Big Brothers Big Sisters’ ‘Expanding Potential’ gala

Press Release

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut, the state’s premier youth mentoring organization, will hold its annual gala Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Society Room in Hartford. This year’s theme is “Expanding Potential.”

The fundraising gala will in- clude testimonials from mentors (“Bigs”) and mentees (“Littles”), and the organization will present its Visionary Leader Award to prominent state business executives and philanthropists Rebecca Corbin Loree and James Loree.

Andy Fleischmann, President & CEO of Nutmeg Big

Brothers Big Sisters said, “Rebecca and Jim Loree are truly Visionary Leaders. With a vision for a more equitable

See Gala, A5

At a recent meeting, members of the North Haven Rotary packaged toiletries and other donated supplies for the Ronald McDonald House of New Haven, which serves families seeking care at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital andother facilities. North Haven Rotarians were able to put together 18 “welcome” bags, which were delivered by project organizers LuAnn Cottiero Buono and Laura Pellegrino. Anyone interested in joining the North Haven Rotary should contact Rick Bassett and empowering world, Rebecca and Jim Loree have made it their purpose to support young people in need. Together, they have demonstrated a readiness to support and dedication to inspire others to meet the needs of children and families. We are proud to honor Rebecca and Jim as leaders and champions of our mission to help children reach their full potential. And we look forward to raising a glass in their honor on Feb. 25 – and encourage others to join us!”

Rebecca Corbin Loree is the founder and CEO of Farmington-based Corbin Advisors, a strategic consultancy accelerating shareholder value for public companies globally. She is a trusted advisor and partner to boards and executives who seek her firm’s research-based insights and counsel.

James Loree is the former Chief Executive Officer of Stanley Black & Decker, where he served for 23 years, including six years as CEO, seven years as President and COO, and 10 as CFO. He currently sits on multiple public and private boards, participates in many associations and is deeply involved with the Jim and Rebecca Loree Foundation, which works to build stronger communities by investing in educational opportunities for underserved youth.

“My husband, Jim, and I are truly humbled and honored to receive this recognition,” said Rebecca Corbin Loree.

“Since the mid-1960s, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been a bright light for underserved children in Connecticut’s communities, doing tremendous good and transforming lives. Our association with Big Brothers Big Sisters has been educational and inspiring and we have enjoyed working with Andy and the BBBS organization in support of furthering their mission and impact.”

For more information on the Big Brothers Big Sisters gala, contact Marisa Rader at marisar@ctbigs.org.

“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.

Cheshire hasn’t decided yet what to with the money, ac- cording 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.”

Obituaries

MERIDEN - Edmund

“Ed” Morris Sorenson, 70, of Meriden, passed away on January 8, 2023 at MidState Medical Center, Meriden. Ed was born in Bangor, Maine, on October 23, 1952, a son of the late Morris Sherwood and Wilma Francelia (Houston) Sorenson. He is survived by sisters

Bonnie Sorenson and her husband Mark Gauthier, Becky Vigneault and her husband Edward, brother Dana Sorenson and his wife Susan, brotherin-law Robert Buck, nephews Erik Henderson, Jonathan Vigneault, Aaron Sorensen, Todd Healy, and Christian Buck, and niece

Heather Calhoun-Ahava. He was predeceased by sister Holly Buck and niece Wendy Vigneault. Growing up, Ed lived in Forest City, Iowa, as well as Newport and Norridgewock, Maine. He graduated from Skowhegan H.S. in 1971 and attended Bowdoin College with a 4-year degree and 2 years post graduate work in Biochemistry. While in college, Ed had several part-time jobs including lab assistant at Bowdoin College and Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, as well as summers as a sternman on a lobster boat in South Freeport. After leaving

R.I. trip

Take a trip to Wright’s Farm in Blackstone Valley, R.I. Thursday, April 20 for an allyou-can-eat classic chicken dinner. Stroll the gift shop and keep your winning streak going with a visit to Bally’s Twin River Casino. For age 18-plus. Cost is $99 for residents, $109 for nonresidents. Trip will depart from North Haven Senior Center.

college, Ed worked many years as a researcher with several pharmaceutical companies. In his later years, Ed taught chemistry in many private schools, including 10 years in China, before retiring. Ed was an adventurer and a life long traveler. In addition to most of the U.S. and Canada, Ed traveled to many parts of China, while teaching there as well as travel to the mountains of Tibet, safaris in Africa and many other places too numerous to list. Although he had traveled the world, Ed always looked forward to spending time on the Maine coast. All that being said, if we had one word to characterize Ed’s life it would be “books.” Regardless of where he was, Ed would usually be found with a book in hand. Services will be privately held at the convenience of his family.