Stonington Times

Unlock the Secrets of Garre Castle: SHS to present three performances of 'The Green Archer'

2008-11-13T22:53:25Z

Stonington High School’s Performing Arts Society brings Edward Wallace’s mystery-thriller, The Green Archer, to the stage at Stonington High School Nov. 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.

The Green Archer is the suspenseful tale of heroes and villains where Abel Bellamy, a successful Chicago tycoon, purchases England’s Garre Castle. Garre Castle holds mysteries of its own and is said to be haunted by the ghost of the Green Archer, who was hanged from a castle beam in the 15th century.

Tickets to the show are available in advance at Stonington High School, 176 South Broad Street, Pawcatuck, or at the door. Prices are $10 for adults and $8 for students.

For more information, call Stonington High School at 599-5781.

Stonington Soccer Completes Best Year Since 2002: Bears overcome injuries, late slump to shine in coach’s debut

2008-11-13T22:51:24Z

In the season of review analysis, the Stonington High boys’ soccer team can call first-year coach Paul deCastro’s debut a rousing success in what was by far the program’s most successful campaign since posting a 12-6 record in 2002.

After a 1-0 overtime win over Valley Regional-Deep River in the Class M state first round, the Bears fell to Ellington, 3-0, to rest with an 11-6-1 record, including a 7-3 ECC Medium mark. Stonington adapted to deCastro’s fast-paced style of play he thrived in as a former All-State SHS player in the early 1990s, scoring 50 goals while allowing 28.

“I think the season was a huge success,” deCastro said. “I had a ton of fun working with them, and I hope they feel the same way. We worked hard throughout the season and played the game the right way. We tried to play soccer, not kickball, and our guys played hard when needed.”

Senior midfielder Mario Costa (10 goals, 10 assists) and junior midfielder Kevin Pierce (11 goals, 7 assists) were outstanding all-season, earning All-ECC honors. Junior Nick Donahue (9 goals), junior Randy Tomlinson (6 goals, game-winner versus Valley), and senior Brian Sujecki (1 goal, 7 assists) gave Stonington more offensive depth than it has enjoyed since former coach Pat McCarney’s strong teams of 2001 (Class M semifinalist) and 2002. Senior Pat Stonely has a key defender.

“I think the captains of the team (Lewis, Stonely, and Costa) did a great job leading this team and helping me in my first season,” deCastro said. “We received contributions from everyone at some point of the season. We had several injuries, and the next guy in line had to step in. It was nice to have depth on the team.”

DeCastro would have welcomed a healthy Kevin Lewis for the entire season. A back injury kept the 2007 All-ECC player out until mid-October. Though he contributed three goals and an assist, he was never quite up to peak form. Stonington could have used an 100 percent Lewis late, because it lost two late games to Montville and Bacon to fall from contention for the ECC Medium championship.

“Kevin never missed a practice and never complained about being hurt,” deCastro said. “It’s extremely difficult to sit on the sidelines for three months and then get thrown into a match. He wanted to contribute to the team, but we didn’t see Kevin at his best. He was just starting to feel better when the season ended. He’ll be fine. He still has a lot of soccer left in his future. Kevin is looking at several Division I schools, but it appears the University of Hartford is the front runner.”

A deep senior class of 13, plus eight juniors, gave deCastro a wealth of numbers. That can be a blessing, creating healthy competition for playing time, or a curse if an upperclassman spends too much time on the sideline.

DeCastro reports little if any turbulence.

“I never sensed there was a problem with playing time,” deCastro said. “I did my best to communicate with them their role, and we seemed to be a happy bunch for most of the season. The guys that were on the bench for most of the season came to practice each day, worked their tail off, and never complained about the little playing time they received. The chemistry on the team got better on this team as the season went on. We did a lot of stuff together away from the soccer field. I felt everyone just wanted to be one of the guys on the team.”

DeCastro doesn’t expect to be a one-hit wonder despite the heavy graduation losses, including the All-State Costa. He envisions an ECC Medium title perhaps as soon as next season. Pearce, Donahue, Tomlinson, and goalie T.J. White highlight a quality junior class.

“The players know I have high expectations for them on and off the field,” deCastro said. “Those eight juniors are extremely committed. All of them are great kids, but they know they have a lot of work to do in the off season to reach their potential and help this team get to the next level.”

By Larry Kelley
Special to the Times

From the Stonington First Selectman’s Office: Haberek encourages residents to check flood zone status

2008-11-13T22:49:52Z

This is the sixth year that the Town of Stonington has sent out its annual newsletter to help inform residents about the risks associated with living near the coast with regards to major storms and/or potential hurricanes. Each year, the town has been sending this to all properties in Stonington in and around areas subject to flooding. Although some of the information might be repetitive from year to year, it is important that residents understand and are constantly reminded of the risks they face and what they can do to protect their families and their property.

First Selectman Ed Haberek would like to stress to Stonington residents that standard homeowners and commercial property policies do not cover flood losses. Although there have been some major hurricanes in the past, the Town of Stonington has been fortunate that a major flooding event has not occurred recently.

The Town of Stonington is one of only eight communities in Connecticut that have been accepted into FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) program. The CRS program allows communities that go above and beyond what is expected of them with regards to flood assistance to obtain flood insurance premium discounts for property owners which have flood insurance policies. Because of this program, Stonington property owners with flood insurance policies receive an automatic 5 percent discount on their premiums. Since there are presently more than 1,250 flood policies in Stonington insuring more than $284 million in property with premiums totaling $1.53 million, the CRS program is saving the residents of Stonington collectively more than $75,000 annually on their policies.

Stonington has also found over the years that there are some properties in town that are being considered in the flood zone but whose elevation is above the base flood. Therefore, the town encourages residents to call the Engineering Department at 535-5055 and check their flood zone status. There is also important information on Flood Awareness posted in the Town Engineer’s section of the town’s Web site, www.townofstonington.com.

Expedition for Expression: Local artist David Black’s long creative journey

2008-11-07T22:16:53Z

Most people can’t say they’ve ever lost a million dollars on Broadway, or that after doing so they decided to become an artist and wound up with their work in the Guggenheim. But most people are not David Black.

Born and raised in Manhattan, Black’s life story is one worthy of the big screen, and in fact has already made its way to the stage with Black, fittingly, playing the lead. Yet before this Broadway producer turned internationally acclaimed artist hits the stage at the La Grua Center in Stonington to perform his self-produced show, Falling Off Broadway, the Times caught up with Black to learn more about his life and the road less traveled.

Growing up, Black said he always had a love for show business and aspired to make his mark on stage, even performing in his first show, The Greatest Show Off Earth at age 8 in his grandfather’s living room. As a young adult Black had learned to play the violin, sang opera, and acted in various shows, yet by 1958, by his own admission, didn’t have a nickel to his name. To earn a living Black had to put his dreams on hold and wound up working on Wall Street as a salesman, where he learned very quickly how to raise money in a hurry.

Financially successful but unfulfilled, Black began to feel the gravitational pull of show business once again but now found he had learned some useful skills to help him break in.

“A producer raises money, and I was qualified to do just that,” Black explained. “So this was a chance to get somewhere near something I loved, namely theater.”

And thus the beginning of what would end up being a lifelong journey through the arts began. From 1960 to 1972, Black produced 18 Broadway shows, but after 12 years of being what he called “the money man,” Black was still feeling creatively stifled.

“Here I am a Broadway producer—you know, everyone thinks of Broadway producers as some kind of god or something, but in fact they are usually some unhappy people,” Black said. “In any case I’m paying the salaries of all these actors and directors, I’m employing them but the producer is not even included in artistic discussions, so I made a rule and I told myself I wasn’t producing any more shows unless I could direct them as well.”

Finally involved in a creative process he loved, Black continued to produce and direct Broadway and off-Broadway shows for eight years. In 1980 his luck would turn because of a hit show.

“I was now a director as well and really enjoying being so involved with theater and then I had the misfortune to direct a hit,” Black said. “It was great because it was an off-Broadway show called The Guys In The Truck in a tiny theater with a no-name cast. And Mel Gussow from The New York Times showed up and wrote a rave review and it sold out for six months.
The only problem was that every time it sold out it lost money because there were 10 people in the cast and 54 people in the theater. That was the economics of Broadway and it was killing me there. So now I have this rave review in The New York Times as a director but the play was going to close because of the economics of Broadway.”

In an attempt to keep a good thing going, Black decided to move the play to a much larger theater on Broadway but needed to raise $950,000 to do so. Deciding it was nearly impossible to do with an unrecognizable cast, Black flew to Hollywood to speak with a few of the stars with whom he was acquainted, including Jack Lemmon and Gene Hackman. With somewhat warranted trepidation, Lemmon and Hackman both turned down Black’s offer, wanting instead to make the show into a television series. With Broadway on his mind, Black searched for someone to headline his show and came to terms with Elliot Gould. With star power on his side, Black was able to quickly raise the necessary funds and the show was set to hit Broadway, except for one small dilemma.

“We got into rehearsal and within a few days I discovered I couldn’t hear [Gould] beyond the 10th row in the theater,” Black explained. “So here I am with the money and the show is about to open and I had to fire him. But I fired him and I wasn’t worried because the understudy was Harris Laskaway who played the original role when it was off-Broadway. So I’ve got the money, I’ve got the same cast, and Mel Gussow comes back out to see the show and writes a review which I guess was tepid...he said some nice things here and there but in the first paragraph he noted that Elliot Gould, who was supposed to be the headliner, wasn’t in the show. Well, Broadway is like the stock market; everybody panics and runs like crazy when they’re scared of something. So as soon as everyone found out that the star was no longer in the show, no one showed up and we had to close the show, and I lost $950,000 and it really knocked me down.”

Having worked his way up through the ranks of the world of theater since 1960, Black was crushed by the Broadway mishap and, depressed, came to Stonington, which he had discovered in 1979, and took a hiatus from his New York life. Black began to draw as an emotional outlet, and what began as small, simple line sketches, soon became a short book about what had happened and Black’s life at the time. As a joke of sorts, making fun of the traditional cheery Christmas cards, Black sent his book out to his friends during the holidays. What he didn’t know was that his girlfriend, Anne Rivers, who is English, was well acquainted with the girlfriend of esteemed English artists Patrick Caulfield and John Hoyland of London’s Royal Academy of Art. Upon seeing his work, Hoyland encouraged Black to continue to draw, telling him that his drawings were “quirky and arresting” with their “twitchy edginess” and that his line had “a life of its own” and even to start painting.

Within a few years Black had begun showing his sketches and his book, Drawings was published and now resides in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Told by Hoyland not to study art under a professor, because he might get a bad teacher, Black decided to work on his own. In 1985 Black created his first painting, a vibrant oil of the old Stonington Borough Firehouse and was hooked. He began painting a wide variety of social scenes, landscapes, and cityscapes.

First gaining exposure in England and later earning praise in the U.S., Black’s work has been featured in numerous museums and art galleries around the world and in such notable publications as The New Yorker in 1998, where critic Grace Glueck wrote of his “nicely observed New York Vignettes,” and “cartoony, untutored oils, bubbling with color, unabashedly tackling everything from landscape to social mores.”

In 2004 Black was honored at the White House for his participation in the ART in Embassies Program, which sees American artists loan their work to the American embassies in various countries. And in 2008, Black was invited to Tunisia where he is staying for two weeks, from Oct. 26 through Nov. 8, to be honored for his work and to instruct master classes on his style to a handful of promising Tunisian artists. Upon his return home Black will come full circle, back to his first artistic love, theater, as he performs Falling Off Broadway at the La Grua Center in the Stonington Borough on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.

“My whole life in a way has been a search to find my own creativity, I was just sort of assuming it was there,” Black explained. “My mother was an expert on Shakespeare, but she quoted things at the wrong time. When I didn’t do the dishes she’d say, ‘Assume your virtue if you have it not.’...It’s very interesting because Shakespeare was some kind of genius, and to me, ‘Assume your virtue if you have it not,’ is the essence of the creative process. In other words you have to assume that you can do something in order to try to do it. And I also believe that what you want to do you can do.”
Black seems to be proof of that himself.

By Russ Morey
Times Staff Writer

For tickets to Falling Off Broadway visit the La Grua Center at 121 Water St. or call 535-1030. Tickets are $50 each and all proceeds will go to the benefit of the La Grua Center.

Saving the Sound: Junior Oceanographers program gathers new members in Stonington

2008-10-31T21:14:15Z

To know Scott Tucker is to know the definition of passion and enthusiasm. Whether watching him on his self-produced public access television series, Expedition New England or meeting him in person, his exuberance for his work is apparent.

Lately a lot of his work has focused on children, specifically on encouraging children to have the same love for, and desire to protect, Long Island Sound as he does. On Oct. 18 Tucker, along with his daughter Daphne, traveled to the La Grua Community Center in Stonington Borough to give a presentation and recruit third- and fourth-graders to join his Junior Oceanographers program. As if on cue the moderately-sized, yet enthusiastic crowd of 8- and 9-year-olds immediately took to the idea of playing an important role in protecting our coastal waters, something Tucker explained should come as no surprise.

“I just put two and two together and I thought, ‘When I was a kid, no one ever offered me an opportunity like this to get involved and help protect a magical resource called the Long Island Sound,’” Tucker said. “And I just said to myself, ‘If I was a kid what would I want? I’d want a team of a bunch of kids. I’d want to go on a seal cruise or get a chance to go on television.’ And that’s what will happen; the top three kids will get to go on my TV show and talk about their dreams and ideas and their hopes and how to protect Long Island Sound.”

Tucker went on to explain that third- and fourth-graders who are interested in becoming Junior Oceanographers need only write an essay describing what they would do to protect Long Island Sound and e-mail their work to Tucker and his daughter at Daphne@expeditionnewengland.com. The 100 best essays will then be chosen and those children will be selected to become Junior Oceanographers and will receive an oceanography kit, including a water thermometer to check the temperature of the ocean, a compass to learn about wind direction and how it affects waves, test tubes to take water samples, and a work sheet with instructions on other ways to monitor the ocean.

After the presentation and a brief walk onto one of the local breakwaters, Tucker had his third- and fourth-grade crowd convinced of the importance of their mission, including participant Nathaniel Bury.
“It was a lot of fun,” Bury said. “I learned about pollution and how pollution affects the ocean and the animals in the ocean and how pollution gets into the ocean.”

In addition to receiving their oceanographer’s kit, a select few oceanographers also will be selected to accompany Tucker on UConn Avery Point’s Project “O” boat for a seal cruise and appear on his television show. While Tucker feels the program is something fun kids can do to help the environment, a greater purpose is at its core.

“Long Island Sound is currently under tremendous pressure and the only way that I think to really protect and save it is to get the young kids involved today, so that it’s not a big production to convince them later that it’s important,” Tucker explained.

As a child growing up in Connecticut, Tucker said he fell in love with the ocean, and Long Island Sound in particular, early on and had dreams of becoming an oceanographer himself. Though life didn’t take him in that direction, his dreams never died, and his passion for the ocean remained ever present. In 2004 after diving off the coast of Rhode Island and swimming with the fearsome-looking yet peaceful blue sharks, which can reach lengths of 10 feet, Tucker said it finally hit him that he needed to create his own documentary TV show, and Expedition New England was born.

Traveling to various locations in New England, with an emphasis on Long Island Sound, Tucker has made numerous documentaries, which he produces, directs, and edits on his home PC.

“For the last four or five years I’ve been making documentaries about New England, and Long Island Sound has been a big chunk of the focus,” Tucker explained. “Because it is under siege and as our population has increased, there is more and more pressure to develop land on it and more and more habitat is lost…I’m just starting to get a sense that there is a great need for people to do public outreach television-type stuff because right now there is nothing on TV that even touches local environment issues.”

Currently airing on public access, Expedition New England is getting an increasing amount of attention, thanks in part to grants Tucker has received from organizations like the Long Island Sound License Plate Fund and The Rockfall Foundation. Now airing in nearly all of Connecticut, areas in Massachusetts, including Boston, most of Maine, much of New Hampshire, and even Australia, Tucker estimates that the program reaches nearly 3,000,000 people each week and said that it may move to cable television in the near future. Tucker promised, however, that even if his show does make it big, he’ll always maintain a focus on Long Island Sound and keep young people involved. One of the ways he plans on keeping his Stonington Junior Oceanographers involved was to finish his presentation with a dive just off Stonington Point and film nearly 70 minutes of footage, some of which will be featured on an upcoming episode of Expedition New England.

“It was absolutely fabulous,” Tucker said of the dive. “Twenty- to 25-foot visibility, it was just remarkable. Stonington Harbor has so much life; we saw spider crabs, we saw lobster, and some juvenile silversides, and we saw a tremendous amount of mollusk life like clams and mussels. It was absolutely a treasure, what a treat! It was a beautiful way to finish that day.”

Ordinary Ghost? Are the haunting tales of Randall’s Ordinary true?

2008-10-31T21:06:43Z

No longer open for business, the former inn, known as Randall’s Ordinary, still stands along Route 2 in North Stonington. It is now the property of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. Although the hearth no longer burns brightly during the dark autumn evenings to produce authentic colonial feasts, the hair-raising stories that came out of the 17th-century tavern still linger.

Coming to the new world with his family in 1667, John Randall II was part of a very prominent family. His uncle, Sir William Morton, was a founder of New London, and his grandfather, Matthew Randall, had served as Lord Mayor of Bath, England. In 1680 John Randall I purchased land in North Stonington and five years later Randall II built his home, now known as Randall’s Ordinary. The farmstead stayed in the Randall family for more than 200 years, yet deteriorated with time.

In 1926, a man named Harvey Perry purchased the property and restored the farmstead to its original condition. It wasn’t until 1987, after the property had been sold to Bill and Cindy Clark, that Randall’s Ordinary opened for business. Very knowledgeable in colonial customs and culture, the Clarks ran the inn, providing the effect that guests were traveling back in time 300 years when they entered the homestead, and in some ways they were.

With full-course colonial meals cooked in heavy iron pots and skillets over the hearth fire, and all staff dressed in colonial garb, many visitors came as much for the history as for the food. Yet it has been said by more than a few that those who stayed overnight sometimes got a little more history than they bargained for.

Reportedly appearing in the hallways and upper-level rooms, the ghost of John Randall II has left a fair number of guests with a spine-chilling memory of their night’s stay at Randall’s Ordinary. And while former owner Bill Clark never had any otherworldly experiences at the inn himself, he recalls the many guests who did.

“Because it was an old house, many people just had the feeling like there was a spirit there,” Clark said.

A believer in the paranormal himself, Clark is admittedly skeptical of the existence of a ghost at Randall’s Ordinary, but doesn’t necessarily dismiss the experiences of others altogether.

“I’ve heard people come back and tell me some fantastic stuff and I’d say, ‘Well, that’s interesting.’ I never felt like there was a ghost there, but some people said they could sense it.”

One anonymous source who believes in John Randall II’s ghost reported staying in room 12, (apparently Randall’s favorite room), and waking up in the middle of the night after her bed shook like someone had sat down on it. Looking up, she saw her room was empty but noticed out of the corner of her eye a man in military garb walk by her door.

Other accounts are described very similarly, with an apparition of an old man dressed in a colonial uniform of sorts, sometimes carrying a blunderbuss. Other reports tell of lights going on and off, of heavy stomping or knocking on bedroom doors, and even moving cold spots, frigid enough to make guests see their breath.

While the future of the inn is uncertain, making it difficult to know whether the place is actually haunted, one thing is for sure—the haunting tales of Randall’s Ordinary will live on.

Back to Ecuador: Area residents travel to Ecuador on a good-will mission

2008-10-24T20:54:56Z

More than ever before, our world is shrinking. Long gone are the gray areas on our maps and ever present are ever-increasing growing global challenges. At times it can seem next to impossible that as individuals we can make a difference, but at Calvary Church in Stonington, individuals are making a difference and surprisingly, they’re doing it thousands of miles away.

In Ecuador, and specifically in a small, rainforest town called Puyo and in the capital city, Quito, groups of Stonington residents have been building relationships. Their yearly trip to Ecuador began two years ago and has seen many members of Calvary Church travel to the small South American country as ambassadors of faith and good will. Reverend Mark Robinson of Calvary Church explained that this Ecuadorian missionary work began as a collaboration with former Connecticut bishop suffragan Wilfrido Ramos, who is now the missionary bishop of Ecuador.

“It was through Bishop Ramos and I that we started this
journey to link people together in this relationship of ministries,” Robinson said. “We have a solid relationship formed in Ecuador, specifically in the region of Puyo and the cathedral in Quito. I think there’s a great relationship formed there.”

Robinson explained that this unexpected partnership began in September of 2006, when Bishop Ramos suggested that his soon-to-be pastoral assistant, Chris Morck, speak at Calvary Church and explain what kind of work he was going to do once he arrived in Ecuador. Excited by the opportunity to begin a partnership abroad, Robinson maintained contact with Ramos and the Morck family, and by August of 2007 had organized a trip including members of all of the churches of the Seabury Deanery, which includes the towns of Mystic, Groton, Gales Ferry, Niantic, Norwich, and Stonington.

“It was great to see their interest and become involved themselves,” Morck said. “It’s really all about building relationships and getting to know [the Ecuadorians] as a people and allowing them the opportunity to get to know us. Many of our perceptions of foreign cultures are based on things other than our own personal experiences, so when you get a chance to be with a
people—eat with them, work with them, pray with them—you really get to know who they really are, and in the process you learn a lot more about who you are.”

In describing Ecuador, Morck explained that the only word that can be used is “diverse.” For starters, nearly half of the country in made up of more than 50 distinct groups of indigenous peoples, as well as others of European or African descent, though most are, at least in part, from a group indigenous to Ecuador. One of the main reasons for this diversity is the geography of Ecuador, which is just as varied, with a third of the country being coastline, another third made up of the high peaks of the Andes Mountains, and the last third the northernmost part of the Amazon jungle, not to mention the famed Galapagos Islands—all in a country roughly the size of Colorado.

Morck said that most Ecuadorians are at least bilingual, and some of his closest friends there speak up to four or five languages. With so much to explore and share, the initial trip was by all accounts successful. So in July of 2008, a second group with some repeat participants made their way back to Ecuador to continue building upon this newfound friendship. Stonington residents Harry and Barb Holt were two of the Calvary church members who went on the most recent trip, and both described their experiences as life changing.

“It was a tremendous experience,” Harry said. “It was truly a balance between giving to the people in Ecuador and receiving so much back from them. It was tremendously fulfilling. And it was especially meaningful because of the leadership we had with Mark Robinson and Chris and Trish Morck. Their guidance brought a continuity to the entire trip.”

“It was one of the most profound experiences of my entire life,” Barb added. “It’s so hard to describe, because there were so many different layers to it. There was a layer of sharing of religion, of learning about each other’s cultures, helping each other, the bonding of our group, a political layer, a family layer—it was very much all-encompassing.”

Robinson explained that during their two-week trip, the group participated in several projects, including helping to build stone roads, painting and laying down a new floor for a local church, and taking part in many religious services.

“I think one of the wonderful things that is fostered is a mutual responsibility in learning,” Robinson said. “We’re all blessed with many, many challenges in our world and more specifically we’re focused lately on the economic crisis that we’re facing as a nation. But when you spend time with people who are living extremely simply but with a deep abiding faith and then you return to a place such as southeastern Connecticut, you really understand that many of the challenges that we face as human beings are paled in comparison, and our own issues are really not that big when we learn to get out of ourselves and participate in an activity where we’re working with others.”

In talking with the participants from both trips thus far, one thing stood out as a unanimous sentiment; the fulfillment of giving to those who may be less fortunate while at the same time coming home with new perspectives and an appreciation for a completely different lifestyle. According to Robinson this is precisely what the trip is all about and given the success so far, the Seabury Deanery is looking forward to planning their next mission.

“I think that we want to bring back an understanding that our ways, our American ways, aren’t the only ways to accomplish things,” Robinson said. “That our ways can be enhanced by people that we have never met or known before, that our tasks are much better accomplished when we truly listen to what others have to say and how much we appreciate the opportunity to engage with people in a Christian or a religious community and eat their food and pray with them and sing their songs and return knowing that our self-absorbed lives are less so.”

American Favorite, Italian Tradition: Apizzo Pizzeria Napoletana opens in downtown Pawcatuck

2008-10-24T20:49:09Z

Driving on Route 1 in downtown Pawcatuck, it’s been impossible not to notice the amount of work that has taken place in the last few months on the former Shea’s Office Supplies building that had been dormant for many years. As the construction is rapidly nearing completion, what has risen from the ashes is Apizzo Pizzeria Napoletana, a traditional Italian pizzeria, the brainchild of co-owner Stefan Ambrosch.

Ambrosch explained that as a New York native he’d always wanted to run a traditional wood-fired brick oven pizzeria, and when he found this spot and met the building’s owner, Doug Hanson, he knew this was it.

“The concept is what I consider real pizza,” Ambrosch said. “I’m from New York City originally and obviously a huge pizza guy, so what I wanted to do was bring wood-fired brick oven pizza to the area. When I started looking around I saw this building and I just said, ‘That would be a great spot for a pizza place,’ and that’s how Doug and I met. Doug owns the building, and so I told him my concept and he thought it was great and we hit it off right away.”

The building has made an amazing transformation, going from an old and somewhat run-down shell of a building to a clean, completely renovated, rustic, and yet modern feeling restaurant, complete with a small bar and lounge. Fittingly, the pizzas Ambrosch and Hanson are making are just as much of a deconstruction and remaking of the pizza that people in this area are used to.

“I think that a lot of people assumed when they saw the signs go up they were thinking, ‘Oh great, another pizza place,’” Ambrosch said. “But I really don’t think people are expecting what they’re actually going to get.”

Starting at the core, Ambrosch and Hanson brought in a 5,000-pound wood-fired brick oven, which will serve as the sole cooking means in the restaurant. All of the ingredients including the flour, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes, among other items, are imported from Italy. And with the oven firing at 900 degrees, Ambrosch said the traditional Italian pies cook to perfection in two minutes flat. Through the open kitchen, patrons can watch their orders being made.

“People can expect something completely different than what they’re having now,” Ambrosch explained. “The pizza is very light, it’s a 14-inch pie so it’ll be fine for two people, no problem, but because of the flour I use, one person could probably eat an entire pie and not get that bloated stuffed feeling.”

And while the pizza is clearly the focus, Apizzo will also feature paninis, gourmet salads, appetizers including wood-fired wings, a full range of desserts imported from Italy, specialty cheesecakes, gelato, a variety of coffee, including the Italian favorite, Illy, 52 micro-brewed beers, and an authentic Italian wine list offering more than 20 selections.

Equally enticing is that given all the authentic, fresh, and top-notch ingredients going into the food, Ambrosch said a fresh mozzarella pie will run around $11 or $12 and no one will ever see a $20 pizza on the menu.
With the buzz and anticipation building, Ambrosch acknowledged that Apizzo will open in early to mid-November, something he, Hanson, and residents alike are excited about.

“We’re very excited to bring something to downtown,” Ambrosch said, “and hopefully with the rebuilding in this area we can be a part of bringing back even more of that downtown feel.”

For more information, go to www.apizzo.com.

Down But Still Kicking: State tournament still a realistic goal for SHS girls’ soccer team

2008-10-17T21:20:14Z

Working Toward Winning Ways
SHS girls’ soccer starts slow but aims for States

On an unseasonably warm October afternoon, the day after a tough loss, the Stonington High School girls’ soccer team was nowhere near the SHS soccer fields. Instead, on this beautiful day the entire varsity squad, led by head coach David Walsh, was soaking in what is left of this year’s warm sun rays as they ran the Westerly beaches for more than an hour and a half, some even dipping into the warm autumn ocean, washing away the sting of defeat.

At 3-7, 10 games into the season with only six games left, the team isn’t exactly where they envisioned they’d be at the beginning of the season. With eight seniors and five juniors, the squad is packed full of experience and leadership, but as senior co-captain Kelly Candelet vouched, it can be tough to turn things around in just one season.

“We had a rough year last year winning only three games,” Candelet said. “But thinking that we basically had our whole team coming back except for like three girls, we thought we were going to be good, definitely win more than three games.”

Fellow co-captain Mallory Huard admitted she came into the season with the same mind-set, yet, like Candelet, found it a difficult task to keep the entire team positive and motivated when things began to turn against them.
“I think that at times our mental game can be our weakest aspect,” Huard said. “We have a lot of athletic ability on the team but it’s that game mentality that we’re missing sometimes. We get in the game and we don’t always seem to have that fire, that desperation to score, it’s kind of like we got too used to losing so it was almost expected and we didn’t know how to get ourselves back to a winning mind-set.”

Walsh, who has coached many of these girls since they were 11- and 12-year-olds, explained that expectations coming into this season were high considering the team was to be loaded with upperclassmen, returning eight seniors and five juniors. Already an extremely athletic bunch, Walsh was pleasantly surprised when freshman Kelsey Thomas took the field at the beginning of the year and started turning heads.

“The one thing we had been lacking in past years is a goal scorer, and we finally got one this year as a freshman, Kelsey Thomas,” Walsh explained. “But unfortunately even though we’re scoring more goals this year than in the past, we’re also giving up more goals than we’ve ever allowed. My expectations are still there, I expect that we can make states and that was the goal, to make states and we’re still alive.”

Indeed, at 3-7 the squad would need to win four of the last six games in order to qualify for states, a tough, yet attainable goal for a team that Walsh says has continually improved despite the slow start.

“Our mental game is coming,” Walsh said. “The last couple games that we’ve played we haven’t won but we’ve played very well against some very good teams and that’s a very encouraging sign coming down the home stretch. I knew it would take us a while because we not only lost three seniors but we also lost two starting defenders who decided not to play so we basically replaced our entire back line with the exception of Mal [Mallory Huard] this year, plus a new goalkeeper, but we’re coming along.”

One of the recent losses Walsh was referring to came on Oct. 8 against Windham, a team they had already lost to earlier in the season. During the first matchup, Windham, a larger school, overpowered the Stonington defense in the fifth game of the season, rolling to a lopsided 8-2 victory. Yet in their latest matchup, Stonington nearly pulled out a surprise victory, leading 4-3 in the third period before three late goals sent Windham on top for a 6-4 win, leaving Stonington with a bitter taste, yet a moral victory.

“We’ve made a lot of strides,” Walsh said. “We’ve played some very good teams very well, and I think we all intend to continue to improve.”

Ironically, one of the reasons why the team has faltered may also prove to be the key to its success. With nearly all of the seniors having played together for six or seven straight years, the group has become quite attuned to one another, yet admittedly a bit too fun-loving.

“We’re all really good friends and like to have fun out there,” Candelet explained. “At times I think that may cause some bad
habits.”

“Yeah, and I think because of that we’re not exactly the most intimidating group, but we’re definitely competitive; none of us like to lose,” Huard added. “Making it to states is an attainable goal, but we have to pick it up. There are certain players that work really hard and we all need to learn from that example. We need to be more unified and hopefully that will come.”

For Walsh it’s not so much a hope as a continued expectation. With a deep, tight-knit senior class, a standout scoring freshman, and a solid group of role players, Walsh said that he “expects” to make the state tournament where, as everyone knows, anything can happen. And while things might not have gone the way they planned thus far, his senior captains are ready to prove him right.

“If we win the two games left that we should, against teams that we already beat, then that will be big,” Candelet said. “That will bring us over the amount of wins that we had last year and I think that it would be a big confidence booster for the whole team.”

Huard agreed.

“If we can do that, then people will get the taste of winning and we’ll get on the right track,” Huard said. “And I think it will just snowball from there.”

Local Halloween Haunts: A look at some of the area’s upcoming Halloween events

2008-10-17T21:17:00Z

Venture into any local business and you’re likely to find the telltale spooky décor of the Halloween season. The Irish tradition of turnip carving (we use pumpkins) and trick or treating was wholeheartedly adopted by the mainstream American public in the 1900s, and has been part of our culture ever since. But if the normal routine of dressing up and wandering door to door throughout your neighborhood isn’t enough to appease your love of Halloween, then you might want to attend one of the many local Halloween events around town.

In Stonington

In Stonington Borough, the Stonington Community Center, located on Cutler Street, is hosting its annual Halloween party on Friday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. Throughout the entire building, several events will be offered, including a “ghosts and goblins” walk-thru, a Monster Mash DJ ball, a costume parade, and various games and prizes. The event is free to Como members who bring a baked good, and $10 for non-member families.

In Mystic

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, located at 109 Pequotsepos Road, is continuing its Spooky Nature Trail tradition, which will run on Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is $8 and participants are encouraged to bring a flashlight to navigate their way through winding trails filled with all sorts of ghouls and goblins. Halloween treats, apple cider, crafts, games, and hands-on interaction with nature center turtles, frogs, and snakes will also be a highlight of the two-day event.

On Friday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. the Mystic Arts Center will host a Halloween parade sponsored by the Ocean Community YMCA. The parade, which begins at the Mystic Arts Center, will proceed through downtown Mystic, over the drawbridge, and end at the B. F. Hoxie firehouse where free refreshments will be served to all parade participants.

At the Mystic Seaport, Nautical Nightmares will satiate thrill seekers with guided tours through the Halloween-transformed historic port. Nautical Nightmares runs Friday, Oct. 24 through Sunday, Oct. 26 with tours leaving every 15 minutes beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m., with the exception of Sunday when tours end at 9 p.m. Admission is $18 for adults and $16 for children from 7 to 17. Children age 7 and younger are not advised to attend.

Bride of Frankenstein: The film Bride of Frankenstein, (75 minutes, 1935) will be screened Friday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m., at Westerly Library, 44 Broad St., Westerly. Admission is free. For more information, call 401-596-2877, ext. 329.

Pumpkin Patch Festival: Tower Street School in Westerly is holding its second annual Pumpkin Patch Festival on Friday, Oct. 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be an apple/pumpkin pie baking contest, candy apples to decorate, pumpkins to pick, paint, and decorate, games to play, prizes to win, face painting, popcorn, and costumes. For more information, call 401-348-2781.

Halloween Silent Auction: The Riverfront Children’s Center of Groton will host its third annual silent auction and Halloween party fund-raiser on Friday, Oct. 24, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Mystic Arts Center, 9 Water St., Mystic. The event will offer food, wine and beer, music, and a silent auction. The auction features a large variety of artwork, goods, services, and gift certificates donated by area businesses. Costumes are optional with cash prizes awarded. Tickets are $25 at the door. All tickets include food, bar, and auction. For ticket information, call 860-445-2831. All proceeds from the silent auction and Halloween party benefit the Riverfront Children’s Center Tuition Assistance Program.

Stonington Soccer in Thick of Divisional Title Race

2008-10-14T16:00:28Z

Bears battling Montville, Bacon for supremacy

By Larry Kelley
Special to the Times
Evidently, there will be no driver’s seat for the ultimate Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium boys’ soccer champion.
Stonington stood just nine minutes away from a 1-0 victory over Montville, dominating the Indians all game in what would have given the Bears a 5-0 divisional mark heading into the second half of the divisional slate.
But Montville capitalized on two critical Bear mistakes in late stages, a goalkeeper bobble and backfield misclear to score two goals on its only legit chances to beat Stonington, 2-1, Oct. 6 and leave the Bears, Indians, and Bacon Academy tied at 4-1 in the Medium. On the following day, Montville lost to Bacon and Stonington beat Windham, 3-1, giving Bacon and the Bears a 5-1 mark with four games left.
Stonington first-year coach Paul deCastro believes his team is rounding into championship timber. It just looks as if the Bears will need to go to the limit to clinch their several seasons, although Stonington controls its own destiny as no team can top it if it wins out.
“We have created close to 50 chances the past two games [including a 1-0 overtime win over Killingly] but have only scored two goals,” deCastro said. “We need to finish more of our chances. Obviously, the Montville keeper [Paul Occialini] was the star. We made two mistakes and paid for them. I believe they had two quality chances on goal and finished on both opportunities.”
Montville coach Colin Delaney agreed the Indians “stole” the game. DeCastro feels the Bears have the best talent in the division. Stonington beat Bacon, 2-0, and Bacon beat Montville, 3-1.
“We played our best game yesterday. We knocked the ball around and made some nice runs forward but we couldn’t finish the chances we had,” he said. “Hopefully, we can use that game as a learning experience. We could always steal a game down the road as well and hopefully it happens in the state tournament.”
Junior Jeff Pearce, who scored against Montville, led the Bears with seven goals after nine games (6-2-1 overall record at press time). But a harvest of 13 seniors is largely responsible for making deCastro’s first season a smooth transition. Stonington is looking for its best season since going 16-3 in 2001 and 12-6 in 2002 under former coach Pat McCarney.
Midfielder Mario Costa had five goals and three assists after eight games. Dylan Buckley, Dylan Jacobs, two goals each, Nick Donahue (three goals) and Brian Sujecki had three assists in the balance attack.
“We have 13 seniors, so I have many leaders but Mario Costa, Kevin Lewis, Dylan Buckley, and Pat Stonely are the guys that lead the team on and off the field,” deCastro said.
Goalkeeper T.J. White spearheads a defense that allowed just eight goals in the first nine games.
DeCastro also pointed out Tommy Manning.
“Tommy has exceeded my expectations,” deCastro said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to get from him [he had a hand injury last season], but he is one of our most consistent players. He works hard every day, and he wants to improve his game. He has a terrific attitude and is well-respected by the coaches and players.”
The team welcomed the return of senior captain Kevin Lewis Oct. 13. An All-ECC Medium midfield selection as a junior, Lewis missed the first half of the season with a back injury.
“I assume the Medium division will come down to Bacon, Montville, and Stonington,” deCastro said. “We play both teams on the road, which won’t be easy but we [got] Kevin Lewis back on Oct. 13 so that should provide us with a spark.”

Growing Green Thumbs: Terra Firma Farms fosters a love for farming

2008-10-09T18:47:22Z

One look at the property at 330 Al Harvey Road in Stonington and it’s evident that it was meant for farming. The long, steep rocky driveway leads past an old refurbished farmhouse to reveal acres of fertile fields divided by typical New England stone walls.

The working educational farm that is Terra Firma Farms today was once a plot of overgrown brush and weeds just a few years ago. The directors of Terra Firma Farms, Brianne Casadei and her husband, Stonington native Ethan Grimes, still marvel at how different the farm looks now than the first day they arrived.

“When we first got here this was all just weeds and briars and brush, just completely overgrown,” Grimes said. “All that you could really see was the farmhouse and a small little yard, the rest was just absolutely covered. Once we started clearing it we found all the old stone walls and some of the other outbuildings.”

A graduate of the University of Vermont, Casadei had worked extensively with Shelburne Farms, a working farm and environmental education center in Vermont while she was in school—an experience she thoroughly enjoyed. When she found herself out of work years later due to an injury, she began to ponder what kind of work she really wanted to do.

“Bri [Casadei] had a lot of time to think [after the injury],” Grimes said, “and this was really all her idea. She told me she wanted to start a working farm and educational center for kids…and I had actually done some substitute teaching before. She did a lot of research, and she really convinced me it would be a great thing to do.”

So the couple began researching how to go about starting their farm, and as luck would have it, they learned of a property available in Grimes’ hometown.

A farm for more than 250 years, the property of Terra Firma Farms had last been owned by a woman named Virginia Berry, who in the 1980s turned ownership of the property over to Connecticut Landmarks, a heritage organization focused on preserving historic Connecticut homes. With the original farmhouse, built in 1753, still intact and around 21 acres of fertile farmland, Berry turned over the property with the expressed intent that it be used by its next inhabitants as an educational farm. By July 2004, Casadei and Grimes had moved into their new home and began clearing the land.

“It was definitely a project,” Casadei said. “When we first came here, there were no fences, no barn, and it was completely overgrown; there was nothing except for the house really. So we had to clear the land and build the barn and the fences before we could even begin to turn this back into a farm.”

Now fully operational, Terra Firma Farms has become a full-time job for both Casadei and Grimes. With about 15 acres currently in use, the farm operates as a CSA, producing more than 30 different types of crops including everything from spinach and sugar snap peas in the spring to eggplants and hot peppers in late summer.

“CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture,” Casadei said. “So basically what happens is someone will buy a share of the produce ahead of time, and when we harvest the crops they come and pick up their share.”

In addition to the crops, the dozens of animals at Terra Firma keep Casadei and Grimes plenty busy.

“We have Dexter cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, laying hens and roosters and broiler chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, ducks, and pigs,” Grimes said. “I think that’s it, I hope I didn’t forget anyone.”

And while the produce and livestock are impressive, what makes Terra Firma special are its many junior farmers, as Casadei and Grimes offer a plethora of year-round educational programs, including summer camps, Saturday programs, and their popular after-school program, which sees around 15 children arrive by bus every day.

“We give kids the chance to get outside and have fun,” Casadei explained. “These days kids are all about computers and video games, and it’s almost like they don’t know how to just go outside and be kids and play. But when they come here, you can tell how much they enjoy being outside and at the same time they’re learning and getting an understanding of where their food really comes from.”

Eight-year-old Adam Gibbs, a student at Deans Mill School who has been part of the after-school program for three straight years, said he never gets tired of working with the farm animals, proving Casadei’s point that kids really will trade in some of their Playstation time for some good old-fashioned farm work.

“My favorite thing is to catch the chickens and find the eggs,” Gibbs said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

A friend of Gibbs’ family who sometimes picks him up from Terra Firma, Libby Koponen is a local children’s author who first heard about Terra Firma from Gibbs, and has come to truly appreciate the work Casadei and Grimes are doing.

“I think what makes them so successful is their passion for the animals, the land, the children, and organic farming,” Koponen said. “They are clearly people who are not afraid of hard work. They really understand the kids, they let them be kids and run around and explore and discover things for themselves as long as they’re being safe…and the kids all just worship them. Adam is always talking about the farm and what he did that day.”

Like Gibbs, most of the students who take part in programs at Terra Firma usually return. With interest in the farm growing all the time, Casadei and Grimes feel they have begun to make an impact on the community.

“It sounds silly, but when I was a kid my parents used to read The Lorax to me,” Casadei explained, “and I guess it really stuck with me, the idea that if everyone just did their part, then our planet would be much healthier. And in many ways that’s the bottom line of what we want the farm to stand for.”

For more information of Terra Firma Farms, visit www.terrafirmafarm.org.

Blues, Brews, and You: Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce hosts fourth annual beer tasting

2008-10-09T18:44:10Z

In what continues to be an extremely popular event, the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce will host its fourth annual “Brews and Blues” Beer Tasting festival on Thursday, Oct. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Stonington Meadows on Route 1 in Stonington.

The event features food from numerous local restaurants paired with various beers, all set to the lively music of the New London-based Karl Kelly Band.

Attracting more than 200 people in 2007, this year’s beer tasting will have few changes from last year’s format, according to event organizer and owner of the Prime Time Café, Wendy Carr.

“I thought last year was a lot of fun,” Carr said. “We had over 200 people show up, and it seemed everyone was having a good time. I really liked the Karl Kelly Band; they gave the whole evening a good energy. In years past we’ve changed the theme and location of the event, but last year really seemed to click so we figured if it works, why change it?”

Some favorite items from 2007 included conch fritters with avocado corn tartar paired with Land Shark Lager from the Prime Time Café and apple-wood bacon-wrapped scallops with smoky maple Dijon glaze paired with Trinity India Pale Ale by Dylan’s Restaurant. This year’s event will feature 20 local restaurants including a few newcomers, such as Milagro and the Dogwatch Café, both fairly new restaurants in Stonington Borough. Carr said she is hoping to top last year’s attendance and attract at least 250 people.

“The more the merrier obviously, but [people should come] because first and foremost the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce does so much to support the community,” Carr said. “I don’t think people realize just how much they really do, and coming out to this event helps to support the chamber to be able to continue putting on events. And if you can support the chamber and at the same time have some fun, eat some good food, and sample some beer it just makes sense.”

All proceeds from the event will go to the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce to support programs such as River Glow, Virtu Art Show, Santa’s Arrival, the Holiday Stroll and Luminaria, the annual Easter egg hunt, and Student Government Day to name a few. Tickets for the event are $30 in advance or $35 at the door and can be purchased at the Prime Time Café and the Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce.

Stonington Meadows is at 769 Stonington Road, Route 1, Stonington. For more information, call Wendy Carr at 860-460-5593 or the Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area Chamber of Commerce at 401-596-7761.

A Phoenix Rising in North Stonington: Equine rescue group offers home for horses in need

2008-10-03T18:42:34Z

One look at her property and one thing is evident: While she may love all animals, Sue Kreutter is definitely a horse person. With a multitude of shedrow-style horse stalls situated throughout her back yard it would seem as if Kreutter runs a successful stabling business and perhaps gives horseback riding lessons.

That assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The horses on Kreutter’s farm don’t earn her a penny. In fact she could probably afford to pay a second mortgage with the amount of money she spends on them.
Kreutter keeps them because these horses have no place else to go.

Officially formed in 2007 and attaining 501(c)(3) nonprofit status later that year, Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue is the organization Kreutter formed in order to take in at-risk horses that were previously abused or neglected, in danger of being abused or neglected, slaughter bound, or horses whose owners were unable to continue caring for them due to job loss, divorce, or incapacitation.

Kreutter and her staff of volunteers care for and rehabilitate the horses until they are healthy enough to be adopted by a responsible owner. If the horses are unable to be rehabilitated enough to be ridden, then Kreutter gives them a permanent home at Phoenix Rising. Always a horse lover, Kreutter explained that in 1999 after seeing a similar organization in northern Connecticut, and realizing how big of a need there is for at-risk horses, she immediately knew she wanted to open Phoenix Rising.

“When I was growing up I had a horse and really grew to love them,” Kreutter said. “But after that I really didn’t have much to do with horses again until around 2000 when I put up the first stables and took in a few horses.”

What began as a small operation continued to grow as Kreutter began to realize just how many horses end up in bad situations once they’re no longer useful to their owners. As the number of stables on her farm grew, so too did the cost of maintaining the operation. By 2006, Kreutter knew Phoenix Rising needed to officially become a nonprofit organization.

“This has been nonprofit from the beginning,” Kreutter said, chuckling. “But people just feel more comfortable giving to an organization that is officially nonprofit rather than just giving money to some lady with a bunch of sick horses. Becoming nonprofit has certainly helped with donations, but we still need to come up with something a little more substantial in order to keep the organization supported.”

In the past, Kreutter has sought grants from various organizations such as the ASPCA, PetCo, and PetSmart, and has organized small fund-raisers such as bake sales and yard sales. While every little bit helps, she recently concluded that Phoenix Rising needs at least one major fund-raiser every year in order to sustain itself. So with the help of her next door neighbor and everyday volunteer, Lori Taylor, she has organized what they hope to be a successful, annual fund-raiser, the Phoenix Rising Country Music Jamboree which will be held at the North Stonington Fairgrounds on Oct. 4 from noon to 5 p.m. Featuring local country talent and a bluegrass band, the jamboree will also have entertainment for children, such as a clown, hay rides, and face painting, and will also have food and refreshments available.

“We’ve been trying to spread the word around town and we think there should be a pretty good turnout,” Taylor said. “We really need something like this to be a success; it would be good if we could do this again next year and keep it going.”

In addition to the Country Music Jamboree, Kreutter, with the help of her friend Bonnie Gauthier, have launched a jewelry line featuring glass and semiprecious stones which will benefit Phoenix Rising.

Now with 10 horses at Phoenix Rising, Kreutter said she’s on the farm from 5:15 to 7:15 a.m. before she goes off to work. As soon as she gets home she’s usually joined by one or more of her volunteer workers and spends another two hours caring for the horses before finally heading in for dinner around 8:30 p.m.

In addition to all the labor, Kreutter estimated that she spends upward of $2,500 per month for food and medical care of the horses. Coupled with the fact that she only receives around $10,000 a year in donations, Kreutter ends up spending around $20,000 a year, or close to $1,700 a month out of her own pocket. Yet one visit to her farm and you can see first-hand why she does it, as the horses, many of which would no longer be alive without her help, seem truly appreciative of their newer, more peaceful life. Kreutter knows the story of every horse on her property, and she’s more than happy to share them.

“Maverick is a pretty sad example,” Kreutter began. “He’s an Irish Draught horse and is at least 30 but we don’t know exactly how old he is so we just say he’s 30-something. He used to be a public riding horse but when he could no longer do that job he was put up for auction, and that’s a scary thing because a lot of those horses end up headed to the slaughter house…He was rescued from the auction by his former owner but she suffered a major illness and became unable to provide for Maverick’s special needs.

“When he arrived here, he was exhibiting signs of Cushing’s disease, was very underweight and also had clearly been abused, beaten around the face and ears. He also needed the services of a farrier and a dentist and needed routine veterinary care. It’s taken a long time for him to get used to being patted or scratched on his head and he still doesn’t like having his ears touched but he has gained all of his weight back and he’s really a wonderful horse. He has such a great temperament.”

Of the 10 horses she’s currently caring for, four have been rehabilitated and are currently up for adoption, including, Jiffy, a 10-year-old black standardbred gelding who has recovered from a racing accident, 5-year-old Penn, also a former racer, 9-year-old Laddie, and 20-year-old Bonnet, all capable of light riding and pulling a cart. It is Kreutter’s hope, and half the reason she started Phoenix Rising, that those horses can be adopted one day to a good home.

“There really is very little help out there for injured, sick, or old horses,” Kreutter explained. “A lot of these horses end up being slaughtered which is really such a cruel fate for such loyal and intelligent animals. Phoenix Rising may not be a huge operation but even if we’re able to make the life of one horse better, then it’s worth it.”

For more information or to volunteer/donate, go to www.phoenixrisingequinerescue.com.

Music and Memories: Lowell ‘Buddy’ Turner Memorial Concert to benefit ‘Be A Buddy’ Fund

2008-10-03T18:39:04Z

On Saturday, Oct. 4 the Cohanzie Fire Department Pavilion will be host to the first Lowell “Buddy” Turner Memorial Concert from 3 to 6 p.m. Turner, a well-known local fire fighter, passed away on Sept. 14 at the age of 41 after a five-year fight with cancer, leaving behind a wife and two sons.

Known for his bravery, selflessness, and big heart, Turner earned his reputation working as a fire officer, fire instructor, and EMT for the North Stonington and Old Mystic fire departments. Mary Pratt, who had worked with Turner in the past and is running the PR for the memorial concert, explained just how much of an effect Turner had on people.

“I met Buddy for the first time just this past June,” Pratt said. “I’m the co-chair for Relay for Life on the New London shoreline, and he had put a team together. Even though I’d only known him such a short while, it was evident to me what a special guy he was. I’ve never met anyone that has affected me like him, you know? I think anyone who knew him thought he was going to pull through, just because that’s the kind of person he was. Sadly he didn’t.”

According to those who knew him, Turner’s passion was fire-fighting and anything else he could do to help others, even if it was as simple giving directions or as dangerous as risking his life to save someone else’s. His bravery, skill, and heart earned him multiple Firefighter of the Year awards, and Governor M. Jodi Rell awarded him the Good Samaritan Award.

The “Be A Buddy” Fund was created years ago by Turner and his fellow firefighters and raises money yearly to benefit firefighters and their families. The Memorial Concert is free to the public and will feature the local country-rock band, Jay Dempsey and Highway Call. Donations will be accepted.

“Jay Dempsey and Highway Call have volunteered to play for free,” Pratt said. “There’s going to be food, hotdogs and hamburgers, that sort of thing, and there will be a silent auction. We’re hoping people come out for some great music and to remember a wonderful guy who dedicated his life to serving his community.”

The Cohanzie Fire Department Pavilion is located at 53 Dayton Road in Waterford (across from the Crystal Mall).