The Southington
Cit itii zen Southington’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 7, Number 12
Friday, March 25, 2011
SouthingtonYMCA focuses on raising hope in fundraiser By Julie Sopchak The Southington Citizen
A fundraiser doesn’t always mean raising money. For the SouthingtonCheshire Community YMCA, it means raising hope in the form of its 2011 Annual Community Support Campaign. John Myers, executive director of the Y, said the campaign has been running for a long time. While the campaign does, in fact, collect money, the money doesn’t go to the Y’s benefit, it goes towards families who have trouble affording things like the cost of daycare. He said most cases help with a por-
tion of the cost. “Most cases it’s not 100 percent,” he said. “We really like that the families are involved with it, to have a little skin in the game, but they go through a process that they meet with our staff in a confidential manner with a lot of respect, and we go through their application to see how we could help out.” Myers said families don’t even have to be members of the Y to benefit from the services. “We’re just here to help out the community,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for, so people should be able to
Photo courtesy of Ed Leahy/EdTronics
Three generations of the Patrick and Patricia Baker family gather at the United Way of Southington St. Patrick’s Day dinner held March 17. Patrick and Patricia Baker, second row, third and fourth from right, were honored at the event for their commitment to the community.
See YMCA, page 10
Everyone was Irish at United Way’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner
Minute to Win It
By Robin Lee Michel The Southington Citizen Irish eyes were smiling at the St. Patrick’s Day Pot O’ Gold annual dinner and auction held March 17 to benefit the United Way of Southington. More than 400 people attended, many
clad in green and some wearing the comical shamrock headbands and hats that decorated the tables. No one was more in the spirit than the Bakers, Southington’s quintessential Irish family. Patrick and Patricia Baker, who were born in Dublin, Ire-
Carnival gala keeps family’s community commitment strong Photo by Deb Mikan
To benefit Relay For Life of Southington, a Minute to Win It tournament — based on a popular TV program — challenges dozens of people at South End Elementary School last week. In this game, youngsters use teamwork to arrange 36 plastic cups into a pyramid and take them all down into one stack. This team was successful.
By Robin Lee Michel The Southington Citizen Joe and Kay Calvanese, who for years worked tirelessly for their beloved community of Southington, died several decades ago. However they have not been forgot-
ten by their loved ones nor the many people who have been helped by the foundation named in the couple’s honor. Funds raised by the Joe & Kay Calvanese Foundation See Carnival, page 8
land and moved to town in 1954, were guests of honor. Helping them to celebrate were approximately 40 family members including one daughter, Mary Pat Threlkelt and her husband, David, who traveled from See Irish, page 7
Inside Calendar.............................30 Faith ...................................14 Health.................................29 Marketplace........................43 Obituaries...........................14 Opinion...............................18 Real Estate.........................42 Seniors ...............................28 Sports.................................33