Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 7
Education budget passes on second try
Friday, May 28, 2010
Parade practice tradition
By Sue VanDerzee Town Times After chopping $133,729 from their original $34.8 million budget proposal, District 13 Board of Education members were delighted to exclaim to each other, “We have a budget” after the referendum vote ended at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22. It might have been the chopping, but certainly the extra 448 voters who came out for the second referendum had something to do with the turnaround. This time, the budget passed 813-530 in Durham, which was able to overcome a much smaller defeat in Middlefield, 401-438. Three weeks ago, the budget had been passed in Durham, but more narrowly, 611-485. Middlefield’s defeat by a vote of 247-391 sent the total package down by 18 votes. This time, the margin of passage was 247. Superintendent of Schools Sue Viccaro said after the totals were announced that she attributed the budget passage to “parents making the effort to talk to one another and get out the vote.” Board chair Tom Hennick declared himself to be “very gratified. I believe this is a responsible budget, and we can also move forward with our athletic facilities project (due to the settlement worked out with neighbor Karen Cheyney and the Durham Planning and Zoning Commission). There are challenges ahead, but I’m going to enjoy this for a little bit.” Hennick also singled out board member Kerrie Flanagan for her work in steering budget discussions in helpful ways.
Durham P&Z approves new site plan for CRHS athletic facilities that satisfies resident’s appeal By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times
The appeal of the approval of the new athletic facilities on the Coginchaug High School campus was settled by a stipulated agreement, which was approved by the Durham Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission at their meeting on May 19. An updated site plan was also approved. Last November, an appeal of the P&Z approval of the original plan was made by Karen Cheyney, a propertyowner abutting the Coginchaug campus, having to do with several items, but ultimately her concern was the level of noise during athletic
events. During the winter, District 13 and their attorney Tim Hollister had several conversations with the abutter and her attorney John Corona to solve the problem before having to go to court and pay more legal fees. Around the end of March, the district offered a revised plan, which Cheyney agreed to, contingent upon the district getting approval from the Durham Inlands Wetlands and Watercourses Agency (IWWA), Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and P&Z because the agreement changed the original site plan. See Athletic, page 5
Photo submitted by Eileen Chupron
Every May the CRHS band marches down to Korn School, and Korn students snake through the ranks as they enjoy the music. You can hear the high school band, as well as both middle school bands in the annual Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 31. The parade steps off from the corner of Haddam Quarter Road and Main Street at 9:15 a.m. Participants in the parade, including the bands, scouts, little leaguers, veterans and others, should gather at the corner between 8:15 and 8:30. The parade ends on the green with musical selections and speeches.
‘Hometown boy’ to lead 2010 parade By Trish Dynia Special to the Town Times When the Durham Memorial Day Parade steps off from the corner of Main Street and Haddam Quarter Road at 9:15 a.m. on Monday morning, leading the well-worn route to Durham Town Green will be this year’s Grand Marshal, Ray Kalinowski. Born and raised in the
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Durham Briefs................13 Durham Library.............15 Middlefield Briefs...........12 Spotlight .....................22-23 Sports ..........................24-26
Rockfall section of Middlefield, Kalinowski attended local schools. Shortly after graduating from high school, he joined the United States Air Force and served in Germany from 1960 to 1963 with the Air Force Security Service. His unit intercepted and monitored Russian communications, tracked spy plane flights over the Soviet Union as well as those of then Russian President Nikita Khrushchev. Kalinowski recalls listening with awe to communications between Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and ground control, as Gagarin became the first man to break the bonds of this planet and orbit the Earth in April of 1961.
charged from the Air Force in 1963 as an Airman First Class, Kalinowski drove across country on Route 66 in a 1961 Chevy to attend San Jose State University in California. There he met his future wife and lifelong partner, Sandi. “She was literally the first person I met when I got there,” recalled Kalinowski. After graduating with a BA in Law Enforcement Administration, Kalinowski accepted employment as a Special Agent with the Office of Naval Intelligence in San Francisco and later transferred to the U.S. Secret Service. After serving in the New Haven office in the late 1960s, he transferred to the White House in
After being honorably dis-
See Hometown, page 11