Thanksgiving traditions

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, and the official kickoff to the holiday season for me. There are two great events that I participate in every year two days before Thanksgiving - The Derby/Shelton Rotary Club football luncheon and the Boys & Girls Club's Keystone Club dinner for Shelton seniors.

The Rotary club luncheon is a tradition that dates back decades and was preceded by many other similar community events. basically, the Rotary Club invites the coaches, senior members of the the football and cheerleading squads, school administrators and mayors to lunch to celebrate the importance of the thanksgiving Day game. This year the luncheon took on special meaning as Shelton is hosting what is being advertised as the 100th game - that's a story for another day. They have invited anyone who ever played in the game to come on the field at halftime on Thursday to be recognized. At the start of the game, the two oldest living players from both schools who played in the game - Fran Saldamarco of Derby and Jim Braccnaro of Shelton - will toss the coin.

What makes the Rotary event so special is that each team brings back a former player to talk about their experiences. This year Rotary member Jon Wetmore was the speaker for Shelton and Dan Shea was the speaker for Derby, and they both did an excellent and very motivational job. I'm sure their stories will appear on the Rotary website.

The end of the day is just as exciting as the keystone Club members conduct a very special inter-generational event for the members of the Shelton Senior Center. The cook and serve a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and all the trimmings for the seniors. The Keystone Club has won numerous national awards for their work, but I think that this dinner is one of the best things that they do. I've been fortunate to have attended for about 20 years now, but the tradition goes back much longer than that.

Besides serving the dinner, they also provide the entertainment and conduct a special drawing for a variety of special raffle prizes. It's also the first day of they year for Christmas carols as the seniors condut a great sing-a-long.

What a great way to start the holiday season! My only regret is that it means two big meals on the same day. Oh well, I'll just have to jog a little longer for the next couple of days.

Thank you Derby/Shelton Rotary and the Keystone Club for giving us examples of what we have to be thankful for at this special time of the year.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race - more than a race

Nine years ago, a group of us got together and planned for a new Thanksgiving Day event that would celebrate the cities of Derby and Shelton and one of the greatest naval heroes in U.S. history, Commodore Isaac Hull. Hull was born in Derby and also lived in Shelton. Our concept was a race through the downtowns of the two cities that would draw 150-200 runners for an early morning 5K race that would give people plenty of time to run, but still be able to get to the traditional Thanksgiving Day football games or back home in plenty of time for family reunions and turkeys.

That first year, we drew over 300 runners and quickly realized that what we were actually doing was starting a new Valley tradition that celebrates our rich history and also gave us an opportunity to raise some funds for a worthy local organization. We decided that would be the Boys & Girls Club which is just down the street from the starting line and an organization with great needs. I think we were hoping that the race might grow to attract 500 runners and we might be able to raise a couple of thousand dollars a year. We have done that and much more. For the third straight year, the race is sold out and we have expanded the number of runners to 650. We have tried to expand our limits responsibly as we want to ensure that we maintain the quality of the race and the experience of the runners. We would love to accommodate everyone that wants to run but within the limits of the resources (volunteers, sponsors, facilites) that we have available to us.

We have raised over $70,000 for the Boys & Girls Club during the first eight years, and should have a nice amount to add to that this year. We have also celebrated the accomplishments of Isaac Hull and brought thousands of people back into our historic and reviving downtowns.We also take the time to honor someone from the two cities who has a positive impact in the two communities as the official starter for the race. This year, it is retired Shelton school principal Frank Skoronski.This year, the Young Emerging Professionals group at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce have joined the fun by adding a food drive to the event.

The race is only possible because we have great volunteers, the support of both our city governments, great sponsors and enthusiastic runners - 32 of which have run every race. So, if you're not busy on Thanksgiving morning and want to see the joy shared by over 650 people running like maniacs through the streets of Shelton and Derby, stop by and cheer the runners on.

You can find all the details on the race website.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Back to School

Friday morning was a bit like being suspended in time for me, and that time was more than 20 years ago. Prior to coming to Valley United Way, I was a teacher for many years (I'm not saying how long!). A decade of that time was spent as the boys basketball coach at Shelton High School, and for six years I was a teacher in the Shelton school system - and two of those years were spent at the Shelton Intermediate School teaching history. Friday morning I was back, but in a much more modern building as part of the Junior Achievement business education program.

Though the building may be newer,  the classroom and the students were much the same as I left them years ago. In preparing for the class, I was pleased that the first lesson that I was to teach was related to immigration and its impact on the history of the U.S. I had taught that in the past, so I was comfortable with the subject. Within a couple of minutes, I had surveyed the class, and found that we had about a dozen different ethnic groups represented in the class of just over 20 students. They were more than willing to share their own families' unique experiences in coming to America, and I was more than happy to share the story of my grandfather's emigration to Connecticut from a small townland in County Limerick, Ireland more than a century ago.

We had a second session on the importance of agriculture, and being in a city with active and innovative farms made that an easy topic for discussion as well.

A third session centering on the California Gold Rush showed the value of natural resources and the creation of boom towns that resulted from the rush for gold. The students were quick to discern the growth of business that results from a sudden migration of people into an area whether it be for gold or other factors. That translated into a discussion of the "boom" that has taken place in Shelton particularly along the Rt. 8 corridor.

In no time at all, the class was over. I scrambled back to my JA materials to make sure that we had covered the "curriculum" for the day. We had! I was very pleased and impressed with the students that I had in my class. They were a bright and outgoing group who actively participated and had a great background knowledge of the material that we were covering.

I think it was a nice break from the regular classroom schedule for them and a great opportunity to learn about the world of business at the same time. I enjoyed myself, and I hope they did as well.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

An Easier Way to Manage Volunteering

One of the great assets and strengths of the Valley community has always been its spirit of volunteerism. If you take a look around the Valley on any given day, you will see volunteers doing everything from cooking for the homeless to cleaning our rivers and manning our emergency services. Its a Valley characteristic that has served the community well over time.It's also something that Valley United Way believes in very strongly as shown by our commitment to having a Volunteer Center in the Valley.You can find a lot of information about the Volunteer Center and the great work being done on our website, but I want to take time today to discuss our "on-line" Volunteer Center - Volunteer Solutions.

We recognized a long time ago that a barrier for people who want to volunteer is finding out just what opportunities are available. At the same time, it has always been a challenge for groups who need volunteers to get the word out to the community about their needs. Our Volunteer Solutions website meets the needs of both groups - and does it at efficiently and free!

If you are looking to volunteer, all you have to do is go to the website (https://volunteer.truist.com/uwvalley/volunteer/). You can easily browse through listings of opportunities or of agencies looking for volunteers. You can also do a search by just about any criteria that you choose to find something that meets your time and talent. If you register, you can even customize the site so that it brings up your preferences when you log-in, or you can even have it periodically (As often as you choose) send you notices about opportunities that interest you.

If you are an agency that is looking for volunteers, you go to a different part of the website (https://volunteer.truist.com/uwvalley/agency/) to register. Once you register, you will fill in information about your group and then list your opportunities for potential volunteers to see. You can also create a wish list of items that your agency would like donated. If you are looking for Board members, you can also list those opportunities. If you have an event coming up, yuo can also post that on the calendar. It's possible to set up multiple people to administer your group's listing, and the group has full control over that once approved to use the system.


We are able to offer this great service thanks to a grant from the Raymond P. Lavietes Foundation.Ray was one of the best volunteers the Valley has ever seen, and we are grateful that his legacy includes the promotion of volunteerism in the Valley.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Health Net Phasing Out

This morning's newspapers are full of stories about the impending layoffs of employees at Health Net of the Northeast here in Shelton, and it is a sad day for those employees and for the entire Valley community to see so many people losing their jobs and the Valley losing one of its best corportate citizens. They have certainly been great friends and supporters of Valley United Way during their time in the Valley, and we truly value that relationship.

One of the articles mentioned the state Labor Department's Rapid Response Team which it said will be responding to the employees with their outreach services detailing services such as unemployment and job training. Valley United Way participates in the Rapid Response Team, and we have been going to Health Net on a monthly basis throughout 2010 speaking to groups of employees who have already lost their jobs. We have another session coming up next week. My good friend Bill Purcell also attends the sessions and brings the backing of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce to the effort.

As the articles have stated, Health Net is providing severance packages for the employees and in-house resources for things like preparing resumes and beginning a job search. They have taken the extra step of inviting the Labor Department to bring their services directly to the employees as well. The Labor Department brings in a variety of speakers who do a great job of thorougly explaining how unemployment works, how to apply and how to best use the services. They also explain what job training programs are available and how to access those programs. At a difficult time for the employees, the Labor Department eases the stress and uncertainty that all employees face when going through a job loss.

Ever since the tragic Latex Foam fire, we have been invited to participate in the Rapid Response team to talk about the wide range of services offered by non-profits in the community. We obviously focus on using the resources of 2-1-1 as the first place to go to learn about what is available in any community in the state.

It's challenging and rewarding at the same time to be speaking before employees that have been supporters of so many causes in the Valley including United Way. However, I think that they find it comforting to know that a wide variety of services are available, and that the community is interested in their well being.

We have done this many, many times during the last decade, and it is never easy. However, one of the messages that we always try to convey is hope for the future. The very building where Health Net is located gives proof of that. One of the first kickoffs for a United Way campaign when I became executive director of Valley United Way was held in the same building. It was a bittersweet day. Richardson-Vicks, another great company and outstanding corporate citizen, hosted the kickoff that day only hours after news broke that they would be leaving town and everyone would be losing their job. It was a gloomy day. Ironically, that was the only time that we have had a special guest speaker at our kickoff event. He was a tv and radio personality who went by the name of "Mr. Positive". His message about staying positive was soothing that day, and it is now as well.

Over time, Health Net moved into the building and brought with it new jobs and new hope. We are staying positive that the same thing will eventually happen this time.

For now, our thoughts and best wishes are with all the employees. We wish them the best in their job hunt and urge them to stay positive knowing that the community supports their efforts.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Valley Philanthropy Council's "Art of Giving"

When the Valley Philantropy Council holds its annual "Art of Giving" art show beginning this weekend at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, it will have special meaning to all of us at Valley United Way. To start with, our Board Chair Mike Marcinek will be presented with the Distinguished Leader of the Year award for all that he has done for area nonprofits. Mike needs no additional acknowledgment here as his record of community involvement is second to none and a model of what good corporate leadership in our community is all about.

At the same time, I was thinking about United Way's role on the Council. Of course we are a member, but it goes way beyond that. When Jane Snaider served as the Director of Resource Development here at United Way, she came up with the idea of starting a group for professionals in the Valley involved with fund raising withing Valley nonprofits. The group began meeting, and over time evolved into the Valley Philanthropy Council.

Laurel Vicidomino now represents us at the meetings,but I want to acknowledge the role that Jane played in creating this Valley asset. Jane is still in the Valley and works with Barnum Financial Group here in Shelton.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

United Way legacy is its volunteer leadership

 The last few weeks have not left me with much time to update this blog because there have been so many good things going on at Valley United Way. We are in the midst of the Annual Community Campaign, and we have had some incredible campaigns this year with some unbelievable creativity. If you have been following our website, you would have seen executives dressed up as outlaws, corporate work spaces turned into golf courses and breakfast and dessert being served up to employees. We want to thank Iroquois Gas Transmission, BIC, and Blum Shapiro for some of those efforts. We also want to thank Larry Janesky for his generous incentive to the employees at Basement Systems as part of their campaign. And finally, we want to welcome Hubbell to the fold as they are running their first campaign for Valley United Way in their new Shelton location. Keep watching for campaign updates on the web.

Our Corporate Volunteer Council was presented with Birmingham group Health Services' "Corporate Good Neighbor Award", and our High School Council Volunteer Council held its first meeting of the year. Youth Leadership members elected their officers for the year, and they are getting ready for their annual allocations process. Nineteen agencies have also submitted applications for Special Needs Grants from Valley United Way which will be awarded in December.

However, what I wanted to really talk about today is the legacy left by the men and women who have headed the Valley United Way since its inception in 1968 when the United Funds and Community Chests in the Valley Came together as one regional organization. We finally got around to developing a listing of all those people who served as presidents, board chairs and campaign chairs down through the years and have posted them on our website. It's quite a listing, and I would urge you to take a look. You can find it at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/board.html.

We have been very fortunate to have had so many outstanding volunteers who gave so much of themselves for the benefit of the community. They were drawn from all walks of life in the Valley and serve as models for others to follow.

As I said at the beginning, it has been a very busy month at Valley United Way, but we owe a debt of gratitude not only to those who work so hard today, but to all those who came before to make Valley United Way the organization that it is today.




For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Working with the Ansonia Schools

 Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Ansonia Board of Education. Prior to the start of the business part of the meeting, the Board had a short, three part ceremony. During the first part, Mead School's enthusiastic principal Terri Goldson, recognized the achievements of  students who had achieved outstanding scores in the CT Mastery Tests as their proud parents snapped dozens of pictures of shy, but very proud students who represent all that is great in the Ansonia School system.

During the second part of the ceremony, they recognized four outstanding teachers in the system for the outstanding results achieved by students under their tutelage as Board Chairman John Lawler commended them for their dedication and service to the children of Ansonia.

And then they used the third part of the program to recognize three community groups for their support of the schools including Valley United Way. I believe that he Certificate of Appreciation in our case was mainly for the recent success of the Back to School Clothes for Kids program at Mead School, but it got me thinking about several of the ways that we interact with the schools and students in Ansonia - and there are many. To start with tow of our Board members have special ties to the schools. Carol Merlone is the Superintendent of Schools in Ansonia, and she is also serving as the Education Chairman of this year's Community Fund-raising Campaign. Bill Nimons is a board member at United Way, and he is also a member of the Board of Education.

Valley United Way also serves as the community partner for Ansonia's Discovery early childhood effort as well as for the regional effort in which Ansonia is also engaged. Ansonia High School is also an active member of our High School Volunteer Council. And finally, down through the years many Ansonia High School students and Ansonia residents attending other area high schools have been members of our Youth Leadership Program.

All in all, we have had a lengthy and mutually rewarding relationship with the Ansonia school system and I think it is a good example of how working together helps to make for a better school system and a better community for all of us. Thank you Ansonia Schools!

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Give - and Give Away

It's the busiest and most exciting time of year at Valley United Way as we are in the midst of the annual Community Fundraising campaign as you can see from the posters of some of those doing campaigns above. We will be out talking to people all over the Valley soliciting their support for the annual campaign. We'll have lots of stories and pictures and an occassional video on the campaign seciton of our website.

At the same time, we are also giving some of the money away. Our normal allocation process takes place in the spring, but at this time of year, we have a small grants program that we have called our Special Needs Program, and we began taking applications today through our on-line system. The total pool of money is approximately $45,000 this year, and the funds are from donors who specifically earmarked their funds for a special area such as the elderly, youth and recreation, substance abuse, child care, etc. These are dollars allocated separately from and in addition to the regular spring allocation process. The funds can be used to meet special needs of an agency beyond their normal budget. One grant of $10,000 to Valley Regional Adult Education to help boost high school graduation rates has already been made.

We made this a formal grant program starting in 2003 when the pool of funds was $13,000. It has grown quite a bit since then, and during the last two years we had grants of  approximately $50,000 and $47,000 respectively.

For more information about the campaign and the grant program, visit our website.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.

Valley United Way loses a great friend

I had planned to get caught up with some notes about last week's string of events today, but I just read the news of the passing of Ed Brickett yesterday. Ed lived a full and active life and was a community leader in everything that he did - including his years with United Way. He found time to chair an annual campaign in 1978 and then served as Board President in 1982. He was active in so many communtiy activites that I couldn't begin to recite all of them. Suffice it to say that after he returned from serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, he was a leader in civic, government, religious and social organizations throughout the Valley.

The term "gentleman banker" surely was coined because of people like Ed Brickett.  He was a success and a leader in anything that he undertook. He will be sorely missed by everyone who ever came into contact with him.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

A Great End to the Week

Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Club

On Monday, I wrote about a great start to the week with Nick Tarasovic's completion of the Tri-Challenge, and we're ending the week on a high note as well. This morning the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted one of their regular Breakfast Club sessions with Jay Holm, President of Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company, as the guest speaker. The Chamber did it's always outstanding job of presenting Anniversary Breakfast Club Salutes to DiMatteo Group, Brownson Country Club and Advanced Decisions for their significant anniversaries in business before Jay took the floor.

Jay's presentation was especially relevant in light of the recent pipeline explosion in California. I think Jay did an exceptional job in setting everyone at ease as he explained all of the safety procedures built into the Iroquois operations. He also laid out a very strong case for natural gas as the "bridge" green energy solution as the country moves forward in solving our country's energy issues. He also gave a great view of the company's business growth and its business philosophy including their commitment to the community. Jay and Iroquois have won just about every award that Valley United Way has to give. If you look through our website, you will see Iroquois Gas and its employees mentioned in every area of the site. Certainly, their campaigns are the very best, but when you look closer, you will also see their involvement with all of the hands-on projects that we take on. So, I want to thank Jay and everyone at Iroquois for Jay's kind comments this morning - and for their years of demonstrating what corporate citizenship really looks like!!

By the way, if you want to see the video that Jay alluded to, click here.

Leadership Greater Valley

We also started a new year for Leadership Greater Valley last night. We have 19 people enrolled this year, and we're looking forward to another fantastic year. last night's session was on leadership. Next week we will be taking the Valley Heritage History Tour of the Valley, and I am looking forward to getting to know each of our participants during the course of the tour.

A feel good story for the week

And finally, we had another one of those feel good stories that we don't often have a chance to talk about. For as long as I have been here, we have had a quiet, but effective program that allows businesses and individuals to donate items to non-profit agencies that might have a need for them. We have the nonprofits linked electronically, so that we can alert them when something becomes available. 

We recently had one of those lucky occasions when a need and a donation coincided. I had a call from a family looking for a wheelchair. A family members health had deteriorated and now needed to move to a wheelchair for mobility. I had to tell the caller that we did not have one available, but I would keep the name in case something came up. Incredibly, about 15 minutes later, Kathy Barrios from Freedom Disability in Shelton called to say that they had a few items including a wheelchair that were looking to donate! A quick call back to the family looking for the chair, and we soon had a match.

What makes the story even better is that the family that received the wheelchair now wants to donate a tricycle for the disabled designed for someone with paralysis from the knees down. We're working to find a match for that as we speak. 

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.

Over 40 years of leadership

 From 1968 to 2010!

Last night, United Way hosted a reception for members of the Commodore Hull Society, Valley United Way's leadership giving group. During the course of a very pleasant evening, we had the opportunity to take the unique picture that you see above representing the leadership of Valley United Way's Community Fund Raising Campaign from 1968 to 2010. 

Starting right in the center of the front row, you see Virginia Costigan who has been a very, very active volunteer in the Valley for decades. Back in 1968 when Valley United Way was formed from its predecessor  groups in Ansonia, Derby/Shelton and Seymour/Oxford, her husband Jack became the first person to ever chair a Valley-wide United Way campaign. Jack worked for the old Derby Savings Bank and was involved in just about every aspect of life in the Valley. Before his untimely death, he won just about every community award there was in the Valley including our own Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian award in 1994.

Everyone else in the picture also chaired at least one United Way campaign. In the front row you have Fred Ortoli (2009) and Ken Schaible (1980) and in the back you have Mike Marcinek (2004, 2005, 2006 & 2007!), Dr. Sal Graziano (1998), Joe Pagliaro, Jr. (2010) and Dave Grant (2008). Joe's father, Joe Pagliaro, Sr. was campaign chair in 1999. Fred and Ken were also Flynn Humanitarian Award winners, and Mike is currently Chairman of the Board. They are all still involved with United Way to this day, and are all still members of the Commodore Hull Society

I think their attendance along with the other members of the Commodore Hull Society who could make the reception signifies the strength of Valley United Way. Giving and caring are part of the very fabric of life in the Valley, and the members of the Commodore Hull Society demonstrate that every day of the year through  giving of their time, talents and treasures to make the Valley a better place.

On Monday, I wrote about the start of a great week with Nick Tarasovic's great story, and last night's reception made Tuesday pretty special as well! Thank you to all of our Commodore Hull Society members and also to La Scogliera Restaurant for their hospitality and great food.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

A great start to the week

It's always good when you get to the office on a Monday morning, and find good news waiting for you. That's exactly what happened today when I got to the office and found an e-mail from Nick Tarasovic in my in-box. I had been searching the Internet in vain last night to find the results from yesterday's triathlon in Sandusky, Ohio. My computer locked up before I could open his e-mail, so I had to wait while I re-booted the machine. It was worth the wait as Nick's simple e-mail simply said "Done 15:30" which was almost all that I needed to know. Basically, he was saying that he had completed the event in about 15 hours and 30 minutes.What it didn't say was how he felt after such a great accomplishment.

Shortly thereafter, the phone rang, and it was Nick. He sounded great - and he was feeling great, a bit sore maybe, but great. And well he should be. He has been in training for just about a year, but yesterday he put it all together and swam 2.4 miles, rode a bike for 112 miles and ran 26.2 more miles. Think about that!! You start in the morning at the crack of dawn, swim, bike and run all day and finish in the darkness. Any one of the individual events would be an accomplishment of its own, but doing all three on the same day - priceless!

I'm sure that we'll have more on our website in the coming days, but for now let's all have a big round of applause for Nick Tarasovic!


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Congratulations & Good luck

Congratulations
Last night I attended a Valley Community Foundation reception where they signed a historic agreement with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven culminating years of discussion and negotiation that brought them to last night's agreement - and it's a winner for everyone involved. Under the new 7 year agreement the Valley Community Foundation effectively gains control of the decision making process for grants made from the funds left to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven by the Gates brothers, Frank and Ross, years ago. This is truly historic as the Gates Fund was a major step forward for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven when it was established, and it is a major step forward for the Valley Community Foundation today. Coupled with the success that they have already achieved in their early history, this agreement guarantees that the Valley Community Foundation will be a permanent part of the Valley's philanthropic landscape and that benefits everyone in the Valley community.

I want to congratulate everyone involved in reaching the agreement, but there are too many to mention here. I do want to single out my Derby High classmate and Valley Community Foundation President Jamie Cohen and his counterpart at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Will Ginsburg, for their leadership in moving the agreement along to yesterday's signing. It is obvious that their friendship and mutual respect for each other coupled with their vision for the success of both organizations played a major role in reaching the agreement. The agreement goes well beyond the Gates Fund in creating a strong and mutually beneficial working arrangement between the organizations; but for today at least, I think the main story is the Gates Fund.

Good Luck

If you have been following his story on our website, you know that this is the big weekend for Nick Tarasovic and the Tri-Challenge. During the course of his training, Nick has traveled over 4,750 miles through all kinds of weather from polar cold to tropical heat and humidity. That includes running more than the distance from New York to Florida, biking from here to Los Angeles and swimming across the state of Connecticut. I'm tired even thinking about it!

It all culminates this Sunday in Sandusky, Ohio where Nick will have to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and run 26.2 more miles in the Revolution3 Cedar Point Triathlon! All I can say is good luck on Sunday and congratulations for what he has already achieved. To date, we have pledges of $11,695.81 made on behalf of Nick as part of the challenge. We'll have a full story on the website next week.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Energy Audit - A Useful Tool

 In earlier blogs, I talked about the cost savings associated with switching electrical providers and the fact that I have been saving about $20 - $30 on my bill since I switched about 18 months ago. As I had mentioned, Valley United Way is now urging people to take advantage of those cost savings and providing them with a quick and easy way to do so using a Shelton based electrical supplier - DiscountPower, Inc. This will also lead to a donation being made to Valley United Way based on the electrical usage of those enrolling in the program. The details can be found by clicking here.

Today, I'm writing about one of the other benefits of making the switch with DiscountPower. Once you enroll in the program, you are entitled to have a free energy audit done by another Valley based company - Seymour's Dr. Energy Saver. I called and booked my appointment a couple of weeks ago. About a week before my appointment, I was surprised to receive a packet in the mail. It included information about and pictures of the two technicians who would be coming to do my inspection. It also included a book about energy savings and the different methods that could be involved. It was a big help to have those things in hand before the audit.

Since my house is a bit older, and my oil bills are very high, I was expecting the worst and preparing for estimates for all kinds of work that could cost me more than they would be worth to do. Instead, I had an audit that was thorough and professional in every way and resulted in a recommendation not for a full range of measures to be taken, but rather for one that would return the greatest cost savings for the dollars that would need to be expended. It also included information about rebates and tax credits that could help to offset the costs.

I'm now mulling over my options, but I am very pleased to say that the audit was a worthwhile effort and was conducted professionally in every way. I think that anyone who signs up for the DiscountPower option for their electrical supplier should also take advantage of this great deal on the energy audit with Dr. Energy Saver to save even more on their heating and electrical costs.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Monday Musings

Last week's Back to School Clothes for Kids project and the food drive hosted by R.S. Scinto and Prudential Annuities made for an extremely busy and productive week. I capped the week on the weekend by running in two road races in Shelton - the Wesley Heights 5K Road Race and the Sunset Run for the Warriors 10K.

Now I'm sitting here looking at the weeks ahead and the official beginning of our Community Campaign on September 22. There are several things between now and then starting with a reminder of a way to save money and benefit United Way at the same time.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about program that we are doing with Shelton based DiscountPower and the state's program that allows people to select their electrical power supplier. I'm happy to say that we have almost 30 people who have already signed up to lower their bill and help make a small donation to United Way at the same time. I also switched and my bill already shows DiscountPower as my new supplier. As I mentioned previously, I've been saving $20-$30 a month for a while now, and DiscountPower's rates were lower than what I was already paying. On top of that, tomorrow Dr. EnergySaver is coming to my house to do a full energy audit that comes free if you switch to Discount Power.They have already sent me some informative materials to prepare, and I am looking forward to their visit.

It also dawned on me this morning as I was contemplating my weekend running that Nick Tarasovic is approaching the end of his Tri-Challenge. In less than two weeks, he will be attempting to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and run 26.2 more miles - all in one day - and I thought running two races in a weekend was tough!!

On September 14, we have the thank you reception of members of the Commodore Hull Society. We had hoped to be able to show an oil portrait of the Commodore that dates back to the early 1800's - even before his famous victory over the British on Old Ironsides. Unfortunately, something has come up, and the portrait will not be available, but we will tell the story and more importantly take the time to thank our largest donors for their support.

Week of Caring is going to involve the renovation of Umbrella's shelter for victims of domestic violence, and companies are already lining up to participate. This is the third time down through the years that we have done the shelter, and it's always a rewarding experience for everyone involved. That will be held the week of September 20-24.

And finally, it's time to make your reservation for the Kickoff on September 22 at the new Derby Middle School. Invitations are now in the mail, but the quickest and easiest way to make your reservation is to simply do it on-line. Click here to go directly to the page.

There's a lot going on in addition to everything mentioned already, but it's also time to pause and wish everyone a Happy Labor Day.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Busy day with food and clothes

Every day seems to be getting busier as we head to the unofficial end of summer - the beginning of the new school year. That seems to be especially true this week as we have just completed presentations for our United Way campaign with teachers in Shelton and Seymour and will be doing the Derby teacher's Friday morning. Today, we are also visiting with schools, but this will be an event for students and parents - our annual Back to School Clothes for Kids Project!

This is an absolutely amazing effort that our Corporate Volunteer Council began as schools closed for the summer back in June. On our rotating basis, Ansonia was chosen for this year's project and we were given profiles of needy students with information not only on their clothes sizes, but also about their favorite colors, sports, music, etc. For the last couple of months our CVC partners have been shopping for their kids, and today it all comes together with a reception for the kids where they will be getting their new outfits along with a heavy dose of encouragement for a great new school year. As a former teacher myself, I appreciate just how important the first couple of weeks are to student success. Our Back to School project helps to make sure kids attend school and are in the right frame of mind to learn. Please visit our website later today for pictures, stories and video from today's event.

Also on tap today is the second week of the Towers Food Drive sponsored by R.D. Scinto and Prudential Annuities in the "Circle" at the Corporate Drive complex. It's a tough time of year for the food banks, and this drive will really help the Spooner House replenish their dwindling supplies. There's a short video on our website.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Early Commodore Hull Picture Emerges

Commodore Isaac Hull

Last week I mentioned a "New" old portrait of one of America's greatest naval heroes, Commodore Issac Hull, for whom our leadership giving society is named. As you can see from the picture above, the portrait looks fantastic even though it predates Hull's great victory over the British during the War of 1812. For more details about the portrait and its owner, Cindy Cross, click here.

What has me excited about this is the timing. We will be hosting a thank you reception for our Commodore Hull Society members on September 14, which is a very special occasion for us to thank our donors. It is now even more special because Cindy Cross has agreed to bring the portrait to the reception for everyone to see. As we inch closer and closer to the 200th anniversary of Commodore Hull's greatest triumph, it is especially fitting to be able to have a formal viewing of this visual reminder of the Commodore's great contributions to U.S. naval history. I hope that as many members of the Commodore Hull Society as possible will be able to join us for this historic evening.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Commodore Isaac Hull Society reception set

It's a very busy time of year at United Way as we prepare for the upcoming campaign and our Corporate Volunteer Council is working on the Back to School Clothes for Kids Reception next week and the Week of Caring project next month. But today I want to pause and offer a special thanks to the members of our Commodore Isaac Hull Society who represent the largest givers to Valley United Way.

When we established our leadership giving group many years ago, we wanted a name that would signify the importance of the Society to the entire community. After doing some research, Vincent Palacino, who was our Director of Resource Development, suggested naming it after Commodore Hull Vince was not from the Valley, but his research had left him with the strong impression that not only was Commodore Hull one of the greatest naval heroes in U.S. history, but he also was born in Derby and grew up in both Derby and what is now the City of Shelton. If you don't know about Commodore Hull's role in U.S. history, perhaps you know the story of "Old Ironsides", the U.S.S. Constitution, which is still on public display to this day in Boston, and is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. Hull was in charge of Old Ironsides on that fateful day when it defeated the British ship Guerriere in a stunning victory for the young U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. The victory brought credibility to the U.S. Navy and great honor to the entire country. You can learn more about Commodore Hull here.

Commodore Hull was indeed a great hero for the entire country, and we are proud to have our leadership givers associated with such an outstanding figure in Valley history. Our donors make a little bit of history of their own through their involvement with the Commodore Hull Society. Their donations make a major difference in the quality of life in our community as they support so many worthy programs and organizations funded through the United Way campaign. They are also role models for all those who want to be involved in the community in a leadership role. For the first time in years, we are going to pause and thank them directly with a small "thank you" reception. Hopefully, many will be able to attend, but I wanted to take this time to let them know how much their support is appreciated.

As a small footnote to the story of Commodore Hull, I think many people know that I am also involved with a great road race that is held every Thanksgiving along the streets of Shelton and Derby. The Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race has been celebrating the achievements since 2002, and will have its ninth race this Thanksgiving. I was recently contacted by a woman who stumbled upon the race website and was thrilled to see his name and story celebrated through the race. What was really interesting is that she told me that she has an oil portrait of Hull done around 1800. It has been in her family for generations. This Saturday, she is bringing the portrait to the Derby Historical Society. I am looking forward to a glimpse of this early portrait of one of the Valley and the country's greatest naval heroes.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.

Save Money - Support United Way at the Same Time!

We have added a tremendous new service to the United Way website that I would strongly urge everyone to use immediately! Many people are either not aware of Connecticut's efforts to allow people to select the generator for their electricity - and save a great deal of money at the same time - but we are now making it easier on both accounts! At United Way, we are very supportive of efforts to support Family Financial Stability, and saving on your electric bill is a quick and easy way to do so!

We recently reached an agreement with DiscountPower, Inc., a new Shelton based company, to help facilitate consumer use of their service - and to support Valley United Way at the same time. If you visit our website, you will find all the information and a link to a page where you can enroll and begin to save money by switching your supplier to DiscountPower. You'll save quite a bit depending on your actual usage. The more you use, the more you save.

I am tremendously excited about this new program because of my own experiences. Like many others, when the state first announced that you could switch your provider, I procrastinated figuring that it wasn't worth the effort and that it would be too difficult and confusing. After a couple of months, I finally sat down at the computer and decided that I should at least learn more. Within a matter of minutes I found all the information that I needed and realized that I needed to sign up immediately. I quickly located my electric bill and very rapidly enrolled. The process could not have been simpler, and within two months, my bill reflected the new energy supplier on the generation part of the bill along with the new, lower rate that I was paying. In my case, it has ranged from a low of $20 a month to a high of just over $30, though I expect that my next bill is going to be much higher because of the recent heat!

That made it very easy for me to support this new program when we had the opportunity, and I have already switched over. What does it mean for United Way? Actually, it's not a lot - at least in any one installment. Based on my previous use, United Way will get about $1.50 - $3 a month, but they will get something every month as long as I continue to use DirectPower. That $2 - $3 comes as a donation from DirectPower, not out of the savings that I am getting from switching providers. It's a win-win situation all the way around.

On top of the discount, I also signed up for the free home energy audit, and later this month I will be having that done. I'll write about that later, but I was pleased to know that another local business, Dr. EnergySaver will be doing the audit.



For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

A Fun Side to United Way

 With all the recent heat, I thought today would be a good day to take a break from the more serious side of United Way to talk about some of the "lighter" news. As you can see from the graphic above, United Ways all over New England are participating in Six Flags New England's two United Way Fun Days, and the first is coming up this Saturday, July 31. Six flags is allowing United Way supporters to buy specially discounted tickets for the day through an on-line ordering process. The deal includes all day admission to Six Flags New England and Hurricane Harbor Water Park, free parking and an "All You Can Eat" buffet. The total value of the package is $77.00, but the special United Way price for the day is $40.00. We have a link on our website, or you can simply click here to go directly to the site. A portion of the ticket price will go back to United Way. The deadline for tickets for this Saturday is today, so you'll need to rush!

If you like baseball, our good friends at BIC and the Bridgeport Bluefish have a deal for you as well.As part of their annual campaign for United Way, BIC are having a special night at Harbor Yard on Tuesday, August 3. The Bluefish will be playing the York Revolution, and you get get a ticket for $10 which includes a special Kids Eat Free event for kids age 12 and under. Simply click here, and enter "Bic" as the password to purchase your tickets. A portion of the ticket price will go back to United Way.

So go out and have some fun, and at the same time, you will be benefiting United Way.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Leadership Greater Valley Accepting Applications

One of the great things that we are involved with at Valley United Way is community leadership. Earlier this year we had several stories about our own Youth Leadership program, but it's that time of year when we switch gears and talk about Leadership Greater Valley - a unique leadership program conducted jointly by Valley United Way, the Valley Council for Health & Human Services and the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. Now in its 15th year, this program is uniquely by and for the Valley, and produces outstanding new leaders for the Valley every year.

Class of 2009

The program has really evolved. Originally, it was a program of United Way and the Valley Council. It's focus was a bit more narrow in promoting diversity in volunteer leadership positions throghout the Valley and much of the training focused on board skills. United Way wrote and administered grants that supported the the program. There was a consensus that the long term success of the program would need to include greater involvement by the business community. And then Bill Purcell arrived at the Chamber in our "All America" year of 2000. One of Bill's goals was to develop a leadership program at the Chamber. The connections were obvious, and the program was renamed Leadership Greater Valley with the three partners working together to carry on the program. The Chamber now provides the administrative support to coordinate the efforts of our volunteer committee.

What makes this program so unique is the blending of personal skills and knowledge of the community that is interwoven throughout the eight week program. This year's program includes eight sessions with the topics ranging from qualitites of leadership to the history of the Valley. Along the way, the participants have the opportunity to meet and mingle with leaders from every walk of life in the Valley. At the end of the program, they bring their new skills and contacts back to their business life - and also their community life as our Volunteer Center Director Pat Tarasovic works with them to find a placement in a volunteer leadership postition in the Valley. Two former participants are currently my "bosses" as members of Valley United Way's Board of Directors - Adrienne Cabral and Eileen Lopez-Cordone.

Leadership Greater Valley now has its own "alumni" association linking all past members of the program. They now have their own Facbook site which you can find by clicking here.

I personally try to get to as many of the sessions as possible. Not only to take pictures of the sessions, but also because I find that I learn something new at just about every session. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking to develop their personal leadership skills and to learn more about the great community where we live and work.

Nancie Gray has put together this year's application, and you can get it by clicking here.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Nick is in the home stretch

Take a minute to think just how far Nick Tarasovic has gone while training for the Revolutiion3 Cedar Point iron man event to be held in Septmeber. When Nick sends me his weekly reports to update our website, I seldom stop to contemplate what they are adding up to. Through Sunday, Nick has accumulated 3,722 miles of motion on land and in the water. That means he's already done the equivalent of a trip across country to Los Angeles - and he's now well on his way back. I get tired just thinking of the hours that have gone into it so far - and how much more is still to come before it's over!

With the Tour deFrance currently reaching a conclusion, I think many people are getting a greater appreciation for the difficulty involved, but I also think it gives one a better understanding of just how difficult Nick's quest is. He is training to do 112 miles on a bike in one day, but he is also going to run a marathon and swim 2.4 miles the same day!!

I do a bit of running myself (OK, maybe running would be overstating my speed!), and I can appreciate the tenacity that Nick has in getting out there almost every single day. There are lots of days where I just don't feel like running - so I don't. When Nick feels that way, he just puts the thoughts out of his mind and gets going. I think he has many motivations, but the funds that he is raising for United Way, the Y, the Umbrella and TEAM, Inc. certainly looms large as attested to by the more than $6,500 that has been pledged already.

I need to get in a plug for another aspect of Nick's training as part of his training regimen will include swimming in the The First Ever Housy One-Miler Swim to raise money for GRIFFIN HOSPITAL DEVELOPMENT FUND INC. on August 22. If you want to motivate Nick for that and contribute to the new Brest Wellness Center, click here.

Keep up the good work Nick!!

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Electronic Valley put Valley on the World Wide Web

Back in the early '90's the Valley was suffering a bit of an identity crisis due to the sudden demise of the local daily newspaper, The Evening Sentinel, and the only local radio station, WADS. Love them or hate them, everyone read the Sentinel and listened to WADS to keep up with the latest news in their hometown.The lack of a local daily and radio station was identified as a real community issue by the Healthy Valley 2000 project which was gearing up at that time. Healthy Valley was concerned with the quality of life of the community and saw the lack of truly local mass media as a detriment to the community.

There was quite a buzz about the same time being created by this new media - the World Wide Web - but not many had access to it. Here at Valley United Way we were very intrigued by the possibilities to better serve our constituents and had been experimenting with the forerunners of the Internet  in the form of Compuserve and an emerging AOL among other services, but they were slow and cumbersome to use as well as being expensive.

Then one day, I happened to notice that a local business man, John Joy of Oxford, was working with the Internet and offering community groups the opportunity to post information on his website for Oxford about services that might be available to residents. A quick call and suddenly United Way was up on his site and providing 25 word descriptions of the agencies that we funded.

As Healthy Valley was working on the media issue in the Valley, it became apparent that there was a real opportunity here to move the Valley forward through the use of new technologies. We couldn't afford to start a newspaper or a radio station, but we could afford to venture into the new electronic media. A committee was formed and quickly determined that we would opt for the full blown Internet rather than the competing BBS services that some communities were starting. That decision proved to be the correct one, and we recruited the artists at the Greenwich Workshop in Shelton to help with the design of that first page and the icons linking us to the information that we thought people would want to know about the Valley.

We created websites for all of the Valley towns and many of its nonprofits.We also created pages highlighting categories of interest that we thought cut across all of the towns. Interestingly, the site was not called the Electronic Valley. Originally, the site address was www.LNVvalley.org. If you enter that URL, it still works. The LNV stood for Lower Naugatuck Valley, but we soon found that people confused the L with an i and many had trouble finding the site. So we made it easier - but longer - with www.electronicvalley.org. (The invalley.org still works as well!)

This was entirely a volunteer project made possible by our technical guru John Joy whose computer expertise made the difficult seem easy. He did all of the back end work and hosted the site - he still does for the Electronic Valley data. Others helped with the content and creation of pages. Grants from local foundations allowed us to purchase computers which were given to local organizations such as libraries, nursing homes and other public groups that agreed to take the computers and allow the public in to use them. We provided software and classes for those who wanted to learn how to create content and put it on the Electronic Valley.

In very short order, the Valley had a very robust and informative web portal. Originally, all the pages had addressess such as Valley United Way's - www.lnvalley.org/vuw. Each city was www.lnavalley.org/cityname. Over time, we envisioned that groups would eventually get their own sites and we would simply link to them. United Way is now valleyunitedway.org, but we never forget that it was the Electronic Valley that allowed us the opportunity to get our feet wet and learn how to use this new media. At one point, United Way of America named our website the best in the country for United way's our size or smaller. Connecticut Magazine named the Electronic Valley one of the 50 best websites in Connecticut!

The Electronic Valley continues to thrive, and I was prompted to write this because they will be holding their annual meeting in the Lavietes Room at Valley United Way on August16 at 6:00 PM. They will conduct the normal business that you would expect in electing their board and officers, but they are also looking for a new generation of volunteers interested in helping to further develop the Valley's oldest and most comprehensive website. If you are interested, stop by. In the meantime, they have listed some volunteer opportunities on United Way's own unique web tool for volunteers - Volunteer Opportunities. Click here to take a look.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Allocations Committee Did Great Work!

I always tell people that it is very difficult to give money away, and they usually laugh. The reality is that it is difficult to give money away so that it can make a real difference in the community. Here at Valley United Way, we rely on the wisdom of the community in giving away money. Specifically, our Allocations Committee under the able leadership of Chairman Peter Galla is composed of volunteers drawn from all walks of life in the community. The one thing that they have in common is their love for the community and desire to see it always improve.

This year, we had twenty-eight volunteers who responded to our call for help. Some like Rich Bshara and Brian Sexton have been doing this for over twenty years while Anna Davidi, Tracy Hussey, Bill Maloney, and Joe Sedlock were the "rookies" in this year's process. The process actually began in April when area agencies began the preparation of their requests for funding. this is now an on-line system eliminating an enormous amount of paperwork. Agencies are required to submit quite a bit of financial and programmatic data justifying their requests for funding.

 In early May, the volunteers came in for a brief orientation and to receive their assignments. They worked in teams to review the information submitted by the agencies. Over the course of the next month they also had the opportunity to visit with the agencies to get a first hand look at the programs that the agencies run. This really helps to put a face on all the numbers that the agencies have submitted previously. After meeting with the agencies and reviewing the submitted applications, the volunteer submitted their own evaluations and their recommendations for funding.

At that point, the volunteers came back to meet in three panels to review and refine their recommendations. At that point, they did not know exactly how much money would be available for allocations and were making their recommendations strictly based on their evaluations. They then worked on their panels to bring their numbers in line with the number that United Way's finance committee would make available to them. A week later, the panel heads go together one last time to bring the panel recommendations in synch with the final number from the Finance Committee. They did an outstanding job, and a week later the numbers were presented to United Way's Board of Directors for action.

The Board of Directors has a great deal of respect for both the Allocations and Finance Committees and it is ultimately up to them to approve, reject or modify the recommendations. This year they adopted the recommendations as presented to them.

I want to thank everyone who served this year. It is not easy making the tough funding decisions made much tougher by the current economic uncertainty, but they did an outstanding job. They were fair and open minded and did their best to insure that the dollars invested in the agencies returns the greatest possible benefit to the community - and to the donors who make this all possible.

I want to personally thank everyone who helped this year. You can find the complete listing of all the volunteers and the allocations that they made this year at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/2010/allocations.htm.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Busy week brings Corporate Cup

 Last week was probably the busiest week that we have ever had with the Community Corporate Cup since it first started nineteen years ago. From the Run/Walk event on Wednesday to the Wiffleball and Bocce on Saturday, the weather was a constant, but not insurmountable challenge. The spirit and sportsmanship shown by all of the competitiors throughout was extraordinary.

We held our breath all day Wednesday hoping that the rain would hold off, but by the time the race started it was cold, windy and rainy. Many of our walkers and a couple of runners decided to stay dray and at-home, but 90 Corporate Cup participants joined over100 others running in the Valley YMCA 5K Sunset Race for a dash through Ansonia's Hilltop. Michael Zascicinghs of TEAM, Inc. was the first Corporate Cup participant across the line, but I think that it is safe to say that everyone who finished felt like a winner under the conditions. I ran in my first race in two years, and was quite pleased to win the 60 and over division. We had the CEO's from BIC (Mario Cuevas) and PerkinElmer (Dusty Tenney) in the race as well, and they both posted impressive times as did Bill Purcell, head of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce who zipped around the course with a 7:33 pace. The food after the race was outstanding, and it is one of the few races that I ever remember having pasta after the race. On such a deary night, it was just the thing to warm everyone up.


Saturday turned out a bit better weather wise though some light showers towards the end of the day threatened the conclusion of both Bocce and Wiffleball. It was quite a day as we had to lay out our six "ballparks" in time for the 9:00 am start. We would really like to thank Thaddeus Kurkowski of CDW-G for showing up early and lending a hand. TK competed in the Wiffleball tournament later in the morning. I also want to thank Bob Van Egghen for his help as our unofficial official during the Bocce tournament with his precise measurements! And it goes without saying that Chris Phipps and Sue Reilly of the Y did a great job in putting all the pieces together.


Both events turned out to be full of surprises and great comebacks. In Bocce, we were down to three teams competing following the suspension of the tournament due to darkness on May 25. It looked like it was going to be a quick exit for Kevin Dunn and Nora Espinel of BIC as they fell behind early in their losers bracket final with PerkinElmer. However, they managed to pick up four straight points in one round and go on to take that game before topping Mike Figueroa and Matt McKenney in two straight well played games to win the title.

The Wiffleball tournament was just as exciting as PerkinElmer came back from a crushing 7-6 loss to United Illuminating to rally through the losers bracket and top Griffin Hospital's 3 Amigos two straight for the title. Their one loss came in the bottom of the last inning when United Illuminating rallied from a 6-3 deficit with a walk-off grand slam homer to send PerkinElmer on their run through the losers bracket to the final. Ironically, one of Griffin's wins included Ryan Pereiras' walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the last inning for a 4-1 win that kept them alive in the winners bracket. PerkinElmer disposed of Griffin 3-0 in their first game, and had them 3-0 when Griffin staged an amazing 8 run rally to take an 8-3 lead. PerkinElmer was down to their last strike and trailing by 8-4 when they ran off eight straight runs to take a 12-8 lead. Griffin rallied for two runs in their last at bat, but it wasn't enough to keep PerkinElmer from winning their second straight Wiffleball tournament.

So now the competition is over, but we don't have a winner as yet. BIC stands precariously atop the standings with a 2.5 point lead. However, the Healthy Team results have yet to be added in, and it is always a high scoring event. Those results will not be announced until June 22 at the awards reception. Until then, I think we will just let the suspense build! We'll have a full story and all the results on June 22.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Being Good and Doing Good!

PerkinElmer at the 2009 race

When the Community Corporate Cup Run/Walk is held tonight, PerkinElmer's team will not only be working on their own health and well being, but also supporting the health of the enitre community. They are in the thick of the hunt for a fourth straight Community Corporate Cup title, and they have over 60 employees either running or walking in tonight's event making them the largest single group involved. What really makes them different than any other group this year is that they will also be generating funds for Griffin Hospital's Breast Wellness Center. PerkinElmer will be donating $20 for every employee that will be walking and $30 for every employee who will be running. Just doing some very quick math, it appears that they will raise approximately $1,600 for the Center. On top of that, some of the runners are soliciting individual pledges in support of their efforts.

The Community Corporate Cup is an incredible event that brings together local businesses in the pursuit of a healthier life style, community spirit and company morale through a varitey of competitive athletics centered on the Healthy Team competition. One of the great developments has been the incredibly good sportsmanship shown by all of the competitiors. PerkinElmer's effort tonight adds a whole new dimension to ways to do good while also being good to yourself, and we congratulate them on both.

We wish them well along with all of the other runners and walkers who will be involved tonight. Let's hope that the rain holds off. By the way, we are still looking for volunteers to help with the race tonight. If you are interested, give Sue Reilly a call at the Y - 203 736-1435.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

VSAAC Turns Twenty

This morning I attended the Valley Substance Abuse Action Council's 20th Anniversary Celebration - and it doesn't seem possible that it is twenty years since its founding. United Way played a major role in the start of VSAAC as a result of a Government Breakfast hosted by United Way back in 1990. The name of our speaker that day escapes me, but he was the state commissioner in charges of the state's substance abuse programs at the time.He came to the breakfast at the old Rapp's Restaurant (now John J. Sullivan's) in Ansonia to talk about a new state effort aimed at prevention rather than treatment.

 The state had just instituted funding for 13 programs based on a very successful model called RYSAP in Bridgeport. The concept was to form Regional Action Councils (RACs) which would be coalitions of community leaders with heavy youth involvement in an effort to deal with substance abuse issues. The Valley was not one of the 13 areas for which funding had been implemented. However, his speech struck a cord with those in the room that day, and shortly thereafter we formed a coalition of those interested int he problem to see if the concept would work here in the Valley.

Within a few weeks, our committee held a full day community retreat at the United Illuminating in Shelton involving nearly 100 people including mayors, state legislators, superintendents of schools, principals, teachers, police and many, many students. There was a sense of urgency and commitment in the room that day that drew the attention of the state. Though money had been allocated for the 13 other communities in the state, not much had been accomplished in many of them. The state was so impressed by what had already taken place in the Valley and the cooperation that was so evident in the room, that they went back and found the money to allow the Valley to create its own RAC - now known as VSAAC.

For the first few months, it was actually based in our office in the Ansonia Copper and Brass building in Ansonia and we served as host and fiduciary for them until they got their own 501 c 3 nonprofit status. They eventually moved to St. Joseph's in Shelton thanks to the support of Father Robert Weiss who served as Chairman of the Board. Years later, they came under the umbrella of the Birmingham Group where they continue to flourish today.

I don't have time or space to name all of the wonderful people who were involved with starting VSAAC and ensuring its future - maybe another day. For now - Happy 20th Birthday.


For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

Business Showcase Brings Back Old Friends

 I stopped in this morning at the Business Showcase presented by area Chambers of Commerce including our own Greater Valley Chamber under the very able leadership of my friend Bill Purcell. The keynote speaker was Charles Monagan, editor of Connecticut Magazine. He did a great job of talking about the great quality of life and history that we have here in Connecticut. Even in these difficult economic times, Connecticut is a special place, and he gave many great examples.

Bill mentioned that this is his tenth year in the Valley, and he talked about all the places that he has had a chance to visit within the state of Connecticut since he first arrived. I know people who have lived in Connecticut their whole lives (including myself) who have not seen as many state attractions as Bill.

As I wandered the hall looking at the exhibits, I ran across John Voket. John worked for a variety of local newspapers in the Valley before moving on to become editor of the Newtown Bee. He also works for WPLR radio where he produces the award winning public affairs program For the People. John has featured many stories about the Valley in the past, and we ended up doing a quick interview highlighting some of the interactions between the business and nonprofit communities and how important each is to the other. That interview may be heard some time in the future. It was great seeing John again and especially ironic that just last night at the bocce tournament, his name came up in conversation and I noted that I hadn't seen John in a while.

I want to congratulate the Chambers for another successful Showcase once again proving the value of networking and for giving me the opportunity to renew acquaintances with an old friend.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.

All America City - 10 years ago this year

It's hard to believe that we are approaching the tenth anniversary of the Valley's winning the coveted All America City award from the National Civic League. A very diverse group of Valley citizens traveled to Louisville, Kentucky as one of 30 communities large and small from all over the country who had been selected as finalists to compete for one of ten awards. Valley United Way was one of the groups involved in putting this together along with the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Council for Health & Human Services and its Healthy Valley 2000 Project among others.

According to the National Civic League, the "All-America City Award is America's original and most prestigious community recognition award". The first awards were made in 1949, and more than 500 communities have been recognized for their outstanding work in overcoming local challenges. Nationally syndicated columnist Neil Pierce who was a judge in 2000 said in his column following the event that he had been pleased to have had the opportunity to see what was "cutting-edge" in communities across the country dealing with issues of local importance and went on to single out the Naugatuck River Valley for its collabortive work.

The award was the culmination of the work of many groups in the Valley, but I'd like to single out Healthy Valley 2000 for some special recognition. That project is now simply called Healthy Valley, and it has been scaled back quite a bit. However back in the mid '90's it was a robust "virtual" organization with members drawn from all walks of life in the community. It involved people who had an interest in enhancing the quality of life of the Valley. It's original website with a description of all its programs can still be found by clicking  http://valleycouncil.org/healthy/. Bill Powanda of Griffin Hospital was a driving force behind Healthy Valley, and he was the one who first suggested that the Valley go after the All America City award. In 1999, we were selected as a finalist and had a wonderful time in Philadelphis, but were crushed when we did not become one of the selected ten.

However a review of our performance from the Ntional Civic League gave us an understanding of just how close we had come and after getting over the initial disappointment, we decided to apply again. On the application, you have to tell the story of your community and its accomplishments and how it meets its challenges. Being a finalist one year does not mean anything for your next application, but we had a great story to tell, and we were selected as finalists agin in 2000!

From there, everything became a blur as we had to assemble the delegation, recruit sponsors, make travel arrangement and then take Louisville by storm to tell the amazing story of one of the most resilient local communities in the United States. The key part of the process would be a 10 minute stage presentation before the panel of nationally recognized experts who served as judges. Luckily, we had Liz Kennard and Gary Scarpa producing our presentation, and it was extraordinary. Though our rehersals had left something to be desired, it all came together when the delegation marched into the hall chanting, "We are the Valley, the mighty, mighty Valley" as suggested by delegate Diane Stroman. The presentation which highlighted our unique history and our approach to solving community problems went off without a hitch, and so did the question and answer session that followed. All 30 delegations made similar presentations in an effort to support their cause.

Later that night, there was a Civic Action Fair where each delegation had a booth which also highlighted each communities uniqueness. To say that our booth was spectacular would be an understatement. We were mobbed all night telling the story of the Valley and passing out samples of items produced here in the Valley. What made the night even more special was a presentation on the main stage by the Ansonia High School Gospel Choir. Students from the Youth Connection had already shown the musical talents of Valley students during the formal presentation earlier in the day. However, the Choir was a show stopper. Their high energy performance literally stopped people in their tracks throughout the hall.

Sitting around waiting for the final night's session was nerve wracking, but there was both excitement and confidence in the delegation as we streamed back into the main hall along with the 29 other delegations to await the final verdict. It had all the excitement of a national presidential convention as the room rocked to loud music and a multi-media display from the week's activities. The tension rose as the selection of the 10 winners was announced until we finally heard the Valley announced as one of the ten winners. It was both a feeling of exhiliration and relief knowing that all the hard work had paid off and that the rest of America would now know and confirm what a special place the Valley is.

It was almost ironic that when we strted the Healthy Valley Project in 1994, we had called it Healthy Valley 2000, and in 2000 the effort had culminated in an All America City Award! That was one of my proudest moments in my years at United Way as we were an important contributer and partner in the achivement. It was - and is - something that everyone in the Valley can continue to be proud of. It's also a reminder of the good things that can happen when we work together to solve our problems.

Our All America City website still exists. Though some of the links are now broken and some of the videos no longer work (there was no YouTube in 2000!!), you can still visit the site http://electronicvalley.org/allamerica/ and relive one of the great moments in Valley history.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at http://www.valleyunitedway.org/.