Volume 18, Number 9
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
High schoolers ready to hit the stage By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
Performers from Berlin High School rehearsed afternoons and weekends to prepare for their upcoming performances of Seussical The Musical. Seussical was selected because it is an ideal choice for high schoolers, director Kathryn Crabb explained. There are a lot of great parts for students to shine in, an imaginative set and costumes for the teenagers to create. Also, the music is a good level for a student pep band, which will be playing. “We haven’t been able to have the pep band play for several years,” Crabb said. The most challenging aspect of putting on the production is managing the many aspects that go into the performance, Crabb explained. The tasks of building sets, managing costumes, props, directing the band, actors, and choreography all have to be
carefully coordinated. Fortunately, Crabb has had help from science teacher Morgan Hanna, who assisted with sets, and pep band director Jeff Sirois, who has assisted with the band, and will be playing in the musical. “I like to play a part in design and to be part of the show without having to be on stage,” Stage Manager Becky Carriere said. The BHS junior has participated in musicals for years, including last year’s production of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Seniors Natalie Souza and Connor Morrin play lead roles of Horton the Elephant and Gertrude McFuzz. “We played opposite each other two years ago,” Connor said, when they performed in The Boyfriend. “I was the boyfriend, and she was after me. And now she’s after me again.” “I just love doing this. All of See Musical / Page 5
Leads Connor Morrin and Natalie Souza during a rehearsal at McGee Middle School, where the musical will be held due to construction at the high school. More photos on the web. | (Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen)
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Thursday, Februar y 27, 2014
An unassuming – and very generous – lady By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
T h e B e rl i n S e n i o r Center, Historical Society, Lions Club, and Hospital of Central Connecticut were all named beneficiaries of a bequest totaling $1.5 million made by Myrna Pauloz, a Berlin native, who passed away in 2012. “We were shocked when we learned about this gift,” senior center director Tina Doyle said. “Myrna was a very unassuming woman, she didn’t look for attention.” Pauloz frequented the senior center for Lunch Bunch trips to area restaurants and musical entertainment programs. She would pick up her friend Elvina Pucci to travel to the senior center regularly. “Myrna was such a good person, very nice, I miss her terribly,” Pucci said. “She was so good to me and I would try to give her little gifts to thank her, but she would never accept. Even after we couldn’t go to the senior center anymore, she would call me every night to see how I was. That’s the kind of person she was.” “I don’t think anyone realized Myrna was a woman of means and was in the position to make such generous gifts,” Doyle said. Pauloz left much of her charitable donations in the care of two named funds managed by the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain. Jim Williamson,
Myrna Pauloz and her husband, Alfred Pauloz. | (Submitted)
President of CFGNB, explained that the organization works with donors to allow them to realize the benefits of establishing a foundation without needing to navigate the legalities personally. CFGNB will manage a $1.3 million fund benefiting the hospital, as well as a $200,000 fund benefiting the Berlin Senior Center. The goal, Williamson explained, is to invest the money such that the funds can benefit these organizations in perpetuity. “We live with the vagaries of the stock market, but we invest our funds in a prudent, conservative manner, sophisticated in its diversif ication,” Williamson said. Funds are carefully managed to protect the principal from ups and downs of the market, while still enabling long-term growth. The result is permanent, yearly donations to the se-
nior center and the hospital. The senior center is estimated to be the recipient of more than $8,000 annually, and the hospital, more than $50,000 annually. The investments keep the funds alive. The Lion’s Club and the Berlin Historical Society both received lump sum donations. Kate Kearns of the Berlin Historical Society said that the organization preferred to keep the amount of the bequest confidential, but that the historical society is considering investing the money. This would allow the historical society to fund its operations and the museum, so that it can focus more on historical research and putting together events and displays. “If we choose to invest the money, people who come after us won’t have to focus as much on fund-raising, fund-raising, fund-raising,” Kearns said.