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News BulletinServing Amston, Andover, Cobalt, Colchester, East Hampton, Hebron, Marlborough, Middle Haddam and Portland

PAIDGLASTONBURY CITIZEN, INC.

Volume 38, Number 27                                                   Published by The Glastonbury Citizen                                                                      October 18, 2013

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

See Portland Fair Page 2

See Local Pastor Page 2

Music, Food and Funat Portland Fair

The annual Portland Fair made its triumphant return last weekend. One of theevent’s many highlights was a Costume Contest for Pooches, which put eight festivedogs on display. One of these, a pet therapy dog named Bo-Bo, is shown here dressedup in his Halloween garb with his owner, Sharon Hoy.

by Elizabeth BowlingLast weekend marked Portland’s 14th annual

Agricultural Fair – a three-day event filled withrides, food, and farm life that the whole familycould enjoy.

President of the Portland Fair Committee,Don Bascom, raved about the weekend.

“Weather-wise we got pretty lucky,” he said,sounding relieved. “Money-wise it was one ofour better weekends,” he added, noting that themoney raised goes toward next year’s fair.

“It was a real good weekend. I have no com-plaints,” Bascom added. “I have a very goodcrew.”

Bascom said the seasoned committee mem-bers succeeded in bringing in more local busi-nesses this year than in the past. However theywere, as usual, lacking in commercial vendors,he said.

Regarding next year – the 15th anniversaryof the Portland Fair – Bascom said the com-mittee will try to do “something different.”Specifically, he said he’s looking into bringingin a well-known band.

As for this year, though, there was plenty oflocal entertainment including Sunday’s youthtalent show, which was broken down into twocategories: first and second graders, and fifthand sixth graders.

Evan Guilmette, who won first place in thefirst- and second-grade category, sang andplayed guitar to “She’ll Be Coming Round theMountain.”

LeeAnn Albert won second place in the same

category, but instead of singing, she danced tosome tropical music in a hula skirt.

The winner of the fifth- and sixth-grade cat-egory was Jaelena Rivera, who belted out“Roar” by Katy Perry. Rivera showed greatsportsmanship when she experienced sometechnical difficulty just as she got onstage. Sheagreed to wait to perform until the end whenthe tech team could figure out the glitch withher music. She even agreed to sing a capella ifnecessary. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, notthat she couldn’t handle it.

Clara Guilmette earned second place in thefifth- and sixth-grade category for her perfor-mance in which she sang and played the banjo.

Lily Pelton, also in the fifth- and sixth-gradecategory, earned third place with her a capellarendition of “Ready or Not” by Bridgit Mendler.

Mariana Bates, also competing in the fifthand sixth grade category, sang “Treasure” byBruno Mars. Avery Coe, from the same cat-egory, sang “Cups (When I’m Gone)” and pro-vided backup music with a cup, just like AnnaKendrick does in the music video.

Other young performers included a group ofsix girls who danced to Lady Gaga’s “Ap-plause” and another group of girls who did animpressive acrobatic performance to “No SpeakAmericano.”

But Portland’s talented youngsters weren’tthe only form of entertainment at the fair. Inaddition to the music that played throughout

Lifelong Colchester Resident Turns Local Pastorby Melissa Roberto

Lifelong Colchester resident Cheryl Ander-son Caronna can easily recall several milestonesshe’s reached at Colchester Federated Church.

The first occurred when she was just a coupleyears old, when she was baptized. Thereafter,within the local church on Main Street, Caronnaattended worship services, joined the church asa member in her college years, married her hus-band, and has had the pleasure of watching otherbabies become baptized there.

“This is my home church,” she said.But her most recent milestone at the local

church was one over 200 people witnessed –and also marked the church as Caronna’s newplace of employment. She was ordained Sun-day, Oct. 6, at the church, and was installed asthe church’s associate pastor for youth.

Caronna’s ordination was meaningful on apersonal level and to those already employedat the church. Senior pastor for the last sevenyears, the Rev. Linda U. Barnes, said she’s “veryhappy” with Caronna’s ordination mainly be-cause “she’s always been a part of this church.”

“She had a long path for ordination,” Barnesfurthered.

Additionally, Caronna’s ordination was thefirst at the church since 1995. She had accom-plished all of the necessary steps to becomeordained, Barnes explained. Caronna recalledthe process beginning in 1998, when she wasdiagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a can-cer of the lymph tissue. The news was “life-changing,” Caronna said, and signified a timewhere she began to view life “through a differ-ent lens.” It was then that Caronna said she hadbegun studying her faith more.

Meanwhile, Caronna said the former asso-ciate pastor Eric Swanson shared with her adream he had of Caronna preaching on the pul-pit. That dream was one Caronna said she of-ten tried to “laugh off” yet it ended up leadingher to signing up for seminary two years later,in 2004, at Andover Newton Theological Semi-nary in Newton, Mass. For seven years, in be-tween working full time at the Christ LutheranEarly Childhood Center in Hebron, Caronnatraveled once a week to the seminary in Mas-

sachusetts in an effort to obtain a master of di-vinity degree.

Last year, she received that degree and be-gan the process of ordination. Caronna was rec-ommended for ordination by the congregationof the Colchester Federated Church and shebecame approved by the New London Asso-ciation of the Connecticut Conference of theUnited Church of Christ.

And on Oct. 6, a big celebration ensued,Barnes said. The ceremony involved a layingof the hands, in which clergy members placedtheir hands on one another leading up toCaronna. A dinner followed and Caronna sharedthe memorable day with family and friends.

As associate pastor, Caronna said she’s re-sponsible for all of the youth programming atthe church including youth groups and missiontrips. She also teaches Sunday school and jun-ior bible study. The programs include childrenfrom the age of birth through high school. Be-coming ordained and employed at the churchwhere Caronna’s been a member for years is

Cheryl Anderson Caronna

Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cov

Portland Fair cont. from Front Page

Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cov

There were many opportunities for fun at last weekend’s fair. Here, Lily Smith, 4,enjoys her ride on Peanut Butter the pony on Sunday, Oct.13.

the fairgrounds, there was a dog show, ponyrides and vendors galore.

One rather uncommon contest was the oxdraw. The oxen came to the Portland Fair fromdifferent farms across Connecticut and one farmin Rhode Island, according to the contest’s MC.

The contest is judged by whichever oxen canpull the most weight the furthest amount ofinches. The oxen are harnessed together to com-pete and the weight of the two oxen togetherdetermined which weight class they wereplaced in, the MC explained.

She said there were three weight classes forthis year’s fair: 2,850 pounds or under, 3,250pounds or under, and anything heavier than3,250 pounds goes into a “free-for-all class.”

One onlooker said, “It brings meaning to thephrase ‘strong as an ox.’”

Similar events included the horse draw, truckpull and lawn tractor pull.

Another fun section of the fair was the ar-chery tent. Fairgoers had the opportunity to payfive dollars for 30 arrows and an archery les-son.

But for a lot of families, the farm animalswere the highlight of the fair.

Jackie Paquine, who enjoyed the fair Sun-day with her family, said the little ones “lovethe animals.”

Some especially cute animals participated inthe Halloween Contest for Pooches Sunday af-ternoon. Eight local dogs were dressed up incostumes and put on display in the middle ofthe fairgrounds. Gizmo, a pekingese dressed upas a bumblebee, was named “best in show.”

But all the dogs earned a ribbon for theiroutfits. Timothy Paul and Jonathan James, two

poodles, were dressed up as firefighters; Riley,a golden doodle, wore a Cinderella costume;Bailey, an English springer spaniel, was MinnieMouse; Gus and Lily, two beagles, wore acouple’s costume - Gus was a UConn footballplayer and Lily was his cheerleader; and Bo-Bo, a pet therapy dog, was a witch.

Sharon Hoy, Bo-Bo’s owner, said, “He’s sea-sonal. We dress for the occasion.”

The fair’s rides included the classics, like theFerris wheel, bumper cars, a moonbounce, anda big slide. But there was also the Ring of Fire,the Sizzler and a handful of other dizzying ridesdesigned for the brave.

Another main attraction at the fair was, ofcourse, the food. It was hard to go hungry withthe endless options that included sundaes, frieddough, cheese steak, pizza, curly fries, popcorn,cotton candy, Greek gyro, Buffalo wings, friedclams, fried shrimp, beer tent, meatball grind-ers, clam chowder, Thai food, kettle corn, applepie, coffee and tea.

“It’s wonderful,” fairgoer Blair Backmanraved. “The food is great.”

For those fairgoers on a diet, however, therewas still plenty to see. From handmade blan-kets, jewelry, T-shirts and sweatshirts, and otherknickknacks, the fair was a shopper’s paradise.

Joyce Murphy, the Portland Fair secretary,said, “It was a great fair – great weather, noissues, all in all a fantastic event.”

She said the Portland Fair would like to thankall the fair-goers, contestants, volunteers andvendors.

Additional pictures from the weekend, aswell as a list of contest winners, are on the fair’swebsite, PortlandFair.com.

what she coined “a blessing.”“It’s an honor to be worshipping and serv-

ing in my hometown,” Caronna said. “I wor-ship here and serve as a mentor to others. I’vewatched generations come through this church.”

Additionally, Caronna said health-wise she’sdoing “great.” She has been in remission fornearly a decade and recalls being sick as a wayto “slow down and regroup.”

She furthered her diagnosis “adds meaningto life at times and now years later I can sitback and say I am better because of it and mychoices are smarter and I live life much fuller.”

Of her new role at the church, Caronna saidshe hopes to revitalize the youth programmingand to expose children to the Gospel. Thoughthe associate pastor is a part- time position, she

Local Pastor cont. from Front Pageadmits she’s at the church “all the time.”

Barnes, who has witnessed Caronna’s heavyinvolvement there said she is fitting for the role.

“She has a sincere faith and a warm heart,”said Barnes, “and a courageous spirit and re-ally helps others grow in faith.”

Caronna, who hasn’t lived anywhere else butColchester, currently lives in town with her hus-band Jim. Her nephew from Middletown alsoworships at Colchester Federated Church, shesays, making the church a place of worship forthree generations of her family.

And it seems the church where Caronna be-gan achieving some of her first memorablemoments is where she’ll stay, she says, “untilthe Lord calls me to do something else.”

From the Editor’s Desk

Observations & Ruminationsby Mike Thompson

It’s the middle of October. Election sea-son is in full swing. The number of Rivereastpages devoted to letters to the editor is slowlyincreasing. The number of political ads onesees in the paper each week is also climbing.Candidates have started going door-to-door,letting you know why you should vote forthem, and not the other guy.

Okay, so maybe that last sentence isn’thappening quite as often as it should.

The Rivereast towns are seeing severaluncontested races this year – and it’s a shame.Take Hebron, for example. The only townboard or commission that has any race what-soever is the Planning and Zoning Commis-sion. Is there any sort of race for perhaps themost important board in town, the Board ofSelectmen? Nope. How about a contest to seewho gets on the Board of Finance? Nopeagain. Heck, Election Day is still weeks awayand the Hebron Republicans already knowthey’re going to be losing control of the Boardof Education; there are current members opt-ing not to run again, and no one from theRepublican side has stepped up to run in theirstead. So it’s yet another uncontested race.

Like I said, it’s a shame. I get that there’s atime commitment involved, and these days,with people working multiple jobs to try tomake ends meet, leisure time, and time tospend with your family, can be at a real pre-mium. (And who knows, maybe people sim-ply don’t want to see themselves beat up inthe letters pages.) But really – no one wantsto come forward?

Decisions made by local boards and com-missions can have an immediate impact onyou as a resident – everything from the side-walks you walk on and the roads you driveon to programs offered to your children inschool and money alloted to buy new booksfor you to read at the local library. Don’t likethe rulings PZC is making? Run for the com-mission, and try to do something about it.

What’s happening in Hebron this year ishardly new or unique. Every municipal elec-tion year, there are non-existent races, whereanyone interested in running is simply guar-anteed a seat because no one else could bebothered. The level of disengagement seemsto be climbing, not just by voters but bywould-be candidates as well.

That’s why I think it’s ultimately a goodthing the Chatham Party candidates in EastHampton were allowed to stay on the ballot,despite the party not filling out all of theproper paperwork that was needed. Yes, Icould see how one could view it as a “dog atemy homework” type of excuse, but I honestlybelieve it was a good-faith mistake – and at atime when towns, not just in Rivereast-landbut across the state, are having a difficult timefinding people to run for office, barring folksfrom throwing their hats in the ring due to aminor paperwork glitch doesn’t seem quiteright.

“It is always in the best interest of votersto have choices on the ballot,” Secretary ofState Denise Merrill said in last week’sRivereast, and I agree with her. This is a de-mocracy, and democracy should have won –and I’m glad it did.

The effect of the Chatham Party on voterchoice in East Hampton is quite noticable.Look, for example, at the Board of Financerace, which reporter Elizabeth Bowling pro-filed in last week’s Rivereast. Eleven peopleare running for just four slots. Now that’s arace!

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Chatham Partyhas provided extra voices in East Hampton.

It’s a shame that, in Hebron and townsacross the state, too many voices are contentto remain silent.

* * *If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve been in luck

this past week. What a couple of greatpostseason series that are going on!

As I write this Tuesday night, the Ameri-can League Championship Series between theTigers and Red Sox has seen a pair of 1-0games, with the third featuring a very dra-matic, come from four-runs-down eighth-in-ning rally and then a bottom-of-the-ninthwalk-off hit.

Over in the senior circuit, the NLCS, be-tween the Cardinals and Dodgers, was threegames old entering Tuesday’s action. The firsttwo were decided by scores of 3-2 and 1-0,respectively, with Game Three being a “blow-out,” at 3-0.

The year 1968 is known in baseball as theYear of the Pitcher, led by Bob Gibson’s jaw-dropping 1.12 ERA for the season. (After theyear, Major League Baseball both lowered theheight of the pitching mound and reduced theheight of the strike zone, in an attempt to helphitters out.) But could 2013 be the LCS ofthe Pitcher?

Whatever it is, it’s definitely a series thatshows good pitching trumps good hitting. Inthe regular season, the Cardinals ranked thirdin the league in runs scored, and fourth in bat-ting average. The Red Sox, meanwhile,finshed first in runs scored, second in battingaverage, first in on-base percentage and firstagain in slugging percentage. So Boston andSt. Louis should’ve been mopping the floorwith their respective opponents, right? Guessagain.

And that just goes to the unpredictabilitythat makes baseball great.

Now, I realize I’m writing this at some-thing of a disadvantage. I realize Wednesdayand Thursday could feature 15-14 or 11-9games that would render my previous pointssomewhat moot. But from where I sit Tues-day night, if you’re a fan of good pitching,you’ve just been loving these games.

* * *See you next week.

Meet the Marlborough Board of Education Candidatesby Melissa Roberto

Three political newcomers and two incum-bents make up the five Marlborough citizensseeking to fill four seats on the Board of Edu-cation in next month’s municipal election.

And while the experience of each candidatevaries, they all share a passion to volunteer toserve on the local school board and to be a partof decisions pertaining to Marlborough Elemen-tary School, the lone school in the district.

In the running are Republicans Carole C.Shea and Susan Rapelye and Democrats MimiLaPoint, Theresa A. Brysgel and WesleySkorski.

Current memberCarole Shea has beenseated on the schoolboard since 2009. Herdecision to run for re-election comes fromwhat she feels is a “per-sonal commitment topublic education andchildren.” She saidshe’s been fortunate tohave the time to volun-teer on the local schoolboard and believes she has the background nec-essary “to continue making a positive contri-bution to both the school and the town.”

Reflecting on her time on the school board,Shea recalled accomplishments of the schooldistrict that the board had been involved in.These included monitoring the progress of theCommon Core implementation, as well as es-tablishing class size guidelines, fully-fundedschool security upgrades and negotiating thedistrict’s bus contract which ended up saving$25,000, among others.

When it comes to looking at another fouryears, Shea, who said she feels the board can“never communicate enough with the public,”hopes to use print media, supply more infor-mation at meetings and a greater use of elec-tronic media to keep the “entire” communityin the know.

In regards to the district’s hot topics of full-day kindergarten and reinstating a world lan-guage program – both of which are currentlybeing researched by administration and are ex-pected to be delivered to the board throughout

the next two months – Shea said she holds “noagenda” on either, but plans to “remain objec-tive and to weigh the advantages and disadvan-tages of the options” based on the administra-tion’s reports and the recent survey results.

Shea said she brings to the board experiencein the fields of business, education and design.She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree fromthe University of Connecticut and a Master ofArts degree in art education from the Univer-sity of Hartford. She taught art at Ellington HighSchool for eight years, and then transitioned todesigning commercial, health care and educa-tion interiors. She formerly lived in Utah andNorth Carolina with her husband Dick Shea, acurrent selectman for the town.

In addition to working full-time in commer-cial design, Shea taught as an adjunct profes-sor at North Carolina Wesleyan University. InConnecticut – where she’s lived since 2006 –she’s worked with architectural firms in Mas-sachusetts and Connecticut on a number ofschool projects.

LaPoint is also just finishing up her first termand seeking another. She admits her time onthe board during the last four years has comewith frustrations, but “feels strongly about theimportance of a good public school inMarlborough.” LaPoint said she is hopeful edu-cational opportunitiesfor Marlborough chil-dren can be enhancedin the future.

In regards to worldlanguage that has beenwidely discussed sincethe former Spanishprogram was cut in2011, LaPoint has astrong stance that MESchildren should have a“successful” world lan-guage program.

“I believe that introducing language to chil-dren at the elementary level is very beneficial,”she furthered.

Additionally, LaPoint said she feels all-daykindergarten is “necessary” for children as theCommon Core curriculum continues to beimplemented. LaPoint has a Bachelor of Artsdegree from Wesleyan University and a Bach-

elor of Fine Arts degree from the Hartford ArtSchool at the University of Hartford. She iscurrently a high school math teacher. LaPointcurrently lives in Marlborough with her hus-band and two daughters, who are freshmen atRHAM High School.

Rapelye is new to the political scene, andalso fairly new to the town itself. After movingto Marlborough in Au-gust 2012, Rapelyesaid she “quickly no-ticed how so manyneighbors are activelyinvolved.” As a proudresident, Rapelye saidshe’s impressed withMarlborough’s schoolsystem and is runningas a way to “give backand make a differencein our town.”

A d d i t i o n a l l y ,Rapelye communicated her love for childrenand being a mother influenced her to run onthe school board. If elected to a seat on theboard, Rapelye said her initial goal is to “ac-tively listen and educate myself on becoming aboard member.” The second goal, she said, isto become familiar with the budget process inorder to “provide meaningful and immediateassistance to the team.” Lastly, if elected,Rapelye would strive to engage in topics con-cerning school security, Common Core and thelanguage and full-day kindergarten topics.

The political newcomer holds a bachelor’sdegree in accounting obtained from what is nowcalled Post University in Waterbury. Currently,she is a program manager at Open Solutions, afinancial services company. Due to her experi-ence delving into budgets, Rapelye feels shewill be a “strong asset” to the board’s budgetprocess.

Putting it simply, Rapelye also said she“enjoy[s] children in every way possible.” Shelives with her husband Dan, three daughterswho are currently enrolled at MES, Caterina,11, Rylie, 8, and Reegan, 5, and a son Brady,almost 2.

Another newcomer, Theresa Brysgel has alsochosen to get involved after attending a major-ity of local schoolboard meetings in thepast year. Brysgel andhusband Ethan havethree children, Taylor,13, currently atRHAM, and Devon,11, and Taryn, 7, bothstudents at MES. Shefirst moved with herfamily to Marlboroughin 1998. However,from 2007-10, theBrysgels lived in En-gland and then made their way back to town.

Though this is Brysgel’s first stab in townpolitics, she’s heavily involved in the schooldistrict. Currently, Brysgel is the education en-richment coordinator for the Marlborough PTO,chairperson for the school-wide Trunk or Treatevent, a “room mother” and volunteer at MES,and is active in the community as well as a CCDteacher at St. John Fisher church, as well as ayouth sports coach.

Carole Shea

Mimi LaPoint

Marlborough ï Marlborough ï Marlborough ï Marlborough ï  Marlborough ï  Marlborough ï Marlborough ï  Marlborough ï Marlborough ï Marlborough ï Marlborough

Brysgel’s decision to run for the school boardcomes from her devotion to the community andthe school, she said.

“They deserve a school of excellence,” shesaid of residents. “I have been concerned overmany of the changes that I have seen in theschool over the last several years.”

These changes included many teachers thatleft the district last year, Brysgel explained, aswell as the elimination of programs. As a so-cial worker, Brysgel feels she can bring a skillset of being a “good listener” in addition tobeing an advocate of “effective communication”between board members and the “communityat large.”

Additionally, enrolling her children in aninternational school in England that welcomedstudents from 66 different countries, Brysgelsaid she can bring a “unique outlook” to theboard especially pertaining to a world languageand multicultural program.

Conclusively, Brysgel said her goal is simple:“to assure that MES is an outstanding schoolof excellence and that our students are well pre-pared for their futures – both immediate andlong term – when they graduate from their sixth-grade class.”

Wes Skorski, another political newcomer, hasbeen a familiar voice at school board meetingsin the last year. A reg-istered Independent,Skorski said he is run-ning on the ballot as aDemocrat – a “lack ofaffiliation” he feelswould give him flex-ibility to work withboth parties, accordingto a press release sub-mitted by Skorski thisweek.

Skorski came toMarlborough in 2005with his wife Audrey after living in East Hamp-ton for 10 years. He has a daughter, Maria, 6,and a son, Peter, 4.

Though Skorski is new to serving on a boardin Marlborough, he served as treasurer and wason the Board of Directors for a condominiumassociation in East Hampton. To Skorski, thecut of the Spanish program in 2012 was the“catalyst” that influenced him to run for theschool board. Additionally, he said his “frus-tration with the current Board of Education’sbehavior” was another influence. In the lastyear, he’s voiced his support in bringing a pro-gram back and if elected, bringing a programback would be his “first and foremost” goal.

Secondly, Skorski said he’d like to “continu-ously push for better outcomes at the school”while stating that “does not mean spendingmore money.”

Skorski said he’d bring a background in“technology, business, data analysis and execu-tive leadership” to the board. He holds abachelor’s degree in computer science and amaster’s in management of technology fromRensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Currently, Skorski said he feels the schoolboard is “doing the minimum” when lookingat a Connecticut state statute about what a boardof education should be. However, Skorski en-visioned what he feels would benefit the el-ementary school.

“With leadership, passion, creativity and vi-sion,” he said, “MES can become a leadingschool.”

Municipal elections will be held on Nov. 5.

Theresa Brysgel

Susan Rapelye

Wes Skorski

Tebbets to Retire After 30 Years in Andoverby Geeta Schrayter

After 30 years with Andover ElementarySchool, secretary Lillian Tebbets announcedshe’ll be retiring at the end of the 2013-14school year.

Tebbets has lived in Andover for nearly 60years with her husband. The couple raised twodaughters in town who also attended the schoolwhere Tebbets works, first as a health room aid,then as secretary.

This week, Tebbets explained that prior toworking for the school she had been a stay-at-home mom. But three decades ago she decided“it was time to go to work,” so she applied atthe school, since it was located near her homeand the job came with good hours. It also camewith plenty of kids, which was the best part,according to Tebbets.

“[I’ve enjoyed] the kids mostly,” she said.“You see them come and go. You see them grow.I’ve just liked it.”

During her tenure, Tebbets has seen kids passthrough the school who later return with chil-dren of their own.

It’s the kids, as well as the everyday activityof coming to school, she said she’ll miss the

most.“I’ve enjoyed the job very much: seeing a

lot of different people, and the interactions withthe children and adults here,” she said.

In addition to changing faces, as the yearspassed Tebbets said there have been many otherchanges in the position, most notably relatedto advances in technology.

“That’s the biggest thing I think,” she said.“Everything was paper copies and now you’vegone to computers and all that type of thing,and all the state reports, they just keep grow-ing.”

But Tebbets said she dealt with these changesbecause, quite simply, “you basically don’t havea choice.”

“You have to learn,” she said. “I took typingin high school because it was a prerequisitewhen I was in school and it helped obviouslywith the computers, but a lot of it was trial anderror.”

Tebbets said she would get frustrated everyonce in a while when things didn’t work rightand think “Give me back my paper!” but she

pushed through and has become, according toBoard of Education Chairman Jay Linddy, oneof the most knowledgeable individuals at theschool.

“She has a huge memory bank,” he said, andSuperintendent of Schools Andy Maneggiaagreed.

“There are many things that will be missedwith her retirement,” he said. “In my mind,probably the greatest will be her knowledge ofthe community and of the students. She knowsevery youngster in the town and she’s just avery valuable resource.”

Linddy said Tebbets had done “a superb job”over the years, and then cracked, “I certainlyhope she realizes by retiring, now she’s goingto have to stay home with her husband by them-selves with their pet dog, and she might be bet-ter off working with us for another 20 yearsbecause I know her husband.”

But, Linddy jokes aside, spending time withher husband is precisely what Tebbets said shewas interested in doing. In the letter she wroteto Maneggia, Tebbets said she felt it was time

“to stay home with my husband and enjoy life.”She furthered that point this week, explain-

ing the couple wanted to travel more and spendmore time with their grandson in North Caro-lina. Tebbets also said she has some hobbiesshe’d like to focus on.

“I make jewelry. I started out bead stringingand now I do bead-weaving, and I still like toquilt every once in a while,” she stated. In ad-dition, Tebbets said cleaning was on her list ofthings to do.

“I need to clean my house,” she laughed.“You accumulate so many things after you’vebeen married for quite a while and it’s just timeto dig in.”

But while Tebbets focuses on her family andtraveling, quilting and cleaning, over at AndoverElementary School the staff and students willbe learning how to deal without an individualLinddy called one of a kind.

“She is just so knowledgeable to the admin-istrators and to the teachers and everything,”he said. “You’re never going to get anotherLillian Tebbets.”

Marlborough Kid Hopes to Win Online Cooking Contestby Melissa Roberto

With the help of his “assistant Mommy,” 6-year-old Ryan Carlson of Marlborough has en-tered an online nationwide Uncle Ben’s con-test in the hopes that he’ll not only dish a healthymeal option to viewers, but also a whopping$30,000 to go toward sprucing up MarlboroughElementary School’s cafeteria.

Up now on the Uncle Ben’s website is anonline video MES first-grader Ryan and hismom Tammy created as an entry to Ben’s Be-ginners Cooking Program, a program used topromote cooking with their children as a wayto foster healthier eating habits in their lives.

The contest calls for contestants to submit avideo of a child introducing a recipe that in-cludes an Uncle Ben’s rice product. The con-testant that receives the most votes for his/hervideo will win $15,000 for their family, $30,000for a cafeteria makeover at a school of theirchoice, and a trip to New York to appear on theRachael Ray Show.

Ryan decided to invite viewers to his “out-door kitchen,” where he showed viewers howto make a recipe he created called “cucumberavocado rice bites” with the help of his mom.Tammy said the contest gives contestants theoption of using an Uncle Ben’s recipe or creat-ing their own. She added Ryan often enjoysmaking guacamole at home so he wanted toinclude avocado in his recipe.

In the video, Ryan informs viewers the recipeincludes rice, a tomato, cucumbers, an avocado,EVOO, lemon zest and a dash of “s and p.” Hethen prepares the meal in minutes informinghis audience of all of the necessary steps likemixing the ingredients “really good” and of-fering suggestions like taste testing the food“unless it falls on the floor.”

Of Ryan’s adorable one-liners, Tammy said“he came up with everything on his own” onthe spot.

“It just came so natural to him,” the proudmom said.

Tammy added that watching Ryan prepareand assist in creating a meal isn’t a rare sight –it’s something he does almost every night. Forbreakfast, she said, Ryan knows how to makepancakes “from start to finish,” and often helpsprepare dinner. Trips to the grocery store alsofeature Ryan requesting his mom to buy cer-tain items so he can experiment, she said.Around the holidays, Ryan can also be foundby Tammy’s side making cookies and othertreats.

“It’s a way for the two of us to spend timetogether,” Tammy said of cooking with Ryan.“He really just had a good attention span forit.”

The contest guidelines do not state what thecafeteria makeover would consist of at theschool the child chooses but Tammy said Ryanalready has ideas of how MES could use themoney. As a child who does not eat gluten, Ryanis interested in setting up an allergy-free sta-tion at the school that includes separate uten-sils and cutting boards “to make sure they’resafe” for those with allergies, Tammy explained.

The Uncle Ben’s website does not show howmany votes each video has received, but as ofThursday Ryan’s video has already gotten feed-back from family members and friends.

Board of Education member LouiseConcodello, who heard of Ryan’s video thisweek, said his submission is “an example ofone of our students taking the initiative to dosomething good for himself and his school!”

The town’s tax collector, Barbara Murray,has also watched the video, and said she thinksit’s “adorable.”

“For such a little boy to have the interest hehas in cooking is wonderful,” Murray said.

To vote for Ryan’s video, readers can log onto bensbeginnerscontest.com and type in zipcode “06447.” His video is titled “UBCAB‘Uncle Ben’s Cucumber Avocado Bites.’” Vot-ers are allowed to vote once every 24 hours perdevice. Tammy explained this means a person

Marlborough Elementary School first-grader Ryan Carlson, 6, is in the runningfor the Uncle Ben’s Beginners Cooking Program, an online video contest thatpromotes children cooking with their parents. Carlson submitted a video preparinghis own recipe and if his video wins, he’s chosen MES as his school of choice to usethe $30,000 prize that goes toward a school cafeteria makeover.

can vote more than once in the 24-hourtimeframe by using multiple devices. Onlinevotes attribute to only 20 percent of the totalvotes, she furthered, but hopes Ryan’s commu-

nity will support him.According to the website, the winner will be

selected “on or about” Dec. 27. Voting ends nextSunday, Oct. 27.

Gaudinski Discusses Status of Marlborough Tennis Courtby Melissa Roberto

Concerns have been raised by residents be-lieving the Rolling Ridge tennis court is in jeop-ardy of closing, but at Tuesday’s Board of Se-lectmen meeting, First Selectwoman CathiGaudinski said the court is simply in the pre-liminary stages of a safety review.

The first selectwoman explained concernswere communicated to her in recent weeks fromresidents who live near the public town-ownedtennis court. She said she believes the concernsstemmed from a statement she made in the Sept.23 all board’s meeting.

“Ms. Gaudinski stated the tennis courts mayneed to be closed [due] to safety reasons andliability issues,” the minutes of the Septembermeeting state.

Once residents read the minutes they increas-ingly became concerned that the town was go-ing to permanently close the tennis court,Gaudinski explained. At Tuesday’s meeting,Sandy Lane resident Peter Wursthorn – actingas “messenger” – submitted an email to the boardmade up of statements from nearby residents

stating they do not want to see the court close.“It would be a real loss to the neighborhood

to close this court,” resident Bruce Rich ofSandy Lane states in the email.

Vince and Shelly Mondo also commentedon the benefits of the court.

“Having the tennis courts in our neighbor-hood has kept my children active, fit and busy,”the Mondos wrote.

Others in the email, like William Grant ofJerry Daniels Road, state the court is in need ofrepairs and requested the selectmen to take ac-tion so repairs can be made soon. Another resi-dent, Bridget Soboleski of Ridgewood Drive,said her husband has mowed and blown leaveson the court to improve its condition.

“The tennis courts can be patched up to fixthe repairs needed and I think the town needsto do that,” Soboleski said in the email.

Gaudinski informed her fellow selectmenthat her statement was solely based on safetyissues. She said lawsuits in town have existedin the past due to holes in the street among otherdeficiencies, so she is going to have the court

reviewed as a safety precaution.“It’s just being cautious,” she explained of

future review of the courts. “We need to havean eye out for all those types of precautions. Ijust want to make sure were not being negli-gent in terms of the property itself on the ten-nis court.”

Gaudinski said employees from the Con-necticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency(CIRMA) will already be performing work inthe town next week so she’s asked them to re-view the status of the tennis court. Gaudinskisaid she’s also asked Public Works Superinten-dent of Operations Chris Corsa to review theneeds there as well.

“I know people have felt that simple patch iswhat’s needed,” Gaudinski furthered. “My in-formation has been it requires much more workthan that.”

Resident Louise Concodello, a Parks andRecreation Commission member seated in theaudience, commented on the condition of thecourt. She admitted the fence surrounding it is“old” and that this isn’t the first time residents

have become concerned that the courts couldpossibly close. She recalled about 40 residentsshowing up to a Parks and Recreation meeting10 years ago after a joke about the park closingwas taken seriously. At that point, the court hadbeen repaved and the fence was fixed “as bestas it could” be, Concodello added.

Gaudinski explained the topic would mostlikely be discussed at next Mondays’ parks andrecreation meeting as well as a future select-men meeting.

In the meantime, Gaudinski informed mem-bers the status of the court has only been “pre-liminary” discussed. She said she’ll keep theselectmen informed of the results after it is re-viewed. She also mentioned if it is in need ofcapital improvement, there’s a possibility itcould be brought to the selectmen later this yearby the parks and recreation commission duringthe budget season.

The next Board of Selectmen meeting isscheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m., atTown Hall.

Proposed Portland Recreation Complex Gets Public Feedback

Portland ZBA Pushes Back Public Hearing

by Elizabeth BowlingResidents of Portland were given an oppor-

tunity to learn more about the town’s plans fora recreation complex on Route 17 at a publicforum last Thursday, Oct. 10.

About 50 Portland residents were in atten-dance at the Portland High School cafeteria andabout a dozen spoke out to express either sup-port or concerns related to the conceptual de-sign. Many others left written comments in sug-gestion boxes scattered throughout the cafete-ria.

First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield ex-plained that the town purchased the 37 acres ofland on Route 17 in 2005 from Nelson Goodrichfor $510,000. The town, she said, is on a 10-year payment plan that is due to end in a coupleof years.

The $188,500 contract with design companyWeston and Sampson is being paid for by a$230,000 small town economic assistance pro-gram grant, Bransfield said. Once completed,the plan would go out to bid, she furthered.

“This is certainly an important endeavor forour entire town,” she said, noting that the origi-nal intent of this land was for recreational use.

Brian McCarthy, the chairman of the park’splanning committee, confirmed that no engi-neering has been done yet. Rather, the com-mittee is still in the planning stages of the pro-cess.

Cheri Ruane, a Weston and Sampson repre-sentative and landscape architect, explained theoverall design.

According to Ruane, the design calls for theinstallation of a bathroom, two soccer fields,two Little League fields, a basketball court, across country running trail, a playground, a pic-nic area, a walking trail, a concession stand, arestroom building and a splash pad that couldbe user activated.

The splash pad would not require a lifeguardbecause there is no “standing water,” Ruaneexplained. Another perk to having a splash padis that the town wouldn’t need to do “excessivewater testing,” she said.

In comparing the proposed splash pad to apool, Ruane said having a splash pad “greatlyreduces the amount of infrastructure and per-sonnel and liability,” she said.

But during public comment, one Portlandresident, Kelsey Springer, spoke out to address

by Elizabeth BowlingThe Town of Portland’s Zoning Board of

Appeals stirred up some controversy at its lastmeeting, Sept. 26, when it pushed back its pub-lic hearing regarding the appeal of a cease-and-desist order that left a handful of residents un-satisfied.

Additionally three ZBA members, includ-ing the chairman, did not recuse themselvesfrom voting on the matter that involves a manthey know on a personal level.

The cease-and-desist order dates back toJune 28, when the town discovered zoning vio-lations at a Portland residency, owned by JohnKelly, during a visual inspection and notifiedthe property owner 10 days later, after a holi-day, on July 8.

According to the minutes for the Sept. 26meeting, ZBA Chairman Ben Srb noted for therecord that he knows or has had dealings withKelly, but did not feel that would present a con-flict in his decision-making.

Srb said in a phone call last week that hecouldn’t comment on the matter because “it’songoing.”

Similarly, in the Sept. 26 meeting minutes,board member Donald Snyder noted for therecord that he lives in Hill House Estates, whichis a subdivision of Kelly’s property. He, too,said he did not feel there was any conflict inhis decision-making.

Finally, board member Richard Basso alsonoted for the record that he knows Kelly but

did not think there was any conflict of interest.“I know a lot of people in town,” he said in a

phone call last week, adding that he wouldn’t“wine and dine” with Kelly, he simply knowshim.

According to the minutes, Srb said the board“looks at everything with regard to the issue.The issue before the board is whether the cease-and-desist was rightfully issued.”

Kelly’s driveway paving at 1 Rose Hill Rd.was deemed a “violation” of a zoning regula-tion during a visual inspection on June 28.

In a “notice of violation and order to abate”dated July 8, the town ordered Kelly to restorehis driveway to its original state – in otherwords, Kelly needed to undo the paving because“paving of the driveway at this address is a vio-lation of the approved site plan,” the noticestated.

The notice, which was from Zoning Enforce-ment Officer Bob Spencer, gave Kelly twoweeks to comply with the order to undo thepaving.

The letter stated, “Prompt correction of theabove violation by removal of the paving andrestoration of the driveway to its natural statein accordance with the approved site plan isrequired by July 22, 2013.”

It went on to say that a follow-up inspectionwould take place July 23 to ensure that Kellycomplied with the town’s demands.

But just one day after the town sent its firstnotice to Kelly, it sent a cease and desist orderbased on a second visual inspection it conductedthat day, July 9. The same violations existedon Kelly’s 1 Rose Hill Rd. property as the dayprior – he was still paving his driveway, ratherthan undoing the paving.

The order stated, “Cease any and all workrelated to driveway paving including but notlimited to filling and grading.”

Some of Kelly’s neighbors spoke out againstthe driveway paving at the Sept. 26 ZBA meet-ing, requesting that it be undone because it isharmful to their properties.

According to the meeting’s minutes, BobSatagaj, of 111 Collinsville Rd., said he wasconcerned that the board may struggle to beobjective because of some members’ relation-ships with Kelly.

Satagaj also told the board, “The result ofthe paving of the driveway is that more watercomes into his yard,” the minutes stated. He alsomentioned that a propane tank on his propertyis directly in the path of the incoming water.

In sum, the minutes stated that Satagaj said,“The paved driveway has accelerated and in-creased the water [runoff] significantly to thepoint where it threatens his safety and damageto his house.”

Another neighbor, Sharon Hoy, of 33 RoseHill Rd., said she believes Kelly should be re-

sponsible for fixing any problems caused bythe paving of his driveway at his expense, ac-cording to the minutes.

Ultimately, the ZBA, at its Sept. 26 meeting,voted unanimously to have a public hearing forthe appeal of the Zoning Enforcement Officer’sorder from July 8 to abate the unpermitted pav-ing of the driveway on 1 Rose Hill Rd. The boardalso voted unanimously to have a public hear-ing for the appeal of the Zoning EnforcementOfficer’s order from July 9 to cease and desistany and all work related to driveway paving in-cluding but not limited to filling and grading.

Asked if she thought there were any ethicalconflicts among the ZBA members, FirstSelectwoman Susan Bransfield said, “I don’tget involved in the Zoning Board of Appeals.”

She added that the ZBA is made up of electedofficials, and suggested that anyone with ques-tions direct those questions to the town’s eth-ics commission.

However, the chairman of Portland’s ethicscommission, George Law, could not be reachedfor comment.

The public hearing will take place at the nextZoning Board of Appeals meeting, Thursday,Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Mary Lou Rice Roomat the Portland Senior center. The public hear-ing portion will allow Portland residents tovoice any concerns. Then the board will voteon appealing the cease-and-desist orders.

the need for a swimming pool in town.Springer, a Portland High School student and

competitive swimmer, said she has to travel tosurrounding towns to use their pools.

According to McCarthy, Springer’s interestin a town-owned pool has been echoed in sur-vey form.

“We haven’t ruled it out,” he said, though“there are serious economic considerations fora pool.”

Phyllis Prokop also supported putting a poolin Portland. She also generally supported theimplementation of the complex because itwould be nice to host sporting events “close tohome,” she said.

“I’m so happy that this is finally happeningfor us, our kids and our future,” she said. “Wewant Portland to be a destination.”

Portland Soccer Club President ChrisDonahue sang a similar tune and threw his sup-port behind the complex development.

This fall, the soccer program consisted ofabout 280 kids, he said. And currently, the onlysoccer fields the program uses that are ownedby the town are the high school and middleschool fields. If this park development goesthrough, he said, the Route 17 Park would bethe soccer program’s “home.”

Resident Joe Inglis spoke out in favor of theproposed complex, too.

Inglis spoke on behalf of Portland LittleLeague, of which he is president. He said, “It’snot just about Little League. It’s about soccer,it’s about basketball, it’s about creating a placefor the community to gather.”

His focus, though, was on Little League, anorganization that is made up of about 275 kidsbetween the ages of 5 and 15. Typically, thekids play three seasons – spring, summer andfall – of baseball, he said. He added that socceris also a multi-seasonal sport.

He said the Little League program is expand-ing and that most games are played against out-of-town teams rather than other Portland teams.Because competition is mostly coming fromoutside of Portland, the young players wouldbenefit from having a local complex at whichto host tournaments, he said.

Tournaments could also have a positive im-pact on the community at large because, he said,tournaments are “an introduction of our town

to people who may have never been here be-fore. It would be a great way to make a positivefirst impression by seeing our facilities andexperiencing Portland.”

Another Portland resident, Joe Balskus, saidthe town needs to “dream big” because the com-plex is going to exist in Portland for decades tocome.

“People want this, we need this,” he saidabout the athletic fields. “This a major projectfor the town – for the town youths, for the townresidents, for everyone.”

For Portland resident Heather Lagerstrum,however, one major concern was how the parkwould be separated – for both security and pri-vacy purposes – from its abutting neighborhood,where she lives.

“How is it going to affect homeowners?” sheasked. “Is this going to be patrolled at all hours?Is the park going to be gated or closed afterhours?”

McCarthy responded that the park’s impacton the neighborhood is one of the committee’s“primary concerns.” He said the plan is to in-clude a “buffer” of some sort between the parkand the neighborhood, but the specific type ofbuffer has not yet been decided. Some ideasthus far include fencing or landscape screen-ing, he said.

Like Lagerstrum, another neighbor to thewould-be park spoke out at Thursday’s forum.Christina Magnano said, “I’m 150 percentagainst this.”

One of her major concerns is traffic.“If we wanted to live by a recreation center

we would have bought a house next to one,”she said.

Resident Ann Hodge, who lives next to theproposed park as well, noted the importance ofpark upkeep.

She asked, “What’s this going to do to ourtaxes and what’s it going to do to our towncrews?”

Another concern for the planning committeehad been the prior agricultural use and priorpesticide use on this property, which was oncea tobacco farm, McCarthy said.

He said that “it is not uncommon in the state”of Connecticut to turn an old tobacco field intoan area of recreational use.

At the Sept. 18 Board of Selectmen meet-ing, McCarthy said that test results from thepast year showed that some of soil in the areashowed concentration of “fairly low levels ofsome residual pesticides.” He added that “acouple are above residential direct contact stan-dards” – which means, “You wouldn’t want tohave your kid rolling in it all day everyday,” hesaid, but it’s something that “can be managedon site.”

He was confident that the pesticides remain-ing in the soil would not be a problem.

“The contaminants that we found are reallyconfined to a fairly thin layer in the root zoneand a surface layer,” he said.

He added that part of the process would re-quire removing soil from some areas and fill-ing it in others.

“Knowing where those areas are, we’ll beable to manage that soil in construction so thatwe’ll be able to place it under areas that arebeing used for parking or well underneath ac-tive surfaces,” he said.

Ruane said that parking lots would be locatedthroughout the park so there is not a “sea ofasphalt.” Thus far, the plan calls for 130 park-ing spots.

Also according to Ruane, the designers areconsidering lighting the athletic fields. Sheadded that new technology allows for morecontrol over light spill so that lighting shouldnot disturb the park’s neighbors.

McCarthy said, “The committee did not ap-proach this as strictly a ball field or athletic fieldendeavor. We see this as a resource for the wholetown. We want to make sure that this is a placethat has something for everyone.”

But before the committee takes any furthersteps, residents have an opportunity to providefeedback via a survey on the town website,portlandct.org, where they can also find moredesign information.

As of last Thursday, McCarthy said about 300residents took the survey, but he encourages allresidents to take it before it is taken down fromthe website at the end of the month.

Moving forward from there, the committeewould seek approval from the Connecticut De-partment of Energy and Environmental Protec-tion, McCarthy said.

Chatham Historical Society to Celebrate 50 Years

Kira and Lydia Roloff (front), Mike Doran and Debbie Day are shown herecleaning the Chatham Historical Society’s 1840 schoolhouse in preparation for thesociety’s 50th anniversary celebration, to be held Sunday, Oct. 20, from noon to 4p.m., at the Chatham Historical Society, 6 Bevin Blvd. Photo by Marty Podskoch.

by Elizabeth BowlingThe Chatham Historical Society invites the

public to celebrate its 50th anniversary thisweekend on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 12 to 4 p.m.at the Chatham Historical Museum complex.

The celebratory event is free and will show-case artifacts from throughout East Hampton’shistory for an entertaining and educational ex-perience.

Sandy Doran, the president of the ChathamHistorical society, said the festival is in honorof the society “preserving 50 years of EastHampton history.”

“We’re just trying to make people aware thatwe are in town,” Doran said. “It’s a good op-portunity to show people what we have.”

She said the historical society is made up ofthree buildings – a schoolhouse and two mu-seum buildings.

According to Doran, the two museum build-ings are filled with collections. Those includean extensive Bevin Bell collection, as well astoys that were built at the Gong Bell Factoryand the N.N. Hill Brass Co.

She said a section of the old East HamptonPost Office, dating back to when it was on MainStreet, is also on display in one of the muse-ums, as well as a section of an old ship build-ing.

The 1840 schoolhouse is just as it sounds –it’s set up as a classroom dating back to 1840,Doran said.

“Every April we have the fourth-graders fromCenter School come over and they’re taught asif it’s a regular classroom,” she said.

Doran said third-graders from MemorialSchool also stop by the classroom every fall aspart of their annual walking tour through town.Additionally, it’s open to Boy Scouts to earntheir badge for a museum tour, she said.

“We’re also open [by appointment] wheneveranyone wants to come in and look around,” she

added.Marty Podskoch, a member of the historical

society who is helping organize this year’s fes-tival, said he’s hoping to make the historicalfestival an annual event.

Podskoch added that the purpose of the fes-tival is “to get people to come to the museum.”

“It’s amazing,” he said, referencing “all thetreasures, the toys and the bells that were madein the town for the past 150 years.”

The festival will also include a demonstra-tion on the making of Witch Hazel because theworld’s largest manufacturer of Witch Hazelproducts, American Distilling Company, hap-pens to be one of East Hampton’s oldest com-panies.

The company will display its DickinsonBrand products and pass out free samples of itsfamous health and beauty products.

For a more hands-on activity for kids, theevent will offer “old time games and crafts,” apress release said.

Children are invited to the 1840 one-roomChestnut Hill Schoolhouse, as well as onto themuseum grounds, to take part in playing a “NineMan Morris,” which, according to Podskoch,is a game that’s “similar to tic-tac-toe.” Insteadof using a pen, though, kids will mark theirmoves with beans or corn.

Children will also have an opportunity tomake corn stalk dolls and quilts, and sew jour-nals. They can also play with wooden dolls thatwere made many years ago in East Hampton’sown factories.

There will also be a blacksmith demonstra-tion throughout the entire day. Additionally, awoman will spin wool and make custom em-broidered handkerchiefs. She will dress up ingarb from the 17th to 19th centuries.

But a more modern twist will come in theform of the day’s music selections. A local EastHampton band called SeeQuence will kick off

the musical entertainment will some classicrock and roll hits.

Kevin Day and his band, Giggle Juice, an-other East Hampton band, will be the secondand final band of the day.

People should bring their own chairs if theyplan to sit and enjoy the day’s musical enter-tainment, Doran said.

In addition to music, the Chatham HistoricalSociety will provide free doughnuts and apple

cider. Other treats can be bought on-site fromHigher Grounds Coffee Shop, Main Street Pizzaand Crafty Cup Cakes.

The anniversary celebration will take placeSunday at 6 Bevin Blvd., from noon to 4 p.m.,and all are invited to attend.

For more information about this event, con-tact Marty Podskoch at 860-267-2442 orpodskoch@comcast.net.

East Hampton School Board Approves New Evaluationsby Elizabeth Bowling

The Board of Education approved newteacher and administrator evaluations atTuesday’s meeting.

Board members also learned that the districtwill go forward with the Smarter Balance fieldtest this academic year, rather than continuewith the Connecticut Mastery Test.

Matthew Warner, a member of the town’sEducator Evaluation and Development Model(EEDM) Committee, explained to the board thenew, state-mandated teacher evaluations.

“This is not a pilot year,” he affirmed. “Thisis in full effect.”

He furthered that a third of East Hamptonteachers will be evaluated using the EEDM thisyear, and next year the model will be imple-mented district-wide.

The evaluation criteria are divided betweenfour categories and totals 100 percent. The cat-egories are student growth and development,whole school learning, observation of teacherperformance and practice, and parent feedback.

Warner said that student growth and devel-opment, which is “based on teacher goals,”makes up 45 percent of the evaluation. Wholeschool learning, which is “a joint effort betweenprincipals and teachers to improve the schoolas a whole,” is another 5 percent, he said.

Observation of teacher performance and prac-tice is another 40 percent and is based off of 17indicators that administrators will look for dur-ing observation. The final 10 percent is basedon parent feedback, which was administeredduring open houses earlier in this academicyear, Warner said. The committee is now in theprocess of going to comments to see what canbe implemented.

However, one parent made a suggestion re-garding the parent feedback portion of evalua-tions during public comment.

Monique Sherer said, “Being a parent withthree children, I found the survey a little hardto answer because I have three different schools,three different teachers – or, in the case of highschool, many teachers – to put my opinions to-ward.”

She asked that in the future, the board con-sider using a more specific teacher evaluationfor parents.

Finishing up his presentation, Warner saidthat the state’s intent in implementing thisevaluation model was not to “catch” teachersperforming poorly, but rather to enhance teacherinstruction.

Post-presentation, board member ScottMinnick asked, “Is there going to be a finalgrade that each teacher will get? And if so, whatare the outcomes of that?”

Superintendent of Schools Diane Dugas an-swered it’s not a teacher’s grade that is impor-tant; rather the feedback from the evaluation iswhat’s important because it will help a teacherimprove.

East Hampton High School Principal JohnFidler then explained to the board the Admin-istrator Professional Learning and EvaluationProgram.

Fidler said that administrator proficiency willbe determined similarly to teacher proficiency– the evaluations will be divided between fourcategories totaling 100 percent.

Leadership practice will count for 40 percentand includes indicators like “monitoring andcontinuously improving teaching and learning,”

on which, Fidler said, the state puts particularemphasis. Stakeholder feedback will be anony-mously provided by staff members, teachers andthe public and will count for 10 percent, he said.

According to Fidler, student learning, whichcan be measured by graduation rates, for ex-ample, counts as 45 percent. Finally teacherproficiency will count for the remaining 5 per-cent and will be based on the aggregate of teach-ers’ student learning objectives, he said.

He concluded that the superintendent andassistant superintendent of schools will evalu-ate administrators based on both direct obser-vation and evidence submitted to them by theadministrators themselves.

The board unanimously approved both evalu-ation plans.

* * *According to Dugas, districts in Connecti-

cut had a choice between taking the Connecti-cut Mastery Test or the Smarter Balanced fieldtest – which is not the official Smarter BalancedAssessment that will be implemented in 2014-15; rather it is the state’s field test – this year.

“It is in our best interest as a district to gowith the Smarter Balanced field test,” she said.

* * *Also at Tuesday’s meeting, board member

Bill Marshall updated the board on the highschool renovation project.

“The high school renovation is one of themost important things that is in our plate rightnow,” he said.

According to Marshall’s report, the goals forthe project include promoting 21st centurylearning, identifying zones for community use,having a safe environment for learning, having

a high performing and energy efficient facility,promoting faculty collaboration, and increas-ing access to technology.

Marshall said it will be important to considerwhat 21st century learning will entail, for ex-ample, in a media center. But essentially, hesaid, the committee is trying to create a studentcentered, active learning environment.

He also noted that in discussing plans for aheating and cooling system, a geothermal sys-tem is no longer “cutting edge,” rather, it’s“standard if you want to pay for it,” he said.

Regarding a different type of payment, theboard voted to reduce the “pay for play” fee byhalf at the middle and high school levels, ef-fective immediately.

Regarding more general terms of fundraising,Minnick proposed a new fundraiser – atshiningsolutionsfundraiser.com – that wouldcall for students to sell LED and florescent lightbulbs rather than candy or snacks.

“No more chocolate rabbits,” he laughed.* * *

According to a student report, the highschool’s environmental club is seeking to in-stall a compost bin on the school’s property.The club also hopes to collect compost duringthe school day in the school’s cafeteria. Col-lected compost would be disposed of in the pro-posed outdoor bin. The board will vote on theinstallation of a compost bin at its next meet-ing.

* * *The next regularly scheduled East Hampton

Board of Education meeting is Monday, Oct.28, at 7 p.m. at the East Hampton High Schoollibrary.

Meet the East Hampton Board of Education Candidatesby Elizabeth Bowling

Thirteen East Hampton residents are runningfor five available seats on the Board of Educa-tion. The contenders consist of five Democrats,five Republicans and three Chatham Party can-didates.

None of the Democratic candidates runningfor the Board of Education currently have seatson the board, but they’re optimistic that willchange.

Steven Kelley, 19, is a recent East HamptonHigh School graduate and a current freshmanat Manchester Com-munity College and theUniversity of Hartford.As he continues to fur-ther his education, heplans to study facilitiesmanagement and the-ater management.

The lifelong EastHampton residentserves on the OldHome Days Associa-tion and is responsiblefor bringing Pumpkin-town to this year’s Big E – an experience thathe said helped him gain managerial experience.

In the past Kelley worked at the Parks andRecreation Department’s after school program,but now he’s seeking election to the Board ofEducation in hopes of contributing a youthfulperspective.

If elected, Kelley said he would like to “main-tain extracurricular activities and find ways wecan enrich our students’ educational experienceswith the resources we have.”

That being said, he noted the importance ofmaking sure each student gets to benefit fromthose resources so no one student gets “lost inthe shuffle.”

“If there is someone who needs help theyshould be receiving it,” he said.

Another concern for Kelley is the new Com-mon Core state standards. He said he wants thenew curriculums to continue to incorporate “theEast Hampton touch” – which means theyshould “go above and beyond what is standard,”he said.

Karen Terry has lived in East Hampton for18 years and has twochildren in the town’sschool system – one isa junior in high school,the other is in eighthgrade – and betweenthe two of them, Terrysaid she’s gained expe-rience and understand-ing in all four schoolsin town.

Terry was the com-mittee chairwoman ofa local Cub ScoutsPack and the president of the Junior Women’sClub. She also volunteered in support of thehigh school renovation project by holding signsand making phone calls.

Currently, she’s on the committee for BoyScouts Troop 8 and she directs the 5K road racefor high school graduation. Despite her im-mense involvement in town, this is her first timerunning for elected office.

Terry is the assistant managing director ofLIMRA, a trade association for market research.Her position has given her experience in bothbusiness and management, she said.

She said she’s running for a seat on the Boardof Education, not only because her kids giveher a vested interest, but also because the town’seducation system is undergoing a lot of change.

“We’ve got so much change going on in townright now,” she said. “I want to be able to usemy skills to ensure that I can keep things mov-ing along.”

She said some major changes include thehiring of new superintendent of schools, DianeDugas, the high school renovation project, thenew teacher evaluation system, and the newCommon Core state standards.

Another important issue for Terry is theimplementation of full-day kindergarten.

“It’s important for us to keep working towardthat,” she said.

Roy Leonardi is a retired special educationteacher. His focus as a teacher was positivebehavior reinforcement and children with au-tism. Now the 71-year-old is earning hismaster’s degree in history at Central Connecti-cut State University.

He said going back to school has surroundedhim with “motivated younger people” and iskeeping him young.

Leonardi, whomoved to East Hamp-ton in 2001, had astroke in 2008 and es-sentially had to relearneverything. He said therecovery experience hehad in St. Francis Hos-pital helped him under-stand “how positiveeducation should be.”

He said full-day kin-dergarten is the “issuethat triggered his inter-est” in running for the school board.

“Every child should get the chance to havefull-time kindergarten,” he said. “You don’t usea lottery for kids’ lives.”

He added that from a special education per-spective it’s best to intervene with a child ex-periencing difficulty learning at “the beginningof their career in education.”

In addition to full-day kindergarten, Leonardisaid he supports lighting the soccer field at thehigh school.

“Most of the parents that I know in EastHampton work,” hesaid. “They don’t gethome until after 5 or 6and it would be won-derful for them to comehome on an evening inOctober and be able tosee their children playsoccer.”

He added that othercommunity organiza-tions could use thefield, as well.

Chris Goff is aformer member of the Board of Education anda former chairman of the Town Council. He hasthree children and is retired from the field ofsocial work. He could not be reached for com-ment for this story by press time.

Jeffrey Carlson, the final Democratic can-didate, is the vice president of Young People’sCenter for Creative Arts. He’s also a senior de-sign consultant for a commercial constructionfirm, as well as a father. He, too, could not bereached for comment by press time.

Five East HamptonRepublicans are throw-ing their hats into thering for the Board ofEducation, but onlyone is running for re-election.

Incumbent JoshPiteo is a former mem-ber of the Board of Fi-nance and formerpresident of the EastHampton Rotary Club.Additionally, he is re-sponsible for the memorial bricks in the vil-lage center.

Piteo, who moved to East Hampton in theearly 1990s, is seeking re-election to the schoolboard after already serving four years.

He said there are “big discussions comingup with the Board of Education in the nextcouple years” and he wants to be part of thosediscussions.

He said board members will have to realizethey “can’t have every-thing.” He furthered,“The board has to berespectful of the tax-payer” by spendingmoney wisely.

“There’s a lot ofthings that still need tobe done,” he said, spe-cifically noting upcom-ing teacher and buscontracts.

He also acknowl-edged that the highschool needs to be “filled with the appropriatetechnology.”

In this age of new technology, Piteo said hewants to make sure the teachers are trained toteach their students the new curriculum so thatwhen kids graduate they can “go anywhere theywant to go.”

Another important issue to Piteo is keepingthe public informed when East Hamptonschools thrive, for example, on test scores.

Emily Fahle, 30, grew up in Marlboroughand has lived with her family in East Hamptonfor three years. The new mom worked until re-cently at a reinsurance company, a company that

insures insurance companies. She said her rolefor four years required a lot of “number crunch-ing and risk analysis” and was “very numberoriented.”

She said, “I really feel like there is a need forsome fresh blood in town. I hope to offer somenew ideas and a different perspective as far asthe budget goes and working with parents.”

Specifically, if elected, she said she’d talk toparents to learn more about what they want outof their kids’ educations.

She described an essential “tri-fold partner-ship” between admin-istrators and teachers,parents, and the Boardof Education.

“The trifecta workstogether to make surethat every kid gets thebest education pos-sible,” she added.

Regarding full-daykindergarten, Fahlesaid, “That’s some-thing that East Hamp-ton is lacking. Full-daykindergarten should be available to every fam-ily, not just on a lottery system.”

Another important issue to Fahle is the highschool renovation project. She said there needsto be people with a vested interest in makingsure the renovations go according to plan.

She added that her young daughter will be a“beneficiary of the new high school” somedayand that gives her a vested interest in the project.

Also regarding the high school project, shesaid taxpayers should “get a great value for theirinvestment.”

Rounding out her main concerns, she saidelected officials should have more control overthe school system “on a more localized level.”One way to make that happen, she said, wouldbe to make sure the administration “feels sup-ported” so that “folks in Hartford don’t dictatehow money is spent.”

Former Board of Finance member MariaPeplau is trying her luck this year in the racefor the Board of Education.

Peplau is semi-retired; she currently workspart-time as a florist and has a home-based cu-linary business. But in the past she’s worked inIT and as a chef.

Peplau, who has lived in East Hampton since1974, has two grown children who both wentthrough the East Hampton school system andsaid she supports the changing curriculum andthe schools’ technology updates.

“If elected, I’d like to work with the otherboard members and bemore fiscally con-scious of what they’respending their moneyon,” she said. “My in-terest is to keep thespending down for thetaxpayers.”

She said the Boardof Education budgetgoes “up and up and upevery year.” One wayshe’d combat the in-creasing budget ifelected would be to “eliminate any waste in theprogram.”

She said if possible she’d go into the schoolsand check out how things are being run to en-sure that there is no “duplication of effort.” Ifthere is any duplication, though, she’d like tofind “ways to clean up the operation to the tax-payers’ benefit.”

That clean-up process wouldn’t mean mak-ing cuts, she said, but distributing work differ-ently.

If elected, Peplau said she would also try tocreate an alumni association to help fundraisefor the school to “help defray some of the costto the taxpayer.”

Debra Devon has lived in East Hampton forabout eight years. She has three children – oneis a graduate of East Hampton High School andthe youngest two are currently EHHS students– and recently re-entered the workforce.

If elected for the Board of Education, Devonsaid she would focus on “bringing everythingback to the local level.”

One matter of particular importance to De-von is to have an open dialogue with the tax-payers. She said she’d work to inform the peopleabout what’s happening within the schools. Forexample, she said she’d like to provide moreinformation on the new Common Core statestandards.

She said she’d also be interested in “promot-

ing more parental involvement,” for example,inside the classrooms during the school day. Sheadded that taxpayers “need to be able to seewhat’s happening in our school system.”

Additionally, she said she’d keep future gen-erations in mind while serving on the schoolboard.

“I think there is aneed for a long termplan in education,” shesaid.

The final Republi-can candidate isKaren Lee, a motherof two and a humanresources manager atUnited Technologies.She could not bereached for comment.

The Chatham Partyhas three contenders running for the Board ofEducation.

Joelyn Leon has a vested interest in theBoard of Education because she has two chil-dren in the East Hampton school system – onein seventh grade and one in second.

Leon ran for the Board of Education for thefirst time two years ago but was not elected.Regardless, she has about 20 years of experi-ence in politics, particularly at the state level.In the past she worked for Lt. Gov. NancyWyman and in the state capital. But currentlyshe works full-time for United Auto workers.She also has a master’s degree in public policy.

Leon has lived in East Hampton for 11 yearsand has managed to get quite involved in thecommunity’s education scene. She is a mem-ber of the middle school and elementary schoolPTO, as well as the treasurer of EHHS Reno-vate to Educate, a political action committeethat pushed for thehigh school renovationproject.

She said she wantsto be a voice for theparents in town, re-gardless of their politi-cal affiliation.

“I understand it’s adifficult thing to be in-volved in but at thesame time it’s so im-portant to be involvedin your community andgive back,” she said. “I really would be hon-ored to serve all of the residents of East Hamp-ton in this capacity.”

The issues Leon said she would focus on ifelected are the implementation of full-day kin-dergarten and the completion of the high schoolbuilding project.

“I really am interested in seeing the highschool renovation through,” she said. “It wouldbe really exciting.”

Leon said her main reasons for running forthe school board are her kids, as well as thecommunity in general.

“Having two kids in the system, I want tosee them get the best education possible,” shesaid, adding that she wants all kids in town toreceive the best education possible “because itmakes our community a better place and makesour community more appealing to others.”

Liz Whitty was raised in East Hampton,where she lived for the majority of her life. Shewent through the town’s school system, as didher daughter, her nieces and nephews.

She ran for a seat on the Board of Educationtwo years ago but doesn’t have any experienceon any town boards. She does, however, haveexperience on professional boards. She is thedirector of development for the school of den-tal medicine at the UConn Foundation.

“I think it’s appropriate to give back to yourcommunity and of all the things you can do inyour community, education is what I know themost about,” Whitty said. “Anything you choseto do in life, you have to have an education.”

Whitty said that, if elected, full-day kinder-garten would be “one of the most immediatethings that we’ll have to discuss to make it ac-cessible for everybody.”

She said she’s also interested in maintainingstudent success in the town’s math and sciencedepartment.

She said it would be important to “make sureour community is providing everything it canso our students can be competitive.”

Regarding math and science, she added, “Thegood news is we’re very competitive already.”

Regarding the high school renovationproject, she said it will be important to “be asfiscally responsible as possible to get as much

Steven Kelley

Karen TerryJeffrey Carlson

Josh Piteo

Chris Goff

Roy Leonardi

Maria Peplau

Emily Fahle

Joelyn Leon

Karen Lee

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for every dollar as we can.”She added that the board will have to move

along with the renovations “with foresight”because education is constantly changing dueto technology.

“I think we’ve got a very good school sys-tem in town,” she said, noting that she’s im-pressed with Dugas and the teachers. “I’m re-ally encouraged,” she added.

Peter Levy has lived in East Hampton foreight years and is asemi-retired specialeducation teacher. Heis now doing wood-working. He has twodaughters; one is 13,the other is 10. Both ofhis daughters go to theenvironmental magnetschool in Hartford,which offers “morecontextual learning,”he said.

Levy said he’s run-ning for the Board of Education because, “Ihave been watching my kids’ education for thepast eight years and I’ve had some reservationsof the things being done.”

Specifically, he said he didn’t feel his kidswere being challenged.

Levy said, now that he has time to serve hiscommunity, he hopes he will be elected to theschool board because he has “a lot of expertisein the education field,” as both his parents andhis wife are educators.

“Given my experience, I know what students

Peter Levy

need to learn and I know what teachers need toteach,” Levy said.

Some issues of particular concern for Levyare the high school renovation project and thespecial education program.

He said the renovation “needs to be seenthrough” and the special education programsneed to be “as humane and efficient as possible.”

Though he did note that special education“costs an awful lot of money.”

“I don’t’ think you can just throw money atproblems, but you also can’t get service fornothing,” he said. “You get what you pay for.It’s a balancing act.”

Levy spoke highly of Dugas, and said hewould like to help her in any way possible ifelected. He also praised the schools’ test scores.

“East Hampton tests very well for our incomebracket,” he said. “There’s some very good, verydedicated teachers.”

Another important issue to Levy is openingup school facilities to the entire community.

“Rather than telling people the state of theschools, I think people need to be invited in tosee it,” he said. “I think we under-use the fa-cilities in our town,” noting that he’d like tosee the uses of the high school swimming poolor basketball courts, for example, expand.

Levy said that as a Chatham Party member,if elected, “I’m going to vote for what’s in thebest interest for the kids.” He added, “[Educa-tion] is our biggest expense in town, and itshould be.”

* * *Elections are Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 6 a.m.

to 8 p.m. at East Hampton High School.

Meet Portland’s School Board Candidates

Christopher Darby Michael Pelton

Andrea Alfano

by Elizabeth BowlingIt’s not much of a race for the local Board of

Education this year, with five residents runningfor five open seats, but the five are all eager tocontinue serving – or, in the case of one candi-date, start serving.

Two seasoned Democratic candidates andone rookie are seeking terms on the seven-mem-ber, Democrat-controlled Board of Educationand two experienced Republicans will serveagain, too.

The Democrats are incumbents AndreaAlfano and Ben Srb, and newcomer Christo-pher Darby. The Republicans are incumbentsBetsy Smith and Michael Pelton.

Andrea Alfano has served on the board forfive years and has lived in Portland for 17. Sheworks for the UConn School of Social Work.

Alfano is running for re-election to the schoolboard not only becauseher 15-year-old son isa sophomore at Port-land High School, butalso because she hasmore to accomplish.

“It seems like thesefive years have gone byso fast and we’ve donea lot of good work,”she said. “I want to bea part of some upcom-ing changes.”

Some success theboard has seen recently includes the implemen-tation of full-day kindergarten, she said. Interms of upcoming changes, Alfano said she’dlike to see through that technology upgradesare implemented just as smoothly.

“I have more to give,” she added.Ben Srb has lived in Portland his whole life,

since 1975. He owns Primary Landscaping LLCand Primary Sanitation Services in town.

He said he’s interested in serving on theBoard of Education for another term becausehe wants to continue to help Portland progress.

“We’ve made a lot of progress over the pastfive years. We’re definitely heading in the right

direction and I want to be part of it,” he said,echoing Alfano.

Specifically, Srb said he’d like to see an in-crease in programs for students, like AdvancedPlacement courses and the Water and Peoplecourse.

He said it’s beneficial “any time we can of-fer more programs to the kids.”

Christopher Darby, a newcomer to politics,is the father of a sev-enth-grader at PortlandMiddle School and afifth-grader at Brown-stone IntermediateSchool. He and hiswife were also fosterparents to his wife’stwo cousins, whograduated from Port-land High School in2008 and 2010, respec-tively.

But his connectionto Portland schools doesn’t stop there. His wifeis also an alumna of PHS and later taught inthe system. So, Darby said, he knows a lot ofthe teachers and has been involved in theschools for a while.

Darby himself is a high school Englishteacher in Middletown. He stays involved inPortland by volunteering with Boy Scouts andhis church. Additionally, he used to coach soc-cer for Parks and Recreation.

After living in Portland for the past sevenyears, Darby said, “I’d like to give back to thecommunity and make the schools even betterthan they are.”

He added that as a taxpayer he wants to main-tain the town’s good schools in a cost effectivemanner.

If elected, Darby said he’d like to maintainareas that are already thriving, like the arts pro-grams and academics – he noted that Portlandstudents recently earned high scores on theSATs.

The two incumbent Republican candidatesare guaranteed the remaining two seats.

Betsy Smith, a practicing accountant, hasone year of experience on the Board of Educa-tion already after filling a vacant seat last sum-mer. Smith has two children – her son is asophomore at Portland High School and herdaughter is 4 – and the three have lived in Port-land for almost six years.

She said she decided to run for the Board ofEducation because the board needed a Repub-lican member so shestepped up.

Smith said she’d liketo develop as a boardmember in this termand in order to do that,she said, she wouldwork on her “under-standing of the con-tracts that we have withour major vendors andthe bidding process.”

She added that shewants to understand“when it’s appropriate to not go out to bid.”

In a concluding remark, Smith said she’d liketo continue to support Portland’s superinten-dent, administrators and students “to do theabsolute most we can with the tax dollars thatwe have.”

“I try to appreciate and understand people’sconcerns,” she added.

Like Smith, Michael Pelton recently filleda vacancy on the Board of Education. Peltonhas now served on the board for three months

and is looking forward to his upcoming term,he said.

Pelton is a nutrition business consultant andthe owner of Inner Circle Family Martial Arts.Through his martial arts school, he has workedwith a lot of kids and parents in town, as wellas the town’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Pelton and his wife have lived in Portlandfor 13 years, and all three of their children havegone through the Portland school system.

He said he’s running for the Board of Edu-cation because he wants to help Portland’syouths, particularly in terms of health andwellness.

“The Board of Education is a great opportu-nity to affect the kids in town,” he said, notingthat he would focus on “pushing whatever I canto make the town healthier and the kids moreactive,” as well as “healthier lunches andhealthier meals.”

Pelton noted that as school lunches have be-come healthier, the number sold has decreased.He said he’d like to see that turn around.

Pelton also said he is in favor of the newteacher evaluations and new curriculum. Headded that he’d like to ensure that what’s taughtin the schools is appropriate.

He added that his position on the schoolboard is “the first public office I’ve ever doneso I’m looking forward to doing the best I can.”

* * *Elections are Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 6 a.m.

to 8 p.m. at the Portland Senior Center, 7Waverly Ave.

Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland ï Portland

Introducing Colchester’s Finance Board Candidates

Rob Esteve

Thomas Kane

by Melissa RobertoA total of six candidates, a mix of incum-

bents and newcomers, are vying for seats onthe Board of Finance, but only four will comeaway with victories at next month’s elections.

The candidates include incumbents Repub-lican Rob Esteve and Democrat Thomas Kane,both running for two open slots for a six-yearterm, Democrat Kurt A. Frantzen andColchester Independent Party candidate JamesD. McNair III, both newcomers to the boardrunning for one seat to fill a four-year term andcurrent members Democrat John A. Ringo andRepublican Bill Curran, who each are lookingto fill one open slot for a two-year term.

For Rob Esteve,serving on the financeboard since 2009 hasintroduced him tolearning about howmunicipal financingworks. In short, Esteve,who is vice chairmanof the board, said he’dlike to take what he’slearned and use it toserve another six years.

As the board’s liai-son to the Board ofEducation, Esteve said he’s now knowledge-able of the finances that make up a school dis-trict. This includes what mandates are cast onschool districts from the state and federal lev-els, he said. Looking back at the last four years,Esteve was proud of the board’s ability to growthe town’s general fund balance, as well as be-ing a part of the approval of the town’s energyconservation project, which he said was a “realwin situation” because it didn’t cost additionaltax dollars yet still updated the schools’ infra-structure.

Looking ahead to the board’s future, Estevesaid his motivation is to continue working withthe school district, and in doing so, his focuswould be to address the facility needs at Will-iam J. Johnston Middle School, which he saidare still outstanding due to the recent referen-dum failure. Additionally, Esteve said he’d beinterested in finding alternatives to lower theschool board’s health insurance costs.

“If you can reduce your cost there you get toput it towards education and that’s certainlysomething I’d like to do,” he said.

As an engineer at Pratt and Whitney for thelast 26 years, Esteve said he would bring prob-lem solving skills and his ability of “understand-ing complex problems” to the board. Esteve hasbeen a resident of Colchester for 23 years. Heand his wife Heidi have two sons, Paul, 19, andAlex, 17. In regards to the upcoming electionand to project votes he’s helped put forward,Esteve is an advocate of exercising the right tovote.

“Regardless of how you vote I always liketo see people come out and exercise their right.”

Current member Thomas Kane is also seek-ing a six-year term, af-ter serving on the fi-nance board for the lasttwo years. Prior to be-ing on this board, Kanewas a member of thePlanning and ZoningCommission for eightyears and served asvice chairman for twoof those years.

Kane has a bach-elor’s degree in politi-cal science from St.Michael’s College in Vermont. He also studiedlaw at the Western New England CollegeSchool of Law in Springfield, Mass. Currently,Kane is an attorney and partner of Kane, Hartley& Kane in Glastonbury. He also serves as a di-rector on the Board of Directors for Connecti-cut Attorney’s Title Insurance Company(CITAC), and is also the chairman of its strate-gic planning. Additionally, Kane is a memberand treasurer of the Glastonbury Rotary Club.

Asked what has influenced him to run foranother six years on the board, Kane said it’sto continue – and “see out” – what he feels areinitiatives the board has been working diligentlyon. He said these initiatives have been startedto make up for the finances of Colchester’s past,specifically the years of 2008-2010, which, hesaid, got Colchester into “a bit of a situation.”The initiatives he’s been proud of participatingin and would like to see continue include fund-ing the road maintenance budget, a “compre-hensive” vehicle maintenance plan that has beenfunded and is on the path to being self sustained,

he said, and the development of a “town-wideand school-wide maintenance plan.”

If elected, Kane furthered his goals wouldinclude becoming “more efficient” as an em-ployer with Town Hall, and to reduce healthinsurance costs. Additionally, he’d like to be apart of “trying to preserve services and capitalspending without increasing the mill rate.”

In terms of the recent WJJMS/Senior Cen-ter/Community Center project failure, Kanesaid he felt the town “clearly” did not want aunified campus.

“The needs aren’t going away,” he explained.“We need to find a way forward that addressesthe needs of schools, the community and se-niors forward in a way that could be financiallyfeasible to the town.”

Lastly, Kane defined himself as “a listener,”and “always open” to suggestions. He admit-ted he doesn’t know all the answers but is in-terested in continuing to come up with some ifelected.

New finance boardcandidate Kurt A.Frantzen has beenserving on the Conser-vation Commissionsince 2008, and hastaken on the role ofvice chairman for thatcommission for the lasttwo years. On his de-cision to become in-volved in town fi-nances, Frantzen saidhe felt he should “get involved and help myfellow citizens’ work through some of the is-sues we face.”

If elected, Frantzen said he would have a“reason voice both for effective planning butalso budget restraint.” In terms of improvement,Frantzen said he’d like to see “effective com-munication” between the board and adminis-tration as well as the board and taxpayers. Heused recent referendum votes like the WJJMSbuilding project that was full of “benefits thatlacked attention” as examples of why he’d liketo strengthen communication.

“A better vetting of these kinds of issues withthe town and the voters is crucial and I hopethat I can find ways to improve that,” he said.

Frantzen said he would bring the experienceof evaluating risks and finding cost-effectivesolutions working in a consulting company for26 years to the board. He holds an undergradu-ate degree in biology from the University ofNebraska-Omaha, a master’s degree in plantpathology/plant disease from Kansas StateUniversity, as well as a PhD at the Universityof Nebraska-Lincoln in biochemistry. He alsois currently running his own consulting com-pany. Frantzen liveswith his wife Joan andhas two sons, Nelf andGarth, who are both incollege.

Also running for thefour-year slot is CIPcandidate James D.McNair III who is fa-miliar with Colches-ter’s political scene af-ter having served fouryears on the Board ofEducation and twoyears on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

McNair holds an economics degree fromPrinceton University and a master’s of businessadministration in finance from Purdue Univer-sity. When it comes to understanding finances,McNair said it’s something he’s “always beeninterested in.” While seated on the Board ofEducation from 2002-06, McNair served as thechairman of the school board’s budget subcom-mittee, which delved into the school district’sannual budget.

McNair explained the main reason why he’schosen to run for the finance board is to givevoters “the pros and cons” of the town’s financ-ing – whether it be the annual budget or projectsand transfers, he said.

“What I want to bring to the table is a moreobjective way of looking at things,” saidMcNair. “The Board of Finance isn’t [formed]to pass a budget, it’s to put forward a recom-mendation and make sure the voters know ofthe pros and cons.”

Additionally, McNair said his agenda for thefinance board would be based on transparency. He said he feels its important voters know whatthey’re voting on, and also what elected offi-cials are approving. He is also the former pub-lisher of a watchdog website for the town.

McNair has lived intown since 1999 andhas been married for27 years and has twins,a son and daughter.

John Ringo is verymuch a finance boardveteran, as he’s servedon it for a total ofnearly 14 years. What’simportant to Ringowhen it comes to hisduties as a financemember is to “keepbalance on the board” in addition to makingsure the town’s bills are paid, he said.

“And making sure the people in the town canafford it,” he furthered.

Ringo said the board is “constantly main-taining and keeping our eyes on where all themoney is being spent and how.” To Ringo, lis-tening “is the key” to serving on the board inaddition to “understanding what’s going on.”

If elected to serve another two years on theboard, Ringo said his goal would be to contrib-ute to making decisions determining the futuresof the three buildings – middle school, seniorcenter and community center – that were in-cluded in the recent $57 million project thatwas shot down.

“There’s still a need there for all of thoseitems,” he said. “I would be an advocate forinitiating that whole system back up again.”

Additionally, Ringo said he hopes to seemore economic and commercial growth inColchester – what he feels the board needs tofocus on in order to “take the burden off ofhomeowners.” In addition to his capacity as atown volunteer, Ringo also dabbles in severalcapacities outside of Town Hall including work-ing full-time at East Hampton High School asa building substitute, part-time as a musicteacher at Franklin Academy in East Haddam,and also offering private piano and voice les-sons. On the side, Ringo also works at Port-land West Golf Course in Portland. He’s also aformer small business owner of a financial ser-vices industry responsible for mortgages, com-mercial and residential loans. He and his wifeCheryl have a son, Brett, and daughter Sarah.

A recent addition to the finance board, BillCurran is also seeking the two-year term seat

Kurt Frantzen

Bill Curran

John Ringo

James McNair

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after being appointed in July to fill a vacancyleft by Cathy Pompei. Though only serving onthe board for about two months, Curran saidhe’s learned quite a lot already and hopes thatcan continue.

Specifically, Curran said his role on the fi-nance board gave him a “much better under-standing” regarding the heavy price tag of thebuilding project that recently failed. Though hesaid he understood why taxpayers were con-cerned with the cost, Curran said his stance onthe project “basically changed” and he realizeda need for it after learn-ing more about thenumbers behind theproject cost. Addition-ally, Curran said beingseated on the boardmade him realize “howwell-run this town re-ally is.”

Curran holds a bac-calaureate degree inmanagement and amaster’s degree in in-dustrial technologylean systems, both from Central ConnecticutState University. Professionally, Curran is anEastern regional process improvement managerat TW Medals in Agawam, Mass. There, in themanufacturing industry, Curran is responsiblefor coming up with solutions to processes. Hesaid this has equipped him with critical think-ing skills that he’d like to use to come up withstreamlining the budgetary process.

Of his choice to serve on the finance board,Curran said he formerly felt if he was “goingto sit here and complain about the tax situationin the town I better get involved and find outwhat’s going on.”

Curran moved to Colchester almost fouryears ago with his wife Anne after looking hardfor a place to move after living in Manchesterfor 30 years. Now settled in at Northwoods,Curran said Colchester is the “perfect place.”

“The house, the community and Colchesteritself – we just love it here,” he said.

Curran also has two daughters, Kristine andMariElizabeth, and four grandchildren.

* * *Elections will be held Nov. 5.

Colchester Town Boards Discuss Referendum Failure, Future

Colchester Tax Collector Loses Annual Salary

by Melissa RobertoIn Wednesday’s tri-board meeting, the boards

of selectmen, finance and education began todigest the bold defeat of the William J. JohnstonMiddle School (WJJMS)/Senior/CommunityCenter project at referendum.

The three boards admitted the message ofthe Oct. 1 referendum was “loud and clear”from voters. The project that was proposed torenovate and add to the existing middle schooland house a senior center and community cen-ter was shot down by a 1,993-693 tally. Andbased on the discussion, it looks like the boards’first steps are to receive public input about theproject that failed, and reconvene in Decemberwith their findings.

Opinions were voiced about the currentneeds at all three respective buildings, as wellas ideas of where to go from here. At the startof the meeting, First Selectman Gregg Schusterexplained if a new project was going to go outto voters this year, it’d need to meet a June 30,2014, deadline in order to meet the state De-partment of Education application deadline forschool construction reimbursement. The boardscame to a consensus to take the idea of meet-ing that June deadline off the table.

“It would be a complete rush job,” Schustersaid. “It would be throwing something out tothe voters without having much time to have adiscussion to the town.”

Board of Education Chairman Ron Goldsteincalled it “a very aggressive timeline,” and Boardof Finance Chairman Rob Tarlov added it’d bedifficult for the boards to get enough informa-tion out about a new project to the public in theshort amount of time, especially during anotherannual budget development process.

In regards to the timing, Ford said his focuswas not to rush another project forward. He saidhe felt the next step was to seek public input.

“I think we need to do some outreach to start

with and we need to take our time,” said Ford.“If we rush this it’s going to fail again. We re-ally need to understand this project, what theconcerns were and we need to know the projectwe’re putting forward is the most economic wecan do.”

Not rushing a project was a point the boardsagreed with – but it was also made clear takinganother 6-7 years to develop another wasn’t theanswer either.

“I would also remind everybody that slowand deliberate is what got us here today,” Estevesaid. “We kind of lost our way and got to a pointwhere data and decisions got outdated.”

Esteve, who is also liaison for the schoolboard, said he didn’t want to start seeing middleschool students being pulled out and enrolledinto magnet schools. He added that it’s a “hard,cold fact” that WJJMS repairs in the short termhave the possibility of becoming obsolete in afuture project.

But project or not, Goldstein highlightedserious needs at the school exist and he told thefinance board it can expect to see repairs in-cluded in the 2014-15 fiscal year educationbudget proposal.

“The immediate needs will be addressed thisyear,” Goldstein said.

Mitch Koziol of the education board said hehoped the boards would not make “rash deci-sions” pertaining to the short term needs thoughhe understood “desperate” needs of the middleschool, like the need of a boiler, exist. He saidimmediate repairs, like a new boiler, should beintegrated into the next project. Finance mem-ber Art Shilosky had similar thoughts.

“We have to incorporate what we do in theshort term to go into the long term,” saidShilosky.

Other town officials, like school board vice

by Melissa RobertoIn the midst of the tax collector’s office fac-

ing changes in recent weeks, a unanimous votetaken by the Board of Selectmen at a specialmeeting last week determined that Tax Collec-tor Tricia Coblentz will no longer be paid anannual salary.

According to the meeting minutes posted onthe town website, the board “moved that hav-ing exhausted all available paid leave time un-der the Town’s Personnel Policies, to proratethe pay of the Tax Collector, Tricia Coblentz,based upon the number of hours she works eachweek in relation to a 35 hour full-time sched-ule.” The town attorney Pat McHale and Chair-man of the Board of Finance Rob Tarlov werepresent at the meeting.

The pay change – which will go from a$60,819 salary to an amount Schuster wouldnot disclose Tuesday – went into effect imme-diately starting with the next pay period. Thisnews also comes on the heels of a July Rivereaststory that reported Coblentz had not declaredimprovements to her home, failing to take outthe proper building permits. In August, Build-ing Official Tim York confirmed Coblentz tookout the permits needed.

The wiping of Coblentz’s salary came dur-ing a time of change in the tax collector’s of-fice. According to Schuster, a staffing shortagehas existed in recent weeks within the office.He said this was the result of planned and un-planned absences from one employee, who heacknowledged as Coblentz. This also resulted

in the tax office being closed during times itwas supposed to be open.

Schuster confirmed he hired a Connecticutcertified tax collector, Mike DesRoches, to tem-porarily work in the tax office when needed dueto the staffing shortage. A supplemental appro-priation of $2,500 from the general fund bal-ance to the tax collector payroll line item –which covers payroll for all employees in thedepartment – was recommended by the select-men and approved 4-1 by the Board of Financein its Oct. 2 meeting. Schuster confirmed theappropriation was to pay DesRoches for histime working in the office as needed.DesRoches’ end date has not yet been deter-mined.

Tarlov, the only finance member in opposi-tion of the vote, said he opposed it because hedidn’t feel a “special appropriation” was nec-essary.

“I didn’t feel it was necessary to appropriateout of fund balance when there was other avail-able money,” said Tarlov, highlighting availablemoney in the budget like the salary of formerexecutive assistant to the first selectman, DerrikKennedy, who recently accepted a position else-where.

Tax Assessor John Chaponis who worksclosely with the tax collector’s office said hewas “very pleased” with the addition ofDesRoches.

“Colchester is extremely lucky to have some-

chairman Don Kennedy and selectwoman Rose-mary Coyle, stressed the other two-thirds of theproject, a senior center and community center,cannot be forgotten.

Coyle highlighted needs of the current se-nior center on Norwich Avenue which includea building that’s too “small” and isn’t handi-capped-accessible.

“We can make it look appropriate but wereally don’t have a facility that attracts not onlythe seniors that go to it now but the youngerseniors,” said Coyle.

Schuster said he does not see the needs of asenior center or community center going away.He said there are “so many options” for a se-nior center. These options included buying anexisting building in town and renovating it,building on town-owned land, or building onland not owned by the town.

“The key is to figure out what the commu-nity and seniors and youth are going to findacceptable,” the first selectman said.

Ford explained an operations committee –formed earlier this year by himself and select-man Stan Soby – is currently trying to find waysto move forward. The committee is made up ofmembers of the finance and selectmen boards,as well as the Bacon Academy Board of Trust-ees who own the senior center and Old BaconAcademy. Ford expects the committee to re-port on its ideas in the next month.

Additionally, Tarlov explained long-termneeds including repair and maintenance at allschool and town buildings are currently beingidentified by Director of Educational Opera-tions Ken Jackson and Public Works DirectorJim Paggioli. The finance board expects a re-port from both in January.

“That will give us a much clearer picture ofwhat we’re looking at in terms of needs and

financing ahead of time,” Tarlov said.With community outreach as the next step,

members came up with ideas to obtain infor-mation from voters. Coyle suggested putting acomment box at the polls on Election Day.Esteve offered up the idea of looking at the de-mographics of the Oct. 1 referendum data toshow who came out and voted, he said.

The tri-board meeting also touched uponwhat unknowns still stand. Members questionedif the building committee still exists, and if thesame architect would continue to work with thetown if another project was put forward in thefuture. Member of the building committee PamScheibelein seated in the audience spoke of herconfusion.

“For myself personally I feel like I’m inlimbo,” she said. “I think [the building com-mittee members] deserve from the board of se-lectmen since you appointed us to make a de-cision whether we’re still a committee or wearen’t.”

Schuster said by town charter he believes atown meeting would need to occur to vote todisband the committee because it was initiallyformed by a town meeting. Coyle said she dis-agreed and feels the committee’s work has beencompleted. She requested a legal opinion to fig-ure it out.

Members of the audience spoke in responseto the meeting. Building Committee memberPaul Picard said he’d be interested in servingon a committee in the future. Resident TearicePeters suggested separating all three buildingsin the future and providing options to the pub-lic. Another citizen requested the boards taketo social media to reach the public.

* * *The next tri-board meeting to discuss issues

in the town is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 11.

one of Mike DesRoches’ caliber,” Chaponissaid. “In addition to being a certified publicaccountant and a Connecticut certified tax col-lector, Mike is extremely proficient with thespecialized software utilized by Colchester’sassessor and collector’s offices so he comesright in and is ready to help out immediately.”

Due to the subject being a personnel matter,Schuster said he could not comment further onCoblentz’s situation. This week, Coblentz saidshe’s been on Family Medical Leave Act(FMLA) in the last month, due to an illness.However, she explained she wasn’t “100 per-cent” out of the office, and has come into workwhen she could.

Specifically Coblentz said her illnesscoupled with the ongoing “severe” illness ofher daughter – that, she added, the town is awareof – made it difficult for her to come to work.Coblentz added when she is not in the officeshe’s been working from home and feels thework is being completed.

“I’ve been in touch with the office,” Coblentzsaid. “The work is still continuing to bedone…And it’s still holding strong.”

The tax collector furthered the office had al-ready been understaffed. A part-time positionin the department that had been vacant was cutaltogether from the 2013-14 fiscal year budget.

“We don’t have the proper staffing anywayeven when I’m there,” she explained. “I haveone full time employee and if you take a poll of

all of the different offices we’re the one thathas the least staff.”

Coblentz added she feels the recent hiringof DesRoches is “great.”

In regards to the removal of her salary,Coblentz said she feels the selectmen “had noauthority” to do that.

“I don’t see anywhere in the charter or per-sonnel policy where they’re authorized to dothat,” she said.

Additionally, Democratic Town CommitteeChairwoman Dorothy Mrowka confirmed thisweek Coblentz recently resigned from the com-mittee.

“It was a personal decision,” said Mrowka.“I don’t know why she resigned. We acceptedher decision to resign and sent a letter thankingher for the support of the town committee.”

Coblentz spoke of her decision to resign fromthe DTC.

“I’ve met a few great people there who tryto make the committee work, but overall I don’tthink people are able to express themselves,”she said. “I don’t like to be labeled in a box asa group.”

In regards to Schuster’s initial concerns dueto an understaffed tax collector’s office, he saidthis week he hopes the supplemental appropria-tion and other actions the Board of Selectmentook will allow for the office to be appropri-ately staffed and running during all of the busi-ness hours.

Hebron Couple Celebrates 75 Years of Marriage

Hebron’s Bond Rating Goes Up

This weekend, residents Fred and Helen Ueberacher will celebrate their 75thwedding anniversary. At left is the two while still in their dating phase, in the summerof 1937. Years later, they moved to Florida, seen at right, before eventually comingto live with their daughter and son-in-law in Hebron.

by Geeta SchrayterOn Oct. 15, 1938, a young couple stood to-

gether and said their “I do”s in the Good Shep-herd Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. This weekend,that same couple will be celebrating 75 yearsof marriage by renewing their vows at Churchof the Holy Family in Hebron.

Fred and Helen Ueberacher first met whenthey worked at the Western Union TelegraphCompany in New York.

“He was my boss,” Helen laughed whenasked how they met; she was a typist and hewas head of the department. The couple wastogether for a little over a year before they mar-ried – and that was a move not everyone wasinitially pleased with.

When the time came to ask for Helen’s handin marriage, Fred took her parents on a picnicand told them about his intentions. But at first,they weren’t thrilled with the idea.

“They didn’t react all too good because I wascatholic and he was protestant,” Helen ex-plained. “They thought it wouldn’t last.”

But the couple went through with the mar-riage and eventually, as they remained togetheryear after year “my parents finally camearound,” Helen explained.

And the two of them continued to stick to-gether, living a full life and raising two chil-dren, Lynn and Steve, in Brewster N.Y., beforeretiring in St. Petersburg, Fla., for 18 years ofwarm weather, golfing and dancing.

Helen said the two of them liked to go danc-ing together rather regularly, and Fred could befound golfing every Monday. Just before the

duo moved to Hebron to live with their daugh-ter and son-in-law, Lynn and Bob Coffey, fiveyears ago, Fred even made a hole-in-one, some-thing he was quite happy about.

As far as what the couple enjoys about eachother, Fred said he was a fan of Helen’s cook-ing, particularly her potato pancakes; otheritems she was known to make over the yearswere chicken meatballs and apple brown betty.

For Helen, it was Fred’s fathering skills shefound endearing.

“He was a good father, he took care of thekids,” she said, to which Fred laughed in return“now the kids are taking care of us!”

For the two of them, staying together all theseyears could be mainly attributed to one thing:respect.

“We get along,” said Fred. “We respect eachother. We talk things over before deciding.”

“We always got along,” added Helen. “Wenever had no problems.”

The two said it was also important to com-promise with one another.

This week, their daughter added things weredifferent when her parents got married, and fo-cused more on the family and working together.

“They supported each other and supportedthe family,” she said. “It was really kind of dif-ferent. These days, people just seem to focuson themselves. It was a whole different time.”

Lynn Coffey added her parents had alwaysbeen there for their children, providing a stable,value-filled upbringing – and they were alwaysthere for each other, too. She added words

by Geeta SchrayterHebron’s been upgraded. Earlier this week,

Standard & Poor’s Rating Services announcedthe town’s bond rating had been raised from‘AA’ to ‘AAA’ – the highest rating available.

According to Standard & Poor’s guide Un-derstanding Ratings, the ratings are “opinionsabout relative credit risk” and the ability of anissuer – in this case the Town of Hebron – tomeet its financial obligations.

The ratings are usually in letter form, rang-ing from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’ and are based on theassessment of different factors.

Factors considered in Hebron’s assessmentincluded the town’s economy, which S&Pcalled “very strong,” as well as the town’s bud-getary flexibility which was also deemed “verystrong,” and budgetary performance.

“Hebron’s budgetary performance has beenstrong overall, in our view, with surpluses of .9percent for the general fund in fiscal 2012 and2 percent in total government funds,” S&Pwrote in their rationale for the rating.

In addition, S&P wrote the town had strongmanagement conditions with “good financialpractices.”

In a release sent out by S&P, credit analyst

Hilary Sutton said the rating “reflects Hebron’svery strong budgetary flexibility, strong bud-getary performance, and very strong liquidity.”

Town Manager Andy Tierney said receivingthe upgrade was “a pleasure to see.”

“We just keep getting great news,” he said,explaining the rating was due in part to someof the debts in town coming off the books andtax collections remaining consistent.

“What this means for the town is when wego out to finance a new project we’ll be savingmoney because we really have the best bondrating, so we can get a lower interest rate,” hesaid.

And, Tierney added, continuing with goodmanagement practices meant trying to keeptown debt level. He explained it wasn’t neces-sarily good to pay the town’s debt off com-pletely and cause a significant drop in the millrate. If that occurred, when a large project needsto be completed in the future, adding back in alarge amount of debt would cause a large spikein the mill rate.

“We try to keep it even and it makes asmoother transition from budget year to year,”he said. “We don’t want too much [debt] on

weren’t always necessary with her parents, be-cause their actions spoke louder.

“Support was there for what the other per-son needed without a big demonstration of it,”she said. “They didn’t have to say a lot of words,the actions were always there.”

And on Saturday, the actions will be thereonce again as the couple, who will also be cel-ebrating their 100th birthdays this winter, re-new their vows during a family get-together andMass at Church of the Holy Family, 185 ChurchSt., at 5 p.m.

but not too much off. We’ll be adding projectsas they’re prioritized and move forward to main-tain some of that stability.”

Board of Finance Chairman Mike Hazelcalled the rating “a very good thing.”

“It shows the finances of the town are in goodorder and the town is managing its financeswell,” he said. “I think the comments from S&Pwere very complimentary to staff in town, andthey did a good job working with S&P to showthe strengths of the community.”

Hazel said while the town wasn’t planningon taking on new debt anytime soon, the ‘AAA’rating “would certainly make it easier” whenthe time came to do so.

“The higher the rating, basically the lowerinterest rate on debt should we issue it and theeasier it is to find buyers for debt,” he explained.“Given the current fiscal situation in the coun-try and the state, [the rating] really shows howwell we’ve done in managing town finances.”

Along with the ‘AAA’ rating, Hebron wasalso given a stable outlook. Sutton added “thestable outlook reflects our view of Hebron’sconsistent financial performance and economy,which is supported by good management.”

As a result of said outlook, S&P said theydidn’t plan to revise the rating in town for thenext two years “because we believe the townwill maintain strong reserves and continue toparticipate in the broad and diverse economyof Hartford.”

Since future capital needs for the town arelimited, S&P said they expect the debt profileto remain strong. Additionally, even with a chal-lenging economy, S&P said “Hebron’s unem-ployment remains low and tax collections re-main stable.”

Board of Selectmen Vice Chairman MarkStuart called the rating “fantastic” and com-mented on S&P’s decision not to review therating for a couple of years.

“An agency is only going to do that if theyreally believe in the creditworthiness of themunicipality or company they’re reviewing,” hesaid. “We pay attention to the money. So whenthe subset of voters say we’re being foolish,wasting money, not being transparent or fiscallyprudent or taxpayers are not getting value fortheir dollars, I say ‘Go look at the report.’ Theywouldn’t have [raised the rating] if we weren’tfollowing the rules.”

Three Finance Candidates for Three Seats in Hebron

Malcolm Leichter

Henry Sawicki

by Geeta SchrayterThree candidates are running for seats on the

Board of Finance this year, and with three seatsavailable, all of them will achieve their goal.

Incumbent member Malcolm Leichter, aDemocrat, will be heading into his third term.He holds a master of science in instructionalmedia, spent eight years as a teacher, thenworked in the private industry. He spent 15years working with IBM where he was respon-sible for about a $3.5 million budget, followedby another 15 years working as the director ofbusiness and technology with Lebanon PublicSchools.

There, he said, “I had the opportunity to beon the other side of the table and have to pre-pare budgets, present budgets and defend bud-gets as well as manage the wants and needs ofthe public school system while having a very,very fiscally tight budget.”

His financial experi-ence has only contin-ued to grow with theeight years he’s al-ready spent on the fi-nance board. In addi-tion, he explained he’sbeen liaison to the se-lectmen for the past sixyears, which has af-forded him “a lot of in-sight as to what comesacross their desks ev-ery day and what someof the fiscal responsibilities will be for the towndown the road.”

Leichter said he wanted to continue to serveon the board because he wanted to help keepthe town affordable for residents – includinghis wife and himself. He has been a residentsince 1974 and raised his two daughters in townwith this wife Maryanne.

“My hopes are that we can keep the peopleof Hebron in Hebron,” he said. Now that he’sretired, Leichter explained he understands howdifficult it can be to keep up with the growth intaxes in town.

“Many seniors have, and are, moving out ofHebron because they just can’t live a lifestyle

Terrence Piggott

here that their incomesupports,” he said.“There are those thatcan, too, I don’t wantto say that every seniorhas to move out but mywife and I spent ourentire married life inHebron and this iswhere we’ve retiredand this is where wewant to stay.”

Leichter said hethought he could helpmake that happen, due in part to his years ofexperience with municipal finance and theyear’s he’s already been involved with Hebron’sfinances.

“I think we’ve got to make some changeswhere we make it more affordable for peopleto live and to stay in Hebron, and I think I cando that,” he said.

As far as what needs to be changed or fo-cused on, Leichter said the board should con-tinue on with what the selectmen have alreadydone, in taking all town requests, prioritizingservices and determining if the requests are“needs” or “wants” and putting them all on atimeline.

“Right now things can come up that are hoton somebody’s mind and all of a sudden weneed to do it,” he explained, but “we can’t con-tinue operating in that respect. We need to havea more planned, systematic schedule.”

Leichter added that when large projects areundertaken, financing for maintaining thoseprojects needs to be considered as well. He usedBurnt Hill Park as an example. While an “over-whelming majority” of voters were in favor ofthe park, the town has been unable to budgetfor adequate park maintenance “because peoplewon’t pass the budget.”

“I understand things are tight but we can’tinvest money in a large degree as we did in theparks and then not maintain them to the qualitywe need to.”

In addition to Leichter, two newcomers willbe joining the board: Republicans Terrence

Piggott and Henry Sawicki.Piggott and his wife raised their two sons in

town and have called Hebron home since 1977.This week he explained he’s worked in the carbusiness since 1971, managing differentdealerships. He currently sits on the Planningand Zoning Commission.

Piggott said he decided to run for the Boardof Finance because “I love the town, I’ve beenhere for quite some time and I’d like to see theneeds of the towntaken care of.”

However, he wenton to say he knew a lotof people in town wereworried about taxes.

“So what I’d like todo, is while still pro-viding for the town,keep the taxes wherethey are or in check asbest as we can,” hesaid.

At this point Piggottsaid he wasn’t familiar enough with the detailsof the town budget to say exactly what areasmight need to be changed, but he added thecurrent board has done “a pretty good job.”

“The town is going along good,” he said. “Ijust want to keep it going and keep taxes incheck.”

But for Sawicki, who has lived in town for

10 years, has worked with various Fortune 500companies over the years and is currently onthe Zoning Board of Appeals, some changesneed to occur with the school budget.

Sawicki said he was running because hewanted “to get more fiscal responsibility intown.”

“Mainly, we’re spending too much on theschools with enrollment going down more andmore and every year [the budget] keeps goingup,” he stated, and called that “the main thing.”

“We’ve got to bring it in line with enroll-ment.”

Sawicki said he felt the town “needs to spenda little bit more on other things other than theschool.”

“The town’s been lacking in getting moneyfor a lot of things because it just wasn’t avail-able,” he stated.

Sawicki went on to say the town “does fine,”but reiterated he felt it was the schools thatneeded some work, both in their transparencyand the size of their budget.

“I’m trying to get some fiscal responsibilityback,” he said.

And with his seat guaranteed along with thatof Leichter and Piggot, he’ll have four years totry and make that happen.

* * *Voting will take place Tuesday, Nov. 5, from

6 a.m.-8 p.m., at Hebron Elementary School,92 Church St.

East HamptonPolice News

10/5: Michael P. Affinito, 22, of 30 BarbaraAve., was involved in a one-car motor vehicleaccident in the area of 134 Mott Hill Rd., whenhe lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree, EastHampton Police said. Affinito was arrested andcharged with DUI, failure to drive right, mis-use of plates and operating an unregisteredmotor vehicle, police said.

10/8: Police responded to a Colchester Av-enue address for a report of a disturbance. Uponarrival, officers found John Forbes IV, 26, of205 West High St., on the property. Forbes at-tempted to flee on his motorcycle, police said,but ultimately lost control of his motorcycle andwas immediately taken into custody. Forbes wasarrested for violation a protective order, disor-derly conduct, operating under the influence andoperating under suspension, police said.

10/9: Richard P. Vezina Jr., 47, of no certainaddress, was arrested for violation of a protec-tive order, police said.

Colchester Police News10/9: State Police said Leonard Bermudez,

26, of 10 Forest Dr., Uncasville, was chargedwith failure to respond to an infraction.

10/10: State Police said William Fick, 48,of 43 Orchard Farms Rd., was traveling on OldHartford Road when he struck a vehicle drivenby Terry Moquin, 52, of 165 John Brook Rd.,Canterbury, who was attempting to turn left intoHope Hardware and Plumbing. Police said Fickwas issued a summons to appear for operatinga motor vehicle under a suspended license andpassing on the right.

10/11: Colchester Police said Philip Sirois,54, of 56 Allen St., Terryville, was charged withDUI and failure to drive right.

10/12: Colchester Police said Christopher

Flythe, 35, of 112 Buckley Hill Rd., was trav-eling southbound on Westchester Road whenhe turned to the right and struck a mailbox. Po-lice said the vehicle then fled the scene. An in-vestigation revealed that Flythe was at fault forthe crash. Police issued Flythe a summons formaking an improper turn and evading responsi-bility.

10/13: State Police said Edward J. McMahon,18, of 28 Gillettes Ln., was charged with DUIand restricted turn.

10/13: Colchester Police said at approxi-mately 9:30 a.m. a person reported an employeeof Gibbs Oil located on 299 Main St. was sus-pected of stealing money during their shift. Thecase is still under investigation.

MarlboroughPolice News

10/9: State Police said Joseph Walz, 20, of63 Lafayette Rd., was charged with interferingwith an officer.

10/9: State Police said Jodie Burns, 32, of45 South Main St., was charged with interfer-ing with an officer.

10/11: State Police said Doris Livingstone,79, of 4 Wells Ave., East Hampton, was travel-ing eastbound on Route 66 when a 16-year-oldEast Hampton resident entered into the east-bound lane of travel from the driveway of Bankof America and struck Livingstone’s vehicle.Police said Livingstone was transported toMarlborough Clinic for evaluation/treatment.The 16-year-old and her two passengers did notreport any injuries.

10/10: State Police said Calvin Whidden, 27,of 51 Silver St., Middletown, was charged withsecond-degree failure to appear.

ObituariesPortland

Robin A. MitchellRobin A Mitchell, 51, of Portland, passed away

Wednesday, Oct. 9, after a long battle with can-cer. She is the daughter of Alice L. and the lateRichard A. Mitchell of Portland.

Besides her mother, she is survived by her sonJoseph, sister Karen Rubistello, brother Scott,grandson Mason, niece Katie, brother-in-lawGeorge, her beloved Sammy Hamilton and manyfriends and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at Trinity Epis-copal Church in Portland at 11AM on Saturday,Oct. 19.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made tothe Trinity Episcopal Church Book of Remem-brance, 345 Main St., Portland, CT 06480.

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

PortlandCharles M. Jarzabek

Charles “Charlie” M.Jarzabek, 52, of Port-land passed away Sun-day, Oct. 13, at Mid-dlesex Hospital. He isthe son of Katherine“Dolores” (Maher)Jarzabek of Portlandand the late Joseph F.Jarzabek Sr.

Born on Dec. 3,1960, in Hartford, hehas lived in Portland forthe last 50 years. Heworked as an animal control officer for the Townof Portland for over 24 years. He was a memberof the Middlesex Historical Society, theGettysburg Foundation and he loved collectingmemorabilia from the Battle of Gettysburg.

Besides his mother, he leaves his brother, JohnW. Jarzabek of Portland; a sister, Tricia Hasselmanof Glastonbury; two nephews, Joseph JarzabekIII and his wife, Shawna and Brian Hasselman;and niece, Holli Jarzabek.

He was predeceased by a brother, Joseph F.Jarzabek Jr and a nephew, John W. Jarzabek Jr.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, Oct.19, with a Mass at 11 a.m. at the Church of St.Mary, 51 Freestone Ave., Portland. Burial will bein the Swedish Cemetery, Portland. Relatives andfriends may pay their respects on Saturday at thechurch from 10 a.m. until the Mass.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made tothe Gettysburg Foundation Membership, 1195Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, Page 1 of 6 17325.

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

East HamptonBarbara Gorin

Barbara (McKinstry) Gorin, 92, passed awaypeacefully Wednesday, Oct. 9. She was born andraised in Tracy, where she was known as Babs,and was involved with many sports including div-ing, basketball, and softball.

Her family summered at Lake Pocotopaug inEast Hampton, where she met and fell in love withHarrison Gorin. They were married in Meridenon July 6, 1944, and following Harrison’s returnfrom military service in the Pacific built a homeand business together in East Hampton.

In addition to being a devoted wife and lovingmother to her two children, Barbara was an avidbaseball fan, first following the Brooklyn Dodg-ers, and later the Boston Red Sox. She was also afan of UConn women’s basketball, and lovedspending time at the beach.

After her husband’s passing in 1981, Barbarashared her home with her beloved sister, bestfriend and constant companion Mabel. Togetherthey spent winters in Florida and many summersin Cape Cod.

In addition to her husband, and sister Mabel,Barbara was predeceased by her brothers Georgeand Elwyn, and sister Fern Vass.

She is survived by her son Dr. Thomas Gorinand his wife Ginnie of Storrs, and daughterJacquelyn Gorin and her husband Jason Martinof Glastonbury. She also leaves three grandchil-dren of whom she was very proud, Daniel Gorinand his wife Henny, Dr. Amy Gorin and her hus-band Stephan Stacey, and Tim Gorin and his girl-friend Leif Rawson-Ahern; five great-grandchil-dren, Nate and Jade Gorin, and Owen, Griffin andPhoebe Stacey; and many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank the staffs of OneMacDonough Place and Mansfield Center forNursing & Rehabilitation for their kind and com-passionate care for Barbara over the past severalyears.

Friends called Tuesday, Oct. 15, from 6-8 p.m.,at the Spencer Funeral Home, 112 Main St., EastHampton. Burial was Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 10a.m., in the family plot in St. Patrick Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions maybe made to The March of Dimes, 500 WindingBrook Dr., Suite 8, Glastonbury, CT 06033.

To leave online condolences, visitspencerfuneralhomeinc.com.

AmstonDorothy Rita Whiteley

Died Oct. 12. Dorothy Rita, (Duffey), (Sun-shine in Face) Whiteley, of Amston and formerlyof Plainfield, has started her journey across theRainbow Bridge, to join her many pets and fam-ily who crossed before her, on her way to theCreator.

Dorothy was predeceased by her parents, Ed-ward and Eva (Couture) Dufault, as well as herfive siblings, sister, Marie Phillips, and brothers,Kenneth, Donald, Arthur and Herman. Dorothywas also predeceased by her last husband, John,(Jack) Whiteley.

Born in Plainfield, Dorothy spent her child-hood on the small family farm, where she devel-oped a love for all animals. Throughout her life,she rescued many animals, keeping them safe tillthey crossed the bridge. What a great reunion sheand they will share.

Dorothy is survived by her daughter, EdwinaCarole Kovacs and husband Michael of Amston,with whom she lived for the last 32 years. Sheleaves a son, Donald Mazzucchi and wife, Susanof Cape Cod, Mass. Also surviving is her grand-son, William Pulver, Wind Walker and his fiancée,Patty, Flying Bear Rose, also of Amston. She issurvived by many other cousins, nieces, nephews,a much loved sister-in-law, Joyce Dufault ofRhode Island. She also cared a great deal forRaymond and Lynne Laberge and Mark Laberge.

Dorothy and her very best friend, Alice Miles,and husband Bill spent many wonderful days attag sales and the Hebron doll shows, run by theirfriend, Ann Ives. Dorothy received a diploma fromDoll Hospital of Los Angeles, and went on to re-pair many antique dolls. She also made repros.,which were sold at the doll shows or gifted tofamily and friends. Dorothy restored and dresseddolls and toys which were then donated to theNortheast Action Committee for children in needat Christmas time.

Dorothy was a superb seamstress, makingclothes or repairing them for many family andfriends, as well as dresses for antique dolls. Shemade fantastic, crazy quilts, some of which werepurchased by Ella Grasso. Dorothy felt very hon-ored to have made quilts for Ella.

Dorothy was a hard worker. She always helddown two jobs, days in factories and nights inrestaurants. She worked in the Royal Robes as ayoung woman, at Kaman Aircraft, at Joe’s Diner,Johnny’s Grill and as a cook and waitress atMelody Inn. Interestingly, when Melody Inn wasknown as the Dragon Hotel, her grandmother wasthe cook there. She also loved selling poppies andwould bug people until they bought at least one.

Dorothy had many health issues over the years.She was a two-time cancer survivor, she had threeheart bypasses, three strokes, sarcoidosis, diabe-tes and a pacemaker. But her greatest challengewas Parkinson’s disease. Through it all, she re-mained strong and fought each fight with quietdignity, strength and determination until she fi-nally could fight no longer.

Dorothy will be eternally missed by all whoknew her, but most of all, she will be missed ter-ribly by the family dogs, Midnight Angel andMata Hauri Samuel.

Mother always asked for people to give herflowers while she lived and hoped that after shecrossed, people would donate the flower moneyto her favorite charity. As a final gesture of love,it is hoped that donations in her memory be madeto the Americas Basenji Rescue, c/o KeathRhymer, 2589 S. Roena St., Indianapolis, IN46241. Donations are tax-deductible. Please men-tion mom’s name, and Keath will say prayers forher and you.

Friends and family attended calling hours Tues-day, Oct. 15, at Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home,167 Old Hartford Rd., Colchester. The funeral daybegan Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the funeral home,and processed to the Church of the Holy Familyin Hebron for the celebration of the funeral lit-urgy. Burial followed in Evergreen Cemetery inPlainfield.

To share online condolences, visit auroramccarthyfuneral home.com.

ColchesterAngela P. Doyle

Angela P. Doyle, formerly of Norwich, diedFriday, Oct. 11, in Colchester. She was born inMeriden, the daughter of the late Casmir and Anna(Jez) Pyrek.

As a young woman, Angela was living inMeriden before she was admitted to Uncas onThames Hospital to be treated for tuberculosis.She recovered from the disease but never leftNorwich.

She met her husband Henry Doyle, who wasalso a patient at the hospital; they were marriedand settled in Norwich. She was recruited by thehospital to train to be a practical nurse. She com-pleted schooling and worked at the hospital for25 years, until her retirement in 1971. She was amember of the Connecticut State Employees As-sociation for many years.

She is survived by her son, Thomas D. Doyleand wife Joy of Newport, Maine.

She was predeceased by her husband, HenryDoyle, in 1980.

Her family would like to express their sincereappreciation and gratitude to the staff atHarrington Court for the many years of outstand-ing care they provided and also to Hospice fortheir guidance, care and support.

A funeral service was held Wednesday, Oct.16, at the Woyasz & Son Funeral Home, 141 Cen-tral Ave., Norwich. Burial followed in St. JosephCemetery. There were no calling hours.

HebronPeter J. Sylvester

Peter J. Sylvester, 51, of Hebron, beloved hus-band of Gayle (Greenburg) Sylvester, died Thurs-day, Oct. 10, at Windham Hospital. Born Jan. 11,1962, in Hartford, son of the late Raphael andMarjorie (Bagot) Sylvester, he was raised in SouthGlastonbury and had lived in Hebron for the past20 years.

Peter was a master carpenter and mechanic, anavid hunter and fisherman and a handcrafter ofhomemade bows. Most recently he was a carpen-ter for Allied Construction in Manchester.

Besides his wife, who he referred to as his bestfriend, he is survived by a daughter, ShannonSylvester, and a son Nicholas Sylvester both ofHebron; three brothers, Paul Sylvester of Manches-ter, Raphael (Bud) Sylvester of East Hampton,Michael Sylvester of Manchester; two sisters, GinaWetzel of Lebanon, Mary Sullivan of Florida; abrother-in-law Gary Greenburg of Newton, Mass.;a sister-in-law Jennifer McPherson of Southington;and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral service was held Monday, Oct. 14,in Gilead Congregational Church, Hebron. Burialfollowed in Gilead Cemetery. Friends called atthe Mulryan Funeral Home, 725 Hebron Ave.,Glastonbury, on Sunday, Oct. 13.

Memorial donations may be made to the Ameri-can Cancer Society , 825 Brook St., Rocky Hill,CT. 06067.

For online condolences, visit mulryanfh.com.

PortlandGloria D. Goding

Gloria D. Goding, 80, of Summer Street inPortland, wife of the late Harold Goding, diedTuesday, Oct. 15, at Middlesex Hospital. BornApril 29, 1933, in Middletown, daughter of thelate Domenick and Beatrice (Magnano) Daniels.Gloria had been a resident of Portland most ofher life.

She is survived by her loving family, three sonsand daughters-in-law: Ray and Mickey Hale ofMiddletown, Thomas and Laura Hale of RockyHill, Daniel and Cindy Hale of Middletown; adaughter, Kathleen Backman of Middletown; abrother, Domenick Daniels of Westbrook; eightgrandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Gloria was predeceased by her son, RandyHale, and a brother, Sebastian Daniels.

The funeral will be held Saturday, Oct. 19, at9:30 a.m., in the Coughlin-Lastrina FuneralHome, 491 High St., Middletown. Burial will bein the family plot in St. Sebastian Cemetery,Middlefield. Friends may call at the funeral homeSaturday morning from 8:30 a.m. until the timeof the service.

Those who wish may make memorial dona-tions to the Middlesex Hospice Unit, c/o Devel-opment Office, 55 Crescent St., Middletown, CT06457.

PortlandClaude Ronald Tarrant

Claude Ronald Tarrant, 75, of Groton, passedaway after a courageous battle with cancer Mon-day, Sept. 30, surrounded by family. Ron, as hewas known to most, was born in Portland, on Feb.10, 1938, the youngest of seven children, to Wil-liam Porter and Helen Hodge. He was adoptedby Dr. John Tarrant in 1945, when his motherremarried.

He married the love of his life, Donna, in Feb-ruary 1976. She predeceased him May 12, 2012.

Ron served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955-59, receiving an honorable discharge. He heldseveral jobs over his lifetime. He worked at theNaval Underwater Sound Lab as a security guardfor seven years, even training at Smith & WessonAcademy, where he received sharpshooter status.He then worked for Pfizer for 18 years as a chemi-cal operator, retiring from Pfizer in 1988.

However, retirement was not for him. He thenbecame director of maintenance at Days Inn inMystic, receiving the Employee of the Year awardin 1991. He worked as maintenance supervisorfor several apartment complexes for about 20years, and many tenants looked to him as a fatherfigure. He last worked at the Crystal Mall as asecurity guard.

He was an excellent carpenter, building suchthings as extra shelving for his wife’s shoes, anoutdoor playhouse for his grandchildren, and, justweeks before he died, a beautiful three-foot modelboat he designed himself.

His children and grandchildren will foreverremember his stories of Ooey, Gooey and Louieand how Noank got its name. He loved beingoutside, whether raking leaves or detailing his car.

Ron, also known as Pa, Papa and Harry, is sur-vived by four step-children, whom he called hisown, Kathryn Brown-Tracy (Alan), Cherie Eastty(Richard) and Lisa Luck, former daughter-in-law,Liz, all from Groton, and Roger Luck Jr. (Debra)of Salem; his siblings, Lenora Frazier of Port-land, Charles Tarrant of Richmond, Va., and EdTarrant of Seattle, Wash. He also leaves behind11 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, manynieces and nephews, and his Siamese cat, Moosa.

A memorial talk will take place at 3 p.m. Sat-urday, Oct. 19, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’sWitnesses, Flanders Road, Mystic. Burial will beat a later date.

East HamptonDarlene Lydia Durgan

Darlene Lydia Durgan, 46, of Middletown,beloved daughter of Carlton and Sandra(Tourtelotte) Durgan of Cobalt died Sunday, Oct.13, at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Born Nov. 19, 1966, in Middletown she hadgrown up in East Hampton and was a graduate ofVinal Tech High School where she had been amember of VICA and a cheerleader. Darlene hadworked at Liberty Bank for 15 years and then forPratt & Whitney for the past 12 years. She wasan avid race fan, especially NASCAR, and shehad traveled to Honduras twice with the HeiferInternational Program through the Haddam Con-gregational Church.

Besides her parents she is survived by her long-time loving companion Daniel Evarts; her sisters,Dianne Durgan of East Hampton, Debra Wilmesand her husband Michael of Rocky Hill; a brother-in-law, John Sobolewski of Cobalt; godparents,Dee and Bob Durgan of Ellington; nieces andnephew, Alicia Wilmes, Craig, Jenna and JackieSobolewski; also many aunts uncles, cousins,friends and her two beloved kittys, Eva and Molly.

Friends called at the Spencer Funeral Home,112 Main St., East Hampton, on Thursday, Oct.17. Funeral services will be held today, Oct. 18,at 11 a.m., in the East Hampton CongregationalChurch, with the Rev. Thomas Kennedy officiat-ing. Burial will follow in Union Hill Cemetery inMiddle Haddam.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions maybe made to the Susan B. Koman Breast CancerFund, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265.

To leave online condolences, visit spencerfuneralhomeinc.com.