ON THE MARKET

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DePalma’s Tax Service, LLC

DePalma’s Tax Service, LLC

Andrew J. DePalma, EA

Andrew J. DePalma, EA

Income Tax Accountant/ Investment Planner

Income Tax Accountant/ Investment Planner

Accurately Done By Experienced Professional Specializing in:

Accurately Done By Experienced Professional Specializing in:

•Income Tax Preparation

Hickory Hill Orchards is on the market, according to a Jan 21 Facebook post by Ralph Lewis of the Lewis Team at Coldwell Banker Realty. Located at 351 South Meriden Road, the nearly 30 acre property is listed for $3.5 million. The site is located on Route 70 with access to I-84 to the west, I-91 to the east, I-95 to the south and Route 691 to the north. According to the post, this is the first time in 46 years the property has been for sale. Hickory Hill Orchards is known forproducingapples,peachesandpears. The parcelincludesa3,000 square foot country store and cooler. Its R-40 zoning allows for a subdivision.

•Income Tax Preparation

•Individual and Business

•Individual and Business

•Electronic Filing

•Electronic Filing

•Tax Planning- Year Round Service

•IRAs, 403(b)s, 401(k)s

•IRAs, 403(b)s, 401(k)s

•Tax Representation Enrolled to represent clients before the IRS

•Tax Planning- Year Round Service

•TSAs, Life Insurance

•TSAs, Life Insurance

•Tax Representation Enrolled to represent clients before the IRS

•Financial Services

•Financial Services

• Retirement and Tax Planning

• Retirement and Tax Planning

1095C South Main St., Cheshire 203-250-7100

1095C South Main St., Cheshire 203-250-7100

Discount for uniformed

Saturday, March 4, 2023 10am-12pm First Congregational

Cheshire Senior Center, 240 Maple Ave. 203-272-8286.

Meals

Grab ’N Go Meals have expanded to three days per week. Sign up by noon on Friday for meals the following Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Suggested

Cheshire Seniors

donation is $3 per meal. Contact Coleen for more information.

Tax assistance

AARP Tax Program appointments are available from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Thursdays. Call to schedule an appointment.

Aqua Turf events

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration: Tuesday, March 14 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Featuring the McLean Avenue Band, Irish step dancers, and a meal of corned beef and cabbage/ baked scrod. $52 per person.

Shake Rattle n’ Roll Dueling Pianos: Tuesday, April 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mixing music, comedy and audience interaction, two top piano entertainers will take the stage for an epic battle. Chicken/baked ham will be served. $52 per person.

Medical appointments

Out of town schedule: Monday Meriden; Tuesday North Haven & Hamden; Wednesday Wallingford; Thursday New Haven &

West Haven VA; Friday Southington & Waterbury Outpatient VA Clinic.

Rides are accepted for out of town appointments between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Call by 11 a.m. the day before for your transportation needs.

Energy assistance

Applications are open for the 2022-2023 heating season. Applications will be taken by appointment or through the mail. This is a supplemental heating program, meaning a portion of your heating bill can be paid. Payment will be made directly to the vendor, whether the heat source is oil, electric, gas or propane.

Applications close on May 31. Deliverable fuel bills must be submitted by June 16. Contact Kristen Schechter at 203-272-8030 for more information.

Read Across America

Intergenerational Program with Chapman School, Thursday, March 2 at 1 p.m.

The Senior Center is looking for a few members to take a trip to Chapman School to visit a second grade class. Transportation will be provided. See Laura for details.

Ask a Judge

Join us at our monthly dropin Probate Q&A program with Judge Jalowiec Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 10 a.m.

Save the date: 80 for Brady

Friday, March 10, a trip to the movies to see “80 for Brady.” Registration will begin Wednesday, March 1.

It’s an issue every city and town faces, and in response, the state legislature in 2021 passed a bill placing a fivecent surcharge on each 50 mL bottle, with the money going to municipalities to help pay for environmental cleanups, including efforts to remove nips from public places.

The funds are released to cities and towns in April and October of each year, and payments are based on the number of nips sold in the municipality.

“The money is supposed to go to picking up things like this,” said Mushinsky, a member of the Environment Committee. But lawmakers have doubts that is actually happening.

“Just today, we sent a slight adjustment to the bottle law and it has language in it to have the Council on Environmental Quality find out what happened to the money sent to each town, so hopefully we will get a report on that,” she said. “I don’t think it works, to be honest, I don’t think the money does anything. It was the liquor industry’s idea but it’s not effective.”

The program is administered by the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which collects the money and distributes it to municipalities.

“They put an extra fee on themselves so they wouldn’t have a deposit,” Mushinsky said. “They take five cents per bottle and give it to the town to clean up the environment, but clearly it does not work well and their product is all over the streets anyway.

“I personally am unhappy with how it’s playing out and feel we need to put them in the deposit law along with the other liquor containing beverages,” she said. In the last round of payments sent to cities and towns in October, Meriden received $47,069 for the period of April 1 to Sept. 30, 2022, and received a total of $82,592 for the year the program has existed. Cheshire received $9,766 for the sixmonth period and has received a total of $17,360 in the last year. Southington has received a total of $53,825 in the last year, including $31,307 for the sixmonth period, and Wallingford received $59,442 in the last year, of which $32,443 is for the six-month period.

Planning for a crisis

Masonicare will host the program “Planning Before a Crisis” Wednesday, March 15, 3 to 4 p.m., in the Knapp Auditorium at Masonicare at Ashlar Village, 74 Cheshire Road, Wallingford. Attorney Steven L. Rubin will discuss the legal aspects of having a plan for your future care vs. making decisions at the time of a health crisis.

The program is free and open to the public. RSVP by calling 203-679-6460.

When beginning your estate plan, your first task will be to inventory what you own. You may be surprised by all the tangible and intangible assets you have.

You will then need to work with your lawyer to prepare a will and name an executor to manage your estate after you pass. Think about naming a guardian for your children and documenting your wishes for their care.

Consider a Trust

A living trust -- or revocable trust -- at its most basic, is a legally binding document that names beneficiaries and designates someone to manage your financial assets. A living trust can work in conjunction with a will to make sure your assets are properly handled after you have passed.

Key Documents

Consider a health care proxy to empower someone you trust to make health decisions for you if you become incapacitated. A durable financial power of attorney allows someone else to manage your financial affairs, acting on your behalf to pay bills and taxes and also access and manage your assets.

Senior Health

Brain health program

The Healthy Brain Series runs Wednesdays, March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Topics include: Session 1: Challenge Your Mind Daily: Activities to Keep Your Mind Sharp; Session 2: Feeding the Brain: The Importance of Diet and Hydration; Session 3: Benefits of a Purposeful Life: Finding Meaningful Engagement as You Age; Session 4: Good Sleep and Brain Power: The Importance of Sleep and Your Brain and Session 5: The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest. Registration required. Call 1-855-442-4373 or go to HartfordHealthCare.org/VirtualClasses.

Bottle

From A5

Cheshire hasn’t decided yet what to with the money, according to Assistant Town Manager Arnett Talbot.

“The Solid Waste Committee of the Town Council is considering a combination of programs and some cleanup events,” said Talbot. “They are in the process of planning how to spend this money and any future money we might get. Hopefully within the next month or so we will have that in place.”

In Wallingford, the issue came up recently when Long Hill Road resident Bob Gross asked the Town Council and Mayor William Dickinson Jr. how the town would be spending its share of the money.

“We have received the money, ” Dickinson said. “It hasn’t been appropriated yet. My chief concern now is the 2023-24 budget, so that’s occupying time and concerns. ”

“It’s a shame it’s just sitting there,” Gross said. “It could be used to fix parks.”

According to the State Office of Legislative Research, “the law requires municipalities receiving the funds to use them for environmental efforts to reduce the amount of solid waste generated in the municipality or impact of litter. These efforts can include such things as hiring a recycling coordinator; installing storm drain filters to block debris or buying a mechanical street sweeper, vacuum, or broom to remove litter from streets, sidewalks, and abutting lawn and turf areas. ”

“It’s not working,” Mushinsky said. “They’re all over the streets and people like me and volunteers, we clean them up every year, but I get tired of cleaning up the liquor in the streets. I really get tired of it.”

“They’re all over the place. My personal preference would be either to put a deposit on them as soon as possible or if we can’t do that, to ban them. But they’re here now and they’re all over the streets of Wallingford, I can tell you that,” she said.

It’s a problem that is costing taxpayers money because municipalities and the state have to devote time and staff to cleaning them up, Mushinsky said.

While the payouts are supposed to fund those efforts, Mushinsky hasn’t yet seen any results, she said.

“When the stuff is left along the roads and parks, the public volunteers, the Department of Public Works, the Parks Department and the Department of Transportation, they all have to clean up this stuff,” Mushinsky said. “And it’s every year, and in some of these neighborhoods it’s every week depending on how close you are to the liquor store, and it’s pretty bad. So I don’t think this fund works very well. I’m not a fan of this fund because it doesn’t make a dent in the problem.”

David Martin Simisky

Obituaries

HAMDEN - David Martin Simisky, 66, of Hamden, CT, son of the late Paul James, Sr. and Arlla (Gillespie) Simisky, died peacefully in his home on Friday, February 3, 2023. He graduated from Cheshire High School in 1974.

David was a talented carpenter and finish craftsman. He loved working with and building computers and playing his guitar.

He is survived by his siblings, Margaret (Meg) and John Verret of Martha’s Vineyard, Justin Simisky of Hamden, CT, Arlla (Betsy) and Richard Kenefick, Jr., of Meriden, CT, Jonathan and Julia Simisky of Louisville, CO, Mary (Siobhan) and Jack Costello of Southington, CT and Karim and Brian Tripodina of North Dakota. He is also survived by his sistersin-law Carol Simisky of Dalton, MA and Diane Simisky Billings of Cheshire, CT, several nieces, nephews, greatnieces and greatnephews. He was predeceased by his brothers,