremainder of the fiscal year, the position wouldcontinue to be funded 31.55 percent by the townand 68.45 percent by the school. Beginning withthe 2013-14 fiscal year, the position will befully-funded by the Board of Education. How-ever, the director of educational operationswould continue to work with the town on theWilliam J. Johnston Middle School/Commu-nity Center/Senior Center project and the En-ergy Performance Contract project.

The facilities manager, formerly in charge ofsupervising the custodians, would remainfunded half by the Board of Education and halfby the town, but would be moved to work un-der the director of public works.

The grounds crew leader would be movedfrom working under the former director of fa-cilities, operations and grounds to working un-der the director of operations in the Public

Works Department.The Board of Education voted in favor of the

reorganization at a July 10 meeting.There would be no change in salary for the

facilities manager or grounds crew leader. Thedirector of educational operations, previouslythe director of facilities and operations, wouldsee a $10,000 decrease, which would offset a$10,000 increase to the director of public works.

Also at last Thursday’s meeting, membersfrom the Planning and Zoning Department dis-cussed options for a $300,000 Main Street In-vestment Grant (MSIG) application to beautifythe town. The grant favors “shovel-ready”projects that will contribute to the economy oftowns right away, Town Planner Adam Turnersaid. A memo from Turner identified three suchprojects, but recommended a Main Street andLinwood Avenue streetscape for the applica-tion, due Sept. 28.

Wetland Enforcement Officer Jay Gigliottipresented the plan for the streetscape, whichwould connect sidewalks from the ColchesterFederated Church to the main entrance of Stop& Shop on Linwood Avenue. Stamped concretewould be put between the sidewalk and the curband there would also be plantings, a retainingwall and lighting installed on the south side ofthe road.

Colchester Boards Agree on Energy Savings Programby Katelyn Kelleher

The boards of selectmen, finance and edu-cation came to consensus Tuesday about anenergy savings program to pursue and to financeit through lease-purchasing.

The project involves working with an En-ergy Services Company (ESCO) to make en-ergy efficient improvements to town and schoolfacilities. The town chose Honeywell for theproject after putting out a request for proposalin March 2010, which then assessed town build-ings for options to make them more energy ef-ficient. Honeywell reported back with energy-saving package options.

In his Aug. 9 “Selectman Notes,” posted onthe town website, First Selectman GreggSchuster said the company guarantees the town“a certain level of energy savings in order tocover our financing costs. If we do not achievethe energy savings guaranteed, the ESCO mustwrite us a check for the difference.”

Director of Facilities Greg Plunkett presentedthe boards with two options: alternative “A” andalternative “B.” Both alternatives did away withseveral capital items presented on an originalplan in June, Plunkett said, adding he thoughtit was the consensus among the boards “thatthe capital projects included really weren’t ap-propriate.”

Plunkett said the capital items included somesecurity items in Town Hall and “things thatjust never seemed to get into the budget.”

Alternative “B” was the original plan with-out those capital items and alternative “A” tookout the capital items and anything that did nothave energy savings within a “reasonableamount of time,” Plunkett said.

The board quickly came to a consensus thatalternative “B” was the plan to pursue. Thoughalternative “A” was about $300,000 less than$3.95 million alternative “B,” many incentivesprovided by Connecticut Light and Power

would be lost with the reduction of items inalternative “A.”

In alternative “B,” “we get $19,000 base in-centive, an additional $137,000 bonus incen-tive, which drops down the whole cost to$140,000 incrementally,” Schuster said. “Thenwe get an additional $17-18,000 a year in en-ergy savings. The payback really doesn’t changethat much when you go from alternate ‘A’ toalternate ‘B.’”

Including the incentives, it would take 10.79years for the town to see payback on the projectcost with alternative “B” and 10.96 years withalternative “A.”

Plunkett said Connecticut Light and Poweroffered the $137,061 bonus incentive becausethe town would be addressing multiple energyconservation measures in each of the facilities.“We’re not just changing lights,” he said.

The project would include upgrades and re-placements in Bacon Academy, Jack JackterIntermediate School, Colchester ElementarySchool, Cragin Library, both fire companies andTown Hall among other town facilities.

Board of Education member John Reeversaid he was concerned about technology re-placements that would take years for the en-ergy savings to exceed their cost.

“Are we really doing ourselves a service lock-ing ourselves into technology that might notwork or might be way obsolete?”

Selectman Stan Soby compared the projectto purchasing a home. “When people buy ahome, they finance it with a 30-year mortgage.Nobody expects the faucet to last 30 years,” hesaid. “There are certain things that are going tohave to be replaced. You have to look at thesavings.”

Chief Financial Officer Maggie Cosgroveadded the items would have to be replaced even-tually, but the town wouldn’t get the incentives

if they were not included in the project.Cosgrove and Honeywell representative

Doreen Hamilton listed several towns that haveseen “tremendous savings” through energy-sav-ing projects, including Danbury, East Hartford,Middletown and Reading, Mass.

Because of the savings, the project is, essen-tially, revenue-neutral, Board of Education ViceChairman Donald Kennedy said.

“It’s netting close to zero,” he said. “If it’sbetter than that, great.”

The boards came to a consensus that a lease-purchase agreement is the best way to financethe project after taking into consideration thelength of time and issuance fees involved inbonding.

Issuance fees for a bond total approximately$75,000 and the timeline to put together a bondis much longer than a lease, Cosgrove said. Thebond would also be a 14-year period at a 2.25percent interest rate for the savings to be higherthan the costs.

Cosgrove said the town should get good ratesfrom putting a lease out to bid and, dependingon the length of term, interest rates around 2.5percent.

“The difference between a lease and bond,the numbers are not a huge difference, but thereis a great deal more work involved in a bond,the timeline is longer and as a result we poten-tially would miss out on the incentives.”

The town would have until Nov. 6 to sign aletter of award to Connecticut Light and Powerfor the incentive money to be set aside. SteveWells, a resident involved with the project, ex-plained the town would not be obligated tomove forward with the project, but would havea certain amount of time to complete the projectonce the letter is signed to receive the incen-tives.

The boards had some debate on how to goabout a public vote on the project. While a bondwould require a referendum, a lease allows thevotes to be cast at a town meeting, providednone of the debt would be paid during the cur-rent fiscal year.

Selectwoman Rosemary Coyle said a refer-endum would give everyone an opportunity tovote, since it would be held for the entire day.A town meeting is limited to the number ofpeople who are able to attend.

The town “has a long history of people com-ing to vote who have never come to a townmeeting, who don’t know what they’re votingon,” Board of Finance member Thomas Kanesaid. “They’re hearing misinformation on thestreet. When it comes down to it, I’d rather havefewer informed voters than everyone in townwith 20 percent of them actually knowing whatthey’re voting on.”

Board of Finance Chairman Robert Tarlovsaid the same people who show up at a referen-dum could also show up at the meeting andagreed that residents often hear misinformationaround town that could sway their vote.

“I want people when they vote in any matterto do so in an educated fashion,” Schuster said.“This is a complicated project, there are a lotof numbers. I feel very comfortable to askpeople to give us an hour of your time, sit down,let us explain this project to you and why wethink this makes sense and then let’s have avote.”

Ultimately, the boards decided a town meet-ing would be the best way to vote.

Schuster said he will check with the townattorney about the possibility of sending outinformational mailings to residents and willwork on organizing multiple public hearingsbefore holding a town meeting.

“The grade on the south side of LinwoodAve. is not safe for pedestrians,” Gigliotti said.

Original plans included a welcome sign, butGigliotti said it would drive costs up too much.Instead, there will be a “green area” at the in-tersection of Main Street and Linwood Avenue.

Gigliotti said the project would cost approxi-mately $250,000-300,000 and the town couldapply for a maximum of $500,000.

Ford said the town should “go for the gold,”and look into applying for the whole grant, pos-sibly enough to put sidewalks on the other sideof the street. However, Town Engineer SalTassone said there is not enough land on theother side of the street for the sidewalks.

The selectmen also approved a $7,000 con-tract with Zambelli Fireworks for the town’s57 Fest Sept. 22 and a potential date in 2013for the same amount, subject to budget approvalin the 2013-14 fiscal year. Selectman JamesFord said the town cannot commit funds in sub-sequent budgets.

Zambelli was selected over other companieswithin the price range due to its extensive grandfinale, a memo from Recreation ManagerCheryl Hancin said.

The board also approved a resolution to re-new $9,998 in grant funding for the seniorcenter’s Making Memories program. The pro-

gram is designed to help dementia patients.Action was postponed on the proposed dis-

continuance of an abandoned portion of Reser-voir Road. The item was supposed to be re-viewed by the Planning and Zoning Commis-sion at its Aug. 15 meeting, which was can-celed.

Schuster said he was going to forward threeproposed ordinances – pertaining to Sundayalcohol sales, the Open Space Advisory Boardand building permit fees – on to town counselfor review. The proposed Sunday alcohol ordi-nance is to align the town’s Sunday alcoholsales with the state’s permitted hours. Proposedchanges to the Open Space Advisory Boardwould require the seven-member committee toconsist of a representative of the ColchesterLand Trust, a representative of the fish and gameclub and five members at large.

The building permit fees ordinance woulddouble the fee for work done without the properpermits, with the total payment not exceeding$1,000. Selectwoman Rosemary Coyle pointedout that doubling fees is the most popular pen-alty from information available from othertowns.

The next Board of Selectmen meeting willbe held Thursday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. at TownHall.

Beloved Former Bacon Principal Rememberedby Katelyn Kelleher

When a young, poor boy showed up to schoolin the middle of winter, freezing in just a T-shirt, Everett Herden found him a coat.

That memory came to mind when BobDuguay thought back to his time as a teacherat Bacon Academy.

“It was done without a lot of pretense; theprincipal stands there as they get off the bus,”he said. “He just wanted to make sure he had acoat to wear.”

Herden, 80, a former teacher and principalat Bacon, passed away last Saturday, Aug. 18,at the Middlesex Hospital Hospice inMiddletown.

Duguay, who taught at Bacon from 1971-75, when the elementary and middle schoolshared a building, called Herden his mentor.He remembered him as an upbeat, cheerfulstraight-shooter who “had two concerns: for thewell-being of his students and teachers.”

Herden spent his entire 35-year educationcareer at Bacon, starting as a biology teacherin 1959, advancing to administrative roles andretiring as a teacher in 1994. He established theBacon Academy Biology Scholarship, stillawarded to two graduating seniors annually.

Irene Herden knew her husband had a big

impact on his students, many of whom she saidkept in touch with him after graduation.

“He just liked teaching,” she said. “He al-ways loved it.”

She then added with a slight laugh, “Not thepaperwork, but the teaching.”

Herden spent much of his free time impact-ing students’ lives as well, serving a total of 24years on the East Haddam Board of Education,from 1977-88 and 2001-11, as both a memberand chair.

The board’s current chair, Nancy Haslam,also considered Herden a mentor. “When I goton the board he stepped up and introduced meto a lot of the protocols.

“He has such phenomenal insight and wasreally a phenomenal educator,” she said.“Whenever something controversial or difficultwould come up before the board he was able tosee it from the students’ vantage point. He wasa man of reason.”

Even after deciding not to run again for aseat on the Board of Education again in 2011,Herden and Haslam kept in touch.

“He would call from time to time and seehow I was doing,” she said. “I just, I lost a goodfriend.”

Haslam said Herden “touched a lot of life”in East Haddam, despite never actually teach-ing there.

“He had a very quiet way about him, butwhen he spoke people listened because he al-ways knew how to deal with so many situa-tions that really impacted students,” she said.“They felt very connected to him. ... He was sowell-known and respected in our communityfor his work on behalf of young people andfamilies.”

Herden also served on the East HaddamDemocratic Town Committee, along with cur-rent chairman Brad Parker, a friend of Herden’sfor over 40 years.

Parker spoke of Herden’s service on theBoard of Education as a dedication to the stu-dents of East Haddam.

“A lot of time when people get on those typesof boards they have an agenda – they might havea kid in school,” he said. “Everett only wantedwhat was best for the kids. That’s all that wason his mind.”

Board of Education member AmyApostoleris said Herden’s enthusiasm for edu-cation came through in all the decisions hemade.

“He brought a lot of experiential input fromhaving been in education for so many years,just things that worked and were tried and true,”she said. “He just really wanted to make surethat kids got an education and nothing was heldback.”

When Herden wasn’t devoting himself toeducation, Parker said he was a sports enthusi-ast, following UConn football and men’s bas-ketball.

After retirement, Herden and his wife alsotraveled all over the state to senior centers,teaching driving courses to people over 55 forauto insurance reductions. “He was very activeand community-minded,” Parker said. “It al-ways made him feel good.”

Herden also retired at the rank of full colo-nel from the United States Army Reserve Medi-cal Service Corps after 37 years of service.

Haslam is still coming to terms with the lossof her friend and mentor. “I just still find it hardto believe,” she said. “But we’ll move on beingbetter people for having known and associatedwith him.”

Herden’s obituary is found on page 13 in thisweek’s Rivereast.

Hebron Selectmen Eye Starting Charter Revision Processby Geeta Schrayter

The time has come to open up the towncharter for revision, the Board of Selectmenagreed at its meeting Thursday, Aug. 16. Butbefore the process gets underway, selectmenfeel it would be best to hold a workshop todiscuss what possible changes should takeplace.

“We should have a workshop first beforepulling the trigger,” said selectman Mark Stuart,in reference to the timeframe imposed by statestatute for the completion of a charter review.According to the town attorney, state statutemandates that once a resolution is made to ini-tiate a charter revision, the board has 30 daysto appoint a Charter Revision Commission.Afterwards, the commission has to submit itsreport to the selectmen no later than 16 monthsafter its appointment.

Stuart continued on to say a workshop shouldbe scheduled and an attempt should be made toget as many participants from within the towngovernment to attend as possible along withinforming the public of its occurrence.

“So even though it’s not a public hearing,the workshop will provide an opportunity rightthen before the commission is formed for someearly feedback,” he said.

The selectmen also discussed what themakeup of the commission should be. Stuart

said he’d like to see an eight-member commit-tee, and two of those members should either becurrently serving on a board or have served pre-viously.

“They bring a different perspective,” he said,“because they operated under the charter.”

Selectwoman Gayle Mulligan said sheagreed with Stuart’s point.

“I think it’s important to have someone onthere that’s functioned under the charter,” shesaid.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Jeff Watt saidhe didn’t have an issue with having commis-sion members that were past members of townboards, but he wasn’t so sure about having cur-rent town officials on there.

“I think it should be more the citizens whoare on there,” he said.

In the end, the selectmen decided an effortwould be made to have someone who hadserved previously on a board as part of the com-mission, but if none stepped forward, “thenwe’ll look for a current elected official,” saidWatt.

The charter revision timeline was also dis-cussed. The selectmen felt that if the charterwere revised with the intention of having itready to be voted on at the November 2013 elec-tion, the commission may not have an adequate

amount of time to prepare the revisions, holdpublic hearings and then submit them to theselectmen, who would then make their own rec-ommendations to the proposed revisions.

But if the changes weren’t voted on until the2014 election, and the revision began soon af-ter the workshop, that would leave a signifi-cant amount of time between the commission’scompletion and the vote.

“I just think out of respect for the commis-sion, we have to move along [with the vote] atthat time.”

Also, Watt said, if the goal was to have therevisions ready for the 2014 election, the pro-cess could be held off until the timeframe wouldmatch up.

Still another option would be to hold a spe-cial election on the proposed changes. How-ever, selectmen said they felt a special meetingmay not bring out the required amount of vot-ers.

Executive Assistant Donna Lanza said she’dwork up timelines for each election so the se-lectmen could decide which option would fitbest.

The workshop to further the discussion on acharter revision is scheduled for Saturday, Sept.15.

* * *Also at the meeting, a paving bid was

awarded to G&G Paving for the rental of pav-ing equipment.

Tierney explained other companies who hadsubmitted a bid wanted a day rate, “but G&Gwants to house the equipment at public worksand pay by the hour.”

He said that setup works in the town’s favor,because if there’s a day when the operator issick or it rains and paving doesn’t occur thetown won’t be wasting money.

“If we’re paving, we’re paying. If we’re not,we’re not,” said Tierney, adding the town hasworked with G&G for years – “we’ve beendoing it every year since I’ve been in town.”

The selectmen voted unanimously to awardthe bid to G&G paving at a rate of $960 perday; Tierney noted that while the rate is listedas “per day,” the company “breaks it out” to behourly.

G&G “has served the town well and is prettyinexpensive,” Tierney said.

* * *The next board of selectmen’s meeting is

scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m.in the Town Office Building, 15 Gilead St.

Hebron Residents Agree to Amston Land Conveyanceby Geeta Schrayter

At a brief town meeting held Thursday, Aug.16, residents agreed unanimously to accept theconveyance of two parcels of land from the townto the Amston Lake District via quit claim deed.

The conveyance was part of an agreementbetween Hebron and the Amston Lake District(ALD) for the demolition of Old Fire StationNo. 2, which hadn’t been used since the newFire Company No. 2 was completed on Route85 in 2005.

When the station initially fell into disuse, theproperty was offered to the ALD; however, thedistrict’s interest was in the land, not the build-ing, and preserving open space in its watershed.

As a result of discussions between the dis-trict and the town as to an agreeable scenario,the decision was made to demolish the fire sta-tion. The ALD Board of Directors felt it would

be easier for the town to handle the demoli-tion; it would then reimburse Hebron for thecost of the project up to $45,000. Then, afterthe demolition was completed, the land wouldbe handed over to the district at which pointthey would start paying taxes on the parcels,which total .57 acres.

But before the demolition could take placethe land needed to belong to Hebron. The .31-acre parcel where the parking lot sat alreadybelonged to the town, but the .26-acre parcelthat housed the fire station belonged to the ALD– that is, until a special town meeting held Aug.2 where residents voted unanimously to acceptthe .26-acre parcel.

The abatement process for areas of the build-ing where asbestos was used then began theweek of Aug. 10. On Thursday, Interim TownManager Andy Tierney said the abatement pro-

cess was on schedule and the demolition wasscheduled to begin on Sept. 4, weather permit-ting.

Last week’s town meeting was attended by43 residents. Among them was selectman DanLarson, who said he thought the demolition andconveyance was “a good thing” – but added,on a more bittersweet note, “it does close out achapter in the history of the Amston Lake FireCompany,” which he called “a very proud or-ganization.

“We’re very lucky to have people in our rankswho have been involved [with the fire depart-ment] for 30-40 years,” Larson said. “I just thinkit’s great and my hat goes off to them.”

Hebron resident Bruce Degray, who startedvolunteering with the Amston Lake Fire De-partment in 1959 and said he is still respond-ing, called the situation “a sad thing,” and said

he’d built the portion of the roof that had beenremoved earlier in the day as part of the abate-ment.

“When you build something and it’s beingtorn down – it’s hard,” he said.

Degray continued on to say he felt the demo-lition of the building might have been preventedhad the building been maintained properly overthe years. He said the fire department has usedthe building for training, and it could have beenkept as such. But, he added, the town said theydidn’t want to do that, so the offer was made tothe ALD and the present situation arose as aresult.

And in the end, despite being hard, Degrayvoted along with the other 42 residents presentin favor of the conveyance and the resolutionpassed unanimously.

Hebron Ready to Head Back to Schoolby Geeta Schrayter

Hebron’s elementary schools are primed andready for the return of their students. Thegrounds have been groomed, the floors gleam,the classrooms are organized and decorated andthe teachers had their convocation on Wednes-day. Now, all that remains is for the familiarsound of children to echo through the halls.

“I’m very excited. It becomes a quiet andlonely place here without little feet patteringup the hallways,” said Superintendent ofSchools Ellie Cruz. “I love the first day ofschool: the energy, the parents on the sidewalkwith their cameras, kids getting off the buseswith their new backpacks and just their joy –I’m really looking forward to it.”

And as the children enter their respectivebuildings, they’ll be stepping into schools thathave been prepped for their arrival all summerlong.

“There’s so much that goes into the start ofthe school year,” said Gilead Hill School Prin-cipal Kathy Veronesi.

Some of those preparations involve routinework like ordering supplies and updating thestaff handbooks. Hebron Elementary SchoolPrincipal Amy Campbell said this year, her andVeronesi worked to make a combined studenthandbook to make things easier for parents withkids at both schools.

Campbell continued to explain there was alot of classroom movement – at least a dozenrooms were changed – particularly since thefourth grade portables had been demolished.Those teachers were distributed elsewhere inthe building, which meant “a lot of moving andpacking for not only the teachers but the custo-dians,” she said.

“When someone who has taught for 30 yearsleaves a classroom, there’s 30 years of stuff,”said Veronesi, calling the custodial staff “re-markable.”

Every summer the building is thoroughlycleaned and in order to get the floors waxed,each room needs to be emptied. Adding theroom moves on top of that meant the processwas “a huge, huge endeavor and it took thewhole custodial staff working as a team to makethat happen” Veronesi explained.

She added restrictions on the use of pesti-cides for ground maintenance meant more work– and more weeds to deal with – when keepingup the schools’ properties.

“Honestly, there was a weed bigger than akid outside [Gilead Hill School] at the begin-ning of summer. I was like ‘that weed couldeat a child!’” Veronesi laughed. “But the towncame in and they just did such a beautiful jobin terms of cleaning up all the shrubs and stuffoutside the school and I think it makes a differ-ence.”

Veronesi stressed the importance of makingsure both the interior and exterior of the schoolis clean, safe and well-kept.

“I want people who walk into this school tofeel really, really proud of what happens here,”she said.

Veronesi added everything was also set forfull-day kindergarten, but she noted it wasn’treally a new initiative since there had alwaysbeen two sections. The difference this year isthere will be five.

Campbell said there will be one less bus this

year due to the drop in enrollment, which meantreconfiguring some of the runs. Parking has alsoseen some changes at Hebron Elementary, inan effort to have fewer cars backed out ontoRoute 85 and improve the pick-up and drop-off process. The visitor parking lot will now bethe lot closest to the baseball field, she ex-plained. During pick-up, children will be lin-ing up and using the exits on either side of thegym based on their last name “so there’s lesscongestion in the hallway, which was a safetyconcern.”

In preparation for the switch to the CommonCore State Standards, which looks to align cur-riculums throughout the country, volunteersfrom each grade level got together at the be-ginning of the summer to work on writing unitsin line with the standards, explained Campbell.

“We’ve got the beginnings of two readingand two math units ready for each grade level,”she said, adding the same group continued towork throughout the summer on refining theunits and they now needed to be taught to therest of the teachers.

“We are providing some professional devel-opment that will go along with that. We’re hop-ing our grade levels are able to do a pilot run ofthose four units,” she said.

“Call me crazy, but it’s so exciting,” Veronesisaid of the changing curriculum. She added theunits will be piloted, then the teachers will meet“and debrief and improve” them.

Campbell also felt implementing the Com-mon Core would be exciting - but challenging,too.

“Our students do very well, so we’re veryexcited to be able to increase the rigor of thework that we’re asking them to do,” Campbellsaid. “Will it be challenging? Yeah, but teach-ers have worked hard to make the implementa-tion as smooth as possible. It won’t be easy butit’ll be smooth.”

Campbell added she was looking forward tohaving a full year in her position as principal(she took over in January when then-principalKevin Hanlon moved to a different district), andshe was most excited about “hopefully just anice, calm year with no huge weather.”

Last year, the school year began with thewrath of Tropical Storm Irene, which resultedin school closings. Then, a freak snowstorm inOctober resulted in even more days off.

But Veronesi said she always expects theunexpected.

“You expect the unexpected and you justcan’t call it a problem or an obstacle; it’s just[the way it is]. You have 400 little people andlike 65 staff members and then all their parentsand cars in and out and people getting sick andthen the unknowns like weather and fugitives.”(During the start of Veronesi’s first year as prin-cipal, she was forced to put the school intolockdown after there were reports of an escapedfugitive in the area).

“You just have to go with it,” she said, add-ing with the right procedures in place “you’reable to respond to and react to them.

“It’s such an exciting place to be,” Veronesiadded. “It’s an exciting time and I think every-body ultimately feels the same way: there’s thepart of this that has to do with the anticipationand really, what we want to do is we just wantto get started. We just want to get the kids in

The freshly waxed floor of the gym at Hebron Elementary School gleams: readyfor students to start using it again as the school year begins on Monday.

The classrooms have been cleaned and the desks have been organized. Thenametags have been placed and all that remains is the return of Hebron’s studentson August 27.

and get going.” And administrators aren’t the only ones to

feel that way.Third-grade teacher Julia Clark said every-

thing in her room was coming together. “Wejust need little bodies now,” she said. “I’m ex-cited about the same things we were excitedabout when starting school: the newness of it,the freshness of it, meeting the students andseeing who’s grown – they all come back withsuch a freshness about them. They’re ready togo.”

For second-grade teacher Rachel Thayer,

having a class of almost entirely new studentswas “super exciting.”

“This year I have a whole brand new crewso I’m super excited… it’ll be fun when I geteverything ready,” she said.

With the countdown to school winding down,Thayer has only a few more days to make sureeverything’s in place for the start of whatCampbell calls “the second new year.”

“In no other career do you get two newyears,” she smiled.

The first day of school – or the “second newyear” – begins Monday, Aug. 27.

From the Editor’s Desk

Observations & Ruminationsby Mike Thompson

“It’s the most wonderful time of theyear…”

Around this time every year, I tend to thinkback to the old Staples commercial that fea-tures that old Christmas chestnut; in the spot,a man delightfully roams the aisles, pickingup school supplies, while his crestfallen chil-dren slog behind him. I don’t have kids, butthat commercial still cracked me up everytime I saw it. The dad’s joyous expressionwas hilarious.

And while it’s not the most wonderful timeof year for me personally – fall in New En-gland is pretty sweet, but summer alwaysseems to go just too fast – it is time to thinkabout reading, writing, arithmetic, pens, pen-cils, erasers and all that other stuff. It’s back-to-school time once again, which means it’stime for the annual Rivereast back-to-schoolissue. There are articles by reporters JoshuaAnusewicz, Katelyn Kelleher and GeetaSchrayter about the new school year startingin the Rivereast towns and what students andparents can expect; school bus routes; schoollunch price information; and much, muchmore.

* * *Speaking of heading back to school, this

week I came an interesting, lighthearted list,compiled by staff at Beloit College in Wis-consin. It detailed some of the experiencesshared by this year’s crop of incoming col-lege freshmen – i.e., kids born in the year1994. For this year’s freshmen (and bewarned: some of this may make you feel justa wee bit old):

— Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Rich-ard Nixon have always been dead;

— Robert De Niro is thought of more asGreg Focker’s long-suffering father-in-lawthan as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway;

— there are few memories of Bill Clintonas president;

— it may be difficult to picture people ac-tually carrying luggage through airports ratherthan rolling it;

— there has always been football in Jack-sonville, but never in Los Angeles;

— the Green Bay Packers have always cel-ebrated with the Lambeau Leap;

— exposed bra straps have always been afashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunc-tion to be corrected quietly by well-meaningfriends.;

— a significant percentage will enter col-lege already displaying some hearing loss;.

— women have always piloted war planesand space shuttles;

— White House security has never felt itnecessary to wear rubber gloves when gaygroups have visited;

— Billy Graham is as familiar to them asOtto Graham was to their parents.

— Selena’s fans have always been inmourning.

— History has always had its own chan-nel.

— chronic fatigue syndrome has alwaysbeen officially recognized with clinical guide-lines.

— for as long as they’ve been old enoughto know what baseball was, Cal Ripken hasheld the record for most consecutive baseballgames played, not Lou Gehrig.

— for most of their lives, their movies havecome on DVDs, not videotapes.

* * *Recently in one of my columns, I used the

expression “run the gamut.” Upon reading thecolumn, a friend asked, “What’s a gamut?” Ipaused, and thought, and had to honestly re-ply, “Um…..I…don’t know.” I knew what theexpression “run the gamut” meant – basically,it means “includes everything” – so this wasn’tone of those Princess Bride-esque moments(“You keep using that word. I don’t think itmeans what you think it means”). But it wasjust one of those expressions I’d always usedwithout giving much thought to its origins.

If you’re like me – and really, everyoneshould be like me; the world would be morefun – you may be wondering the same thing.So, here’s a quick little etymology lesson:

The word “gamut” dates way back, to the1520s, and originally stood for the lowest notein the medieval musical scale. It is actually acontraction of “gamma ut,” which derivedfrom “gamma,” the Greek letter, indicating anote below A, and “ut,” which at the timestood for the low note on the six-note musi-cal scale that took names from correspondingsyllables in a Latin hymn for St. John theBaptist’s Day. (“Ut” later became “Do,” andtoday we of course know the scale as “Do ReMi Fa So La Ti Do.”)

“Gamut” eventually came to mean “thewhole musical scale.” Around the 1620s iswhen the more figurative, non-musical use ofthe phrase – i.e., “the entire range” – cameinto being, and then “run the gamut” devel-oped, to mean simply “run the entire range.”

So, there ya go; next time you use that ex-pression, if somebody quizzes you as to whatexactly it means, now you know.

* * *See you next week.

MarlboroughPolice News

8/19: Jose Perez, 31, of 47 Bodwell St., Hart-ford, was charged with DUI, two counts of riskof injury to a minor, misuse of marker plates,operating a motor vehicle without insurance,operating a motor vehicle without registration/license and failure to maintain a lane, StatePolice said.

8/10: Omal Dawson, 24, of 7 Fern Dr.,Bloomfield, was charged with DUI and speed-ing, State Police said.

Colchester Police News

Hebron Police News

8/14: Numerous jewelry items were reportedstolen from a Hillside Lane home at 2 p.m.,Colchester Police said. The case is still underinvestigation.

8/15: Heidi Burton, 46, of 25 Prentice HillRd., Hebron, was charged with permitting aminor to possess alcohol in a dwelling, StatePolice said.

8/16: Daniel Kowalsky, 25, of 36 HarvestLn., was charged with possession of narcotics,possession of a controlled substance, posses-sion of a hallucinogenic substance, possessionof drug paraphernalia and illegal sale of pre-scription drugs, State Police said.

8/16: David Hosp, 42, of 347 Chestnut HillRd., was charged with DUI, operation of amotor vehicle without minimum insurance andfailure to drive in the correct lane, State Policesaid.

8/17: Kelly Green, 34, of 39 Pickerel LakeRd., was charged with second-degree failure toappear, State Police said.

8/18: Shawn Mawhiney, 42, of 5 Mary Ln.,was charged with DUI, State Police said.

8/19: Joseph Octave, 43, of 157 Bailey Rd.,Rocky Hill, was charged with DUI, State Po-lice said.

8/15: Robert Fearon, 80, of 206 West St., wasissued an infraction for not driving a reason-able distance apart after he was unable to stopand struck a vehicle making a left turn fromRoute 85 onto Daly Road, State Police said.The driver of the second vehicle, ChelseyCollins, 19, of 601 Cottontail Rd., MyrtleBeach, S.C., was transported to Hartford Hos-pital for minor injuries and a check-up. JeremyDavis, 22, of 323 Taylor St., Vernon, a passen-ger in Collins’ vehicle, was transported toMarlborough Medical Center for a cut over hisleft eye. A 23-month-old passenger in Collins’

vehicle was transported to Marlborough Medi-cal Center as a precaution. Fearon and a 16-year-old passenger in his vehicle were not in-jured.

8/16: Gregory Collins, 18, of 13 BasketshopRd., was charged with possession of drug para-phernalia and possession of a controlled sub-stance. State Police said.

8/19: James Morrell, 21, of 61 BrookwoodRd., Bethany, was charged with possession ofless than 0.5 ounces of marijuana, speeding,DUI and failure to maintain a lane, State Po-lice said.

ObituariesColchester

Margaret SouliaMargaret (Allen)

Soulia, “Maggie,” 78, ofColchester, widow ofthe late Charles R.Soulia, passed awayThursday, Aug. 16, atthe Middlesex Hospitalin Middletown sur-rounded by her lovingfamily. Born June 9,1934, in Boston, Mass.,she was a daughter ofthe late Ernest andIsabelle (Brawley)Allen Sr.

A dedicated caregiver, Maggie worked as acertified nurses’ aide at the former ColchesterConvalescent Home (now Harrington Court GHC)in Colchester for nearly 40 years. She also servedas caterer for both the Colchester Police and StatePolice Troop K for 14 years.

In her spare time, she loved creating silk floralarrangements as well as gardening, especiallycross-breeding irises. But most importantly, shewas a loving, patient and devoted angel on earthto so many – and will live in their hearts forever.

Survivors include six children, Mary Radwayand her fiancé, Robert McDaniel, Christine andFrank Lamprey and Kathleen and Ron Petro, allof Colchester, William and Debi Collins of Leba-non, Peter and Debi Soulia of Taftville and Jo-seph Soulia and Donna Gervais of Tinmouth, Vt.;13 grandchildren, Jennifer Hein, Michelle Coo-per, Douglas Collins, Heather and Wayne Radway,Shane and Meredith Soulia, Frankie and KathrynLamprey and Jeffrey, Taylor and Sydney Petro,Chrystal Burleigh and Ronnie White; six great-grandchildren, William Hein, Julie and WyattCooper and Dillon, Samantha and Peyton Soulia;two siblings and their spouses, Ernest and JanetAllen Jr. of So. Windsor and Judith and DarcyLoussier of Alaska; and numerous extended fam-ily members and friends.

She was predeceased by a daughter, ShirleyCollins Gibson and a sister, Shirley Stevens.

Friends called Monday, Aug. 20, at the Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home, 167 Old Hartford Rd.,Colchester. The funeral liturgy was celebratedTuesday, Aug. 21, directly at St. Andrew Church,128 Norwich Ave., Colchester. Burial followedin the New St. Andrew Cemetery, Colchester.

The family would like to extend their most sin-cere thanks to the staff of both the fifth floor andCCU at Middlesex Hospital for the incredible carethat they provided. In recognition, they encour-age that donations be made to Middlesex Hospi-tal, Office of Philanthropy, 28 Crescent St.,Middletown, CT 06457.

For online condolences, visit auroramccarthyfuneralhome.com.

ColchesterBernyce Ruiz

Bernyce Mary (Hunt) Ruiz, “Bea,” ofColchester, beloved wife of the late José Ruiz,died peacefully with her family by her side onThursday, Aug. 16.

The daughter of the late Joseph and Elizabeth(O’Keefe) Hunt, Bernyce was born in St. John’s,Newfoundland, Canada, where she met her hus-band, José. Married on Nov. 28, 1953, they livedin Newfoundland, New Mexico, New York, Colo-rado, Hawaii and countless other states while Joséserved in the Air Force. After his retirement, theysettled in Colchester, where they made their home.

She leaves behind her loving children, Kerryand his wife Carissa, of Windsor, Debbi and herhusband Larry, of Papillion, Neb., and Cathy, Joeand Sherri, all of Colchester. The joy of her lifewas her eight grandchildren, Mark Ryan and hiswife Jamie, Ashley, Tamara, Ronald, Taylor,Cayla, Kelsey and Sydney.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceasedby four sisters, Kay, Mary, Bridget and Alma.

She enjoyed spending time with her family andfriends, always ready to take a trip, whether downto New Jersey or out to Nebraska. One of her fi-nal trips was in July when she attended the wed-ding of her eldest grandchild, Mark Ryan in St.Louis.

Bernyce was a devout Catholic who spent twoChristmases caring for the poor in Haiti with theHaitian Health Foundation. An active parishio-ner of St. Andrew Church, she was a member ofthe Ladies Guild, the First Friday Rosary Groupand had served as a Eucharistic minister. Bernycewas also a member of the Auxiliary of the Adler-Boluck Post 6990 VFW in Colchester.

Friends celebrated her life Tuesday, Aug. 21,at the Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home, 167 OldHartford Rd., Colchester. The funeral liturgy wascelebrated Wednesday, Aug. 22, directly at St.Andrew Church, 128 Norwich Ave., Colchester.Committal followed in the family plot in St. Jo-seph Cemetery, Willimantic.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memorymay be made to the Haitian Health Foundation,97 Sherman St., Norwich, CT 06360.

For online condolences, visitauroramccarthyfuneralhome.com.

ColchesterWalter Popowich

Walter “Walt” Popo-wich, 79, of Colchester,died peacefully Satur-day, Aug. 18, at Mid-dlesex Hospital HospiceCare in Middletown.

He was born Oct. 17,1932, in New London tothe late Peter andKsenia (Zulusky)Popowich. Walter issurvived by his lovingwife of 51 years,Beverly (Higgins)Popowich, his sons, Martin and wife Jane Zibuda,Brian and wife, Andrea Zibuda; daughters, Doreenand husband Jeffrey Janssen and Diane Jordan;grandchildren, Rachel and husband RobertHenneberger, Matthew Przybyl, Jennifer and hus-band, Drew Johnston, Joshua and wife, BrookeCurrie, Marjorie Jordan and Adam, Andrew,Megan and Ava Zibuda; and great-grandchildrenClara, Sofia, Phoebe, Manny, Matthew, Summer,Rebekah, and Owen; his sister-in-law, DorisPopowich; along with many dear nieces, neph-ews and extended family and friends.

He was predeceased by his brother, RaymondPopowich; sister, Frances Varnish; and his beloveddaughter-in-law, Helen Zibuda.

Mr. Popowich worked for the State of Con-necticut Department of Transportation, retiringafter 37 years. He was devoted to his family andloved spending time with his grandchildren. Waltenjoyed bowling, bicycling, and the special geta-ways to Misquamicut Beach, R.I., with the loveof his life, Beverly. He was an avid Red Sox andNew York Giants fan.

Walt was known to so many as a caring manalways lending a helping hand to anyone in need.He enjoyed spending time with his daughter’s JackRussell Terrier, Sara, who brought him much joyand comfort.

Friends called Wednesday, at the Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home, 167 Old Hartford Rd.,Colchester.

Funeral services were Thursday, Aug. 23, di-rectly at the Marlborough Congregational Churchlocated at 35 S. Main St. Burial in the MarlboroCemetery will be private.

Those who wish may make a donation to hisChurch or The Mitchell Farm Equine RetirementSanctuary, 300 East Haddam Rd., Salem 06420.

For online condolences, visit auroramccarthyfuneralhome.com.

ColchesterEverett L. Herden Jr.

Everett L. Herden Jr., 80, longtime resident ofEast Haddam, beloved husband of Irene L.(Bryson) Herden, passed away Saturday, Aug. 18,at the Middlesex Hospital Hospice in Middletown.Born Jan. 12, 1932, in Hartford, he was the sonof the late Everett and Lillian (Mannell) HerdenSr.

A longtime educator and administrator, heearned his Bachelor of Science degree fromSpringfield College in 1954, his Master of Sci-ence degree from the University of Illinois in 1956and his graduate certificate from the Universityof Hartford in 1972.

His career in education spanned 35 years, in-cluding serving as principal of Bacon Academyin Colchester. Whether at school or in the com-munity, he was a consummate educator.

He was a member and past chairman of theEast Haddam Board of Education for many years,founding member of the East Haddam RecreationCommission and volunteer for numerous com-munity events. In his spare time, he was an avidhunter and fisherman.

Mr. Herden served for 37 years in the U.S.Army Reserve Medical Service Corps, retiring atthe rank of full colonel.

Friends called Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Au-rora-McCarthy Funeral Home, 167 Old HartfordRd., Colchester. Funeral services followed by ren-dering of military honors will be 11 a.m. Friday,Aug. 24, directly at St. Stephen’s EpiscopalChurch, 31 Main St., East Haddam. Burial in theFirst Church Cemetery, East Haddam, will beprivate.

The family expressly requests that flowers beomitted and that donations in his memory be madeto the following organizations to help fund edu-cational scholarships that were dear to his heart:Bacon Academy, 611 Norwich Ave., Colchester,CT 06415; Nathan Hale-Ray High School, 15School Dr., East Haddam, CT 06423; ProjectOceanology, 1084 Shennecossett Rd., Groton, CT06340; Westborough High School, 90 West MainSt., Westborough, MA 01581; or to the NotreDame Preparatory School and Marist Academy,1300 Giddings Rd., Pontiac, MI 48340.

PortlandEdward S. Dunham

Edward “Ed” S. Dunham, 64, of Portland,passed from this life Monday, Aug. 13, after abrief illness. Ed was born Oct. 21, 1947, inWillimantic, and graduated from Windham HighSchool. He resided in Middletown and Portlandmost of his adult life.

Ed was a pillar of the community, always quickto offer advice to politicians and public figures.He was formerly a member of the Portland FireDepartment Company No. 1 and for many yearsserved on the Portland Fair Committee. Ed was alicensed pyrotechnic engineer for the John andMichael Dapkus Fireworks Company and proudlyserved as the chairman of the Portland FireworksCommittee, always striving to have the best fire-works display in the state.

Ed attended a local culinary institute and wasowner and manager of Frederico’s Catering Ser-vice. He was the owner and manager of HauntedStar Productions, and provided sound and light-ing for concerts and public events, as well as be-ing an agent for many bands and vocalists.

Ed was an avid NASCAR enthusiast, being oneof Joey Logano’s greatest fans and a dear friendof Joey’s grandfather, “Butch” Logano, whopreceeded Ed in death.

For 14 years, Ed worked as house propertymanager and chef at Xi Chapter of Psi UpsilonFraternity at Wesleyan where he was recognizedas a brother. All 750 of Ed’s fraternity brothersare grateful for his unparalleled leadership as prop-erty manager at 242 High St. and as chef of theChique Chaque Dining Club.

Ed instilled in his young undergraduate broth-ers his ideals of providing service before self andtaking personal responsibility at all times. Theannual public service dinners at Psi Upsilon willbe named in Ed’s honor in perpetuity. Ed willposthumously receive the Bishop Welsch LifelongLeadership Award, the fraternity’s highest awardthis October at Wesleyan’s Memorial Chapel.

Ed is sadly missed by his dear friend and busi-ness partner, Ian Pratt, the brothers of Psi Upsi-lon and his many close friends who he consid-ered to be his family.

A memorial service to celebrate Ed’s life willbe held at the Wesleyan Psi Upsilon Fraternity,242 High St., Middletown, Saturday, Aug. 25,from 2-4 p.m.

Each year, Ed worked endlessly to make hisfavorite town event, the Portland Fireworks, ahuge success. Donations in memory of Ed can bemade to Portland Fireworks, c/o Portland Police265 Main St., Portland, CT. 06480.

To send an online expression of sympathy, visitportlandmemorialfh.net.

ColchesterBethany Louise Manning

Bethany Louise Manning, 60, of Lebanon,passed away Tuesday, Aug. 21, in Colchester.Born April 21, 1952, in Willimantic, she was adaughter of Oliver Manning of Lebanon and thelate Lucille (Storrs) Manning.

Bethany, a lifelong resident of Lebanon, gradu-ated from Lyman Memorial High School andMohegan Community College. She was a mailcarrier in Chaplin, Eastford and Ashford for manyyears. Later, she was a caretaker and companionto homebound seniors. She had a gift for befriend-ing isolated and lonely people.

In addition to her father, she leaves three lov-ing sisters and their husbands: Mary Ann andGarland Thomen, Carolyn and Jim Dalton, andDora Jean and David Brown; and a brother, MikeProctor and his wife Pierrette. Bethany will beremembered as a devoted and doting aunt by hernieces and nephews and their partners: MarliesThomen and Sean O’Brien; Emil Thomen; Sethand Veronica Thomen; Ryan and Colleen Brown;Jeremy and Amy Brown; Craig Dalton and CeciliaDurban; Julia Dalton; and Shaina Proctor. She wasthrilled by her six grand-nieces and grand-neph-ews: Scotia Thomen-O’Brien; Koen and SarahThomen; and Dylan, Monica and Kenneth Brown.Bethany also leaves dozens of cousins, many otherextended family members and friends.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, Sept.2, at 3 p.m., at the First Congregational Churchof Lebanon, West Town Street and Exeter Road,Lebanon. Burial will be private. There are no call-ing hours.

Donations in her memory may be made toGina’s Friends Fund with the Windham HospitalFoundation (windhamhospital.org/wh.nsf/View/GinasFriends).

The Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home ofColchester has been entrusted with arrangements.For online condolences, visit auroramccarthyfuneralhome.com.

ColchesterEvva Benson

Evva “Duff” (Ritson) Benson, of SouthDaytona, Fla., formerly of Manchester andColchester, born Feb. 19, 1927, entered into eter-nal rest Aug. 14, 2012.

She was the beloved wife of 63 years of Rob-ert Carl Benson of South Daytona, Fla., andColchester; cherished mother of Ann BensonFrost and husband Gary Frost of Manchester,Linnea McGurk and husband Peter McGurk ofRandolph, Mass., Eric R. Benson and wife Vir-ginia Benson of St. Mary’s, Ga., Carl E. BensonII and wife Tina Benson of Wolcott; adored grand-mother of Meryl and Ariel Glassman, Michaeland Daniel McGurk, Robert C. Benson II, as wellas Kristi-Lynn, Kaitlyn, Samantha and JocelynJacovino; great-grandmother of lucky littleAussie-boy John Robert Farland; beloved sisterof Biantha “Sally” Yuska of Newington, and hus-band the late Edward Yuska and James L. Ritsonand wife Joanne of Bloomfield; daughter of thelate Merritt Bartlett Ritson and the late JaneGallagher Ritson, both of Bloomfield. She alsoleaves an ever-growing multitude of nieces, neph-ews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.

At age 3, she traveled to her mother’s home-land of Ireland in the company of her mother’scousin, so that she might know her grandparents.She lived in Ireland until age five. Mrs. Bensonwas a devoted communicant of EmmanuelLutheran Church in Manchester, and TrinityEvangelical Lutheran Church in New SmyrnaBeach, Fla.

“Duff,” as she was fondly called, first by herfather and forever by her friends and family, wasan accomplished artisan in many crafts, includ-ing gourmet cake decorating, quilting, the needlearts, sewing, culinary arts, and gardening. Hercakes and cookies were famous within her com-munities. She set an example of artistic excellencefor her children, who all followed her into vari-ous artistic endeavors.

Duff graduated with honors from BloomfieldHigh School in 1946. She proudly earned andreceived a degree from Manchester CommunityCollege while in her 60s; in the late 1930s, as ateenager, she was noted in her home communityof Bloomfield, as a markswoman of nearly unap-proachable talent.

Duff was active in the Property Owners Asso-ciation of Lake Hayward, Colchester, and servedas the organization’s president for two terms. Shewas also extremely active in the ladies’ circles ofboth of her churches, and served in leadershiproles within these circles. She was particularlyactive in the Ruth Circle of Emmanuel LutheranChurch. Through her Trinity Lutheran circles, sheparticipated in and oversaw the creation of thou-sands of handmade quilts, all of which were do-nated to support victims of natural disasters world-wide. The circles also organized free school sup-plies for children in her local Florida community.Mrs. Benson worked, before retirement, as ateacher’s aide in the Manchester school system.

A Florida memorial service was held Tuesday,Aug. 21, at Trinity Lutheran Church, TurnbullBay Road, New Smyrna Beach, Fla. The Con-necticut service will be held Saturday, Aug. 25,at 11 a.m., at Emanuel Lutheran Church, 60Church St., Manchester.

Donations in her memory may be made to theShriner’s Children’s Hospital.

ColchesterJeanne R. Turgeon

Jeanne R. Turgeon, 62, formerly of Norwich,died Friday, Aug. 17, at the Apple RehabilitationCenter in Colchester.

Jeanne was born in Massachusetts on March5, 1950, daughter of the late Edgar Turgeon. Sheworked as a clerk at the Norwich State Hospitalfor many years.

Ms. Turgeon is survived by and a daughter andher fiancé, Laurie Gangwisch and Sam Gottier ofCanterbury; four grandchildren, Desiree, Amberand Alyssa Rogers and Sage Gangwisch; and twogreat grandchildren, Lila Jeanne and GabrielJonathan.

Jeanne was predeceased by her son, SteveGangwisch.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held Tuesday,Aug. 21, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Norwich.Burial followed in St. Joseph Cemetery in Nor-wich. Calling hours were Monday, Aug. 20, atthe Cummings-Gagne Funeral Home Norwich.

For an online obituary and to share a con-dolence with the family, visit cummings-gagnefh.com.

HebronLinda G. Wadsworth

Linda G. (Powers) Wadsworth, 71, of Hebron,formerly of Lebanon, widow of WilliamWadsworth, died Monday, Aug. 20, in WindhamHospital. She was born Dec. 8, 1940, inSouthbridge, Mass., daughter of the late Francisand Mildred (MacPherson) Powers.

In 1962, she moved to Willimantic and becamethe manager of Elm Market until its closing in1983. Linda purchased Elm Package Store in thelate 1980s, which remains family operated. Shewas a longtime member of Soroptimist Interna-tional of Willimantic and the Chamber of Com-merce. Linda and Bill enjoyed many miles trav-eling in their motorhome.

She is survived by son Walter Cichon and hiswife Cathy of East Granby; daughter BarbaraCalkins and her husband Brett and their childrenAnthony and Chloe, all of Hebron; sister PatriciaPowers and her husband James of Southbridge;brother William Powers; and several nieces andnephews.

Linda was predeceased by a sister, Judy Voloka.A special thank you to Elizabeth Visone for

the many years of exceptional care she providedto Linda.

The family will receive relatives and friendstoday, Aug. 24, from 10-11 a.m., with the funeralservice beginning at 11 a.m. at Potter FuneralHome, 456 Jackson St. (Rte. 195), Willimantic.Interment will follow in Greenman-Card Cem-etery, Lebanon.

For those wishing to make a donation in Linda’smemory, the family suggests Soroptimist Inter-national of Willimantic, P.O. Box 485, MansfieldCenter, CT 06250.

For an online memorial guestbook and direc-tions to the funeral home, visit potterfuneralhome.com.

PortlandGita Roy

Gita Roy, M.D., FACC, FACP, 65, of Portland,passed away Monday, Aug. 20, at MiddlesexHospital.

Dr. Roy was born Jan. 4, 1947, in Calcutta,India. She was a graduate of Bethune College,University of Calcutta and Medical College Hos-pital and University of Calcutta. She served herinternships at the University of Calcutta,Middlesex Hospital and was a resident, chiefmedical resident and special fellow at CharlestonArea Medical Center at the University of WestVirginia, as well as a special fellow at West Vir-ginia University Medical Center in Morgantown.

Dr. Roy joined Middlesex Hospital in 1977 andwas the associate director of cardiology from 1977to 1990. She joined private practice at MiddlesexCardiology in 1990, and combined served thepatients of Middlesex County for the past 35years. In addition, Dr. Roy was assistant clinicalprofessor of medicine at the University of Con-necticut Medical Center in Farmington.

She was a beloved physician, colleague, spe-cialist and patient advocate. She was a very bril-liant student and was in the top 10 percent of herclass. She was a devotee of Ramakrishna Orderand was initiated by her beloved guru, SwamiSwahananda.

She is survived by her mother, SovaBhattacharya and her brothers, KalyanBhattacharya and Swapan Bhattacharya.

She was predeceased by her father, Dr.Manomohan Bhattacharya.

Calling hours will be held at Biega FuneralHome, 3 Silver St., Middletown, today, Aug. 24,from 4-7 p.m. Funeral services will be private.

Those who wish may send memorial contribu-tions in Dr. Roy’s name to “RamakrishnaAshrama,” c/o Swami Swahananda, Vedanta So-ciety of California, 1946 Vedanta Pl., Hollywood,CA 90068.

To share memories or express condolencesonline, visit biegafuneralhome.com.