Voice Profile

Store owners make a promise

A new store aims to fill the wishes of its customers by stocking anything they need – or want. Dollar and Dream, which has been open for about a month and is located on Elm Street in the Stop & Shop plaza, is packed floor to ceiling with hundreds of things to purchase.

Amber McKiel, the store’s manager, said they have practically every item from luggage to balloons. She said if the store does not have something in stock they will order it for you and have it within the week.

“It’s like a one-stop shop basically,” said McKiel. “Besides the liquor and tobacco, we sell pretty much everything.”

McKiel said the store plans on having a grand opening and ribbon cutting with Mayor Nancy Rossi. She also said they want to have a raffle during which customers will receive a ticket for every $10 they spend.

“We have four prizes,” said McKiel. “They are very big prizes. One is an Iphone. One will be a stereo system. There will be a luggage and gift set.”

The store is owned by Jasmine and Ken Jiang, immigrants from China. The couple commutes from Queens every morning to oversee their stores, the other three of which are in Bridgeport. Jasmine Jiang said she and her husband are looking to relocate to West Haven.

Jiang said they used to work for a distributor or retail items but decided they wanted to be able to sell directly to consumers.

According to McKiel, business has been good so far and is best on the weekends. She said they pride themselves on being very accommodating and that nobody should be afraid to come in and ask any questions.

McKiel said the raffle is going to start soon and will be set to end Father’s Day weekend.

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

Rose Majestic said her 30 years of food banking have been challenging but fulfilling.

Majestic, who studied at Yale Divinity School, has been the director of the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force, or WHEAT, for 15 years. She said the work she does is closely tied into what she studied.

“Absolutely, I think all of us — all the volunteers and myself — we are definitely people who are compassionate and also listen to peoples stories,” said Majestic. “When people come to WHEAT they want to tell you why they’re here.”

Majestic said one reason they want to tell her and the volunteers why they are there is because they are marginalized and nobody else listens to them. In a way, Majestic said, everybody who works or volunteers at WHEAT is a spiritual director.

“There’s a direct correlation between doing this kind of work and the other work that I do, which is ministry,” said Majestic. “It’s definitely a vocation, it’s not a job. You get called to it.”

The director said during her time there WHEAT has done nothing but grow as the need for food assistance rose. Majestic attributed the growth to several factors.

“We’re a rapidly aging city,” said Majestic. “We have had a lot of industries leave. We have a huge veteran population, some of which are disabled in many ways. We have a lot of seniors who are on fixed incomes. We have so many under employed people who are working minimum wage jobs and don’t have benefits, don’t have health insurance.”

Majestic said people paying for other necessities can end up not having enough food to get them through an entire month. She says her role is to keep the doors open but also to see what other needs they can serve.

“For instance we’ve had seminars by companies who will talk to people about Medicare,” said Majestic. “We’ve had visiting nurses come in and do vaccines. We’ve had the hospital come in and do fall prevention programs for the elderly. So it’s like, what else besides feeding people are we in a position to do for our clients?”

According to Majestic there are many moments she considers highlights during her three decade career. From giving a widowed man food and Easter baskets for his children to one of their food bank partners getting a pallet of oranges with packets of cocaine under it.

“People think of human services as if we’re all like beating our breasts and crying and downcast,” said Majestic. “There are just as many crazy things that happen as there are things that make you cry.”

The people of West Haven are incredibly generous, Majestic said, adding she had never found such faithful contributors as she had in the city.

“These people understand that one of their neighbors or themselves, at one point, were in crisis or in need,” said Majestic. “That is something I will always take away.

Another thing Majestic said was that people need to continue doing the work. She said the need is not going to end.

“I wish to God I could say ‘We’ll close when hunger ends,’” said Majestic. “But, that’s not going to happen because hunger is one rung of poverty. It’s the first rung. But it’s caused by not having affordable housing. It’s caused by not having a livable minimum wage. So you’re always going to have that need.”

Majestic said in West Haven people are cognizant that there are people in need and they cannot ever lose sight of that.

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

Customers who have gone to Nick’s Luncheonette long enough have a good chance their orders will be on the grille as soon as they are seen walking through the door.

Owner Nick Milas said his customers are like his family. The landmark spot recently moved to new digs after months of renovation.

“Most people we know by name,” said Milas. “We know what they eat. So far it’s been great.”

Milas said he emigrated from Greece in 1978 to find a better life. He started working at Elm Diner, now Georgie’s, as a dishwasher and said he worked hard to become a cook and eventually saved enough money to buy his own restaurant in 1992. He said the biggest challenge was building clientele.

He said his method was simple.

“To have reasonable prices, good service and being quick [with cook times],” said Milas.

As of press time Milas had been in his location, 255 Sawmill Road, for 10 weeks — opening on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

He agreed to sell the property where the original Nick’s stood for the development of the Haven Project, a high-end shopping mall being developed. His son Kosta, who works at Nick’s with his father, said it was not an easy decision.

“It definitely wasn’t pleasant,” he said. “A lot of blood and sweat had been put into that location. Honestly, it left a piece of him behind. But we try not to dwell on the past too much. We try and look forward.”

The younger Milas said during the nine months they were closed for the move they kept in touch with customers through Facebook. He said they were thankful for all their customers and employees for sticking with them through the move.

Nick Milas said his favorite part of his work is the customers. He said he like seeing them happy. Kosta said his father has an unmatched work ethic.

“I’ve never seen anyone, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my father, whose work ethic is as top notch,” said Kosta. “We will work day in day out, hour, until it gets done. That’s the way it’s always been.”

Nick said he decided to open a diner that serves breakfast and lunch because it has always been his favorite meal.

“I’m a breakfast man,” said Milas. “I don’t like to work nights. I like the morning.”

Milas said he wakes up at 4 a.m. and gets to the restaurant around 4:30. He said he puts in about 12 hours a day by the time he gets home, but it is worth it.

Kosta Milas said his father and the rest of their family are focusing on the present. He said they want to make sure that everything at their new location is on par or better than what their customers experienced at the old one.

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

Bill Heffernan describes himself as a busy man. Heffernan, who holds the rank of lieutenant at the Center fire district, wears many hat and is involved with a myriad number of groups and projects in and outside of West Haven.

As historian of his fire department, Heffernan said he combs through “dusty vaults at City Hall” and the minutes of the board of fire commissioners, going back to 1919, to piece together the history of the fire districts in West Haven.

“We’ve been doing a lot to bring this stuff forward,” said Heffernan. “The fire department has been a hot button topic and I’ve been doing some presentations around town… to try and get the real information out there.”

Heffernan said a lot of residents have misinformation about the history and reasoning behind West Haven’s fire districts. He said the city has always had multiple departments; even before the city was incorporated in as a town and then city in 1921 and 1961, respectively.

In his office across the street from the fire department, Heffernan had consolidation studies on the fire departments dating back decades. He said they all said pretty much the same thing.

“Don’t bother doing it,” said Heffernan. “It’ll cost a fortune.”

Aside from being a firefighter for 27 years, Heffernan also serves as a president of the board for the West Haven Community House, is on the board for the Village Improvement Association – which is the library system’s board of directors, is a member of the West Haven Historical Society and was the chairman of the 125th anniversary board in 2013. He said he always tries to help with things that are going on.

According to Heffernan, he could retire but he is not finished yet. He said he has projects left to do, including getting the fire museum up and running.

Recently, Heffernan has been serving as technical advisor for Tacoma FD, a comedy show about firefighters. It is produced, in part, by his cousin and West Haven native Kevin Heffernan of Super Troopers and Beerfest fame. He said he had been telling his cousin to do a show about firefighters for years.

“He ignored me for about 15 years,” said Heffernan. “I said, ‘Listen, firefighters have great stories. We do some funny stuff.’ There’s always some gag going on. We are always pranking each other. The calls that we go on are ridiculous sometimes.”

Heffernan said during the filming of Super Troopers 2 Kevin called and said truTV wanted him to write a pilot episode for a show about a firehouse. He said he spent most of the fall flying out to California to sit in on the script writing and to make sure the show was true to the firefighter life.

“It’s a comedy but you don’t want the guys to look stupid,” said Heffernan. “It’s Tacoma. It rains every day. It’s the wettest city in America. So, there’re not a lot of fires. Mayhem ensues.”

Heffernan said a lot of the stories in the show come from his time as a firefighter and he worked to make sure the antics of the characters were still in line with what firefighters would actually do. On Wednesday, he and his wife went to the premiere and walked the red carpet. The show premieres Thursday night at 10:30.

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

From his office in the Anna V. Molloy School, Board of Education Supervisor of Facilities Chris Everone and his staff work behind the scenes to ensure schools are clean and everything runs efficiently. He said they prefer their work go unnoticed.

Everone said he has worked for the Board of Education for 16 years and has served in his current position for three. The supervisor got his start working part time at the football stadium during high school and, after college, became the manager of the facility.

“Then about 10 years ago I took over the hockey rink,” said Everone, “So, I ran the complex there. Then three years ago I took over all the facilities.”

The Albertus Magnus graduate said he likes the work because it’s constantly busy and there are new challenges every day.

“Last week we we’re prepping for hockey tournaments,” said Everone. “This week snow is melting and now we’re getting roof leaks in places and are trying to take care of those. It goes from one aspect to the other.”

Everone said they are working to prepare the facilities to switch from heating to cooling. He said before they know it they will be cutting grass. He also said one of his favorite parts of the job is the people he gets to work with.

“Year round it’s a great group of people,” said Everone. “Great principals. Great kids. I mean that’s what it’s all about. If it wasn’t for the kids I wouldn’t be here.”

According to Everone, he is very excited for the new high school building to be completed. He said the school system has not had a new building since the 70’s.

“A high school is a major building. We are in dire need of a new learning environment for the kids,” said Everone. “This is going to be great. It’s going to be state of the art. Every day when you drive by you see something different. It’s exciting.”

Everone said he had never been involved on a project of that scale and he finds it fun. He said he looks forward to the new challenge for his department.

Within the board of education budget passed last month there was money for Everone’s department to purchase new vehicles. He said he hopes the city council passes it.

“Even if I get two vehicles a year I’m happy,” said Everone. “To have the assets with them and not have a delay is helpful. Especially plumbing and carpentry, because we do get broken windows in the middle of the night. We do sometimes get broken pipes in the middle of the night. It’s good to have a reliable and secure vehicle.”

Everone said the board of education and Superintendent Neil Cavallaro have been very supportive of his department. A Westie himself, he said there’s not a time where he doesn’t like coming to work.

“I like doing the job. I even like this job more than the one I did before,” said Everone. “There’s a little more headaches but, hey, it keeps you on your toes.”

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

Bill Slater, former Director of West Haven Parks and Recreation, is ready for his next adventure. Slater, who worked for the department for 41 years, finished his last day Friday.

Slater, who led the five-employee department, got his degree in recreation and leisure services from UConn. He said he entered the field because he always had an interest in sports and activities. Slater called the department important for any town or city.

“You know when you move into a town, everybody has police and fire, the Board of Education,” said Slater. “But what do you do when you get here? That’s why recreation is really important. It’s fun to give people something to do.”

According to Slater, the department runs all sorts of programs all throughout the year, although summer is the busiest season. He said the lack of a city community center has them always fighting for space.

“If it’s not a field for a game then it has to be indoors somewhere,” said Slater. “That basically means we have to go to the school system. It becomes a fight for space and time. Something that is badly needed in this town is a community center.”

Slater said along with the demographics of the town, the most popular sports and activates have also changed. He said baseball has been replaced with soccer as the most popular sport. He also said what is expected of their programs has changed.

“People are looking for organized, supervised activities,” said Slater. “What was ‘day camp’ has really become ‘daycare.’”

Historically, said Slater, parks and recreation is one of the first places to face cuts in hard financial times. He said their budgets have done well for the past few years.

“We haven’t lost a lot of money but we haven’t gotten any either,” said Slater. “One of the big issues, I was just talking to the mayor yesterday, is with the minimum wage increase that is going to go up to $15 an hour in the next four years. But if our budget doesn’t go [up] with it, then I’ll have to pay a 15 or 16 year old kid $15 an hour. Then I’ll hire fewer kids to work, which means I will service fewer kids, which means we’ll bring in less revenue. It’s a loser all the way around.”

Slater said there needs to be a difference between a minimum wage for people working to support a family and young people working their first job.

The people he got to meet and work with were his favorite part of the job.

“People come here with a smile on their face because they want to be here,” said Slater, “as opposed to paying taxes or getting a building permit. That doesn’t mean anything against those departments but those are things you have to do. People are here because it’s something they enjoy doing.”

Moving forward, Slater says he will take the days as they come. He said he and his wife like to visit baseball cities and go to games. He is also looks forward to spending more time with his grandkids.

“I’m looking forward to doing, basically, what I want, when I want as much as money and health allow,” he said.

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

West Haven High School Principal Dana Paredes knew she wanted to teach by the age of five and started by setting up her stuffed animals and dolls to teach class. She still remembers how cool it was when her grandfather bought her a school desk from Gianotti School when it closed.

The Fairfield University graduate, who was getting calls and visits all throughout the interview, started as an English teacher but later transitioned to teaching Spanish and English as a second language classes. She said in 2007 she became ESL department head but in 2009 she took the opportunity to become acting assistant principal – a year later officially entering the position.

Paredes said she loved teaching because she got to take something she was passionate about, in her case literature, and share it with students. She said she enjoyed coming up with ways to get students engaged with topics such as Shakespeare and the Canterbury Tales.

“I went out of the way, as much as I could, to do things that were out of the box and interactive,” said Paredes, “and make those lessons fun for kids. I absolutely loved teaching.”

Paredes said getting students engaged could be a challenge but it is important to find ways and give them a new opportunity every day. According to Paredes, the difference between being a teacher and being and administrator is that administrators have to look at the big picture.

“Your classroom is very easy to control,” said Paredes. “You have your rules. You have your policies. That’s what you do every day. Being an administrator, especially being principal, there’s almost 200 employees in the building, almost 1600 kids in the building, plus all the parents. So there’s so many moving pieces all the time. So you really have so many balls in the air that you need to be able to juggle and make sure nothing gets missed.”

She said if something gets missed it means a student who is not getting something done for them. The principal said the job is a lot faster paced and higher pressure but there is a greater ability to impact things on a larger scale. She said the transition can be a challenge.

“It is a hard transition because [as a teacher] you have all of your colleagues you talk with and when you’re a teacher you kind of commiserate about things, [and say] ‘If you were an administrator you’d do it this way or that way,”’ said Paredes. “And then you become an administrator and realize it’s not that simple.”

As a lifelong West Haven resident who graduated from the high school in 1997, she said the city school system has been her life for most of her life. Paredes said when her father passed away she decided to go for an open administrative position because the pay raise that came with it would be helpful to her family.

“Looking back, that was a good decision because jobs open when they open,” said Paredes. “And if I hadn’t put in for that job another job didn’t open for quite a while.”

Paredes said anyone who knows her would know that she is a Westie through and through. She said everyone in her family went through the school system going back to her grandfather who graduated in 1929.

“I couldn’t be happier to be in this role and get to lead the largest school in this community,” said Paredes. “I hope I can do everyone proud.”

By Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

When questioned as to why he has remained in West Haven his entire life, Jon Purmont responds with a quote from Governor Ella Grasso.

“Bloom where you are planted,” said Purmont. “So, that has kept me anchored here I think. Not to say that I don’t enjoy travelling and all the rest but my roots are here so I decided, ‘This is it. This is the place.’”

Purmont, who is city historian and president of the West Haven Historical Society, graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in history and was a professor at Southern Connecticut State University. He has served as president of the historical society since 2010 and said he joined because he was interested in the history of West Haven and of Connecticut.

Purmont started a yearly event where the historical society takes groups on tours to the cemeteries and share city history by “resurrecting” the people buried there. He said they have students from UNH, as well as society members, portray the former residents.

Purmont said through events like that, walking tours and the groups’ archives, they aim to educate people about West Haven’s history. He said he enjoys studying the history of the city, especially its development.

“1648 is when we were founded,” said Purmont. “[West Haven started out] as a farming community, we’ve gone through the manufacturing stage and we’re now in what I call the service based economy – with UNH and the VA hospital being large employers.”

Purmont was appointed city historian by Mayor Picard and said it is an interesting position. He said his role is to answer questions about the city’s history.

“If people call or stop me on the street and want to know were certain things were,” said Purmont, “I have to be knowledgeable in the sense that people… turn to me sometimes when they can’t get answers.”

The historian also said he recently wrote a book for the city which detailed the developments of West Haven since the 1980s – when the last edition of the book was written. He said, in reference to their archives, that he finds photographs of the graduating classes, going back to the 18th Century, to be quite a treasure.

“It shows the makeup of the city,” said Purmont. “It shows the evolving racial makeup of the city. It shows the city as it was.”

Purmont said he is concerned about the future of the city and he hopes to see more development, such as the Haven shopping complex. He said he thinks the future of the city’s economy is service based – not manufacturing.

According to Purmont, studying the history of a community is important because it shows where it has been and where it is going.

“If you don’t know where your past is, and what it’s been like,” said Purmont, “you’re blind to what the future may hold too.”