Delayed Delivery

Copies of the The Suf-field Observer destined for West Suffield Post Office box holders are customarily delivered by the printer to the Suffield P. O. and then forwarded to the West Suffield P.O. for the boxes there. That did not happen for the April issue.

Scholarships Deadline Extended

The Observer is looking for worthy high school students interested in a $1,000 college scholarship.  The Sam Fuller and Robert Warren one-year scholarships are for full-time students residing in Suffield and attending a four-year or accredited community college in the fall.  They should be planning to study history, communications, journalism, creative writing, political science or research and should have community service experience.

Aces High Aims to be World Champ

In the six weeks allowed for designing and building, the Suffield/Windsor Locks High Schools’ team in the FIRST Robotics Competition created a sturdy, capable robot and developed good skill in operating it. Aces High did very well in their first three meets.

Contest Winner

This photo, judged Best in Show in the recent photo contest at Kent Memorial Library, was titled “Autumn at 467 South Main Street” by its creator, Robert W. Lyons, who reported that it was taken a few years ago.

Proposed Budget Going to Vote

As of this writing, the Board of Finance is in the process of reviewing various department budgets and capital requests in order to propose the FY 2018/19 budget for the Town Meeting on May 8. A public hearing was held on April 25, and the budget proposal outlined below may include changes as a result of that meeting and outside factors such as adjustments to state aid that we have seen in the past.

Facebook: More Than It Appears to Be

Mark Zuckerberg’s grilling in Congress about how Facebook treats personal information about data privacy and his responsibility to users caused me to also give this some thought. For some people, any amount of lack of privacy is bad on principle.

Kindness and Respect

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) and its  members, including the Suffield Woman’s Club, recite this ‘prayer for the day’ written by Mary Stewart in 1904 at each meeting. Also known as ‘the Collect for Club Women’ (but appropriate for everyone) it reminds us that we may disagree on some topics, but that doesn’t preclude us from being kind to each other.

Memorial Day Parade Details

The Memorial Day ceremony and parade will be held on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, beginning with the parade at 9 a.m. The parade will form at 8:45 a.m. on Ffyler Place and march up Mountain Road to Main Street to the Veteran’s Memorial. A Memorial Day program will take place at Veteran’s Memorial immediately following the parade to honor our fallen heroes.

Revaluation Update

The State mandated Revaluation of all real estate is in full swing. The Town has partnered with Vision Government Solutions (Vision) for this project.

A Visit to Suffield’s Police Department Dispatcher

By invitation of Captain Christopher McKee and in support of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, I spent three hours with Suffield Police Dispatcher, Lorraine Morelli. This visit demonstrated to me the seriousness and expertise of police dispatchers.  Between calls, she was able to offer basic explanations of all the technical equipment used by the dispatchers.  I felt fortunate to be observing an expert at work.