Volume 17, Number 48
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
www.berlincitizen.com
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Rochette is town’s new mayor By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
Town Clerk Kate Wall instructed board and council members-elect to stand before the wall of honor and she would “swear at you nicely” at the town’s swearing-in ceremony Nov. 19. After hearing an invocation by the Rev. Edmund Nadolny, who prayed a prayer of St. Francis he adopted for the occasion, and listening to McGee Middle School choir “Sound Express” sing “Build a Bridge” written by local teacher Corinne Terlecky, the winners of the municipal election Nov. 5 raised their
right hands and took their oaths of office. After the ceremony, council members convened in the upstairs council chambers and elected Rachel Rochette mayor. After she took the center chair on the council dais, she appointed Kevin Murphy deputy mayor. In the time between the swearing-in ceremony ended and the town council meeting began, the newly-elected town officials and their supporters talked in groups and ate cake. Unlike what some may assume, the council member who received the most votes does not become mayor. If
that was the case, Republican freshman Brenden Luddy would lead the council. Instead, the town’s charter states the council will meet the second Tuesday after Election Day to chose one member as mayor. They decide by simple majority vote and the mayor then appoints his or her deputy mayor. Democratic To w n Co m m i tte e C h a i r Fre d Jortner expected Democrat leadership since the council majority was Democrat. “That’s politics 101,” he said. However, Ann Reilly, chair of the Republican Town See Rochette / Page 9
Mayor Rachel Rochette sits for the first time in her mayoral seat. Deputy Kevin Murphy sits to her right. | (Daniel Jackson/ Berlin Citizen)
Despite challenges, the play must go on
Berlin High School students act out a scene from “Monty Python and The Holy Grail.” | (Submitted Photo)
By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
Berlin High School drama club spun out its version of “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” on Nov. 9, 10, 16 and 17. The play was notable for several reasons. Besides having one of the largest casts, the play was performed at McGee Middle School because of renovations in the high school. Matthew Recore, advisor for the drama club, said the production “definitely had its challenges,” because he worked with a large cast of over 30 actors and 15 stage crew members. “It was logistically difficult,” he said, adding that, “The students really brought it upon themselves to make this show what it was,” he said. The troupe held 15 rehearsals at the McGee stage, but they also rehearsed in Recore’s classroom and the “cafetenasium,” the high school’s gym, which is being used as a cafeteria while the renovation is going on.
Cast and crew traveled to the middle school after classes to practice, and the crew built the set from scratch, having lost access to the drama department’s old sets and costumes. In the shuffle of renovation, some of the contents of the prop closet were thrown out. Other items, such as tools, were stored at Willard Elementary School. The crew did not have access to their spare wood, paints. The school provided some funding and students pitched in, starting from square one to create costumes and props.
The stage crew pitched in, bringing their own materials and tools to build the sets. The approach was to create a minimalistic stage design and actors “broke the fourth wall,” taking the action down in the aisles, Recore said. Recore said the changes “helped to strengthen students’ resolve.” Becky Carriere, 16, said underclassmen walked to McGee for rehearsals, so the new location was somewhat harder to get to. The BHS See Play / Page 6 51713R
McGee the site of BHS production of Monty Python show
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