Mystic Times

Notes from the Earth: Rhode Island couple share an environmental exhibit

2009-01-08T15:58:55Z

Gabriel Warren and Ana Flores were artists in high school.

“We were both transfers to RISD [Rhode Island School of Design],” Gabriel continued. “When I came to RISD, Ana was a floor counselor.”

Now married and settled in Rhode Island, the couple continues to compose art from an environmental perspective and are scheduled to feature their work together at the Mystic Art Center in this month. The exhibition, Notes from the Earth, will have its opening reception on Jan. 16 in the Liebig Gallery.

Director of External Relations Brandy Kolmer said the process for selecting special exhibiting artists such as Flores and Warren begins about a year in advance.

“A member of our exhibition committee suggested the artists’ work and Executive Director Karen Barthelson then researched it,” said Kolmer. “Special invitational shows like this one are another way the Mystic Arts Center supports local artists by exposing them to the inspiring work of high-caliber professional artists from around our region.”

On the couple’s Web site, www.art-farm.net, Flores is described as a sculptor, environmentalist, community arts advocate, and as a past artist in residence in school universities and public institutions. As her work is shown internationally, she co-directs Manos, an arts group working to enhance and humanize institutional spaces, and is co- founder of the Arts and Healing Program at RISD.

MAC’s Web site states that Flores has recently won a coveted TogetherGreen fellowship, which supports her work as an artist working with environmental issues and community.

Flores said she began as a painter, majoring in painting at RISD, but then evolved into sculpturing.

“I periodically go back and forth,” she explained, describing art as having no boundaries.

Warren, majoring in sculpture, said he had always been a sculptor but prides himself with his photography. Warren has traveled to New Zealand five times, Central America three times, Scotland twice, and to many other diverse landscapes of the world such as the Sahara Desert, Alaska, and Antarctica.

“Visitors will notice the glacial inspiration of Gabriel’s metal-work featuring illuminated and brightly tinted blue or green glass,” MAC’s Web site claimed. “The work began after Gabriel made several trips to Antarctica, where he observed the fascinating patterns made by nearly frozen seawater molded by wind and current.”

Gabe said his art illuminates the power of landscapes, showing the insignificance of humanity.

“I think art is about communication,” he explained, adding that each of his pieces that will be on display at MAC will have a small statement, giving onlookers a hint of his expression.

When asked to define an environmental artist, Warren explained that each environmental artist composes something different from a different perspective of the world. Flores described it as telling the earth’s history.

“It’s extremely important,” she continued, adding that she and many other prominent environmental artists can be simply inspired by their surroundings. “It’s like the planet is calling for you to speak for it.”

“Gabe and Ana each draw from a similar environmental aspect, but their aesthetics, execution, and approach are very different and quite compelling,” Barthelson said.

Flores said at MAC, selections of her art composed throughout the past decade will be displayed in a section of the exhibition she named Gaia’s Garden. Gaia is a variant of Gaea and is a Greek mythology term to represent the goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans. Flores said each piece takes her to another place she’s been or a memory she’s had in the last decade.

Warren said he hopes his work will reinforce reference to the natural world and give visitors coming to view the exhibit a sense of trying to live with as light a footprint as possible.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about the work even…It’s about the planet,” he continued.

Flores hopes people grasp an understanding that everyone is not separate from nature but instead, is a part of it.

“That’s why we need to reawaken that wild part of ourselves,” Flores explained. “It’s not that tree or that bird or that elephant out there that needs saving. We’re all part of this biological creation and unfortunately we as a species have endangered it too much. For me, it’s coming back to the oneness between man and nature and that we are nature rather than separate from [it].”

By Kristal Spence
Special to the Times

The opening reception for Notes from the Earth and the Member Show will begin on Jan. 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Artist discussions will be held for Gabriel Warren on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 1:30 p.m. and for Ana Flores on Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m

Other Upcoming events

The week of Jan. 12 - Winter classes for children and adults begin

Jan. 17 – Family Workshop – Critter Cabins & Fairy Houses. 9:30 a.m. - noon

Jan. 18 – Winter Artists film series begins with “Rape of Europa,” held at the Olde Mistic Village Art Cinemas

For more information, visit www.mysticarts.org or call the Mystic Art Center, 9 Water St., 860-536-7601

Citizens on Patrol: Groton Town Police resurrect Citizens Police Academy

2009-01-08T15:56:24Z

After taking a hiatus for several years, the Groton Town Police are bringing back the Citizens Police Academy—an effort to give residents a better idea of what the police do.

It’s the department’s seventh academy, but it hasn’t held one since 2002, according to Youth Officer Douglas Hoffman, largely due to staffing issues.

The first five weeks of the program will be in the classroom, and the last week will include a ride-along with a police officer.

Classes will include a history
of the department and its various divisions and a tour, Hoffman said.

Various guest speakers will help explain the community policing program and specialty units, such as the scuba and marine units, bike patrol, and canine units.

They will go over the rules for use of force and shooting decisions, too.

“We want to expose them to the tough decisions police officers have to make,” Hoffman said.

Citizens can learn about motor vehicle stops, the use of radar, and how to determine if drivers are intoxicated. They may also learn from people in the judicial system, such as prosecutors or Naval Criminal Information Service.

“People should know what happens in court once we arrest them,” Hoffman said.

“We want to reach people that have interest. Instead of what they see on TV, like Law and Order, they can see exactly what reality is and what our limitations are,” Hoffman said. “Hopefully we’ll make it enjoyable for them, too.”

The program will be held on Mondays, starting Jan. 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Groton Town Police Department, 68 Groton Long Point Road, in Groton. Seating is limited, and applications will be accepted from Town of Groton residents first.

Interested people may call 449-7184 and leave their name and phone number by Jan. 23 for Youth Officer Douglas Hoffman.

By KATIE WARCHUT
Staff Writer

Grasso Technical High School Honor Roll: First Trimester

2009-01-08T15:54:59Z

Grade 12

High Honors: Ivan J. Alcantara, Giovanni Banks, Dylan H. Barnhill, Samantha L. Berthod, Justin D. Blanchette, Sade R. Boyd, Lorena Bracamonte, Eric A. Brodin, Jazmin M. Brown, Brenton N. Brozyna, Daniel A. Cornish, Amy M. Cruz, Juan C. Davis, Zachary Fabre, Rosalin Fernandez, Alexandra Guzman, Eric H. Hayden, Kyrsten M. Heffernan, James W. Heikkinen, Deidre L. Herdman, Eiryn L. Hernandez, Felicia H. Herren, Mahogany V. Johnson, Dustin M. Klein, Morgan B. Klewin, William T. Kotecki, Marc S. Lamoureux, Seth A. Matteson, Wyatt J. Metayer, Paul A. Mineau, Brandon R. Miner, Travis N. Moody, Denise M. Morales, Lucas R. Mordick, Cristina Oliver-Garcia, Christopher E. Pancaro, Matthew R. Paul, Nickelous G. Pauly, Jasmine S. Rivera, Jennifer M. Rogers, Taylor M. Salva, Jose M. Serrano, Jeffrey J. Smith, Rebecca S. Smith, Andrew J. Storen, Gregory P. Sugar, Aisha K. Taylor, Michelle M. Torres, Leslie A. Torruella, Luisa M. Vasquez, Jessica L. Watson

Honors: Alexandra N. Alves, Lindsey Brown, Matthew R. Casella, Melissa M. Castillo, Jesse T. Corcoran, Shauna E. Delmage, Shawn N. Deveau, Katie E. Dimaggio, David M. Dove, Wilfredis Duarte, Kyle C. Farrell, Brian N. Forsyth, Kaitlyn Fouse, Maria E. Gonzalez, Jose A. Guzman, Michael T. Hall, Michael W. Irvin, Christopher G. James, Abdul Johnson, Aykurt J. Kalican, Christopher Langella, Steven E. Luce, Megan M. Maldonado, Jasper R. Marshall, Jessica R. McArdle, Claudia V. Papadopoulos, Danielle Q. Permenter, Jason J. Poirier, Kyle M. Purcell, Dwight S. Ramos, Armando J. Rodriguez, Ethan M. Rohrberg, Sabrina J. Santiago, Nicholas A. Sautter, Katherine R. Strickland, Kramer R. Sullivan, Domonique D. Taylor, Tatiana M. Torres, Shayla L. Williams

Grade 11

High Honors: Aaron M. Avery, Jeffrey T. Baton, Natashanicole Borrero, Franklin W. Bryson, Shelby R. Burdick, Jasmin Cedeno, Natashanicole P. Conroy, Charles V. Cramer, Victor A. Diaz, Julian J. Elfedayni-Connell, Benjamen A. Gale, Arron Garcia, Isanett M. Gonzalez, Olga V. Goralchuk, Amanda M. Goudreault, Scot M. Haeseler, Victoria L. Herdman, Chance L. Holland, Zachary R. Kemp, Aaron A. Knoll, Katherine M. Lemus, Hillary N. Martin, Edwin N. Martinez, Jerell G. Mays, Bethany L. McNail, Steven E. Mitsko, Jennifer A. Neault, Joshua R. Norris, Melanie P. Ochoa, Jessica L. Olmstead, Kailah M. Pflugbeil, Rossy C. Ramirez, Elizabeth E. Sanborn, James A. Stearns, Jr., Elizabeth D. Swinburne, Jared A. Viveiros, Krissa M. Walmsley

Honors: Ethan M. Beebe, Patrick K. Brayne, Sthefany B. Calle, Ian Clark, Dylan J. Cote, Nathaniel J. Dailey, Raisa E. Diaz, Ryan M. DiCocco, Chelsee J. Donley, Mauricio D. Duarte, Matthew E. Gentry, Michel I. Gonzalez, Kaitlyn N. Gray, Jamila T. Hightower, Ryan A. Homand, Patrick R. Houlihan, Nitaesha M. Humphrey, Brett Marsden, Kassandra L. Meza, Jeffrey P. Neilan, Justin X. Rivas, Janexie Rivera, Jonathan Rivera-Olan, Steven W. Russell, Digna M. Serrano, Rosa N. Serrano, Jesslyne S. Smith, Jose A. Tineo-Fernandez, Keila M. Torres, DaeLisa D. Traynham, Natasha A. Wolf.

Grade 10

High Honors: Ivan L. Abreu, Nicole L. Algarin, Shawn Bahr, Kelly L. Bean, Alshya L. Bostick-Maynard, Brandy G. Burdick, Robbie T. Caswell, Aisha C. Chang, Yaykira M. Cuesta-Beckford, Justine K. DeNobrega, Nicolas A. Deso, Tatyana Dixon, Tyreel D. Drayton, Sara G. Duarte, Joseph R. Fahrenholz, James J. Fonner, Anthony J. Franco, Rylan J. Gallagher, Alexis C. Gemme, William V. Gregory, Christopher A. Jackson, Courtney L. Lapp, Jalyn T. Lesieur, Iris Morales, Ashleigh E. Munton, Brittany M. Murray, Megan L. Read, Astrid L. Rivera, Anthony J. Ruggieri, Alissa M. Schroeder, Zachary J. Smith, LeKeisha S. Taylor

Honors: Kayla E. Alfonso, Joseph E. Allen, Drew R. Cannon, Yanelis M. Centeno, Jamie T. Chaplin, Douglas W. Curry, Christopher E. Curtis, Angelica R. Davis, Alba E. DeJesus, Robert S. Diaz, Ashley L. Dolzenchuk, Alexandrea C. Gemme, Salvatore R. Gramolini, Samantha D. Hickling, Sade S. Huggins, Annie-May I. Jones, Daniel L. Lopez, Sean M. Madec, Brittany N. Mallette, Alexander A. Marmol, Nicholas G. Maynard, Eric P. Melanson, Robert E. Mitchell, Devin J. Monroe, Cameron J. Muller, Stanley G. Nowakowski, Samuel A. Ortiz, Kevin W. Perry, Richard A. Puccino, Shane R. Richard, Tamara L. Sears, Ashelyn S. Smith, Alissa D. Taylor, Alexis D. Thornton, Summer S. Tindle, Veronica R. Vasquez, Jeremy S. Violette, Britton D. Wilson

Grade 9

High Honors: Eduardo A. Aguilar, Amanda F. Atkinson, Christina M. Blackburn, Janea K. Borrego, Michaela S. Coombe, Z’haniqwa L. Daniels-Holmes, Yenaldy Delgado, Melissa S. Dolzenchuk, Kyle W. Emery, Olivia A. Farrington, Taylor A. Foxworthy, Santino R. Francischelli, Jaicee L. Getchell, William C. Godwin, Sara Y. Gonzalez, Hannah L. Gumbs, Joshua M. Haderski, Alexander V. Haeseler, Chelsea E. Henderson, Joseph G. Kotfer, Nicole E. Ladd, Shawn A. Lagace, Alberto A. Latorre, Laurencia E. Laurent, Miguel A. Lopez, Gabriel Martinez, Brandon R. McNulty, Jaeer D. Mendoza, Erin G. Miner, Unika G. Monge, Livenette Negron, Jeremy R. Palmer, Alyssa M. Phillips, Shateeka Phillips, George Pytlik, Jasmine Ramirez, Mackensie K. Rhodes, Elda G. Sanabria, Brandon C. Smith, Ashlee M. Turner, Evan A. VonWinkle, Jacob Werrbach, Timothy Wiglusz, Michael J. Wooldridge, Sean Zeppieri

Honors: Ralph W. Abbott, Irwin O. Alvarado, Michael A. Attinello, Andrew Barnes, Bick C. Branciforte, Jordon A. Brown, Luisanna Cabrera, Ashley R. Caswell, Taylor Clark, Nicole B. Daigle, Janea I. Dixon, Stephanie Dorvil, Hilaira Estevez, Jacob B. Gironimi, Angel J. Guzman, Jessica Harris, Jacob R. Hildebrand, Patrick S. Hopkins, Jacqueline J. Houatchanthara, Erika L. Jones, Lyle K. Lamoureux, Tanajiah D. LeSane, Heather M. Linski, Jayson P. Manning, Timothy G. Meadows, Luisa M. Pellot, Rick P. Perez, Travis J. Robinson, Lizandro Rodriguez, Lisandra Santana, Cristian A. Silva, Andre Thomas, Ricki Thomas, Jesus J. Vazquez, Corwin Walker, Fersan J. Warren, MaryJane Warren, Keanu A. Wilson

New Year, New Senior Center: Groton Senior center sets up temporary base at Noank School

2009-01-08T15:49:58Z

After a two-week effort by town Public Works crews in December, the Groton Senior Center is settling into its new—albeit temporary—home in the former Noank School, just in time for the new year.

Now, they just need the patrons to join in.

“The biggest thing now is getting folks over there,” said Director of Parks and Recreation John Silsby.

The old center closed Dec. 15 to prepare for the move, which will allow for an $11.77 million renovation project approved by voters in November 2007 to begin this March.

When Silsby visited the center on its opening day, Dec. 29, about two to three dozen people attended, he said. He hoped the number would increase once the holidays were over and people became familiar with the new building.

Noank, at the end of a little dead-end Smith Lane, is a little more difficult to find than the building on Newtown Road, in almost the exact center of town across from the library.

But the school actually has more space available than the old senior center, though it’s more spread out down longer hallways, Silsby said. Plenty of signs show seniors the way around the new center.

The cafetorium is about the same size as in the old center for serving lunches and continental breakfast. Work on the school’s kitchen hadn’t been finished by its opening, but officials hoped to have it done by the second week of January, Silsby said. Classes started up again Jan. 5.

The school will be good practice for the new senior center, as Noank provides dedicated rooms for music, dance and fitness rooms, arts and crafts, and table games, as planned in the renovations.

Senior Center Director Mary Jo Riley said they won’t have to do “double duty” on the classrooms. In the old center, there would sometimes be bridge and pinochle games going on at the same time in the same room, or arts and crafts during a hairdressing session.

“For the most part, the classrooms are as they were when the kids were here, but it’ll be our furniture,” Riley said in a segment for Groton Municipal Television.

The fitness room doorway had to be doubled to move in the treadmills, bikes, and other equipment, Riley said. A new addition is eight stations of weight training equipment, which was donated. So senior citizens may want to forgo paying for an expensive fitness center and instead take advantage of the center’s equipment, Riley said.

Otherwise, programs offered will be the same, except with a downsized evening and weekend schedule to be considerate of the Noank neighbors, Riley said.

The Groton Regional Theater can still use the stage at Noank, and the senior center’s gift shop also will be open there.

Representative Town Meeting meetings have been moved to the Town Hall Annex, and any senior center trips will leave from the old center’s parking lot shared with the library.

Large events will be moved to alternate locations. “The Gong Show,” held at the end of February, will be moved to the Groton Inn & Suites.

Construction is expected to take 18 to 20 months. The center, built in 1979 and now serving around 2,000 people, needs more space to accommodate the growing senior population in Groton and surrounding towns.

The project would add classroom and exercise space. It would include rooms for arts and crafts, cards and games, computers, a stage, and an expanded kitchen. It would also reconfigure and expand the parking lot.

Noank was determined to be the best option for a temporary senior center. Despite resistance from some neighbors, the Noank Zoning Commission approved its use this summer.

Modifications to the school included a wheelchair ramp, handicapped bathrooms, and a new parking lot of 72 spaces.

“It’s looking good without a spending lot of money,” Silsby said.

By KATIE WARCHUT
Staff Writer

Temporary Groton Senior Center

42 Smith Lane, Noank

For more information, call 536-5730.

Seeking Wheeler’s Best: North Stonington man launches Distinguished Alumni program

2009-01-08T15:47:54Z

Paul Kowack did not attend Wheeler High School. Neither did his six children. But the North Stonington resident, who has lived near the school for decades, said he roots for its successes and wanted to find a way to enrich its students and alumni.

That’s why under Kowack’s leadership, Wheeler High School and the North Stonington Education Foundation are launching a program to honor alumni who have gone on to make important contributions to academia, athletics, culture, or to the high school.

Called Distinguished Alumni, the program seeks to honor individuals each year whose names will be inscribed on a plaque in the school library and who might be asked to speak at the high school graduation ceremony. Kowack said he hopes the new honor becomes “an award that could be used on somebody’s resume.” Alumni will become eligible to apply 10 years after graduating.

“There are people who are going to come out of the woodwork that have developed into significant contributors to the quality of life,” said Kowack, who owns a mechanical engineering firm in town.

Superintendent Natalie J. Pukas said a number of years ago, the school had a similar recognition program called the Wheeler Hall of Fame, which fizzled. She said she is happy to see a new program in the same spirit.

“There are so many people who have graduated from Wheeler High School that have become accomplished and outstanding in their field,” Pukas said. “I’m glad that we now have an opportunity to recognize them for what they’ve done after they left Wheeler.”

Applicants will be judged anonymously by a nine-person committee that includes Wheeler administrators and faculty, a board of education member, and a Wheeler alumnus.

Concurrent with launcing Distinguished Alumni, Kowack said he hopes to help create a Wheeler High School alumni directory, to be compiled slowly as graduates return for reunions each summer.

Distinguished Alumni applications are available in the library and in the superintendent’s office. The deadline for submission is Feb. 27.

By KIRA GOLDENBERG
Staff Writer

A La Carte - Make Your Own Pizzas

2009-01-08T15:46:41Z

As I write this, yet another bunch of family gathers in our den. On their first evening, I made a corn and chicken chowder from Jasper White’s 50 Chowders, because my daughter Molly said it was so good. It turns out I made different chowder but it was very similar, and I’ll write about that one next week.

The second night, it was all about pizza. All our children have Charles van Over’s The Best Bread Ever and granddaughter Lily baked rolls and brought two from Oregon to Newbury, Mass., (which is where we spent Christmas) for me to try. It was so good we called Charlie on Christmas Day so Lily could talk to him.

The Portland contingent decided we would do make-your-own pizzas when they visited us in Old Lyme. Son-in-law Bob and I bought toppings, and Doug made and proofed the pizza dough. In the afternoon, I caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and roasted garlic and red peppers (from which the skin and seeds had been removed). An hour before we began to make pizzas, I turned the oven to 500 degrees with the HearthKit in it. You don’t need the HearthKit or a baking stone, but it sure does make the bottom of the crust great. Around the same time, Doug cut the dough into six rolls and let them rest a little in a linen towel.

Once we were ready to roll our pieces of dough into pizzas (many of which looked like Connecticut, Italy, and Maine), the kitchen counter held the following: caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, paper-thin slices of prosciutto, julienne basil leaves, crème fraiche, fig jam, anchovies, cooked sausage (from Ferraro’s in New Haven), small pieces of maple-smoked bacon, grape tomatoes, and Charlie’s Bright Tomato Sauce. We ate and ate and ate…

Basic Pizza Dough

From The Best Bread Ever by Charles van Over (Broadway, New York, 1997)

3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached all-
purpose flour

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons water

Cornmeal for the peel or baking sheet

Place flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor fitted with metal blade. Using an instant-read thermometer, adjust water temperature so the combined temperatures of the flour and water give a base of 130 degrees if using a Cuisinart or KitchenAid, or 150 degrees if using a Braun. With machine running, pour all but 2 tablespoons of water through feed tube. Process 30 seconds. Stop machine, and if dough seems too dry, add remaining water during the last 15 seconds of processing for a total of 45 seconds.

Stop machine and take the temperature of dough with the instant-read thermometer, which should read between 75 and 80 degrees. If temp is lower than 75 degrees, process dough for an additional 5 seconds, up to twice more, until it reaches the desired temperature. If the temp is higher than 80 degrees, remove thermometer, scrape the dough from food processor into an ungreased bowl, and refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes. Check temp after 5 minutes; it should be 80 degrees or cooler by that time.

Remove dough from processor and place in a large ungreased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to ferment for 2 1/2 to 3 hours to room temperature, 70 to 72 degrees. It will not double at this point, but it will increase in volume somewhat.

Place bowl of dough in the refrigerator and retard for at least 4, and up to 36, hours. (Doug did not retard the dough in the refrigerator, and it was still delicious.)

Bright Tomato Sauce

Adapted from The Best Bread Ever by Charles van Over (Broadway, New York, 1997)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 28-ounce can Italian-plum
tomatoes (I use Muir Glen, Charlie likes Red Pack)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 pinches sugar

In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add garlic and soften it for 2 to 3 minutes without browning. Add canned tomatoes and their liquid, salt, and sugar. Simmer the sauces for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to break up tomatoes.

The sauce is ready to use immediately, but should be at room temperature before being spread on pizza dough. (If sauce seems too watery, return to the pan, set on heat, and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes until it is reduced.)

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can e-mail her at Leeawhite@aol.com.

Nibbles: A Recommendation by Lee

I would love to call Ferraro’s a find, but for many Connecticut residents, including Jacques and Gloria Pepin who told us about it, it is more like a treasure trove. Sure, it’s not in the best of neighborhoods, however the residents shop here not only because it has superb meat and fish but because it has incredible prices and staff that knows everything there is to know about what’s available.

On a recent visit, we picked up an 18-pound, 7-bone-in standing beef roast. As we were hoisting it onto the cash register belt, a guy asked, “How much is that baby?” We were about to say it was around $147, but the cashier said that was Angus, $8 per pound, but the regular choice is less, reciting a lower price.

When we picked up the rib roast, we got two packages of Italian sausage—buy one, get the second free, and they make the sausage here. I also picked up a sirloin loin of pork at $1.57 per pound—just $12 of meat that will feed eight of us tonight. And the butchers? Adorable. Especially Robert, who is, according to Jacques, the second generation of owners at Ferraro’s.

It’s worth a trip—believe me.

Ferraro’s Food
664 Grand Street
New Haven
203-772-4926

A Time to Heal: Niantic therapist releases therapeutic CD

2009-01-08T15:43:59Z

Since Amy G. Martin opened the Center for Healing Therapies in Niantic five years ago, the psychotherapist has been using music during her clients’ sessions to help them relax and heal.

Now, after a year of work, Martin hopes to help others feel the same relaxation and clarity that her clients feel in her office.

Last month, Martin released “Wings of Light,” a collection of music that she created and performed to help heal the mind and spirit. The tracks, with titles from “Waterfall Music,” to “Healing of Love and Contemplation,” include Martin playing a bamboo flute in addition to the harp and her friends playing the violin or the cello.

“It’s calm. It’s healing. It’s relaxing. It’s contemplative,” Martin said. “It just kind of takes you to another place, and I think that’s the time when your mind is just free and clear, and that’s when healing can happen.”

Martin, who lives in East Lyme, has been a nurse since 1974 and a musician “forever.”

She became a nurse practitioner in 1979 and later studied RoHun therapy, an alternative to traditional psychotherapy, at Delphi University in Georgia. Now, as a transpersonal psychotherapist, she works with her clients at her private practice using image-based therapy. She said it is meant to help her clients change their unhealthy patterns and help them to heal by using the images in their head to find resolutions.

“I’ve always recognized the connection between the body and the mind,” Martin said. “A person can’t just heal their body; they have to focus on how they feel inside themselves.”

This is her first venture recording music. It’s also her first venture as the author of a book, although Martin does write a column on spiritual healing that appears in the Lyme Times.

Martin has been working on the book for about the past four years. She finished the book in time to release it about the same time as her music.

Time for Healing: Reclaiming Life After Trauma, is the story of Hope, which is a pseudonym for one of Martin’s former clients. The story follows Hope’s path to healing from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by following her journal entries from the beginning when she finally shared that she was repeatedly physically and sexually abused, to the end where a man who abused her was sentenced in court.

The book also combines the voice of the author who helps Hope heal using holistic and alternative means.

Through her newly released collection of music and book, Martin said she hopes that people may find her approach to healing helpful and reclaim their lives if they are suffering. She dedicates her book to those people.

“This book is for those who have ever experienced trauma and who never believed they could completely heal, and for those helpers who reach deeply into themselves to assist victims in reclaiming their lives,” the book’s dedication page reads.

Martin’s collection of music is available through her Web site, www.time4healing.com, or at www.cdbaby.com. Her book is also available through her Web site.She will hold a book signing at Borders in Waterford, 915 Hartford Turnpike, on Saturday, Jan. 10, starting at 1 p.m.

By Michael Naughton
Staff Writer

‘Many Hands Lighten the Load’: Local church groups help Haitians

2009-01-08T15:42:41Z

Few Americans may realize that the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is only 600 miles off of our eastern coast. It is Haiti, which shares half of the island of Hispanola with the Dominican Republic. Eighty percent of its 8 million citizens live under the poverty line, 54 percent in abject poverty, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) World Fact Book.

For almost 25 years, the Haitian Ministries for the Diocese of Norwich, based in Uncasville, has been working with counterparts in Haiti to support and empower the Haitian people. Following the Haitian proverb, “Men anpil, chay pa lou” (“Many hands lighten the load”), the ministry has sought to build relationships between Americans and Haitians in the process.

Founded in 1985, the ministry is housed with other diocese functions at the Bishop Flanagan Ministry Center on the St. Bernard School campus. Through its Mission House of Norwich in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capitol city, it has had a physical presence there since 1987.

“We’re on the ground in Haiti and we can get to the use of funds and assure donors that the money they donate is used specifically for projects,” said Emily Smack, executive director.

Also an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Smack said it collected and donated around $1 million, its largest amount ever, for projects in Haiti in the past fiscal year.

The ministries’ programs include emergency relief, medical assistance through emergency support, a clinic, and medical missions to work with Haitian caregivers. It also supports two orphanages, funds reforestation projects and neighborhood meals, and a long-standing scholarship program for children from elementary through college levels.

Smack credits the ministry’s success in part to its ability to bring Americans to its mission house for 7- to 10-day immersion experiences. This is where they can meet their Haitian counterparts and learn first-hand of the needs and challenges the country’s people face.

“We have learned working in a third-world country, when we go there thinking we have the answers to their problems, they are accepting, and tend to say ‘Yes, we’ll do that.’ But when you move away, the sustainability of that project isn’t there because they truly haven’t gotten into that project. Or our solution is too sophisticated,” she said.

She described how on a first mission trip to Haiti, an American man announced he had the perfect solution for a local community: a bakery back at home was shutting down, so why not tear down the equipment and ship it to the island?

But the automated equipment couldn’t be run without constant electricity. There was no clean water in the area. The local people didn’t really want a bakery.

An essential component of the work is in uniting Haitian parishes and projects with American churches, schools, and other groups through its “twinning” program.

St. John the Evangelist Church Parish at 22 Maple Ave. in Uncasville is one of a dozen such twinnings. For almost 10 years, church members have supported the L’arc-en-Ciel Rainbow House orphanage in Port-au-Prince. It provides a home to 32 children, from infancy through 17 years old, who are either infected by HIV/AIDS or have lost one or more parents to the disease.

“We support them with quarterly payments of cash, and send toys for Christmas and a shipment of over-the-counter medical supplies, things people could pick up at their pharmacy,” said Joan Malchiodi, one of the parish committee members.

Most of the original members have since cycled off of the committee. Malchiodi, who got active about five years ago, and Sheryl Lambert, one of the originators, have recruited a handful of new members in the past year.

Thanks to the Internet, the St. John Parish is able to communicate directly with the leaders of the orphanage, Robert Sr. and Danielle Penette, and their son, Robert, Jr., who visited Connecticut earlier this year. L’arc-en-Ciel also has set up a community outreach program and medical clinic for families affected by HIV/AIDS.

“They run a very good, accountable organization and they know how to go for grants worldwide,” she said. “The fact that many big organizations support their outreach program shows that they are not just a fly-by-night organization.”

The orphanage was one of the first models in Haiti that showed locals that people could live with others who had the disease and not get infected, Smack said. In the first years, when anti-viral medicines were not always available, it faced the tragic choice of having to divert medication from healthier children with the disease to sicker ones. As a result, a couple of children died each year, she said.

There haven’t been any deaths of orphanage children in the last five years, Smack said.

Although sometimes intermittent, Internet access has made it possible for St John’s members to stay in touch with the orphanage and see how their support is being used, Malchiodi said. The Christmas gifts had to be shipped out in August.

“At first, people had questions about if the money and gifts really got there. But with the e-mail, we hear back quickly. They also send us disks of photos of the kids getting their toys. We can share this with our parishioners.”

The orphanage has been around, and successful, long enough that some of its youth are old enough to set out on their own. To raise funds for them, the orphanage has started an arts project, where the students create holiday and other note cards that it sells. The proceeds are split between the artists and orphanage and put into savings accounts for each youth.

After the holidays, the St. John’s committee will consider supporting the gift card project. Malchiodi said they might buy some of the cards and resell them at church activities.

Malchiodi and the newest Parish committee members haven’t been to Haiti yet, but several have expressed interest.

“The whole purpose of twinning is to make lives larger, both here in the United States and in Haiti,” Tolson said, adding that many of the Americans come to feel that they get more out of the relationship than their Haitian counterparts.

“Being involved with Haiti is such an eye-opening, mind-expanding, and, we hope, heart-enlarging experience. There is something rather amazing about Haiti,” said Tolson, who grew up in Africa and has traveled the world with his miltary family. “It’s not just the shock of poverty. It is so close to the United States, but it is so different.”

The ministry also maintains Haiti’s Back Porch, a retail shop that offers a selection of art, crafts, clothing, and specialty foods that it has purchased directly from Haitian artisans and artisan collectives. It is located at 100 Riverview Center in Middletown.

Another popular program with individual donors is scholarships for children to attend elementary school through college in Haiti, she said.

“Only 60 percent of children in the country get to go to school, most of it private schools, which charge tuition,” Tolson said. “This can run from $200 to $400 per student per year, which is more than a family might make in a year.”

About 150 students currently are supported by five-year-long pledges through the Tierney-Tobin Memorial Scholarship administered by the ministry, Tolson said. These are based on family need and student merit or performance.

It costs about $2,000 per year to attend university, she said. Scholarships helped students in medicine and agronomy graduate last year and are supporting a third-year medical student and a number of young men in technical schools who are preparing to become electricians and plumbers.

“You would be amazed what some families will sacrifice because they so much want their child or children to go to school. It would break your heart and inspire you at the same time,” she said. “They see that as a way to get out of poverty.”

By Suzanne Thompson
Special to the Times

For more information, go to www.haitianministries.org.

Star Power: The magical world of Zach Ivins

2009-01-08T15:41:30Z

Kelly Ivins said her son, Zach, is like Clark Kent: quiet, unassuming, and introspective.

Like Clark Kent, the secret identity of superhero Superman, 16-year-old Zach Ivins has a much different, more outgoing personality when he gets on stage to perform magic.

“He comes to life,” Kelly Ivins said.

Since he was 5 years old, Zach has been doing magic. Professionally, he’s been doing it for three and a half years. In that time, he’s performed more than 150 shows at schools, libraries, churches and synagogues, birthday parties, private parties, and corporate functions.

“As parents, he blows us away. When we see him get up there and take command of an audience and draw them into his world,” Kelly Ivins said, “it’s amazing.”

In an interview at the Ivins family home in Waterford last week, Zach was humble about his accomplishments. He spoke eloquently, holding a deck of cards in his hands as he talked about his goal of performing on a stage in front of a big crowd.

It’s a large goal, he said, but one he thinks he can accomplish fairly soon.

“Some boys love baseball, they’re passionate about it,” Kelly said. “Magic is [Zach’s] passion. There’s no denying it.”

Unlike some magicians, Zach performs all different types of magic: up-close and intimate, stand-up magic for an audience, and theater-style. His unique ability to do all three types of magic allow him to entertain a variety of audiences.

He likes to perform neoclassical magic. He takes classical magic tricks like linking rings, producing doves, and multiplying billiard balls, but makes them different and fresh.

He is funny, quick with ad-libbing, and makes the audience laugh but also makes them feel comfortable.

He describes his personality and style on stage as similar to David Copperfield. Every performance has a story behind it.

“Magic is a journey. It’s important that the audience understands the journey they are on,” Kelly Ivins said. “The surprise is the ending.”

Zach started doing magic tricks when he was four years old, when he saw his first magic show at the Seaport Community Church in Groton. Zach said he doesn’t remember the performance but recalls the magician as dis-illusionist Billy Riggs.

A year later he got his first magic set from his parents for Christmas. It had the basics: a box to make things vanish and other props. His grandmother made him a cape.

He started reading books from the library, which is where he got most of his material.

At the age of 10 he started getting more serious with his hobby. He found out about the Rhode Island Societies of Magicians, and at age 11 they invited him to join. It wasn’t long after that he joined the local New London chapter.

When he was 12 he did his first paid gig for a preschool in Mystic, Happy Times Nursery School.

“I was nervous to perform but excited,” Zach said. “It was my first paid gig. I was hooked from then.”

From then on things got hectic. Word got around that he was a magician and people started booking him for shows. Zach attended lectures where he met well-known magicians, like his idol Mark Wilson, and went to the Tannen’s Magic Camp in Philadelphia.

He is always performing tricks for someone, whether it’s at the doctor’s office or for friends and family.

“I enjoy magic because of the reaction from people. The look of wonderment on their face is why I perform,” Zach said.

Zach is home schooled. The flexibility with his education allows him to perform at functions during the daytime. Just this week, he has several events planned.

This summer, Zach started a new chapter for the Society of Young Magicians. The Southeastern Connecticut Young Magicians Club meets once a month and is open to youngsters ages 7 to 17.

Zach’s performances are a family affair. His mom, Kelly, is his manager; his father, Alex, helps with the music and sound; and his siblings, Chelsea, 12, and Chloe, 6, offer support and suggestions when needed.

Zach took first place in junior stage at Tannen’s Magic Camp, first place at the Society of Young Magicians #29 annual magic contest, and third place at the Rhode Island Societies of Magicians annual magic contest.

Zach is now preparing for the Stars for Tomorrow Act, a national competition by the Society of American Magicians in Dallas, Tex. Zach must audition by DVD with a five- to 10-minute performance.

For details, visit www.zachivins.com.

By AMY RENCZKOWSKI
Staff Writer

The Cancer Project Travels to Stonington

2009-01-08T15:36:51Z

Dr. Jacqueline Campisi of Visions Sight and Learning Center hosted the Cancer Project Dec. 12 at her home along with Gregorie Culver and guest speakers Christopher Lachowski, DC, MS, CCN of East Lyme, Dr. Tom Kollars of Westerly, and Karl Goldkamp, Nd.L.Ac, Dipl. C.H. of Old Lyme. Their goal was to raise money to help further the research, reach, and awareness of The Cancer Project.

The message they brought to the table was that cancer prevention begins with what we put into our bodies. Participants enjoyed a food prep demonstration preceded by a short success video of a cancer survivor living on a plant-based diet along with a 30-minute call-in by best selling author, Dr. Neal Barnard of the Cancer Project. Dr. Barnard is the author of many books, including The Survivor’s Handbook: Eating Right for Cancer Survival.

Dr. Campisi’s recent encounter with another national best seller, The China Study, and Dr. Barnard’s work has encouraged her to spread the news that “You are what you eat.” Focusing on a plant-based diet, she has encouraged others to embrace this change.

Campisi said, “Each year over 1.3 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer...it’s time we start looking at how food choices can improve survival and prevent disease.”

New Exhibition Links Images and Verse

2009-01-08T15:30:03Z

“The Road Less Traveled: Thomas Nason’s Rural New England,” on view at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, from Jan. 17 through April 12, examines the visual poetry of printmaker Thomas W. Nason (1889-1971). The exhibition draws parallels between the carefully carved, deliberate lines of Nason’s wood engravings and the measured language of poet laureate Robert Frost, with whom he collaborated.

Several of Frost’s and Nason’s rare chapbooks and other limited editions are also on view, along with a choice selection of items from Nason’s studio, such as the artist’s tools, blocks, and personal library, to help to illuminate the technique and career of one of New England’s most revered printmakers.

Nason’s romanticized versions of New England farms and his views of the region’s undisturbed countryside earned him the name “poet engraver of New England.” Nason’s illustrations proved appropriate for several American poets.

Publishers commissioned him for comprehensive volumes on William Cullen Bryant and Henry David Thoreau. “Nason’s engravings were never more closely aligned with poetry than when he illustrated the verse of Robert Frost,” states Amanda Burdan, the museum’s first Catherine Fehrer Curatorial Fellow and curator of the exhibition.

The title of the exhibition, “The Road Less Traveled,” is a nod to Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Burdan will lead a gallery discussion titled “Nothing Gold Can Stay: Conjuring the Past in Thomas Nason’s Prints of New England” on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m.

The Florence Griswold Museum, at 96 Lyme St., is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For additional information and a list of special programming, call 434-5542 or visit www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org.

Pop Culture - New Year’s Resolution: Stay Smart

2009-01-08T15:26:05Z

If there is a politician I would’ve liked to have had dinner with, it would have been Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Moynihan, who authored nine books during his 24 years in the Senate, is generally regarded as the last academic-as-politician, able to reference the ancient Greeks and labor statistics in the same breath.

Plus, I think there would have been plenty of whiskey.

But if I do at times weep for the future, it is over the debate over the role of intellect in public life.

It’s as though we can’t decide if want to elect a president whom we want to have a beer with, or one who can tell you intricate details about molecular structure of Coors Light.

Supporters of Barack Obama will say they are taken with the president-elect’s posture as the professor-in-chief, while right wing detractors dismiss his academic tone as elitist.

Meanwhile, the modern American conservative movement founded by eggheads such as William F. Buckley, Jr. and Irving Kristol threw in with George W. Bush and Sarah Palin, for whom public incuriosity was an election-winning strategy.

The most telling moment, for me anyway, of the election season circus, as reporters and bloggers were on constant Def-Con 5 alert for gaffes, was Palin’s comment about fruit fly research.

During a press event Palin was making a point about the federal
government frittering away taxpayer money on projects that “really don’t make a whole lot of sense” and have “little or nothing to do with the public good. . . things like fruit fly research in Paris, France.”

Well, it turns out, that research into fruit flies has been valuable in the search for the causes of autism.

Now, I don’t have any proof of this, but I’m willing to wager that the fruit fly comment was a talking point meant to be humorous and innocuous.

Instead, it was especially embarrassing moment for the campaign, seeing how much they touted Palin’s sensitivity to families with special needs children.

But imagine for a second if at a press conference Obama gave a dissertation on how fruit flies are an integral part of autism research.

Can you just hear the cable television talk show hosts? “It’s Al Gore nerd-talk all over again.”

I’m sure Obama’s acolytes would have nodded along, in the same manner conservatives laughed along with Palin at Frenchies dissecting fruit flies.

Now that scene wouldn’t have happened, not the least of which because Obama is a much better politician than either Palin or McCain would dream of being.

After all, this supposed left-wing change messiah hired his opponent Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and invited Pastor Rick Warren, whose supporters helped ban gay marriage in California, to speak at his inauguration.

President Che Guevara this is not.

But I hope—there’s that word again—that Obama, who used the word “connotes” during an appearance on David Letterman and made me smile, continues to project his obvious intellect in public.

It’s not elitist to be the smartest guy in the room, especially when that room is the Oval Office.

And if maybe Obama can be a president that younger people look up to, maybe he’ll inspire them to know more tomorrow than they do today.

This is the opinion of Stephen Chupaska.

Food for Thought: Vitamin A for the New Year

2009-01-08T15:21:59Z

Happy New Year!

For many, 2009 brings with it New Year’s resolutions of losing weight, eating healthier, and exercising more. These are all great ideas and wonderful for increasing your overall health and well-being, however, many individuals set unrealistic objectives.

If you have made eating healthier a New Year’s resolution, set yourself up for success by not biting off more than you can chew (pun intended). Change only one eating habit every three weeks. It typically takes about 21 days for a new eating behavior to become habit. For example, aim to eat one more fruit or vegetable each day. Once you have accomplished your first goal, move onto the next.

The key to achieving your final objective (eating healthy, exercising more, or losing weight) is to make a list of smaller “mini-goals” that you feel you can achieve each month and will eventually lead to your final objective. Write down your goals and display them in a place where you can review them each day. Cross out, highlight, or check off each goal as you accomplish it. This will give you a feeling of accomplishment and allow you to see your progress towards your ultimate objective. Remind yourself that small changes in your lifestyle habits and behaviors will build up over time to create a huge impact on your health.

Since it is a new year, I thought it would be fun to encourage you to eat healthier by discussing the benefits of certain vitamins, starting with the beginning of the alphabet.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin. Like the other fat-soluble vitamins (D, E, and K), Vitamin A dissolves in fat. Fat soluble vitamins are carried throughout your body attached to fat, which is why daily, moderate fat consumption is important. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in body fat and is the reason why vitamin overconsumption (typically through over-supplementation) should be avoided. If the recommended intake is exceeded daily over an extended period of time, these vitamins can accumulate to unsafe levels in body tissues.

Vitamin A plays a number of important roles. It supports normal vision and helps your eyes adjust well to the dark; promotes the growth and health of cells and tissues throughout your body; protects the body from infections because it keeps your skin and tissues in your mouth, stomach, intestines, and respiratory, genital, and urinary tracts healthy; and helps to prevent illness by regulating your immune system.

The precursors of Vitamin A, carotenoids, act as antioxidants. Your body is able to convert carotenoids found in fruits and vegetables into Vitamin A. Good sources of carotenoids are red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, peaches, and grapefruit, and many dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collard greens. Vitamin A, which is not converted by your body because it is completely formed, is found in liver, fish oil, eggs, milk fortified with vitamin A, and other Vitamin A-fortified foods.

The recommended intake of Vitamin A for individuals 14 years and older is 3,000 IU for males and 2,333 IU for females. If you take a multivitamin, make sure it does not supply more than 3,000 IU of Vitamin A. Too much can be harmful since it can accumulate in your body.

To ensure that you are receiving adequate amounts of Vitamin A, strive to consume a variety of red, yellow, orange, and dark green, leafy vegetables each week. During the winter months, add red peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, spinach, and green beans to soups or stews. Try adding a small amount of olive oil to red or yellow pepper slices and roasting them in the oven for a delicious side dish. If you are pressed for time, buy frozen spinach or mixed vegetables. Make pumpkin muffins, bread, or waffles for a delicious snack or part of a brunch. Check out my Web site for a wonderful pumpkin pie waffle recipe. Freeze the extras so you can enjoy them later. During the summer months, make colorful salads with spinach, carrots, and red and yellow peppers.

Vitamin A is important for your health and can be easily included into a variety of dishes. Make it a goal to eat red, yellow, orange, and dark green, leafy vegetables each week in 2009 to help you increase your Vitamin A and vegetable intake and to eat healthier.

Katie Jeffrey-Lunn, MS, RD, CD-N, LD-N, is the owner of FitNutrition, LLC, in Mystic. For more information, call 860-536-3610 or go online to www.fitnutrition.net.

A Look Back: Revisiting some of our favorite feature photos from 2008

2009-01-05T15:19:48Z

In compiling our top five photos of the year, we considered several criteria in the process. Overall punch, great angles, drama, and irony, among others.

Using those criteria, we soon discovered several Times photos were contenders for the top five spread. As such, we had to expand our concept a bit and placed our second string of favorite photos in smaller form on the front page of the paper.

We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed capturing them.

To view the corresponding Top 5 photo album featured in the Jan. 1 Mystic Times inside spread, click on the photo at right.

The Dolphin Perspective: Aquarium scientist pens guide to dolphin communication

2009-01-05T15:17:25Z

They are questions that intrigue many humans: how do dolphins communicate with each other? What do their actions mean and to what extent can they communicate with humans?

A recently published book written by Mystic Aquarium scientist Kathleen Dudzinski and fellow researcher Toni Frohoff of Puget Sound, Wash., draws on their 40 years of studying dolphins in the wild to answer those questions.

Titled Dolphin Mysteries, Unlocking the Secrets of Dolphin Communication, the 272-page book is written in easy to understand language despite its references to numerous scientific studies. It includes several photos and drawings and even features a guide on how to properly interact with dolphins in various contexts.

Dudzinski, who studies wild dolphins in Japan, the Bahamas, and Honduras, has developed an underwater audio/video recorder that allows her to tape dolphin vocalizations and movements for later study.

On page 87 of the book, the two women ask the question: “So why study communicative behavior in dolphins?”

Dudzinski and Frohoff continue, “Obviously it’s a fascinating subject with many implications. But is there a greater purpose? Absolutely. Increased public education about dolphin communication and behavior may contribute to greater public protection of dolphins and their habitats...Knowledge of their behavior allows us to glimpse into their psychological and physiological condition. And this information in turn enables people to better manage and care for individuals as well as populations.”

They write that by “eavesdropping” on dolphins, we discover the ways dolphins communicate—with each other and with humans—“are incredibly sophisticated and complex, even by human standards.”

They also write that while animals of the same species direct behaviors to one another that are understood, effective communication between members of different species, is more challenging.

“Over time, individuals, whether dolphins or other animals, may learn the meanings of signals exhibited by members of another species and the two species may even develop mutually understood signs” such as those that exists between gorillas, dolphins, and dogs and their trainers.

Dolphins who frequently interact with humans also may have learned on some level how to communicate with them, perhaps to solicit certain behavioral responses from swimmers. Researchers point to the dolphins’ mimicry of human positions and vocalizations. Dolphins in swim programs are known to circle or somersault around swimmers and copy human actions while they play.

Dolphin Mysteries, Unlocking the Secrets of Dolphin Communication, which costs $30, is available from Yale University Press at www.yalebooks.com.

By JOE WOJTAS
Staff Writer