Volume 20, Number 2 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, April 19, 2013
Community Conversation to address underage drinking By Mark Dionne Town Times
On April 25, the Local Wellness Council with Durham and Middlefield Youth and Family Services will hold one of its series of Community Conversations, this one focusing on substance abuse and specifically underage drinking. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m., at the Durham Public Library, and, according to
Betsy Dean of DMYFS, it should be of interest to “anybody who is invested in the community.” Dean said the event is about building youth up so they make good choices. “We’re going to look at what goes on that strengthens our community’s youth and what barriers prevent our youth from becoming stronger.” Underage drinking, a perennial subject for groups like DMYFS, was made a
timely subject for Durham and Middlefield with the recent arrest of eight youths for possession of alcohol and seven more facing school discipline for drinking. The Community Conversation will begin by using a recently completed state-wide school survey to examine how the experience and exposure of Durham and Middlefield’s youth to drugs and alSee Underage, page 22
Durham painter talks art, life and pampered pooches By Diana Carr Special to Town Times
For Terry Oakes Bourret, of Durham, art is more than just putting pretty pictures to her canvas. It’s a way of life. It connects her to the world, and to herself. When she is “out and about,” she draws the life taking place around her.
“Whenever we’re waiting somewhere, I pull out a book and she pulls out her sketchbook,” said Don Bourret, her husband. “It’s my meditation,” said the artist. Bourret began taking art classes at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford, when she was 6-years-
old, and when she saw artists painting outside in Provincetown, she knew she wanted to be an artist. “I started painting on seashells because that’s what I saw them do,” she said. “I sold them in front of my grandfather’s grocery store.” She went on to become a nurse, but a workshop with renowned artist Helen Van Wyk would set her on a different career path. “Helen believed there was a logical way to study art, that it was not See Painter, page 4 Photo by Diana Carr
Terry Oakes Bourret holds her dog, Murphy, who often keeps her company in her studio.
In this issue ... Calendar ........................11 Devils Advocate ............13 Government ..................12 Obituary ..........................8
Submitted photo
Memorial Middle School held an Invention Convention April 9 to showcase student solutions to everyday problems. Middlefield First Selectman Jon Brayshaw was among the judges at the competition. He’s shown above with student-inventor Peter Schulten at Peter’s Pedal-Lit display. Brayshaw tried out a new improved bike helmet, which Peter created, that uses battery-powered LED light strips to make the helmet more visible and, therefore, the rider safer. Peter was one of 12 winners at the school who will go on to the CT State Invention Convention, May 4, at the University of Connecticut campus. See more photos page 5.
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