Volume 17, Issue 11
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
There they go ... CRHS grads step into the future
50-state walk highlights vets’ plight By Joseph Adinolfi Special to the Town Times
Photo by Sue VanDerzee
There’s nothing like a graduation to drive home the swift passage of time. See pages 17-28 for our special Town Times graduation section.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Since June 1, Ronald Zaleski, 59, a U.S. Marine Corp Veteran who served from 1970 to 1972, has been walking off 33 years of repressed anger. Zaleski, along with his partner Valeria Moran, 56, founded The Long Walk Home — a campaign to make grief counseling mandatory for every branch of the U.S armed forces. He has walked from Concord, Mass. and plans to walk across the country collecting signatures for a petition he hopes to present to President Obama on Nov. 11, 2011` — Veterans Day and, coincidentally, Zaleski’s 61st birthday. Moran drives an RV – The Long Walk Home’s “mobile command center” – alongside Zaleski as he walks with a large sign hanging over his shoulders that reads “18 vets
commit suicide every day.” Zaleski wears the sign not only as evidence to support his campaign, but also to grab people’s attention. “There are over 120 politicians on the armed services committees, and that’s why we’re going to every state; because there are at least two politicians in every state that are on the committee,” said Zaleski. Zaleski’s long walk home began in 2006, when – after an inspiring conversation with a child – he decided to let go of the hostility that had consumed him since the end of his service and begin working to change the way the U.S. military handles mental health. According to Zaleski, mental health counseling needs to be mandatory before discharge – regardless of
See Walk, page 10
Groundbreaking for athletic facilities at Coginchaug Regional High School June 2010 In this issue ... Calendar............................4 CRHS Graduation ......17-28 Durham Briefs .....12-13+28 In Our Libraries ...............5 Middlefield Briefs ......30-31 Obituaries ..................38-39 Spotlight..........................36 Sports ..........................40-42 Weddings.........................37
At left, the drawings are explained to a spectator at the groundbreaking earlier this week. Above, high school athletes show a sample of the artificial turf they look forward to competing on, perhaps as early as this fall. More photos on page 25. Maps and details in Town Times next week. Photos by Karen Kean