Thursday, October 10, 2019
cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 6, Number 52
Council extends unsafe properties ordinance
COMMENTARY
Life-changing trip to Bangladesh By Kavin Kathir Special to The Citizen
I’m a sophomore at Cheshire Academy and with support from a Venture Grant at Cheshire Academy, I recently went on a volunteer trip to the Bangladesh branch of Distressed Children and Infants International in Dhaka.
By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
The trip taught me many things and changed the way I think about my life.
Fire Marshal John Andrews, who serves as premises safety enforcement officer as a result of the ordinance, said it has been helpful in addressing complaints.
When I looked down at the small stone stove and the poor living conditions of the slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I was reminded of everything I took for granted daily in my comfortable home in Cheshire. This was one of many lessons I was able to learn on my trip to this developing country filled with great people. Before the trip, however, my work at DCI was small. I was in 6th grade when I first started, and happy to do any work that would contribute to the organization.
It’s been more than a year since the town enacted an unsafe structure and premises ordinance.
Kavin Kathir, center, a student at Cheshire Academy, poses with some of the people he met during a recent volunteer trip to Bangladesh.
Dr. Hoque, the leader and founder of DCI, was very welcoming and his passion for DCI’s mission was contagious. Other children, teens and I stuffed mailers and newsletters, researched sponsors, came up with ideas for events and stamped envelopes. Through DCI, I also started sponsoring a child in Bangladesh by using the
money I earned doing chores. As a result, my sponsored child could be a student and not a laborer. Gradually, I became more and more involved in the organization as well. I had a spot on the committee for the International Food Festival, and helped in planning it so it could raise awareness in Cheshire. This work taught me many
“In the past, it would have been a very long, drawn-out court process to get it done,” he said. “But in the meantime you still have an unsafe building sitting there. So this ordinance gives us an almost immediate ability to take
See Trip, A10
See Unsafe, A13
NOTEWORTHY GARDEN After its regular monthly September meeting, members of the Cheshire Garden Club drove over to Dave and Janet Andrews’ property on Payne Drive to tour the gardens out front and in the back of the couple’s home. With its profusion of color and the multitude of annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, the landscaping was dubbed “astounding,” by club members. The visual impact was accompanied by the sound of the gentle flowing water of a brook coursing throughout the front garden. The consensus from members was that Cheshire Garden Club members on a recent visit to Dave Cheshire Garden Club recently declared the they’d just seen the most beautiful and Janet Andrews’ property on Payne Drive, from left Sue gardens at Dave and Janet Andrews’ property on garden in town. D’Agostino, Irene Smith and Pat Pavelkops; with Dave and Payne Drive as “the most facinating” and most beautiful in town.
— Submitted Janet Andrews at center; and Inge Venus on the right.