Friday, June 30, 2023
www.towntimes.com
Volume 29, Number 26
Taking aim
Upgrade coming FD expects new brush truck will be ready in the fall
Hogan’s Alley brings paintball fields to Powder Ridge
By Nicole Zappone Town Times
In the fall of 2022, the Middlefield Volunteer Fire Company announced it was awarded a $225,450 grant to replace its now 50-year-old brush truck.
By Ciara Hooks Record-Journal staff
MIDDLEFIELD — Hogan’s Alley in Meriden has moved its paintball fields to Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort, with a grand opening scheduled for July. The store and service center, meanwhile, continue to operate at 998 N. Colony Road in Meriden. “We’re super excited to be partnering with Powder Ridge on this project,” said Nick Morrione, co-owner of Hogan’s Alley. “They’re doing a lot of great stuff here for the community. They bring in a wide range of people with all the activities that they have and we’re excited to expose paintball to all those people.” Unfortunately, Hogan’s Alley had to make the very tough decision to close its paintball fields in Meriden about a year ago.
Paintball at the Ridge held its unofficial opening earlier this month at Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort. Photo courtesy of Powder Ridge
“We were unable to come to an agreement with the property owners,” said Allison Morrione, chief operating officer of Hogan’s Alley. “But what we found was that Connecticut went dark for paintball and there was really nobody else offering the same kind of services we were.” Powder Ridge, located at 99 Powder Hill Road in Middlefield, reached out to Hogan’s Alley in January about a paintball venture. “We’ve had paintball on our radar ever since our original business plan in 2012 when we
knew we had to expand the offerings at Powder Ridge to be much more than a winter resort,” said Sean Hayes, president & CEO, Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort. “The key to us was finding a partner, and Hogan’s Alley was the perfect partner,” Hayes added. “They were a local business, one of the preeminent leaders in the industry and they lost their field course. So the synergies were perfect.” See Paintball, A5
MVFC was one of only 89 fire departments nationwide to receive funds for vehicle acquisition through the 2021 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant program. Eighteen-thousand applications were filed. The FEMA grant covered the entire purchase price of the MVFC brush truck, but for roughly $10,700. “During 2021, prices went up due to COVID, and the amount went up a bit more than we had expected,” Fire Chief Peter Tyc said. See Brush truck, A7
Eagle Scout projects focus on healthy food access Contributed
BSA Troop 33 is thrilled to congratulate two new Eagle Scouts, Patrick Kolasinski of Meriden and Logan Watts of Middlefield. Both earned their rank on June 12. The Scouts completed their service projects in support of healthy food access to the community.
Patrick’s project included implementing the SWAP program at the Amazing Grace Food Pantry in Middletown. The project entailed coding the entire food warehouse based on a nutrition system, along with redesigning and assembling shelving storage for existing and incoming donations. There was also a training component to en-
sure ongoing support in maintaining the newly-implemented program. Logan’s project focused on a new “seed exchange” opportunity for the Middlefield Giving Garden located at the Community Center. The project included building a cabinet to organize and store From left: Patrick Kolasinski, Troop 33 Assistant See Eagle Scouts, A7
Scoutmaster Robin Heath and Logan Watts.