Organizations

Rotary “Steps Up” for The Suffield Players!

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In December of 2017 The Suffield Rotary Club made a generous donation to The Suffield Players for rebuilding the exterior steps on both sides of historic Mapleton Hall. To ensure the safety of theater patrons and members, The Players had been left with no choice but to replace both those staircases in the fall of 2017. An ambitious fundraising campaign to offset the costs of the project was appropriately named: “Step Up.”

“We are thrilled by the support of the Suffield Rotary Club,” said Suffield Players Facilities Manager Jerry Zalewski. “The South Hall steps had been rebuilt in late 2005, and the North Hall’s in early 2007. Though we expected them to last more than 10 years, the materials and construction had failed.

Organizations

Library Features Art and Photo Exhibits

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Suffield’s own award-winning artist and illustrator Laurie Tavino will be presenting a display of her work in the Kent Memorial Library’s temporary home at 61 Ffyler Place during the month of April. Also on display during April will be photographs by Suffield residents or students submitted as entries in the “Lester Smith Photography Contest.”

Ms. Tavino is a graduate of Arizona State University, a member of the West Hartford Art League, River Valley Illustrators, Tobacco Valley Artists Association, Friends of the Farm at Hilltop, The Suffield Historical Society, Enfield Historical Society, and Mount Carmel Women’s Auxiliary. Her paintings have garnered many awards throughout the area, are prized by collectors, and are featured in many homes and businesses. Laurie offers art lessons in her home studio. Photographs found on display may be in three categories; “Faces in Suffield”; “History of Suffield”; and “Suffield Landscapes.” Entrants are competing for cash awards here, in this event intended to commemorate the 90th birthday of Town Historian Lester Smith.

Government/Town

Amiel P. Zak Community Room Opens at SPD

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On May 12, 2017, the Suffield Police Department was proud to be a recipient of an Amiel P. Zak Public Service Fund grant. The grant award of $20,000 was allocated to create and enhance the community and training room. We recognized that, at the time to present, viable community spaces to bring town residents and town services were extremely limited. In support of the efforts of the Town of Suffield and the Suffield Police Department to conduct increased outreach to residents, community members, and members of civic organizations, this generous funding was applied to upgrade the technology and facilities. The Police Department strives to interact and bring in the community in keeping with the founder of modern day policing, Sir Robert Peel’s principle that “Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police…” These enhancements also provided for a professional training environment for Suffield’s police officers and staff.

Schools/Sports

Tinkergarten Classes

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Local Tinkergarten leaders, Sasha Zatyrka and Julie Beliveau, are thrilled to host their spring Tinkergarten classes at the beautiful Hilltop Farm at 1616 Mapleton Ave., Suffield, Conn. The final free trial class at Hilltop will be offered on April 5. Julie’s full eight-week spring season of classes will take place each Saturday beginning April 14. Sasha’s ten-week spring season on Thursdays is already full with a waitlist. All classes take place 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

The outdoor, mixed age classes for children ages 18 months to 8 years old follow a progressive, evidence-based curriculum that promotes the development of key skills including self-reliance, creativity, persistence, and problem solving.

Organizations

Local Prevention Council

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Prevention: (Noun); the action of stopping something from happening or arising. This is what the Suffield Local Prevention Council (SLPC) is all about. My name is Nikki Lengyel and I am the new Chairperson for the SLPC. I am incredibly excited to be a part of this important group that strives to make a positive change and raise awareness on multiple matters in the Suffield community. In the past, the Council has focused primarily on the topic of opioids due to the current crisis and concerning numbers of overdoses involving opioids.

Government/Town

Know Your Probate Court

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This article is intended to help residents of Bloomfield, Windsor Locks, East Granby and Suffield who live in the Tobacco Valley Probate Court district become more informed about our probate court system. Our Chief Clerk Laurie Roberts is one of the most experienced in the state; she is available to assist you. Laurie is supported by three other staff: Clerk Louis Taylor, and Assistant Clerks Pam Griffin and Erin Keena. Together they work to answer procedural questions from the public, process petitions, schedule hearings, coordinate with other referring courts, prepare notices and decrees, calendar required reports, organize each case file, input data into the central computer system, undertake initial reviews of financial reports and tax returns and keep the Judge updated on all files. It is a tremendous responsibility that is assigned to our staff.

Schools/Sports

Read Across America Day!

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McAlister Intermediate School (MIS) students joined our friends at A. Ward Spaulding School for the morning to celebrate Read Across America Day! This particular day is chosen as it is the actual birthday of Dr. Seuss himself! His real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, and he was born on March 2, 1904, in our neighboring town of Springfield! Some of our McAlister fifth graders read as our younger students listened intently, and everyone participated by wearing their coziest pajamas, Dr. Seuss shirts and hats or other items commemorating this event. On a cold, wet and sometimes snowy winter’s day, what better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss than to curl up with a good book in the company of good friends and neighbors!

Letter to the Editor

The Solution Is Complicated

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My concern with the theme of the article [Beth Chafetz’s March Editorial No. No. Not Again] is that the crux of the argument centered on the tools that were used, rather than the root cause. If we continue down this argument road, we need to also speak about the use of automobiles/trucks, chemicals that can be used to create bombs and other items that can be used for violence. Instead, we need to shift the discussion to the mental makeup of those doing these unspeakable deeds so that we can stop the violence at the source.