The Talk of the Town Page 1 April 2020

In this issue:

HR News Page 2 Letters of Appreciation Pages 4-6 Announcements Page 3 Getting to Know You Page 8

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MFREFMO/

The Manchester Fire-Rescue-EMS Fire Marshal's Office has launched a new Facebook page, where we’ll offer interesting fire safety tips & fire prevention facts including videos, articles, and other topics that you may find helpful.

Please take a moment right now and visit our pages and click “Like” or “Follow.” We look forward to bringing you lots of great information and keeping in touch. We hope you 'like' and comment on our posts. Feel free to ask any questions or share our content with friends and family who would benefit from the information.

Best Regards,

Manchester Fire-Rescue-EMS Fire Marshal's Office

April 2020

FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE LAUNCHES NEW FACEBOOK PAGE

Carrie L. Hahn Manchester Fire - Rescue - EMS

These Town employees attended a Career Fair at Cheney Tech on March 11, 2020. The Town employees interacted with about 600 students, encouraging them to apply for Town positions.

Steve Stephanou in his office with the decorations from his baby shower (Photo submitted by Jan Devendorf, Human Resources) Left to Right: John Gorman, Parks; Dave Shirshac, Building Maintenance; Rob

Topliff, Parks; Danny Lugo, Fleet Maintenance; Dave Garrison, Highway (Photo submitted by Jan Devendorf, Human Resources)

CAREER FAIR AT CHENEY TECH

Jan Devendorf Human Resources

The Talk of the Town Page 2 April 2020

Human Resources News

January >> AMBER LITWINKO,

POLICE OFFICER | ANDREW

BIFOLCK, SYSTEM APPLICATION

CONSULTANT (INFORMATION

SYSTEMS) | LORI DUSZA,

ACCOUNT ASSOCIATE (GENERAL

SERVICES) | CHRIS HOLT, FLEET

MANAGER

January>> CLEON

MOSES, POLICE

OFFICER

December >> DAVID ROPER, FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC

January >> CHELSEA PADGETT, POLICE OFFICER | JAMES

PRZYBYLSKI, RECREATION SUPERVISOR | MAUREEN IVES, PT EMPLOYEE

(COLLECTOR OF REVENUE) | JOHN STANKUS, FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC

| JOHN ALBINI, FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC | KELSEY CLARK, DURAT

PROJECT EMP (YOUTH SERVICES) | SHANIKA MCKOY, YOUTH PEER

ADVOCATE (YOUTH SERVICES) | MICHELLE DOYLE, PT

WORK_SPACE (GENERAL MANAGER)

New Hires

Promotions

Resignations

Retirements

The Talk of the Town Page 3 April 2020

Announcements

WEDDINGS

On November 9, 2019, Amanda Smith (daughter of Marilyn (Water Dept.) & Ed Smith) married Kody Welton at St. Anthony's Church in Revere. This is the church her parents were married at over 30 years ago on Marilyn's grandfather's birthday. Amanda followed tradition by having her wedding on her great-grandmother's birthday to the delight of her mom Marilyn. Reception followed at the Common 1854 in Topsfield and festivities continued over the long Veteran's Weekend with family and friends from all throughout New England. The couple resides in Ellington, CT.

Please help us wish Camila a very happy 3rd birthday on April 1st, Grandparents Rich (Water Department) and Dora Charry are proud to help celebrate their youngest grandchild's birthday wishing her all the love and happiness from all of her family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The Talk of the Town Page 4 April 2020

Letters of Appreciation

Note of thanks from Joyce Hodgson to town employees and elected officials for all their support of Imagine Main Street: Dear friends, You already know that the Town of Manchester is a spe-cial place. You work for it - for us - and make it a better place with your talents, time and support for the people, organizations, businesses and activities. I've lived in Manchester since 1972, right out of high school, and made Manchester my home to raise my daughters, buy a home, work, and get involved. Some of you may know that I've been part of Imagine Main Street since its inception, but providing program and leadership support for the last four years, following in the footsteps of Steve Gates. That time, for me, is coming to a close as I am getting married and moving to New Jersey. Imagine Main Street will continue providing fun and im-aginative activities in our community, and meeting its mission -- to use arts and cultural events to support the growth of downtown in particular and the community in general. I think it's done just that in its almost 10 year

history. If you look at how downtown has blossomed, the arts programming that goes on at The Firestone, the Mary Cheney Library, WORK_SPACE, Dougan Art Gallery, the Army Navy Club, Harvest Beads, Silk City Coffee, The Angry Egg, and Urban Lodge. It's exciting! With all this said, I just wanted to say thank you to the many town staff and departments who have so easily and wonderfully supported Imagine Main Street, and I'm sure you will for many years to come as new leadership rises from the ranks and also from people within the community (maybe you!). I want to give a special acknowledgement to Doreen Pet-rozza who has always been so helpful in promoting our events, keeping on top of getting announcements out and making people feel so welcome and informed at Customer Service. The first voice and often the first face you see at Town Hall, she's an amazing person and great representative of our City of Village Charm. With warm regard to you all, this is a bittersweet time as I leave the town in which I've created wonderful memo-ries and the lovely people I've met along the way . . .

Joyce Hodgson

The Talk of the Town Page 5 April 2020

Note of thanks to Bettylou Sandy, our Community Garden Coordinator, From Laura Becker, STEM Specialist, Bowers Elementary School:

Hi Bettylou!

Sorry for the delayed response!! It was a CRAZY WEEK!! But thank you so much for the resources and follow up!! We appreciate your time and guidance more than you know. Our club met this morning and fed the worms. The students also wrote you a thank you note.... and here it is :-)

Dear Ms. Bettylou,

We wanted to say thank you for our worm farm and coming to our Garden Club! We were so inspired. We learned how to make it not smell and that there is chemistry involved in taking care of worms. We also learned that wood bugs help make the fertilizers.

We thought you were funny and made jokes as we learned. You were very nice because you took the time to explain everything to us. Even if we were wrong, you explained it better so we would understand.

We had such a great time we were wondering if you would come back! We would love your help to plan what we should plant in the spring.

From your wormy friends,

The Garden Llamas

Letters of Appreciation (Continued)

The Talk of the Town Page 6 April 2020

Letters of Appreciation (Continued)

The Talk of the Town Page 7 April 2020

THE SCULPTURE PROJECT CELEBRATES THE COMPLETION OF ITS FIRST

Tana Parseliti, Downtown Development Specialist Planning & Economic Development Department

The Sculpture Project announces the commencement of fundraising efforts for its second in a series of three life size bronze statues of notable Manchester citizens.

The first statue, that of Joe McCluskey, Olympic medalist and four time Manchester Road Race winner, was dedicated on Nov. 11, 2019. Joe is depicted in full stride along the Charter Oak/East Coast Greenway in the parklet on the corner of Wyllys and Highland Streets. Just over $88,000 was raised to fund the statue from donations by individuals, corporations and businesses as well as grants. “We are proud that our first statue was made possible

by contributions both large and small and we look forward to a similar broad base of support for our next statue: Elisabeth M. Bennet,” says Sculpture Project Chair, Lynn Sottile. Ms. Bennet’s statue will stand on the grounds of Bennet Academy close to the corner of Main and School Streets.

The Sculpture Project Committee is excited to begin to share the story of Elisabeth M. Bennet, educator, innovator and heroine. Born in Danbury Connecticut in 1881, Ms. Bennet pursued a career in education earning a degree from New Britain Teacher’s College and a master’s degree from Massachusetts State Teacher’s College. She began her long career in Manchester, arriving in 1909 as supervisor and principal of the Ninth District School. In 1917 she became principal of Barnard School. 1945 saw the addition of supervision responsibilities for Nathan Hale, Barnard, Highland Park and South Schools to her principal duties.

During her tenure Ms. Bennet introduced innovative teaching aides and enrichment programs to the Manchester schools. She was the first to establish a school library, the first to promote a manual training program, the first to use movie projectors as visual classroom aides and was credited with promoting the first recreational center.

1913 saw Ms. Bennet’s most dramatic contribution. When a fire raged through the Ninth District School, Ms.

Bennet is credited with saving more than 1,000 students and teachers, ensuring that all safely exited the school. She was injured in the fire which destroyed the school. In 1961 Barnard Junior High was renamed the Elisabeth M. Bennet Middle School in her honor.

The exciting and challenging task of creating the image of Ms. Bennet that will be used for her life-size bronze statue has begun. Sculptor Michael Keropian, who sculpted the Joe McCluskey statue, is developing the pose that will be used. Photos of Ms. Bennet are few and far between. Members of the public who may have photos are encouraged to contact Lynn Sottile at Schultz.design@snet.net.

The Sculpture Project would also like to gather reminiscences from students of Ms. Bennet or their family members. These memories would be very helpful in lending depth and additional detail that will help us to tell Elisabeth’s story in bronze and through writing. Individuals who may have this information may contact Lynn Sottile at Schultz.design@snet.net.

We encourage those that would like to support the legacy of Ms. Bennet to make a contribution to

The Sculpture Project c/o The Manchester Historical Society, 75 Pine Street, Manchester, CT 06040. All donations are tax deductible.

For more information on the Sculpture Project please go to manchesterhistory.org and find us on Facebook.

Elisabeth M. Bennet circa age 30

Joe McCluskey Statue

The Talk of the Town Page 8 April 2020

Getting to Know You

Lori started working as an Account Associate in the General Services Department as of January 21, 2020.

Previously, Lori worked at Aetna Insurance Company for 25 years. She was a swim instructor/lifeguard for the Manchester Recreation Department for 18 years. She worked part-time at WORK_SPACE for 3 ½ years. When Lori was in college, she worked during her summer breaks at the Health Department and the Tax Collector’s Office. Duties of her previous positions included being a Research and Development Coordinator, HIPPA Senior Analyst, Swim Instructor and WORK_SPACE Associate.

Lori studied at Manchester High School and the University of Connecticut, where she earned a BS in Business Management.

Lori lives in Manchester and was also raised here. Her mom and dad were married at St. James Church and lived in Manchester for 66 years. When her grandparents got married in the 1920’s, they settled in Manchester because her grandfather was employed as a weaver in the Cheney Mills. Lori has a brother, Tom, who lives in Manchester and a sister, Linda, who lives in New Hampshire.

Lori has been married to her husband Bob for 33 years and they have 2 children, Bobby and Jimmy. Bobby will be 28 years old in May and Jimmy will be 25 years old in June.

Lori loves to swim, practice yoga and ride her bike. She likes to read and go for hikes. Recently, she’s picked up some crocheting and sewing projects. However, she loves to spend her time in the kitchen baking and trying different recipes. Lori and her husband enjoy swimming, bike riding and going for walks together. They also enjoy seeing performances at the Little Theater of Manchester.

A fun fact that no one would ever guess about Lori is that she went in-door parachuting at Virginia Beach and parasailing in Fort Lauderdale.

Interesting vacations Lori has taken include visiting the National Parks throughout the U.S. One of her swim students gave her a National Park Passport and they’ve used it as a starting point for traveling on their vacations. Some of the most beautiful and memorable spots they’ve been were in Michigan ,where they visited Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula and Sleepy Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Both are located on the Great Lakes (Lake Superior and Lake Michigan respectively). Mackinac Island is another beautiful spot to visit in Michigan. There are no automobiles allowed on the island. When they travel, they like to take their bikes and a picnic so they’re able to stop wherever they want and enjoy the scenery.

During her employment with the Town of Manchester, Lori has enjoyed meeting many different people. She especially likes working with her co-workers Judy and Maureen. They are pleasant, patient and supportive. Lori is very thankful to be able to work with these wonderful ladies.

Thanks for letting us get to know you, Lori!

Lori Dusza

Account Associate,

General Services