Volume 19, Number 42 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Presidential Inauguration at Brewster Submitted by Patti Checko
Brewster School recently held an Inaugural Gala for second grade students. Games and activities included the Electoral College Bowl, Make Your Vote Count, President Bingo, Guess the President’s Height and dancing. Students dressed up for the Inaugural Ball and had a photo op with a President Obama stand-in.
Friday, Januar y 25, 2013
Superintendent awards, Teacher of the Year presented
Photos by Mark Dionne
Alyssa Szymaszek and Gesami Vazquez pose for a picture with President Obama (Vicki Cummings) and his security (intern David Piccolo).
Left: Lauren Trombetta and Jeffrey Giantonio received the Superintendent Award. Right: Kathy Bottini, at right, with Sue Viccaro, was named Teacher of the Year.
Solar program was a success
By Mark Dionne Special to the Town Times
and Portland followed. Harsh Luthra, president of BeFree Solar, the company selected by the Town of Durham to install the solar panels, said he believes the reason Durham was so successful with the program is because the town picked a local company. “We’re right here in Madison and we’ve done a lot with Durham before,” Luthra said. “Other towns chose out-of-state companies, but people seemed to really respond to ours.” Luthra said he is happy that Durham got a lot out of the program, but emphasized the effort that was put into the entire process. “It started with seven or nine towns applying for this program,” he explained. “After we were picked as a company (for Durham), we did our own research on homes — roof placements, where trees are located — and went to about 600 homes ourselves. Some nights we would stay
At the Jan. 9 Board of Education meeting at John Lyman School, Superintendent Sue Viccaro presented Coginchaug High School students Lauren Trombetta and Jeffrey Giantonio with the Superintendent Award. Viccaro praised the variety of Lauren’s activities and the success she has had with them. “Lauren Trombetta is a highly intelligent, competitive and determined young woman who has experienced great success academically and has been involved in many different aspects of the Coginchaug High School community.” While maintaining a high GPA, Lauren competes in soccer and both indoor and outdoor track and is a school record holder in track. Lauren has also been a Special Olympics volunteer and hopes to create a reading tutoring program in the schools. Lauren is president of both the senior class and Na-
By Patty Szczygiel Special to the Town Times
Residents of the Town of Durham have made a big statement about solar power. The final count on homes in Durham that have received solar panels as part of Solarize Connecticut is 117, with 30 more homes signing up within two weeks after the deadline date was extended to Jan. 14. Solarize Connecticut, a pilot program of which Durham was selected as one of four pilot towns, aggregated homeowners to offer discounted prices for residential solar power. With 117 homes on board, the Town of Durham had the most sign-ups of all the pilot towns, bringing Durham’s kilowatts from 600 to 1,000 after the New Year — almost double the amount of the pilot town with the second highest number of sign-ups, Fairfield, with 76. Westport
up until 12 a.m. just looking over applications. It’s taken some time. Certain homes that applied in September had only received their solar paneling last week, so it’s been a process. But the people of Durham really made a great, thoughtful decision. They’re saving a lot on electricity now.” Even Middlefield, which wasn’t a pilot town, was able to benefit from the program. In early December, BeFree Solar announced that, since Durham was having success with the program, Middlefield residents were invited to sign up at Durham prices for the duration of the program. Since then two homes signed up to receive solar panels in Middlefield. Durham First Selectman Laura Francis and Middlefield First Selectman Jon Brayshaw were unable to be reached for comment by press time.
tional Honor Society. She has also been involved in the Model U.N. “She attributes her experiences with Model U.N. for teaching her how to be a successful public speaker and how to express herself appropriately,” Viccaro said. Jeffrey Giantonio has also been involved with the Model U.N. and his experiences there may serve him well later in life. “Jeff aspires to be a politician in the future and has shown through both his leadership roles and his class discussions that he has the social skills necessary to lead and the character and charm that make people believe in
See Awards, page 5
In this issue ... Calendar ..........................8 Devils Advocate ............13 Faith...............................10 Government ....................5 Obituaries .....................30 Schools.............................7 Seniors...........................25 Sports.............................22