Food preservation demo on tap at Derby Historical Society open house

ANSONIA - The Derby Historical Society will host a Harvest Open House from 1-4 p.m. Oct. 18 at the David Humphreys House, 37 Elm St. 

Docents will be demonstrating various methods of 18th Century food preservation. 
While visiting, please stay for a tour of our Historic House.  

Our gift shop will also be open during this event. 
Refreshments will be served.  
Suggested donation is $5 per adult/$3 per senior citizen and children under 12. 

Call 203-735-1908 for information or visit www.derbyhistorical.org

The Derby Historical Society is a regional historical society dedicated to preserving, maintaining and celebrating the rich and varied history of the Lower Naugatuck Valley. 
The Derby Historical Society welcomes all visitors and is also available to support researchers, school or other program needs. 
Our staff offices are located at the Sarah Riggs Humphreys House, 37 Elm St.  



This is a press release from Paula Norton, Deputy Director, Derby Historical Society.

Annual Ed Strang Day planned Saturday on Derby Green

For more information contact Scoutmaster Randy Ritter, 203-732-0343 or visit www.troop3derby.org.

Kellogg Center in Derby to host program on vampires

DERBY - Nicholas Bellantoni, Ph.D., Emeritus State Archaeologist, will present an entertaining and informative presentation on the history and mythologies of vampires in Connecticut, with a focus on remains found in the Jewett City area. 

Kellogg Environmental Center

This special seasonal program, sponsored by the Naugatuck Valley Audubon Society and the Kellogg Environmental Center, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave.

Always an engaging and entertaining presenter, Bellantoni will share his knowledge of Connecticut history and cultural activity of long ago.  
Learn how research and study of early colonial activities developed the belief of vampire behavior and the ongoing fear of the undead. 

Specifically related to the study of remains in Connecticut, stories will be told of strong adults wasting away and dying for unexplained reasons. Was it due to departed family members consuming their energy and blood? What else could be possible?  And did these stories help build the image of Bram Stocker’s Dracula?  

Bellantoni spends an evening taking you on a journey into the past to see what the bones, graves and history tell us about the myth and fact of each situation.  
The program is offered free of charge, but donations are requested to help support further educational programs.

Please call to register; space is limited.  

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection operates Kellogg Environmental Center.

For information, directions, or to register call 203-734-2513 or email donna.kingston@ct.gov.

This is a press release from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Ansonia to hold block watch meeting Oct. 8

Sharing Ansonia resident Vinnie Scarlata's Facebook page message:

The next block watch meeting with residents and city officials will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at Hilltop Hose Company #5 firehouse, 80 Pulaski Highway, Ansonia.

Scarlata said, "This will be primarily an organizational meeting to discuss how the Watch works, who has stepped forward to Captain individual neighborhoods and enlist all of you who wish to participate. Tell your neighbors who haven't been following.

"The mapping of the Hilltop is complete for now. Thank you Rick Dunne and his staff at Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments for their help. I'll also have those at the meeting for you."

Spooner House in Shelton posts challenge for Autumn

Conroy urges proper prescription drug disposal

HARTFORD - State Rep. Theresa Conroy, D-Seymour, is asking residents with old prescription drugs to properly dispose of them during this weekend’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

State Rep. Theresa Conroy

According to the state Department of Consumer Protection, flushed medications can get into our lakes, rivers and streams. Research has shown that continuous exposure to low levels of medications has altered the behavior and physiology of fish and aquatic organisms.

Pharmaceuticals enter our wastewater from a variety of sources, including the flushing of unused medications. A nationwide study done in 1999 and 2000 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) found low levels of drugs such as antibiotics, hormones, contraceptives and steroids in 80% of the rivers and streams tested.

It is also important to avoid tossing unused medicines in the trash. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. is on the rise at alarming rates, along with accidental poisonings and overdoses.

“Prescription drug abuse is fueling a rise in heroin addiction as well. A growing number of young people who start abusing expensive prescription drugs are switching to heroin, which is cheaper and easier to buy,” Conroy said.

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, sponsored by the DEA, aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing prescription medications.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday you can bring your old prescriptions for safe disposal to the Seymour Police Department on Franklin Street.


This is a press release from Conroy's office.

Concert in Shelton to benefit Valley Goes Pink

WHAT: Popular local Celtic and Americana Rock band The Highland Rovers will hold a free concert on the Huntington Green in Shelton to benefit Griffin Hospital’s Valley Goes Pink campaign - a grassroots, Lower Naugatuck Valley-wide effort in October to create awareness about breast cancer and the importance of early detection and support the Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin Hospital in Derby.

WHEN: 7-9 p.m. today

WHERE: The Huntington Green, Route 108 Shelton between Huntington Street and Church Street.

WHO: The Highland Rovers will perform their mix of popular rock percussive rhythms, bagpipes, fiddle and vocal harmonies that has pleased crowds in the Metro New York and Fairfield County area for more than 20 years. 

Vazzy's food trucks will provide food and drinks. Inspired Style will provide pink hair extensions and face painting will be provided by CrazyFun Face painting.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Seymour schools prepare students for emergencies

Seymour Schools' Director of Security Rich Kearns works with Chatfield-LoPresti
Elementary School fourth grade students practicing an earthquake/tornado drill. /Submitted photo

SEYMOUR - A presidential proclamation was issued by President Barack Obama Aug. 31 declaring September as “National Preparedness Month.” 

Over the last two weeks all Seymour Public Schools' fourth graders participated in the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s “Students Tools for Emergency Planning” program, also known as STEP. 

This is the ninth year Seymour students have participated in the STEP Program which was piloted in Seymour in 2008. Seymour Public Schools Director of Security Rich Kearns received national recognition when FEMA modeled the national program after the Seymour program. 
The STEP Program is sponsored by FEMA and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. 
Rich Kearns, Director of Security for Seymour Public Schools, presented the program to all fourth grade students at Bungay Elementary School and Chatfield-LoPresti Elementary School. 
Seymour Police Department School Resource Officers Jack Harkins and Corey Tomasella assisted Kearns in showing students the steps on how to prepare their families in the event an emergency or disaster was to strike. 

Each student was given a backpack to take home that contained items to help start building their own family emergency kit along with information to share with their families letting them know where to start to better prepare them in the event of an emergency. 

Conducted drills
The goal of STEP Program is to provide some resources to families in the community to better prepare them for emergencies as it is found that if people are better prepared to deal with a crisis the outcomes and recovery process will be that much easier for them. 

The students also participated in an earthquake drill as part of the “2015 Great Northeast Shakeout” which takes place across the country each year during September. 

School bus evacuation drill held at Seymour Middle School.

Throughout September Kearns, Seymour Fire Marshal Tim Wills, Seymour Police Department Commander John D’Antona, Seymour Police School Resource Officers Harkins and Tomasella, as well as other first responders conducted fire drills and other emergency response drills district-wide with all students K-12. 

All Star Transportation Safety Supervisor Brenda Bass and school bus safety team members also joined Kearns and Seymour Police Officers in conducting school bus evacuation drills for all Elementary and Middle school students in the district who ride the bus to school. 

All of these programs and drills are part of a continuous effort by Seymour Public Schools and Seymour Emergency Services Personnel working together to better prepare our schools and families in the event an emergency were to occur and to help make our schools a safer place.



This is a press release from Rich Kearns, Director of Security, Seymour Public Schools.

Crisco announces scholarship awards for area students

HARTFORD - State Sen. Joseph Crisco Jr., D-Woodbridge, announced today that 1,087 Governor’s Scholarship Program awards valued at $2,414,972 were made last year to students living in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Hamden, Naugatuck and Woodbridge – every town in Crisco’s 17th District.

That’s an average award of $2,200 – money that parents don’t have to give to their child, or that a student doesn’t have to borrow from a bank and re-pay with interest.

“With the rising cost of higher education, parents and students are turning to a variety of sources to fund their advanced education, and I am proud to say that for more than 1,000 bright, young kids in the Valley, that funding source includes the State of Connecticut,” Crisco said. 

State Sen. Joseph Crisco

“I am proud of every single student who met the stringent qualifications for these competitive awards, and I wish them the best of success in college and beyond.”

Statewide, a total of 20,300 awards were made last year to Connecticut students totaling over $43 million. The student financial awards are funded through the state budget and are part of the Governor’s Scholarship Program, which began in 2013.
The goal of the Governor’s Scholarship Program is to give every college student living in Connecticut a fair chance at affording a college education. 

In doing so, the award dollars are the same no matter what school they choose to attend in Connecticut, so that students at both public and private institutions are treated the same.

The Governor’s Scholarship Program is divided into three categories: merit-based, need-based, and academic incentive awards.

· Merit-based awards are offered to any Connecticut resident who is a high school senior or graduate with a high school junior year class rank of 20% or better and/or SAT scores of at least 1800 or ACT score of at least 27. The recipient must attend a state public or non-profit private college. They are eligible for up to $5,000 a year for full-time attendance in a four-year program of study; up to $3,500 a year for full-time attendance in a two-year program of study.

· Need-Based Awards of up to $3,000 for full-time study in a two- or four-year program of study are offered to any Connecticut resident who attends a Connecticut public or non-profit private college. The recipient must have a federal Expected Family Contribution (EFC) within the allowable range (the EFC is based on a family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits such as unemployment or Social Security.)

Academic Incentive Awards are for any Connecticut resident who has completed 30 or more credits in the prior year; has received a Governor's Scholarship Need-Based Award in the prior year; and has a GPA equal to or greater than the required minimum. For the 2014-15 academic year, the award was $1,200 for students with a minimum GPA of 3.5 and $1,000 for students with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.49.



This is a press release from Crisco's office.

6th annual Pinktoberfest slated in Ansonia

ANSONIA - The sixth annual Pinktoberfest, sponsored by Young Emerging Professionals, is one of many Valley Goes Pink fundraisers for the Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin Hospital in Derby.

It will be held from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 8 at Molto Bene Italian American Kitchen, 557 Wakelee Ave. The cost is $40 a person.

The fun includes music, food, beer tastings, games, giveaways, and more, all for a great cause.

The Young Emerging Professionals group is part of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

To date this event has raised more than $12,000 to support the breast wellness center.

* Information shared from the event's Facebook page.