Today Magazine • September 2023

TODAY Covering the Heart of the Farmington Valley

SCHOLAR POWER

Hartford Youth Scholars

Empowering City Students For School Success

Executive Director Anthony Byers

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LEADING OFF

Scholar Success

CONTENTS COVER STORY

4 — Boosting City Scholars Many Farmington Valley schools partner with the Hartford Youth Scholars nonprofit to give city students access to the best education possible SCHOOL SCOOP

10 — Scholarly Calling A key goal of Hartford Youth Scholars is to increase college graduation rates for Hartford youth BUSINESS BEAT

16 — Piano Man Tony Hulme has been a music industry maestro in Connecticut for more than five decades

TO BE CALLED a gentleman and a scholar — or a gentlewoman and a scholar — is a great compliment. An area nonprofit is aiming to complement the academic success of schools and motivated scholars in Greater Hartford. The vital mission of Hartford Youth Scholars is to boost high school and college graduation rates for Hartford students.

HYS gives city youth academic and mentor support beginning in middle school and seeing them through college graduation. Numerous public and private schools in the Farmington Valley are partnering with HYS to achieve this worthy objective — and the results are encouraging.

In the past 15 years, 99% of Hartford Youth Scholars have graduated from high school — a far higher percentage than the graduation rate for the city’s public high schools. HYS executive director Anthony Byers was born and raised in Hartford and graduated from The Master’s School in West Simsbury and UConn. Our coverage begins on page 4 — BWD

SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS

25 — Guitar Guru For over 40 years, Paul Howard has taught guitar and music at the same Avon location QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“There is no better example of our vision realized than ... young professionals contributing to the future vibrancy of Hartford” — Anthony Byers

BY THE NUMBERS

120+ — HYS college grads

LETTERS

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COVER STORY KUDOS Our August cover story features the 115th birthday of the Farmington Valley Visiting Nurse Association, which typically offers free healthcare — CLICK HERE for our coverage WE APPRECIATE the time, effort and talent put into our VNA story. You captured it so well. I will share it on our website and social media — it certainly is a win-win. Thank you so much.

— Sharon Gallerani • Farmington Valley VNA I AM THANKFUL that I can receive Today Magazine. I lived in Canton for 62 years, lost my husband, sold my home and now live in New Hartford. I am in awe of anyone who publishes.

It amazes me that you can find/uncover stories that we may know bits of, yet you make them come alive.

Every honor and award you have received is well-deserved. Thank you!

— Carolyn Mattson • New Hartford LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor are welcome. Ideal maximum length: 100 words — with occasional exceptions. We reserve the right to edit for style and space considerations.

Today Magazine • Covering the Heart of the Farmington Valley Bruce William Deckert — Publisher + Editor-in-Chief 860-988-1910 • Bruce.Deckert@TodayPublishing.net www.TodayPublishing.net > Digital Editions • Award-Winning Today Online • 24/7 news — www.TodayPublishing.net/blog Follow Today Magazine CT on social media > Advertising — Contact the Publisher Editorial Associate — Kayla Tyson Contributing Photographer — Wendy Rosenberg Five Towns • One Aim — Exceptional Community Journalism Farmington • Avon • Canton • Simsbury • Granby – CT • USA

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ON THE COVER — Math teacher Oladipu Mayungbo works with Hartford Youth Scholar Christian Wilfred during The Collegiate Academy summer program

A half-dozen scholars celebrate their academic success — Timothy Bell, Olivia Cooper, Jasmine Morris, Chyler Bastarache, Azoya Clarke and Zakai Evans

SCHOLAR POWER

Hartford Youth Scholars: Empowering Students For Success

By Matthew Broderick and Bruce Deckert Special to Today Magazine

BY HER OWN admission, Victoria Black was not always a model student.

“In my younger years, I was not always the most motivated,” she says. But one of her elementary school teachers at Hartford’s Jumoke Academy saw her potential and recommended that she apply to Hartford Youth Scholars, a nonprofit that provides a pathway of accelerated learning, social enrichment and mentor support with the goal of increasing high school and college graduation rates among Hartford students.

A graduate of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Black is now a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She recognizes that Hartford Youth Scholars (HYS) has 4

helped her develop better study habits, improve her time management skills and navigate diverse environments.

Farmington Valley schools, both public and private, have played an important role in the success of HYS students like Black — and she is not alone.

Over the past 15 years, more than 99% of Hartford Youth Scholars graduated from high school. By comparison, the graduation rate for Hartford’s public high schools in 2021 was 72%, according to district data.

“Our goal at Hartford Youth Scholars is to reinforce, enrich and expand our scholars’ education — and to provide meaningful opportunities, comprehensive resources and accountability that teaches and encourages them to become mature and industrious adolescents,” says

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COVER STORY SCHOOL SCOOP NOTEWORTHY NONPROFITS executive director Anthony Byers.

Each year, about 30 rising 7thgraders are accepted to participate in The Collegiate Academy, the first component of the HYS experience that comprises a decade-long journey to college graduation. HYS gives scholars academic support for 10 or more years, starting the summer before they enter 7th grade and seeing them through college graduation.

The Collegiate Academy features two main ingredients — a summer enrichment program and a required Saturday academic session throughout the school year.

The five-week summer program takes place at Trinity College in

Tunxis CC Celebrates Native American Heritage

Hartford, before HYS students enter 7th, 8th Specialand to Today Magazine 9th grade.

Saturday class Marketing and PRThe director Melissa Lamar sessions areontaught answered this Q&A behalfby Collegiate Academy of TunxisHYS Community College Victoria Black teachers who support ——————————————————————— HYS students throughout What inspired Tunxis Community their middle-school tenure to the provide College to name itself after aTunxis strongtribe? foundation for high-school success.

Back in the late 1960s, the state decided to Consistent attendance, exemplary establish a community college to serve the behavior andBritain completed assignments Bristol/New area. They had already are requirements, designed to help selected the name Tunxis before choosing aFarmington cohort of middle-school for the college’sscholars location. prepare for and excel school Tunxis librarians think in thehigh name may and HYS teachers have no havecollege. been inspired by other Connecticut community collegeswith which already direct connection thehad various formed with localthat tribal or Native middle schools thenames scholars attend.

American forown theirteachers colleges — such “Thesewords are our who as Quinebaug and Mattatuck — but there we hire and recruit to work at the is no official documentation we can readily academy,” says Byers, who underscores find to support this. that the Saturday education class is an Why the Tunxis tribe and notbeyond enrichment program that goes another Farmington River homework help or tutoring.

Native American tribe?

This school year, the HYS faculty The Tunxis tribe was the largest settled consists of six teachers.

The required tribe here in the Farmington River Saturday sessions run from 9 a.m. to Valley and surrounding areas. The 3:30 p.m.

mgeinVAisuitg!ust oin om CC ation New CT Loc Shops wn Simsbury To y, CT Simsbur

San De Min is a sophomore at Wesleyan University and an Ethel Walker graduate. She attended middle school at Hartford’s Grace Academy and became a Hartford Youth Scholar in 2014.

Her family immigrated from Thailand in 2009. Growing up in an impoverished Hartford neighborhood with parents who had not graduated

“ We aim to provide a holistic approach to the education of our scholars ” — HYS executive director Anthony Byers from high school, Min says her love of learning and her parents’ focus on her education attracted her to HYS. “The coursework was definitely more accelerated,” says Min, “and the expectation was to push ourselves beyond comfort zone.” houses Theour Tunxis 700 Building In the addition to the middleand college library and more high-school curriculum in math,

science, literature, history and the arts, university name “Tunxis” course contentcomes taughtfrom by the word “Wuttankshau” which roughly translates college professors is part to “the point where the river bends.” of the Hartford Youth That bend in the Farmington River is in Scholars program. HYS Farmington. The territory of the Tunxis San De Min also offers students cultural sachemdom included what is now the experiences like tripsPlainville, to towns of Farmington, Bristol, theaters, museums Burlington, and sporting events Berlin, Southington, Avon, as well as creative workshops New Britain and part of Wolcottand — among outdoor in Greater the manyactivities towns Tunxis serves. Hartford.

The HYS staff helps the scholars, What importance does being most of whom are students of named after the Tunxis tribe color, navigate challenging school hold within the college culture, environments.

Due to economic mission and identity? and social disparities, they often Our mission is to offer students a quality face micro-aggression yet affordable educationand in ancultural accessible misunderstandings in affluent and supportive environment, fostering suburban schools where the student the skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly complex world. We embrace populations are predominantly white. our“We diversity strive toabe a vibrant aim and to provide holistic educationaltoand center responsive approach thecultural education of our to current as wellByers. as emerging student and scholars,” says “Whether community needs. our scholars are at Hartford High Considering this,orour emphasis is or Simsbury High Westminster outward-focused on our students School, our aim is to help them and not the communities we serve.

We incorporated only academically but also socially and some of the symbolism of what our name emotionally. Our support isn’t just Tunxis means when we designed our about preparing for academic success —

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we want to give them a toolkit to be self-advocates once they get on campus.”

For students of color in a mostly white environment, Byers says it is vital to cultivate a sense of belonging.

“It can be easy for our scholars to feel they don’t belong there,” he says, “and that makes it harder to ask a question for fear that it’s something you should already know. … We have a lot of conversations around leadership and helping students find their voice — and once they get on campus the hope is they won’t need us as much to come and step in.

We’re teaching self-advocacy skills, and they can still reach out to us when needed.”

Born and raised in Hartford, Byers is a 2007 UConn graduate who majored in economics, with a focus on the

socioeconomics of race and gender. He is also a graduate of The Master’s School in West Simsbury. In 2015, he received a Hartford Business Journal 40 Under 40 Award.

Among more than 235 current HYS participants, 54% attend public, magnet or charter schools, while 46% attend private schools.

HYS students have attended public schools in four of the five Farmington Valley towns, according to Byers — Avon, Canton, Farmington and Simsbury. Today Magazine focuses on community news that matters statewide and nationwide in those four towns plus Granby.

HYS students have also attended numerous private schools in the Valley and Greater Hartford, including Avon Old Farms, Master’s, Farmington-based Miss Porter’s, and Simsbury-based Ethel Walker and Westminster.

The HYS website lists more than 50 partner high schools, accompanied by this robust statement: “Hartford Youth

accelerated and the expectation was to push — San De Min • Hartford Youth Scholar Scholars who complete The Collegiate Academy program matriculate into some of the most prestigious high schools in the country.”

Elaine White, an HYS trustee and head of school at Westminster since 2021, says Westminster has enrolled a Hartford Youth Scholar every year for the past 15 years, providing full scholarships as part of the $6 million in financial aid the school provides annually. White reports that about 25% of her institution’s 430 students are persons of color, which she believes is an important part of the school’s educational objective.

“We continue to build diversity and make sure we are providing students with skills and experiences that will make them good citizens in a diverse and multicultural world,” she says.

For acceptance to a private high school, HYS students and their families must go through the same application and financial aid process as every other student — HYS doesn’t give scholarships to scholars but instead offers guidance throughout the application process. For enrollment in a public school, HYS students go through the state’s Open Choice program — see the brief sidebar article for details.

Research has shown that low-income children who have more cross-class interaction are more likely to rise out of poverty, due in part to access to networks of higher-income earners.

Data from Harvard-based Opportunity Insights — a nonpartisan research and policy institute focused on improving economic opportunity — indicates that economic connectedness is a strong predictor of upward mobility. Yet Hartford County ranks only in the 43rd 6

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percentile nationwide for economic connectedness.

Nationally, upward mobility tends to be more difficult to realize in communities with higher poverty rates, greater income inequality and significant racial segregation.

The climb toward upward mobility requires support and mentors. For KeShawn Adams, a student-athlete boarding at Avon Old Farms School, that support has come from his cohort of fellow HYS students and HYS staff, including chief program officer Armanthia Duncan.

A Windsor resident who was born in Hartford, Adams is a high-school senior. He has committed to play college football as a safety at ACC stalwart Virginia, per online recruiting sources.

“Ms. Duncan … taught me the importance of being more than just an athlete, and being around my cohort was great,” Adams says. “Everybody was pushing everyone to get better.”

The formula is evidently working.

To date, HYS has celebrated the college graduations of more than 120

TIMELINE Hartford Youth Scholars 2005 City community leaders and mayor Eddie Perez launch Hartford Youth Scholars as a scholarship program via his Blue Ribbon Commission Report

2006 HYS partners with Boston-based Steppingstone Foundation and establishes a Hartford Steppingstone Academy to prepare middle-school students for academic excellence in high school

2010 HYS adds high school and college programs

2017 HYS and Steppingstone end formal partnership but continue collaboration — HYS middle-school program rebrands as The Collegiate Academy

2018 Anthony Byers becomes executive director — he joined HYS in 2007

scholars, and about 91% of HYS college students earn a degree within five years.

In contrast, only 17% of Hartford residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to 2020 KeShawn Adams American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

More than 85 Hartford Youth Scholars are currently attending more than 50 colleges across the country.

Victoria Black is one of those scholars. She is pursuing a degree in environmental engineering with a focus on community health.

Black says that the staff, faculty, mentors and donors of HYS are fully vested in ensuring that opportunities are available to her and the HYS cohorts.

This kind of dedication helps Black believe in herself and encourages her to want to achieve more.

“I am representing not only myself, but all the Hartford Youth Scholars with me and who will follow me,” she affirms. +

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Open Choice opens doors for all students THE STATE’S Open Choice program isn’t just a one-way street for urban students to attend suburban schools — this is perhaps a common notion, yet is clearly a misconception.

Administered by the Connecticut Department of Education, Open Choice opens the door for urban youth to attend public schools in a nearby town and for suburban and rural youth to attend public schools in a nearby city — including magnet and charter schools — on a space-available basis in grades K-12.

Open Choice is an equalopportunity initiative for students statewide of every race, color, religion, gender and national origin.

Lotteries are used to place students when there are more applications than open spaces. + Source — CT.gov website —————————————————————————————— Simsbury resident Matthew Broderick has been a frequent freelance writer for magazines statewide — he formerly served as the vice president of development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford Bruce Deckert is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Today Magazine — he was a Simsbury resident for 27 years, a reporter and editor for Imprint Newspapers, and a longtime editor for ESPN Digital Media

HYS director Anthony Byers and board chair Denis Horrigan — Horrigan grew up in Simsbury and Byers is a grad of The Master’s School in West Simsbury

HYS middle-school student Christian Hilerio at The Collegiate Academy 2023 summer program at Trinity College

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Calling All Scholars: HYS Supports Studious Youth Executive director Anthony Byers has answered this Q&A

Hartford Youth Scholars • HYS

Year Established — 2005 First year of programming — 2007

129 Allen Place • Hartford

Mission — Our mission is to help Hartford students change their life through education. Hartford Youth Scholars (HYS) helps highly motivated Hartford students gain access to and graduate from best-fit high schools and colleges. The organization provides Scholars and their families with academic and mentoring support for 10 or more years, beginning the summer before students enter 7th grade and continuing through college graduation.

Slogan Changing lives through education Most fulfilling aspect of your work?

The most fulfilling aspect of our work is the joy that providing support and equitable opportunity for our Scholars

SCHOOL SCOOP NOTEWORTHY NONPROFITS result, we face an urgency to step up in ways that we never had to before.

In 2021, HYS went through a strategic planning process and identified that the overall health and wellness of our Scholars negatively impacted the way our young people were showing up in academic spaces.

860-297-5115 Email abyers@hartfordyouthscholars.org Instagram + Facebook @hartfordyouthscholars www.hartfordyouthscholars.org

Absent proactive and intentional supports in place to inform our work and support our Scholars, we feared a notable decline of our future outcomes. Due to the generosity of our network of supporters, we were able to host town hall discussions about COVID-19 and vaccinations facilitated by Hartford Health Care, shift our programming to a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, provide SEL experiential learning experiences through our Beyond

and their families brings, enabling Scholars and families to change their lives through educational opportunity.

Your biggest obstacle, and how you overcome it?

For a small nonprofit organization, secure and stable funding is always one of our biggest obstacles to overcome.

Since the pandemic the opportunity gap has widened, and our Scholars were some of the hardest hit. As a

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More HYS Photos — next two pages The Books program, and establish a Memorandum of Understanding with Charter Oak Health Center to provide access to our own school-based clinician to support our Scholars and train our staff. HYS identified a need, and our community of board members, friends and volunteers rallied to find comprehensive support, but there is so much more to be done!

Most satisfying accomplishment?

It is hard to name one when there are 300-plus families that have been positively impacted by our programming. After 15 years of existence it is most satisfying to say that our programming works, and to have over 100 college graduates who are gainfully employed is evidence to support it!

Goals for the next 1-5 years?

We aim to increase our donor base to enable us to continue to do this important work. We currently have a small endowment, and my goal is to build the endowment to ensure program sustainability and enhance outcomes. We are also in search of meaningful partnerships throughout the state with like-minded organizations, colleges and other educational professionals.

Volunteer opportunities:

Interesting stats + numbers: We are currently serving nearly 300 students from 6th grade through seniors in college, and we have over 100 college graduates, many living and working in Hartford.

Besides donations, how is your work funded?

We are primarily privately funded.

Most of our funding comes from grants and foundations and individual gifts.

We alsoGRANBY receive corporate sponsorship TODAY and currently have one federal grant partnership as part of a collaboration.

“ It is our mission to see students graduate college, and the overarching vision is for those graduates to come back home to an impact through service ” — Anthony Byers

HYS operating budget this fiscal year — $1.2 million Number of employees: Full-Time: 9 — Part-Time: 10 How closely do you work with other agencies/nonprofits?

We have many partners within the community that we work with on matters both small and large. As part of our strategic plan we are thoughtfully cultivating partnerships that will enable us to expand our reach and impact.

What do you appreciate most about the Farmington Valley?

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The multitude of outstanding educational opportunities there are for young people. +

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We have 30 board members and a host of volunteers. There are many ways to get involved outside of joining our board — contact Katie Powers, our Director of Development & Operations, to learn more: 860-297-5272 • kpowers@hartfordyouthscholars.org Anecdote that illustrates how you fulfill your mission: We have employed three HYS alums in full-time and leadership roles within our organization. It is our mission to see students graduate college, and the overarching vision is for those graduates to come back home to the city they love and make an impact through service. There is no better example of our vision realized than these three young professionals contributing to the future vibrancy of Hartford.

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HYS scholar Blair Farquharson-Williams is evidently enjoying her studies on a summer’s day at The Collegiate Academy at Trinity College

TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – SEPTEMBER 2023 — Anthony Byers • HYS executive director

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Hulme in Tune with CT’s Music Realm for 5 Decades

By Bruce Deckert Editor-in-Chief • Today Magazine

Piano Company Celebrates 20th Birthday

“When I traveled on Route 10 from A HISTORICAL QUESTION: What is BUSINESS BEAT Simsbury to Farmington to tune the different about the Farmington Valley pianos at Miss Porter’s School, I would SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS today compared with the 1960s? barely see one car at 8 o’clock in the If you were born after that notable with a long-U sound, a fitting morning,” Hulme says. “Route 44 was decade, or if you didn’t live in the serendipity given the onomatopoeiaa two-lane road, before I-84 was in the Valley then, you can still ascertain the like connection with the long-U Hartford area. There was nothing here. answer — for you can ask someone like in tuning — one of his lifelong This was all farm country.”

Tony Hulme. professional pursuits.

Imagine that — rush-hour traffic on And if you have the opportunity Hulme & Sweeney technicians Route 10 throughout the Valley with to ask him, your question will be not offer piano tuning and repairs, piano virtually no cars on the road. These only a historical inquiry about life in rebuilding and restorations, the Valley six decades ago, but piano appraisals, and a variety also a personal and business “ Our sheet-music business was gigantic — of pre-owned pianos for sale, inquiry — because Hulme has per the company website — personally resided in the Valley including Baldwin, Kawai, for nearly 60 years, and he is the business in the state of Connecticut …

Mason & Hamlin, Steinway owner of a long-standing local and Yamaha. business, Hulme & Sweeney Church organists and choir directors When Hulme first moved Piano Service. to West Simsbury, he worked Initially located in would come to the store and as a piano tuner for Houston Bloomfield and now based & Sons (pronounced: Housein West Simsbury, Hulme & ton) of West Hartford. In Sweeney is celebrating its 20th — Tony Hulme 1967, he established Clavier anniversary this year — yet Music with Larry Gillman in Hulme has owned two other the SimsburyTown Shops. days, Hulme is 83 years young, and music stores, dating back more than “In terms of commercial space, he is still tuning pianos. This begs a five decades. that’s all that was in town then,” Hulme question: Why hasn’t he retired? His A native of Connecticut, he earned says. Today, the SimsburyTown plaza answer is straightforward. a Piano Technology diploma from is home to Starbucks, Popover Bistro, “I love working on pianos and the North Bennet Street School, a Berkshire Hathaway and Andy’s Italian servicing pianos,” he says. “When I prestigious trade school in Boston, and Kitchen, among other businesses. was a kid, I worked for a piano store, moved from Massachusetts to West Gillman and Hulme were co-owners sweeping floors and helping deliver Simsbury in 1965. for a few years until Gillman opted out pianos — that’s how I started.”

In those days, the Farmington of the partnership, making Hulme the His company website echoes this Valley was a slower-paced and less sole owner. sentiment: “Working on a piano is a populated place. One prime example: “Larry Gillman was a genius with labor of love.”

In the 1960s, traffic congestion in the sheet music,” says Hulme. “He was a By the way, Hulme is pronounced Valley was essentially a nonissue.

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Tony Hulme (left) and Randy Sweeney are the namesakes of Hulme & Sweeney Piano Service — their business venue was once the second location of the West Simsbury post office — to learn about the first and third locations, you are invited to read this story teacher at Westminster School and the head of the music department — he has since passed away.”

Clavier Music was a full-line music retail store — a clavier is defined as a keyboard instrument — that sold pianos, guitars, band instruments and sheet music, while offering music lessons for the same range of instruments.

Over time, Clavier served more than 400 students, Hulme says. If students didn’t own an instrument, they could rent one.

Clavier also sold records (aka albums) by popular Top-40 bands and musicians — back in the days when albums were available not on CDs or MP3 players (such as the iPod) but instead on thin black plastic disks with spiral grooves called records that, yes, required a record player for listening pleasure.

Granted, for Generation X and the Baby Boomers and earlier generations, the preceding sentence is unnecessary, yet for Millennials and subsequent generations the record explanation is likely essential.

••••••• In terms of band instruments, Clavier initially provided about 50 instruments as rentals, and that number grew exponentially to about 1200 — no kidding. Specifically, Clavier rented clarinets, flutes, trombones, trumpets, saxophones and string instruments such as cellos and violins and occasionally guitars.

“We worked with school systems,” Hulme says, “and rented instruments for school bands in Greater Hartford.”

Clavier also sold the above instruments, of course, along with pianos, the big-ticket item. In addition to band-instrument lessons, Clavier

offered organ classes for a dozen or more people on a weeknight. Hulme was one of the teachers.

Meanwhile, the company’s presence and reputation in the sheet-music realm likewise flourished.

“Our sheet-music business was gigantic,” Hulme notes.

“It was probably the biggest sheet-music business in the state of Connecticut — people would come from New Haven and all over the state.

We sold to churches and institutions, schools and colleges. Church organists and choir directors would come to the store and select from our large library of sheet music.”

Circa 1974, Hulme moved Clavier Music from Simsbury to the Caldor shopping plaza in Avon on Route 44, leasing the building at 176 West Main Street aka Route 44 — now this edifice is the home of Carpetland of New

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England and Paul Howard’s Valley Music School. Howard opened his school in 2009, but he began his music teaching career as an independent instructor at Clavier in 1979.

As an aside, if you’re wondering why circa precedes the year in the preceding paragraph, perhaps you’ve never tried to recall with specificity the date of an event that occurred about five decades ago.

The word circa is synonymous with the words about and approximately, and when a Today Magazine reporter asked Hulme about the chronology of certain aspects of his business history, he commented at times that he wasn’t exactly certain and offered the caveat, “It was about [insert year here]” — and after several answers with that qualifier, he quipped, “Say ‘about’ about everything!”

But we digress, so let’s return to our regularly scheduled program — and to the earlier theme of the Farmington Valley as a more undisturbed and less developed region 50 to 60 years ago.

“The Caldor plaza in Avon was the first shopping center that went up in the area,” Hulme says. “There was

18

with sheet music — he was a teacher at Westminster the music department ” — Tony Hulme almost nothing else on Route 44.”

Once more, imagine traveling through the Farmington Valley along Route 44, and instead of driving by countless buildings and commercial plazas and parking lots, you were surrounded by countless trees and meadows and open space.

Circa 1979, Hulme purchased 176 West Main Street.

By the way, Clavier’s role as an official Baldwin Piano dealer had prompted the move to Avon about five years before. Baldwin and Steinway are two of the top piano companies in the country, according to Hulme.

“The Baldwin franchise was up for grabs in the Hartford area,” he says,” and I finally became a Baldwin Piano

SEPTEMBER 2023 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE

Company dealer. I was lucky to get it.”

The catch — Baldwin required Hulme to relocate Clavier Music in Avon: “They said, no, you can’t stay in Simsbury, you’ve gotta go to a more traveled place,” he recalls. Later, Hulme opened a second Clavier store in Wethersfield.

When Hulme was the owner and manager of Clavier Music, he hired an employee named Randy Sweeney, and they have worked together since then.

In case it isn’t clear — yes, Randy lends his name to the business known as Hulme & Sweeney Piano Service that was established in 2003.

Sweeney, 71, is a West Simsbury neighbor of Hulme.

“He answered a Clavier Music ad and I gave him a job in the early 1970s,” says Hulme. “He had just graduated from UConn.”

Hulme is the company’s majority owner. Sweeney and Hulme’s oldest son, Tony Hulme Jr., are equal partowners. A longtime West Simsbury resident, Tony Jr. and his family moved to Maine in early 2022, so he is no longer involved in day-to-day operations.

Tony Hulme managed Clavier Music for about eight years in this building in Avon on Route 44 aka West Main Street — Valley Music debuted here in the 1980s after Hulme sold Clavier and later Carpetland became the featured tenant — In 2009 Valley Music rebranded as Paul Howard’s Valley Music School

Tony Sr. and his wife Evelyn (aka Evie) raised four children, initially in West Simsbury and then in Simsbury.

They have two sons (including Tony Jr.) and two daughters, whose names are being withheld for the sake of privacy.

Evie has worked part-time in the office since the company’s inception — currently she works one day per week.

Today, Tony Sr. and Evie are West Simsbury residents once more, having lived in town since 1965.

••••••• Let’s return to the career history of Tony Hulme Sr. — the Baldwin Piano Company wanted him to open a third Clavier store in Greater Hartford, but Hulme went in a different direction: He sold Clavier Music in 1982 to Carl Bulgini, who also owned Saybrook Piano & Organ Company in Old Saybrook, Conn.

At this juncture, the story enters the ballpark of the classic baseball saying, “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard” — or, keeping in tune with the music theme, a complicated game of musical chairs ensued.

“Bulgini was only interested in Clavier’s piano and organ business,” says Hulme. “He didn’t want the band-instrument business or the sheet-music business.”

After buying Clavier, Bulgini maintained the Clavier brand name and the Baldwin dealership at the Avon location. However, he sold the band-instrument component to George Sullivan and the sheet-music component to Jamey Roberts and his wife Vera, according to Hulme. George and Jamey had been Hulme’s employees at Clavier’s Avon store.

Further, Bulgini relinquished the Wethersfield store, handing that baton to Harold Niver, who had managed the Wethersfield location as Hulme’s employee. Niver called his new store Sherlock Piano & Organ.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Vera started a new venture called The Music Score — focusing on sheet music, of course — in a small section of the Wethersfield building newly occupied by Sherlock Piano & Organ.

George Sullivan, a longtime Simsbury resident, had

enjoyed a distinguished career at Clavier. He managed the Avon store’s band-instrument department for Hulme.

“I sent him to school to learn band-instrument repairs,” says Hulme. “George became one of the best flute repair technicians on the East Coast.”

As part of the Clavier sale agreement, Hulme and Sweeney became Bulgini’s employees in Avon for four years, from 1982-86, but Hulme maintained ownership of

TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – SEPTEMBER 2023

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sponsored by a grant from

Unearthing History: The Discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian Site Along the Farmington River in Avon, CT 2023 series sponsored by a grant from

Paleoindian Sites, Site Patterning and Travel Corridors along the Southern Arm of the Champlain Sea, presented by Jess Robinson, Vermont State Archaeologist, Vermont Archaeology Heritage Center, Barre, VT. He will compare and contrast Paleo sites in Vermont with the Brian D. Jones site in Avon.

al ic og CT s ol ae orr ch St Ar es, by vic ed er id l S ov ca pr ri o isto ot Ph nd H a

SEPT. 21

OCT. 12 Update on the scientific analysis of the Brian D. Jones (BDJ) site in Avon, CT 2019, presented by Eric Heffter, Senior Prehistoric Archaeologist, Archaeological and Historical Services, Storrs, CT. His presentation will be 90 minutes with time after for Q&A. October is Archaeology Month in Connecticut!

In partnership with

Watch the webinars from the 2021 and 2022 series on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/afplct

Webinar series created by : Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library, Avon Senior Center

20

SEPTEMBER 2023 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE

Tony Hulme has been tuning pianos professionally for nearly 60 years — such as this grand piano in Hulme & Sweeney’s West Simsbury showroom

the building at 176 West Main Street in Avon. In 1986, Hulme’s second ownership venture began when he established Piano & Organ Warehouse in Bloomfield, leasing a place on Cottage Grove Road. That same year, he sold the Avon building to Bulgini.

“The timing was fortuitous,” Hulme says of the sale. “I’ve had a lot of miracles, and that was one of them.”

After the property sale, Sullivan managed his original Valley Music business, the predecessor of Paul Howard’s music school, at Clavier’s Avon location via a sublet agreement with Bulgini. Meanwhile, Howard continued as a music instructor in conjunction with Valley Music — remember, he had taught music at Clavier. More than two decades later, when Sullivan died in 2009, Howard debuted Paul Howard’s Valley Music School in the same West Main Street building in Avon.

In 2003, Hulme sold Piano & Organ

“ The Caldor plaza in Avon was the first shopping center that went up in the area — there was almost nothing else on Route 44 … this was all farm country ” — Tony Hulme Warehouse to Tony Falcetti, the owner of Falcetti Music, and launched his third ownership venture — you guessed it, Hulme & Sweeney Piano Service.

Tony Falcetti maintained the Piano & Organ Warehouse brand name after the sale. Hulme continued to lease the Bloomfield building, subletting a larger space to Falcetti while running Hulme & Sweeney in a smaller section of the building.

“The music industry is a small world,” says Hulme. “We did all the service and tuning for Falcetti’s pianos — that was part of the agreement.”

Based in Springfield, Mass., Falcetti Music opened a Simsbury space in 2022. The company previously had locations in Connecticut that closed years before the Simsbury grand opening.

For a decade, Hulme & Sweeney’s home was in Bloomfield until the move to West Simsbury in 2013.

Whew, let’s pause to catch our breath — indeed, the musical-chairs comparison is fitting given the complex maestro-like maneuvering required of Hulme and his business contemporaries to achieve their desired objectives.

Before Tony Hulme Sr. pursued a professional career as a music store owner, he enjoyed a four-year tenure in the world of military music. As a 20-year-old, he enlisted in the Marine

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West Simsbury residents Randy Sweeney (left) and Tony Hulme have worked together for about 50 years — ever since Hulme hired Sweeney after he graduated from UConn

Corps in 1960 and served in the military police for a few months. Then he joined the renowned U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps via a competitive audition.

The Marines feature four Drum & Bugle units — in Washington D.C., North Carolina, San Diego and Okinawa, a group of islands that’s part of Japan.

“The main Marine Corps band is in D.C.” says Hulme. “That’s the top one — you’ll see them on TV.” Hulme was stationed in Okinawa for about two years and then was assigned to the band at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, traveling as a promotional musical arm of the Marine Corps.

“That’s what I did for a job,” he says.

“I loved it — it was fantastic. I played the bugle, a two-valve bugle, like a trumpet.”

After serving in the Marine Corps from 1960-63, Hulme returned home 22

to Connecticut and sought employment at the aforementioned piano store of his youth, the Greenwich Music Store, where he worked in the summertime and on weekends from age 13 through high school, and up until he joined the Marines at age 20.

••••••• Store owner Irving Kauffman asked Hulme a question that changed the trajectory of his life: “When I went back to Kauffman to see about getting a job, he said: Instead of being a clerk behind the counter, how about becoming a piano technician?”

Hulme decided to answer in the affirmative.

“That’s when I went up to the North Bennet Street School in Boston, one of the best piano technician schools in the country,” he says. “Bill Dowd was a harpsichord builder in Cambridge — while going to school in 1964 and ’65, I worked for Dowd in the afternoons.”

SEPTEMBER 2023 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE

In 1965 he moved to West Simsbury from Bedford, a Boston suburb, and opened Clavier Music two years later.

Kauffman gave the new store a major assist.

“When I opened Clavier, he was retiring and closing his store,” Hulme notes. “He gave me his cash register, shelving, a glass-front guitar cabinet, all for free. Kauffman was instrumental in helping me start Clavier. He was the Baldwin dealer in Greenwich — I learned a lot from him.”

The music realm in America has changed drastically since the early Clavier days. Hulme cites a magazine article he read about five years ago that reported these numbers: In 1971, more than 760,000 new pianos were sold in the United States. In 2017, about 30,000 new pianos were sold. The decline has been attributed largely to the proliferation of youth sports.

“It was nothing to sell 10 pianos on

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As the majority owner of Hulme & Sweeney Piano Service, Tony Hulme Sr. is in the driver’s seat, figuratively speaking — Randy Sweeney and Tony Hulme Jr. are part-owners a Saturday,” Hulme recalls. “Organized sports have really cut into music. Kids 5 and 6 years old have multiple practices every week. Computer and video games are also a factor — young people aren’t taking music lessons nearly as often.”

Today, Hulme & Sweeney has a tuning contract with UConn. The university has 125 pianos in Storrs, according to Hulme, and most of them are Steinway pianos.

“We’re there almost every day from September through May,” he says.

“Some UConn pianos are tuned four times a year and some are three times, and they have tuning needs for all their concert work and recitals.”

Hulme & Sweeney technicians have also serviced Baldwin and Steinway pianos at the celebrated Tanglewood Music Center in Stockbridge, Mass.

Besides the two principals, the company has two full-time and two part-time employees. The full-timers: piano technician Josh Cantania of Simsbury and office manager Alysa Carlozzi. The part-timers: office assistants Chris Rossetti of Simsbury and Joan Baffo. Three more piano technicians serve as independent contractors: Peter Hickey, Tom 24

Thornton and Jamey Roberts, who formerly managed The Music Score in Wethersfield.

Hulme was a founding member of the Avon-Canton Rotary Club.

He served as president of the Avon Chamber of Commerce and as a board member for the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music.

Hulme & Sweeney is a longtime stellar member of the Better Business Bureau.

Oh, in case you’re wondering: Hulme plays the piano most days at home, but he refrains from public performances.

••••••• Meanwhile, Hulme & Sweeney’s venue at 247 Farms Village Road (aka Route 309) is a stone’s throw from the West Simsbury Post Office — not to be confused with the main Simsbury P.O. downtown on Hopmeadow Street.

Speaking of post offices: Hulme & Sweeney’s home on Farms Village Road was previously the home of the West Simsbury Post Office. Hulme purchased the property from Don Tuller, the owner of adjacent Tulmeadow Farm.

Across the street, at 250 Farms Village Road, Hulme & Sweeney has leased a storage facility from Tuller

SEPTEMBER 2023 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE

for extra pianos since 2021 — and this building was originally the West Simsbury P.O., according to Hulme.

So the current post office is West Simsbury’s third USPS facility, and all three locations are within easy walking distance.

This begs a question: Why did the post office cross the road?

Perhaps a chicken at Tulmeadow Farm knows the answer. If so, it’s clearly debatable whether a human being could understand a chicken’s clucking reply to this joke of a question — but what’s crystal-clear is this: Tony Hulme and Randy Sweeney know plenty about supplying and servicing pianos.

Indeed, Hulme & Sweeney carries forward a robust delivery legacy from these two former P.O. locations — yet instead of delivering mail, this historic company aims to continue a tradition of conveying quality piano service in the Farmington Valley, Greater Hartford and beyond. + Today editor-in-chief Bruce Deckert is a multiple award-winning journalist — and he believes humans merit awards daily whenever they utilize God-given gifts for good

Guitar Guru Offers Lifetime of Teaching Wisdom

By Bruce Deckert Editor-in-Chief • Today Magazine

MUSIC SCHOOLS abound around the country, across Connecticut and in Greater Hartford. A recent online search — for “Music School Farmington Valley CT” — resulted in a list of 13 links before the Related Searches section of the Google webpage.

Yes, a baker’s dozen of apparently viable options for music education in the area.

Yet what if you’re looking for a music teacher who has four decades of experience? A local luminary by the name of Paul Howard is on this short list.

By the way, according to Google, the above search yielded about 8.29 million results — yes, million.

However, if anyone actually believes there are 8.29 million music schools here in the Valley, can we agree that such a literal Google interpretation isn’t exactly accurate?

So much for the consummate credibility of high-tech search solutions and the reliability of so-called artificial intelligence. Sure, computerized hightech applications have value — this is a digital magazine, after all — yet to naively buy into such 21st-century technology via carte-blanche acceptance is, shall we say, unwise.

Now, without further ado or asides, let’s turn our attention back to the stars of this particular story — Paul Howard and his music school.

Paul Howard’s Valley Music School, based in Avon, officially debuted in 2009, but his career as an independent music instructor started while Jimmy Carter was president.

“I began teaching at Clavier Music in Avon in September 1979 [but] I was not an employee,” says Howard, who lives in West Simsbury — previously, he was a resident of Avon and Goshen.

After teaching at Clavier, yet more than two decades before launching his own school, Howard likewise served as a music teacher in conjunction with Valley Music, owned by George Sullivan — who had managed Clavier’s

Roots Run Deep at Local Music School band-instrument department for music industry maestro Tony Hulme.

Hulme co-founded Clavier Music in 1967 and soon became Clavier’s sole owner, and he has been the majority owner of West Simsbury-based Hulme & Sweeney Piano Service since 2003.

Howard was not a formal employee of Sullivan or Valley Music but instead

taught music independently as a sole proprietor.

“I never worked for George,” says Howard. “I sublet space on the second floor from George and [we] had a close working relationship for 30 years.”

Sullivan died in 2009 at 64 years of age.

“When George passed I renamed my business as Paul Howard’s Valley Music School,” Howard notes, “as the

“ We had some of the world’s most famous guitarists as master-class teachers and — Paul Howard Valley Music name had always been associated with both my teaching business and George’s repair business.”

After Hulme sold the Clavier Music business and brand name in 1982, Clavier continued operating at its Route 44 location in Avon — the street address is 176 West Main — in the same building that is currently the home for Paul Howard’s music school and Carpetland of New England.

Hulme maintained ownership of this building and leased it to Clavier’s new owner until he sold the property in 1986. Sullivan managed Valley Music

BUSINESS BEAT SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS at the same location until his untimely death 23 years later. Carpetland ultimately replaced Clavier as the site’s featured tenant — for further details about Clavier’s fascinating history, see the Hulme & Sweeney story on page 16.

Many music theorists and mathematicians affirm that math and music are inseparable. Naturally, music and math and language are likewise interrelated. In this case, the math is clear-cut and can be reduced to a single independent clause, one of the building blocks of language: Howard has taught music for over 40 years in the same Route 44 building in Avon!

His perseverance has paid dividends, including consecutive Best of Avon Music School honors in 2021 and 2022.

Howard’s resumé contains some rare musical gems. For over 30 years, he performed in a duo with Grammywinning resophonic guitarist and fiddler Stacy Phillips — a Dobro is a notable resophonic guitar brand.

A longtime quasi-legendary figure in Connecticut music circles, Phillips grew up in Manhattan and died in 2018 in Hartford’s Saint Francis Hospital.

Besides his partnership with Howard, Phillips was part of a half-dozen other unique groups at the time of his death, per the New Haven Independent online news site.

Further, Howard was a founding member of the National Guitar Workshop and served on the faculty for 15 years with a staff that included some of the country’s top guitar gurus.

“We had some of the world’s most famous guitarists as master-class

TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – SEPTEMBER 2023

25

teachers and clinicians over the years,” he says.

In terms of performing these days, Howard is a member of Last Fair Deal, a veteran Connecticut acoustic quartet.

The group has recorded four albums.

He has produced six guitar instruction books via publisher Alfred Music — the books include a CD, DVD or online audio component, per the Alfred website. His two rock-guitar books have been translated into Spanish.

Paul Howard’s Valley Music School offers private lessons for students of all ages — from beginners to advanced musicians — in acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, autoharp, drums, piano and voice. Lessons can last for 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Guitar teaching styles include bluegrass, folk, jazz and rock.

For about 20 years, Howard offered a popular summertime Rock Band Camp for area youth that hasn’t convened since COVID hit in the spring of 2020.

Beyond these nuts-and-bolts of teaching, Howard is glad to talk shop about his fruitful tenure in the music realm — and to offer “expert advice on all things musical,” as his Facebook page says. + ———————————————————————— Four-Decade Music Teachers?

• Paul Howard has taught music in Avon for over 40 years — do you know of other Farmington Valley music teachers who have taught for more than four decades?

• If you have inside info — or time for the research to answer this question — email Newsroom@TodayPublishing.net ———————————————————————— CLICK HERE — for Today Magazine’s award-winning cover story about Valley-based musician and songwriter Michael Kelly Blanchard

A dragonfly alights on a wishbone flower in a Canton backyard ————————————— SEPTEMBER 2023 – www.TodayPublishing.net – TODAY MAGAZINE Photo 26

by Wendy Rosenberg

Paul Howard’s studio was affiliated with Clavier Music and Valley Music before he debuted Paul Howard’s Valley Music School

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ADVERTISER Hall of Fame – TODAY Magazine • This is a list of advertising sponsors who have seen the value of investing in Today Magazine’s award-winning journalism as we cover the heart of the Farmington Valley — this is intended to be a comprehensive list • If you have paid to advertise with Today Magazine but don’t see your business or organization listed, feel free to contact us so we can add you to our Advertiser Hall of Fame — advertise@todaypublishing.net Anthology Senior Living — 860-546-8037 — Simsbury www.anthologyseniorliving.com > Location ——————————————————————————————— Avon Health Center — 860-673-2521 — Avon www.avonhealthcenter.com ——————————————————————————————— Avon Historical Society — 860-678-7621 — Avon www.avonhistoricalsociety.org ——————————————————————————————— A Teen Edge — 860-593-2822 www.ateenedge.com ——————————————————————————————— Board and Brush — 860-392-8567 — Simsbury www.boardandbrush.com/simsbury ——————————————————————————————— Canton Barn LLC — 860-693-0601 — Canton www.cantonbarn.com ——————————————————————————————— Canton Food Bank — 860-693-5811 — Canton www.townofcantonct.org ——————————————————————————————— Carmon Funeral Homes — 860-673-8610 www.carmonfuneralhome.com ——————————————————————————————— Carol Cole Real Estate — 860-212-0687 — Canton www.carolcolerealestate.com ——————————————————————————————— Cherry Brook Health Care Center — 860-693-7777 — Canton www.cherrybrookhcc.com ——————————————————————————————— Christensen Insurance — 860-651-8236 — Simsbury www.insuranceagentswhocare.com ——————————————————————————————— Christopher Bryant Co. — 860-243-3500 — Bloomfield www.thechristopherbryantcompany.com ——————————————————————————————— Collinsville Bank — 860-693-6935 — Canton www.collinsvillebank.com ——————————————————————————————— Connecticut Dance Academy — 860-707-4198 — Canton www.ctdanceacademy.com ——————————————————————————————— Connecticut Headshots — 860-263-9277 — Avon www.connecticutheadshots.com ——————————————————————————————— Dynamic Auto Works — 860-693-6359 — Canton www.facebook.com/DynamicAutoCanton ——————————————————————————————— Erica Maglieri: Realtor — 860-324-6842 bhhsneproperties.com/real-estate-agent/757/erica-maglieri ——————————————————————————————— Fresh Start Pallet Products — 860-266-5726 — Hartford www.freshstartpalletproducts.org 32

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——————————————————————————————— Granby-Simsbury Chamber of Commerce — 860-651-7307 www.simsburycoc.org ——————————————————————————————— Green Door Restaurant — 860-693-9762 — Canton www.41bridgestreet.com ——————————————————————————————— Habitat for Humanity — 860-541-2208 — Hartford www.hfhncc.org ——————————————————————————————— Hartford Symphony Orchestra — 860-246-8742 — Hartford www.hartfordsymphony.org ——————————————————————————————— Harris Home Improvement — 860-817-7191 — Granby www.harrishomeimprovement.net ——————————————————————————————— HealthMarkets Insurance — 860-307-1128 — Torrington www.healthmarkets.com — Mel Brickman ——————————————————————————————— Hulme & Sweeney Pianos — 860-408-4895 — Simsbury www.hulmesweeneypianoservice.com ——————————————————————————————— Karedigs.com — 860-379-4340 — Barkhamsted www.karedigs.com ——————————————————————————————— Kerian Home Health Care — 860-851-6267 — Simsbury www.keriancares.com ——————————————————————————————— Kevin Witkos: State Senator ——————————————————————————————— Landscape Solutions — 860-329-2014 — New Hartford www.landscapesolutionsct.com ——————————————————————————————— Leslee Hill for State Representative ——————————————————————————————— Lifetime Family Dentistry — 860-605-2075 — Collinsville www.lifetimefamilydentistryct.com ——————————————————————————————— Linda Kessler: Realtor — 860-836-6172 — Avon www.coldwellbankerhomes.com > Agents ——————————————————————————————— Liza Sivek Marketing — 203-278-5492 www.lizasivekmarketing.com ——————————————————————————————— Maglieri Construction — 860-242-0298 — Bloomfield www.maglieri-construction.com ——————————————————————————————— Magna Physical Therapy — 860-679-0430 — Avon www.magnapt.com ——————————————————————————————— Maher’s Paint & Wallpaper — 860-678-1200 — Avon + Simsbury www.maherspaintandwallpaper.com ———————————————————————————————

Make It GF — 860-693-1300 — Canton www.makeitgf.com ——————————————————————————————— Mandel Vilar Press — 806-790-4731 — Simsbury www.mvpublishers.org ——————————————————————————————— Massage Envy — 860-693-8000 — Canton www.massageenvy.com > Locations ——————————————————————————————— The Master’s School — 860-651-9361 — West Simsbury www.masterschool.org ——————————————————————————————— McLean — 860-658-3786 — Simsbury www.mcleancare.org ——————————————————————————————— Nails of Envy — formerly Canton + Avon ——————————————————————————————— Northwest Community Bank — 860-379-7561 www.nwcommunitybank.com ——————————————————————————————— Odalys Bekanich: Realtor — 860-965-3652 — Avon www.coldwellbankerhomes.com > Agents ——————————————————————————————— Peggy’s Personalized Promos — 860-379-7775 — New Hartford www.peggys.biz ——————————————————————————————— Planning Partners LLC — 860-693-9916 — Canton www.planningpartner.com ——————————————————————————————— Raimie Weber Jewelry — 860-409-3400 — Avon www.rweberjewelry.com ——————————————————————————————— Randy Brolo: Book Author www.lulu.com > Spirit of Delilah ——————————————————————————————— Ravenswood Natural Health — 860-264-1587 — Simsbury www.ravenswoodnaturalhealth.com ——————————————————————————————— Red Bison General Contractor — 860-810-8581 — Hartford

——————————————————————————————— Up Top Barbershop — 860-658-4499 — Simsbury www.booksy.com > Up Top Barbershop ——————————————————————————————— Vincent Funeral Homes — 860-693-0251 www.vincentfuneralhome.com ——————————————————————————————— Vincent Tully: Realtor — 860-214-3030 www.coldwellbankerhomes.com > Agent ——————————————————————————————— Welden Hardware — 860-658-4078 — Simsbury www.weldenhardware.com ——————————————————————————————— William Raveis — 860-693-2987 — Avon www.raveis.com/agentfind.asp?smart=1 ——————————————————————————————— The Village for Families & Children — 860-236-4511 — Hartford www.thevillage.org/second-chance-shops ———————————————————————————————

www.nextdoor.com/pages/red-bison-general-contractor-llc-hartford-ct

——————————————————————————————— Richman Business Brokerage — 860-408-9177 — Simsbury www.richmanbusiness.com — formerly The Deal Team ——————————————————————————————— Stone Man Masonry — 860-693-4637 — Canton www.facebook.com/StoneManMasonryCT ——————————————————————————————— Suburban Sanitation Service — 860-673-3078 — Canton www.subsanserv.com ——————————————————————————————— Tom Kutz Photography — 860-693-6254 — Canton www.tomkutzphoto.com ——————————————————————————————— Trading Post — 860-693-4679 — Canton www.tradingpostmusic.com ——————————————————————————————— Transition Fitness Center — 860-398-1449 — Canton www.transition-fitness-center.business.site ——————————————————————————————— UConn Health — 860-658-8750 www.health.uconn.edu TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – SEPTEMBER 2023

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