People/Business

Fitness Studio Relocates

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Hits & Kicks, a Suffield physical fitness studio that specializes in boxing and kick-boxing, has moved to a new, more visible, location in the old CVS plaza between Zantos and Hair Unlimited. The vigorous training is provided by skilled instructors in scheduled, unisex classes. In two early morning visits, this reporter observed widely different activities: One session, called Pound, had the students following a leader in rhythmic full-body motions paced by music, including pairs of short batons tapped on the floor or clacked together along with the beat. On another morning the training was boxing – whacking vigorously on long, heavy punching bags dangling from a steel framework, – and sometimes kickboxing the bag as well, all to the shouted instructions and encouragement of the trainer. The boxing sessions were alternated with periods of high intensity interval training, like fast pushups and sit-ups but more complicated, again all to the demanding commands of the trainer.

People/Business

Suffield Native Leads Prominent Seminary

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As Martin Copenhaver DIV ’80 steps down as president of Andover Newton Seminary — an affiliate of the Yale Divinity School — Sarah Birmingham Drummond ’93 will take the helm, the first major leadership transition since the seminary formally joined the Divinity School in 2017. Drummond is a graduate of Suffield High School and daughter of Jackie and Ron Birmingham. Drummond — the Divinity School’s assistant dean and a current visiting professor of ministerial leadership — will assume her duties as the seminary’s president following Copenhaver’s retirement. She will also take the position of founding dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School simultaneously. Drummond will be the first woman to lead the seminary in its two-century-long history.

People/Business

Emily Sweeney is Back on Track!

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For the last year, Emily Sweeney, age 25, who grew up in Suffield, has been slowly recovering from injuries sustained at the last Olympic Games during her last run on the Pyeongchang, South Korea, luge track. It has been a long road to recovery, but an impressive one. 

For the first six months after her accident, she was unable to do much more than light walking as exercise, and then it took another six months for the ligaments to heal around a broken bone in her back and one in her neck. Emily is still in the Army with the rank of Sergeant and is part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). According to the Army’s website, WCAP allows top-ranked soldier-athletes to perform at the international level while also serving their nation in the military. WCAP Soldiers come from the Active, Reserve and National Guard components and are selected for their ability to perform at the highest level of their sports. 

Her training began in earnest in October, 2018.

People/Business

Local Equestrian Honored

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“I’m very proud of Gabriella and her horse. This is such a prestigious show and it’s an honor to qualify, much less to attend with your own horse and achieve so much together,” said trainer Danielle Barrasso, referring to her student, Gabriella Santaniello, a junior at Suffield High School who added the Premier Equestrian Award to her list of achievements at the 2018 International Friesian Show Horse Association World Show, October 2-7, in Springfield, Ohio.  Trainer Barrasso worked with Gabriella at the Sunny Hill Farm on North Street. In their very first IFSHA World Show appearance together, the Suffield teenager and her five year-old purebred Friesian mare, Rajasahara (Steffan-S x Senko Zon D), earned nine World Championships, 12 reserve championships, and a Top 5 in classes including costume, halter, (hunter and western) dressage, (hunter and western) equitation and pleasure, and showmanship. “She started riding at age five, and became my student when she was seven. She started out doing hunter/jumpers on my ponies before her parents bought Raja and waited for her to grow into her new horse.”

The wait, this Premier Equestrian Award winner has certainly proven, has been worth it.

People/Business

Local Preacher Portrayed in New Film

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It’s not every day that you get to see yourself in a national movie, especially when Dean Cain (remember he was Superman and Teri Hatcher was Lois Lane?) gets to play you! Scott Seabury will tell you how it happened in a Kent Memorial Library program held at the Suffield Senior Center on Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. Accompanying Scott will be Agawam resident Michael Tourville, the author of the book, A Promise to Astrid which set the stage for the movie. Both Scott and Michael attended the final days of filming the movie also called A Promise to Astrid in West Virginia last October. The phone call from Michael Tourville informing Scott about the movie and his part in it, was a total surprise to Scott. He knew that Michael had written the book.

People/Business

Pentimento Brings Beauty to Inaugural Ball

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Being a floral designer is not all a bed of roses. Just ask sisters Tamara Pezzente and Paula Gallo, owners of Pentimento, a Suffield floral design company, who are regularly up before the crack of dawn to get to the 5 a.m. opening of the Boston flower exchange. The Suffield residents, who started the business about 30 years ago, have been catering to the rich, famous, and politically connected as well as every-day folks who appreciate their artistic touch and aesthetic. Their artistry and easygoing way, combined with their knowledge of all things that grow and an ability to translate a bride’s vision into memorable arrangements led them to be chosen a Best of the Knot (wedding publication) in 2016. Gallo, who loves her job, credits her sister with being “the artistic one” who started out doing the flowers for her church, but Gallo is likewise creative.

People/Business

A Story of Sweetheart Farmers

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Carol and Harrison Griffin were high school sweethearts who will soon be celebrating their 50th anniversary! Carol grew up on a farm here in Suffield, Harrison grew up on a farm in East Granby, and they met in high school when they both were in 4-H. Harrison’s Polish family farm dated from 1647 (the farm has been recognized as having been in the same family since the birth of the Constitution), and Carol’s family came from Ireland in the late 1800s. They dated and then graduated from Suffield High School (since East Granby didn’t have a high school at that time) when the high school was what is now McAlister Intermediate School. Both Harrison and Carol went on to college at the Hartford Branch of UConn.

People/Business

Praxair Tour

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Praxair, formerly known as Union Carbide, is a global company headquartered in Danbury. Their Suffield facility, opened in 1966, operates 24-7, producing three cryogenic liquids: nitrogen, oxygen & argon. The facility has many clients across the northeast, serving many markets including aerospace, with such clients as Pratt & Whitney and other divisions of UTC. A Suffield delegation recently visited Praxair as part of an ongoing initiative by the Town to visit businesses, learn about them and examine how the Town can best serve the business community. Businesses interested in being visited are invited to contact Kevin Bielmeier at kbielmeier@cerc.com

People/Business

Suffield Welcomes Another New Business

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NE Tactical Training Academy opened doors in Suffield at 801 Thompsonville Road on October 1. Founder John Viscomi brings over six years of experience training law enforcement on tactics and techniques to his new business. Professionally trained instructors lead class sizes of 5–7 in Suffield, ensuring that both basic and advanced participants receive the individual attention needed to leave their training with the confidence to defend themselves. Among the training delivered is a Conn./Mass. Dept.

People/Business

Stonegate Takes Shape

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Stonegate, the subdivision being developed off North Main Street, was first announced at the September 2017 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, when Ray Daddario described his plans in a pre-application conference. The project then worked its way through Conservation Commission and Historic District Commission approvals and finally the Planning and Zoning Commission public hearings, deliberation, and final approval on February 28, 2018. As the property includes two notable homes in the Town Center Historic District that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Stonegate elicited considerable local concern and some opposition. The development comprised two parcels. The first is the 20-acre property at 480 North Main.