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Best of the best
Dance academy takes center stage
Contest to celebrate local businesses By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
NEWINGTON — Being home to both a vibrant downtown district and a busy state highway like the Berlin Turnpike makes Newington an especially healthy breeding ground for business. To celebrate the abundance of enterprises in town and honor Volume 55, No. 16
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the most popular, the Newington Chamber of Commerce is hosting its second annual Best of Newington Awards this spring. In last year’s inaugural competition, 32 businesses were presented with trophies after several weeks of voting. The second time around, there are a total of 42 awards and six weeks left to vote. Plus, the competition is a bit more fierce. “Last year’s awards created some healthy rivalries, and I think people are really excited about it this year — they’re definitely See NOMINATIONS, Page 7
The Backstage Academy of Dance held “Dance 2 Care” at St. Mary School in Newington on Sunday, April 12, to raise money for Interval House, which provides services to help break the cycle of family and intimate partner abuse.
Newington resident turns 103 By ERICA SCHMITT STAFF WRITER
NEWINGTON — In the span of one century, Lillian Motto worked on a dairy farm, raised a family, charmed bakery customers, married twice and welcomed eight grandchildren into the world. Her most recent was Isaac, the first great-great-grandchild. Now a resident of BelAir Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Newington, Motto recently celebrated her 103rd birthday. Although she now spends most of the day resting, one thing hasn’t changed over the
years — she still loves to dance. According to her family and friends, that’s always been a common thread in her life, no matter the circumstances. “She used to get up and dance, and now sometimes she’ll let us help her or she’ll move around in her chair,” said Martha Sanchez, the center’s recreation director. “She’s very funny and very sweet.” For Motto, the simple life is the happiest kind. Although they raised their family during the Great Depression, she and Martin Pabst, her first husband, never Lillian Motto just celebrated her See RESIDENT, Page 6
103rd birthday.