The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 15, Number 49
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Storm clean-up involves thousands of trees, and dollars
Checking it twice
By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Citizen photo by Marsha Pomponio
Santino Sisti, 6, of Berlin visits with Santa at the Parks and Recreation Department’s Santa’s Parlor.
A massive clean-up, after an Oct. 30 snowstorm pulled down tons of trees and related debris, is underway. Public Works Director Art Simonian called the process the town is engaged in a “challenging time.” His department is receiving between 20 and 30 calls each day inquiring about the status of the brush removal. The clean-up began right after the storm hit, but it is a long haul to get it completed. “It’s a chore and a process,” Simonian said. The estimated cost will likely be between $500,000 and $750,000. About 75 percent of that should be covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. He urged any residents, who have not done so, to get debris to the curb and to be aware that town and hired
Citizen photo by Olivia L. Lawrence
Town dump trucks bring storm debris to staging areas until it can be chipped and hauled away. crews will be out working in neighborhoods for many more days. Cleaning up brush and debris is one part of the process and that is close to 50 percent done, Simonian said,
last week. Town crews are undertaking this portion of the work and are proceeding from west to east, as the west end of town was hit substan-
See Clean-up, page 6
Margot Paul returns as Nutcracker’s Clara
Berlin dancer Margot Paul will star as Clara in the 10th annual performance of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” by the Ballet Theatre Company of West Hartford. Also in the cast, from Berlin, are Megan Leary, Louis Houle and Anastasia Houle. Margot and Megan are members of the Ballet Theatre Company’s Junior Company and attended rehearsal in New York City with the show’s professional dancers. This is Margot’s second year as Clara. The show features a cast of more than 60 performers along with professional dancers from Connecticut and New York City. Choreography is by Roman Baca. Lisa Fitzgerald, a member of Exit 12 Dance Company formerly with
the Nutmeg Ballet and Connecticut Ballet, will appear as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her cavalier is Andrew Notarile, principal dancer with American Repertory Ballet and BalletMet. In Ballet Theatre Company’s 10 years of performing this holiday classic, over 400 dancers, ages four to adult, have performed in this Greater Hartford holiday tradition. Baca has introduced a few military touches. A former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, Baca served a combat role after his deployment to Fallujah, Iraq. A graduate of the Nutmeg Conservatory in CT and dancer with the Nutmeg Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, and the New Mexico Ballet, Baca takes the role of Colonel Drosselmeyer. The bal-
Photo by John Long
Margot Paul as “Clara” with Roman Baca as Colonal “Drosselmeyer”. let opens in Drosselmeyer’s workshop as he creates a special gift a Nutcracker Soldier who comes to life for Clara. New this year will be Army Rangers to help Clara battle the Mouse King. Ballet Theatre Company is supported in part by the United Arts Campaign of the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the CT Office of the Arts, Department of Economic and Community Development. Performances are scheduled for See Ballet, page 8