The Plainville
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 11, Number 19
Plainville’s Only Weekly Newspaper
www.plainvillecitizen.com
Scholarship foundation honors ‘blue-collar athlete’
Those dreaded words: you have breast cancer By Kelley Sgroi Special to The Citizen Every 74 seconds, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from breast cancer. Will you know her? Will it be your mother? Sister? Daughter? Words alone cannot describe how I felt on that beautiful September afternoon when I heard those dreaded words: “You have breast cancer.” Time seemed to stand still, but only for a second. My thoughts immediately went to my three children. How do I tell them? What do I do to prepare them for the battle that lies ahead? The next several weeks were a whirlwind of doctor appointments and more information than any person can possibly process. It’s been seven months. It’s hard to believe. But here I am after three surgeries, four months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. My hair is growing back. There is a shadow where my eyebrows used to be. My children are amazingly strong and resilient. With the amazing support of my family and friends, I am beginning to feel like myself again. And I am ready to continue the fight.
By Brian Woodman Jr. Special to The Citizen
Photo courtesy of Kelley Sgroi
Plainville resident Kelley Sgroi with her three children. In July, I will walk 60 miles in the Boston Susan G. Komen three-day walk with thousands of women like me – survivors, fighters. There is hope. We can have a world in which our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and friends are safe from this disease. Kelly Sgroi is collecting donations for her walk. For information, email Kelley Sgroi at Kelley.sgroi@yahoo.com. To donate, visit www.the3day.org, search for participant and enter Kelley Sgroi or call the Susan G. Komen 3-day at (800) 996-3DAY.
‘Safe Routes to School’ project hits small bump in road By Crystal Maldonado The Plainville Citizen
See Project, page 11
What’s wrong with being a blue-collar athlete? Nothing at all, at least according to the friends and family of Harold M. Johnson, Jr., who would describe him as such. Johnson loved sports — basketball, football, track. As long as he was active, he was happy. After he died of a brain aneurysm in September 2010, family and friends decided to establish the Harold M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Foundation in an effort to honor his passion for athletics by awarding two students with college scholarships. “He was all about the team rather than his personal glorification,” said Ray Carroll, a member of the scholarship foundation who also played sports with Johnson in high school. “He had a great work ethic.” Johnson graduated from Plainville High School in 1980. He went on to attend Western New England College and had a successful career in the medical sales industry for a number of years before pursuing his love for
cooking at the Lincoln Culinary Institute. Carroll described Johnson as a devoted family man and husband. Johnson’s brother, Greg Henry, attests to as much. Henry said Johnson, who came from a big family (he had five siblings) and married his wife Susan 20 years ago, devoted the same level of effort to raising his twin children Isabelle and Harold III as he did in excelling at sports. Johnson worked even harder at being an excellent parent when his son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, said Henry. “He had to be strong for him,” he said. “When he heard the diagnosis, he threw himself into being a great father.” It was important to Johnson’s friends and family to share Johnson’s story with others. Chuck Madigan, who founded the organization and also played sports with Johnson in high school, said the foundation was a way to keep Johnson’s memory
See Honors, page 9
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What will happen to parking on the roads near the Middle School of Plainville and Toffolon Elementary School? Will bikes be able to drive comfortably on Northwest Drive once the road is narrowed? How soon can Plainville expect the construction? These were some of the concerns raised at the May 3 meeting on the Safe Routes to School proposal at the Plainville Public Library. Mark Devoe, director of Planning and Economic Development in Plainville, and Abby
St. Peter of Central Connecticut’s Regional Planning Agency, who helped put the proposal together, fielded questions, from a group of 10, following their presentation on the project. In 2013 (or later), the Safe Routes to School project would modify and add sidewalks to the Northwest Drive area, making it easier for children to walk or bike to MSP and Toffolon. It would make changes to the road, including potation road narrowing, in order to slow cars as they drove in the area. Most cars, Devoe said, clock in at 40 miles per hour or faster; the speed limit on North-
Thursday, May 10, 2012
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