“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” ~ Johannes A. Gaertner
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Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume VIII, No. 47
Friday, November 16, 2012
Region 15 superintendent of schools is leaving By KATHLEEN RIEDEL Dr. Frank Sippy, Region 15’s superintendent of schools since 2001, told the Board of Education (BoE) Monday night he will be retiring June 30, 2013. This will allow him to work through the end of the 2012-2013 school year. BoE members said Sippy will be missed. “I knew about this before tonight,” BoE Chairman Janet Butkus said. “But it’s certainly a very emotional announcement. You mean a great deal to the region.” Expressing his mutual regard for the Region 15 community, Sippy said, “Good leaders understand the position they hold and that it’s a privilege. They also recognize that their tenure must end at some point. Good leaders recognize when it’s time to step aside so a fresh perspective can lead the organization’s continued quest for excellence.” At a time when Region 15 is undergoing changes including starting full-day kindergarten, redistricting and establishing new common core state standards, Sippy promised he will not take a vacation during the last months of his tenure. “I’m not going to hide. I will work every day to June 30. That is the only way I know how to do business,” he said. Butkus then invited BoE members to make comments regarding the announcement. “I can’t tell you how angry I get with you sometimes,” board member Pat Perry said, speaking to Sippy’s tireless work. “When I’m getting emails from you at six o’clock in the morning or 11 o’clock at night, and I’m going, ‘Does this man ever sleep?’ And they’re not coming from your house; they’re coming from central office. So I know you’re there at crazy hours,” she said. Joseph Rock, another board member, has worked with Sippy for the past eight years. “You are one of the hardest-working executives I have ever seen – in school and outside of school,” he said. “I think the last thing I ever wanted to hear was that you would retire,” board member Paul Babarik commented. “You are a blue collar superintendent. You treat us all equally. You treat us all very well, and you always have the children’s best interest at heart.” Board member Fran Brennan agreed. “Only one year, Frank, that’s all we’ve had together,” he said. “But in that year I would assess you as being top of the pile. You are a very fine person. You are a very capable person. You are an extraordinary role model for teachers.” Butkus told Sippy she hoped he would not go quietly. “We want hoopla, Frank,” she said. In other business, board members thanked students and staff for their active participation in Veterans Day. Students created honorary walls and invited veterans into classrooms. “Thank you for getting to know the people who make this country what it is,” John Bucciarelli of the BoE said. A video of photos taken during Monday’s in-school Veterans Day events is posted on the Region 15 home page. The next regular BoE meeting will be Monday, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in All Purpose Room No. 103 at Pomperaug High School. The BoE will have a special meeting regarding redistricting and full-day kindergarten Monday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in All Purpose Room No. 103 at Pomperaug High School.
Scoutmasters and other volunteers from Middlebury, Oakville and Southbury join Staten Island victims of Hurricane Sandy Sunday. The victims received donations collected in Middlebury Saturday afternoon and also were treated to a hot meal.
Local residents lend a hand By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Local residents responded generously last Saturday to the Boy Scout drive to collect donations for Hurricane Sandy victims on Staten Island. Middlebury Boy Scout Troop 5 Assistant Scoutmaster Ron Brandes said a steady stream of cars at the collection point at Middlebury Congregational Church (MCC) brought in enough food, clothing, linens, personal care items and cleaning supplies to fill three trailers. Costco in Waterbury donated $150 in diapers to the effort. In addition, more than $600 in cash was donated to help pay for gas and tolls to deliver the donations to Staten Island Sunday. Some of that money also went towards food for the hot lunch volunteers served to the hurricane victims. Scoutmaster Dave Redline said Brandes’ idea of helping those affected by the hurricane grew well beyond the first simple idea. When word of the effort got out to the Boy Scouts’ Mad River and Northwest Hills Districts, they and the Girl Scouts and the community all responded and helped with the effort. Saturday morning, Jeanine Bonaventure of MCC kicked things off by preparing a cash donation jar and putting it out during the church’s Pilgrim’s Pace 5K Road Race. Saturday afternoon, Boy Scouts and adults from Troop 5 were joined by Troop 140 from Oakville and Troops 60 and 1607 from Southbury as well as Middlebury Girl Scouts (Brownie Troop 164107) and additional volunteers, who accepted and sorted donations as they were dropped off and helped pack three troop trailers with food, clothing and cleaning supplies. When Troop 1607 of Southbury suggested cooking and serving lunch to the victims, Brandes immediately started planning that part of the effort. They initially thought they would serve 100 people, but soon learned they might have 250 people needing a hot meal. Karl Kugler and company from Troop 140 of Oakville stepped up to the plate and took on that project. The donations were headed to the United Church of Praise International Ministries in Staten Island, where The Reverend Tom Cletus served as the project coordinator. Brandes said the Boy Scouts left Middlebury about 8:30 a.m. Sunday pulling four trailers (three
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, their leaders and community volunteers pause for a picture while collecting donations for Hurricane Sandy victims Saturday. The donations were delivered to Staten Island Sunday. full of food and clothing and one packed with cook stoves and food for lunch). They were joined by a pickup truck from the Waterbury YMCA loaded with clothing and baby formula. All arrived in Staten Island around 11 a.m. Parishioners were excited and ready for the Scouts’ arrival. Some pitched in to help unload the trailers; others helped set up the cooking station. Kugler recruited some of the Staten Island Scout-age boys to help prepare and cook the food, a chore they seemed to enjoy immensely. With parishioners’ help, they unloaded the clothing and food in about 45 minutes, packing two rooms full of donations. Then, over the next several hours, they served a meal of Boy Scout Stew with elbows, hot dogs with buns, hot chocolate, ready-made soup, chips, cookies, water and coffee. They fed about 200 people. “The people were so grateful and overwhelmed with the amount of clothing and food that was donated from the community,” Brandes said. The Scouts then took a tour of the area with Pastor Cletus to see the damage the storm left behind and hear from many of the people from the church and on the street their firsthand accounts of devastation before driving home and arriving back in
Lavoscious Bracewell, left, and Reginald Roberts of Staten Island pitch in to help prepare Boy Scout Stew for Hurricane Sandy victims Sunday. (Submitted photos) Middlebury about 6 p.m. Brandes said the effort was a great success. “We are proud that the community pulled together, including the donations of a pickup truck full of clothing and baby
formula from the Waterbury YMCA,” he said. For updates on the needs of Sandy’s victims, Brandes recommends www. interoccupy.net.
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 2 In Brief............................ 4 It Happened in Middlebury.... 5 Library Happenings.......... 2
Nuggets for Life.............. 6 Parks & Recreation.......... 6 Puzzles........................... 7 Region 15 Calendar........ 3 Senior Center News......... 3 Varsity Sports Calendar.... 6
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Mail: P.O. Box 10, Middlebury, CT 06762 Published weekly by The Middlebury Bee Intelligencer Society, LLC - 2030 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT 06762 - Copyright 2012