Reception tonight kicks off Hospice ‘healing art’ exhibit

BRANFORD — There will be a reception to kick off an exhibit called “Visions Toward Wholeness” from 4 to 6 tonight, Friday, July 31, at the Connecticut Hospice’s “Waterside Gallery” at the 100 Double Beach Road facility.
It is the first exhibition of “healing art” organized by the Visions Toward Wellness Educational Foundation, organizers said. The collection is designed to “visually document the power of art to assist in healing our spirit.” The lives of patients and families, while at the Connecticut Hospice, can be very much enhanced by participation in the Hospice Arts Program, which was the first hospice arts program in the country, organizers said. The program is staffed by a variety of artists, musicians, therapists, teachers and volunteers who offer daily opportunities for expression, creativity, and the relief of stress, boredom, pain or other symptoms, without cost to patients and families. The current exhibit is curated by Dr. Jon Moscartolo who, as an arts volunteer for the Connecticut Hospice Arts Program, runs an art expression program for visiting children and their parents.
Connecticut Hospice, the nation’s first hospice, is celebrating its 35th year.

WERE YOU AT WOODSTOCK?

Got some memories — hazy or otherwise — of America’s historic 1969 concert gathering that you’d like to share? Better yet, got some memorabilia you wouldn’t mind having photographed or being photographed with? We’re collecting stories and looking for people to talk to for a story about the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair. Please e-mail a brief description of what you’ve got and/or remember by Aug. 4 to woodstock@nhregister.com and we may just use it or have a reporter contact you. Please include your full name, town and phone number.
Peace and Love!

Goodwill going strong

A new store in New Haven

It appeared that a great time was had by all as the new Goodwill store openen on Foxon Boulevard in New Haven this week.

Here's peek at what it looked like.

Read the full story here

Grant to help shelter services for victims of domestic violence and their children

DVS, United Way, Birmingham Group Health a wonderful partnership

NEW HAVEN — Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven recently received a $39,000 grant from United Way of Greater New Haven to be used to support critical emergency shelter services for victims of domestic violence and their children.
"We are extremely grateful to the United Way of Greater New Haven for their continued support of our program and our mission to assist victims of domestic violence and their children to break the cycle of domestic violence and rebuild their lives," Sandra Koorejian, director of DVS said in a statement. "The grant funds will help us maintain our shelter program and meet increasing community demands for services."
Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven, a program of Birmingham Group Health Services, Inc., "seeks to create an environment that supports individual safety and breaks the cycle of domestic violence," the statement said. Services include 24 hour hotline, short term counseling and safety planning, emergency shelter, court-based advocacy, support groups and community education programs.
For more information about DVS, call (203) 865-1957, visit www.dvsgnh.org, or call the 24/7 Hotline at (203) 789-8104. For information about Birmingham Group Health Services, Inc., call (203) 736-2601, or visit www.bghealth.org and about United Way at www.uwgnh.org.

Shoreline Jewish Festival coming up

Chabad has it going on: rabbi is coordinator of major Jewish Festival that has something for everyone

GUILFORD — The 4th annual Shoreline Jewish Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. August 9 on the Green.
The festival features live Jewish music, kosher food, an art and book sale, children’s crafts and activities, and information booths from local Jewish organizations, organizers said.
"The festival celebrates Jewish life and living," said Rabbi Yossi Yaffe, director of Chabad of the Shoreline and coordinator of the event. "Each year we see hundreds of people of all ages enjoying the music, the food, and the whole atmosphere. The festival is becoming a Shoreline summer tradition."
Headlining the show is the Kabbalah Dream Orchestra from Israel via Philadelphia. The Kabbalah Dream Orchestra fuses traditional Chassidic tunes and ancient Jewish melodies with progressive jazz, funk, and rock themes, organizers said.
Also performing will be the The Mr. Shabbos Show, a rocking mix of Jewish lyrics and country/bluegrass/rockabilly music.
And for klezmer diehards, the festival’s lineup includes two different bands: The Klezmenschen and The Klezmen. A freylekhe (spirited) big band based in New London, The Klezmenschen play lively traditional Yiddish and Israeli folk melodies. Rabbi Yossi Hodakov of Westville will join them on vocals. The Klezmen are a popular band out of West Hartford who bring the Old World sound to life with clarinet, trumpet, keyboard and drums.

Children will enjoy the variety of entertainment: Jewish craft activities, jumping fun, fair food favorites, and two unique performers. For the young-and the young at heart, the Mr. Shabbos Show will lead an interactive sing-along that is sure to have everyone up on their feet and dancing.
Storyteller Levi Welton from San Francisco will perform a one-man show called "Meet King David." The act employs history and humor to introduce kids to the multifaceted King David-political leader, musician, warrior, poet, and spiritual guide. Welton will also do Jewish storytelling under a tree between shows.
The festival is much more than music. A vendor area will feature local and Israeli artists and artisans, selling a variety of Judaica, jewelry, art work and unique Israeli products. Books, videos and games of Jewish interest for children and adults will be available for sale. Festival-goers will be able to choose from a variety of kosher food, including Israeli and traditional fair favorites.
Artists can reserve a booth for the day for $85. Festival sponsors include Boris Mizhen and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. For more information, visit www.jewishoreline.org. To help sponsor this unique event, or to reserve a booth, please contact Janice Dipollina at (203) 453-5580 jdchabad@snet.net, or Yaffe at chabad @snet.net.
Chabad of the Shoreline is dedicated to helping Jews connect to their heritage through study, innovative programs, and communal events. Chabad also reaches out to those in need of spiritual or material assistance.

You don't want to miss this book sale

New Haven teachers take note

FAIRFIELD — It’s time again for that terrific transaction of tomes: the Pequot Library 49th Annual Book Sale, to be held July 24-28 at the library at 720 Pequot Ave., in the Southport section.

There are more than 140,000 books to be offered for sale from a wide array of genres, as well as LPs, 45’s, CDs, DVDs, and tapes, all of which were donated to the library, organizers said.
All proceeds from the library’s biggest fund-raiser of the year go to help the library provide services to the area. The library serves Fairfield, as well as all other towns in Fairfield County and the entire region.
The library also offers book sale vouchers for up to $100 to teachers in the Bridgeport and New Haven school systems to purchase books for classroom or personal libraries with the cost being underwritten through a grant from the Renée B. Fisher Foundation.
As part of the library’s "Green Initiative," there also will be re-useable book bags imprinted with the library’s logo, for sale and the library seeks to eliminate use of plastic bags by next year, organizers said. Patrons who purchase more than $50 worth of books will receive a free bag.
The sale schedule is 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 24, with all items double the marked price; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. July 25 and 26, items priced as marked; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 27, items half off marked price; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., $5 a bag day.
For more information on the sale, or to volunteer at the event, email booksale@pequotlibrary.org, call the library at (203) 259-0346, or visit www.pequotlibrary.org.

Stay safe afloat

Boating class offered in West Haven

WEST HAVEN — Flotilla 24-11 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is offering a safe boating and personal watercraft course July 20-22.
The course satisfies state boating education requirements. People who successfully complete the course will qualify for the Connecticut Safe Boating Certificate and the Certificate of Personal Watercraft Operation, which will allow the person to operate any recreational vessel, including a personal watercraft.
The fee for the course is $65. Classes will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Coast Guard Auxiliary, 1 Kimberly Ave.
Walk-ins are welcome.
For further information contact Charlie Phippen at (860) 828-5438 or (860) 916-3379, or visit www.a0142411.uscgaux.info.

Gamm is 101 years young

HAMDEN — When Morris Gamm celebrates his 101st birthday, he will be surrounded by many of his friends, especially those who are part of the Probus Club of Greater New Haven, an organization near and dear to the attorney’s heart.
A party for Gamm, arranged by Probus Club members, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. July 19 at J. Roos Restaurant, 249 State St. in North Haven. Tickets are $15 per person and it is open to the public. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Probus charity of Gamm’s choice, organizers said.
Gamm, a Harvard Law School graduate who helped found the then Hamden Probus Club in 1950, has been an attorney since 1934.
For more information about the celebration call Roy Lukacas at 248-8656 or Charlie Mendlestein at 376-3648.

Starks a star for Job Corps

Former New York Knicks all-star guard John Starks hit the court again recently but not for a game. Starks was the guest speaker as the New Haven Job Corps Center celebrated its graduating class

As a career technical training center, Job Corps has been educating at-promise youth ages 16-24 for more than 40 years and is America’s leading career skills training program, agency officials said. Administered by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Job Corps trains 65,000 students each year, the officials said.

New Haven Job Corps Center has an excellent basketball team of its own and that’s one reason Stark’s visit "helped to energize and enlighten students with his candid account of his years prior to pro basketball," the officials said.
Shown in the photo are, l to r: R. Anthony Hill, career preparation instructor; Starks; Tami Schweikert, center director

Scholar-athletes win

High school seniors from Greater New Haven recently were recognized as the state’s top scholar-athletes at the 2009 Connecticut Association of Schools Scholar-Athlete Banquet sponsored by McDonald’s.

Students honored are: Maritza Rosmond and Kyle Craven, shown in photo below, Hill Regional Career High School, Ashley McWilliams and Leo James, James Hillhouse High School, Shannon Palmer and Naveed Khoshnood, Wilbur Cross High School, shown in photo at top, all New Haven; Caroline O’Connor, Academy of Our Lady Mercy, Amy Jiravisitcul and Marc Shackett, Jonathan Law High School, Gina Massari and Joseph Tylutki, Joseph A. Foran High School, and Nancy Roman an Nick Cowell, Platt Technical High School, all in Milford; Taylor Norton and Chris Norton, West Haven High School; Megan Jones and Ronald Bilodeau Jr., Ansonia High School; Rebecca Schneider and Luis Davila, Emmett O’Brien Technical School, also Ansonia.

Also, Kelley Moller and John Merrimen,Woodland Regional High School, Beacon Falls; Victoria Redding and Scott Berges, Branford High School; Irene Kalbian and Varun Roy, Cheshire High School; Stephanie Gavilanes and Timothy Geer, Derby High School; Taylor Doughty and Steven Kapinos, East Haven High School; Katherine Crabtree and John Landock, Guilford High School; Stefanie Schaefer and Matt Spilka, Hamden High School; Jacqueline Galloway and Luis Cortes, Eli Whitney Technical High School, Victoria Pagan and Ash’Shaun Boston, Hyde Leadership School, and Taylor McGuinness, Sacred Heart Academy, all Hamden; Shannon Noonan and Mike Callaghan, Daniel Hand High School, Madison; Franshelyz Agosto and Rinaldo Izzo, H.C. Wilcox RVT School, Meriden; Melissa Ascher and Alexander Mastriano, Maloney High School, and Chelsea Garlock and Matt Raham, O.H. Platt High School, Meriden; Nicole Bouchard and Robert Mercier, North Branford High School; Minyound Song and Geoffrey Brown, North Haven High School; Colleen Garman and Joseph Kassay, Seymour High School, Leah Haxhi and Will Flynn, Pomperaug High School, Southbury; Sara Woznicki and William Abildgaard Jr., Lyman Hall High School and Emily Doll and Alexander Thompson, Sheehan High School, both Wallingford; and Teri Alessio and Thomas McKenna, Crosby High School, Ashley Steinfield and Ian Mangione, Holy Cross High School, Brooke Devito and Noel Cruz, J.F. Kennedy High School, Sarah Martin and Ryan Curtin, Sacred Heart High School; Ashley Allmond and Kevin Kelly, Wilby High School, and Ana DeAguiar and Matthew Luis, W.F. Kaynor Technical High School, all in Waterbury; Avery Silverstein and Adam Trofa, Amity Regional High School, Woodbridge; Alana Wesche and Greg Rice, Naugatuck High School; Cherie Boucher and Brian Stankus, Wolcott High School; and Koreen Shoham and Harry Mullin, William Hall High School, West Hartford.

“McDonald’s is proud to partner with CAS to honor the best and brightest high school scholar-athletes from all across Connecticut. We applaud the state’s top students for both their academic and athletic achievement,” Jim McGarry, McDonald's owner/operator and president of the Connecticut and Western Massachusetts McDonald's Owner/Operator Association said in a statement. “McDonald’s wishes each and every CAS Scholar Athlete all the best for continued success in the future.”
The Connecticut High School Scholar-Athlete 2009 Awards Banquet is the largest program of its type in the state, the statement said. Only one male and one female student are eligible for the award through a nomination from their principal for: demonstrating exemplary academic and athletic careers including participating in an interscholastic athletics; possessing personal standards and achievements that are a model to others; exhibiting outstanding school; and community service and carrying themselves with high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage, the statement said.

Celebrate in American style

NEW HAVEN — The General David Humphreys Branch Number One, Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution will be assembled with the 2nd Company Governor’s Foot Guard, the 6th Connecticut Regiment, Company of Light Infantry, and Boys Scout Troop 5 from Wallingford, to pay tribute to the signers of the Declaration of Independence during the 58th Annual Ceremonies at 9 a.m. today at the Grove Street Cemetery.

Activities will include flag raising, an invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, roll call of the 30 original members of the 1775 Colony of Connecticut, 2nd Company Governor’s Foot Guard who are buried in this cemetery, a Musket Volley by the 6th Connecticut Regiment, Company of Light Infantry, Taps, roll call of the signers of the Declaration of Independence including Roger Sherman who represented Connecticut, and the 2nd Company’s Music Unit will play selections from the Revolutionary War period, including Connecticut’s State Song, "Yankee Doodle."

Get a clue

NEW HAVEN — The Group with No Name, otherwise known as TGWNN, (go ahead and try to pronounce it) has announced that the starting line location and time for New Haven’s fifth anniversary city-wide scavenger hunt, "Cluefest 7" is at 2 p.m. July 18 at Bru, 141 Orange St.

From there teams will race across New Haven in cars, on bikes and on foot answering clues to find the Secret Cluefest Party, organizers said in a statement. The Cluefest Spirit Cup will be awarded to the team that shows the most local spirit. Cluefest 7 is expected to draw 300 scavengers, organizers said.
Cluefes, run by TGWNN, a group of city residents who volunteer their time because they love New Haven, aims to promote the city, particularly for people in their 20s and 30s, build community, encourage civic engagement, and increase the number of people who know about cultural and social opportunities here, the statement said.
For more information on Cluefest visit www.cluefest.com. Cluefest acknowledges generous support of its major sponsors: Seabury Hill, Yale University, Bank of America, United Way, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, and Higher One.

Photo shows start of the race last year.

Alvis Dimyus Brooker Scholarship winners!

Recipients of scholarships in the Tenth Annual Alvis Dimyus Brooker Scholarship Fundraiser are shown with Sallie R. Brooker (center), mother of Alvis D. Brooker at Yale University’s Luce Hall Sunday in New Haven.

Left to right (front row) are Rosa Maria Lopez, Tanay Moore, Rosaly Rosario, Sallie R. Brooker, Ana Marie Trimble and Brittni Anderson. In the back row (left to right) are Orisel Castaneda, Monique Haynes, Imani Johnson and Leon Davis. Not shown are Stephanie Encarnacion, Chelsea Bennett, Leo James.

The Black and Hispanic Caucus of the Board of Aldermen honored winners of the 2009 scholarships Sunday. This year’s winners represent five city high schools and will be going to some of the most select colleges throughout the United States, the caucus said in a statement. Winners had to have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, participated in community service and been accepted to a two- or four-year college or university, the statement said. Winners, named above are: Anderson and Encarnacion, of High School in the Community; Johnson-Bell, Bennett, Castaneda, Chavez Davis, James, Lopez and Trimble, of Hillhouse High School; Haynes of Hill Regional Career High School; Moore of Hyde Leadership, and Rosario of Sound School.

Photo by Arnold Gold

Students win Yale-New Haven Hospital scholarships for nursing and allied health fields

Yale-New Haven Hospital recently honored the seven winners of its minority scholarship awards.

The recipients, who live in greater New Haven and are enrolled in a full-time course of study towards a degree in nursing or the allied health field, will receive $2,000 per year award, for a total of $8,000 during their college career.

In 19 years, the hospital has awarded almost $350,000 in scholarships to minority students. To qualify, students must be a member of a minority group as defined by the federal government and enrolled in a full-time course of study towards a degree in nursing or an allied health field, which can include pharmacy, respiratory therapy or X-ray technology.

In the photo, front row (l-r) are: Eva Bryant, Hamden, who will major in nursing at Western Connecticut State University; Jenel Douglas, Ansonia, who will major in nursing at the University of Connecticut; Amanda Gonzalez, Derby, who plans to study nuclear medicine at Eastern Connecticut State University; Hemmy Gonzalez and Ebonie Tillery, both of New Haven, who both will major in nursing at Southern Connecticut State University; Elizabeth Heng, East Haven, who will study nursing at Western Connecticut State University. In back row (also l-r) are: Richard D’Aquila, executive vice president and COO, YNHH; Michael White, New Haven, who will study physical therapy at Western Connecticut State University; Reginald Mayo, PhD, superintendent, New Haven Public Schools; and Paul Patton, vice president of human resources, YNHH.

Hopkins valedictorian defers Columbia University a year. Find out why here.

The Hopkins School recently sent 130 seniors into the world, as its 349th graduating class, in a ceremony on the school’s New Haven campus. Sebastian Kann, shown, delivered the Valedictory Address.

Kann, a Westport native and 2009 Cum Laude Society honoree, was voted valedictorian by his classmates. Kann has been accepted to Columbia University of New York, but will defer his acceptance to attend the National Circus School in Montreal, Canada this fall. This year’s commencement marked the beginning of Hopkins School’s 350th Anniversary, which will be celebrated throughout the 2009-2010 school year.

Photo by Peter Mahakian

Hospice volunteer training

BRANFORD — The Connecticut Hospice begins its fall volunteer training in September. The course will inform and prepare prospective volunteers in all aspects of hospice care.
For more details, call Patricia A. Corradino, director of volunteer services, at 315-7510 or e-mail to pnowak@hospice.com.

Oh baby, online!

NEW HAVEN — Yale-New Haven Hospital is offering a new online childbirth education class for parents who are not able to attend conventional childbirth classes due to bed rest, scheduling conflicts or time constraints.
The online class is an interactive, web-based program that includes animated illustrations and videos. It can be viewed on a PC or Mac. High speed internet is advised, but dial-up will work although it will take longer to download. The program also includes one scheduled face-to-face class with an educator.
For more information about fees, call "WELL/ A Mother’s Place" at 688.9355.

A family affair

EAST HARTFORD — The Connecticut Society of Genealogists will hold an introduction to genealogy Wednesdays in July from 6 to 8 p.m. beginning July 8 in the library, 175 Maple St.
Sessions include sources in your possession; vital, Bible, church and cemetery records; probate, land, census, immigration and naturalization records; directories, newspapers, military records, Internet resources, and software.
Cost is $15 per session or $50 for all sessions.
To register, visit www.csginc.org or call (860) 569-0002.