Monday, February 1, 2021

No trash, recycling pickup Tuesday in Derby


Shared from the Derby Facebook page:

Due to the snow storm, trash and recycling pick up will be not be picked up on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.
The trash and recycling pickup will be as follows:
Monday's route will be picked up on Wednesday February 3, 2021
Tuesday's route will be picked up on Thursday February 4, 2021
Wednesday's route will be picked up on Friday February 5, 2021
Thursday's route will be picked up on Saturday February 6, 2021
Friday's route will be picked up on Saturday February 6, 2021
We regret any inconvenience.

Klarides-Ditria: Equity Match Grant Program launched for women-owned businesses



The Women’s Business Development Council and the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) launched a new COVID-19 relief program for women-owned businesses/or minority-owned businesses in CT.

The Equity Match Grant Program is designed to help businesses pivot, expand or restructure during the pandemic and beyond.

The application period is open now (Feb. 1), and continues through Feb. 15.

Grants will range between $2,500 and $10,000 for clearly defined projects that will have a measurable impact on business. 
Applicants will be required to match 25% of the grant funding with their money. A recipient of a $10,000 grant must have invested, as a match, $2,500 in their business over the past 12 months or be able to invest an incremental $2,500 of their own funds in that purchase.

The Women’s Business Development Council raised $525,000 which DECD will match up to $500,000, bringing the total amount of funds available in the Equity Match Grant Program to more than $1 million.

Qualified Applicants
Women owned/minority owned business
Have clear and specific use for the grant money
In business with a record of sales for a minimum of two years.
Business registered in CT and in good standing with the State
Utilize online/automated financial system – POS, Quickbooks, Xero, etc.
Have established business banking relationship
Prior participation in WBDC programs or services preferred

Application Requirements
Complete and submit a WBDC Intake Form
Complete and submit a WBDC Equity Match Grant Application (will be available when the next round opens on February 1st, 2021)
Provide a Use of Funds Statement (100 words or less) with the grant amount requested, how the funds will be used, and what impact the grant will have. The Use of Funds Statement must be supported by proposals, quotes and/or paid invoices evidencing planned use.
Submit a current and complete business plan including:
Current financial statements (must include at least 2 years of Profit & Loss Statements, 2018, 2019 and YTD 2020)
3–year financial projections clearly demonstrating impact of the grant funds (2021-2023)
Submit evidence of business ownership (e.g. Articles of Incorporation/Organization)
Provide a Letter of Good Standing from the CT Department of Revenue Services (obtain here)
Provide two years of business tax returns (2018, 2019, and 2020 if available)
Provide proof of Connecticut residency (e.g. Driver’s License)
Provide a copy of the most recent bank statement for the business checking account.
Be able to “match” 25% of the amount of the grant with incremental money or money that has already been invested in the business over the last 12 months.

More information can be found on the Women’s Business Development Council website.



Sincerely,



This is a press release from state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria.

Beacon Falls Public Library offers residents free packets of seeds


Shared from the Library's Facebook page:

"47 days until spring and the Beacon Falls Public Library is happy to send you 4 packets of free seeds to grow at home. 

"Just email director@mybflib.org with your name and address and they will arrive by mail. Happy planting!"


Recuperation journey: Female cardinal visits

Female cardinal arrived (and posed) 10 minutes after I complained about not being able to capture a photo of her mate.

 

Recuperation journey: Cardinal memory


This photo from Feb. 1, 2017 came up in my Facebook memories today. 

There is a male cardinal here this afternoon in the blowing snow but I can't seem to capture a photo!

Recuperation journey: Pecking for lunch


I rarely see a woodpecker but one stopped by this afternoon.

Derby Historical Society shares local info at start of Black History Month


Governor Freeman

and

Governor Freeman

Black History




An interpretation by The Hartford Black History Project 
of Black Governors


February 1st - Today marks day one of Black History Month, 2021.

Black history is everyone's history. 
We celebrate Black History Month by remembering accomplishments that helped shape our Nation by Black individuals and their contribution to our communities. 
Included in that narrative are the realities that history records, whether dark and shameful or worthy of celebrating - the events of the past influenced the path that led to today. 

How will history look upon us at this moment in time? Whether reminiscing on the rhetoric of the struggle for equality that still exists, or remembering area individuals that made differences in the world around them, this month, we take the time to celebrate Black History.

Today, we highlight Quash and Roswell Freeman. Father and son, both men went on to become Derby’s first and third Black Governors, the latter serving three terms. This was an office that began in the northeast in 1755, and in Derby, 55-years later, that officer would be held by Quash. 

Indeed, Connecticut would need to come a long way before satisfying the duty to abolish slavery, which in Derby still existed until 1840, one-year after the Amistad Rebellion, eight-years prior to the State ending slavery as a whole, and 56-years after Connecticut passed gradual emancipation laws. The context and significance of the date here must be understood and these revolutionary individuals are thus remembered.

What a powerful story it is to share - Quash who was born in Ghana, was captured and sold into slavery, traveled the Middle Passage, and received his freedom in Derby to then become Derby's first Black Governor. There is much discourse that we could have on the institutions that appointed them or the reasons behind the Governorship.

An anecdote that Orcutt (1880) shares about Quash describes that, "He [Quash Freeman] was a man of herculean strength, a giant six-footer, and it is said of him that he could take a bull by the horns and the nose and at once prostrate him to the ground. No one ever dared to molest or tried to make him afraid, and when he was approaching from a distance he awakened the sense of a coming thunder cloud... Physically speaking. Quash was probably the strongest and largest man that ever shared the gubernatorial honors of this commonwealth." 
At the time of the Rev. War/Pork Hollow incident, when Quash was still a slave, he was Isaac Smith Sr.'s personal bodyguard.

Below is a listing of CT’s Black Governors, courtesy of The Hartford Black History Project - you will notice that Jubal, Nelson, and Wilson Weston were Humphreysville Governors. 

Horace Weston, whose father was Nelson, was regarded as the world's best banjo player in the 1880s (Raechel Guest, 2018).



Name

Location

Approximate date



Quash Freeman

Derby

1810


Tobias

Derby

1815


Roswell Freeman

Derby

1830-1835


Eben Tobias

Derby

1840-1845


Caesar

Durham

1800


Peter Freeman

Farmington

1780


William Lanson

New Haven

1825


Quash Piere

New Haven

1832


Thomas Johnson

New Haven

1833-1837


Boston Trowtrow

Norwich

1770


Sam Huntington

Norwich

1772-1800


Jubal Weston

Seymour

1825


Nelson Weston

Seymour

1850


Wilson Weston

Seymour

1855


London

Wethersfield

1760


Cuff

Woodbridge

1840



 Nancy Freeman, wife of Roswell Freeman - DHS Archives



Thanks goes to Daniel Bosques, executive director, Derby Historical Society, for sharing this interesting Connecticut history.

City offers residents use of Linett Park in Ansonia for sledding today


"Take Advantage of Prime Sledding at Linett Park Today!
"With the ground covered in snow, sledding at Ansonia’s favorite Linett Park Winter Playground hill should be ideal for a great day of family recreation. We’ll have the fire pit lit to help keep you warm."


Shared from the City of Ansonia Facebook page.