Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 16, Issue 30
Friday, November 6, 2009
And the winners are ... Middlefield’s Board of Selectmen for the next two years, left.
Jon Brayshaw By Sue VanDerzee Town Times Middlefield Jon Brayshaw defeated Mary Johnson for the second time to retain the first selectman’s seat in Middlefield. Rounding out the Board of Selectmen will be Edward Bailey and Mary Johnson. The Board of Selectmen is composed of the three highest vote-getters among the four selectmen candidates. Brayshaw polled 838, Bailey 831, Johnson 697 and Kenneth Blake 688. Blake’s vote total was close enough to Johnson’s so that recount would have been mandated except that Blake refused the option and will not serve on the board. Donna Golub was re-elected town clerk without opposition. Incumbent Mary Hooper outpolled challenger Vanessa Schmaltz for town treasurer, 806-692. Anne Olzewski was re-elected as tax collector, also without opposition. Robert Yamartino (819 votes), incumbent Rebecca Adams (827) and Lucy Petrella (832) were elected to the three openings on the Board of Finance. Incumbent Ellen Waff (778) was not returned to the board.
Ed Bailey
Mary Johnson
With no candidates nominated by either caucus for a two-year vacancy on the Board of Finance, Jeremy Renninghoff and David White filed as petitioning write-in candidates, and Renninghoff will take the seat with 74 votes to White’s 17. Finally Nancy Currlin (719) and Robert Liptak (755) will take seats on the Board of Assessment Appeals. Poll workers were disappointed in the turnout of 1,547 (around 49 percent), saying that usually 65-75 percent of the registered voters in town cast ballots. Durham With 4,953 voters on the rolls, 1,931 came out to vote despite no “top of the ticket” names. Instead voters elected members of the Board of Finance, the Board of Assessment Appeals, the Planning and Zoning Commission (regular and alternate) and the Zoning Board of Appeals (regular and alternate). For the finance board, where only one Republican could be seated based on the fact that they hold three seats on the board already, Helen Larkin R-1,062) and Renee Primus Edwards (D-927) gained seats. Richard Spooner (R-1,029) and Laurie Stevens (D-744) were unsuccessful.
For the Board of Assessment Appeals, either candidate could have been seated, but Jay Berardino outpolled incumbent Katharine Forline 1,025 to 799. For the Planning and Zoning Commission, Ralph Chase (R-1,128), Lisa Davenport (R1,145), Joseph Pasquale (D844), Christopher Flanagan (D778) and Catherine Devaux (D778) claimed seats. Chase and Devaux are incumbents while Davenport, Pasquale and Flanagan are newcomers to the commission. Incumbent Thomas Russell Jr. (R), Steven DeMartino (R), Kimberly Ryder (R), Brian Ameche (D) and Eugene Riotte Jr. (D) were unsuccessful. Russell and Riotte are incumbents. Campbell Barrett (D-736) took the P&Z alternate spot despite being outpolled by Eric Berens (R-1,076) because the seat must be filled by a non-Republican. David Slight (R-1,130) and Chris DePentima (R-1,007) won seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals over Anne Cassady (D-741) and William Joyce (D754). Joyce is an incumbent. William LaFlamme (R1,347) ran unopposed to fill a two-year ZBA vacancy, and Pamela Lucashu (R-1,301) ran unopposed for ZBA alternate.
Web update: By Wednesday, 69 people had answered our poll question — “Will you get a flu shot this year?” Forty-one percent said no, 33 percent would like to get both seasonal and H1N1 flu shots, 22 will get seasonal only, and 4 percent will get H1N1. Good luck to all still in search of those shots! Check our website at wwww.towntimes.com for updates and our new question.
Ellie Cooper looks for last year’s photo on Eleanor Zahorodni’s Halloween “wall of fame.”
End of an era at ‘the lake’ Stephanie Wilcox Town Times Days after, Eleanor Zahorodni says she is still feeling terrific after a very busy but very fulfilling Halloween. In a letter to the editor last week, she announced that this was to be her last year of inviting trick-or-treaters in for pictures and snacks, a tradition shared with the Lake Beseck community since 1978 when she and her late husband Dick Hodge moved to the neighborhood and wanted a way to meet everyone. “We didn’t want to make a big to-do about it when it started, we just wanted to have it be fun and safe for the kids and also get to meet everybody,”
she said. “It worked.” In it’s 30th year, Eleanor said this Halloween was everything she was hoping it would be, considering it was her last time. Hosted at Dave Bruno’s house, who has generously offered his home since Eleanor moved to Meriden a few years
See Era, page 21
In this issue ... Aunt Clara’s Closet....15-18 Calendar............................4 Halloween...................20-21 Town Briefs ................11-14 Obituaries .......................31 Scouts ..............................26 Sports ..........................27-30