Two Southington Boys Spearhead Successful Toys for Tots Drive

Originally published in the Southington Citizen.

There’s no minimum age for compassion for the unseen have-nots in a community, certainly not in Southington, CT. Attesting to that is the generous work of the heart of two 6th grade, eleven-year-old boys. Jonathan Kryzanski and Jonathan Pierson have been friends since the age of six when they played soccer together. Since then, their friendship has grown, extending beyond sports to other mutual interests, such as joining STEPS, (Southington Town-wide Efforts to Promote Success), a movement that has itself grown very successfully in the three years since the program was established under a grant from a federal agency and a great deal of work and effort by a small legion of organized local volunteers from every sector of town.

As members of the STEPS COMETS, Jon K and Jon P had an idea to help kids who probably wouldn’t have much of a Christmas, let alone toys. They discussed and received approval of their idea with their parents and school authorities: Jon P attends JFK Middle School while John K goes to DePaolo Middle School. They would work together while each of them coordinated the efforts at their own school. They designed flyers to distribute to all classes, made daily announcements over the school-wide broadcast system promoting their ‘Toys for Tots’ Drive and decorated a large box for each school for the collection of toys donated by students.

With results successful beyond expectations, on Thursday, December 15th, Lester Pierson , the boys’ soccer coach and Jon P's dad, drove them down to Southington Community Services to deliver two large boxes of toys. Greeted by volunteer, Jeri Matyczyk, they told her their story very politely and respectfully. Matyczyk listened with delight, warmly thanking them for their hard work and generous spirit, "These fine young gentlemen presented themselves very courteously even shaking hands with me," Matyczyk said. Accepting her words of appreciation with a bit of embarrassment at the praise they pointed out that it had been their fellow students who came through. But Matyczyk saw how happy they were that the toys were welcome and that they would be a nice surprise to the kids receiving them.

Excerpt from The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Christmas Über alles, Christmas is for all

Today is Christmas Eve

It was on this day in 1914 that the last known Christmas truce occurred along the Western Front during World War I. In the week leading up to Christmas, soldiers all over the battlefields had been decorating their trenches with candles and makeshift trimmings when groups of German and British soldiers began shouting seasonal greetings and singing songs to each other. On occasion, a soldier or two would even cross the battlefield to take gifts to the enemy. Then, on Christmas Eve, the men of the Western Front put the war on hold and many soldiers from both sides left their trenches to meet in No Man's Land, where they mingled and exchanged tobacco, chocolate, and sometimes even the buttons from their own uniforms as souvenirs. They played games of football, sang carols, and buried fallen comrades together as the unofficial truce lasted through the night.

_____________________________

FOX TV News of Connecticut reports on the incrediblely generous response of town to its own.

A Fox TV News of Connecticut follow up to the amazing story of a Connecticut town's incredible one-hour fund raiser for their local needy just before Christmas.

Also see a previous post, It takes a Town Like Southington.

Who is Your God?

Attending a long and full Saturday's agenda at a CT Catholic Men's Conference on October 22, 2011, hosted at St. Dominic Church in Southington, CT, there was a one-liner I heard that day that continues to come back to me, now almost routinely, even after two months. .

"If God is not your God, you will find another."

Who or what is your God?

Czech Playwright, Vaclav Havel, Dies at Age 75

Vaclav Havel, noted Czech playright and dissident against suppression of liberty under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia and leader of the first democracy to emerge from the former Soviet Union of Socialist Repblics, has died at age 75.

Essentially self-educated, Havel's most important role was doubtless the one he played on the world stage.

A review of Havel's story, filed by the Associated Press and published in today's New York Times reveals the multi-faceted life of an ordinary citizen whose personal  fervor for liberty and truth was to pioneer a peaceful movement in Eastern Euope that was to democratize member states of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, end the Cold War and unleash freedom to millions once under the heel of Communist domination. 

Vaclav Havel, an ordinary man whose contributions to world history need to be remembered.

It takes a town like Southington ...

This article was originally published in the Southington Citizen.

$12,285 Raised in One Hour

The people of Southington really do care. They prove their generosity time and time again. This time they broke all records.

Last week, an opportunity was presented to the people of Southington in the form of a call for help for Southington Community Services. For every dollar placed in the Salvation Army red bucket in front of the Walmart store on Queen Street, Walmart would match the donations, dollar for dollar. The campaign would run just one hour from noon to 1:00 pm on December 12, 2011 with Senator Joe Markley and state Rep. Rob Sampson personally ringing the bells.

Walmart was offering the same opportunity to their customers throughout the state. In Southington’s case, the entire collection would go to Southington Community Services to help make up the agency’s total donations short-fall in meeting the growing needs of our local population who are not able to make ends meet, essentially because of lingering poor economic conditions.

Director of Southington Community Services, Janet Mellon, and Kathy (Calvanese) Reinhard, who also serves the agency, reported Tuesday that the community responded resoundingly to the ringing of the bells. In addition, the positive response was attributed to so many getting the word out such, for example, at weekend worship services and the communications network of email, a new local blog, (The Quest for Common Ground), and Facebook.

Mellon had optimistically hoped to raise $10,000 in Southington Salvation Army donations in order to bring in $20,000 including the matching funds of Walmart of Southington. But, the people of Southington raised the stakes and contributed a total of $12,285 … in just one hour! Thanks to Walmart, who matched those funds, the total presented to Southington Community Services was $24,570!

By Wednesday morning, the huge response was the biggest piece of news throughout the Walmart stores and at the state legislature where the program had been set up. “Everyone was in shock!” Janet Mellon said. “The average collection around the state was $30 to $100 collected in that one hour. It’s easy to see why the donations of $12,285 in Southington were incredible. It’s the biggest fund raiser we have ever had … and still unbelievable that it was done in one hour”, Mellon added.

Beth Egliskis, Community Relations Coordinator of Walmart, said: “The first ones who came to the bell ringing were members of the Southington Fire Department who gave us a large envelope stuffed with money. Then the town manager and many other dignitaries came in to make their donations and the flow didn’t stop during the whole hour. When we took the collection to my office we were amazed, ecstatic and extremely proud that we had collaborated with Senators Rob Sampson, Joe Markley, Michael Rell and Brian Sundie of the Republican Party who put this idea together with Walmart. Putting the results into perspective, the average one hour collections were between $30 and $100 around the state. The second highest so far, after Southington, raised $402, according to Walmart.”

Mellon and Reinhard were elated. “This is astonishing news. We have added $24, 570 to the coffers this year to help the needy in our community. God has blessed this community and with the most generous people on earth! Merry Christmas to all.”, Reinhard said.

Southington Community Services helps those in need in many ways, including food distributed by them through the Southington Food Pantry, which Bread for Life also helps support in a big way. The service agency also provides fuel and rent assistance, clothing and other urgent needs of the poor. "These are God’s people," said Eldon Hafford, executive director of Bread for Life.

Southington "Spotlight Education" on Cox Cable, Local Channel 16

After viewing this video, don't forget to read the following exciting news about STEPS, also known as Southington’s Town-wide Effort to Promote Success,.

Teen members of the STEPS Youth Council, Joe Rogus, Austin Sullivan and Tyler Brinton, recently joined Dr. Joseph Erardi, Superintendent of Southington Public Schools, in taping a Cox Cable TV presentation, entitled Spotlight Education, which is airing on Monday and Thursday evenings at 7:00 pm and Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:00 am on Cox local Channel 16 through the end of December.

The program's focus is a discussion about STEPS, a rapidly growing Southington community initiative with an ambitious agenda aimed at developing healthy and successful youth. STEPS is a town-wide, multi-sector community network supporting the effort to grow great kids.

The special TV program provides some valuable and informative insights for all residents of the Town of Southington, including parents, teens, school faculty members, town leaders, clergy, grandparents, police, fire and healthcare officials as well as the business and professional sectors of the community.

For more information, visit the STEPS website .

A Christmas Story - Out of the Proverbial Mouths of Babes

From this morning's email Inbox ...

This Christmas Story told by the Hilltop Pre-School and Kindergarten Students of the Portland Christian Center made for a delighful morning-after-treat in the aftermath of our own more serious musical production of the Story of the Nativity performed at St. Dominic Church of Southington, CT, Sunday evening, December 11, 2011



Enjoy listening to these children, then, make someone else smile with your own comment and pass it along.

STEPS - Southington's Town-wide Effort to Promote Success - Promotes Toy Drive for the Neediest

Southington's STEPS organization is partnering with DePaolo Middle School of Southington to help "Make A Child Smile" with a toy drive that is now in progress through Friday, December 16, 2011.

Your gift of a toy can make a child's holiday season brighter as you share the joy of the happiest time of the year with someone who will deeply appreciate it.

Please bring toys to the box in the Main Office of the DePaolo Middle School located at the corner of Woodruff and Pleasant Streets in Southington.

Reaching for the Minds and Hearts of Southington

Let's start this weekend by rising to the call of "Stuff a Cruiser"

A Southington Police Cruiser will be on hand at Walmart at 235 Queen Street in Southington on Saturday, December 10, 2011 during the hours of 10:00 am and 3:00 pm.

Huh? How do you stuff a cruiser? What do you use to stuff it?

The idea is to stuff as many gifts into a police cruiser as we can for families whose holidays may not be so bright this year without a helping hand from you.

Help by donating a new, unwrapped gift; bring it to Walmart and help stuff the police cruiser. Gifts may be for all ages. The gifts will reach many families in need of assistance through Southington Community Services.

An even bigger event is the urgent request from Janet Mellon, Director of Southington Community Services. It's a one hour event starting at Noon on Monday, December 12th and it's a way to: "Double Your Donation". 

The Making of a Musical Production of the Nativity

I cannot remember a time in my life that the idea of writing and producing a play had ever crossed my mind, that is, not until almost a decade ago. Until then, I never seemed to have the time to even consider such an enterprise, especially during my professional working years.

But hold that thought, please.

In the late 1990s, my wife and I attended, for the first time, "The Passion Play" at St. Thomas Church in Southington, CT. To me it was a smash hit—not at all what I had expected from a church or community theatre type of production. The play was (and remains today), a marvelous depiction of the Passion of Jesus Christ, a wonderful musical and a superbly performed, well-rehearsed production.

More amazing is the fact that the production represented months of planning, rehearsals and hard work. Kudos to those who had the talent, enterprise, creativity and commitment to put such a grand piece of work together with a virtually all volunteer company.

After seeing the production again, I realized that there was nothing close to that level in Southington of this spiritually energizing, educational and entertaining opus about the Nativity. I put the idea of something similar for the Nativity on a "back-burner," honestly wondering if I could ever be part of a serious attempt for the Birth of Christ.

After being immersed for about 15 years of retirement in church and community service activities and writing, it came to me in early 2010 that we could put together a meaningful Nativity play, a musical production that would be based on factually accurate historical and biblical research, but written in today's American-English language. Of course, it would only be a start and could develop through the ensuing years if it turned out to be worthwhile.

In May 2010, I approached Lisa Carroll, well known in Southington and the surrounding area for her theatrical and musical expertise and many successful productions through the years. Lisa heard my ideas and understood that I would need to collaborate with someone of her talents and special skills to take a script that I would write and make it work as a quality musical production of the story of the Nativity; The Birth of Jesus Christ, King and Savior.

Lisa suggested simplicity as a starting point, so we were agreed about that. We wanted our focus to be on a quality presentation in telling the basic story with well-chosen music, which Lisa also organized.

Collaboration with her and the cast she recruited was a new experience for me, one which I not only enjoyed, but it fulfilled the dream of a decade to present such a work as a gift to our community with Lisa Carroll and the whole company. The key was Lisa's direction and understanding of every phase of the production.

May we invite you now, to come and enjoy being with us for our second annual production of The Story of the Nativity: The Birth of Jesus Christ, King and Savior on Sunday evening, December 11, 2011 at 6:00 pm at the Church of Saint Dominic at the corner of Flanders Road and Laning Street in Southington, CT.

We developed the play through a combination of brief narrated scenes of the story and live action of the actors and their portrayals of the characters also presented on our large church screens.

Reaching "Beyond The Weeping Willow Tree"

This review was originally published in the Southington Citizen.

A priest, scholar, educator, administrator and pastor in the Archdiocese of Hartford for more than half a century, the Rev. Fr. Henry C. Frascadore has continued his life long journey into retirement using his many talents to inspire others to discover deeper thoughts of faith through his charismatic speaking style and poetry.

In his recently published book, “Beyond The Weeping Willow Tree: Mystery is a Gift Wrapped in Ordinary Paper”, the author opens himself in his free flowing use of the art of poetry with words that paint striking images of the world around us leaving the reader open to his or her own answers to the questions Frascadore ponders.

His word-pictures glide like an eagle, missing nothing in its view, as it passes over and through the natural wonders of the forest, desert, beach, sky, rain and snow. But beyond the eagle, the poet presents is own close up observation of God’s creation and his human family.

Much more than a book about nature, the author’s work, unlike the eagle’s view, reaches for answers infinitely beyond the weeping willow tree and human understanding.

The best news is that Frascadore’s book is not reserved for a small circle of those engaged in esoteric spiritual pursuits that are deep in the well of human understanding. Rather, it is a spiritual treasure of recipes for clear thinking about our human experience and our relationship with God.

Several weeks ago, Fr. Frascadore, who is now retired, returned to St. Dominic Church, where he previously served as pastor, to present a program about his book.

Beyond the Weeping Willow Tree can be purchased on Amazon.com and locally from the Gift Shop at Bradley Memorial Hospital in Southington.