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The week in photos – November 22, 2018
Rohna ‘Buddies’ honored at museum, Dec. 2
The Rohna Remembrance Committee of West Haven invites the public to a program honoring the casualties and survivors of the HMT Rohna sinking in the Mediterranean on Nov. 26, 1943 during WWII. The program will take place at the West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center on Sunday Dec. 2, at 1:30.
West Haven soldiers Pacifico A. Migliore, Jr., John T. Cox, Jr., and Pasquale J. Logiodice, all members of the 853rd Engineers Aviation Battalion, were three of the 1,015 U.S. troops who perished on that fateful day.
West Haven High School students will be doing presentations of the wartime experiences of our three West Haven “buddies.” Also, board members of The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association, including Rohna author and documentary writer Michael Walsh, will be participating. Music of the time period will be provided by well-known local DJ, and veteran friend, Rick Gilbert.
The museum is located at 30 Hood Terrace. A reception will follow.
Bruins, Huskies still stay perfect
The West Haven Girls Basketball continued with its second week of games Friday night at Haley. After three weeks, the Bruins and Huskies remain as the leagues unbeaten.
Molly Gunning and Finley Gunning combined for 14 points to lead the Gunning Law Firm Huskies to a 28-11 win over the Napoli Parts Eagles. Elena Cortes, Samira Huckaby, Emma McFarland and Sophie McFarland combined for 13 points for the Huskies. The Eagles were led on the offensive end by the scoring of Amarae Rosario, Justice Butler and Amalia Ortiz.
The Rings End Bruins kept pace by downing the West Haven Drug and Alcohol Task Force Panthers, 30-15, behind 14 points from Neveah Stegall. The Bruins also got scoring from Noelle Lawrence, Abby Wynus, Samantha Boyd and Emily Hartshorn. Ciara Harp, Kylie Gibbons, Jocelyn Silber and Hayden Holm powered the offense for the Panthers
The Shoreline Dental Cardinals used the combined 10 points from Danavia Pittman and Madden Evangeliste to down the Prospect Fish and Game Blue Devils, 20-15. The Cardinals also were helped on the offensive end by Jada Fowler, Lily Granata and Parish Rutledge. The Blue Devils used scoring from Kira Sek, Micah Pullen, and Terrianna Rodgers.
Records broken in Wizards’ wins
The West Haven Wizards second double-dual meet was a double success. The Wizards beat the Seymour Wildcats , 561-104, and the Plainville Blue Dolphins, 563-94. There were many exciting races during the meet. It was particularly impressive that the Wizard swimmers swept first place in the individual backstroke events for every age group.
Anna Piskura and Sean Fitzpatrick picked up first-place finishes in the 8 & Under 25-yard backstroke, Aarya Mulmi and Nathan Charron had firsts in the 9/10 50-yard backstroke, Lia Hey and Jacob Collete led the pack in the 11/12 50-yard backstroke, Kaleigh Morton and Gavin Kanlong had first-place finishes in the 13/14 100-yard backstroke.
Anya Celmer scored a first and posted a new Wizard record for the 15-and-over girls 100-yard backstroke. During this meet, Celmer also broke the Wizard record for the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57:60 and the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.69.
The Wizards now have four division wins, and have clinched their division.
The Wizards next dual meet with be on Saturday, Dec. 8 against the Madison Marlins. For more information on the West Haven Wizards please visit our website at www.westhavenwizards.org.
Squirt six splits pair v. Avon, EHCO
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend. The Westies lost to Avon A, 7-2, and defeated ECHO A, 4-3. West Haven is now 14-8-1 on the season.
On Saturday morning at Edward L Bennett Rink, the Westies took on the Avon Panthers and fell 7-2. Zach Melchiore got West Haven out to a 1-0 lead when Matthew Kelly’s shot deflected to Aedan Guarino who passed to Melchiore and Melchiore knocked the puck into the back of net. Avon then scored the next four goals for a 4-1 lead after one period.
Ethan Kelly converted on a breakaway with his brother Matthew assisting midway through the second period to make it 4-2. The Blue Devils were shut down the rest of the way as Avon won by five. Maddex LaFountain made 19 saves for the Westies.
The Blue Devils traveled to the Bolton Ice Palace on Sunday morning to face the ECHO Stars. Sean Studley led the Blue Devil offense with a hat trick and an assist in a 4-3 win.
After ECHO took an early lead, Studley banged home a loose puck when Ethan Kelly’s initial shot was saved to tie the score at 1-1. The Stars regained the lead two minutes later and led 2-1 at the first intermission.
Kelly found Studley for a one-timer on a two-on-none two minutes into the second period to tie it again at 2-2. West Haven then took its first lead of the game with a power play goal midway through the period.
Cameren Lipford fired home a backhander after Studley’s wrister was saved and the Westies led 3-2. But less than a minute later ECHO tied it and the teams remained knotted at 3 skating into the third period.
West Haven controlled most of the action in the third period, but could not find the back of the net until Studley made a hustle play with six minutes remaining. Studley stole the puck from a defenseman and wristed a shot that was saved. He gathered the loose puck, eluded a defenseman, circled behind the net and fired home the game-winning goal. LaFountain only needed to make four saves in goal for West Haven as the Westies outshot the Stars 33-7.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team went 1-2 this weekend, falling to the Ct Junior Whalers 06 and Southern, before rebounding with a win over East Haven.
The Westies opened the weekend with a 7-1 loss against the Ct Jr. Whalers Friday evening at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven. Trailing 1-0 in the opening period, Michael Madera evened the contest off assists from Zach Goetze and Mickey Dowd.
Despite controlling play in the opening period, West Haven trailed 2-1 and allowed two more goals in the second period. West Haven never got closer despite additional pressure throughout the contest.
Brady Price, Mike Page, and Connor Moriarty played well offensively in the loss.
The Westies then traveled to play Southern at the Milford Ice Pavilion Saturday evening. Despite a brilliant effort in goal by Bryan Hong, West Haven fell 5-2. Trailing 2-0 in the third period, the Westies rallied to tie the contest, but a late goal gave Southern the lead for good.
Down by two goals and killing a penalty, Ray Heenie sent a pass up to Madera along the boards. Madera skated up the left wing and wristed a shot home to cut the deficit in half 23 seconds into the third period.
West Haven continued to mount the pressure and got the equalizer with 9:12 to go. Dowd sent pass to Goetze who fed Madera for the tying goal. West Haven played well, but Southern scored the go-ahead goal with 5:37 to go, then added an empty-net tally with 21 seconds left and another goal in the final seconds for the 5-2 defeat.
Danny Johnson, Brady Price, Dylan Bosworth and Chris Consorte played well offensively in the loss. Haygen Axelrod, Jason Alling, Bruno Martone, and Heenie played well defensively.
The Westies closed the weekend with a 4-3 victory over East Haven Sunday morning in West Haven. Dowd led the offense with two goals and an assist, while Madera added one goal and three assists, and Goetze also scored.
Trailing 1-0, Goetze evened the contest off an assist from Madera with 6:09 left in the opening period. East Haven took the lead late in the first period, but the Westies took the lead for good in the second period.
Dowd scored off an assist from Madera with 7:44 to go in the period to even the contest, before the pair hooked up again as Dowd picked up a rebound of Madera’s shot for a short-handed tally and a 3-2 lead with 3:18 to go in the middle period.
West Haven increased the margin to 4-2 with 9:18 left in the third period as Madera scored in front off an assist from Dowd. East Haven got closer with a goal with 2:10 remaining, but the Westies held on for the win.
Hong and Jacob Silva each played well in goal for West Haven.
The West Haven Bantam A team had its toughest weekend of the season this past weekend, going 0-2 after not losing in its previous eight games.
On Saturday, the Greenwich Skating Club came into the Bennett Rink and came out on top with a 2-0 win. It was a very back and forth matchup, but the Skate Club was able to come out with the win. Carl Murgo, Justin Pniewski and Matt Morgan played well on forward. David Brown, Jojo D’Aurio and Sean Bosworth played well on defense.
Sunday morning brought the Westies to the Wonderland of Ice In Bridgeport to take on the Wizards A1 team, but left with a 4-1 loss. Joey Honcz scored an unassisted goal in the second period, working hard on the forecheck in the corner and then brought the puck in front of the net and scored between the goalie’s pad and the post.
The tally by Honcz was the only goal the Blue Devils were able to net the entire weekend. Jayden Spreyer, Nolan Cole, Dante Hardt and Ryan Bernardi played well in the contest on forward. Matt Wezenski, Luca Ubaldi and Adrian Fielosh played well on defense.
Michael Andreesen and Brendan Smith split time in both games in goal. While they came out with two losses, the Blue Devils made a lot of positive plays and worked hard in both contests.
Westies look to rebound in season finale
The West Haven Blue Devil football team knew it was going to be a challenge when it traveled to Finn Stadium in Shelton to face the undefeated Gaels on Saturday afternoon. On the Gaels first possession, the Westies looked like they were going to stop a Gaels’ drive but, the Gaels were able to covert a 4th and 11 at the West Haven 30 and then got on the board first on a 1-yard run just 2:57 into the game for a 7-0 lead. They Gaels would strike again on a 57-yard touchdown pass with 4:13 left in the quarter to increase the lead to 14-0.
Shelton continued to roll when it capped a drive 2:10 into the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0. The Gaels were determined to put the knife in the back of the Blue Devils when the Shelton kicker proceeded to kick the ball 15 yards, following his kick and pouncing on it for a successful onside kick, setting the Gaels up at the West Haven 45-yardline. Shelton struck quickly on the next play with another, long touchdown pass, 14 seconds later to start pulling away with a 28-0 lead.
The Gaels were not done yet. On their next possession, the Shelton quarterback proceeded to hit a streaking receiver down the middle of the field for a 53-yard touchdown pass with 6:01 left in the half and after stopping the Westies on their next possession, the Gaels called timeout with 1:06 left to give their offense one, more chance. Shelton quickly drove down the field and with 3.9 seconds left, punched one in from two yards out for a 42-0 halftime lead.
Playing for pride in the second half, the Blue Devils were determined to get on the board. Tylen Jennette ripped off a 53-yard run down the left sideline to get the Westies down to the Shelton 4-yardline and then Jaden Grant powered in on the next play to make it 42-6 3:19 into the third quarter. West Haven looked like it was in business again when Demerick Blackford raced down the sideline for 38 yards and then took a late hit out of bounds into a snowbank resulting in a personal foul penalty against the Gaels, setting up the Blue Devils with a first and goal at the Gaels’ 9-yardline. But the Gaels held and when a pass on 4th down from Jordan Berrios to Blackford was deflected away in the endzone as time expired in the third quarter, the score remained 42-6.
There was no quit in the Blue Devils and the boys drove down the field as time was winding down in the game. After getting down inside the Shelton 10, the Westies took a couple of losses putting them back to the 24-yardline. On 4th and goal from the 24, Jaden Grant took the ball, juked and jived, absorbed a couple of hits and dove for the goal line, extending the ball for a touchdown with 3:02 left to make it a 42-12 final.
This week, the Westies wrap up their 2018 campaign with their annual Thanksgiving Day game against the Fairfield Prep Jesuits on Thursday at 10:30.
There will be a tribute and musical presentation of Taps by WHHS Band members to honor three West Haven residents lost in the sinking of the HMT Rohna — Pacifico J. Migliore, Jr., John T. Cox, Jr., and Pasquale J. Logiodice, 75 years ago during World War II.
The tribute will take place during the pregame ceremonies for the WHHS-Fairfield Prep Thanksgiving Day football game on Thursday, and will begin at 10:15.
Around town
Harugari Christmas
The Harugari Singing Society, 66 Highland St., is planning two Christmas events:
Sunday, Dec. 2 is the annual Christkindl Markt. Open to the public it offers a Rouladen Dinner this is $18 for members and $25 for non-members. Shopping begins at noon with the dinner at 2 is open to shoppers not staying for dinner from noon to 5. Sunday Dec, 16 the club plans Holidays with Dinner, Dancing and Live music at the Weihnachtsfest. Roast Beef Dinner will be served at a cost of $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Doors ppen at 1. Dinner is at 2. It is open to the public. For reservations for both events, please call Barbara Pokora at (203) 640-3656 For more information go to Harugari.org.
Center plans trips
Join the West Haven Senior Center for the following scheduled trip: All trips leave from Savin Rock Conference Center.
MGM Springfield Casino Tuesday, Jan. 15, cost is $25 per person. Bus leaves Savin Rock Conference Center at 8:30 a.m. Trip includes $10 free slot play. Payment is due by Jan. 4. Registration information for rewards card to be completed at time of registration.
Flyers with details for this trip are available at the office West Haven Senior Center 201 Noble St., or call (203) 937-3507 for more information.
Annual Festival
The annual Christmas Fest on the Green is scheduled for Saturday, Dec 1, from 9-2:30. The festival will have craft and candy vendors, delicious lunch, bake sale, kids’ crafts and trinket tree, our SERRV shop with gifts from around the world, as well as our book sale and White Elephant sale. Several trees, wreaths, and other items are being raffled off. Santa will be visiting and taking photos. Also included: a collection of food for WHEAT and toys for Second Chance Toys, an organization that partners toy drives with local organizations in need of toys. Second Chance Toys requests plastic toys that are clean and in good condition that have no small pieces (anything that will fit through a toilet paper tube). Contact First Congregational Church at (203)-933-6291 for more information.
The Christmas Festival, is looking for vendors for Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9-2:30. Handmade creations preferred. The fee is only $30 for an 8’ table, with $5 going toward our restoration fund to help repair our steeple and a portion of our sanctuary ceiling which has fallen. The festival includes crafters, light breakfast fare, delicious luncheon, book sale, SERRV Shop, Pics with Santa, and more. Contact the church at (203) 933-6291, for an application.
Senior trips
F Seniors and Friends has a trip planned for the new year: A trip to Atlantic City is planned for Jan. 2-4 at Resorts Casino. It includes four meals, $20 in slot play and two shows. Price is $229 per person.
For booking, call Fred at (203) 389-5808 or (203) 927-4249.
Caregiver Program
The Agency on Aging of South Central CT is sponsoring a self-care education program for family caregivers, designed to provide you with tools and strategies to better handle the unique challenges you face. The free workshop series consists of six sessions held on Wednesday evenings, 6-8:30, May 23, 30, June 6, 13, 20 and 27 at the Agency on Aging of SCC at One Long Wharf Drive, Suite 1L, New Haven. A light dinner will be served. To register, call or e-mail Jan Simmons at (203) 785-8533 ext. 3164, jsimmons@aoascc.org. You can also register online at www.aoascc.org/forms/ptc/.
Al-Anon group
An Al-Anon meeting group invites new members to attend its weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the First Lutheran Church, 52 George St. For information and details, call (203) 506-1464.
Support offered
Balancing the care of a family member, a household and a job is overwhelming. Meet with a representative from VNA Community Healthcare’s Family Caregiver Support Network for a FREE consultation to discuss your personal care-giving issues, receive tips, guidance and explore solutions. Call VNA Community Healthcare’s Helpline at 1 (866) 474-5230 (toll free) to schedule a private in-person or phone session with one of our family caregiver experts. Consultations are held by appointment at several convenient locations including West Haven, Hamden and North Haven.
Student loans
The Seth Haley Memorial Loan Fund of West Haven provides eligible college students with loans of up to $2500 to help students finish their post high school education. Applicants must be West Haven residents who have completed two or more years of college or post-secondary work or be in their final two years of advanced work. Any West Haven resident attending college or a post high school professional, technical or trade school can be eligible for a loan. Repayments do not begin, and no interest will be charged until one year after graduation. If you are interested in making an application for a loan, please Gert Beckwith at (203) 934-6921, or Ralph Lawson, (203) 934-6442 or write to 170 Ivy St.
Historian’s corner
Pilgrim or Puritan?
We today often use the words Puritan and Pilgrim interchangeably, and yet the difference in the two is quite significant: those who came on the Mayflower to found the starving colony of Plymouth in 1620 were the Pilgrims; the story of the first Thanksgiving is their story. The Puritans were those who later fled the religious constraints of England and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony—today’s Boston–and other colonies in the years following 1629. Within the next ten years, over twenty-one thousand Puritans would flood across the hills and valleys of New England.
For those Plymouth Pilgrims enduring their first New England winter and spring, starvation was always near at hand. They had brought too little food; their crops grew poorly in the weak soil and their system of communal farming did not work efficiently. By 1623, Governor Bradford would turn portions of the common land over to each family in the colony; the families would plant and farm that land, and they would be allowed to keep whatever they grew. This new policy would bring about a change in attitude, and farming at Plymouth would suddenly become much more successful. Thus, the Pilgrims would stumble upon the principle of capitalism, and discover that it worked! But these events were still far off in the future, and more than half of their number would die during that first dreadful winter.
They had landed at Plymouth in December, 1620. They were weak and sickly, entering this barren new world hungry, and with little food to sustain them. The deep and abiding courage that carried them through this bleakest of times, came from their unshakeable faith in God.
By the next September or October (records are unclear), the Pilgrims met with the friendly Pokanoket Indians for a feast. This feast was something new to the Pilgrims, but to their secular English counterparts at Plymouth, it was a pleasant reminder of the Harvest Home celebrations back in England. The feast must have taken place shortly after the Pilgrims harvested their first modest crop of corn, squash, beans, barley and peas. Coincidentally at the harvest-time, Plymouth Harbor also played host to a tremendous number of migrating birds, particularly ducks and geese. Governor Bradford therefore ordered a number of men to go out “fowling.” It took only a few hours for the hunting party to kill enough ducks and geese to feed the settlement for a week.
The Pilgrims clasped hands together and gave thanks to God at a long table covered with a white linen cloth. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by more than 100 Pokanokets, led by their sachem Massasoit. The Indians had brought along five deer to add to the feast. There wasn’t enough furniture to go around, so most had to stand or squat in happy anticipation, as the deer and birds turned on wooden spits over open fires.
It was a time of plenty, a time of harmony and rejoicing, and a brief time of brotherhood between the English and the Native Americans. The name “Thanksgiving” would not be applied to this great feast until the Nineteenth Century—but whatever the name, the warm memory of that day lives on today in our most American of holidays!
Happy Thanksgiving
Letters
O’Brien eyes run for mayor in ‘19
I am going to spend the next few months talking to residents and exploring the possibility of running again for the Office of Mayor, a seat I held from 2013-2017. Why would I seek to run?
The answer is simple: West Haven is too great to give up on.
When I close my eyes and picture where West Haven could be in 25 years, I see a city with a strong commercial base and reasonable taxes; a city with low crime, clean streets, where visitors from around the state flock for our festivals, concerts, beaches and our wonderful quality of life.
When I see the direction the present administration is taking my hometown I see a very different picture. I see a city with crumbling infrastructure, a huge reduction in crucial services and city events, high taxes and new investment in our city from the business community long gone to other communities.
The spinning of mistruths for political gain by the Rossi Administration has taken its toll on West Haven and its residents and this form of leadership is unacceptable.
It is my belief, and the belief of the armies of people that have reached out to me, over this last year that we were on a path that was leading our city out of the stagnations it has been in for a quarter of a century. We were attracting large scale development that will offset our high taxes. We saw quality of life increase with our festivals and concerts funded by partnerships with our business community. We were improving and upgrading our infrastructure with Grant funds and seeking and receiving Grants at a level not seen in years. We were improving our Education system at every level by implementing Full Day Kindergarten for the youngest students, elevating our curriculum and putting the technical shops back in our high school for our oldest students. We heard our seniors and instituted a Senior Citizen Tax Freeze. This is just a small part of what our Administration accomplished, and I am extremely proud of what our team accomplished in four short years.
In the next few months, I will be talking to residents to explain why getting back on track is so important and answer questions about both our past and our future. Please feel free to reach out to me personally at 203-668-0641, organize a Meet & Greet in your home or stop me when you see me out in the community. For updates Text Ed to 313131
Let’s begin that conversation about how I see West Haven in 25 years and how I plan to get there.
Ed O’Brien
Trump unbowed in midterm
By Rich Lowry
Syndicated Columnist
Midterm losses typically humble a sitting president of the United States, but Donald Trump is beyond humbling.
He is the most unbowed president ever to lose a house of Congress. Anyone who thought Trump would be taken down a notch, even by a more stinging electoral rebuke, doesn’t know the man. He will remain the ringmaster of American politics until the day, presumably in January 2021 or 2025, when he gets on Marine One for the last time.
He made the midterms about him, because, really, what else would he make them about? Trump will never lose his interest in airtime, or the ratings. He boasted at a rally that, thanks to him, interest in the midterms was running higher than ever. And he was right.
Even if Democrats had a larger victory, on the scale of the Republican sweep in 1994, it would be impossible to imagine Trump getting upstaged.
His 90-minute post-election Q&A in the East Room of the White House was expansive, combative, boastful, gripping, outlandish, conciliatory, amusing — and unlike any postelection news conference we’ve ever seen (even without Trump mentioning, by the by, that he was firing his attorney general).
The press loved every minute of it, practically begging him to keep going. The perverse symbiotic relationship between Trump and the media, so key to the success of both, is alive and well.
According to Trump, the election wasn’t a “thumpin'” or “shellacking” — George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s words for their own setbacks — it was a personal victory that had been blighted by some Republicans not sufficiently embracing him. He proceeded to mock by name fellow Republicans who had lost, in another presidential first.
Trump has legitimate bragging rights: The Republican showing in the Senate was strong. His political base is still there for him, and in many key statewide races, there for the candidate he endorsed and stumped for. His rallies are still a hot ticket. He now has a cadre of allies, like newly elected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he basically created.
Alienating traditional Republican voters in the suburbs, of course, comes with a real cost. For one thing, it hands Democrats a constituency spread throughout the country, as demonstrated by the GOP carnage in widely dispersed House races.
But, for Trump’s purposes, the GOP’s strength in Florida, Ohio and Iowa suggests that, all things being equal, key pieces of his 2016 electoral map are still ripe for the picking in 2020.
Losing the House is a blow, not so much because it stalls Trump’s congressional agenda (there wasn’t going to be much of one), but because he now has an adversary with subpoena power.
Investigative conflict looms. The subject matter will be most unwelcome to Trump, including his tax returns and his businesses. The fight won’t be. It will be high-stakes combat of the sort that he thrives on, the more intense, perilous and dramatic, the better. Because he will be at the center of it.
Trump’s genius at keeping our interest is undimmed, whether we are appalled, energized or entertained. He’s so far avoided a fate worse than electoral setbacks — getting tuned out.
Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.(c) 2018 by King Features Synd., Inc.