cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 6, Number 43
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Goodwill store opens on S. Main By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
Meaghan O’Meara, of Milford, was surrounded by clothes on racks and stacks of gray totes Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 7.
New Doolittle Elementary School Principal Amy O’Brien greets students Caitlin Tyrrel, 11, center, and Abby Smardin, 11, right, at the school on Tuesday, Aug. 6. O’Brien, a Cheshire resident, had been principal at Ansonia’s Mead School before her arrival at Doolittle. Photos by Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Families meet new principal By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
shaking hands as they walked into the library.
Classes for the town’s public school students don’t start until three weeks from now.
Seven-year-old Kaylie Plourde, brought a welcome gifts. O’Brien unwrapped the gifts, which included a potholder Plourde had crafted and a picture she had drawn.
But recently hired Doolittle Elementary School Principal Amy O’Brien is already settling into her new role. On Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 6, the school was open for families to meet their new principal. “I’m ready to go,” O’Brien said, just before families began to file into the school’s library, where the meet-andgreet was taking place. O’Brien, a Cheshire resident who had been principal at Ansonia’s Mead School before her arrival at Doolittle, was soon chatting with parents and their students,
O’Meara, a longtime employee of Goodwill Industries, was one of about 40 staffers prepping the nonprofit’s newest store, at 935 S. Main St., for its grand opening Aug. 8. It is Goodwill’s 15th retail location in Connecticut. “You want to look at something from a shopper’s perspective,” O’Meara said of how she and other employees process items. O’Meara was hanging sweaters, shirts, pants and other clothes, attaching price tags. “I just want to make sure when customers go through the store, they see something nice, that they’re going to want to put to good use,” she said. “It’s a good feeling coming into work and knowing that you’re here for a bigger cause and the cause really involves the community.”
“This is beautiful,” O’Brien said. Kelly Plourde said her daughter is excited school will be resuming. O’Brien
“She told me yesterday she misses school,” Kelly Plourde are ongoing were on display, said. with buckets, ladders, boxes and other items lining the In addition to having a new leader, Doolittle is undergo- hallway, which led from the entrance to the library. ing some building renovations, including improveThe youngest participants in ments to the school’s restrooms. Signs those projects
See Principal, A69
In addition to clothing, furniture, electronics, books, and small appliances, the store also offers toys, sporting goods, musical instruments and more. Just over three months ago, the more-than-
Richard Borer, president of Goodwill of Southern New England, unpacks a vintage polaroid camera for sale at the new Goodwill store.
1,200-square-foot space in a plaza next to Advance Auto Parts had been a Pier 1 Imports store. The funds raised through retail sales, after covering the store’s overhead, enable Goodwill Industries to continue to provide individuals with disabilities employment, education and recreational opportunities, said H. Richard Borer Jr., president of Goodwill Southern New England. Borer said the organization had long run an attended donation center across the street from the new store location. The new store now has an in-house donation center, but the existing center will remain open for a few more months. Borer said the popularity of that long-standing donation center, which has averaged more than 200 donations a week, was one of the reaSee Store, A68