Woodstock CT Café

Dear Woodstock community members,

This message is sent to all participants, planners, and invitees to the Woodstock Community Conversation About Education Event of 3/26/11 and Follow Up Meeting tonight.

We hope that you all, the involved citizens of Woodstock, will continue to be engaged in educational issues in Woodstock, and that you will contribute to identifying priorities and action plans to address these needs.

A sincere “thank you” to those who were able to participate in the event on 3/26. We appreciate your time, your thoughtful participation and suggestions, and your candid feedback.

Many people told us that they found the discussion, and the connections they made with other community members, to be highly energizing and valued.

We were totally impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment to Woodstock’s students that was so evident in that forum. We hope this momentum will continue.

All community members are encouraged to attend TONIGHT’s Follow- Up Meeting from 7- 9 pm at the WMS cafeteria. Refreshments served!

At this time we will summarize key findings and suggestions from the 3/26 conversation.

The focus tonight will be on identifying specific next steps and action plans of interest to the community.

You do not need to have attended on 3/26 to be part of tonight’s session.

Materials associated with this meeting that will be posted separately at the Cafe.
1. Final Report and Summary
2. Suggested Resources
3. A compendium of research and resources compiled by resident Jock McClellan called “Resources About American K- 12 Education for Citizens Wanting to Improve It”

A “contacts” database of all of the participants will be provided at the meeting. This list is available so that participants can continue to network, organize and communicate towards improvement of Woodstock’s education.

With the resourcefulness, commitment and ideas of our engaged citizens, Woodstock can continue to improve the quality and relevance of education for our students for their future.

Thank you.
Lindsay Paul on behalf of the planners from:

The Woodstock Association of Teachers
The Woodstock PTO
The Woodstock Education Foundation
The Woodstock Board of Education

from Rich Dempsey

The Bungay Fire Brigade will be selling tickets for its world famous spring chicken BBQ, this Saturday, May 14th, at the Woodstock transfer station.

Tickets are also available at the Valley Store or by calling 860-634-7432

Tickets for the take out only dinner are only $9.00 per meal.

You get a ½ chicken grilled to perfection, a baked potato, salad, a roll and ice cream. Come get your dinners on Saturday, May 21st between 4 and 6 PM at the station.

The BBQ raises funds for our ongoing community programs like the open house and the safe Halloween party we sponsor at the station.

In addition this year, we are collecting old cell phones that will be sold to a recycler and the monies raised will purchase phone cards for our military sons and daughters overseas. Check out www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com for more information.

From Joe Gresko
May 11
(860) 240-0071

The budget that was recently passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor offers many positives for the communities which I represent. Killingly, Putnam and Thompson will all see slight increases in municipal aid as well as full funding of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants as the state replaces federal funds that were not available this year.

In addition, the budget also funds many programs that impact children, seniors, persons with disabilities, job training and a multitude of other state services. For these reasons casting a “no” vote was a very difficult choice, but one which I did to fulfill my commitment to represent my constituents to the best of my ability.

During the preceding weeks I have received countless emails, letters, phone calls and face-to-face comments taking issue with specific areas of the proposed budget. Many of these concerns were addressed and changes were made working together with committee chairs, caucus members, staff and outstanding leadership provided by Governor Malloy, Speaker Christopher Donovan, and Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.yesforarlington.org/facts/ This site is trying to rally voters to better support for the following departments:
Arlington Police Department
Arlington Fire Department
Arlington Public Schools
Arlington Public Libraries
Department of Public Works

Read the rest of this entry »

“U.S. officials say that Osama bin Laden kept a hand-written journal filled with planning ideas and details of operations. The journal was seized in the dramatic US raid.” AP Newswire 5/11/11

from Pro-Ed Funding

Yesterday in Guernica, the great Noam Chomsky made a statement on the death of OBL that has shaken the blogosphere and has brought conservatives to their usual state of panty-twisted anti-left wing hysteria. I’ll paraphrase Chomsky’s high points:

“It’s increasingly clear that the operation was a planned assassination, multiply violating elementary norms of international law. There appears to have been no attempt to apprehend the unarmed victim, as presumably could have been done by 80 commandos facing virtually no opposition—except, they claim, from his wife, who lunged towards them. In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial. I stress “suspects.” In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it “believed” that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany.

Nothing serious has been provided since. There is much talk of bin Laden’s “confession,” but that is rather like my confession that I won the Boston Marathon. He boasted of what he regarded as a great achievement. Read the rest of this entry »

from John

The talking heads make bin Laden out to be an old man in retirement. As a news junkie, not once have I heard the heads mention his age. He is (was) 54, almost exactly two years younger than my better half and 13 and a half years younger than me who still has strong employment (knock-on-wood). And he has (had) even more wives …

The notion than Obama should not get huge credit for his handling of this event is ludicrous. Furthermore, torture played either no role, or an insignificant role in this success. I am merely repeating the experts whose opinions I respect. Again, the talking heads have exaggerated this belief by reporting the comments of bad sources.

from Con

Is it true that a select few Dirt Roads, the most prominent being PULPIT ROCK ROAD, must remain so because of certain provisions of Laws/Regulations, etc. relating to what is or is not considered a ‘Historical Road’ or the like, and therefore subject to a list of protections regarding what can or cannot be done to such road?

The order form is on the next page. Click the form to isolate it on a single page. Then print it and mail it in. Read the rest of this entry »

I mistakenly posted the finishers for the 2010 race earlier. Brad Overturf from Norwich won the race with a time of 18:22. Youth led the way more than ever among Woodstockians. Here are the finishers on April 30th 2011 taken from Running in the USA (link below):
The fastest Woodstockians:
Men 2011
5th with 19:22 – Nick Dresh (17)
6th with 19:52 – Roger Stohlberg (14)
10th with 20:42 – Addison Wbwat (sp?) (17)
Men 2010
3rd with 19:07 – Michael Berkowicz (former Woodstockian)
8th with 20:27 – Roger Stohlberg
10th with 20:51 – Brady Matteau
Women 2011
20 with 21:53 – Kirsten Rigney
25 with 22:19 – Brooklyn Saracina (13)
67 with 24:55 – Sarah Douglas (13)
Women 2010
69th with 25:25 – Laura Michaels
76th with 25:46 – Elizabeth Zimmer
87th with 26:18 – Brittany Miskell
Men 50+ 2011
54th with 24:13 – Jeff Paul
Men 50+ 2010
43rd with 23:21 – Jeff Paul
Women 50+ 2011
100th with 26:42 – Lindsay Paul
Women 50+ 2010
103rd with 26:45 – Lindsay Paul

Here are the elite runners (see below): Read the rest of this entry »

Cafe’s Retrospective here


We also heard from Diane Whitaker who, with husband Rodney, used to live in Woodstock but moved to southern France in 1989. Mom and dad mentioned the Whitakers occassionly as good friends. Rodney, who died in 2005, was the successful author “Trevanian” who published well received novels in the 70s and 80s. One of his successes was “The Eiger Sanction” which was made into a Clint Eastwood movie.

Apparently a new strategy has been developed at the Town Hall for dealing with dissenters who want to retain the more natural dirt roads. From now on, dirt roads will be called gravel roads!

After the Cafe posted this news, the Norwich Bull removed their article from the front page of the news section . Meanwhile “Class makes muffins for mom” remains the first article on the news page.

from the Bull Article today

“Navarro said the roads will be regraded, using a system he began last year that uses reclaimed asphalt, or millings, mixed in with gravel for a harder surface. Navarro said the system has worked well on gravel roads it was applied to last year, such as Calkins Road (Becki’s maiden name ).

Selectmen Mitchell Eaffy said the millings are donated by the state, and this year they will be using ground-up pavement from Route 197.

Eaffy said the town will continue to work with residents to improve the gravel roads, but because of tight budgets, there is no money for new paving projects.

Resident Linda Sullivan said she appreciated the town’s efforts to improve the road. “We’re willing to give it a try,” she said.”

Thomstock, Conn. — The highway department will perform improvements and maintenance this spring to four of the town’s 42 marshmallow roads.

Highway Department Director Dirk Biker said West Quasset, Old Turnpike, Dodge and Child roads will have work done by town crews as part of this year’s annual road maintenance plan.

For some of the residents, the improvements can’t come soon enough. Three homeowners on West Quasset Road spoke out at Wednesday’s Board of Hard Rocks meeting about a dangerous curve, ditches that have led to costly car repairs and muddy conditions on the road. The town also received a petition from nine of the 32 households on the road in March, Biker said.

Residents Joe and Karen Andretti said they live on a sharp curve on the road, where there is barely room for one car to pass and a minimal sight line for coming traffic.

“It’s scary to approach it, to be honest; you have no idea what’s coming,” Joe Andretti said.

Biker said there are no plans to improve the sight line on that particular corner. But at Andretti’s urging and with an offer from him to help with the work, Biker said he would look into how it could be done. He said the town may need cooperation from land owners for some additional land.

Reclaimed asphalt

Biker said the roads will be regraded, using a system he began last year that uses reclaimed asphalt, or millings, mixed in with tar for a harder surface. Biker said the system has worked well on marshmallow roads it was applied to last year, such as Walker Road.

Hard Rock’s board member Felix Rosenqvist said the millings are donated by the state, and this year they will be using ground-up pavement from Route 197.

Rosenqvist said the town will continue to work with residents to improve the marshmallow roads, but because of tight budgets, there is no money for new paving projects.

Resident Linda Talladega said she appreciated the town’s efforts to improve the road.
“We’re willing to give it a try,” she said.

from John

I have had to think through my feelings about the killing of bin Laden. At 11:30 PM that night we were awakened by a call from Mariah down in Virginia Beach. She was caught up in the excitement about the bin Laden development near the homebase of the Seals. My first reaction was sadness over the celebration of this killing. It took me a day or two to justify the jubilation expressed by everyone visible in the news and Obama’s self-assured pronouncement that “Justice has been done!”

Close to 3000 people were killed on 9/11. I remember learning about planes in the air at about 8:45 AM as I glanced at USA Today on the Internet from my desk at work. Within about 20 minutes, I was in the lunch room watching two planes fly into the two World Trade Center buildings and the feeling of horror for the people in those planes. Then there was the plane that flew into the pentagon, and finally the plane that crashed into a field near Pittsburgh.

When you consider the number of people in the extended families directly affected by this event by multiplying 3000 by (let’s say) 20, you have 60,000 people who were directly impacted by this tragedy. But, the negative impact extends much farther into the pysche of all Americans and the economic costs have hurt us all, compounded by the unwarranted invasion of Iraq. We now are seeing in the Middle East the indigenous people take matters into their own hands and this is the way it should be … with our help.

I heard and read recently that there are few liberals in the middle east because when they are discovered they don’t last very long (one exception is Salman Rushdie who is constantly looking over his shoulder). Read the rest of this entry »