New pub welcomed in Seymour

I attended Friday's official grand opening of American Pie & Pub in Klarides Village Shopping Center in Seymour. 

The restaurant/bar held its "soft opening" June 12, which drew a huge crowd, said Oxford resident Phil Pedros, owner. 
The menu features thin-crust pizza, chicken wings, and specialty beers on tap. 

Read all about it here in the Valley Independent Sentinel.

I wish Pedros and his staff the best of luck in this new endeavor!

Griffin Hospital in Derby to offer health career classes

The Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers has scheduled classes starting this fall. / Contributed photo

DERBY - The Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers, 300 Seymour Ave., Suite 206, will offer classes for its Patient Care Technician, Phlebotomy and Accelerated Certified Nursing Assistant programs this fall.

Anyone 18 years of age or older with a High School Diploma or GED may apply for admission. Early application is encouraged for all courses, as space is limited.

Patient Care Technician

The 16-week PCT program starts Sept. 15 with practical training on Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and either day (9 a.m. – noon) or evening (6-9 p.m.) phlebotomy classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The last four weeks of the PCT program is a clinical rotation from 7 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. for a total of 160 hours.

The PCT program offers ample hands-on training and opportunities for practical experience in the school's fully equipped mock hospital room. 

The course tuition includes textbook, malpractice insurance, CPR certification, and national certification.

Phlebotomy

The 13-week Phlebotomy program starts Sept 15 and offers day (9 a.m.-noon) and evening (6-9 p.m.) class options on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The course tuition includes a 40-hour internship, national certification, lab coats, CPR certification, malpractice insurance, and textbook.

Accelerated Certified Nursing Assistant

The school’s five-week, accelerated CNA program begins Oct. 5 with classes Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. for four weeks then a 40-hour clinical rotation for the final week.

The accelerated CNA course offers students an affordable and condensed schedule. Course content includes infection control, legal and ethical responsibilities, communications, body mechanics, moving and positioning residents, personal care skills, nutrition, measuring vital signs, and restorative care. After successfully completing the course and clinical experience, students will be qualified to take the State exam for certification as a Nursing Assistant in Connecticut. The CNA course costs $1,250 and includes the course book, CPR training, and malpractice insurance coverage for the clinical rotation.

For more information or to apply, call 203-732-7578 or visit griffinhealth.org/allied-health.

Griffin Hospital's School of Allied Health Careers was one of the first hospital-based schools of its kind to be authorized by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education and offers Phlebotomy and other professional educational programs to provide training, education, and certification in selected health careers. 

Classes are taught by certified instructors in the Griffin Hospital Medical Building, located at 300 Seymour Ave. 

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Shelton Historical Society to host tea in September

SHELTON - The Shelton Historical Society recently received a collection of over 20,000
photographs, many of which were published in a local weekly newspaper. 

They hold irreplaceable images of our city over several decades. 

The goal is to preserve them in such a manner that they can be used for research and as a record of the past.

The cost for this effort is high. To help achieve the goal, the
Society is holding "An Autumn Tea” from 2-4 p.m. Sept. 19
at the Fellowship Hall of Huntington Congregational Church, 19 Church St. 

Enjoy an afternoon of tea, scones, sandwiches, sweets, and surprises with an exhibit of vintage hats.

The cost is $25 with a 10 percent discount for Shelton Historical Society members. As 

reservations are limited, please send your check to the Shelton Historical Society at P. O.

Box 2155, Shelton, 06484 no later than Sept. 5. 

The preservation and cataloging of these images and other collections fits the mission of
the Shelton Historical Society, which is to preserve elements of the community’s history
to create connections between Shelton’s past, present, and future generations through
education, maintaining a museum with its collections, and providing a voice in the
community regarding matters of historical significance. 

The Society operates Shelton History Center, which consists of six historic structures that
that were saved from demolition and assembled in one location at 70 Ripton Road.

For additional information, call 203-925-1803, visit www.sheltonhistoricalsociety.org, or see Shelton History Center’s Facebook page.


This is a press release from Tracey Tate, executive director, Shelton Historical Society.

Connecticut group's poster art contest starts today

Connecticut’s Historic Gardens group celebrates its annual statewide Historic Gardens Day each June.

Artists are invited to submit artwork to be considered for a poster that will advertise the thirteenth annual event in June 2016.

The Osborne Homestead Museum at 500 Hawthorne Ave., Derby, is one of the 14 historic gardens in the group.

The contest connects artists with the beauty of Connecticut’s historic homes and their gardens. Feel free to explore the gardens in this group for inspiration.

Deadline for submissions for the 2016 Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Day Poster Artwork is Jan. 22, 2016.

The winning artwork will be selected by a jury of the Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Group and will be announced on Feb. 1, 2015. The winning poster will be displayed in the Connecticut Historic Gardens booth at the Connecticut Flower Show in Hartford that runs Feb. 18-21, 2016.

Eligibility: The contest is open to all Connecticut artists who work in oil, acrylic, or watercolor. Artists can submit up to three works of art. Please, no work should be previously published on the Internet or other social media.

Rights: The winner will be awarded a prize of $250. The artist retains the right of ownership of the work of art, but allows Connecticut’s Historic Gardens Group the right to reproduce and distribute the image on a limited edition poster and other advertising materials to third parties. 

The artist also agrees to sign copies of the poster that will be raffled at each site and at the Connecticut Flower Show in February 2016.

Contest Rules and Application: Please stay tuned to the website for an application form pdf.

For more information, contact Lea Anne Moran at moranla@comcast.net.



This is shared from an online community calendar sponsored by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and The New Haven Independent.

Griffin Hospital in Derby to offer 'Wellness for Life' program

Griffin Hospital is offering its 12-week lifestyle change program starting Sept. 15.

DERBY - Griffin Hospital is helping individuals make the change for a healthier life this fall with its Wellness for Life program.

Wellness for Life is a 12-week, evidence-based lifestyle change program that helps prevent and treat many chronic diseases. 

According to a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services, 80 percent of chronic diseases, like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, can be prevented with better lifestyle choices in nutrition, activity and emotional health.
Starting Sept. 15 from 6-8:30 p.m., the program offers a custom fitness evaluation, individual nutrition guidance, one-on-one coaching, and small, interactive health small seminars so participants can make a commitment to a healthier life.  Each participant also receives a Fitbit, which helps track participants’ activity, sleep patterns and food intake.
“Health and happiness go hand-in-hand,” said Wellness for Life Program Director Eunice Lisk. “This program helps people assess their lifestyle and provides them a personalized plan to increase vitality and support that is with them every step of the way to better health.”
Wellness for Life focuses on hands-on learning, featuring an activity monitor, a personal health coach, and weekly group sessions to establish healthy weight control, lowered cholesterol and blood pressure, better sleep and energy, and increased personal strength and resilience.

A pilot of this program run at Griffin Hospital succeeded in significant weight loss and reductions in blood pressure for participants, receiving a 96 percent rating in meeting expectations and an A grade for all of the presentations by the expert speakers.
Wellness for Life meets on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hewitt Ambulatory Pavilion (located in the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital) at 350 Seymour Ave.

For more information about Wellness for Life, visit griffinhealth.org or call Program Manager, Eunice Lisk, MS, 203-732-7107.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital. 

Seymour Historical Society to host talk on native tribes, Puritans

SEYMOUR - Conflicts between early New England colonists and native tribes will be the focus of a Seymour Historical Society program at 2 p.m. Aug. 23.

Hamish Lutris, a professor at Housatonic Community College, will discuss the Mohegan, Pequot, Niantic, and Narragansett tribes, whose members lived in Connecticut in the early 1600s. 
He will also focus on the four-year war between the powerful Pequot tribe and the English Puritans that began in 1634. 

Seymour Historical Society
(Photo from Electronic Valley site)

The Puritans, helped by rival tribes, decimated the Pequots in a series of bloody battles, changing the balance of power in New England. 
Later in the century, many Connecticut residents fought in King Philip’s War against the Wampanoag tribe of Rhode Island. 

The Seymour Historical Society is located at 59 West St., near the Trinity Episcopal Church. 

The program is free to Seymour Historical Society members and $5 for non-members. Doors open at 1 p.m. 

For more information, call 203-881-2156, contact psussman@snet.net, or visit www.seymourhistoricalsociety.org. 

This is a press release from the Seymour Historical Society.

Seymour Pink to celebrate 1st anniversary of shop

Seymour Pink holds a special place in my heart, as it does for many people throughout the state.

Whether or not you or someone you know has been touched by a diagnosis of breast cancer, you can't help but notice the great work this organization has done to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease.

The nonprofit has raised more than $700,000 in the past five years.

So save the dates - Aug. 29 and 30 - and make your way to 3 Franklin St., Seymour, to visit the lovely ladies there and shop 'til you drop!