The Southington
Cit itii zen Southington’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 7, Number 40
Friday, October 7, 2011
Annual CROP Hunger Walk will raise money to feed those in need
It’s festival time!
By Julie Sopchak The Southington Citizen Zion Lutheran Church will be hosting this year’s CROP Hunger Walk in Southington, with hopes to raise funds towards the efforts to eliminate hunger in the local community as well as the world. The walk not only sends money to the Church World Services ministry, which goes out to hunger-fighting missions around the world. Communities that host CROP Hunger Walks can retain up to 25 percent of the funds raised by participants to be put back into their own communities. In Southington, Bread for Life is the beneficiary of such funds. “In 2007 I spent 40 days in East Africa and in East Africa people walk all the time,” said Zion Lutheran Pastor Jim Debner. “You know there’s a famine going on there and people are walking for days just to get food and so for us to walk [a few]
Photos by Deb Mikan and Robin Lee Michel
The first weekend of the Apple Harvest Festival is a wild time with the parade, including Grand Marshal Lucy Leach, carnival rides and the bed races.
miles in solidarity with them I think is a good thing for us to do.” The “CROP” in the title of the walk is actually an acronym, and stands for “Christian Rural Overseas Program,” and the program began in 1947, according to the CWS website. Several churches from around Southington, about a dozen, according to Debner, take part in the walk. Lori Koritkowski, of First Baptist Church, said she has been in charge of gathering walkers from her congregation to participate. In one week, she said she has gotten six people so far, with the aim to get the youth group and several more walkers involved. “Basically I’m just gathering lots of walkers, as many as we can get,” she said. “And just trying to do a little contributing to the community and the rest of the world.” Debner said the walk will begin at Zion Lutheran, 531
See Walk, page 35
Red Ribbon Rally aims to smoke out drugs from community By Julie Sopchak The Southington Citizen
Organizers of the Southington Drug Task Force’s 21st Annual Red Ribbon Rally hope the event on Wednesday, Oct. 12 will prove to inspire and be a reminder to youth to not use illegal drugs and alcohol. The event will be held from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. on the town green. The rally is held every year as an anti-drug, pro-
community sentiment to bring everyone together and abstain from the use of narcotics and alcohol abuse. Peer Advocate advisor and Joseph DePaolo Middle School Athletic Director Trish Kenefick said numerous groups, teams and clubs from schools take part in the rally. She said the Peer Advocates will hand out informational flyers to parents about drug abuse, and the focus speakers will be Assistant Superintendent of Schools
Karen Smith, DePaolo Assistant Principal Chris Palmieri ,and a captain of the football team. “I think it’s so important that the kids feel a sense of community and they feel that everyone is in this together,” Kenefick said. “I think there’s strength in numbers and when they see everyone there on the green protesting against drugs, I think it gives them a feeling of security.” Southington Police Sgt.
Lowell DePalma said the police department has been involved with the rally for years. “We’re really happy to do so because the Drug Task Force organizes the Red Ribbon Rally once a year to bring awareness to the drug and alcohol issue,” DePalma said. DePalma said it is good to take one day out of the year to remind people that the community is still trying to fight drug and alcohol issues
at hand. “It kind of gives us a rallying point to work towards
See Rally, page 38
Inside Calendar.............................12 Faith ...................................14 Health.................................39 Marketplace........................50 Obituaries...........................15 Opinion...............................16 Seniors ...............................19 Sports.................................41