Meet special canines at Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby

National Service Dog Day slated Aug. 1 
DERBY - Celebrate National Service Dog Day at 10 a.m. Aug. 1 at Kellogg Environmental Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave.
Join others to meet some dogs involved in private and public service.

Canine skills and training are unique for their service and we encourage all ages to come and learn what it takes for a dog to learn these skills. 
We will spotlight many organizations and individuals involved in the training and learn about new opportunities for your involvement.

Dogs are our best friends and have been working with people for centuries. Canines provide many services for people. Besides protection or searching skills, dogs help us to learn to read, assist those with physical limitations and still others provide company for many people in nursing homes or hospitals. 

A variety of handlers will be present with their dogs to explain their specialized service and training.

We invite families and individuals to come and learn more about the training and special talents these dogs provide every day. This program is open to all ages but please do not bring your dogs to the program.

Representatives from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection K-9 teams, Pet Partners, Eyes for the Blind, State Police K-9, search and rescue teams and many therapy and assistance dogs will be on the ground of the Kellogg Center.

No registration is necessary; the program is free. If possible, bring a donation of dog food for a local shelter.

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

This is a press release from DEEP. 

Master's Table to offer dinner, movie in Ansonia

25th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated in West Haven

West Haven Mayor Edward M. O'Brien, standing fourth from left, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ADA Thursday with staff and members of the Center for Disability Rights and the West Haven Community House. The event at Savin Rock Conference Center featured a picnic, adaptive bicycle demonstrations, and live entertainment. 

Improv classes slated today in Derby

Sharing from Sterling Lion Theater Company's Facebook page:

DERBY - The Sterling Lion Theater Company kicks off its inaugural season at 7 p.m. today with free improvisation classes at the Valley Arts Council's Valley Center of the Arts, 119 Caroline St.

Did you know improvisation classes are used by many corporations to promote quick and creative thinking? Did you also know that improv is a lot of fun?

Come and sharpen your skills, learn some new techniques, or just have a few laughs with the Valley’s newest theater group! (Recommended age 16+) 

For more information, please e-mail: Info@Sterlinglion.org.

Teens get taste of police work in Seymour

Contributed photo

Local teens took part in a Youth Academy last week at Seymour Police headquarters. The department's newly trained canine, Sage, a German shepherd, is in the front row with her handler, Police Officer John Oczkowski. 

Wesley Village in Shelton offers family-oriented environment

Pictured from left, Jackie Santagata (Kelly’s mom), Karly Coppola (Kelly’s daughter) with a photo of Claire Byle (Kelly’s late grandmother), and Kelly Coppola./ Contributed photo

SHELTON - Walk in the doors of any community at Wesley Village and after a few conversations, you can easily uncover dozens of unique stories about how residents, family members, staff, and volunteers became connected with the senior care campus.  
Wesley Village, at 580 Long Hill Ave., has been connecting families with high quality senior living options and healthcare services for over 125 years. 

Through each decade, those connections have grown in many ways, beyond simply finding mom or dad a place to live when they can’t live alone anymore. A current employee recently shared her story of how Wesley Village connected her family.

Kelly Coppola works as a receptionist at Crosby Commons, the award-winning independent and assisted living community at Wesley Village. Before taking the full-time receptionist position at Crosby, Kelly was a familiar face around the campus and worked as a Recreation Director at the neighboring community of Wesley Heights. Her career took her on a few different paths since then, but she is thrilled to be back at the campus, now working at Crosby. 
After seven months in this position, Kelly has not only made many helpful changes to the reception area, but was also recently recognized with the Outstanding Resident Service award from the Connecticut Assisted Living Association. 
A great asset to the community, she is also surprisingly part of four generations with connections to Wesley Village.

Kelly’s grandmother was Claire Byle, a New Jersey native who moved to Connecticut to be closer to her family when her health began to fail. Not wanting to be a “burden” to her family, she chose not to move in with her children and fell in love with the senior living options at Wesley Village, moving in to their Wesley Heights community in 2003. Claire loved the community and continued to enjoy life as a resident for about two years, before moving to Bishop Wicke Health and Rehabilitation Center (at Wesley Village) for more skilled care. Sadly, Claire passed away in February of 2005, but left quite an impression on the community and the many friends she left behind.

Kelly’s mom, Jackie Santagata, was thrilled to have found a community close to home where her mom, Claire, could live in safety and security and continue to enjoy things that were important to her. Jackie loved being able to maintain a mother-daughter relationship with her mom, without having to feel overwhelmed by caregiving responsibilities. She was also so impressed with the campus that she chose to become a registered volunteer. Jackie now actively volunteers with the Wesley Village Prayer Shawl Ministry and the new Music and Memory program, which the campus will be piloting at its Lifestyle Transitions Memory Care neighborhood this summer.

In addition to her mom and grandmother, Kelly’s daughter, Karly also joined the Wesley Village team in 2008 as a registered volunteer.  
Karly is a sophomore Psychology Major at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, studying Special Education. For the past seven years, Karly has volunteered in a variety of capacities at Wesley Village, serving residents and supporting staff by providing clerical and computer support, and assistance in our Recreation and Dining Services departments. 

To learn more about the many ways Wesley Village is connecting with families like Kelly’s to provide a continuum of award-winning care and services for their loved one(s), visit www.wesleyvillage-ct.org. 

The Wesley Village Campus includes: Crosby Commons Assisted and Independent Living Community, Wesley Heights Assisted and Independent Living Apartments and Cottages, Lifestyle Transitions Memory Care, and Bishop Wicke Health and Rehabilitation Center. The campus is owned and operated by UMH, a local, mission-based, not-for-profit organization serving all members of the community. 

To schedule a tour at any of their communities, contact Lisa Bisson, 203-225-5024. 

For more information about volunteer opportunities at Wesley Village, contact Barbara Quinn, 203-944-8292.  


This is a press release from United Methodist Homes.

Learn about snakes, see puppet show, movie, more at Ansonia Nature Center

Programs planned in August
BACK TO BASICS: Natural Dyes – Aug. 1, 10 a.m. Join fiber artists Dawn Sotir and Jody Bishel to learn how to produce beautiful and sometimes surprising shades to dye your fiber using plants. They will take you for a short walk to identify plants in our area that may be used, and demonstrate their color dyeing techniques inside. Tuition: $8 per person for materials and supplies. Please register.

SNAKES OF CONNECTICUT – Aug. 1, 1 p.m. Meet some of nature’s most important predators up close and personal! Discover how they eat, what’s inside those long, skinny bodies, and how invasive species impact the natives. Ranger Jess will show us some of our indigenous snakes. Free. Please pre-register.

ENTERTAINER CHRIS ROWLANDS: Puppeteer and Singer – Aug. 7, 7 p.m. Come see Chris Rowlands, who’s famous for getting everyone involved. He brings animals to life through his music, comedy, puppets, and colorful props. Sing along as he shares his songs about animals and their environment. 

Please register for this free interactive presentation.

ROCKS IN SPACE: Perseid Meteor Showers – Aug. 8, 8 p.m. Come to Ansonia’s darkest location for some unusual night sky viewing with Bob Carruthers and the New Haven Astronomical Society. In addition to a chance to see the annual meteor showers (and touch a real meteor!), lunar rays—glass ejecta from the moon’s meteor craters—and Saturn will be visible if we have clear skies. Telescopes will be available. Meet at picnic pavilion #2. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free. Please register.

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: Hoot – Aug. 14, 6:30 p.m. Hoot is a film about three middle school children who try to save a burrowing owl habitat from being bulldozed by a developer who intends to turn the site into a pancake house. The children successfully protect the owl habitat, making this a great movie to prove the point that children can make a difference. Jimmy Buffett fans will be pleased to learn that he composed the soundtrack for Hoot. The movie is free; you can buy popcorn and lemonade for $1. 

Please register.

AMAZING WORLD OF ARTHROPODS WITH JAMES TULLY - Aug. 15, 1 p.m. Meet some of James’s amazing arthropods. He will teach us all about animals that have an external skeleton (called an exoskeleton), segmented bodies, and jointed legs. Come up close to real live scorpions, tarantulas, and our resident Walking Sticks. 

Please call to register for this free event.

For information or to register, call 203-736-1053.


This is a press release from the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center,10 Deerfield Road.