2-17-2012 town times

Volume 18, Issue 45 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall Friday, February 17, 2012

Durham approves new 20-yearDMIAAB agreement

By Trish DyniaSpecial to the Town Times

Approximately 25 Durham votersattended a special town meeting onFeb. 13 and voted to approve the newagreement extending the life of DMI-AAB (Durham Middlefield InterlocalAgreement Advisory Board, the opera-tional agency for the two-town trans-fer station). They also accepted a one-acre parcel of land on Old WallingfordRoad and agreed to a $3,200 fund trans-fer to allow the fire department to in-stall a new air conditioner.

The primary issues of concern re-garding the DMIAAB agreement werethe continuation of equal representa-tion on the board in spite of the factthat Durham, as the larger town, pays65 percent of the DMIAAB budget, andthe withdrawal clause, which states

that either town may opt to withdrawfrom the agreement via vote of its leg-islative body prior to June 30 of anyyear.

Regarding equal representation,Donia Viola stated, “This amounts totaxation without representation,” andencouraged the town to table the issuein order to change the makeup of theboard. Viola also expressed concernsabout the lack of data as to usage of thefacility. Said Viola, “Maybe Durhamuses it more, but we don’t know be-cause the data is not available.”

Other members of the audience ex-pressed similar concerns but general-ly noted that it wasn’t a deal-breakerfor them. Said Steve Levy, “It’s a goodagreement. It’s worked for 40 years,and there are other checks and bal-

See DMIAAB, page 10

Durham Selectmen recognizevolunteers, hear about water woes

By Trish DyniaSpecial to the Town Times

At the Feb. 13 meeting of theDurham Board of Selectmen (BOS),several residents of the DurhamHeights neighborhood came to expressconcerns regarding the polluted wellsituation that has been an ongoingproblem there for more than 25 years.Austin Road resident Sandy Wade not-ed that area residents feel that thetown has forgotten the folks who havebeen dealing with coliform bacteria intheir wells for such a long time. SaidWade, “Receiving bottled water isgreat, but having polluted wells hasbrought the values of our homes waydown in what is otherwise a wonder-ful, friendly, middle-class neighbor-hood and a desirable area to live in.”

Partridge Lane resident Donia Vio-la discussed the history of well testingin the neighborhood and noted thatshe has been working with the townHealth Department on this issue formany years. First Selectman LauraFrancis stated that discussions will re-sume again shortly on a possible linkto Middletown’s public water system,but she cautioned that the EPA willonly help with funding the system inthe superfund area, which does not in-

clude Durham Heights. Once fundingis in place for this system, completionand hook-up is still three to five yearsaway.

Francis will set up a neighborhoodmeeting to discuss these issues atlength and look at possible solutions.Residents will be notified by mail, andthe meeting will include town healthofficials, herself and hopefully a repre-sentative from EPA.

The following members ofDurham’s newly established Commu-nity Emergency Response Team(CERT) were sworn in at the BOSmeeting: Patricia Dynia, Brenda Eddy,Kim Garvis, Jody and Paul Griese,Harry and Sharon Hall, Norm Hicks,Wanda Jacques-Gill, Barbara John-son, Dr. Steven Levy, Dan Murphy,

See Dur BOS, page 31

CVEF spelling bee sees great turnoutand spirit

The fourth annual Coginchaug Valley Education FoundationSpelling Bee was held on Friday, Feb. 10, after being postponed bythe Halloween snowstorm. The delay did nothing to dampen en-thusiasm for the community event. Twenty-two teams of mostlythree contestants each competed enthusiastically for prizes. Pic-tured here, in the thick of the contest, the BEEdevils (LaurieStevens, Kerri Flanagan and Chris Flanagan), sponsored by theDurham Democratic Town Committee, and the Sea BEES (NicoleMaletta, Claire Peterson and Becka Suchy), sponsored by DurhamVFW Post 10169. The Sea BEES ended up winning the spirit prizewith their snappy salutes. See more spelling bee photos on page 5.

Photo by Sue Vanderzee

George Eames III and JamesMcLaughlin honored

State Senator Ed Meyer (left) and US Senator Richard Blumenthal(center right) attended a reception to recognize the efforts andcontributions of George Eames (center left) and Jim McLaughlin(right) to the town of Durham on Sunday, Feb. 12, co-hosted bythe Durham Democratic and Republican town committees.

Photo by Karen Kean

In this issue ...Calendar........................................4Devils’ Advocate ....................13-20Durham Briefs ............................11Middlefield Briefs.......................12Obituary .........................................22Sports ......................................26-30

Town Times Community Briefs Friday, February 17, 201221234082

860-349-8771

Home Improvements LLC

Middlefield, CT

neiljoneshomeimprovements.com

All types of Interior & Exteriorrepairs, replacements and upgrades.

Celebrating our 26th yearFREE ESTIMATES....NO OBLIGATIONS

Trumpet LessonsAll Ages

Over 27 years of professional experienceperforming with the Savage Brothers Band!

Call: Mark Savage860-402-6114

1234861

Girl Scoutscelebrate 100years

Durham/Middlefield GirlScouts are preparing to cele-brate the 100th anniversaryof Girl Scouts this March. Tomark this monumental year,they are putting together adisplay at Levi Coe Libraryin Middlefield for March(Girl Scout Month) and alsowould like to invite the old-est local Girl Scout to our an-nual mother/daughter ban-quet this spring.

If anyone has any GirlScout photos, books, memo-rabilia, etc. that they wouldbe willing to lend the localscouts for the display at LeviCoe Library, please e-mail orcall Sheryl Pietrzyk Slight [email protected] or860-349-2428. If you think youmay be the oldest Girl Scoutor think you know someonewho is, please email or callSheryl Pietrzyk Slight.

The Durham/Middlefield

Girl Scouts welcome any girlin the community to becomepart of this organization. Formore information please callLisa Deschnow 860-347-5768,ext. 3751.

Attention,Falcons’ parents

The Falcons are now ac-cepting head coaching appli-cations for the 2012 season. Ifyou are interested in being ahead coach for either the A,B, C or Mighty Mites teams,please contact Ken Parrilla,president, at [email protected] Steve Roccapriore, coach-ing director, [email protected] no laterthan Feb. 20. Head coacheswill be selected by the boardat the March board meeting.

Chili ContestThe Church of the

Epiphany (196 Main St. inDurham) will hold a ChiliContest and Festival on Sat-urday, Feb. 25, from 4 to 7p.m. in the parish hall.

Prizes will be awarded forthe top three winners inmeatless, mild and hot cate-gories, and entertainmentfor children will be provid-ed. There is no entry fee, butthere is a suggested donationto enjoy a meal (alternativemenu for those who don’tlike chili) and vote on yourfavorite recipe. Informationis available by calling 860-349-6533.

Softballpitching clinic

Coginchaug Little Leaguewill offer pitching clinics forthe softball players’ leagueages 8-12 for the 2012 season.Girls must be registered forthe 2012 season to participatein the pitching clinic. A par-ent is required to catch fortheir daughter. Clinics willbe held at the Lake Grovegym in Durham on Sundays,March 11, 18, 25 and April 1,from 9 to 10 a.m. for begin-ners and 10 to 11 a.m. for ex-perienced.

To register your daughter

for this pitching clinic,please go to www.cogin-chaugll.org and click “Regis-ter Online” to begin. Instruc-tion will be provided by Ash-ley and Nicole Thody, alum-ni of Middletown HighSchool. Both girls earned all-conference and Ashley all-state recognition duringtheir high school careers.Ashley also played for twoyears at the University ofConnecticut.

Marriageseminar

“One Love,” a creativeseminar, will be an incredi-ble time for you and yourspouse (or fiancé) to developan intimate, passionate, ful-filling and healthy marriage!Some topics that will be cov-ered are effective communi-cations, how to handle toughseasons, deeper intimacyand affair-proofing yourmarriage. Come join us forthis life-changing event atVictory Christian Church(191 Meriden Rd. in Middle-

field) on Friday, March 23,from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and Satur-day, March 24, from 8:30 a.m.to 4 p.m. Cost is per coupleand includes materials, con-tinental breakfast and lunchon March 24. To register, call860-346-6771.

Ash Wednesdayservices

On Wednesday, Feb. 22,Christians the world over be-gin the holy season of Lentwith the observance of AshWednesday. The EpiscopalChurch of the Epiphany in

See Briefs, page 21

CorrectionsWe strive to bring you

the most accurate infor-mation available eachweek, but if you see some-thing in Town Times thatisn’t quite right, give us acall at 860-349-8000, andwe’ll do our best to makethings right.

Index of AdvertisersTo advertise in the Town Times, call Joy Boone at 203-317-2313.

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GRISWOLD PLUMBING SERVICES LLC . . . . .30HOME WORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29HUNTERS POOL AND SPAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21IANNIELLO PLUMBING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28JAY LANDSCAPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28LINO’S MARKET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7LYMAN ORCHARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6MASONICARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23MIDDLEFIELD REMODELING . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30MIDDLESEX DRIVING ACADEMY LLC . . . . . .26MIDDLESEX HEALTH CARE CENTER . . . . . . . .6MIMS OIL LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24MOECKEL, JUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12MOVADO FARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26NEIL JONES HOME IMPROVEMENTS . . . . .2, 27NEW ENGLAND DENTAL HEALTH SERVICE .24NORTHERN MIDDLESEX YMCA . . . . . . . . . . . . .6PROFESSIONAL SECURITY SYS . . . . . . . . . . .27RANEY DMD LLC JASON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6REALTY ASSOCIATES LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26RLI ELECTRIC LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28ROBLEE PLUMBING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27ROCKFALL CO, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26RSDL HOME IMPROVEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . .28SANS-SOUCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21SAVAGE, MARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2SINGLES ALTERNAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12SISTERS CLEANING SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . .29SPICE CATERING GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11SUBURBAN CLEANERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6T-N-T HOME & LAWNCARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29TILE RENOVATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30TONY’S MASONRY LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29TORRISON STONE & GARDEN . . . . . . . . . . . .26VMB CUSTOM BUILDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28WHITEHOUSE CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . .27WLODKOWSKI, STEVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times 31234827

Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, Bread& Butter, Dessert & Beverage

Event Sponsored by theDurham/Middlefield Exchange Club

Tickets may be purchased at the door OR from an Exchange Club member.

Proceeds from this eventbenefit CRHS Athleticsand the Preventionof Child Abuse.

$6 each or $20 for a family of 4 or more

All You Can EatSpaghetti & Meatball Dinner

Sunday, February 26thCRHS Cafeteria • 3:30-7:00 pm

PLUSDoor Prizes

& Raffle!

PLUSDoor Prizes

& Raffle!

CRHSmusical groups

will providecontinuous

entertainment.

1234819

The results speak for themselves!• I am a diabetic, my blood sugar has

never been better and I am evenstarting to taper off my meds!

• I lost 28 lbs. on this program!• My skin is clearer and glowing!• My energy has never been higher

and no low points!• My headaches are gone!• I can fit into my skinny jeans again!• My body composition improved so

much, I have no risk factors for disease!

What will you say?

✔ FREE Core Membership for duration of program!✔ Eight one hour personal training sessions WORTH $520!✔ Weekly one on one meetings with Nutritionist -

Naturopathic Doctor who will keep you on track andanswer all questions on your diet concerns

✔ Team Support w/weekly meetings and weigh ins✔ Team Challenges✔ One Meditation session✔ A chef for an evening at Club Chef Patsy Hafher will

demonstrate low fat cooking ideas✔ Catherine O’Rouke is a SWAT Team Nurse and an ICU

Nurse at Yale. Catherine is going to talk aboutprevention. She has seen a trend of young people whoexperience cardiac and diabetic issues.

TESTIMONIAL: “Finished my eight weeks last night with the Core Club ... 30 lbsand a world of difference... I feel healthier, clothes fit, and I have more energy... wellworth the time spent... Robin, Sheila and Dr. J are no joke, they are right there foryou through all eight weeks .. Like Cheryl said... they will be doing another challengein January... make it a resolution FOR YOURSELF ... to get FIT ...♥”

New Year Resolution

CallTODAY and find out why this

challenge is for YOU!

If not NOW - WHEN?

A NEW YOU IN ONLY 8 WEEKS!

Program modeled after

BIGGEST LOSER!

Core Club - 350 Main St., Durham, CT • www.coreclubllc.com • 860-349-9100

Drop the Weight,Restore Your Health

Naturopath Supervised -Dr. Jason M. Belejack NDHealth Restoration

Program!

April 15th - June 10th

$25 OFFw/Early Bird Special

sign up by 3/15

Informational

Meeting March

4th at 3 PM at

Core ClubCORE CLUB & GYM

Board of Ed approves two-year calendarBy Mark Dionne

Special to the Town Times

In a shorter-than-usualmeeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8,at Brewster School, the Boardof Education (BOE) voted toapprove school calendars forboth the 2012-13 and 2013-14school years.

This marks the first timethat the board has approvedthe calendar two years in ad-vance and was done, accordingto Superintendent Sue Vic-caro, for the convenience ofparents.

The calendars are similar tothe current school year with ashortened February vacation,snow days added to the end ofthe year in June and five two-hour delayed openingsplanned for professional devel-opment. Both calendars endthe school year on June 11 (as-suming no snow days areadded).

“I feel that these are safe cal-endars to offer people,” saidViccaro. The calendars wereup in draft form on RegionalSchool District 13’s (RSD13’s)website, and drew little feed-back.

The approved calendars willbe up on the district website,www.rsd13ct.org.

Adding to its own calendar,the BOE has invited Durhamand Middlefield’s current rep-resentatives — RepresentativeMatt Lesser and senators EdMeyer and Len Suzio — to theFeb. 22 meeting at 7:30 p.m. atCoginchaug Regional HighSchool (CRHS).

Governor Malloy has calledon the state legislature to focuson education reform for thecurrent session. BOE mem-bers discussed possible ques-tions for the guests, includingchair Tom Hennick, who indi-cated that he would like to talkabout educational issues spe-cific to smaller districts.

A proposal for concussionmanagement in high schoolathletes was also put on thecalendar for the Feb. 22 BOEmeeting. The topic of usingcomputer testing to individu-alize treatment for studentswith concussion symptomshad been discussed in previ-ous meetings.

Viccaro has been lookinginto the program, which couldstart in the fall, with advicefrom district medical advisor

Dr. Brad Jubilier and Dr.Adam Perrin of the Connecti-cut Concussion Task Force.

Before July 2012, the boardhas to decide how to complywith state mandates requiringstudents in grades 6 and up tohave Student Success Plans,which set career-planning, ac-ademic and social/emotionalgoals. A company currentlyused for career planning andtranscripts, called Naviance,may be able to handle the Stu-dent Success Plans.

“I am looking to do this in avery efficient and cost-effec-tive way,” said Viccaro. As inpast discussions of the StudentSuccess Plans, board membersdiscussed ideas for involvingparents in fulfilling the man-date.

The BOE will also hear pro-posals from website manage-ment companies on ways toupdate and improve the dis-trict website.

The next BOE meeting isscheduled for Feb. 22 at 7:30p.m. at CRHS. The BOE willmeet every Wednesday inMarch at 7:30 p.m. at StrongSchool, beginning with a pro-posed budget on March 7.

Web UpdateThis week, we asked our readers, “What is your idea of

the perfect Valentine’s Day gift?” Here are the results:- Chocolates and candies: 0 % - Flowers: 10 %- A romantic getaway: 30 % - Jewelry: 0 %- Just spending time together: 30 %- Don’t celebrate / single: 30 %

Be sure to vote in our next poll at www.towntimes.com!

Town Times & Places Friday, February 17, 20124

FRIDAY

February 17Bridge Night

Come join in at theDurham Activity Centerevery Friday night at 6:30p.m. for a fun night ofbridge with great people.If you are not sure how toplay, Jim will teach you.You may call Jim at 860-346-6611 with bridge ques-tions. Call Durham Recre-ation at 860-343-6724 withfurther questions.

Blood DriveUnited Churches of

Durham is holding a blooddrive for the American RedCross today from 1 to 6 p.m.Potential donors are en-couraged to pre-register toensure quick and efficientprocessing, but walk-ins arealso accepted. Go tow w w . r e d c r o s s b l o o d .org/make-donation and putin the sponsor code 4590 (orzip 06422) to sign up for anappointment, or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Be sure todrink lots of water andbring your blood donor cardor any other form of identi-fication.

SATURDAY

February 18Jazz NightOut

New York trumpet masterEddie Allen, who has per-formed with Dizzy Gillespie,Etta Jones and Joe Hender-son, headlines at the Art CenterKillingworth’s annual JazzNightOut, presented at theIvoryton Playhouse (103Main St.). Set in a café-styleenvironment, Jazz NightOutopens at 7:30 p.m. with musi-cal prodigy Alma MacBride,a Connecticut jazz pianistand flautist. Complimentaryappetizers in orchestra seat-ing only. Free dessert buffetand cash wine bar availableto all. For price info and tick-ets, call 860-663-5593, or pur-chase online at www.arts-centerkillingworth.org.

Italian BuffetAn all-you-can-eat Italian

dinner (chicken parmesan)will be held from 5 to 7 p.m.at Third CongregationalChurch (94 Miner St. in Mid-dletown). For more info, callthe church at 860-632-0733.

Belly Dance WorkshopCome to Core Club & Gym

(350 Main St. in Durham)from 2:30 to 4 p.m. This isyour chance to try some-thing new! Dress in layers,wear loose yoga pants, workout clothes or a full skirt,bare feet, socks or balletshoes. Coin hip belts andveils will be provided to bor-row. All skill levels and bodytypes are welcome. Thisclass is perfect for beginnersor students who have stud-ied before. Call the gym at860-349-9100 for more info.

SUNDAY

February 19Hungry Hearts Info

MeetingMiddlefield Federated

Church is presenting the op-portunity for adults to weartheir hungry hearts on theirsleeves for Haiti. If youwould like to be a part of thisevent March 9-10, you willneed to come to the organiza-tional meeting at Middle-field Federated Church (402Main Street) today at 11:45a.m. For more info, pleasecall Middlefield FederatedChurch at 860-349-9984 or e-mail Tammy Burt at [email protected].

Create Your OwnWorkshop

Baby showers on the cal-endar? Come to the PolarFleece Baby Blankets work-shop at Arts Center Killing-worth (276 N. Parker HillRd.) from 1 to 4 p.m. and de-sign and sew snuggly, up-beat baby blankets! Mea-sure, cut, tie knots and ma-chine stitch satin trim to fin-ish a unique gift. For moreinfo and to register, call 860-663-5593 or e-mail [email protected] us at www.artscen-terkillingworth.org.

Create Your OwnWorkshop

The “Delving Deeper intothe Mystery of Knitting”workshop at Arts CenterKillingworth (276 N. ParkerHill Rd.) will be held from1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The rib pat-tern, seed stitch, double-seedstitch and grid stitch are in-troduced — all based on vari-ations of the knit/purl com-bination. For more info andto register, call 860-663-5593or e-mail [email protected]. Visit usat www.artscenterkilling-worth.org.

MONDAY

February 20PRESIDENTS’ DAY

Baseball Pitching ClinicCoginchaug Little League

will once again be offering abaseball pitching clinic.Starting on Saturday, March10, the clinic will run forfour consecutive Saturdays.Registration opens today toplayers league age 8. To signup for this clinic, visitwww.coginchaugll.org andclick “Register Online” tobegin. Contact the ScottStrang at [email protected] with questions orcomments about the pitch-ing clinic.Falcons Head Coach Apps

The Falcons are now ac-cepting head coaching appli-cations for the 2012 season. Ifyou are interested in being ahead coach for either the A,B, C or Mighty Mites teams,please contact Ken Parrilla,president, at [email protected] Steve Roccapriore, coach-ing director, [email protected] by no lat-er than today. Head coacheswill be selected by the boardat the March board meeting.

TUESDAY

February 21Native American Games

and CraftsThe Meigs Point Nature

Center at HammonassettBeach State Park has aschedule of activities offeredby ranger Russ Miller dur-ing what is typically Febru-ary vacation week. Takepart in games played longago by Native Americanchildren at 11 a.m. Makeyour own Native Americangame to take home at 1 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

February 22ASH WEDNESDAY

Ash Wednesday ServicesThe Episcopal Church of

the Epiphany in Durhamhas scheduled two servicesfor the imposition of blessedashes at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.All are welcome. For moreinfo, please call Fr. AnthonyC. Dinoto, interim rector, at860-349-9644 or visitwww.epiphanydurham.org.

Durham Senior LunchesEvery Monday and

Wednesday (excludingthis Feb. 20), hot lunchesare available for seniorsover 60 and their spousesat the Durham ActivityCenter (350 Main St.). Bin-go starts at 1 p.m. onWednesdays. For pricinginfo and to make a reser-vation, call Amanda As-tarita, senior café manag-er, at 860-349-3153.Middlefield Senior Lunches

The Middlefield SeniorCafé is serving lunch threetimes a week, on Mondays(excluding this Feb. 20),Wednesdays and Fridays.Reservations are required 24hours prior, and theirmonthly menu can be pickedup at the center, Town Hall,or at www.middlefieldct.org.

Free Blood PressureClinics

Every Wednesday, from 1p.m. to 3 p.m., the OutpatientSpecialty Clinic at Masoni-care Health Center inWallingford (Route 150) isopen to the community, withtrained staff on hand tocheck blood pressure read-ings at no charge. Call theClinic at 203-679-5902 or theMasonicare Help Line at 1-888-679-9997 with questionsor for more info.

TOPS MeetingTOPS (Take Off Pounds

Sensibly) meets everyWednesday at 6 p.m. on thethird floor of the DurhamTown Hall. Contact NaomiKlotsko at 860-349-9558 orBonnie Olesen at 860-349-9433 for more information.

Turtle Program andCrafts

Meet the turtles of Con-necticut; learn what’s spe-cial about our native tur-tle species, includinghabitats and natural his-tory with Ranger Russ at11 a.m. at HammonassettNature Center. Then at 1p.m., make and decorateyour own paper turtle.Make him scary, makehim funny or make himlook just like a real turtle!

THURSDAY

February 23Native American Stories

and CraftsExperience traditional

storytelling with storiesthat taught Native Ameri-

can children about natureand life lessons withRanger Russ at 11 a.m. atHammonassett NatureCenter. Then at 1 p.m.,write and illustrate yourown story using NativeAmerican symbols.

FRIDAY

February 24Bridge Night

Come join in at theDurham Activity Centerevery Friday night at 6:30p.m. for a fun night ofbridge with great people.If you are not sure how toplay, Jim will teach you.You may call Jim at 860-346-6611 with bridge ques-tions. Call Durham Recre-ation at 860-343-6724 withfurther questions.

Build With LEGOs®Join DMYFS for a family

building event on Saturday,March 3, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.at DMYFS (405 Main St. inMiddlefield). Get ready for afast-paced, hands-on buildusing over 60,000 LEGO®building blocks. For the reg-istration form, prices andmore info, go towww.dmyfs.org and click onprograms and select “Wind-mill Build.” Registrationwill be accepted no laterthan today.

Comedy NightDave Reilly, a comedi-

an, illusionist, escapeartist and fire eater, willbe performing at ZandrisStillwood Inn (1074 SouthColony Rd. in Walling-ford) tonight. Doors willopen at 6:30 p.m., and theshow begins at 8 p.m. In-cludes a hot buffet, cashbar, and a 50/50 raffle. Formore info or to reservetickets, call 203-269-6695or 203-410-4559.

Live Snake CraftsMeet the snakes of Con-

necticut; learn what’s spe-cial about our native snakespecies, including habitatsand natural history withRanger Russ at 11 a.m. atHammonassett Nature Cen-ter. Then at 1 p.m., makesnake crafts. Ranger Russwill provide toy snakes forthis project. Decide whereyour snake would live andcreate a habitat to providecamouflage for it.

Real judges cameout to judge thelively contest. Pic-tured here, deep inthought, are theHonorable ProbateJudge Joseph Mari-no, Durham FirstSelectman LauraFrancis and theHonorable JudgeRichard Adams.Behind them is

Garret D’Amato, who acted as timekeeper and pur-veyor of yellow and red cards for unruly spellers!

By Sue VanDerzee

Twenty-two teams of highschool and adult spellers com-peted for fame and fortune (actu-ally, mostly fame and Dunkin’Donuts gift cards) at the fourthannual Coginchaug Valley Edu-cation Foundation (CVEF)Spelling Bee held on Friday,Feb. 10, at the Coginchaug HighSchool auditorium. Teams weresponsored by various groups,organizations and businesseswho paid for the privilege of en-tertaining their fellow citizens.This raises money for CVEF,which is then distributed to in-dividuals and organizations en-gaged in various educational ac-tivities in Durham and Middle-field.

At the bee, the spelling cham-pions within Regional District13 are also recognized and pre-sented with trophies. This year,

the elementary winners includ-ed: from John Lyman School,Liam Houchin, Liya Simon,Ryan Solomon, Maia Carpenti-no, Joe D’Agostino and Made-line DeFlippo; and from KornSchool, AJ Defilio, EdwardFournier, Ashley Szymaszek,Sean Carroll, Evan Hempel, BenHowell and Nicholas Morin.

Middle school championspellers recognized were: fifthgraders Margaret Fiodella,Charlotte Meigs and Keya Stahl;sixth graders Stefan Marczukand Tatiana Perez; seventhgraders Hannah Amirault,Mary Grace Fiondella and SamWilcox; and eighth graders Dan-

ny Gavrilovic, SadieLeiler, Megan Locascio andShaun Whitaker. Congratula-tions, all!

Winners of the spelling beewere the Sunday Dreamers —Kathy Meyering, Penny Robin-er and Sue VanDerzee — spon-sored by the 11-year-old-and-counting Sunday Readers bookclub. The Dreamers also wonthe Most Original award, per-haps for their extensive demon-stration of an ability to sleepeven under the most public con-ditions!

Other winners included Ek-spelld, sponsored by IndianSprings Golf Club. Ekspelld (JenHuddleston, Aleda Freeman

Left, the ZomBEES, sponsored by P.A.L.S.,Friends of the Durham Library, made it into the fi-nal spelldown. From left to right are Diana St.Pierre, library director Valerie Kilmartin and PattiHolden. Below, these ABCs (Already Been

Chewed) worecrowns decorat-ed with dabs ofalready chewedgum! Picturedare Heidi DeFlip-po, Kim Stock-dale and DeniseBrennan.Photos by Sue VanDezee


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Middlefield, CT 06455.1227889

Spelling bee brings letters and laughs to a wintry night

and Kathy Weber) arrived byskateboard and spent their timeblowing spitballs at fellow con-testants, which finally earnedthem a red card from timekeep-er Garrett D’Amato. They cer-tainly deserved their Most En-tertaining award!

The Sea BEES (Nicole Malet-ta, Claire Peterson and BeckaSuchy), sponsored by DurhamVFW Post 10169, earned the Spir-it award, perhaps because theyspent a lot of time snappily salut-ing the judges who basked intheir attention and respect!

Wordstock (Jen Christenson,Julie Coogan and Dina D’Ama-to) earned the award for BestName, and The WannaBEES(Kate Gillespie and JeanneMesick), who had to be seen tobe believed, rightfully walkedaway with the Best Costumeaward.

The girls of Troop 62199 proudly show off the many colorful valentines they cre-ated; they are in first grade (Daisy Scouts) and fourth grade (Junior Scouts).

Submitted photos

Town Times Friday, February 17, 20126

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Valentines for VeteransBy Judy Moeckel


For many years, membersof the Wadsworth Chapter ofthe Connecticut Daughters ofthe American Revolution(CTDAR) have gathered atthe Church of the Epiphanyin Durham to make valen-tines to present to the veter-ans who live at the home inRocky Hill. This gesture isone way they honor the menand women who have servedour country over the years.Other activities include col-lecting gift cards and newclothing for the veterans.

Even though the event hadto be canceled this year, mem-bers still made valentines ontheir own. In addition, theDAR chapter reached out toarea school and Girl Scouttroops, who made valentinesfor veterans in large quanti-ties.

“We make these valentinesfor the veterans at the Veter-ans Home and Hospital inRocky Hill,” says Ellen Halst-edt, regent of the WadsworthChapter, “because sometimes

they have no family or nofamily close by. We hopethese cards let them knowthey are not forgotten, andthat we appreciate every-thing they have done for usand our country. While some

may wonder why we makethem instead of buy them, Ithink it lets the vets know thatsomeone put some thoughtand effort into the cards, andthat someone remembersthem. They are definitely inour minds and hearts whilewe’re doing this.”

This year, valentines weremade by two very specialgroups of young people. TheDaisy Scouts and JuniorScouts from Troop 62199, un-

der the leadership of DawnMendoza and Melissa Marte-ka, made a large number ofcolorful valentines, whichwere delivered to Rocky Hillthe day before Valentine’sDay.

Mendoza says that thetroop does a lot of service proj-ects, including food drives,crafts at sugarloaf Terrace inMiddlefield, a pajama collec-tion and letters to veterans, sothis project fit right in. She

hopes to keep up the new rela-tionship with the WadsworthChapter of the CTDAR.

Another group of youngpeople — students at FarmHill Elementary School inMiddletown — filled a largebox with handmade valen-tines. Marie Dambrose, whoworked there for many yearsand now volunteers at theschool, says that Mark Prof-fitt, the new principal, in-volved the whole school inmaking valentines. Like Men-doza, Dambrose (a former re-gent of the Wadsworth Chap-ter) plans to keep up the con-nection between the schooland the DAR.

“It teaches the studentsabout the importance of serv-ice — in particular, service toyour country. The studentswere excited to be involved inthis project.”

Lillian White, a lifelongresident of Durham andmember of theWadsworth Chapter of theCTDAR, holds up one ofmany valentines to besent to the VeteransHome and Hospital inRocky Hill.


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People and pets taken care of in DurhamBy Diana Carr


It may come as a comfort toknow that, should an emer-gency arise, both you andyour pets are in good hands.Dedicated members of ourcommunity have gonethrough the training that willensure that all members ofyour family — including Fidoand Fluffy — will be safe.

The Durham Animal Re-sponse Team (DART) is com-posed of volunteers and ispart of the town’s emergencyservices, says Brenda Eddy,owner of Main Street Feedand one of the organization’seight members. It was formedunder the direction of veteri-narian Dr. Steven Levy in2006 when he was the directorof Emergency Management (adepartment in the town’semergency services).

Eddy says they are the sec-ond responders to an emer-gency and are contacted bythe ambulance services andthe fire department. They re-spond to a multitude of emer-gencies: they help a pet who isinvolved in a car accident; inthe event of carbon monoxidepoisoning in the home, theyget the animals out; if there isa barn fire, they will get theanimals out safely and, if theyneed to be placed in a facility,transport them; they treat an

animal’s injuries until a vetarrives; and they get fresh wa-ter to barns that have losttheir well water, such as dur-ing our re-cent poweroutages.

“Some ofthe mem-bers ofDART arevet techs,”says Eddy,“so theyknow howto respondto injuries.And we arealways taking courses, likepet CPR, in order to furtherour knowledge.”

The organization is also go-ing to be doing educationalprograms for the town onbarn and stable fire safety.“We want to make the publicaware of what we’re doing,”

continues Eddy. “We wantpeople to know that, whenthere’s a power outage, theycan bring their pets to the

( C o g i n -chaug) shel-ter. DARTruns theside withthe ani-mals.”

O c t o -ber’s snow-s t o r mbrought adozen ani-mals, in-c l u d i n g

dogs, a parrot and a fish, tothe shelter at Coginchaug Re-gional High School, withmembers of DART stayingwith them around the clock.The animals are kept sepa-rate from the people and mustbe caged or crated, but theirowners can visit them, take

them for walks and bringthem their food. “We’re not akennel, though,” says Eddy.“Pets can’t just be dropped off.Their owners have to stay.One customer told me that sheand her poodle lived in the carduring the day because thehouse was so cold. Peopleneed to know that, in additionto overnight stays, their petscan stay at the shelter for acouple of hours while they goto the other side and take ashower and get a hot meal.People aren’t going to leavetheir homes if they can’t bringtheir pets, who are like theirchildren. They need to knowabout the alternatives.”

With 15 members, all vol-unteers, the CommunityEmergency Response Team(CERT) sees to it that Durhamresidents are also taken care

of in the event of an emer-gency. Part of the town’sEmergency Management De-partment, the organizationreceived a grant for CERTtraining in the spring of 2011,thanks to the efforts of FirstSelectman Laura Francis,Francis Willett (current di-rector of Emergency Manage-ment) and Steven Levy (thedeputy director of EmergencyManagement, the CERT teamleader and the former ownerof the Durham VeterinaryHospital). Classes were held

See Dart, page 31

Opinion in Town Times Friday, February 17, 20128

Town TimesP.O. Box 265, Middlefield, CT 06455

http://www.towntimes.com

News (860) 349-8000 [email protected] (203) 317-2313 [email protected] (203) 235-4048Marketplace (877) 238-1953 (toll-free)

Town Times is published every Friday by the Record-JournalPublishing Co. and delivered to all homes and businesses inDurham, Middlefield and Rockfall.

Stephanie Wilcox, EditorKimberley E. Boath, Advertising Manager

Joy Boone, Advertising SalesMichelle P. Carter, Office Manager

Contributors: Diana Carr, Trish Dynia, Elisabeth Kennedy, Karen Kean, Judy Moeckel,

Mark Dionne and Sue VanDerzee.

Thanks for agreat Taste ofDurham!

I am so thankful for thegenerosity of the many peo-ple who contributed to thesuccess of our libraryfundraiser. First and fore-most, what would the Tasteof Durham be without all thewonderful culinary treats do-nated by the local businessesthat are so giving in theirsupport? We are fortunate tohave a core group of extreme-ly popular restaurants andcaterers return every year,and it’s always fun to wel-come a couple of new ones.

Many thanks to all thevolunteers: to PALS mem-bers who start organizingthis event in November; tothe dozens of volunteerswho help with setup, deco-rating and clean-up; and toeven more volunteers whoserved food or manned thebars during the event andpay to do so!

Additional thanks go tothe Durham Volunteer FireCo. and fire marshals whohelp with safety coverage; tothe town crew for help with

set-up (no snow removal thisyear!); to wonderful pianistBruce Schmottlach and mu-sical duo Jon Swift and RichJohnson; to the PrintingDept., Inc. for our programs;to RSD13 for their loan of ourpopular shuttle van; and toour volunteer driver. Specialthanks to all the patrons whowere lucky enough to gettickets to this sold-out event.Because of this tremendousoutpouring of support, PALSis able to fund programs,events and start-up collec-tions for the entire communi-ty at the Durham Library.

Laurie Stevens, PALS President

To the personwho stole apackage off mydeck

To whomever stole myUPS delivery on MaidenLane in Durham on Monday,Feb. 13 — I would appreciateit if the package could be re-turned. No questions asked.

I am sure you were verydisappointed when you gothome and realized the com-

puter or TV that you thoughtyou had just stolen turnedout to be a set of custom-de-signed hockey jerseys for mymen’s league team. I can’timagine that you woke upthat morning just wonderinghow you could get yourhands on 20 hockey jerseys!What could you possiblyneed them for?

Please just put them backon my deck. If you reallythink you need to keepthem, at least swing by so Ican autograph the #30 jer-sey for you.

Thank you.Tim Fisher, Durham

Zumbathon asuccess

Thank you to everyone thatwas at Core Club on Sunday forthe Zumbathon (pictured be-low). It was very moving that thecommunity pulled together tosupport LLS (Leukemia & Lym-phoma Society®). We can allmake a difference, and we havejust begun! Thank you Deb,Mary, Shelly and Janice forpulling this event together.

Cheryl Salva, Core Club & Gym

Letters to the Editor

Paws Place: French FryThis Fench

Bulldog/Staffoshire Terri-er mix is approximatelyone year old and weighs 35pounds. He is little guywho loves to be active; heloves to fetch and is obedi-ent and well-manneredwhen he plays. He wouldbe ideal for someone whowanted to train a dog foragility or Frisbee.

He would make a won-derful running, hiking or

walking partner. He is full grown at his small stature andis absolutely adorable in person. He is decent on the leashand knows basic commands like sit, stay and paw. He hasshown no forms of aggression and is friendly to all.

French Fry is an eager and smart dog; he looks to hisperson for commands. He is a dog who needs an active per-son. Will you rescue him?

For more information about this dog, please [email protected], call 203-235-4179 or go toPetfinder.com. The Meriden CT Animal Control, located at311 Murdock Ave. in Meriden (right off East Main St. exiton 691), has public viewing hours every day from 3 to 4p.m., or you can call for an appointment.

We’ve moved!As of yesterday, Thursday, Feb. 16, Town Times staff have officially moved to our new

office! Don’t worry — our telephone number, postal address, e-mail addresses, and web-site will all remain the same as before. Our new fax number (203-235-4048) accepts faxesfor the other newspapers in our team as well, so be sure to indicate that your fax is for theTown Times when sending it to us.

Many of you have inquired about our bright yellow box where you have been pickingup extra copies of the paper for years. That’s not going anywhere! If not at its current lo-cation, we will find a new home for it somewhere around town. We’ll be sure to let youknow where it ends up either way so you can continue to have access to our newspaper ata convenient local site.

See you around town!

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Columns 9

Memorial School happenings Help cap a ‘hidden’ tax andrestore fiscal discipline

2012 Academy Award predictions

Biggest Loser Pro Challenge update

As we enter the sec-ond half of the schoolyear, I am alwaysamazed at how quicklywe have gotten to thispoint. The eager facesunaccustomed to ourbuilding and the ex-pectations of fifth and sixth grade nowappear quite comfortable in their sur-roundings. It has been a very busy sixmonths for all of us at MemorialSchool. Students have grown in a vari-ety of ways and our teachers and staffhave worked extremely hard to focusinstruction and provide opportunitiesfor students to increase their knowl-edge in all subject areas.

In this article, I would like to high-light some of the initiatives that havetaken place at our school this year.These initiatives are designed to helpstudents to become better learnersand our staff to become better able tomeet the needs of our students.

Our biggest initiative this past yearhas been the implementation of Scien-tific Research Based Interventions. Inthis process, teams of teachers collab-oratively analyze student data and

identify areas ofstrengths and weak-nesses. Once these ar-eas have been identi-fied, teachers work to-gether to establish aninstructional priorityrelating to literacy or

mathematics. When these areas ofneed are identified, teachers thenwork to develop a common formativeassessment or short test that focuseson the identified skill. The test is thengiven to all students and is laterscored and analyzed to determine spe-cific skill levels of students.

Teachers then meet collaborativelyto create teaching strategies that willbe implemented in each class. Once fo-cused instruction has taken place, stu-dents are again assessed to determineacademic growth in the content area.

Each of these cycles takes six toeight weeks to complete and focuseson specific skills found on the Con-necticut Mastery Test (CMT). In thedata team cycle, teaching is consistentand developed collaboratively. Indi-

By Kevin J. Brough,Memorial Principal

A View FromRSD13

This time of year al-ways brings out themovie nerd in me.The glamour and glitzof celebrity fashion isfun to watch, and thereturn of host BillyCrystal will rejuvenate the long-lostsparkle of recent telecasts. Still, theheart of the Academy Awards is themovies themselves. Knowing I’veseen many of the films, I feel as if, insome oddball way, I too have some-thing at stake with the reading ofeach folded envelope.

Oscar predictions are a dime adozen. Anyone can make predictionswithout seeing a single film. It is easyenough to read popular magazines orto run analyses of winners from otheraward shows this season. However,who will win and who should win aretwo completely different things. Theonly way to make an educated opin-ion is to actually see the films.

Not counting documentaries,short films and foreign films (sincethese are nearly impossible for theaverage theater-goer to find), theAcademy placed 94 nominations thisyear in 19 categories. Of these 94nominations, 52 of them are associat-ed with Best Picture nominees. Addi-tionally, 28 other films are recog-nized, and eight of these have multi-ple nominations — The Girl with theDragon Tattoo having the highest

tally at five, followedby Albert Nobbs, Tin-ker Tailor Solider Spyand, yes, Transform-ers: Dark of the Moonwith three each. Popu-lar films Bridesmaids

and Harry Potter also snagged twonods apiece.

Of course it is fun to root for yourfavorite celebrity or film, but it ismore fun when you know that theyactually deserve it. There is a lot ofvoting on popularity, and, in thebackground, Hollywood politickingfor votes gets as ugly as presidentialelections. In the grand scheme, wemust remember that an award is onlya conglomerate of an opinion, and itis always “an honor to be nominat-ed.” That said, here are my predic-tions.BEST PICTURE:

Nominees: The Artist, The Descen-dants, Extremely Loud & IncrediblyClose, The Help, Hugo, Midnight inParis, Moneyball, The Tree of Life andWar Horse.

Number of nominees seen: 9 of 9.Who will win: The Artist.Who should win: The Descendants.Commentary: The Artist is en-

chanting and nostalgic but overallgimmicky. In contrast, The Descen-dants showcases true heart in its

Tanya Feke

Diagnosis:Movies

The Governor, in hisannual address to theLegislature, soundedtwo main themes: 1)fiscal discipline and 2)education reform. Istrongly support bothconcepts.

Next month, I willtackle the educationreform issue as it un-folds at the Capitol. To-day, let’s take a look at“fiscal discipline” a lit-tle more in-depth.

Fiscal discipline hasbeen lacking at theState Capitol for manyyears. In fact, the stateliterally has main-tained “two sets of books” fordecades. One set of books, the “Bud-getary basis,” on which the statebudget has been based and reported,has used an accounting system thatallowed accounting gimmicks to dis-tort revenues and expenditures, cre-ating the illusion that the budgetwas balanced. The other set of books,the audited books, was based on realrevenues and expenses. The differ-ence between the budget numbers

and the audited num-bers is more than $1.75billion!

Magnifying this fi-nancial sleight-of-handwas the state’s refusalto adequately fund itsretirement obligations,pension benefits andretirement health carebenefits for state em-ployees, which are nowunderfunded by almost$40 billion. This doesnot include teacherbenefits or debt obliga-tions, which add morethan $30 billion of addi-tional debt to our debtburden. Connecticut

taxpayers now have more debt perperson than any other state in thecountry. Clearly, the system hasbeen dishonest and undisciplined.

As the governor took office lastyear, he signed executive orders totransition to a more honest and ac-curate accounting system. Unfortu-nately, the implementation of thatnew accounting system was post-

State Senator Len Suzio

From TheState Capitol

Anne has lost 13.2pounds in only fourweeks. She shares,“Halfway throughthe program, and Iam proud of myselffor how far I havecome in such a short time. I now lookforward to my workouts. I havemore energy and strength to pushmyself harder each time. The friend-ly support from Sheila and Robin aswell as the other members hashelped me stay on track and motivat-ed. It is great knowing that I am notalone in this journey, that there areothers who are facing the same chal-lenges as I am!”

Lino has lost 15.8 pounds in fourweeks and is going strong. He is chal-lenged every week in his personaltraining session with Clinton. Hisenergy and strength have greatly im-proved.

The battle to stay in the top twospots for the pedometer challengecontinues. Tina is now taking thelead with 174,047 steps in one week;way to go for it, Tina! Pam is in sec-ond place with 143,606 steps; greatjob, Pam! We are waiting for Lino toreclaim his title!

Join our nextBiggest Loser ProChallenge from April15 to June 9 — askabout our early birdspecials!

Health tip:Outside shape starts on the inside

— we are all so quick to say what wehate about ourselves, but what aboutthe qualities we like? You can teachyourself to be more positive just asyou taught yourself to be negativeabout your body image. You arebeautiful from the inside out; tellyourself this every day, many times.When you stop being so hard onyourself, you will get results. Make alist of all your good qualities; includethings like “I have really thick hair,”“I make people laugh,” “I am a goodfriend,” “I have great eyes” and soon. Make the list long, and read it of-ten! Now start eating better, and getmoving! You will start to developself-acceptance and body confidence.Remember the people who will bethe most successful at losing weightand keeping it off are the ones whoare ready and willing to do what ittakes. Is that you? We know you cando it! Don’t sit, get fit!

Cheryl Salva, Core Club

HealthyLiving

See Hidden Tax, page 23

See RSD13, page 23

See Movies, page 25


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ances.” Town planner GeoffColegrove noted that the re-cent installation of the scalewill be instrumental in gather-ing data on town usage. SaidColegrove, “The DMIAABTask Force will continue tomeet, and one of their tasksmay be to review that data andmake recommendations.” Healso noted that the revisedagreement contains provi-

DMIAAB(Continued from page 1)

sions that allow adjustmentsto the agreement.

Regarding the withdrawalclause, Bob Fulton stated,“The easy out is this docu-ment’s fatal flaw and rendersthe value of the assets worth-less.” Several residents ex-pressed similar concerns, withsome noting that the originalagreement had no provisionsregarding a timeline, whereasthe revised agreement pro-vides a timeline of betweenone and two years.

DMIAAB Task Force chair-

man Chad Spooner noted thatthe task force had met manytimes over 18 months, oftenweekly, and meticulously re-viewed all aspects of the origi-nal contract and current oper-ations. He stated, “There hasto be an exit strategy if some-thing better comes along for ei-ther town. We created a time-line where none existed be-fore. If not this one, thenwhat?”

Attorney Bob Polineradded, “There’s no such thingas a perfect contract,” andadded, “My reading of the doc-ument indicates that the warn-ing would be a minimum ofabout a year, with a maximumof about two years, dependingon when the intention of eithertown was made public.”

After further discussion,the motion to approve the con-tract was approved by the ma-jority.

Regarding the acceptance ofa one-acre parcel on OldWallingford Road, First Select-man Laura Francis statedthat, after developing theClementel Drive area, two lotswere unbuildable due to flood-ing issues. The lots are desig-nated as open space, taxes paidby the Clementel family areunder $20 per year for each lotand the town currently has adrainage easement.

Several residents expressedconcerns regarding what addi-tional liabilities the town mayincur by accepting these lotsand asked what the specific ad-vantages to obtaining them

would be. Public Works direc-tor Kurt Bober explained thatthe advantages would includethe ability to create a deten-tion basin and possibly a firepond, thus further alleviatingflooding in the area and pro-viding an additional watersource for putting out fires. Asto liability, it was noted byBober, Francis and Polinerthat the liability, which al-ready lies with the town, willnot change.

The motion to approve theacquisition of this propertywas passed by the majority.

The final item on the agen-da, a $3,200 fund transfer toinstall a new air conditionerfor the fire department,passed unanimously with lit-tle comment.

Friday, February 17, 2012 Durham Town Briefs 11

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Durham Government Calendar(Unless otherwise indicated, all meetings are held in the

Durham Library. Check the town website at www.townof-durhamct.org for updates.)Wednesday, February 22

6 p.m. — Board of Education Finance Committeeat Central Office

7:30 p.m. — Board of Ed at CRHSThursday, February 23

12:30 p.m. — Senior Citizen Boardat Durham Activity Center

Paving projecton Pent Road

The town of Durham hasproposed a project for Pave-ment Preservation on PentRoad. The project is in theconcept stage and may be rec-ommended for constructionunder the Surface Trans-portation Program adminis-tered by the Connecticut De-partment of Transportation.This project, if supported bythe community and Durhamofficials, will be designed bythe town’s consulting engi-neer, Nathan L. Jacobson &Associates, Inc.

It is the town’s and thestate’s policy to keep personsinformed and involved whensuch projects are undertak-en. It is important the com-munity share its concerns toassist in the projects develop-ment.

It is planned to resurfacePent Road with rubberizedchip seal over its entire 4,750-foot length from ParmeleeHill Road to Route 68. Theproject will include upgradeof seven drainage cross cul-verts with associated roadshoulder drainage, signageand road center line striping.Limited tree-clearing safetyimprovements will also beincluded.

Based upon preliminaryassessment, the construc-tion cost will be approxi-mately $339,000. It is antici-pated that the project will befunded through the STP UR-BAN Program, in which thetown will be reimbursed bythe Federal Highway Ad-ministration for 80 percentof the construction cost withthe remaining 20 percentprovided by the town.

Anyone interested in ob-taining further informationor providing input may do soby contact the Office of theFirst Selectman at 860-349-3625. (Submitted by BethMoncata)

DurhamNursery Schoolregistration

The Durham CooperativeNursery school has an-nounced its registrationdates for the 2012-13 schoolyear:

Current, active member

registration will be heldTuesday, March 6, from 6 to 7p.m.

Alumni registration willbe held on Tuesday, March 6,from 7 to 8 p.m.

Open public registrationwill be held on Wednesday,March 7, from 6 to 8 p.m.

All registration will takeplace at the Durham Co-OpNursery School, located inthe Durham Village (16 MainSt. Suite 307, lower level).Registration and other feeswill be due at the time of en-rollment.

The three-year-old pro-gram meets Tuesday andThursday mornings from8:45 a.m. to noon. The four-year-old program meetsMonday, Wednesday andFriday from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m.

The Durham Co-Op Nurs-ery School is non-discrimi-natory. Enrollment is on afirst come, first served basis.If you have any questionsabout enrollment or wouldlike to set up an appointmentto visit the school, please call860-349-9885.

Seniorwatercolorclass

Watercolor classes for sen-iors with well-known localartist Aleta Gudelski will beheld in the Durham ActivityCenter (Main Street). Class-es will begin on March 2 andend on April 13. They willmeet on Friday morningsfrom 10 a.m. to noon. Therewill be no class on Good Fri-day (April 6). Beginners areencouraged to come and ex-plore the art of watercolor.

Intermediates are also invit-ed to attend. Students willwork at their own pace andreceive individual instruc-tion and critiques from Ale-ta.

Ten students will be al-lowed in the class. The fee forDurham seniors is $60, andthe fee for out-of-town resi-dents is $75. Please call Sher-ry Hill at 860-343-6724 to re-serve a spot. Checks must bemade out to “The Town ofDurham” and brought to theTown Clerk’s office to regis-ter. No checks will be accept-ed at the activity center theday of the class.

Middlefield Town Briefs Friday, February 17, 201212

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282 Main Street Extension at Sanseer Mill,Middletown (near Stop & Shop) (860) 347-4618

Where Artistry andDentistry Align

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Please call:Father Anthony C. Dinoto

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Middlefield Government Calendar(Unless otherwise indicated, all meetings are held in the

Community Center.)Tuesday, February 21

6:30 p.m. — Conservation Commission7 p.m. — Board of SelectmenWednesday, February 22

6:30 p.m. — Planning & Zoning7 p.m. — Inland Wetlands Commission special meeting

7:30 p.m. — Board of Ed at CRHS

Tax help at theSenior Center

AARP Free Tax Prepara-tion for seniors with low andmoderate income will beavailable at the Senior Cen-ter every Tuesday by ap-pointment during themonths of February, Marchand April (until April 17).Please call the center onceyou have received all yourdocuments that need to befiled. We also ask that youbring last year’s return.

The Middlefield Senior

Café is open and servinglunch on Mondays, Wednes-days and Fridays at noon.Next week on Wednesday,Feb. 22, we will be serving upmacaroni and cheese with atossed salad; on Friday, Feb.24, turkey vegetable soup androasted turkey breast withsweet potatoes will be served.We will be closed this Mon-day, Feb. 20, in observance ofPresidents’ Day. Please callin your reservation at least24 hours prior to a lunch day.

Antoinette Astle, the direc-tor, can be reached at 860-349-7121.

Sprint intoSpring

The Middlefield Lionsclub is proud to be hostingthe “Sprint into Spring”5K/10K race this April 15.This will be our inauguralrace. This event promises tobe fun for all ages and in-

cludes local merchants lend-ing their support.

This race will start atPeckham Park at 8 a.m.Medals will be given for theage-group winners (bothmen and women) for both the5K and the 10K. There willalso be a DJ for musicthroughout the morning,and there will be a kids’ fun

run for children 10 and un-der. Donations will be ac-cepted of both eye glasses forrecycling and non-perish-able food for the local foodpantry. Participants mayview all particulars and reg-ister at www.sprintin-tospring.com.

Contact [email protected] (race direc-tor) for more information.Early bird registration is dis-counted through March 15.All proceeds will benefit theMiddlefield Lions clubwhich support both local andglobal projects to make ourworld a better place. (Sub-mitted by Janine Skelps)

Powder Ridge events snowballingThe same week that Rick Sabatino, of Apollo Consulting, sent a letter indicating his

continuing willingness to talk to First Selectman Jon Brayshaw about buying, redevelop-ing and reopening Powder Ridge ski area, the Middlefield Board of Selectmen (BOS)scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, Feb. 15, to discuss accepting a Letter of Intentfrom Sean Hayes, managing director of Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park LLC,of Portland.

Sabatino was part of the Alpine Ridge team that withdrew their participation late lastyear. Sabatino stated his willingness to continue the process alone, and he and Brayshawhave been communicating since then. In his letter of Feb. 13, Sabatino notes that he andhis investors have prepared a business plan with both summer and winter activities and100-150 time share condos. “I have shared this with a select few within your town, and theresponse has been overwhelming. I have been asked to present this to the town,” Sabatinowrote.

Meanwhile, the BOS met after press time on Wednesday, Feb. 15, with Sean Hayes at apublic meeting in the Community Center. Hayes has proposed a plan to reopen the skiarea with an emphasis on the “newer” winter activities of snowboarding and tubing aswell as “learning to ski” opportunities. He told Town Times two weeks ago that he feelsthis will complement his summer business at the Brownstone park in Portland, which em-phasizes water activities, including scuba diving in the old quarry, wake boarding, swim-ming, and various in-water attractions, as well as zip lines and other adventure activitieson site.

By Sue VanDerzee

Survey Says...What Do CRHS Students, Parents,and Staff Really Think About OurSchool?

Last November, 534 students, 112 par-ents, 54 teachers, two administrators,and eight non-teaching professionalstook time out of their schedules to sitdown at computers and participate inthe CRHS Endicott survey. Principal Mr.Andre Hauser has released its results. Aspart of the New England Association ofSchools and Colleges (NEASC) accredita-tion process, all those who respondedto the survey were asked to rate vari-ous aspects of the school environmentsuch as its core values, curriculum, cul-ture, or learning resources. While stu-dents were required to take the survey,all of the parents who participated wereresponding to Mr. Hauser’s requests.

“The school did generally well inmost of the standards,” said Mr. Hauser.

So while the survey did dem-

onstrate a few spots of concern,the results were mostly positive.

According to the work copy of thestandard results produced by Mr. Haus-er, one of the major weak points forCRHS that the survey highlighted wasthe fact that only 68.8 percent of sta!and 67.9 percent of parents believe theschool provides adequate informationto families about the support servicesthe school o!ers. On the other hand, 83percent of students say they know whoto ask if they have a personal problem.

In a meeting with The Devils’ Advocatesta!, Mr. Hauser attributed this di!erencein opinion between sta!, parents, and thestudents to the struggle for lucid com-munication between the administrationand the community. While Mr. Hausersaid he has made various attempts toinvolve more parents and students withthe school, he also mentioned that a lot

of presentations and appeals he hasmade have not worked. Mr. Hauser statedthat he would continue to send e-mailsto parents and make daily announce-ments to help facilitate communicationbetween the school and the community.

Overall, the Endicott survey, con-ducted through Endicott College, re-vealed that students, parents, andsta! are generally in agreement thatCRHS is “clean and well maintained.”

The Endicott survey is only one pieceof the larger accreditation process thatCRHS will continue to deal with in thecoming months and into next year.

“In March of school year 2012-13, NEASCwill have unlimited access to the schoolso that they can prove and validate theresults of the survey,” said Mr. Hauser.

When that process is over, NEASC willmake certain recommendations to theadministration on how best to move

forward in improving the quality of theeducational experience for everyone.

For more coverage of the EndicottSurvey results, see page 4.

Endicott Survey HighlightsRespondant groups scored the following aspects

and areas of CRHS signi!cantly higher or lower theaverage scores of all schools in New England thathave taken the survey. The commendations andconcerns are identi!ed in the work copy of the En-dicott Survey results released by the CRHS adminis-tration.

CommendationsCore ethical values (all)

Curriculum design and delivery (sta!) Custodial, maintenance, and facilities (all) Library and resources (students, sta!) Positive school climate (all)

ConcernsCommunicating with parents (parents)

Formal advisory program (parents) Guidance meetings (students, parents)

Editors-in-Chief: Adam Twombly and Kaitlin McKernanEditorial board: Alex Kovacs, Kevin Onofreo, Collin Boylin, and Mike McShane

Contributors and Production sta�: Ross McCain, Adam Twombly, Michael O’Sullivan, Alex Kovacs,Collin Boylin, Audrey Biesak, Christopher Crandall,

Jen Siena, James Berardino, Kevin Onofreo, Sean Cavanaugh, Dena Branciforte, Dominique Coppolla,Leandra Hylton

Advisors: Mr. Nate Fisher, Ms. Stephanie WilcoxThe Devils’ Advocate is the Coginchaug High School newspaper.

Hey Town Times, we’re coming for your wax machine!

The Devils’ Advocate Friday, February 17, 2012 2

After taking a language for four years,when the opportunity to explore the cul-ture of that country �rst hand knocks,you go for it. Since around May of lastyear Madame Donna Cashore decidedto explore the options of taking a trip toQuebec City in Canada.

After months of e-mails, planning,and piles of paperwork, a trip with Jump-street tour groups was organized. 29 stu-dents and three chaperones went on thistrip from February 2-5. After a bunch ofx-block meetings discussing last minutedetails and handing in birth certi�catesor passports along with the original pack-et of paperwork, we were �nally ready togo.

Packing consisted of layers uponlayers of clothing, coats, scarves, hats,gloves, and any other winter materialsyou could think of. I originally tried topack everything into my smallest suit-case, but I couldn’t get it closed.

The nine-hour bus ride wasn’t as badas you would think. When I looked aroundthe bus everyone was sleeping, eating, ordoing homework so they didn’t have toin the hotel at night. Ultimately we reallydidn’t have that much downtime whilewe were there.

I expected that going through cus-toms would be a challenge but it wasquite the opposite. The attendant at thecounter was really nice and held up con-versation with each of the students thatpassed through.

Once we arrived in Quebec we metour tour guide Louis. He kept the tourfun and interesting for all of us. We madefriends with Louis very quickly. It’s nearlyimpossible to capture his personalityin just a few words, but I can guaranteethat if you ask anybody who went on thistrip, he was quite a unique character. Wewent to our hotel and got organized in

our rooms with just enough time to getto dinner. We went to a restaurant andordered our meals in French (of course)and after dinner we went to a play on thehistory of Quebec.

Many of us didn’t know what to ex-pect from this play, or the trip in general,but we were pleasantly surprised whenWE were the actors in the play in additionto the two actors on stage.

Every day we were there was full ofvarious events. On Friday we went to aNative Indian reservation and ate break-fast there in addition to getting a tour. Wealso got to explore greater Quebec andexperienced the way of life.

Some of the activities that we par-ticipated in consisted of dog sledding,we made maple butter, we made ta�yon snow, we went to the Carnival, wevisited the hotel de glace (the ice castle),we went to tubing for four hours, and wewent to the mall that had an amusementpark in the building itself.

All in all I found this trip to be a cul-tural experience and it helped to grow asa student learning the language. Believeit or not, it enhanced not only my interestbut my understanding of the language aswell. I found myself speaking French for afew days after we returned. It was strangewhen we got back into the states and hadto order in English rather than French.

Many students that traveled over theCanadian border wish that we could goback. We opened up a shutter�y page toshare all of our pictures with one anotherand have them all in one location. Ourtour guide Louis really made the trip thetrip of a lifetime. It’s not necessarily thenormal thing for students to get to travelto a foreign country at such a young ageand really appreciate it. I know that Iwould go back to Quebec in a heartbeat.

Being a railroad enthusiast, I love andappreciate a beautiful day when I cango out and shoot photos. However, darkclouds are slowly beginning to pop up onthe horizon: security cameras.

Security cameras are being utilizedmore commonly all over the country, par-ticularly in big cities. Obviously, they areinstalled for the protection of the generalpublic. However, sometimes an innocentact can be noticed and assumed to besomething it isn’t. Allow me to set up ahypothetical situation---but honestly, thisis happening more and more all over thecountry.

Let’s say a rail bu� happens to bestanding on a sidewalk near a railroadcrossing. As the next train passes, hesnaps a few photos and then waits foranother one. Alright, great. But now, let’salso say that there happens to be a se-curity camera nearby. And it just so hap-

pens that someone from a governmentagency is monitoring this one particularcamera. Sadly, the person monitoring thesecurity camera assumes the worst andcalls the police.

Personally, I have not yet had a nega-tive incident with a police o!cer. Occa-sionally, when I am out railfanning, onewill drive past. He or she might stop andpolitely ask what I’m doing, then nod,wave, and drive on. Sometimes, this isn’talways the case. The railfan in the situa-tion I outlined could be chased away ortold to hand over his camera (which hedoesn’t have to do unless the police havea search warrant).

Is this really what the world is comingto? Extreme paranoia? What happened tothe good old days when one could enjoya simple hobby? Does the United StatesPostal Service go around calling the po-lice on stamp collectors? I don’t think so.

As a society we constantly change. Es-sentially all aspects of our culture contin-ually develop based on opinion, technol-ogy, and overall sentiment. This in itself is�ne, it’s normal and healthy for a societyto develop. But with our life expectancyincreasing, the development of new tech-nologies, and the continued dominanceof the world, there’s only one problem:everything is changing except us.

Today in our country we are creatingnew and innovative ways to increase thestandard of living. A new phone with fea-tures we “all need” comes out every dayand the idea of the next big thing haseveryone caught up in this technologycraze. Like I said, the developments arenot the problem, and attempts to try toslow them are simply not going to hap-pen. It’s not even the most dangerousweapons in the world, which are theproblem, it’s our inability to use themright. We can’t keep up, and that’s what’sbecoming a serious issue.

When we aren’t responsible enoughto handle our own creations, disaster issure to follow. When we are so dividedbetween science and religion, yet nei-ther shows any sign of decline, we havea huge problem. When we have the havethe capability to wipe each other com-pletely out with a push of a button, wehave to be careful and at least be on thesame page more or less about how we

use our technology.So what is the real problem then? Why

can’t we just all seem to get on the samepage about the way we work? Some maypoint to religion; others to irreligion, andthe �ngers go in all directions. There arealready about 30,000 nuclear warheadson this planet, both active and inactive,and we point them at each other thesame way we point �ngers. Do the math.We cannot a�ord to press our beliefs oneach other with the vain idea that oneday we’re all suddenly going to agree onhow we live on this world together.

Our Earth’s resources are being de-pleted and we don’t put a big enoughemphasis on preserving them. I’m terri-

�ed of what we will do when we run toolow on oil or our forests, because thatalmost certainly means con�ict that wecan’t handle. It’s time for us to learn howto live with each other and control whatwe’re capable of.

The Devils’ AdvocateFriday, February 17, 2012 3

Sometimes, to be disabled is to beexcluded. Two members of the NationalHonor Society (NHS) wanted to changethat. In December, seniors Sarah Ertle andMarissa Puchalski came up with an ideato bring some of the students in the lifeskills class on an exciting, outdoor !eldtrip. They proposed the idea to their fel-low NHS members.

Marissa’s family was asked if it wouldbe okay if their farm, Laurel Brook, whichis full of horses, chickens and goats,would be available for this !eld trip togive the life skills class a great opportu-nity to interact with the animals face toface. Before hand, they weren’t really surehow the students would react

“My family thought it would be a greatidea,” said Marissa.

The students got the chance to brushthe horses, walk the goats, and hold thechickens, something they’d never donebefore.

“I really liked how the kids opened upwith us, I was really impressed with thegroup’s ability to share their knowledge,”

said Sarah.“At !rst they seemed intimidated by

the size of the horses, but after a fewminutes it was really amazing to see theirconnection with them,” said Marissa.

“I thought it was a great experiencefor both the participants and the NHSmembers, and I hope it becomes a yearlything,” said senior Jesse Siegel.

Along with the National Honor Soci-ety members, social worker Mrs. KathyBottini and school psychologist Ms. StacyDellaCamera also attended the !eld trip.

“The kids loved it, the animals reallyinterested them. The girls stepped up andplanned it all and it went really well,” saidMrs. Bottini.

“We really hope to do it again in thespring so that way the kids get a chanceto actually ride the horses this time,” saidMarissa.

Since this !eld trip was a success theyare anticipating having another one inmonths to come and possibly next schoolyear.

We’ve all heard of it at some point oranother during recent weeks, and it haseither brought up feelings of confusion,uncertainty or even outright panic. SOPA,also known as the Stop Online Piracy Act,is a bill that, if passed, threatens to dras-tically change the way faculty and stu-dents use the Internet for both researchand leisure alike. If the bill were to pass,websites that allow people to downloadcopyrighted !les such as movies, musicand other media would be shut down.While this is the intention of the bill,another e"ect of it would be that manylegitimate sites that host copyrightablematerial would then become vulnerableto the bill.

Technology Integration SpecialistWilliam Kurtz isn’t too concerned, as hebelieves that “most of the respected aca-demic institutions would be in line withthe bill,” and thus would be safe from thethreat SOPA poses. Concerning plagia-rism and students stealing copyrightedinformation, “it would be just as easy to

plagiarize,” he said. “I like that the con-versation is starting about plagiarism,though” he followed up.

Business Teacher Ms. Susan Wage-maker believes that, were the bill to bepassed, it would take away the ability ofpeople, both students and adults alike,to make their own decisions of whatwebsites are legitimate or valuable. “Oneof my jobs is to teach students ethicaluse of technology and information,” sheexplained, “If I’m supposed to teach stu-dents to ethically use online resources,SOPA removes the choice to decide forthemselves.” The way Ms. Wagemakerteachers her classes could be in jeopardyas well, as many of her classes incorpo-rate frequent use of internet resources.“As often as I can, I’m sending studentsonline. I’m all for !nding out informationonline,” she said.

One of her !nal concerns on the issueof SOPA was, “Who’s going to monitor it?Who’s going to be the judge?”

There’s been a new teacher in ourschool that many students are growingfamiliar with. You might have seen herroaming the halls pushing her mobileclassroom (her cart) or on hall duty. Sheis a short, little lady with black curly hair,but prefers the term “petite.” Her name isMs. Sandra Milardo and she teaches alge-bra II, elements, and geometry. Althoughher current classroom is a cart, she hopesthat she will have an actual room as soonas possible.

Although she is married, she kept hermaiden name because she doesn’t be-lieve in changing last names when get-ting married. She has two sons and twocats. The eldest son is a senior at Vinyl andthe younger is an eighth grader at Had-

dam-Killingworth. Her previous job wasat ING. But she realized that she had com-pleted her job there and wanted to makea di"erence. She believed that if shebrought math in to students’ lives, theywould be better o". So she went backto school and became a teacher. Whilestudent teaching, she met a young ladywho said she enjoyed the math that Ms.Milardo was teaching her so much that itinspired her to do something with mathwhen she grows up. Ms. Milardo is verynice and welcoming. She enjoys teachingall of her students. If you happen to seeMs. Milardo in the halls, remember to sayhello and welcome her to the CRHS com-munity!

Above, Ms. Milardo moves from one room to another as she gets ready for her nextclass. Photo by Dominique Coppola

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ke

BYPA

TDA

NIELS

TheDevils’ Advocate Friday, February 17, 2012 4

The CRHS custodians are cleaning up---and apparently they’re doing a very goodjob. According to the recently released re-sults of the Endicott survey, the custodialsta! is keeping the building impeccably tidy. A full 100 percent of the parents andsta! who were surveyed said the schoolis clean and well maintained. In fact, thiswas the only place in the entire survey inwhich there was a total consensus.

The students also agreed, with just be-low 90 percent of the student body say-ing the school is well kept; this numberwas 35 points above the average.

“I’ve always known that we’ve had agreat custodial sta!,” said Principal Mr.Andre Hauser. “But it was nice to hearother people are saying the same thing.“Honestly, I couldn’t believe [the results],”

he continued. “I’ve never seen a survey

where everyone picked the exact sameanswer. I immediately tracked down Mr.Kaminski, our head custodian, to tell him.”

“I’m very pleased with the results andhow people seem to feel,” said custodianMr. Je! Siena. “Every day is not always thesame, but we do what we can. It was veryrewarding to hear what everyone thinks.We try our best to keep a clean and safeenvironment for our sta! and students.”

The only blemish in that portion of thesurvey came when the sta! was given thestatement, “Needed repairs are complet-ed in a timely manner.” Only 43.8% of thesta! agreed, but this number is only 2.5points below the New England average.

It is important to note that the numberscontained within the Endicott Survey arenot facts. Rather, they are the opinion ofthe CRHS student body, sta!, and parents.

Coginchaug has excelled in several ar-eas of the Endicott survey compared withother accredited high schools in NewEngland. However, the administrationhas also identi"ed aspects of our school of which our parents, sta!, and studentshave a lower than average opinion. Thework report of the Endicott survey resultsidenti"es these speci"c results as con-cerns that the school will address as theaccreditation process moves forward.

It is important to note that the Endicottsurvey is not based on facts. It is based onthe opinions of the students, sta! andparents who took the survey.

A noticeable detail in the results ofthe survey is that there was more nega-tive feedback from parents than fromstudents or faculty. When parents wereasked if they felt that their child was pro-vided with an adult in the school whom they met with regularly, Coginchaug’sparents rated twenty-two percent lowerthan the survey’s aggregate.

On the other hand, when students andfaculty were asked the same question,they rated slightly above the Endicottsurvey’s aggregate for high schools inNew England.

The advisory program is another namefor homeroom. Each student is assigneda homeroom teacher and forms a bondwith that teacher over their four years inhigh school.

The overall trend of seeing more nega-tive feedback from parents than any oth-er group may point to a need to improvecommunication between the school andparents.

E-mails and letters from the schoolare sent out periodically to these house-holds, which is one of the few sourcesof communication between the schooland households. Besides the e-mails andletters, the only other formal source of

communication are phone calls and con-ferences between parents and teachers,which usually don’t re#ect on activities inthe school such as the homeroom/advi-sory program. In fact, parents would onlyhear about what happened in their son ordaughter’s advisory block if they read themorning announcements on the school website or had a detailed discussion withtheir son or daughter about the subject.

Because of this lack of communicationthe parents assume that the school is lesse$cient in some of these areas than it ac-tually is.

“Communication between parentsand the school has de"nitely improvedin the past couple of years,” said Spanishteacher and parent Mrs. Nancy Alberico.“Parents only receive information fromthe school that pertains to them or theirchildren speci"cally.”

Mrs. Nancy Alberico commended theschool for how much it has improved inthe area of communication over the pastfew years. However, she noted that someparents have an underdeveloped opin-ion about things such as the advisoryprogram.

“Most of the parents that I know don’tgo on the school’s website looking forinformation about things like the advi-sory program,” said Mrs. Alberico. “Also,there was no question on the surveyasking parents how often they are onthe school’s website or Power School re-searching these kind of things about theschool.”

Principal Mr. Andre Hauser is wellaware of these concerns. He plans to con-tinue to send out e-mails with the morn-ing announcements and updates aboutthe school’s a!airs. He hopes for parentsto see how e$cient the school’s advisoryprogram is and to get feedback from theparents to further improve it and otherprograms like it.

Custodian Mr. Je! Siena goes about his afternoon business after the students haveleft for the night. Congratulations to the custodial sta! for the extremely positiveresults of the Endicott Survey! Photo by Adam Twombly

One of the many requirements for be-ing an accredited high school is that theschool has to have an advisory program.In fall 2011, the students, parents, andteachers of CRHS participated in the Endi-cott survey. The results revealed that only24.1 percent of CRHS parents answered“yes” to the prompt, “The school has aprogram which provides my son/daugh-ter with an adult in the school, in addi-tion to his/her guidance counselor, withwhom he/she meets regularly and whoknows him/her well.” This statistic wasidenti"ed as a concern by the CRHS ad-ministration in a recently released copy ofthe survey results, as it is 22 percentagepoints lower than the average of other

schools in New England.However, on nearly the same prompt,

the survey shows that 59.2 percent ofstudents agree that the student’s adviso-ry program provides them with an adultwho knows them well. This is 14.7 percenthigher than average.

These results have prompted the ad-ministration to take a second look atadvisory in preparation for the NEASC ac-creditation next year. But what exactly dothe survey results mean? Is the advisoryprogram providing students with mean-ingful mentors? And if so, are we commu-nicating that mentorship to parents?

“I think it’s always a good idea to re-#ect,” said Mrs. Beth Galligan, head of the

guidance department.Advisory is made to allow students to

grow academically, socially, and emo-tionally. Students meet weekly in a smallgroup with students from their gradeand their advisory teacher. The topicsthat are covered every Wednesday areacademics, career options, and studentgrowth.

Teachers are responsible for writingtheir own lesson plans for each class theyteach, but the guidance department isresponsible for writing the lesson plansfor advisory. Each teacher has a class ofabout "fteen to twenty students aftersecond block on Wednesdays that theygo over the activities presented to them.

“I believe that the advisory program

can be good if it is run well,”said Mrs. Gal-ligan.

Advisory so far this year has featureda variety of presentations. In one in-stance, CRHS alumni came in and spoketo the senior class about college. Duringanother week, juniors and seniors spoketo underclassmen on the topic of “WhatI know now that I wish I knew then.” Oneother time, students learned about be-coming an organ donor. Most recently,the town selectmen came in and spoketo the student body, which happens ev-ery year.

There is a panel of students andteachers that will be meeting to that canbe added to the program.

Endicott Survey Coverage

Friday, February 17, 2012 TheDevils’ Advocate 5

Undefeated No More:The CRHS Quizbowl team lost

its �rst match of the season onFebruary 2. The hotly contestedmatch took place against Valleyat Valley Regional High School inDeep River.

Coach Mike Klimas began thematch with a di�erent strategy,as he adjusted the starting line-up to feature seniors Zach LaVi-gne and Adam Twombly andjuniors Lauren Trombetta andLeah Slawinowski.

The match came down to the�nal seconds as the Valley teamanswered the �nal few ques-tions correctly to surge into thelead as the buzzer rang to signalthe end of the match.

All was not lost, however, as

the only other undefeated team,Lyme-Old Lyme (5-1), lost might-ily in their match against OldSaybook (4-2). ---Adam Twombly

A Wicked Day in the Big City:On Wednesday, January 8,

the CRHS music departmentjourneyed into New York Cityto participate in a Wicked TheMusical workshop, and a view-ing of the chart topping Broad-way hit, Wicked. Students wereemotionally wowed by the bril-liant complexion of the entireshow and the way at which itwas presented. For those of uswho were viewing the show forthe �rst time, it is an experiencethat will last a lifetime. ---Michael O’Sullivan

Six students in the Model UNClub had the extraordinary op-portunity to attend the 38th an-nual Yale Model United Nationsconference held on the campusof Yale University in New Ha-ven. The event took place overa period of four days, January19-22. About 1400 high schoolstudents from all over the worldattended the conference.

The Model UN is a club in whichstudents will get together anddebate some of the modern is-sues from the point of view of acountry they are given.

“The Model UN is a lot aboutdi�erent opinions trying tocome together, even thoughmany times they don’t,” saidsophomore Samantha Turley.

The Yale students in the ModelUN put on the Yale Model UNconference for the high schoolstudents. Some organizationshost Model UN conferences forthe college groups, and highschool groups occasionally hostconferences for middle schoolgroups. In May the high schoolModel UN will be hosting a con-ference for the middle schoolcalled the MUN-chkins confer-ence.

Prior to the trip the students at-tending the conference were as-signed a country that they wouldrepresent and were placed intoa committee to debate topicsrelevant to their assigned coun-try. Once they found out whatcommittees they were on, theyresearched their countries to de-cide what the country’s positionwould be toward certain topics.They then had to write a posi-tion paper, which they submit-ted to the moderator who is aYale student.

On January 19 the students in

Model UN went to Yale for theconference to debate their posi-tions. The Model UN delegatestried to persuade the other del-egates in their groups to votefor the position that would mostbene�t their countries. At theend of the debate they voted onwhichever policy they thoughtwould be most bene�cial over-all.

During the conference theModel UN members got to meetwith some of the delegates fromaround the world, includingthose celebrating Chinese NewYear, which was going on at thetime.

“It was really fortunate that Chi-nese New Year coincided withthe conference,” said junior SamGossner. “Some of the peoplefrom China actually handed outneat little trinkets.”

On the Saturday of the con-ference there was a dance andmovie night for all of the del-egates. The closing ceremonieswere on Sunday at noon. CRHSstudents Sam Gossner and Rich-ard Chi received OutstandingDelegates awards for their per-suasive abilities during the con-ference.

Social studies and model UNadvisor Mrs. Julie Selberg loveshearing her students talk about their experiences.

“One of the things that is so ex-citing from the view point of anadvisor is when a student comesout of a committee and self re-ports ‘I spoke, people listened tome, I felt like I was more success-ful then I was in the past, I ne-gotiated with other people andmade friends with people fromother schools,’”said Mrs. Selberg.“That sort of growth that theyreport to me is very exciting.”

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Concert ChoirAlthough I’ve had limited experiencehere at Coginchaug, an elective I particu-larly enjoyed was concert choir. Directedand lead by chorus teacher Ms. Lisa Lars-en, this semester course is all about mu-sic and performing the pieces you workon during class in concert in the winteror spring. What takes place in this classis somewhat self-explanatory, and mostof the grades you receive are singing re-lated and include many laughs and goodtimes! If you enjoy singing and workingwith others, chorus is de"nitely a class toconsider taking next school year. -Michael O’Sullivan

College WritingCollege writing is a great choice for stu-dents looking to develop advanced writ-ing skills. Expanding your vocabulary anddeveloping grammar skills are extremelyvaluable for college and later on in life.These are two ways that this course di-rectly helped me. I feel that this classde"nitely prepared me for college andgave me a good understanding of whatwriting essays at a higher academic levelis going to consist of.-Christopher Crandall

Comparative ReligionsFor any students interested in metaphys-ics, ethics, culture, or theology, compara-tive religions is a must-take course thatwill enrich your understanding of theworld in which you live. For one semes-ter, the primary focus of the class is onsome of the major world religions such asJudaism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Stu-dents immerse themselves in a variety ofreligious texts, and they also spend timeexamining the lives of several religiousleaders. Since the course addresses ma-terial directly at the center of many peo-ple’s core values, all beliefs and opinionsare respected. social studies teacher Mrs.Julie Selberg said in an interview that the

course “tends to deepen people’s appre-ciation for their own faith and others.”-Collin Boylin

OceanographyOceanography is a hands-on scienceclass that is designed for students whowish to broaden their understanding ofthe ocean, its impact on humans, andseveral concerns for marine life. It is per-fect for students who enjoy being nearthe ocean or for those who have an in-terest in marine biology. This course alsoo#ers fantastic laboratory activities thatallow students to interact with materialsand specimens that wouldn’t normally beavailable to them. Plus this course o#ersseveral "eld trips all of which are amaz-ing experiences in their own way. Oneof the more notable "eld trips is the daytrip to Block Island which gives studentsa chance to explore marine habitats andlearn more about Block Island’s history.The trip is a very memorable experienceand I would de"nitely recommend thisclass to any student who thought abouttaking it.-James Berardino

Current IssuesI recommend this class. It is fun, and youget to learn about and discuss many ofthe challenges in the world today. Thestudents in the class get to pick whatsubjects they want to go over in the be-ginning of the year. This class encouragedme to be passionate about issues that Ididn’t previously fully understand.-Sean Cavanaugh

Forensic ScienceForensic science is a new class being of-fered to students. We all have heard ofthe television show CSI, and this classgives you the chance to test myths thisshow creates about crime. You get totry many exciting experiments with hair,"bers, "ngerprints, glass, blood, drugs,

and how to analyze a crime scene. Thishands-on science course is a fun way tolearn about the criminal justice system.If you have a strong stomach and a pas-sion for criminal justice, then this class isfor you!-Meggie Andrulis

JournalismJournalism is a full year class, and it hasbeen a lot of fun for me so far. We getto write for The Devils’ Advocate, whichis published once a month in The TownTimes and distributed at our school. Wewrite about interesting events at ourschool. Mr. Nathan Fisher, the journalismteacher, has a lot of experience as he usedto be a journalist. If you enjoy writing orwant to improve on your writing skills,you should think about taking this class.-Dena Branciforte

Martial ArtsDuring the third quarter of my freshmanyear, I took martial arts. I’m not the mostathletic person, and I was dreading tak-ing a gym elective. Thankfully martial artswas nothing like I expected. The semesterwas "lled with kicks, punches, and diverolls. Although I fell a lot and got kickedin the face, martial arts made me feel em-powered and tough. If you want to learnto protect yourself and are willing to givethe class your e#ort, take martial arts.-Sarah Brady

Music TheoryBeing an avid musician, I was looking for-ward to taking music theory for my entirehigh school career. When I "nally took thecourse, I learned more about music than Iknew existed. From chord construction tothe di#erent types of modes, we covereda ton of musical material. On to musictheory II! -Adam Twombly

Painting and PrintmakingWhen it comes to looking for a relaxingelective, painting and printmaking withMrs. Wenzel is de"nitely the way to go.In this class the students explore the dif-ferent types of paint like oil, watercolors,and acrylic. We also worked with print-making skills by doing linoleum printsand glass etchings. This class allows thestudents to de-stress and explore theirsense of creativity.-Kaitlin McKernan

Touch FootballTouch football is an elective o#ered toall students. It gives you the chance toget outside, get some fresh air, and playsome easy-going games of football. Nowwith the new athletic "eld complete,touch football is de"nitely a great choiceto pick. Taught by Mr. Robert Nemphos,I looked forward to going to this classevery day. His positive thoughts alwaysbrought great fun to the class. If you’reathletic and like getting outdoors, thisclass is perfect for you.-Audrey Biesak

Choices and Consequences

Choices and Consequences is a semesterclass created by Mrs. Catherine Musn-son. It is typically a seniors-only classthat deals with mature topics regardingthe decisions, both big and small, thatpeople have to make every day. “The rea-son I teach the class is so seniors who areleaving this small, sheltered communityand are going o# into the world will beable to be able to think rationally and in-dependently,” said Mrs. Munson. She alsostresses the importance of learning howto use the values of democracy for goodwithin the class by examining, for exam-ple, Nazi Germany. The class is useful toall seniors, especially those interested inthinking critically.-Alex Kovacs

Change to Choosing CoursesEvery spring students go through the course selection process to chooose their classes for thenext school year. In the past, students have had an eight period day in which they attended all oftheir classes and met with their teachers to get placed for the following year. This year, studentswill be going through the course selection process on Power School. there will no longer be aneight period day and the students will no longer have to "ll out the colorful teacher recmmenda-tion forms.

Above: Seniors Justine Plourde, Shawn Donovan, and Katelyn Hill are hard at workmaking maple butter in the sugar shack on Friday night. Right: the French studentsenjoy their visit to Old Québec. Photos by Madame Donna Cashore

Course selections are coming up soon, so The Devils’ Advocate sta! de-cided to write a little bit about some of the electives we’ve taken. If you arelooking for some useful, interesting, and fun electives to "ll up some spacein your schedule, we recommend...

Friday, February 17, 2012 TheDevils’ Advocate 7

Remember the survey that everyonehad to take after the Super Bowl? It wasfor the EDGE Club, and the results are in!The club was interested in discoveringwhat advertisements were most memo-rable to students because many peoplejust watch the Super Bowl for them.

The results are as follows:

Super Bowl Survey Question: Whatwas your favorite commercial? Durhamand Middle"eld teens voted:

1. M&M’s (Naked Brown M&M)2. Doritos: (Dog Buries Cat)

3. Doritos: Back-to-life(Sling Shot Baby)4. Sketchers (Mr.Quiggley’s Dog Race)5. Chevy Silverado (Apocalypse)6. Anheuser-Bush Beer (Rescue Dog)

Super Bowl Survey Question:What brand name products do youremember being advertised? Dur-ham and Middle"eld teens answered:

1. Anheuser-Busch Beer 2. Doritos3. M&M’s4. Coca-Cola5. Chevy6. Pepsi

ESPN at Coginchaug

Photos by Liz Harlow

Recently, the sophomore class coun-cil has decided to move the locationof the semi- formal dance from itsold venue, Memorial Middle School,to the CRHS gym. The sophomoressubmitted a proposal to principalMr. Andre Hauser that he approved.

Coginchaug upperclassmen that havemigrated to Memorial each year forthe dance brought up many interest-ing points in regards to the semi-formal.

“Having semi at Coginchaug, in my opin-ion, would de"nitely be more comfort-able because having the dance at yourown school makes you feel like you aremore at home,”said Junior Kendra Pashley.

“In years past, while dancing at Me-morial, I remember feeling so crowdedand having limited space to dance andhave fun,” said junior Christine French.

Sarah Brady, President of the sopho-more class council, proposed that thesemi-formal dance, held in March, bemoved to Coginchaug after receiv-ing constructive criticism from thepeers of her class along with those

from many upperclassmen as well.“I received many requests from the vot-

ers about bringing the semi-formal to theCoginchaug gym instead of Memorial’s.Space, chaperone needs, and the overallwant by students for semi to be here atCoginchuag were all topics for discussionin my proposal to Mr. Hauser,” said Sarah.

In further discussion with Sarah, the rea-son whyCoginchaugoriginallybeganhav-ing their dances at Memorial was in orderto establish one dance in Durham, home-coming, and one in Middle"eld, semi.

“The biggest concern for Mr. Hauserwhen taking my proposal into consider-ation was the losing of that one dancein Middle"eld so my job was to convincehim that that would not be a discrep-ancy among the students,” Sarah added.

The semi-formal is scheduled totake place sometime at the begin-ning of March. Although the dateis not yet "nalized, one thing is forsure, the location will be Coginchaug.

Friday, February 17,2012The Devils’ Advocate8

Freshman Kelly Halligan is running her 4-by-400 meter relay. Photo by Liz Harlow

The girls’ indoor track season is almostover but is still going strong. Five girlswent to states on Friday, February 10: se-nior captain Emily Halligan, senior Mon-ika Malek, junior Liz Harlow, sophomoreBailey Maus, and freshman Bailey Thayer.

“The team is doing very well,” said se-nior Emily Halligan who does long jump,600 meters, and a few other indoortrack events. “We are a lot more com-petitive than we have been in the pastand everyone is working really hard”.

The girl’s indoor track team is reallyclose and is always cheering and support-ing each other at their di!erent events.

“I like how we are really spirited, andact like a family,” said junior MelissaHandy, who participates in shot put. “I

also like how it’s an individuality sport”.“The thing I like most about indoor

track is the support from my team andcompeting,” said freshman Bailey Thayerwho competes in the 300-meter dash.

“I like how when I’m running anevent, when I come to a certain pointon the course my teammates cheerreally loud,” said freshman Kelly Hal-ligan who runs the 1600 meters and participates in 4 by 400, which is whenfour people run 400 meters each.

Overall, this season has been reallyproductive for the girls’ indoor trackteam. They hope to improve in fol-lowing years as they take even big-ger strides towards the "nish line.

It’s been a good winter for CRHS sports.The boys’ basketball team is near the topof the class S standings, the girls are oneloss away from being undefeated, and thetrack team has a number of runners whoquali"ed for the state meet. However,one athlete has been working hard underthe radar all by himself. He is senior wres-tler Zev Kartiganer. Zev, who also playsrunning back for the football team, isCRHS’s one and only wrestler this winter.

“It is discouraging. I am proud to say Iam the one and only wrestler from CRHS,don’t get me wrong. I am the only wres-tler that represents the school, and thatis a lot of weight on my shoulders but Iwish more students would step up andtake the intuitive to join. On the posi-tive side of things, this gave me the cap-tain position uncontested,” said Zev.

Zev, who started wrestling during hissophomore year, was encouraged towrestle by his teammates who wrestle forVinal Technical High School. CRhS and Vi-nal combined wrestling teams in 2010 dueto fact that not too many kids from bothschool were interested. Since then, theteam has improved greatly, including Zev.

This season, Zev has got o! to a greatstart with a 7-3-1 record. The improve-ment throughout the years is quiteevident. His "rst year wrestling he had arough year winning only four matches.Although he doesn’t plan to wrestle fora college team, wrestling for a club teamin college is de"nitely on his agenda.

“My sophomore year, practices wereextremely di#cult because I reallypushed my muscles to the limit, butnow I feel I know my limit therefore it ismuch easier to get through the workoutsboth mentally and physically,” Zev said.

This is the second consecu-tive year that Zev has represent-ed the CHRS by his lonesome.

“I was inspired to wrestle by my friendsat Vinal, Zev concluded seniors StevenHall and Nick Anderson are the two thatpersuaded me the most. They have beenbuddies of mine since I was in middleschool and really pushed me to wrestle.I also wanted to stay in shape during theo!season and the hard workouts that Iheard the wrestling team went throughdaily, I thought would do the trick.”

Last Saturday, February 4, marked thestart of the championship meet series forthe Blue Devils indoor track teams. Start-ing with the Shoreline Conference Cham-pionships, it continues to the Class SState Championships, and then the StateOpen Championships. Quali"ers com-pete in as many as three events through-out these meets. Needless to say this iswhat all of these athletes have workedfor, so the competition will be sti!. It re-quires an extreme amount of focus andsacri"ce to continue on to the next level.

Saturday’s meet started o! slow for theboy’s indoor team but quickly picked upthe pace as the events continued. The 4-by-200 meter relay team led the boys o!with a sixth place "nish allowing themto medal, scoring the "rst of the 46 to-tal points scored by the Blue Devils thatday. Next up was the 4-by-800 meter re-lay team placed "fth and medaled. In the1000 meter run junior Ben Taber placedsicth, followed by classmate JeremyBrown placing fourth in the 1600me-ter run, both contributing solid points.

The Blue Devil boys produced two all-

shoreline athletes that day, senior YuriMorin is now the shoreline championin the long jump as well as third in thehigh jump, and junior Wolfgang Wallachplaced second in the 300 meter dash earning him his "rst all-shoreline honors.long jump was a major strength for theteam this season, with Yuri Morin taking"rst place, senior Alec Giacco placing "fth,and classmate Zach Callan placing eighth,taking the boys in for a "fth place "nish.

The Lady Devils started o! the meet"nishing eighth in the 4 by 200meterrelay, followed by 5th in the 4-by-800meter relay. Sophomore Bailey Mausmade it to the "nals of the 55 meterHurdles and "nished third overall, rack-ing up a lot of points for the girls team.Next the ladies premier 4-by-400 meterrelay team took fourth overall allowingthem to medal, then senior Emily Hal-ligan took "th place in the Long Jump,as well as senior Monika Malek takingsixth in the Pole Vault. Overall the ladies

took nineth place in the Conference.

When you de"ne the aspects of ateam, you need to have leaders, tal-ent, skill, chemistry, and enthusiasm.For the Lady Devils, they don’t lack inthese key assets for a team and that iswhat makes them a successful team.

“Coach Rett (Mancinelli) always hadhis iPod playing during practices whichusually brings up the energy while wereplaying,” said freshman Audrey Arcari.“The seniors do a great job of keepingus positive and are always motivat-ing during our games cheering on ev-eryone and giving high gives, whichgets the rest of the team up beat.”

The team as you can see bene"tsfrom the enjoyable, but intense prac-tices by putting up a 17-1 recordthroughout the "rst 18 regular seasongames. The only loss of the year hasbeen to the Cromwell Lady Panthers.

“One goal that our team has for the rest

of the season is to continue to ‘Play theway we play’ in order to "nish the sea-son in "rst place of the Shoreline Confer-ence,” said junior Jessica Solomon. “Theother two goals our team has is to playhard in order to make it our furthest inthe shoreline and state tournaments.”

Jessica also mentioned that com-munication is another key com-

ponent to the team’s success.“When we communicate e!ectively with

each other and truly play together as ateam,the"nalscoresofgamesre$ectthat.”

The mindset of this team is very strongas a whole. Senior captains Sam Manci-nelli and Audrey Biesak lead this years2011-2012 Girls’ Basketball team. Theteam has the goals set high and haven’tsettled on winning the Shoreline Con-ference title last year. They want tobring the trophy back to Coginchaugand repeat the special accomplishment.

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Community Briefs 21

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Durham has scheduled twoservices for the imposition ofblessed ashes at 10 a.m. and 7p.m. The season of Lent is ob-served from Ash Wednesdayuntil the Great Vigil of East-er and is a season of peni-tence and fasting, prayer andself-denial. All are welcome.For information, please callFr. Anthony C. Dinoto, inter-im rector, at 860-349-9644 or e-mail him at www.epiphany-durham.org.

Family hikeJoin Everyone Outside on

Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. fora fun family walk atWadsworth Falls State Park.The winter woods are a won-derful place, especially onsnowshoes! REI (Recreation-al Equipment Inc. in WestHartford) has generously of-fered to let us use their rentalsnowshoes for this walk. Ifwe don’t have adequatesnow, we will explore thewoods on foot. Pre-registerby Feb. 22 for snowshoes. Formore information or to pre-register, contact Lucy [email protected] 860-395-7771.

Meriden HighSchool reunion

The Meriden High Schoolclass of 1944 Reunion Com-mittee is planning a lunch-eon gathering in the spring.For information, any inter-ested area classmates maycall Wally Miramant at 203-639-9661, Arlene Dunlop at203-235-1858 or Betty HoganFerreti at 860-349-9864.

Cheshire HighSchool reunion

The Cheshire High Schoolclass of 1962 will hold its 50-year class reunion on June 8,9 and 10. Venues will includethe Waverly Inn on Fridayevening, Cheshire HighSchool itself on Saturdaymorning, the Manor Inn onSaturday evening and break-fast on Sunday morning inWallingford.

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Resident State Trooper’s report for the month of January:There were 437 calls for service, nine criminal investigations, and 15 motor vehicle accidents, three with injuries. State

Troopers issued 132 motor vehicle infractions and 15 motor vehicle warnings.She further reported that three residential burglaries were investigated: one on Madison Road, one on Lexington Place

South and one on Parmelee Hill Road. A car was broken into on Haddam Quarter Road, and copper and aluminum werestolen from a property on Airline Drive. Thus far, no suspects have been identified in the aforementioned incidents. How-ever, an arrest was made in the theft of equipment from Durham Power Equipment on Route 77/Guilford Road.

Traffic enforcement was conducted on the following streets: Route 157 near the Middlefield line, Pent Road near Route 68,Tuttle Road near Brewster School, Route 68 near Greenbacker Farm, Route 17 near Route 147, Route 17 near Strong School,Route 17 near Little Lane and Maple Avenue north of Route 68.

Resident Donia Viola asked who pays for state police presence at the Merriam Manufacturing site. Francis responded thatthe Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pays for this service and noted that complaints regarding troopersnot directing traffic as trucks enter and exit the property have been addressed. Selectman Steve Levy noted that troopers areonly required to be present on days when trucks are entering and exiting the property. All agreed that their presence will bemissed once the project is done because it has served to slow down traffic on Main Street. Trish Dynia/In attendance

Briefs (From page 2)

ferent high school, are cor-dially invited to attend. Ifyou wish to attend but havenot received informationfrom the reunion committee,please contact Susan IsmailLarson at 203-528-3552 or BillWeidner at 203-271-0212 fordetails and costs.

The committee is stillseeking information on the

following class members: JoyBayne Carr, Victor Benedet-tini, Emily Bryant Rancier,Sharon Hyde, RogerKennedy, Linda Prostanoand Karen Roberts. If youhave any information on anyof the above classmates,please contact Grace SeeleyLange-Way at 207-737-8547 [email protected].

Levi Coe LibraryWish List Books: Donate one or both of the following

wish list books or audio books to our library: books — StayClose by Harlan Coben or Fall From Grace by RichardNorth Patterson; audio — Hotel Vendome by Danielle Steelor Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. If you donate, you can bethe first one to check it out! We will also add a bookplate toacknowledge your kind donation. Call or stop in for details.

Town Times Obituary Friday, February 17, 201222

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DiegoFrancesco“Jim” Candela

Diego Francesco “Jim”Candela, of Middlefield,passed away on Dec. 2, 2011.He and his wife, Yvonne, hadbeen residents at LakeBeseck for over 45 years.There will be a MemorialMass on Saturday, March 3,at noon at St. Colman’sChurch in Middlefield. Hisgrandson, Daniel James Mc-Cabe, writes the following:

Early this past September,Jim sat in a waiting room atYale University Hospital inNew Haven. We know that,through these past years, hewas no stranger to hospitals,though this time he wasn’tthere due to his own health.His beloved Yvonne had suf-fered a stroke on the eve oftheir 57th wedding anniver-sary. She got a bit better and

then much worse. At thetime, her doctors had a fairlydark outlook, and Diego(Jim) and his family hadbeen called to the hospitalunder the impression thatshe was not likely to survivethe next 24 hours.

We waited for him tospeak, and after long silencehe said, “They say that ifthey take the tubes out, shemay die.” Then he said, “Ifshe’s gone, who’s gonna yellat me?”

In my life, I have few rec-ollections of my grandpar-ents as individuals. It seemsthat, in every memory ofone, the other is nearby, atleast within shouting dis-tance — though, in our fami-ly, shouting distance seemsto cover a slightly greater ra-dius than most others I’veknown. But through all thenoise of a birthday, holidayor any other day, the onething that rang clear wasDiego and Yvonne’s endur-

ing devotion to one another.He was the second

youngest of nine childrenborn in Brooklyn, NY, to par-ents from Palermo, Sicilyand she was an only childraised on the outskirts of theAustralian city of Brisbane.He shined shoes and playedon Knickerbocker Avenue,and she kept her mother’shouse and swam in BrambleBay. At 18, she boarded aship and sailed to New York,eventually falling in lovewith Diego in the employeecafeteria of the A&P super-market where they bothworked. She told me that itwas his food that got her, andit just might have been hisfood that kept her. For theirentire relationship, barringone incident involving amashed potato sandwich,Diego did all the cooking. Itwas acknowledged by bothparties as a mutually benefi-cial arrangement.

Theirs was not a likely

convergence, but convergethey did. From them, a won-derful family, of which I amhonored to be a part, contin-ues to unfold as it connectswith others and proliferates.Their story is one of manytestaments to the potentialinherent in their city — acity of immigrants and in-clusion where a poor boyfrom one side of the worldcan meet a poor girl from theother begin a family, work-ing hard until, one day, theycan look around themselvesto find that they are not sopoor anymore.

Yvonne lived through herdoctors’ appointed 24 hoursand then through the next 24.As befits a woman of her met-tle, she made a miraculous co-alescence, though, as fatewould have it, Diego’s bodyfailed as her own recovered.

He loved his children, heloved his family and friends, butabove all, he loved his wife.When my mother and I went to

see her Friday night to give herthe news that he had passed, shewas not surprised. She knewhow he had suffered and that hewas ready to leave this worldand the constant pain of thesepast few years. She told us thatwhen they had taken him awayto the hospital earlier that night,she had prayed he be deliveredfrom his sufferings and thatGod might treat him kindlywhen he was received. She said.“I won’t cry now. I’ll cry when Igo downstairs tomorrow tophysical therapy and the bossasks me for him. He always asksme, ‘How’s Big Jim?’ I’ll say tohim, ‘He won’t be down today.’”

Diego Francesco Candelawas a simple man with agood heart — a man aware ofhis own imperfections andtolerant of the imperfectionsof those around him. Helived a good life and will bemissed.

Before every meal, after theprayer, he would offer a simpleblessing of his own. I’ve heardhim say it many times and willmiss hearing his voice speakthose words this Christmas. InDiego’s words: “God bless mywife, my children, my chil-dren’s children and all myfriends and relations.”

poned for two years.Nonetheless, it is a begin-ning, and I applaud the Gov-ernor for initiating the tran-sition.

However, when it comesto the current budget and theproposed changes to nextyear’s budget, fiscal disci-pline appears to have beencast aside by the administra-tion. The budget was built ona foundation of sand. Thatfoundation is now rapidlyeroding, and the budgetstructure is collapsing. As Ihave repeatedly said sincethe budget’s adoption lastJune, many of the expendi-tures have been drasticallyunderestimated. This is at-

tributable to the agreementwith the state employeeunions, which containedmany bogus savings thatwere not a reliable basis onwhich to build a budget.

Consider this: The state’snon-partisan budget officesaid that it could not sub-stantiate more than three-quarters of a billion dollarsof “savings,” which was partof the governor’s budget.Items like the “State Em-ployee Suggestion Box” — abox which was supposed tosave us all $170 million —have not materialized. Thebox is nowhere to be found.As a result, the governor isnow scrambling to find oth-er real cost cuts to offsetthose unrealistic estimatesin his budget.

Exacerbating the underes-timated budget expenseswere pie-in-the-sky esti-mates of tax collectionsbased on the biggest tax in-crease ever imposed on Con-necticut taxpayers. You re-member that huge tax hike,don’t you, Middlefield? Asthe first six months of thecurrent budget came to aclose, the administration an-nounced that tax collectionswere falling short of expecta-tions. The proposed budgetsurplus was beginning toturn into a budget deficit.Lost in the political spin wasthe fact that actual tax col-lections on a year-to-year ba-sis actually did increase dra-matically, by a total of 17.6

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Columns Continued 23

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vidual student growth ismeasured and aligned withspecific CMT content areas.

The second major area ofemphasis this year has beenin the implementation ofCommon Core State Stan-dards (CCSS). These stan-dards are the “what” that stu-dents should know in eachgrade level in the areas of lan-guage arts and mathematics.These standards have beendeveloped and embraced byvirtually every state in thecountry and represent specif-ic skills that students shouldknow and be able to do at eachgrade level (K-12).

As our district transitionsto the CCSS, we must first ex-amine what we are teachingand compare our mathemat-ics and language arts contentwith the new standards. Oncethis is completed, we need toalign our teaching and con-tent to reflect these new stan-dards. This initiative will beongoing throughout theschool year and will continueinto the future.

In working hard at each ofthese initiatives, we must bemindful that teaching is farmore than a “science” of in-struction. Teaching andlearning is also most certain-ly an “art” that involves en-thusiasm, creativity and a joyof exploration and under-standing. As we move aheadin both of these initiatives, weneed to remain student-cen-tered and focused on develop-ing each individual as an eth-ical, lifelong learner who willbe able to thrive in an ever-changing global world.

In addition to the core aca-demic subjects, our relatedarts program also plays a keyrole in the development of ourstudents in both fifth andsixth grade. Art, music, phys-ical education, technology/li-brary skills and health arealso critical areas that ourstudents need to explore andgain an appreciation of. Withthe combined efforts of ourentire school community, wework hard to provide a com-prehensive and well-roundedprogram that meets the needsof our students and provides astepping stone to furtherknowledge and an apprecia-

RSD13(Continued from page 9)

tion of the world around them.

Speaking of related arts, Iwould like to commend all ofour participants for an out-standing winter concert lastmonth and congratulate Mr.Allan Schulenburg and Mr.Timothy Fisher for the choraland instrumental perform-ances of our students. The per-formance reflects many hoursof preparation and manifeststhe value of these programs.

In conclusion, our workwith students is clearly a col-laborative effort involving the“science” of careful prepara-tion and focused instructionwith the “arts” of enthusiasm,creativity and a commitmentto students. Enjoy the month,and let’s hope for an earlyspring!

Hidden Tax (From 9)

See Hidden Tax, page 25


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Scouts of Troop 27 explore historical sites in DurhamBy Will Witecki

Troop 27

December’s campout forBoy Scout Troop 27 was closeto home and a combinationof service, town history andfun on Mount Pisgah inDurham. We went on a shortfive-mile hike with our back-packs to learn about earlyDurham history. We learnedthat there was a “pesthouse” in the woods wherethe town used to send peopleif they had a contagious dis-ease like small pox. The pesthouse was used during thetime period of the 1700swhen they couldn’t cure a

disease or give them medi-cine to help, so they sentthem to the house to be quar-antined until, mostlikely, their death.The pest house isonly ruins now, butit is located on theMattabassett Trailon the Mica Ledgesof Durham.

We also went tothe selectmanstones at a three-way intersection ofthe towns ofDurham, Guilfordand Madison. Theseare a part of our history be-cause, every year, the first

selectmen of the townswould have to walk theboundaries of the town to

make sure other towns werenot intruding on their land.Every year they would carvethe date in a rock and put itin a pile along the Mattabas-sett Trail where the threetowns meet. Also, while wehiked, we cleared the dam-age caused by the recent

winter storm and the hurri-cane.

After this informativehike, we arrived atour campsite, justbelow the top ofMount Pisgah. Wereached camp a fewhours before dark,with enough time toset up camp andgather firewood. Af-ter cooking a greatsteak dinner on ourskillets over thefire, we headed tothe top of the moun-tain to overlook the

town of Durham. You couldsee for miles around fromthe highest point in the town— from Hartford to Long Is-land Sound. We stayed atopthe mountain at sunset, en-joying the view and soon af-ter returned to our site.

After a good night’s sleep

in unseasonably warmweather, we packed up andheaded out early in themorning. With the mountainat our backs, we concludedanother fun, informativecamping trip for Troop 27.

Don’t be bored. Boy ScoutTroop 27 meets on Thurs-days at 7 p.m. in the UnitedChurches of Durham Halland is open to boys ages 11and up.

Submissionreminder

The Town Times wel-comes submissions re-garding upcoming eventshappening in the commu-nity (e-mail [email protected] by Mondays atnoon). We do our best torun submissions at leastone time. However, dueto space constraints, wecannot guarantee a sub-mission will be pub-lished on a specific date.To ensure your submis-sion runs exactly as youwould like it to, contactour sales representative,Joy Boone, by calling 203-317-2313 or e-mailinga d v e r t i s i n g @ t o w n -times.com for a paid ad.Thank you.

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Columns Continued 25

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everyman subtlety. Withcampaigning behind thescenes fiercely funded andheavy-handed, an unfair ad-vantage may be given to TheArtist this year.BEST ACTOR:

Nominees: Demian Bichir(A Better Life), GeorgeClooney (The Descendants),Jean Dujardin (The Artist),Gary Oldman (Tinker TailorSoldier Spy) and Brad Pitt(Moneyball).

Number of nominees seen:4 of 5.

Who will win: Jean Du-jardin.

Who should win: GeorgeClooney.

Commentary: Dujardinbrings new meaning to “ex-pressive” with his expansivemannerisms and his seeming-ly choreographed movements.With equal fervor, Clooney de-livers a performance outsideof his norm as a broken-heart-ed soul that breaks your heartwhile he grapples with the un-expected. This should be hisyear.BEST ACTRESS:

Nominees: Glenn Close (Al-bert Nobbs), Viola Davis (TheHelp), Rooney Mara (The Girlwith the Dragon Tattoo),Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)and Michelle Williams (MyWeek with Marilyn).


Who will win: Viola Davis.Who should win: Viola

Davis.Commentary: Meryl Streep

is a fan favorite, but since herSophie’s Choice win in 1983,she has become the SusanLucci of the Oscars, losing 12of her last nominations. De-spite a stellar turn as formerPrime Minister MargarettThatcher, Streep’s losingtrend will continue in light ofDavis’ portrayal of soul-searching maid Aibileen. Shesimply shines with a maternalmajesty that cannot betouched.BEST DIRECTOR:

Nominees: Woody Allen(Midnight in Paris), MichelHazanavicius (The Artist),Terrence Malick (The Tree ofLife), Alexander Payne (TheDescendants) and MartinScorsese (Hugo).


Movies (From page 9)Who will win: Michel Haz-

anavicius.

Who should win: AlexanderPayne.

Commentary: Hazanavicusorchestrates a sincere tributeto the silent era, borrowingfrom films of the past with rev-erence and good humor. It isPayne’s direction, however,that stands out most. His vi-sion captures the essence ofevery American with its nu-ance and easy identifiability,making The Descendants aninstant classic.

I encourage you to step outand catch some of the nomi-nated films in your local the-ater or, in some cases, in yourown home. Be your own ex-pert! It makes the Oscar expe-rience much more riveting.For a complete list of my 2012Academy Award predictionsin all categories, please checkout my blog atwww.tanyafeke.com. I’ll bekeeping my score card on Os-car night.

percent — more than three-quarters of a billion dollarsmore in taxes than had beencollected for the same timeperiod the previous year.

Here’s a peek at some of thetax collection increases forthe first half of the fiscal year:

• State income taxes col-lected: increased by 18.1 per-cent,

• State sales taxes collect-ed: up by 13.6 percent, and

• Petroleum gross receiptstaxes (hidden gas tax) collect-ed:increased by 41.4 percent.

Please note that shocking41.4 percent increase in thehidden gas tax collections.Yes, the number is correct.You have paid 41.4 percentmore in hidden gas taxes inaddition to the official recordtax increase approved by theDemocratic-controlled legis-lature. You know you have a

spending problem when taxcollections actually increaseby almost 18 percent, andyou don’t have enough tocover increased expenses.This underscores the realcause of Connecticut’s finan-cial problems, and that’s out-of-control spending.

Middlefield taxpayers:You have an opportunity tostop further tax increases.Please join me in my effort toprovide tax relief by signingmy petition to cap the hidden

gas tax. Help me cut the costof gasoline in Connecticut byvisiting www.Senator-Suzio.com and clicking onthe gas tax petition icon.

If we don’t cap the increas-es in gas tax collections, wewill be encouraging a contin-uation of the undisciplinedspending that has gotten usinto this financial mess.Let’s help the Governor re-store fiscal discipline bystopping the continued in-crease in the hidden gas tax.

Hidden Tax(Continued from page 23)

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Durham Marauders travel basketball gameBy Starr Murphy


Everyone in town was excit-ed about Super Bowl Sundaytwo weeks ago. Little Durham,Connecticut, became famousonce again as the Patriots andGiants brought us nationwideattention for our location mid-way between the two rivalfootball teams. But, before thebig kickoff, dedicated athletesof all ages on our town’s youthbasketball teams competed towin in their own rivalries. TheDurham Marauders, a seventhgrade boys’ travel team, wasno exception.

In their third match-up withthe Madison travel team, theMarauders went into the gamewith great determination andwill. Since their startup thisyear as a new team, they haveshown each week that theirhard work and discipline havemade them better, and, eachgame they play, the score gets

closer. The boys have hadtheir last two games end inheartbreaking “almost wins,”and they were itching for thereal thing. It is unusual for twoteams to have so many match-ups in a season, and CoachMurphy wasn’t sure his teamwanted to play again against arival that had beaten themtwice al-r e a d y .When hea s k e dthem, tohis de-l i g h t ,they tookon thec h a l -l e n g ewilling-ly. Patrick Piscatelli helpedfuel his teammates’ enthusi-asm when he said, “I want awin against them!” The spiritof the team proved to be magi-cal, because that is exactlywhat they did.

The Marauders’ determina-tion was in full force with thefirst tip-off. Jack Murphy,standing a good three inchestaller than any player on ei-ther team, easily tapped theball to his brother, GriffinMurphy. Within seconds, Jackgot his hands on the ball againand made an easy bounce pass

t oPatrickH o c k -ing, whomade aperfect-ly exe-c u t e dl e f t -handedlay-up togive the

Marauders their first score ofthe game. JB Baba and Bran-don Johnson kept the Madisonteam from getting any pointswith their aggressive defense.Piscatelli and Griffin kept upthe pressure with their quick

moves and steals. Piscatelli’ssteal and lead pass to Griffinfor an easy lay-up gave the Ma-rauders an early 4-0 lead.

The second quarter of thegame brought in Josh Kingand Michael Doyle off thebench. Both boys gave theirbest efforts on defense, withDoyle out-hustling Madisonwith a great dive for the ballthat earned him a trip to thefoul line. With a powerful re-bound by Jack Murphy, theMarauders were in controlagain. In the last few secondsof the second quarter, Babaand Johnson performed NBA-style entertainment for the au-dience with Baba’s “alley-oop”lay-up to Johnson for twomore points! The Marauderswent to half time up 24-22.

By the third quarter, theMarauders had gained somemuch-needed confidence. Un-fortunately, Madison came offthe bench with a decidedlymore aggressive nature. They

played tough defense and de-cided to press. Durham took awhile to adjust to the new tem-po and had several turnovers.The boys were frustrated bythe fouls that were rampantdue to Madison’s aggressiveattacks on defense. CoachMurphy called a timeout, andthe boys took a breather. Re-minding them of their motto,“discipline and no complain-ing,” he went over their pressbreak play. The team quicklyexecuted this skill and was

able to defuse Madison’s strat-egy. With great defensiveplays by Baba, Hocking andJohnson, continued domi-nance on the boards by Jack,smart picks and steals by Pis-catelli and hard driving lay-ups and scoring by Griffin, theMarauders took their lead at31-29 into the fourth quarter.

At the opening of the fourthquarter, King increased theteam’s lead with a “swish”from just inside the three-point line. The final minute ofthe game left the fans on theedge of their seats; the endcould go either way. The lastthree games that the Maraud-ers played were lost due topoor foul shooting. The teamworked hard on fixing thisproblem, and again their per-severance paid off. The Madi-son team decided to foul JackMurphy and put him on theline. The big guy showed hispoise by sinking them both.Then Madison tried again byfouling Griffin Murphy, whoshowed his marked shootingimprovement by scoring an-other basket. In the final sec-onds, Baba kept up the pres-sure with a steal to seal thegame. Great effort, boys!

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Sports 271229758

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Durham gets better of Southington in inter-league playBy Scott Strang


For the second year,Durham and SouthingtonMen’s Leagues met for a setof mid-season games. Thegoal was to pair up teams ofrelatively equal skill, and theresults included three excit-ing games that went down tothe wire and three gamesthat were not quite so com-petitive. In the end, Durhamtook four out of the first six(two more to follow) to en-sure at least a tie in the eight-game series and gain somerespect after our 4-8 showinglast season.Games Monday atSouthington

Time Out Taverne(TOT), 58; Thomson Finan-cial, 56: Jay Connelly putback his own missed lay-upas time expired to propelTOT (2-3) to an exciting win.TOT trailed 25-23 at halftime,but Pete Doering put themahead with 15 second-halfpoints. Thomson trailed byas much as five with undertwo minutes but tied thescore on foul shots with justsix seconds left. Connelly gotthe inbound pass and drovethe length of the court, buthis frantic lay-up hit the bot-tom of the rim before bounc-ing back into his hands, al-lowing him to lean back in totake the game winning shot.Doering finished with 30, andTim Rhone had nine. ToddMartin was the leadingThomson scorer with 14.

Durham Dental, 54;Brennan Pool Boys, 52: Inanother exciting game withover a dozen lead changes, in-cluding a 27-27 tie at the half,Durham Dental (4-2) held onto defeat Brennan. MarkHodges had 16, and MarkCrayton scored 12 in the win.Brian Brennan was excellentfrom the field with 19 pointsfor the losing team. Brennanhad the ball with five secondsleft but was unable to get itpast half court for a final shotas Durham Dental played agreat press defense on the fi-nal inbound play.

Southington Police(SPD), 66; Scott Tax Group,34: Scott Tax held it togetherearly, trailing 16-14 midwaythrough the first half, but theexceptional passing and fast

break offense of SPD was toomuch for them. Mike Mal-colm scored 11 as three otherScott Tax (1-4) players fin-ished with six. Art Veveriswas deadly from three-pointland for SPD and picked up22 in the win.Games Tuesday atDurham

SPNE, 74; TorrisonStone, 69: If you enjoy bas-ketball, there was no gamemore fun to watch this weekthan the battle between Tor-rison and visiting SPNE. JoeWilson was fantastic forSPNE, hitting six three-pointers and finishing with28. Most of the night, Torri-son was able to shut downthe top SPNE shooter, MikeDukes. Dukes had scored 51in a game against Allstatelast season but was held tojust 21 this night. Likewise,SPNE worked hard to con-tain Adam Poturnicki, andPete Lynch (18 points) did

most of the early scoring forTorrison. Poturnicki andMatt Lynch (16 points each)both got more involved inthe second half before Mattleft the game with a knee in-jury. In the end, it was foulshooting that did Torrisonin, going just 8-14 whileSPNE went 17-19 on freethrows. Dukes alone was 11-12 from the line.

Snowservices, 59; TheFireplace, 47: Snowservices(3-1) shot lights-out for muchof the first half and coastedto a fairly easy win. No doubttheir best shooting day of theseason, Dave Torres, RyanCove and Frank DeFlippo hiton just about everythingthey tried for the first 12 min-utes of the game. Torresscored 16, and Joe Davisadded 15 in the win. Jeff Kel-ly picked up 21, and Middle-field’s Rick Mach also fin-ished with three for TheFireplace.

Around the Clock(ATC), 63; SouthingtonGenerals, 32: ATC (3-1) heldthe Southington Generals tojust 14 first-half points and 0points for the first sevenminutes of the second half,

cruising the entire way in alopsided contest. SteveMarkowski led ATC with 18,Rick Ryan had 12 and CodyDonecker scored 10 for thewinners. Scott Mondo’s 11points led the Generals.

Baseball pitching clinicCoginchaug Little League will once again be offering a base-

ball pitching clinic. Starting on Saturday, March 10, the clinicwill run for four consecutive Saturdays. Registration and pay-ment can be made on the website at www.coginchaugll.orgwhere you will select your preferred timeslot, which will remainthe same for each Saturday of the program. Each player is re-quired to have an adult catcher during each session, and it is rec-ommended to arrive a few minutes early to warm-up. The clinicis open to players league age 9; registration will open to playersleague age 8 on Feb. 20. All eligible players must be registered forthe 2012 baseball season.

To sign up for this clinic, visit www.coginchaugll.organd click “Register Online” to begin. Questions or com-ments about the pitching clinic should be directed to theVP of Baseball, Scott Strang, at [email protected].

Submitted by Michele Wenchell, Director of Information,Coginchaug Little League


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Coginchaug boys win, key games comingBy Alan Pease


The Coginchaug boysplayed two games this week,both pretty solid wins oversecond tier teams in theShoreline Conference, theMorgan Huskies and theNorth Branford Thunder-birds. This was a prelude tosome big upcoming games,against third place Haddam-Killingworth (HK) on Tues-day the 14th, and at homethis coming Monday versusfourth place Valley Regional.After their second loss toCromwell, also being theirsecond loss in the conferenceschedule, these two gamescould determine the outcomeof the regular season confer-ence championship, and theall-important seedings forthe conference tournament.Morgan

On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the

Devils jumped out to an earlylead against Morgan, withErikson Wasyl netting thefirst five points of the game.Morgan kept it close, trailingby only two at the end of thefirst period (13-11) and againdrawing within two pointsmidway through the secondperiod at 21-19. But Cogin-chaug closed the half with arebound put-back by EthanDonecker, followed by adown-the-middle bank shotby Jake Tietlebaum off of aBrock Hoyt feed to take a 25-19 lead into halftime.

Seven points from Wasylkeyed the third period forCoginchaug as theystretched their lead to 12 at43-31, enabling a sub-par fi-nal period by the Devils to beof little consequence, at leastto the outcome of the game,as they secured a 53-45 win ina game that they nevertrailed but failed to domi-

nate.The biggest disappoint-

ment in the game for Cogin-chaug was that Tyler Anglinof Morgan racked up 25points to lead all scorers. Hehad nine points from the freethrow line, and two hits frombeyond the arc.

Donecker led the Devils onthe statistical side, securinga double-double with 14points and 12 rebounds,rounding out a nice line withfive assists, two blocks andtwo steals. However, accord-ing to coach Salva, Doneckeralso had primary responsi-bility for Anglin on defense,so it was less than a perfectgame. Wasyl scored 20points, adding four reboundsand two assists. Hoyt scored10, grabbed six rebounds,blocked two shots and had anassist. Tietlebaum had fourrebounds, two steals, twopoints and an assist. AlecCorazzini had four assists,two points, two rebounds anda steal.

Off the bench, Luke Bog-danski scored four and hadtwo rebounds. Sam Bakerhad two rebounds, two stealsand an assist. Mike Bon-giorno had a point, a reboundand an assist, and KevinGawron pulled down one re-bound.North Branford

On Thursday, Feb. 9, theboys traveled to North Bran-ford and again played a bit ofan uneven game against aclearly overmatched teamand still managed a 54-39 win.

The North Branford Thun-derbirds scored the first twobuckets, and it was almostfour minutes into the gamebefore Wasyl finally put theDevils on the scoreboard bynailing a three-pointer. Thehome team scored again to goahead 6-3, but two successfulcharity tries by Donecker gotthe Devils close, and a repeatperformance by Donecker —two from the line — put theDevils ahead for good at 7-6.Two more free throws, thistime from Hoyt, plus two-point baskets from Wasyland Tietlebaum, more thanoffset a couple of bucketsfrom North Branford, allow-ing Coginchaug to end thefirst period with a 13-10 lead.

Strong School sports scoopBy Kevin Larson

Strong P.E. Instructor

PHYSICAL EDUCATIONMr. Larson’s webpage is

up and running, notifyingstudents and parents of im-portant information regard-ing curriculum, grading andclass expectations. Upcom-ing activities for spring 2012are posted under Curricu-lum.

Mr. Larson completedthree workshops with themath department to furtherdevelop student knowledgeof percentages. Fitness testscores from last fall wereused in question form tohighlight percentage com-pletion based on number ofstudents taking the fitnesstest and those who qualified.

As of late Januarythrough mid-March, stu-dents are engaged in volley-ball skill review practice

game set-up and eventual in-class tournament play. Re-sults of tournament play willdetermine play-off andchampionship format.Championship games will bedesigned as a grade level as-sembly to be determined at alater date. Champions fromeach grade will be recog-nized.INTRAMURALS

Volleyball is taking centerstage from early Februarythrough mid-March. Prac-tices/matches will round outthe five-week program. In-terest amongst the girls isoutstanding with two teamsof varsity girls and twoteams of J.V. girls. Unfortu-nately the interest amongstthe boys is not as strong. Oneteam of seventh and eighthgrade boys will participate.

Special thanks to Coach

See Scoop, next page

See Boys, next page

Friday, February 17, 2012 Town Times Sports 29

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Kevin Gawron got the Dev-ils out to a good start in thesecond period, scoring thefirst two baskets, both on re-bound put-backs. Wasyl,Corazzini and Bongiornoeach converted from beyondthe arc, and Hoyt hit a two-pointer, allowing the visitingDevils to lead 28-17 going intohalftime.

The third period was pret-ty ugly as the Thunderbirdswon the period 13-10. Wasylstarted things well, hitting atwo-pointer and, following acouple of North Branfordbaskets, a three-pointer. TwoTietlebaum free throws putCoginchaug up 37-21, butthen the wheels came off.Over the remainder of the pe-riod, the Devils had fiveturnovers and hit on no shotsfrom the field as North Bran-ford want on a 9-0 run. Only asingle free throw fromCorazzini near the end of theperiod stopped the run, al-lowing Coginchaug to go intothe final period still with a 38-30 lead.

The Devils regrouped forthe final period and, paced bysix points from Donecker,won the period 16-9 and thegame by a 54-39 score.

Donecker again paced theDevils overall, pulling down14 rebounds and adding 10points for the double-double.The rest of his stats weren’ttoo shabby either as he hadfive steals, three blocks andthree assists. Wasyl led theteam in scoring with 15points, adding four steals,three rebounds and two as-sists. Hoyt rounded out thedouble-digit scorers with 10points, just missing the dou-ble-double with nine re-bounds. Hoyt also con-tributed two blocks and anassist. Corazzini had sixpoints, a rebound and a steal.Tietlebaum scored fourpoints, adding three re-bounds and a steal.

Off the bench, Gawronscored four points andgrabbed two rebounds. Bon-giorno had three points, a re-bound and a steal (a niftyplay that involved diving tothe floor for a loose ball andsomehow squeezing the ballto a teammate before it rolledout of bounds). Baker hadtwo points, a rebound and asteal, while Bogdanski

grabbed two rebounds.As I write this, the boys are

13-3, 13-2 in the ShorelineConference. They will haveplayed a tough game at HK onTuesday, Feb. 14, and hope-fully will have a routine wintonight, Friday, Feb. 17, athome against East Hampton.The last conference game ofthe season (and senior night)will be Monday, Feb. 20. See-ing that all of the starters andthree of the reserves on thisteam are seniors, this wouldbe a great night to get out andshow them your support.Plus, given the importance ofthis to the playoff picture, it’snot a game to miss.

Boys (From page 28)

Matasavage (former Cogin-chaug volleyball coach) and nu-merous high school players forvolunteering their time to helpdevelop the skills of many sev-enth and eighth grade girls.Competition from area schools

includes: East Hampton,Cromwell, Rocky Hill andThomas Edison (girls’ programonly). Team jerseys have beenordered and are due to arriveprior to the first scheduledmatch (Feb. 23).

Matches are limited toplayers only (no studentspectators) due to limitedspace in the gymnasium.Parents/grandparents areencouraged to attend.

Upcoming spring pro-grams include golf, tennis,cross country (training pro-gram) and mini-hockey orindoor/outdoor kickball.Continue referring to Mr.Larson’s webpage to stay upto date with future happen-ings regarding intramuralopportunities.ATHLETICS

Boys’ basketball: Coachedby Steve Anderson (varsity)and Jeff Miller (J.V.); 27players comprised the teamscompeting against schoolswithin our Mid-State Middle

League.

Girls’ basketball: Coachedby Amy Schaefer (varsity)and Dan Dietz (J.V.); 23 play-ers comprised the teamscompeting against schoolswithin our Mid-State MiddleSchool League. Specialthanks to our volunteerswho graciously gave theirtime for the benefit of ourbasketball program —singers Olivia Haglund andCharley Pietrzyk; score-board operators ShaunWhitaker and Cassie Ko-vacs; announcer LaurenBadin; and scorekeeper Is-abelle DeFlippo.

Cheerleading: Coached byJeanne Myers and Keri Salva;24 girls comprised the twosquads (J.V. and varsity). Ourtwo squads cheered all homebasketball games (boys andgirls). The process of purchas-ing new uniforms began thisyear and will hopefully con-clude next year.

Pep Band: Under the di-

rection of Mr. Fitz, our pepband made its debut, per-forming at one boys’ gameand two girls’ games. Specialthanks to our student musi-cians. With further recruit-ing and incentives in place,our pep band will continueto grow and perform.

Continued efforts will bemade to give our student ath-letes opportunities to fur-ther enhance their athleticexperiences. Baseball/soft-ball sign-ups will take placelater in February or earlyMarch. Try-outs to begin bylate March (weather permit-ting). Games to begin by midto late April.

PARENTS/ATHLETES

Make sure physicals areup-to-date prior to first prac-tice/try-out. Players will notbe permitted to practice un-til physical is valid. See theschool nurse with any ques-tions. Refer to Mr. Larson’swebpage under Athletics tohave up-to-date information.

Scoop (From page 28)


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Girls win two, prepare for tournamentBy Alan Pease


This week, the Coginchauggirls played at Haddam-Killingworth (HK) on Monday,Feb. 6, and hosted East Hamp-ton on Thursday, Feb. 9. Bothwere solid wins — 65-40 overHK, and 60-19 getting past anovermatched East Hampton.By the time you read this, theywill have had their final game,senior night at home againstValley on Monday, Feb. 13,and, unless there’s a majorsurprise, the Lady Devils willbe the number one seed for theShoreline Conference tourna-ment. More on that later.Haddam-Killingworth

The Lady Cougars did havea couple of early leads at 2-0and 5-2, but Kim Romanoff hadthat first bucket for the Devils,and an old-fashioned three-point play from Sam Mancinel-li tied the game at five apiece.Audrey Biesak scored the nextfive to put the visitors on topfor good, first with a LaurenEsposito-assisted trey, follow-ing with a two-pointer startedby a Romanoff steal and assist.Biesak ended with eight pointsin the period to highlight thefirst quarter lead of 17-10.

The second period was areal exercise in frustration forthe Lady Cougars as theycould manage only three earlyconnections from the charity

stripe. Esposito led the Devils’effort for the period with sevenpoints, but the highlight cameas the clock wound down —Olivia Corazzini grabbed a de-fensive rebound and took theball down the court, hitting adriving lay-up from the leftside just before the buzzersounded, topping off a 17-0 runfor the Devils and making thescore 37-13.

With the final outcome ofthe game fairly well in hand atthat point, the team may havelet up a bit, and Coach RettMancinelli did mix in the re-serve players, allowing HK towin the period by a 13-12 countbut still leaving Coginchaugon top by a 49-26 score.Mancinelli had seven points inthe period.

Mancinelli again led theway in the last quarter, scor-ing six as Coginchaug coastedhome to the final score of 65-40.She led the Devils with 23points, adding seven re-bounds, three assists, twosteals and a block. Espositoscored 11 points, adding sevenrebounds, three assists andtwo steals. Biesak and Ro-manoff each scored 10 points,with Biesak adding five re-bounds and two steals and Ro-manoff contributing threesteals, two rebounds and twoassists. Jessica Solomonpulled down three rebounds.

Off the bench, Audrey Ar-

cari had a very nice game withsix points, four rebounds and asteal. Corazzini scored threepoints, adding three rebounds,a steal and an assist. AndreaBraga had two rebounds, asteal and an assist. KatelynWilliams scored two points,and Caryn Sibiski and Mikay-la Wyskiel each grabbed onerebound.East Hampton

As Coach Mancinelli wroteto me: “East Hampton came ininjured and sick. They wereunable to bring enough play-ers to play a JV game. Theirdeteriorated team had a 4-3lead (at the start of the game)but not much more after that.”The Devils took leads of 17-6,39-9, 49-15 and finished with a60-19 final domination.

Esposito led the team inscoring with 17 and steals withseven, adding four assists anda rebound. Mancinelli led theteam in both rebounds and as-sists, with nine of each, addingthree steals, two points and ablock. Biesak was the secondleading scorer with 16, addinga rebound, an assist, a stealand a block. Romanoff hadeight points, three steals, tworebounds and an assist.Solomon had three points,three steals and a rebound.

Off the bench, Arcari hadsix points, three rebounds, twosteals and a block. Braga con-tributed three steals, twopoints, a rebound and an as-sist. Kasi Whitaker had twopoints, two steals, a reboundand an assist. Wyskiel pulleddown five rebounds and stolethe ball once. Corazzini andSidney Trusty each had twopoints, a rebound and a steal,and Williams had two re-bounds and two steals.

With these wins, the girlsare 18-1, 16-1 in the ShorelineConference. Assuming theysuccessfully get past the 2-15Valley Regional team, the Dev-ils will enter the conferencetournament as the numberone seed, hosting the numbereight seed on Saturday, Feb.18, at 7 p.m. If they do advancepast that game, the semi-finalswill be played on Tuesday,Feb. 21, at either 6 or 7:30 p.m. Ibelieve that, if Coginchaugmakes it to the semi-finals,they would host both games asthe highest seed, but I am notcertain. In any event, try to getout to these tournamentgames and urge the Devils on!

The Pride finish victoriousBy Meryl Vallone


The fifth grade boys’travel team “The Pride” fin-ished their season with avictory over Haddam-Killingworth (HK) with thescore 35-15 at the StrongSchool gym last Sunday.The boys played like a well-oiled machine, running thefast break and makingsome Magic Johnson-typepasses for lay-ups. HK hadno answer for the offense ofConnor Rulick, TJ Valloneand Tanner Jameson. Thegame started out with aquick 10-0 run for the Pridewith some great defenseand steals by Tyler Wood-ward that led to some easybaskets for the Pride.

With Ethan Bates andDominic Pascarelli grab-bing loose ball after looseball, the Pride did not slowdown and took a 18-5 leadinto the half.

The second half beganwith HK scoring the firstsix points off a couple ofPride turnovers. Coach Val-lone called a time out, andthe boys responded with aperfect press break playthat saw EJ Dzialo make aperfect lay-up, sending thePride on a 9-0 run to finish

the third quarter with a 27-11 lead.

The fourth quarter sawthe Pride play their “Syra-cuse” match-up zone de-fense that has been awe-some all season long. RyanHocking and Eric Lipkamade steal after steal, withthe inside play of Vallone,Jameson and Bates not al-lowing HK to get a rebound.The hustle by Pascarelliand Dzialo in the fourthquarter exemplifies theway the team has played allyear. With Ryan Genest un-able to play, the teamstepped up and finished theseason with a well-foughtvictory.

It has been an incredibleseason for the Pride. Theyfinished with a 10-4 leaguerecord and 11-6 overall. Theboys played with determi-nation, confidence and,most of all, pride in eachand every game. After win-ning their first gameagainst Valley, the Pridethen lost their next two toMadison and Clinton. Theybattled hard in those twogames and never lost theirconfidence, responding byripping off wins over Ham-den, Branford, Old Lymeand North Branford before

See Pride, next page


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meeting up with powerhouseGuilford.

The Guilford game was anepic battle. The Pride onceagain came out strong andtook a 14-6 first quarter and a26-11 halftime lead. The sec-ond half proved to be a battleto the end with the Pridefalling short of the victory 37-34 while Guilford remainedunbeaten. After a close lossat Wallingford, the Pridewon their last five games andlooked like a team to be reck-oned with for years to come.

Pride(Continued from page 30)

Dart (From page 7)

in the fall of 2011, with 20hours spread out over fourdays.

Says Levy, “CERT is com-prised of individuals who arecommitted to working as partof emergency management inwhatever way the directorfeels they can help. FrancisWillett decides what he wantsCERT to do, and I make surethey do it. The training coversthe basic introduction toemergency management or-ganization. Trainees learnwhat to expect at emergencyscenes with fires, a buildingcollapse or medical emergen-cies. The training stressesthat the CERT member’s roleis not the same as that of afirefighter or an EMT. Theyare not performing the dutiesof specially trained emer-gency responders, but are pro-viding extra assistance. I en-

vision CERT members work-ing in distribution centers, ifwe have to distribute food orwater, or taking on clericalduties at a vaccination clinicin the event of a pandemic out-break.”

Durham’s first traineeswere put to work even beforethey had finished their train-ing when the snowstorm hitin October. “The snowstormwas so big,” says Levy, “thatwe needed more staff, and sowe turned to some of ourCERT trainees to work in theshelter and the EmergencyOperation Center.” (TheEmergency Operation Centerrelayed information aboutdowned wires and blockedroads to CL&P and publicworks.)

The CERT members will besworn in on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. atTown Hall during the Boardof Selectman meeting. Four ofthem, including Eddy, arealso members of DART.

Dur BOS (From 1)

Jim Murray, Susan White andAlicia Fonash-Willett. Emer-gency Management DirectorFrancis Willett thanked theteam for their dedication andnoted that members had re-cently completed a 20-hourcourse, which included train-ing in disaster preparedness,team organization, fire safetyand suppression, basic firstaid and light search-and-res-cue. While still training, manyteam members aided townemergency personnel duringthe October snow storm. Wil-lett stated, “CERT preparesDurham residents to helpthemselves, their families,their neighbors and their com-munity in the event of a disas-ter or emergency.” Willett not-ed that Deputy Director Dr.Steve Levy will serve as CERTteam leader, and he thankedthe instructors, George Dunnand Ronald Lee (CERT team

leaders in Middletown andPortland respectively), fortraining the team. Dunn andLee were also in attendance.

The board signed a procla-mation congratulatingDurham resident Brent Beck-ert on becoming an EagleScout and another proclama-tion designating March 2,2012, as National “Dress inBlue” Day in conjunction witha nationwide effort to promote

colon cancer awareness.In other business, the BOS

approved the appointment ofLinda Bertelsen as a regular(rather than alternate) mem-ber of the Historic DistrictCommission and received areport from Willett on reloca-tion of the generator andpropane tank to the town hallarea as part of the overall relo-cation of the Emergency Oper-ations Center.


William J. Lema, D.M.D.

Cosmetic Bonding • Gum Therapy • Crowns & Bridges Dentures & Repairs • Emergencies • Fillings • Root Canals

6 Way Road, Middlefield(Near Powder Ridge Ski Area)

William J. Lema, D.M.D.General Family Dentistry • Children & Adults

State of the Art Dentistry in a Caring, Small Office AtmosphereSaturday & Evening Appointments Available

Regular Hours:Tues.-Fri. 9 am-6 pm

(860) 349-7006

1234394

NANCY C. FERRERO, LMFT, LLC

INDIVIDUAL MARITAL AND FAMILYTHERAPY

6 WAY ROADMIDDLEFIELD, CT [email protected]

CLINICAL MEMBER OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPY

P: (860) 349-7003FAX: (860) 349-7032CT LICENSE #000932

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CORE INSURANCESERVICESCommercial Insurance Brokers

Phone: 860-349-7071Fax: 860-499-5034e-mail: [email protected]

We are capable of providing all types of insurance for

your business.

Call us for competitive quotesfrom our list of multipleInsurance companies.

VISITING ANGELS

Call us at 860-349-7016

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Our caregivers are as valuable to us as our clients.

Personable & CompassionateLive-in and Hourly Caregivers

are needed for in-home non-medicalcare for elderly in the area.

Flexible schedules, supportive staff,one-on-one care

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David E. Rosenberg, Esq.6 Way Road, Middlefield, CT 06455

Tel: (203) 404-7287 • Fax: (203) [email protected]

Lyman Insurance Agency, LLCHome• Auto • Life • DisabilityBusiness • Farm • ContractorsSpecial Needs TrustsPhone: 860-349-7064

Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 AM to 4:30 PMGreat Rates, Personal Service

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860-349-7000 6 Way Road in Middlefield www.execoff.com

EXECUTIVE OFFICESEXECUTIVE OFFICES Professionals Professionals

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Live the Life You Want!SOLUTIONS BY HYPNOSISwith Mary Ellen Moneymaker, CHt

860-349-70396 Way Road, Middlefield, CT

SolutionsByHypnosis.com

Pain Management, Anxiety/StressRelief, Weight Control, Smoking

Cessation, Behavior Modification

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BA LMT CIMI CMCLicense #004365

6 Way RoadSuite 110

Middlefield, CT 06455860-349-7063

Major Credit Cards AcceptedGIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE

SWEDISH MASSAGEREIKIDEEP TISSUE MASSAGECHAIR MASSAGEPREGNANCY MASSAGEINFANT/CHILD MASSAGE CLASSES

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20% OFFall

Gift Certificates

2-17-2012 town times

Documents

town timesapproximately

town timesat

larger town

town healthofficials

factthat durham

special town meeting

clude durham heights

area residents