Best of Waterbury

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Best Of Waterbury Winners

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FREE Take One

Summer 2018

Kevin Zak is the Founder and President of the Naugatuck River Revival Group

Year of the River

Spills of oil and sewage into the Naugatuck River were met with public outrage and led environmental crusader, Kevin Zak, to become the voice of the Naugatuck River.

Observer readers noticed Zak’s passion, and voted him Person of the Year.

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Best Pawn Shop Best Place To Buy/Sell Gold

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BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Celebrating 32 Years in Business

Waterbury’s Best Ice Cream!

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“Best of Connecticut,” Connecticut Magazine

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24 Years In A Row!

Big Dipper Ice Cream Pie Buy One Cone Get One Free and Ice Cream Cakes… of equal or lesser value Exp 8/31/18 over 200 flavors!

One coupon per order and cannot be combined with any other coupon.

91 Waterbury Road Rte. 69, Prospect 203 758-3200

THANK YOU Summer 2018

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Voted Best Florist in Greater Waterbury for 21 Years!

Local Deliveries To Waterbury, Watertown, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oakville, Southbury, Prospect, Wolcott, Cheshire, Thomaston, Plymouth, Woodbury & Bethlehem

One Chase Avenue Waterbury v

203.573.0690 www.orchidflorist.net

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Serving Waterbury For Over 70 Years

The Spirit Shop New Craft Beer Cooler

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Wide selection of Vodka

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Stunning Wine Selection

Best Liquor Store 20 Years Best Beer Selection 16 Years Best Wine Selection 14 Years

657 Watertown Avenue • 203.753.9505

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Best Caterer

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Best Place For A Taste Of Italy

Lunch: Tuesday-Friday, 11am-3pm Weekday dinner: Tuesday-Friday, from 4pm- Closing Weekend Dinner: Saturday seatings at 6pm and 8:15pm (res req’d)

Terrific Restaurant Dining Al Fresco Award Winning Caterer; Backyard BBQs, Graduation Parties to Elegant Weddings

718 Highland Avenue . Waterbury 203-755-0261 . www.damelios.com

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The center of Italian life can be found at La Tavola - The Table

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2016 Connecticut Chef of the Year

Chef Nicola Mancini

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Chef Nicola Mancini and Pasquale Salvatore shared the same vision: to create a smart, original, upscale celebration of Italian cuisine. La Tavola is the culmination of Nick’s over 20-year commitment to the culinary arts and Pasquale’s 15 year experience in restaurant design and construction. At its heart is a passion for fresh local ingredients, classic offerings that honor a proud Italian heritage with a distinctive approach and the promise of real dining value.

La Tavola will also cater offsite for parties as small as 20 and as large as 200. So when you want the best – without the aggravation and worry that comes with trying to pull together the perfect event – let us be your table.

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702 Highland Avenue . Waterbury . 203.755.2211 www.latavolaristorante.com

Pasquale Salvatore has a passion for artisan wood fired pizza.

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For More Info 203-755-2233 or info@latavolapizzatruck.com

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Best Restaurant Best Fine Dining Best Chef - Nicola Mancini

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Best Stromboli

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“Doggone it, quality and value does matter. That’s why Jake’s Auto Body is my shop of choice” Th

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“We thank the Brass City and its neighbors for again selecting Jake’s as Waterbury’s best, and we wish everyone a safe and fun filled summer!”

Jake’s Auto Body & Painting Work’s Inc. 459 Meadow Street Waterbury, CT 06702

Telephone 203-756-8877; Fax 203-757-3922 JAKESWATERBURY@AOL.COM www.jakesautobodyshop.com www.facebook.com/JakesAutoBody www.twitter.com/JakesAutoBody

“Your Car, Your choice”

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21 Years As The Best Bakery in Greater Waterbury

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How Sweet of You to Vote Us Best Bakery!

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Best Bakery Best Wedding Cake

203-755-3804 • 159 Manor Avenue • Waterbury www.sweet-marias.com

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Best Employment Agency 13 Years In A Row!

4HANK YOU

7ATERBURY /BSERVER READERS FOR SELECTING *ACI #ARROLL 3TAFFING AS "EST %MPLOYMENT Waterbury Observer readers for selecting Jaci Carroll Staffing !GENCY FOR as Best Employment Agency for 13 consecutive years.

It is a wonderful honor!

Thank You

7E RE HONORED BY THIS RECOGNITION Office/clerical, PC Operators, Office Automation, Accountants, Marketing, Banking, Light Industrial, Packers, Information Technology, Secretarial, Administration, AND PROUD TO HAVE SERVED THE Data Entry, Bookkeepers, Records'REATER 7ATERBURY !REA Management, Product Demonstration, Management, Assemblers, Technical, Facilities FOR OVER YEARS

www.jacicarroll.com

751 Straits Turnpike Suite 3000 Middlebury, CT 06762 203.574.4838 1 Torrington Office Park E. Main Street Suite 101 Torrington, CT 06790 860.496.0075

Since 1976

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THE CAVE

Thank You Waterbury!

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Marty Brennan Pours A Cold Beer

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Best Irish Bar On behalf of everyone at The Cave, we want to thank all of our loyal customers, friends and most importantly, family. Also thank you to the Observer and the voters. Thank you all for supporting The Cave for over 80 years!

We are very fortunate to have the clientele pass down from generation to generation! We are excited for the future and hope to continue for many more years in the East End. Thank you.

1900 East Main Street, Waterbury CT 06705 (203)841-6762

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Best Garden Center Best Hardware

All Weber Grills Assembled, Delivered, And Your Old Grill Removed For Free!

www.schmidtsandserafines.com GARDEN & HARDWARE 203-754-5186 POWER EQUIPMENT 203-754-5981

464 CHASE AVENUE • WATERBURY

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66 Church

Good Food, Good Drinks, Good Times

66 Church is a locally owned

American Gastropub & Restaurant in Naugatuck captivating a cozy, warm, uplifting, wood atmosphere.

We opened in May of 2015 after spending many hard working years directly involved in the restaurant/bar business. Our goal is to provide YOU a local hangout with great beer, drinks, food options, and service.

With daily specials, weekend brunch, rotating taps, and more, you will constantly be on your feet, planning your next visit, before you even leave!

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Come on down today and see what all the buzz is all about!

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Best Tacos Best Brunch Best Happy Hour Best Local Hangout

66 Church Street, Naugatuck, CT

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Best Towing Company

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Let Us Help You Plan Your Next Party CALL TODAY! 203.575.9051

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When Dave Iannone shows up for work every morning he looks at a photograph of his parents and feels their presence still inside Ann’s Deli.

“I feel them inside here all the time,” Dave said, “In the mornings I know they are checking in to see what time I’m getting to work.”

2015 was a tough year in the Iannone family as both Nick and Ann Iannone - the founders of Ann’s Deli in 1983 - passed away. Nick and Ann were fixtures in the Hopeville neighborhood, and both spent their entire lives in Waterbury.

After serving in WW II Nick returned to Waterbury to become a meat cutter and a grocer, both owning and managing markets in Waterbury and Cheshire. When Nick “retired” in 1983 he launched Ann’s Deli to give his wife a small business with better hours than she had been working.

Nick and Ann had five sons and a daughter and all of them spent time serving customers inside Ann’s Deli.

Dave worked side by side his father for decades. “We couldn’t keep him away from here,” Dave chuckled, “In his late 80s he would come in and sweep the floor, slice tomatoes or do anything that needed to be done.”

And Dave Iannone is not alone in feeling his parent’s presence, the Hopeville neighborhood feels it as well.

RTY GRINDERS • SANDWICKES/GRINDERS • DINNERS TO GO • PARTY PLATTERS

“In the Iannone household there was a creed; family, faith and food.”

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Best Deli Best Sandwich

Hours: Mon - Fri !7 - 5:30 s t r se Sundays s e Sat 8 - 3 • tClosed D a Gre

1595 Baldwin Street • Waterbury • 203-575-9051

The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

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Attorney Leonard M. Crone Attorney Doreen M. Alegi

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Best Criminal Defense Lawyer

27 STATE ST., WATERBURY, CT 203-757-7969

The Waterbury Observer

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$5 off any purchase of $25 or More

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Best Plac e to Buy Medical M arjuana Supplies

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203-757-6196 858 Lakewood Road, Waterbury | www.shop-lifestyles.com Exp 7/31/18

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Three In Waterbury

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700 Watertown Avenue • 203 753.2426 348 Chase Avenue • 203 754.3647 464 Reidville Drive 203 757.9700

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FRANKIE’S

Voted Best Hot Dogs 23 Years & Best Burgers 14 Years

BIG FRANK’S Voted Best BBQ 18 Years

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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THANK YOU AGAIN, Greater Waterbury, for voting us #1 GRINDER SHOP

Voted Best Grinder Shop!

A Taste of Tradition since 1922

Family owned & operated by 3 generations and still going strong!

From their humble beginnings on South Main Street in Waterbury to now multiple locations throughout the state of Connecticut, Nardelli’s Grinder Shoppe continues to satisfy the need for fast and delicious meals. You can count on quality ingredients, huge portions, and the same old school customer service.

THE GRINDER KINGS OF WATERBURY CIRCA 1944 - 1st generation - the three brothers (L to R), Anthony, Fred, and Joseph.

1979 - 2nd generation - Rina and Joe wait on customers in their Naugatuck store. Their son, Marco (3rd generation), is standing on a milk crate at the register, closing sales.

1983 - Joe and Rina are ready for the lunch hour rush.

1981 - Everybody works! Rina and Joe, with their 2nd eldest son, Anthony.

In 1914 Joseph, Anthony and Fred Nardelli emigrated from Italy to the thriving manufacturing city of Waterbury, “Brass Capital of the World”. They worked long hours in sweatshops and pooled the money they earned. Most of the money was sent home, to help their parents.

Working in these shops was dangerous, so they started working in a grocery store which eventually became Nardelli’s Grocery Store on South Main Street. The brothers took pride in the quality of their fruits and vegetables, which they bought in New York.

During one of their buying trips, they noticed long lines of customers at one of the store fronts, and a steady stream of customers emerging with something wrapped in butcher paper: grinders… torpedo shaped rolls that were stuffed with meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

If grinders were so popular in NYC, why not Waterbury?

They started selling them out of their fruit and vegetable store to determine if there was sufficient demand. They were amazed at how well the grinders sold. Soon, people were coming from all over Waterbury to get a grinder. Some days, the line would wind all the way down South Main Street. It was obvious that the brothers had created the perfect balance of “over-stuffed” ingredients and attractive prices. Though they had other specialties, they became known as the “Grinder Kings of Waterbury”.

Voted Best Grinder Shop in CT for multiple years Connecticut Magazine GREATER WATERBURY LOCATIONS ~ WATERBURY ~ 540 Plank Road 203.754.5600 and 515 Watertown Avenue 203.753.7400 ~ NAUGATUCK ~ 87 Maple Street 203.729.9470 ~ SOUTHBURY ~ 385 Main Street South ~ 203.405.3250 Also in Cromwell, Danbury, East Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, Oxford, Southington, Torrington, and Wallingford

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The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

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Best and Worst

Best Of Waterbury Story and Photographs

By John Murray

There has been a lot of drama in Waterbury in the past year with a scourge of fires in the South End, sewage and oil spills into the Naugatuck River, an increasing opiod crisis, a sudden eruption of gang violence, and an influx of refugees from hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico.

Through it all Waterbury has endured, as it has for the three hundred years. There have been acts of heroism and beautiful acts of kindness, altruism and compassion. We ask our readers every year to vote for their favorite business, restaurants and civic issues, and this year we received more than 3000 ballots submitted online through our website. Times have changed. Pictured here are some of the events and individuals that Observer readers have highlighted as significant.

A 5,000,000 gallon sewage spill into the Naugatuck River was the overwhelming choice of Observer readers as “The Worst Thing To Happen In Waterbury In The Past Year”,but the response by Kevin Zak (pictured above) of the Naugatuck River Revival Group catapulted him into the media

spotlight, and he’s stayed their for most of the year. For his leadership in documenting sewage and oil spills and championing the Naugatuck River and all living organismas in and around the river’s ecosystem, Kevin Zak was voted “Person of the Year.”

Others receiving support for “Person of the Year” was Jim Smith of Webster Bank (who retired on January 1st and flirted with the idea of running for Governor), Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary for his ongoing economic development, State Representative Geraldo Reyes Jr. for his Puerto Rico relief efforts, Ziggy “The Flagman” Berisha (pictured at right) who has temporarily stopped waving the American flag on city streets while he recovers from a partial foot amputation, and Victor Lopez Jr. for his work at the Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury.

Mayor Neil O’Leary was again the runaway winner as “Most Powerful Man in Waterbury”, and State Senator Joan Hartley had little competition in securing the honor of “Most Powerful Woman in Waterbury.”

Webster Bank was voted “Business

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After three-generations of Paine Family stewardship, Hank Paine closed the chapter on his family’s ownership of the Howland-Hughes Building on Bank Street when he sold it to Green Hub Developers who will lease a portion of a renovated building to Post University. This transaction was voted “Best Thing To Happen In Waterbury In The Past Year.” State Senator Joan Hartley (below left) was voted “Most Powerful Woman”, and Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary was voted “Most Powerful Man.”

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The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

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State Representative Geraldo Reyes Jr,, left, and Alderman Victor Lopez (the executive director of the Hispanic Coalition) received strong support from Observer readers for “Person of the Year” for their relief work for hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico, They helped collect and organize a warehouse of food, water and clothes for Puerto Rico, and then flew down to the island to personally deliver the supplies into isolated mountain towns desperate for relief. Reyes also came in second for Best Community Activist, a category won by Fulton Park champion Michael Salvio (also the President of the Historic Overlook Neighborhood Association). Basketball player Mustapha Heron, right, was voted “Athlete of the Year”. Heron led Auburn University in scoring and transferred to St. John’s for the upcoming season. of the Year”, the Silas Bronson Library was voted “Best Thing To Do For Free”, and year after year our redaers vote neighborhoods as the “Best Reason to Live in Waterbury.”

The “Best Thing To Happen in 2018” was the Howland-Hughes building being sold to NYC developers who have leased a portion of the building to Post University. Mayor O’Leary championed the transaction for several years which allowed Hank Paine to sell the 120,000 square foot building on Bank Street and close the chapter on three generations of Paines running what had been the thumping heart of downtown commerce.

Several other events and issues garnered support as the “Best Thing” including the three-week run of the Phantom of the Opera at the Palace Theater, the renovation of The Green, The Gathering, and a reduction in car taxes.

Besides the sewage spill, the “Worst Things” in the city in the past year were the accident to former State REpresentative Selim Noujaim who was struck by a car last Autumn, the eruption of gang violence, the high property taxes in Waterbury, opiods and vandalism.

For the second year in a row Observer readers are in favor of food trucks in downtown Waterbury, and they

want to see and hear street performers (buskers) sprinkled around downtown and on the Green. Anyone who participated in, or attended Make Music Waterbury on June 21st in downtown Waterbury can testify to the power of music to the quality of life in a city.

The Gathering, a multi-cultural celebration of diversity in Waterbury, was agin honored with “Best Community Event”, “Best Cultural Attraction” and “Best Festival.” The next Gathering will be in downtown Waterbury on September 22nd. Other cultural attractions honored were the Mt. Carmel Feast and St. Patrick’s Day in Waterbury.

The annual BrewFest staged by Main Street Waterbury received a lot of votes for Best Festival, as did the Ponte Fest. The Palace Theater was the overwhelming choice as the “Best Reason To Go Downtown”, followed by the Silas Bronson Library, The Green, and restaurants (Signatures and Diorio).

The parks in Waterbury are popular with Observer readers who gave the parks support in “Best Things To Do For Free”, “Best Reason To Live In Waterbury”, and “Most Fun Destination.”

Other winners and positive community events will be highlighted in the pages to come............

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Every December Jay Sargent of T.C.’s Pawn Company organizes a Christmas Party on the Magic Retail Mile for underprivileged kids in the inner city of Waterbury complete with Santa Claus and a present for every child. The spirit of the event is a strength in the city. So is the spirit of Bobby Cooke, below left, who was helping stranded drivers, “for the blessings.” A lot of people enjoy dumping on Waterbury, but there are more people like Bobby Cooke and Jay Sargent in this city than we realize. It’s a spirit of compassion that will help turn this city around. Below right is former State Representative Selim Noujaim, who is still recovering from an accident that shocked the city last Autumn.

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Made In Connecticut The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

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Waterbury Buttons Wiffle Ball, Bovano Woodbury Pewter AKA Collectibles and more...

The Connecticut Store www.theconnecticutstore.com

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1-800-474-6728

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We use only the FRESHEST ingredients Voted Best Family Restaurant

The Pizza Castle would love for you to be, not only a customer, but a part of our family.

For over 35 years, Pizza Castle has served excellent food and provided excellent service.

Seafood Dishes Pasta Specialties Pizza Daily Specials

Join us for Lunch or Dinner ~ 7 days a week.

Dine In v Take Out v Local Delivery Service Now offering Party Platters for your special occassion!

Call now to place your order 203.755.3501

Pizza Castle

Hours Monday - Thursday 11:30am - 1:00am Friday & Saturday 11:30am - 2:00am Sunday 10:30am - 1:00am 143 Chase Avenue • Waterbury • 203.755.3501 www.pizzacastlect.com

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Monday-Friday: 8:00am - 5:30 pm

Saturday:

8:00 am - 2:00 pm Sunday: Closed

Next door to McDonald’s

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Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc. is a pillar of the Waterbury, CT community. Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc. is a leader in offering name brand tires, wheels, auto repair and brake services for customers located in and around the Waterbury, Connecticut area. Our goal is to focus on customer service, which is the foundation of our business. Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc. employs a well-trained staff specializing in the sale and installation of passenger car, performance and light truck or SUV tires. Custom wheels are available at Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc.. Special wheels and rims compliment any tire or customer vehicle. Complete under-car services, such as oil changes, brakes, shocks, struts, and alignments for both foreign and domestic vehicles are readily available at competitive prices. Take this opportunity to browse Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc. website or call us for personalized service.

G’s Burgers

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Now this wasn’t just a snap of the ngers kind of plan. George wanted a unique restaurant that was different from your average burger place. He traveled the country visiting established restaurants taking the best of what they each offered and putting it all under one roof. He wanted a restaurant that could make a burger and fries fresh, right in front your eyes, without having anything ever frozen. After that was decided, he wanted to think of a style of building as well as parking.

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G’s Burgers of cially opened it doors on June 3rd 2008. The idea of G’s Burgers came from the owner George Tsio ikis about nine years ago. George had always wanted to redo his 50 year old Carvel building.

Instead of just a makeover, he wanted to add a little something to it. By redoing the building with G’s Burgers, Watertown had gained a beautiful and elegant looking white colonial in the center of Main Street and Straits Turnpike.

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We give you the best tasting burgers and fries in Connecticut

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Today G’s Burgers stands with its best friend Carvel in the center of Watertown and a location in Naugatuck. If you ever have the pleasure to visit G’s Burger, bring an empty tummy.

www.GsBurgers.com

Expires 12/31/18

1300 Main Street, Watertown 860-274-5551 778 New Haven Road, Naugatuck 203-723-7771

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The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

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Music by ALAN MENKEN Lyrics by HOWARD ASHMAN & GLENN SLATER Book by DOUG WRIGHT Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story and the Disney film that was produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker & Ron Clements.

Originally Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions.

DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID is presented through special arrangement with MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL (MTI).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

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Waterbury Connecticut’s Independent Newspaper

Issues. PeOPle. evenTs. Project Clear Water October 24th

The Waterbury Observer

October 2016

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October 2016

The Gathering Waterbury’s Angie Vargas performed a traditional Peruvian dance, Valicha and Anaconda, at The Gathering on September 24th The Waterbury Observer

December 2016

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Civil Rights and Donald Trump Photograph By John Murray

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Project Clear Water Tackles Issues

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August 2016

Albania

A shepherd outside of Bilisht, Albania.

Photograph by John Murray

Thousands of ethnic Albanians fled the Balkan Peninsula in the past 70 years and have settled in Greater Waterbury. Here is a peek at where they came from, and why they left their beautiful homeland.

Home Run Photograph by Vanessa Cook

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Waterbury’s Maryam Moaken graduated from Crosby High School in June and recently received a $1000 Connecticut Red Sox Service Scholarship presented on the field at Fenway Park in Boston.

Kennedy High School Teacher Jahana Hayes Was Selected National Teacher Of The Year

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Best Newspaper

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Glaucoma • Cataract • Macular Degeneration LASIK • Cornea/Corneal Transplants Diabetic Eye Care • Retina and Vitreous Surgery General Ophthalmology Angela Bosjolie, D.O. • Neeru Dua, M.D. Meredith R. Gershon, M.D. • Richard A. Getnick, M.D. Richard D. Gilbert, M.D. Olga Konykhov, M.D. W. Scott Peterson, M.D. • Jessica Schonfeld, M.D.

800 CALL EYE opticarepc.com WATERBURY 87 Grandview Avenue

TORRINGTON 811 East Main Street

DANBURY 65 North Street

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Want a flexible fuel that gives you year-round comfort?

We offer automatic delivery of high-quality propane, installation, maintenance services, plus a full array of equipment including propane heaters and fireplace inserts, stoves, space heaters and pool heaters. So if you need propane, call us. We’ll help you stay comfortable all year long.

Licenses: B1-306393, S3-385748 S7-308682, HOD-192

860.274.3284 baribaultfuel.com 600 Main Street Oakville, CT 06779

Voted Best Fuel Oil Company

Oil, Diesel, Propane, AC, Installation and 24-Hour Service

Thank you Waterbury!

Oil, Diesel, Propane, AC, Installation and 24-Hour Service

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The Waterbury Observer

Summer 2018

1-203-754-4238

www.waterburyobserver.org

And The Winners Are.......

GOODS & SERVICES Best Assisted Living Village at East Farms 180 Scott Road Waterbury, CT 06705 203-721-7998

Best Butcher Shop Watertown Meat Center 485 Main St, Watertown, CT 06795 860-945-6328 Best Carpet Store Associated Carpet 828 Wolcott Street Waterbury CT 06705 203-756-5594

Best Bank Webster Bank 145 Bank Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-578-2230

Best Comic Book Store Legends of Superheros 28 Main St, Oakville, CT 06779 (860) 417-6666

Best Banquet Facility La Bella Vista 380 Farmwood Road Waterbury CT 06704 203-527-4006 Best Building Contractor Sullivan Brothers Remodeling 1 Wolcott Road Wolcott, CT 06716 203-879-4555

Best Cosmetology School Belle Academy 27A, S Commons Road Waterbury CT 06704 203-528-0200 Best Credit Union FD Community Federal Credit Union 601 Watertown Avenue Waterbury CT 06708

203-753-9201

Best Dance Studio Sunshine Dance Center 34 Monroe Avenue, Waterbury CT 06705 203-755-0511 Best Day Care Country Garden Day Care and Preschool 250 Country Club Rd, Waterbury, CT 06708 203- 574 - 4981 Best Dry Cleaners Mar-Vic Cleaners 186 Grand Street, Waterbury, CT 06702 203-754-3972 Best Employment Agency Jaci Carroll Staffing 751 Straits Turnpike Suite 3000 Middlebury, CT 06762 203-574-4838

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Best Financial Advisor Coleman Financial Advisory 60 Lakeside Boulevard West Waterbury CT 06708 203-756-7526 Best Flooring Co. Bill Wildman Floor Covering, Inc. 1886 Watertown Ave #1 Oakville, CT 06779 203-753-3229 Best Florist Orchid Florist 1 Chase Avenue, Waterbury CT 06704 203-573-0690 Best Fresh Produce Market Jarjura’s Farm 1 Market Square Waterbury CT 06708 203-757-7777 Best Fuel Oil Co. Baribault Oil Co. 600 Main St, Oakville, CT 06779

VOTED Best Dental Clinic in Greater Waterbury

OUR DENTISTS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Originally an aspiring artist, Dr. Tulasi Vikram was drawn to dentistry after a chance visit to the dentist as a child.

The daughter of a general physician, Dr. Vikram has an inherited passion for helping people and that passion is combined with the meticulous craftsmanship of dentistry. She studied for five years to become a dentist in Bangalore, and graduated from New York University with a doctor of dental surgery degree. Her postgraduate education includes endodontics (root canal treatment) and composite (white) fillings, as well as Six Month Smiles orthodontics that allow her to provide her patients with a picture-perfect smile in a very short time. Dr. Vikram is very active in the community, volunteering as an oral educator for the Salvation Army, providing free dentistry through the Connecticut Mission of Mercy free dental clinic (CT MOM), and taking time to visit local schools to educate children on dental health. She also serves as a dental consultant for Lighthouse Day Care Centers.

Dr. Yamini Gupta is a compassionate and detail-oriented dentist who has been practicing for over five years in the Connecticut area. She graduated from Boston University on the Dean’s List, prior to which she completed her Master’s in Public Health from the UT School of Public Health. Dr. Gupta is a firm believer in the “listen, learn, and treat” philosophy and is dedicated to providing dental care based on her patients’ individual needs. A self-learner, Dr. Gupta is highly motivated to keep up with the advances in dentistry and is constantly looking for venues that hone her skills. Her past professional affiliations include the American Dental Association, Connecticut State Dental Association, and New Britain Dental Society. Her most recent training in Invisalign™ clear aligners allows her to offer her patients a discreet, comfortable option for a straighter smile. Dr. Gupta has a love for languages and speaks multiple languages (Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu). She is currently working on her learning her fifth (Korean).

We can’t wait to meet you! Call us today at 203.574.2725 to schedule a visit for you or your family. EVERYONE deserves high-quality dental care.

Kid-Friendly Office • Flexible Financing Options • Most Insurances Accepted 171 Grandview Ave • Suite 103 • Waterbury • www.ctfdental.com 203.574.2725

The Waterbury Observer

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BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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HIGH QUALITY s EXPERT SERVICE

Master Goldsmith & Gemologist (GIA) on premises Tues, Wed, and Friday 9:30am - 6pm Thursday 9:30am - 7pm Saturday 9:30 am - 4 pm

Voted BEST JEWELRY STORE

30 Anniversary Sale th

All Estate & Pre-Owned Jewelry

50% OFF

Diamond Engagement Rings & Loose Diamonds

30 - 50% OFF

Diamond Earrings, Bracelets & Pendants

30 - 50% OFF

50% OFF

Trade-Ins Welcome

Some Exceptions Apply

Add-a-Pearls

Diamond Remounts

5mm $12 • 5.5mm $17 6mm $25 • 7mm $35 Princesse Pearls slightly higher

Trade-Ins Welcome

Sterling Silver Jewelry

30 - 50% OFF

See your Diamonds set in front of your eyes - while you wait

On Premises ~ While You Wait or Same Day Service … sRing Sizing sRhodium Plating sChain Soldering

sDiamond Setting sClasp Replacement sAppraisals sRe-Tipping of Prongs

sWatch Batteries sCustom Design sDiamond Head Replacement

Insurance or Estate Appraisals ~ done by Gemologist (GIA) while you wait Sell your Unwanted Jewelry/Gold... Highest prices paid in the area with

50% allowance if used as merchandise credit

Watch Battery Replacement plus tax $ installed

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Some Exceptions Apply With Coupon

403 Middlebury Rd s Middlebury s 203.598.3305 s www.Sullivans Jewelry.com

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Best Festival Best Community Event Best Family Entertainment

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Gathering waterburygathering@gmail.com

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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The Most Diverse Festival In New England

We All Came From Somewhere, Now It’s Time To Come Together More Than 100 Cultures Represented

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Best Funeral Home Chase Parkway Memorial 430 Chase Parkway, Waterbury CT 06708 203-574-1313 Best Furniture Store Furniture Factory Outlet 127 Franklin St, Waterbury, CT 06706 203-527-6450 Best Gardening Center Best Hardware Store Schmidt’s and Serafine’s 464 Chase Avenue Waterbury, CT 06704 203-754-5981 Best Gift Baskets Best Gift Shop Gift Baskets Galore 745 Highland Ave # 1, Waterbury, CT 06708 (203) 591-1250 Best Glass Co. Plymouth Glass & Mirror 142 E Main Street Waterbury CT 06787 860-283-0276 Best Health Food Store

Summer 2018

Nature’s Goods 860 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT 06762 203-577-2000 Best Hotel Courtyard Waterbury Downtown 63 Grand Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-596-1000 Best Insurance Agency Martin & Rowland 16 Waterbury Road, Prospect CT 06712 203-756-3676 Best Italian Market Cavallo’s Deli 1892 E Main St, Waterbury, CT 06705 (203) 753-8425 Best Jewelry Store Sullivan’s Jewelers Inc 403 Middlebury Road Middlebury CT 06762 203-598-3305 Best Latino Market Cherry Valley Marketplace 155 Thomaston Avenue #820 Waterbury CT 06702 203-754-5700

1-203-754-4238

www.waterburyobserver.org

Best Law Firm Tindall Law Firm 64 Holmes Ave, Waterbury, CT 06710 (203) 755-0018 Best Lawyer- Personal Injury Carter Mario Injury Lawyers 532 Wolcott Street Waterbury, CT 06705 203-574-5338 Best Lawyer- Criminal Defense Attorney Leonard M Crone 27 State Street, Waterbury CT 06702 203-757-7969 Best Lawyer (Family) Law Offices of Daniel H. Miller 228 Meadow St, Waterbury, CT 06702 203-756-9433 Best Lawyer (Immigration) Law Offices of James A. Welcome 80 Central Ave, 203-753-7300 Best Men’s Clothing Store Ram’s Clothiers 579 Wolcott Street,

Waterbury, CT 06705 203-753-4666 Best Neighborhood Market Key Food Marketplace 286 Fairfield Avenue Waterbury, Connecticut 06708 203-754-7817 Best Newspaper The Waterbury Observer P.O.Box 910 Waterbury CT 06720 203-754-4238 Best New Business CarMax Auto Superstore 450 Captain Neville Drive Waterbury, CT 06705 (203) 437-3710 Best Party Supply Shop Party Plus 95 Wolcott Road, Wolcott, CT 06716 203-879-0073 Best Pawn Shop Best Place to Buy/Sell Gold TC’s Pawn Company Jewelry & Electronics Exchange 503 Lakewood Road Waterbury CT 06704 203-753-7591 Best Pest Control Service

AMERICAN FUSION CUISINE

The Art of Yum l Served in Many forms We are artef • Meet our team – Restaurant | Events Chef Michone Denae Arrington President/Chef/Creator of the Catering | Meal Prep What is ARTEF? Michi Sauce line, ESPN culinary legend. “I have over 10 years culiart•ef| / ärdEF/: a culinary artist; an artist chef nary experience and an incredible With over 45 years of combined experience, The Art of Yum’s clientele, from cooking for musiaward-winning chefs are dedicated to creating an unforgettable cians like Lil Wayne, Drake and culinary experience for everyone they serve.

Darrius Rucker, or actors such as Kevin Hart, Dwayne “The Rock” CATERING & EVENTS Johnson, and Matt Damon, to From backyard BBQs to french cuisine, our experienced chefs being a personal chef for Jerry have your event fully covered.

Rice, Odell Beckham Jr and Magic Weddings • Special Events • Corporate Catering Johnson. I am respected and backed by the great chef Bobby RESTAURANT Flay, having won a Flay chalBreakfast & Lunch | Daily lenge.”

MEAL PREP Chef Donte Jones Healthy meal prep service: 4 plans Vice President/Chef family | trim transformation | plant-based | performance de Cuisine; creator of Dijon Donte Sauce with Who says you can’t have a healthy AND 13+ years culinary Voted by delicious meal? Begin your journey experience and an incredible clientele.

Waterbury Observer Readers to a tastier, healthier lifestyle today.

Class leader of his We are committed to making it simple! culinary institutes BEST and former sous chef at 2 NEW RESTAURANT renowned restaurants.

Chef James Thompson Executive Chef/General Chef Michone Denae Arrington Manager, creator of Big 146 GRAND ST. WATERBURY James BBQ. 15+ years of culinary experience with an incredible clientele.

203-527-4044 | www.theartofyum.com Former chef of 5 great restaurants around the CT and NY area.

Thank You!

The Waterbury Observer

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Millette Pest Control 69 Knight St, Watertown, CT 06795 860-274-9503

Best Paint Company Armend’s Painting and Home Improvement Waterbury, CT 06706 203-596-9860 Best Pharmacy Bunker Hill Pharmacy 256 Bunker Hill Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-574-7825 Best Photographer Clay Johnson

“You cannot share your life with a dog and not know perfectly well that dogs have personalities and minds and feelings.”

Jane Goodall

Best Place to Pick Your Own Fruit Rogers Orchards 336 Long Bottom Road Southington CT 06489 860-229-4240 Best Print Shop Universal Copy LLC 35 S. Main Street, Naugatuck, CT 06770 203-757-2100 Best Realtor Showcase Realty 1177 Wolcott Street

What Is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is based on applying scientific fact to stimulating your body’s own remarkable resources. These important self-regulating and self-healing functions are controlled by your brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

When the nervous system is impaired through illness, injury or stress it can cause tissues and organs throughout the body to function poorly. Doctors call this degenerative chain reaction the vertebral subluxation complex. It is an underling cause of many health problems.

With chiropractic’s hands-on, drug-free health care approach, millions have found a healthier lifestyle through diet, exercise and maintaining proper spinal function.

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Voted Greater Waterbury’s Best Chiropractor for 24 Years

203-573-0011

715 LAKEWOOD RD WATERBURY

Waterbury, CT 06705 203-574-2500 Best Seafood Market Tony & Sons Seafood 639 Main Street, Oakville, CT 06779 860-274-3693 Best Storage Facility Life Storage 433 Lakewood Rd, Waterbury, CT 06704 475-222-5151

Best Thrift Store Red, White & Blue Thrift Store 155 Thomaston Ave, Waterbury, CT 06702 Best Travel Agency Largay Travel Best Trash Hauler Copes Rubbish Removal 81 Di Nunzio Road Oakville, CT 06779 860-274-1444 Best Liquor Store Best Beer Selection in a Liquor Store Best Wine Shop The Spirit Shop 657 Watertown Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-753-9505

The Waterbury Observer Best Towing Company Town Plot Auto 332 Fairfield Avenue, Waterbury CT 06708 203-756-9393 Best Bakery Best Wedding Cake Sweet Maria’s Bakery 159 Manor Avenue Waterbury, CT 06705 203-755-3804 Best Place to Buy a Wedding Dress The Wedding Embassy 1886 Watertown Avenue 1-1-W Oakville, CT 06779 860-274-1988

Best Nip/Tuck Best Botox Dr. Stanley Foster 1625 Straits Turnpike, Suite 108 Middlebury, CT 06762 888-828-5476

Best Healthcare Facility StayWell Health Care, Inc. 80 Phoenix Avenue Waterbury, CT 06702 203-756-8021 Best Hospital Waterbury Hospital 56 Franklin Street Waterbury, CT 06706 203-568-1076

Best Chiropractor Rosa Chiropractic Center 715 Lakewood Road Waterbury, CT 06704 203-573-0011 Best Dentist Waterbury Smiles 26 E Lakeside Blvd, Best Dental Clinic Connecticut Family Dental 171 Grandview Ave #103 Waterbury, CT 06708 203-574-2725

MEDICAL SERVICES

Best Physical Therapist Access Rehab Centers 134 Grandview Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-573-7130

Best Eye Doctor Opticare 604 Lakewood Road Waterbury 203-575-0900

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Best Walk-In Clinic Saint Mary’s Hospital Urgent Care 1312 West Main Street Waterbury CT 06708 203-709-4575

EATING OUT

Best Pediatrician Pediatric Associates of CT 160 Robbins Street, Waterbury CT 06708 203-755-2999

Though memories fade, they can still be made.

Best Wedding Venue Aria 45 Murphy Road, Prospect CT 06712 203-758-0096

waterburyobserver@gmail.com

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

Best Rehab Facility Cheshire House 3396 E Main Street, Waterbury CT 06705 203-754-2161

Best Restaurant Best Chef Best Fine Dining La Tavola Nicola Mancini 702 Highland Avenue, Waterbury CT 06708 203-755-2211 Best Bagels Ami’s Bagels 2457 East Main Street Waterbury, CT 06705 203-757-5669 also one in Colonial Plaza Best Barbeque Big Franks 572 Watertown Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-753-7427 and building

Best Alternative Health Center AtHealth Benchmark, we believe that day can offer the joy of living in the moment Best every Foot Doctor Medical Arts & Nutrition Best Veterinarian Dr. is Charles Arena memories why T.we have exclusively designed a program for residents with 1389 new W Main Street, together. This Best Breakfast Dr.McHugh and Associates Midlebury Animal Hospital Waterbury, CT 06708 Alzheimer’s and related dementias that includes: Leo’s Restaurant 52 Turnpike Drive 51 Depot St # 202, 203-755-1105 900 Straits Tpke 06762 Watertown, CT 06795 • Exceptional Memory Care, led by experienced certified Middlebury dementia CT practitioners.

Middlebury, CT 06762 203-758-1708 860-274-1773

Tho ugh mem • Dining with Dignity, our innovative program that uses colorful table settings and tempting o r ies meal choices that encourage residents to eatfand drink more. a d e, tstill Though memories fade, they can be made. h e • Programs and activities that promote independence and help families and loved ones reconnect. y new memories c thenmoment and building At Benchmark, we believe that every day can offer the joy of living in a srelaxed tAlzheimer’s together. This is why we have exclusively designed a program for residents with and related dementias ill band • Beautiful surroundings where everyone will feel at home. that include: em admemory, • Exceptional Memory Care, led by experienced certified dementia practitioners. e. or if you are Whether you have just started noticing a change in your loved one’s • Dining with Dignity, our innovative program that uses colorful table settings and tempting meal choices that encourage residents

At B e new nchmark mem , we Alzh b o eime ries toge elieve th r ’s a t h nd re er. Thi at every • Ex si da lcan c looking for dedicated Alzheimer’s care, Benchmark ated help. e p tiona to eat and drink more. dem s why w y can off l Me e e er n have • t ias th moones Dini • Programs and activities that promote independence and helpmfamilies and loved ry C reconnect. exclu the joy o n a t g i a w n r f ea c sivel clud e, led es: hoic ith Dign y des living in • Beautiful surroundings where everyone will feel relaxed and at lhome. by ex es th ity, o igne the m perie at en uifr you d acare, • Pro one’s memory, ome innoare looking ncededicated Whether you have just started noticing a change in your loved for Alzeimer’s prog Benchmark coor gram nt an can help. d u v r c a r age r a e t i m s and r v t i e fi f e p o e s r res d buildin d dem iden rogra activ • Be iden ts to m th autif ities e ntiJoin ts wi g at us eat a a pra us for that FreeuMemory Screenings l sur th e n c p s d t roun romo ition drink color Whe Caregivers ding ers. te in f t u h m l e s every Saturday by appointment. o t r depe look able In the Life wher re. A Day ing f you hav nden settin e eve Support Group or de e jus c Assisted Living gs aor e r y a o n t n nd te d s Calldi203-841-8607 e Open House! cated tarte help will mpti d f f A n a e m o e First Wednesdays l ng z l t i h i Memory Care Tours relax lies a cingwith eime tour C toaschedule a personal e a n r r d ’ d c e s h a Assisted Living or l g c n o a d at ved o vers Bellemare, are, Ben nge in y Supp iRandi at 10am & Third hom Saturday Every nes r chm o e o u .

Memory Care Tours econ r r F l a t o r r e v k G F nect. e e can 11 irst WDirector d on rouofp Community Relations.

Mem Wednesdays at 6pm :OOAM to 1:OOPM h Senior e e ’ Every Saturday 11am to 1pm s l p o e m . r every dne y emo at 10 ry, o Satur screening am & sdays r if y a d s ou ar p a p ointm y by Thir We e

Caregivers Support Group

First Wednesdays at 10am & Third Wednesdays at 6pm

Free Memory screenings every Saturday by appointment.

Join us for A Day In The Life Open House!

Call 203-841-8607 to schedule a personal tour with Randi Bellemare, Senior Director of Community Relations. d dnes days at 6p m

ent.

C schedall 203-8 41-8 ule a Rand personal 607 to Senio i Bellem tour wit h Com r Dire are, muni ctor o ty Re lationf s.

Assisted Living • Memory Care

Assi s Mem ted Livin ory C g are T or Ever our yS 11 :O OAM aturday s to 1: OOP M

180 Scott Road |Waterbury, CT 06705 VILLAGEATEASTFARMS.COM Ass 180

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Best Brunch Best Lunch in Greater Waterbury Best Local Hangout Best Tacos Best Happy Hour 66 Church 66 Church St, Naugatuck, CT 06770 475-212-3992 Best Local Burgers G’s Burgers 1300 Main Street Watertown, CT 06795 860-274-5551 Best Business Lunch Best Dinner before a Show Signatures Restaurant 29 Leavenworth Street, Waterbury CT 06702 Best Caterer Best Place For A Taste Of Italy D’Amelio’s Italian Eatery 718 Highland Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-755-0261 Best Chinese Buffet Royal Buffet and Grill

Summer 2018

943 Wolcott Street Waterbury, CT 06705 203-753-5888 Best Chocolates Fascia’s Chocolates 2066 Thomaston Avenue #3 Waterbury, CT 06704 203-753-0515 Best Coffeehouse Starbucks at UConn Best Deli Best Sandwich Shop Ann’s Deli 1595 Baldwin Street Waterbury, CT 06706 203-575-9051

Best Family Restaurant

www.waterburyobserver.org

Pizza Castle Restaurant 143 Chase Ave, Waterbury CT 06704 203-755-3501

Best Farm to Table Restaurant Market Place Kitchen and Bar 641 Main Street South, Woodbury CT 06798 203-586-1215 Best Food Truck Los Garcia Mexican Fusion 836 E Main St, Waterbury, CT 06705 203-910-9432

Best Dominican Restaurant Best Late Night Dining La Cazuela 354 W. Main Street Waterbury CT 06702 203-754-9850 Best Donuts Brooklyn Bakery 464 Reidville Drive Waterbury CT 06705 203-596-3500

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Best Grinder Shop Nardelli’s Grinder Shoppe 87 Maple Street Naugatuck, CT 06770 203-729-9470 Best Hidden Gem Dunya 585 Plank Road, Waterbury CT 06705 203-753-2221 Best Hot Dogs Frankie’s Hot Dogs

700 Watertown Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 203-753-2426 Best Ice Cream The Big Dipper 91 Waterbury Road Prospect, CT 06712 203-758-3200 Best Italian Restaurant San Marino 111 Thomaston Ave Waterbury CT 06702 203-755-1148 Best Italian Pastry La Tazza 277 Fairfield Avenue Waterbury CT 06708 860-681-3233 Best Japanese Restaurant Sakura Japanese Steak House 544 Straits Turnpike, Watertown, CT 06795 860-417-6010 Best Latin Restaurant Mojo Nuevo Latino Cuisine 1812 E. Main Street Waterbury CT 06705

u o Y k n r a u h o T for y ! s e t Vo Voted oted Best Massage 10 Years in a Row! SOUTHBURY 203.264.0371 • WATERTOWN 860.274.1555 Book online www.naturalbalancect.com

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BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

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Santoro Tire

1-203-753-4647 Call and ask for a quote.

Jeff Henderson Expert Mechanic • Any Brand Tire • Any Size Tire • Available Same Day • New & Used Tires • Great Car Repair Shop Best Tire Shop

1284 Thomaston Avenue. Waterbury, CT

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CHASE

1-203-754-4238

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PARKWAY

M E M O R I A L THE ALBINI FAMILY FUNERAL HO ME www.chaseparkwaymemorial.com

Independently and Family Owned Since 1952

Celebrating 65 years of service to the Greater Waterbury Community 430 Chase Parkway ~ Waterbury

203-574-1313

Raymond A. Albini Michael A. Margerelli Kevin M. Henebery

Raymond C. Albini Michael J. Sparso Mario Paternostro, Apprentice

Coming in the Fall of 2017

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200 Benson Road • Middlebury Conveniently located at Exit 16 off I-84

200 Benson Road ~ Middlebury

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Naugatuck River Revival Group Nothing Is Impossible Just Act

It’s beeen a busy year for the Naugatuck River Revival Group (NRRG) as the watershed has been battered by sewage and oil spills. After millions of gallons of raw sewage was dumped into the Naugatuck River in October, it was the NRRG led by Kevin and Sondra Zak that became the voice of the Naugatuck River.

The Zak’s hiked through the damage to document the enviromental disaster, and did so again in January 2018 when thousands of gallons of oil spilled into the river. Despite the environmental impact on the watershed, Kevin Zak has been bolstered by the public outcry from the spills. “Thirty years ago no one would have cared,” Zak said, “now it’s statewide news. This is progress and I believe the river will heal itself.”

The mission of the NRRG is to increase awareness of one of the great environmental comeback stories in New England.

For two centuries industrial giants used the Naugatuck River as a glorified toilet to wash away toxins, dyes and garbage. Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons have returned. The factories are gone, but they left behind chunks of iron, steel and brass in the river. Inconsiderate city residents continue to deposit tires, shopping carts and mattresses in the river. In response, the NRRG has declared war on trash in and along the river. NRRG has organized clean-ups with local schools, sponsored Annual River Day celebrations, and is committed to winning the war on trash.

If you’d like to get involved cleaning the Naugatuck River please consider contacting the group. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a few hours, or a few days....your help is appreciated.

Kevin Zak at (203) 530-7850 e-mail kznrrg@sbcglobal.net

The Waterbury Observer

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21 Years Voted Best Health Care Facility in Greater Waterbury

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StayWell Health Care, Inc. is committed to providing high quality, community health care and social services, including preventive medical and mental health services to the underserved population of the Greater StayWell Health Care, Inc. is committed to providing high quality, Waterbury community. StayWell Health Care, Inc. has adopted a community health care and social services, including preventive medical, dental, andcommunity mental health services toapproach the underserved population of the comprehensive, based to serving people by providGreater Waterbury community. StayWell Health Care, Inc. has adopted a comprehensive, community based approach to serving people services. by provid- All patients ing education, advocacy, and bilingual/bicultural ing education, advocacy, and bilingual/bicultural services. All patients are accepted regardless their ability toinsurance pay orstatus.” insurance status. are accepted regardless of of their ability to pay or

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46 years of providing quality healthcare services in Waterbury

Best Health Care Facility Best Dental Clinic

1302 South Main 203.597.9044 1302 South Main 80 Phoenix Ave. 203.756.8021 203.597.9044 80 Phoenix Ave. 95 Scovill St. 203.805.4930 203.756.8021 GREATER

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Potholes, Blight Downed Trees Barking Dogs, Etc...

Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM 311 or (203)597-3444

@mayoroleary

citizenservicecenter@waterburyct.org www.waterburyct.org

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d l Wine & Liquor e fi r i Fa

Near Key Food MarKet towN Plot Neighborhood 296 FairField ave • waterbury 203.755.0058

HOURS Mon-Saturday 9am-9pm Sunday 10am-6pm

Wide array of wines & liquors ~ including your favorite local wines

Thank you Observer readers, for your many votes ~ it is an honor to be one of your favorite wine shops!

HUGE Selection of Local Craft Beers

We Welcome Special Orders of any size...

Call Now for your Parties & Celebrations!

Delightful Customer Service ~ Visit us once & we are confident you will return Most items priced at State minimum pricing ~ Ample off-street parking ~ Great prices!

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www.waterburyobserver.org

Voted BEST Used Car Dealer

Thank You for your votes! from the

Highline Car Connection Team Leading Edge Service / Old Fashioned Values

As a family-owned business, established in 1998, we employ ASE Certified Master Technicians. Every vehicle has a thorough safety inspection so you can buy with confidence.

Visit our website ~ www.highlinecarconnection.com

Browse our inventory, search for your preferred vehicles, read reviews and find forms and a credit application.

Our website offers convenience; but we still like things the old fashioned way, face-to-face. Please stop by and let us show you what great customer service is all about!

We specialize in auto finance

With an excellent credit history you will receive the best rates in the market. No Credit / Bad Credit? No Problem!

We understand that bad things happen to good people. Our finance officers will make sure you drive away in a choice car.

– SHOWROOM HOURS – Monday - Thursday 9am - 7pm Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

Customer satisfaction is our highest priority.

1833 Watertown Avenue • Waterbury 203.573.0884 • www.highlinecarconnection.com

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Best Middle Eastern Restaurant Sultans Turkish Restaurant 586 Plank Rd Waterbury, CT 06705 203-591-8450 Best Lunch in Downtown Waterbury Via a Paraiso 384 W Main St, Waterbury, CT 06702 203-756-2700 Best Mexican Restaurant Best Nachos Best Value Tequila Restaurant 4 Chase Avenue Waterbury, CT 06704 203-527-7008 Best Neighborhood Restaurant Mary’s Diner 437 Watertown Ave, Waterbury, CT 06708 203-755-8662 Best New Restaurant The Art of Yum 146 Grand Street, Waterbury CT 06702 203-527-4044 Best Pizza Overall Best Pizza-by-the-Slice Best Thin Crust Pizza Domenick & Pia Downtown Pizzeria 3 Brook Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-753-3401 Best Vegetarian Friendly The Buddha Bistro 27 108S Siemon Company Drive, Watertown CT 06795 860-417-6737 Best Portuguese Restaurant Lisboa Restaurant

Summer 2018

19 Lafayette Street Waterbury CT 06708 203-754-0789 Best Puerto Rican Restaurant Best Rice and Beans Brenda’s Kitchen & Deli 165 Highland Avenue Waterbury, CT 06708 1-203- 527-4286 Best Pasta Most Romantic Restaurant Restaurant With Best Service Restaurant With Best Atmosphere Restaurant With Best Appetizers Restaurant with Best Dessert Diorio Restaurant and Bar 231 Bank Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-754-5111 Best Salads Cafe Med 35 Woodtick Rd, Waterbury, CT 06705 Best Soups John Bale Book Company 158 Grand Street, Waterbury CT 06702 203-757-2279 Best Soul Food Bank Street Kitchen 30 Bank St, Waterbury, CT 06708 203-596-9055 Best Steakhouse Best American Texas Roadhouse 330 Reidville Drive Unit 2 Waterbury CT 06705 203-757-0544 Best Sushi Red Corner Asian Bistro 780 Lakewood Road Waterbury CT 06704 203-753-8889

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Best Thai Restaurant Thai in Love 209 Watertown Road Thomaston, CT 06787 860-880-5082 Best Take-Out Best Wings Wing It On! 516 Frost Rd. Waterbury, CT 06705 203-574-2781 Best Patio Dining Verdi 660 Park Rd, Waterbury, CT 06708 203-805-4167

NIGHT LIFE Best Bar Best Cocktails Best Drink Specials Highland Brass Co. 728 Highland Ave Waterbury CT 06708 203-500-9600 Best Beer Selection Pies & Pints Restaurant & Brewery 1 Store Rd, Middlebury, CT 06762 203-598-7221 Best Local Beer Lasting Brass Brewing 1864 Watertown Ave, Oakville, CT 06779 860-417-2581 Best Irish Bar The Cave 1900 East Main Street Waterbury CT 06705 203-574-9059 Best New Bar Ouzo Blue 675 Main Street, New Student Special 50% off your first month of classes (mention Waterbury Observer)

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Watertown CT 06795 959-209-4439 Best Atmosphere Best Live Music Best Place to spend St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Pub and Grill 210 Meadow Street, Waterbury CT 06702 203-596-1902

Best Live Theater Palace Theater 100 E Main Street Waterbury CT 06702 203-346-2000 Best Neighborhood Bar Ordinary Joes 253 Buckingham Street, Oakville, CT 06779 860-945-1500 Best Sports Bar Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille 16 Straits Turnpike Watertown, CT 06795 860-417-2877

AUTO Best Body Shop Jake’s Auto Body 459 Meadow Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-756-8877 Best Car Dealer Shaker’s Family Ford Lincoln 831 Straits Turnpike Watertown, CT 06795 877-527-3523 Best Foreign Car Dealer Shaker’s Kia 1230 Main Street, Watertown CT 06795 860-417-0900

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The Waterbury Observer Best Used Car Dealer Highline Car Connection 1833 Watertown Ave, Waterbury, CT 06708 203-573-0884

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Best Truck Dealer Shaker Family Ford Lincoln 831 Straits Turnpike Watertown CT 06795 860-945-4900

Best Motorcycle Shop Doc’s Motorcycle Parts 1625 Thomaston Avenue Waterbury, CT 06704 203-757-0295

Best Fitness Center Greater Waterbury YMCA 136 West Main Street Waterbury, CT 06702 203-754-9622

Best Muffler Repair Shop Major Muffler 2098 South Main Street Waterbury, CT 06706 203-754-1662

Best Hair Salon Dolce LLC 2457 E Main St # 1G Waterbury, CT 06705 203-591-9447

Best Repair/Auto Service The Brake & General Repair Shop 742 Lakewood Rd, Waterbury, CT (203) 757-8640

Best Massage Natural Balance Therapeutic Massage 755 Thomaston Road Watertown CT 06795 860-274-1555

Best Transmission Shop City Automatic Transmission 140 Industry Lane Waterbury, CT 06704 203-756-1124

Best Martial Arts Studio East Coast Training Systems 520 Watertown Ave, Waterbury, CT 06708 203-410-9222 Best Nail Salon Golden Nail and Spa 587 Main St, Watertown, CT 06795 860-417-3868

HEALTH & BEAUTY Best Barber Shop Brass City Barber & Salon 338 Middlebury Road Middlebury CT 06705 203-597-9124 Best Gym World Gym

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900 Main Street Oakville, CT 06779 860-945-9226 Best Place to Buy Medical Marijuana Supplies Best Body Piercing Best Smoke Shop Best Tattoo Parlor Lifestyles 858 Lakewood Road, Waterbury CT 06705 203-757-6196

Best Tire Shop Joe’s Tire Shop, Inc. 31 Thomaston Ave, Waterbury CT 06702 203-753-3108

waterburyobserver@gmail.com

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Five Italian artists Pictured below left is Helen Williams led by Eduardo Giannattasio donated sculptures inspired by American Alexander Calder to Waterbury, and Observer readers voted the gesture one of the “Best Things To Happen In Waterbury In The Past Year.” Pictured below left is Helen Williams looking skyward during an annual Police and Fire Memorial Service. Williams lost her son Walter Williams in the early 1990s when he was murdered while on duty as a Waterbury policeman. On the right is Webster Bank’s Jim Smith who received strong support for Person of the Year.

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Every year the Waterbury Fire Department raises money to buy Winter jackets for hundreds of city kids. Pictured above a student is helped with a new jacket by acting Superintendent of Schools Robert Henry. Observer readers voted the Fire Department’s Jacket Drive one of the “Best Things” in Waterbury. Retiring State Representative Jeff Berger, below right, received strong support and was honored as “Most Effective Legislator” and Ron Napoli Jr,, below left, edged Steve Giacomi for “Best Alderman.” Giacomi and Napoli are both seeking to replace Berger in the State legislature from the 73rd District and will square off in an election this November.

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Last September The Gathering (pictured above) had elements of 110 different countries on display inside Library Park, and an estimated 15,000 visitors attended the event. The Gathering was honored in three categories this year; Best Festival, Best Cultural Attraction and Best Community Event. Pictured below is a portion of the Working Cities Challenge committee that helped secure a $450,000 grant for the South End of Waterbury. The grant received support for the “Best Thing� in Waterbury in the last year, and will help create jobs and stability is a distressed area of the city.

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Observer readers voted that strong neighborhoods is the “Best Reason To LIve In Waterbury”, a recent meeting in the Overlook neighborhood drew a strong crowd to hear State’s Atty. Maureen Platt and members of the Waterbury Police Department discuss the criminal court system. The Kids Marathon was voted one of the “Best Things” in Waterbury for the 5th straight year, and is now sponsored by the Mayor’s Office.

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After decades of neglect Holy Land is now in the process of being restored.

Adventures in Holy Land USA

By Carmine Capobianco How do you classify a mountain full of primitive art depicting stories and passages from the bible with cement, paints and mannequins?

People used to come from all over to see this. I lived on Pleasant St. and on weekends I would see bus after bus full of singing worshippers whizz by my home. Good Friday used to spook me as several processions would march up the hill. Naturally, it wasn’t the zealous marchers but rather the man with the fake beard dragging a cross, red corn syrup sprinkled on his back glistening in the warm April sun that spooked me.

I made a lot of memories at Holy Land USA. It was in my backyard and we referred to it as Pine Hill. If you climbed the little mountain in my back-

yard, you came out in the parking lot where the stairs led up to the “big cross” which was the one lit and visible from the highway.

“Where ya from?”

“Waterbury.”

“Ooooh. That town with the big cross.”

The town with the big cross – that’s us. Not the town that made the Mickey Mouse watch or the town where women licked radium infused paint brushes or the town that birthed Jimmy Piersall, Bob Crane, Rosalind Russell and me. Not even the Brass Capital of the World.

We were the town with the big cross. There was a little cross, too – a little white cross. It was big to us kids. And there was this other brown wooden beauty with Jesus on it as his Mother and John knelt at its base. And way over yonder, if you had no fear of a little climbing, we found the devil. He was tempting Jesus and being face to face with a life size demon as a kid was a little creepy. Jesus and the devil were eventually vandalized. They were repaired and put into a chain-link cage, an attempt to keep them safe, but somehow they were destroyed in the cage. Things were never the same after that.

We spent hours up there as kids. We knew what most of the quotes on the rough cement banners meant because we went to Catholic schools, however, that wasn’t the attraction for us. It was the blueberries, the climbing, the hiding, the jumping and the little stream that sometimes flowed. I found my first

fossil of a snail shell there, which I promptly lost.

We played hide and seek there, we played war there and we even filmed one of my first movies there with my Dad’s 8mm camera. And through it all, we respected the area. Not because it was “holy”, but because it wasn’t ours, we were guests and that was the right thing to do.

Then one Friday night, in the early 1970s, I went over to the dark side. Usually Fridays were reserved for movies down at the Colonial Plaza, a McDonald’s feast and some harmless shenanigans at Crazy Eight, an arcade that used to be open.

I would go with my cousin and our mutual friend and we were a trio of true fun-lovers who made each other laugh until we couldn’t breathe.

This particular Friday night, three other boys from Town Plot, Waterbury’s Little Italy, for some reason joined us. But these were the kids we other Italians referred to as “Guidos”. They wore less gold than their older counterparts and fewer velour sweat suits, but kings of phrases like “How youz doin’?” and an inability to pronounce the “h” in the word “three”. For example, “Dere were tree of dem.”

They wanted to go to the dance at the YMCA instead of the movies. We decided to give it a go and after about 20 minutes there, we all became bored.

I don’t remember why we wanted to leave, but no one danced and we just stood around like a half dozen, y’know, jamoches.

Although it was winter and there was snow and

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Holy Land founder, John Greco, left, in the 1960s.

ice on the ground and dark out, we decided a perfect adventure would be to walk from The Green to Holy Land USA. I don’t remember it being a particularly long walk or a cold one, but I was 13 with a full warm head of hair that I desperately miss. Although I was the youngest, I was somehow elected to lead this expedition consisting of my cousin, another friend and the trio of mumbling Jamoches. I knew Holy Land like the back of my hand so with great power came great responsibility, however my Spidey Senses was tingling.

The first thing I showed everyone was the thing that freaked me out the most – even in broad daylight. It was a photographic negative of the “real” face of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin.

Now, way back in 1971, not many people were aware of the shroud so when I put on my docent hat and announced that the first thing we were going to do was to look into the real face of Jesus, I saw ten eyes open wide in what I interpreted as fear. I led them to the crude white cabinet that housed all the photos about the shroud and pointed out the countenance of the Christ. There was enough moonlight reflected off the snow so the face was clearly discernable and for a total of fifteen solid seconds, there was complete silence save the icy wind that blew through my full head of hair. Have I mentioned that I miss that hair?

One of the Jamoches turned towards the direction of the Catacombs and asked me what was “over dere”. I explained that that was a replica of the Catacombs from Ancient Rome. He cocked his head quizzically like a dog does when you ask him if he wants to go for a ride. I explained that it was

a bunch of tunnels that went underground with little rooms where the Christians were buried. I told them that I have been in there many times and there are two mannequins of saints. One was Saint Lucy holding a platter with her own eyes on it.

She gouged them out herself because some guy kept telling her they were beautiful. The other was Saint Sebastian who was tied to a stake and shot with like a million arrows and covered in blood.

“Let’s go in,” someone whispered.

For a moment, no one responded and then everyone began talking at once. And the decision was made.

They wanted to get the bejesus scared out of them and what better way than to interact in the near dark with eyeless and bloody saints and dead Christians. I tried to talk them out of it, but the best I could do was to get them to agree to not damage anything.

I didn’t want to go in, but I thought I should to prevent a Jamoche from pulling out any arrows or pocketing one of Santa Lucia’s pupils. We began walking towards the Catacombs.

Now, allow me to explain that in the interest of 1971 fashion, I spraypainted an old pair of Beatle boots gold. I thought it would be pretty cool. Gold boots. Clark, the neighborhood bully always teased me about them and threatened to beat me up if I ever walked by his house again wearing them and I never did. Almost a quarter century later, I ran into Clark and asked him why he threatened me for my gilt footwear and he claimed he didn’t recall that and apologized, offering me free tickets to a hayride at a farm store that he managed. Anyway, because these boots were old, there was no tread left on them and

I could not climb the icy incline to the Catacombs.

“I can’t do this,” I blurted out with frustration. My cousin, who was easily spooked, offered to stay with me while the others had their adventure. I told him I would be fine outside by myself and through clenched teeth he said sternly, “I’m staying here with you!”

The crew found an opening in the fence in front of the Catacombs. As I recall, in the vestibule in the front before you entered through the antique looking door to the darkness that awaited you, there was usually a woman behind a tall counter in front saying things like, “four more”, and four more people would enter. I think there were two small urns there in a recess in the wall there that had a sign bragging that they contained either sand from the Catacombs in Rome or ground up Christian bones.

We watched as the boys chattered and grunted as they painfully squeezed through the opening in the locked gate. In a few minutes they were in and there was complete silence again. I was a tad worried that they were going to break something. I really didn’t like the idea of them wandering around in there. Neither my cousin nor I had any idea how long they would be gone so we started to stroll back to the photos of the shroud when we heard voices coming from the Catacombs. I heard mostly expletives as I assumed they walked into the roughly textured walls or encountered the bloody mannequin pierced with several pointed missiles.

We ran over to the exit and could hear laughing. I cupped my hands on either side of my mouth and bellowed authoritatively in the deepest voice I could muster, “What are you boys doing in there?” and/or “God hates you”.

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I don’t recall exactly. Their laughter died off suddenly and I heard chaos.

There must have been wailing and gnashing of teeth and it was clear that they wanted to come out as soon as possible. The words I heard were: police, trouble, parents, priest and many combinations of really dirty words.

My cousin and I began to laugh as we ran back to our original positions at the bottom of the incline near the entrance. Suddenly, the boys expelled themselves through that small opening like the last squirts from an old tube of toothpaste. They were breathless, one had a torn coat and another, a cut hand – all seemed terrified. They saw us and darted over.

“We heard voices!” one exclaimed.

“Someone else was in there!” another hoarsely whispered.

“Did you guys see anyone?” someone else asked us.

“Nope.” We both shook our heads.

We began walking back towards downtown and no one said a word.

As we came to my house, I asked my cousin and our mutual friend if they wanted to hang around at my house.

We went inside and bid farewell to the Jamoches.

We watched them walk down the street, one pulling his torn coat around him a little tighter, one holding his cut hand wrapped in a handkerchief and one with a slight limp. Whether he had that limp before the Catacomb adventure, I’ll never know.

And Holy Land USA, I am proud to say, stayed unvandalized that night.

Once in a while, I drive up to Pine Hill, to the entrance gates that are now locked. The Catacombs no longer exist and I thought I saw some of the white wood strewn about from the crude cabinet that housed the photos of the shroud.

So many of the charming miniature buildings are gone and those that were still there are broken, and destroyed by vandals. Many statues have been tipped over and I can’t remember the state of the Our Father Stairs.

Whether you were/are religious or not, you could appreciate the hours and hours that Attorney John Greco and his small crew put in to create this amazing shrine because of his deep love for God. Across the nation, people who have heard of our Holy Land have either found it charming, reverent or bizarre (as Stephen Colbert did on the Daily Show). There are postcards all over Ebay, videos on YouTube and I even have a very rare documentary on DVD from the late 1960s. Holy Land USA belonged to Waterbury and Waterbury belonged to it.

On one fairly recent visit, I spied a vandalized statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched, but with no hands.

It looked like he was sadly saying we were no longer welcome in Holy Land USA. Everyone knew that we were the town with the “big cross”. We still are with our brand new one that changes colors and is a backdrop for the 4th of July fireworks. We may have the big cross still, but Holy Land USA - at the moment - is now just a memory.

A really nice one.

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“…no segment of the population should, because of its racial or economic makeup, bear a disproportionate share of risks and consequences of environmental pollution or be denied equal access to environmental benefits.”

Environmental Injustice In Waterbury CT DEEP’s Environmental Equity Policy, 1993

Story and Photographs

By John Murray The permitting process to allow F&G to operate a garbage plant in the South End of Waterbury has not met the legal outreach requirements that protect a distressed Hispanic population living within a half mile of the facility.

Odor and trucks are the hot button issues for the general public, but a little known regulation – the Connecticut Environmental Justice Law – might upend F&G’s dream of garbage expansion in Waterbury.

Environmental justice communities in the state are identified by the Connecticut Department of Economic Community Development (DECD) by compiling statistics on unemployment, poverty, aging housing stock, declining rates of job growth, population and per capita income to rank all 169 municipalities in Connecticut. The 25 municipalities with the worst results are labeled distressed communities.

Waterbury is #3 on the distressed municipality list behind New London and Ansonia. When a municipality is distressed it gains additional protection as an “environmental justice community”, and companies seeking permits for waste incinerators, sewage treatment plants and waste processing plants have to meet strict legal requirements to fully engage with local residents.

Sharon Lewis is the executive director of the CT Coalition for Environmental Justice and she spoke at a forum on Environmental Racism in West Hartford on June 5th. “People of color are targeted with toxic dumps and incinerators,” she told the audience. “Decision makers avoid opposition by going to places where there is no political power, and where there is limited knowledge of the dangers. Marginalized communities are not included at the table and there are shovels in the ground before anyone knows what’s going on.”

According to Connecticut statute 22a-20a, a company applying for a waste permit in an environmental justice community has to…

• Post a reasonably visible sign, printed in all languages spoken by at least twenty per cent of the population that reside within a one-half of a mile radius of the proposed or existing facility, in accordance with local regulations and ordinances • Notify neighborhood and environmental groups, in writing, in a language appropriate for the target audience • Not less than ten days prior to the informal public meeting and not more than thirty days prior to such meeting, the applicant shall publish the date, time and nature of the informal public meeting with a minimum one-quarter page advertisement in a newspaper having general circulation in the area affected, and any other appropriate local newspaper serving such area, in the Monday issue of a daily publication or any day in a weekly or monthly publication.

• Any municipality, owner or developer may enter into a community environmental benefit agreement in connection with an affecting facility. Mitigation may include both on-site and off-site improvements, activities and programs, including, but not limited to: Funding for activities such as environmental education, diesel pollution reduction, construction of biking and walking trails, staffing for parks, urban forestry, support for community gardens or any other negotiated benefit to the environment in the environmental justice community. Prior to negotiating the terms of a community environmental benefit agreement, the municipality shall provide a reasonable and public opportunity for residents of the potentially affected environmental justice community to be heard concerning the need for, and terms of, such agreement.

The last bullet point about a Community Environmental Benefit Agreement is not required by law, and Waterbury Corporation Counsel Linda Wihbey said the subject never came up during talks with F&G,

but perhaps it should have. The first three bullet points are specific legal requirements that were not documented in F&G’s Environmental Justice Participation Plan submitted to Edith Pestana, the administrator of the Environmental Justice Program at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Pestana approved the F&G document created by Anchor Engineering of Glastonbury, and said she was unaware that there had been no direct outreach into the distressed Hispanic community.

“This has never happened before,” she said. “99% of the companies that file these reports have done everything they are supposed to,” Pestana said.

“Companies are looking to have a good relationship with the community. F&G’s report looked like there had been considerable public participation, so I approved it.”

There was public outreach by F&G to engage Waterbury’s neighborhood associations when they invited 25 groups to a meeting inside Waterbury City Hall on February 1, 2017. Nine groups showed up, including

The Waterbury Observer Waterville, Country Club, Lakewood, Hillside, and Overlook, none of which would be directly impacted by the trucks and odor from the garbage transfer station. Hopeville and Gilmartin groups were also in attendance. The South End Neighborhood Association is in the middle of the Hispanic population and was invited to the informational meeting, but the group was in limbo and did not attend. By law the burden of connecting with the Hispanic population was on F&G, and there was no outreach in Spanish to the population that would be most impacted by the garbage facility.

State Representative Geraldo Reyes Jr. lives in the South End and was never directly contacted by F&G (although State Representative Anthony D’Amelio who represents Town Plot and Middlebury was invited to a public forum by registered mail). Reyes found out through word of mouth about the public forum and attended.

“F&G did not reach out to the Hispanic community and explain their project,” Reyes said. “F&G did not explain to the Hispanic community that hundreds of tons of garbage and more than 100 garbage trucks would be coming into their neighborhood every day.

The Railroad Hill property is just on the other side of the Naugatuck River from the largest Hispanic population in the city, and we were left out of the discussion.”

Why does that matter? It matters because it’s the Hispanic population that will be most impacted by the trucks, odor and diesel fumes, and they already breath some of the most polluted air in the state of Connecticut.

According to an air quality report compiled by New York University, New Haven County has the highest annual mortality rate in the state from air pollution with a death rate of 54.9 people per year. Fairfield County has an annual mortality of 47.9 per year and Hartford County’s rate is 30.5 deaths per year. The state of Vermont has one death per year from air pollution.

In April the American Lung Association’s 2018 State of the Air report found that the air in Connecticut ranked among the worst of any area east of the Mississippi.

Steve Schrag lives in the Gilmartin neighborhood and is the chairman of the Environmental Commission in Waterbury. Schrag spoke before the Zoning Commission in April and cited data from an Environmental Protection Agency program called Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program. Schrag said, “Nearly 10% of all the air pollution in Connecticut comes from one zip code, 06706 – the South End of Waterbury.”

Sophia Weber is a chemical engineer at the University of New Haven and has been conducting air quality tests throughout Waterbury using an AirBeam air monitor. The device is an EPA-accredited air-monitoring tool developed for the use of researchers and citizen scientists. The device measures fine particulate matter 2.5 micrometers wide, which Weber said creates havoc when a particulate that size gets into the deepest recesses of the lungs. Weber is involved with the Waterbury Mutual Aid and Defense Network and said the AirBeam results have fluctuated wildly, largely depending on weather.

Results of 35 micrograms per cubic meter were problematic, Weber said, and she had recorded readings on hot, muggy days of 235 micrograms per cubic meter. “Readings that high,” Weber said, “are extraordinarily bad.”

Why is air quality an issue in F&G’s permit process? Because the daily addition of 61 diesel trucks making round trips through a distressed community will add more toxins into the air in a community already afflicted with alarming asthma rates.

The Connecticut Public Health Asthma Program documented that from 2010 to 2014 that Waterbury has the most asthma related visits to an emergency room in Connecticut, and the 4th highest number of asthma related hospitalizations.

A 2014 report issued by the Connecticut Department of Health states that, “Hispanic students (17.2%) and

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non-Hispanic black students (16.7%) had significantly higher rates of asthma when compared to nonHispanic white students (11.2%).”

Which is why the Environmental Justice Program is so important. Sharon Lewis of the CT Coalition for Environmental Justice said that three out of every five African-Americans live near toxic dumpsites and that blacks and Hispanics are considered marginalized collateral damage.

“Race is a determining factor where these facilities go,” Lewis said. “The decision makers need to be concerned about the health of people of color.”

Lewis used to work in the corporate world and traveled extensively around America. “I used to tell the taxi driver to take me to where the black people live,” Lewis said. “Now I tell the taxi driver to take me to the land fill or the trash incinerator, because that’s where the black people live.”

Alex Rodriguez was a panelist at the forum on Environmental Racism on June 5th in West Hartford.

Rodriguez is a student at Central Connecticut State University and a CHISPA community organizer.

“I don’t want to live in a world where people’s health is determined by where people live,” Rodriguez said. “I want to stand up for black and brown kids.”

The F&G public participation plan has no data

State Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr.

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showing it made the “meaningful” effort required by law to engage the most affected residents in the environmental justice community.

The poor and largely Hispanic population in the South End of Waterbury was not engaged in the process. The burden of making that outreach and connection is solely the responsibility of the business seeking a permit in an environmental justice community.

It is the responsibility of the Environmental Justice administrator at DEEP to have thoroughly vetted F&G’s public participation plan. When the Waterbury Observer contacted Edith Pestana and informed her that the distressed residents in the South End of Waterbury had not been engaged in the process, and had not been protected by the environmental justice program she ran, she was shocked.

“If I had known we could have solved this issue by setting up a few meetings in churches in the South End,” Pestana said. “I wish the community had reached out and let me know this.”

When asked how she could place the burden on the vulnerable community it was her job to protect, Pestana said, “the Environmental Commission in Waterbury usually communicates very well with me. Steve Schrag knows me, Larry De Pillo knows me. I didn’t hear anything about the lack of Hispanic outreach.

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This has never happened before.”

Pestana said there had been substantial reductions at DEEP and she relies heavily on feedback from the community to address deficiencies in public participation. “The community needs to reach out,” she said. “I need to hear from the people. I’m telling you the truth, I can’t do it all myself.”

State Representative Geraldo Reyes is a member of the Environmental Committee in Hartford and utilized environmental legal counsel and his legislative aides to research environmental justice law. Reyes said F&G was legally required to engage the Hispanic community, and they missed the target.

“As a lifelong stakeholder in the South End it’s unfair to continue to ask the taxpayers from the South End to house the majority of the city’s toxins,” Reyes said. “When is enough, enough?”

The Environment

As part of the F&G’s Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan the company is required to reach out and directly engage environmental groups, and there is no data in their report that they did so. Kevin Zak lives less than a mile south of the proposed facility, and is the president and founder of the Naugatuck River Revival Group.

Zak is also a member of the Waterbury Greenway Committee, and the 40-mile Naugatuck River Greenway Committee, and has multiple concerns about the F&G proposal.

When contacted, Zak didn’t mince words. “You can’t have garbage trucks driving back and forth right next to the greenway,” he said. “It will kill the quality of life experience for users of the greenway.”

Zak said F&G and traffic studies failed to factor in the “economic externality” of the project, which is a consequence of an economic activity experienced by an unrelated third party. Externality can be either positive or negative to a project. In this case F&G’s project would have a negative impact on the greenway project.

“They don’t see houses along that stretch of South Main Street so they’ve concluded the trucks will not have a negative impact,” Zak said. “That’s convenient for them, but they didn’t put all the factors in the equation, and

Kevin Zak at DEEP HQs

Summer 2018

that’s why we keep getting in trouble down the road. This will kill the greenway with noise and diesel fumes and nobody has even talked about that.”

Another factor in the state’s Environmental Justice Program is to ensure distressed environmental justice communities have equal access to the environment, “Won’t the garbage trucks create a barrier between the Hispanic community in the South End and the greenway?” Zak said. ”What happens when a kid gets hit by a garbage truck while crossing South Main Street to get to the greenway?”

Zak is outspoken and passionate about the Waterbury Greenway, but he is furious about an F&G facility at 184 Municipal Road in Waterbury, a half mile south of the F&G’s proposed waste transfer station at 260 Railroad Hill.

In F&G’s Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan they were asked if they had any violations at other facilities that they operated. They answered no, which Zak said is not true.

After a decade of plucking garbage and debris from the Naugatuck River, Zak has begun legal proceedings against F&G for being a serial polluter of the Naugatuck River watershed.

“I’m suing because I’m angry,” Zak said. “I’ve been picking up their garbage for years. This has to stop.”

Zak first became aware that the F&G facility at 184 Municipal Road in Waterbury was a problem while he was participating in an Earth Day cleanup in May 2017 with members of the Waterbury Greenway Committee.

The F&G facility is on a slope and whenever it rains water flows through mounds of construction debris, down a driveway, across Municipal Road, down a steep embankment and into the Naugatuck River.

“How is this facility allowed to operate with such obvious design flaws?”

Zak asked. “You don’t need to be an engineer to realize common sense is missing in their design.”

Zak sent a letter last week to Frank and Gerald Antonacci to formally announce his intent to sue the F&G owners under the Federal Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Connecticut General Statues.

Additionally Zak intends to sue the

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Debris from 184 Municipal Road heading towards the river. various companies that the Antonacci brothers do business under; Municipal Road Transfer Center LLC, 260 Railroad Hill LLC, F&G LLC, USA Hauling and Recycling Inc., All American Waste LLC, and Murphy Road Recycling LLC. Zak spent a day inside DEEP headquarters last week investigating the various companies that have done business at 184 Municipal Road and discovered violations at the facility that stretched back two decades.

“The companies owned by Frank and Gerald Antonacci have been polluting the Naugatuck River since 1997 and neither DEEP or the EPA has done much to stop them,” Zak said. “That is why I began legal action. They have not been good neighbors to the community.”

Timeline

Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary said he’d never heard of F&G before his economic development coordinator, Joe McGrath, told him in 2015 that the company wanted to expand its facility on Railroad Hill Street and change from sorting construction and demolition material, to municipal waste (the stuff in your garbage plan).

“I was dead set against it,” O’Leary said. “The idea didn’t meet the vision we have for the South End of Waterbury, and I was not going to support it.”

O’Leary said he stayed quiet and let the proposal work itself through the Waterbury Zoning Board. In February 2017 a hornet’s nest of concerned citizens spoke before the Zoning Com-

mission and raised enough quality of life issues that the commission eventually voted 5-2 to deny F&G’s application to expand their hauling permit from 100 tons a day, to 700 tons a day, and to include household waste. The residents’ concerns about odor in the South End and trucks filled with waste driving through residential neighborhoods and along a proposed greenway were enough to torpedo the project.

Steve Schrag asked who would monitor the trucks, and who would keep the trucks out of the neighborhoods?

Schrag stated that the F&G operation is a combination of seven different limited liability corporations. “Where does the buck stop if there is a problem,” Schrag asked. “Who do we hold accountable?”

Mayor O’Leary also stepped into the fray and loudly voiced his opposition.

“Wrong place, wrong time, and wrong message to send to the residents in the South End of the city,” O’Leary told The Waterbury Observer in February 2017. “We are working hard to improve the quality of life in the South End, and municipal waste is not part of that vision.”

F&G representatives did attempt to address community concerns and met with members of the Waterbury Neighborhood Council 15 months ago inside Waterbury City Hall to answer questions. At that meeting Attorney Michael Tansley, representing F&G, said the “odor and traffic issues were very manageable and there would be no impediment to neighborhoods and city roads.”

Tansley said the project could gener-

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Corporation Counsel Linda Wihbey under the watchful eye of Steve Schrag ate five to ten new jobs and would result in increased tax revenue, and cost savings for Waterbury. F&G was asked by the city to pay for an odor study on the project and Tansley said the study concluded that the odor would only be detectable a “couple times a year.”

The odor study was prepared by TRC of Windsor, CT, and a draft report concluded that if F&G implemented ten additional steps to its plan that the facility “would not be expected to create an odor nuisance, except possibly in unusual circumstances.”

Any circumstance was unacceptable to Mayor O’Leary.

“What if that certain day is July 4th or Memorial Day?” O’Leary asked back in 2017. “Any day is unacceptable in an area that already has issues with odors from the waste water treatment plant. More odor in the South End is not fair, and it is not right. Any odor is too much.”

Edith Pestana from DEEP said the F&G permitting process has been highly unusual in Waterbury from the beginning. “The process has been hostile for two years,” Pestana said, “and I’m not sure why.”

Perhaps the tension came from the fierce opposition F&G encountered from City Hall, the Zoning Commission, neighborhood groups and community leaders. Waterbury clearly does not want a waste transfer station in the South End of the city.

After the Zoning Commission rejected F&G’s expansion project, F&G sued and the city began negotiations with the company in Superior Court.

Corporation Counsel Linda Wihbey said the city was in a bind because two independent consultants hired by the Zoning Commission had found there would be no negative impact

from odor or traffic. “The Zoning Commission’s decision was not supported by our own experts,” Wihbey said. “That was a problem for us if the case went to trial.”

The city could have fought F&G and taken the lawsuit to court, but if the city lost, F&G would have a permit to haul 700 tons of municipal waste a day, and there would be 140 garbage trucks coming and going from the facility.

“I was between a rock and a hard place,” O’Leary said, “so we agreed to a settlement that would cut the amount of tons per day from 700 tons to 350 tons, and reduce the trucks

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from 140 to 61. I have a history of not settling lawsuits, but the stakes were high and I took the advice of our legal team and settled with F&G.” F&G is trying to obtain the municipal waste permit so it can bid on a contract to haul Waterbury’s garbage, which is currently hauled to Bristol by Covanta.

The city’s garbage hauling contract is out to bid right now and F&G is unable to make a bid because its permit has not been issued by DEEP yet. If F&G were to win the contract in Waterbury it could add an additional 125 tons of municipal waste to its permit for a total of 500 tons a day. If F&G is issued its permit by DEEP and does not win a contract with Waterbury, the 350 tons of garbage trucked into the city will be from the suburbs.

The settlement agreement was approved by the Zoning Commission on March 28th, 2018, and approved in Superior Court one week later. F&G had navigated through the city’s permitting process (usually the toughest hurdle to clear) and the last obstacle was getting DEEP’s approval (which was considered a formality).

That would have been the end of the process, but Steve Schrag collected 25 signatures and petitioned DEEP to hold a public hearing on the permit, and the community was back in the conversation. The truck and odor issues have already been resolved and sources inside DEEP said the permit is 99.9% done, and the public hearing is not much more than a legal formality.

The permit would be granted unless something new and unexpected came up.

It has.

Environmental justice has not been done.

Edith Pestana from DEEP said there has never been a permit denied because of environmental justice, but said this was the first time since the law went into effect in 2009 that anyone was challenging an Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan.

“This is a first,” she said. “The hearing officer might add conditions to the

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permit, or he could tell F&G to start over and engage the Hispanic community. This will be history.”

Pestana will be attendance at the DEEP public hearing Tuesday night, June 12th and she said, “the hearing is not a place to vent. Bring facts, bring testimony, it can make a difference.”

Geraldo Reyes, Steve Schrag and the Waterbury Neighborhood Council have spent the past two weeks organizing a rally in the South End and recruiting residents to attend the DEEP public hearing. In many ways the fight is no longer simply about garbage transfer station in the South End of the city. The fight now is for increased civic engagement and true environmental justice.

This is a battle for the soul of the city.

Postscript

The above article was published on the Observer website Sunday, June 10th, and a link was e-mailed to Mayor O’Leary and the 15 members of the Board of Aldermen. The following night the Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to oppose the F&G transfer station on the grounds that Environmental Justice Laws had not been followed. The next night, June 12th, 200 Waterbury residents packed Veterans Hall and put on a united front against F&G’s expansion project. More than a dozen times the Observer article was referenced by speakers, and entire passages were read into the record. State Represntative Geraldo Reyes Jr. asked DEEP to deny the F&G permit and order them to begin the process over again from the beginning, this time including South End residents.

Senator Joan Hartley, members of the Waterbury Greenway Committee, a united Board of Aldermen, residents of Waterbury, Naugatuck and Middlebury, and a statement from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments were all in opposition to a waste transfer station in the South End. It doesn’t happen often, but on the night of June 12th, Waterbury stood as one.

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A bi-partisan group of Waterbury aldermen stood by Roger Sherman as he read their resolution opposing the project into the record on June 12th.

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Sewage Right to Know Act

Column By Geraldo Reyes Jr.

On Columbus Day in 2017 five million gallons of raw sewage was dumped into the Naugatuck River in Waterbury and the public was unaware of the toxic spill for ten days. The manager at the Waste Water Treatment plant notified the CT Department of Environmental Protection, but failed to notify Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary or the general public.

This extraordinary event would have gone unnoticed if not for the reporting of Republican-American newspaper reporter Michael Puffer who discovered there had been a spill while browsing the DEEP website looking for fishing information. Further exploration by Kevin and Sondra Zak, and The Waterbury Observer, documented the devastation 13 days after the toxic event.

This spill was disappointing because of the enormous effort and work invested by the state of Connecticut and the Naugatuck River Revival Group to clean up the river and reintroduce wildlife to the area. Not notifying the public of health and safety concerns was he worst offense in the accidental dumping of sewage into the river.

Folks were fishing, playing and possibly swimming in the river with no knowledge of the spill.

When Mayor O’Leary said he was unaware of the spill ten days after it happened, there was an obvious communication problem, and I began to explore

Making Sure The Public Is Informed Of Sewage Spills

legislative solutions. The public has to be notified as quickly as possible and I wanted to introduce legislation that would make notification a law.

I am a member of the State Legislature and sit on the Environmental Committee and immediately began taking a deep look into the state laws

regarding toxic spills into waterways.

I had several conversations with CoChair Mike Demicco and he was guiding me along the process with much of the work started before session.

I needed to have a reference point to better understand the actual law on the books, which was vague at best. I was fortunate to have great leadership and colleagues that understood the big picture and the overall problem and they helped to craft language for House Bill 5130 – Sewage Spill Right to Know Act. To get the bill out of the Environmental Committee and onto the floor of the House I was advised that the bill should have no fiscal mandate and it should have bi-partisan support.

Getting my fellow legislators to sign onboard was my favorite part of the process. I’ve always been an effective at building coalitions and was able to garner support from 30 representatives before it came out of committee. This was a critical step in the process.

To getting the bill out of the environmental committee I had several meetings with Senator Ted Kennedy Jr., Senator Craig Minor and Representative Demicco to get language and fiscal notes cleared and make the bill easier to be accepted by the entire committee . The bill met my three clear goals; transparency, accountability and communication down stream.

Once my bill made it out of the En-

The Waterbury Observer vironmental Committee I had to get it called to the floor of the House for a vote. Another hurdle to get over.

Much of this work is negotiated behind the scene by chairs and lobbyist and folks with interest. Every legislator with a bill is lobbying to get their bill called on the floor, and the key is timing, preparedness and sometimes ease or difficulty involved. I didn’t ask for my bill to be called and left that to my leadership who promised it would be called, and it was.

Once on the floor the legislators debate the pros and cons and the conversations were interesting. While many legislators supported the bill in general, they didn’t want to mandate electronic reporting from the waste water treatment plants to DEEP, and others didn’t want to include training for operators of the plants. A few legislators didn’t want to get the top elected official in a town or city involved, and others just wanted the waste treatment plants to report a spill by faxing and scanning papers. The process in my estimation was begging for clarity and modern technology, and my colleagues in the House agreed with me by a vote of 142-8.

Next the bill had to make it through the Senate. Senator Kennedy assured me that my bill would be called on the last day of the session. As I drove to Hartford I was nervous because of the many good bills that still needed to be called and debated on floor and I was afraid the clock would time out on my bill.

I was assured by Senator Kennedy and Senator Joan Hartley that they would get my bill called, and they did.

In one of my several trips upstairs to the Senate I walked in as my bill was being defended by Senator Kennedy with Senator Joan Hartley on the dais.

I was thrilled that it was finally called but Democrat Senator John Fonfara was arguing against it and the bill was going down a rough road. I watched Senator Bob Duff go over and speak with Senator Fonfara, and debate died down and went to a vote, and it passed quite easily, 34-2 Without the muscle of Senator Kennedy, Senator Craig Minor and Senator Joan Hartley the bill would not have made it through the legislative process on the last night of the session.

I was super excited that night as this legislation is my first major bill introduced in a committee that went on to navigate it through the entire process.

It was a lot of work but it’s a cause worth fighting for and the state is bet-

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waterburyobserver@gmail.com

State Representative Geraldo Reyes watching the CT Senate debate his legislation, and then celebrating when it passed 34-2 in the final hours of the legislative session. The bill was signed by Governor Dan Malloy and became law on July 1st, 2018. ter off because of the important legislation.

I wanted to be present when our Governor signed it, but that didn’t happen, but I’m thrilled just the same as it’s a major improvement to communication which will make Connecticut better.

The bill went into effect July 1, 2018 and it is about transparency and effective and timely communication.

Municipal leaders must be notified by waste treatment plant operators within two hours after a spill of over 5,000 gallons, and the public is to be notified as soon as practical.

A few other points that also came out of the bill are electronic reporting of spills from waste treatment operators to DEEP, and operator training for the associates that work in waste treatment plants. Both were strongly supported by all.

Sewage spills are environmental disasters, but now we have a law in place that mandates communication between waste treatment plants and elected officials, who are then responsible for notifying the media, the general public, and towns down river.

It was a lot of hard work, but with terrific collaboration we managed to make something good out of that terrible sewage spill that stained the Naugatuck River last October. •

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Bombshell In Connecticut

By Carmine Capobianco If you go to Mamie’s Restaurant in Roxbury, you’ll spend ten or fifteen bucks on a pretty darn good breakfast.

I’ve never been there but I’ve heard things. You also may run into Mia Farrow but you have a better chance of running into Daniel Day-Lewis. He goes there a lot.

In the old days, Roxbury was home to other celebrities like Richard Widmark, Walter Matthau and one of last century’s greatest playwrights, Arthur Miller. Miller lived at 232 Tophet Road in Roxbury until his death at 89 on February 10, 2005. But from 1956 to 1961, he had a roommate that was far more famous than any of the residents that have ever lived there or live there now.

His roommate and wife was Marilyn Monroe and she escaped Hollywood to become the country girl. Eventually, she tired of it and returned to Tinseltown and Miller stayed for another 44 years. We know Marilyn as the epitome of the blonde bombshell – her sultry voice, her famous face mole, her wiggle and her ability to play it dumb and sexy.

Following her was Jayne Mansfield, a successful Marilyn wannabe.

But where did this allure originate?

Was Marilyn unique or was she a very successful copycat?

Although Marilyn adapted her incredible persona that complimented her uncanny beauty, the ditzy blonde sex kitten character developed with a young lady who went by one name, like Cher or Madonna. She was born Virginia Ruth Egnor in 1921 and when she was hired by Jerry Lester for NBC’s first late night show, Broadway Open House in 1950, she was re-christened, simply, Dagmar. She was named after the character Dagmar Hansen on a show called Mama.

On this show, Dagmar wore a low cut gown and sat on a stool. Some nights she wore a tight sweater and, with her measurements of 42-23-39, the male populous tuned in and turned her into such a success that Lester left the show and Dagmar took over.

Although today, she isn’t a name everyone remembers, she was one of the leading personalities of 1950s live television. She worked with Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, Milton Berle, Eddie Cantor, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and, of course, Frank Sinatra. She was adored by Sinatra and he had a

ball working with her. Her comedic timing was spot on and, although she was quite smart and quick-witted, she played the ditz perfectly.

Try Googling Dagmar and Frank Sinatra together and see the two of them in action on The Frank Sinatra Show. Wonderful. Or Google “Mama Will Bark” and listen to the duet between the two of them – it’s so bad, it’s kind of cool.

In 1952, NBC gave her a late night Saturday evening show called Dagmar’s Canteen which aired at 12:15 am. She sang, danced, did comedy – both scripted and improvised - and interviewed servicemen. These guys loved every minute of her attention as

she teased and flirted her way through the show.

She didn’t do anything in the movies except act in a biopic of her life in 1951 with Art Carney. The movie was called, naturally, The Dagmar Story and she, of course, had the title role.

And Cadillacs, Packards and Buicks sported what was affectionately known as “Dagmar Bumpers”, dual chrome pointed projections on the front ends.

No explanation needed.

We know that she never achieved the superstar status of Marilyn. Where did she go?

According to an article by Dorothy Evans in the Newtown Bee dated January 2, 1997, Dagmar came to Connecti-

cut. She bought a home in Newtown at 12 Valley Field Road off Walnut Tree Hill.

Residents remember her doing normal things. She often shopped at the Grand Union (one resident jokingly stated that he’d “pray she’d lean over to pick up something from the bottom shelf”), she visited Dr.Goodman, the dentist who eventually misplaced an autographed photo of her and had her hair done right in town. And it seems that most everyone used the same words to describe her: sweet, generous and oh-so glamorous.

Eventually, in 1971, Dagmar sold her home in Newtown to the Sadlers. Mrs. Sadler allegedly speculated that Dag-

The Waterbury Observer mar had failing health and fallen onto hard times because she closed her other residences and brought everything she owned to Newtown, filling various rooms and her antique barn.

“But we found huge amounts of Dagmar’s discarded possessions after we moved in,” Mrs. Sadler was quoted as saying in the Newtown Bee article.

“We couldn’t even get into the rooms because there was so much stuff.”

The Sadlers gave away most of the possessions but held onto a few of the entertainer’s top-quality Stetson hats she wore on TV. After Dagmar left, nobody seems to know what happened to her.

In 1993, I opened a video store on Grandview Avenue in Waterbury. We had an incredible eclectic selection of movies and, although we were set in a neighborhood rather than a main road, people came from all over to hunt for the perfect videotape.

In what may have been 1994 or 1995, a portly white-haired gentleman strolled into Funstuff Video. I greeted him and gave him a bag of popcorn.

He asked if I had any old movies and I escorted him to our Classics section. He munched on his popcorn and browsed for a bit. As I walked back to my counter, I looked out the window to the street and noticed that he had pulled up in a yellow taxicab.

When he made his selection, he put the two videotapes he had chosen on the counter and I signed him up for his “Free Membership”. I introduced myself to Charlie and we joked about “Taxi Driver” and had a nice conversa-

BEST OF WATERBURY 2018

tion about some of the greats. We talked about Cary Grant movies, Chaplin shorts, the Marx Bros. and, of course, the old westerns.

Charlie stayed for a while and I really enjoyed our film chat. After pulling up in his cab a couple of days later, he came in and returned his movies and grabbed a couple of more. He came in two or three times a week, took a few of my recommendations and I occasionally offered him a movie that he wasn’t so keen on for free if he promised he would watch it.

After several months of our movie friendship, he came in to return his tapes and said to me, “You’ll never guess who I had in my cab today.”

“The president?”

He sighed. I asked for a hint and he just said “blonde bombshell”.

I had no idea. I knew Marilyn Monroe was dead and I couldn’t think of another “bombshell”. I gave up.

“Dagmar!” he blurted out excitedly.

“Dagmar? The woman from the old TV shows?”

“Yes!” Charlie was obviously pumped up. “She called the cab company and I had to go to Heritage Village (in Southbury, CT) to pick her up. She wanted to go shopping. I went shopping with Dagmar! She told the greatest stories I ever heard about Milton Berle and Sinatra and Martin and Lewis. She worked with Bob Hope and she loved Jerry Colonna!”

“Jerry Colonna? Not sure I know who that is.”

“He was the guy with the big eyes and the big moustache. He worked a

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lot with Bob Hope.” I nodded in recognition. He leaned over and lowered his voice and told me, “Although she didn’t come right out and say it, I think Dagmar had a little tryst with Bob Hope.” (I later semi-verified that in a biography of Hope) For about a month, Charlie would come in and sometimes tell me of another day he spent with Dagmar. I was hooked on his stories. Well, her stories, really. I should have written them down. It’s hard to remember 22 years ago.

Then one day, Charlie strode into Funstuff with a serious look on his face saying somberly, “I need you to come out to my cab for a moment. I have something for you.”

I walked around the counter and joined him outside. He told me it was in the backseat and I opened the door.

There, sitting sideways on the backseat in a glamorous sequined top and slit skirt was Dagmar. I was unable to say a word so Charlie broke the silence.

“Carmine, this is Dagmar. Dagmar, this is Carmine.”

Dagmar smiled and so elegantly held out her hand. I took it and she squeezed my fingers gently and said, “Come, sit.” I happily crawled into the backseat of the cab hoping I wouldn’t fall over. Or on her. Dagmar brought the hand she just used to touch me to her chest.

“Charlie told me you were an actor but he NEVER told me how handsome you are.” That same hand went to the side of my face.

“Thank you so much for visiting me.”

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I felt myself blushing. “That was so very nice.” I didn’t know what to say next and while staring into her gorgeous smiling eyes, I simply stated, “You are so beautiful.”

Her smile grew even wider. “So you are as sweet as you are handsome.”

Dagmar leaned over and kissed me on my cheek. “It was wonderful to meet you, Carmine!”

“It was so great meeting you, too!” I backed out of the cab and stood there for a moment looking at this “blonde bombshell” who was just as everyone had described: sweet, generous and oh-so glamorous. She smiled at me and gave me a little wave as I gently shut the cab’s door.

Charlie was outside grinning and leaning against the hood of his cab.

“Thank you, Charlie for bringing her here. What a wonderful surprise!”

“I told her about you and that you remembered her. It was her idea to make the trip here.”

Charlie gave me ten minutes that I would remember forever. Dagmar supposedly moved from Southbury to Ceredo, West Virginia in June of 1996 to be near her family. She died on October 9, 2001 of undisclosed causes.

She was 79.

A couple of years later, Charlie passed away. I missed seeing his cab in front of my store and I especially missed our movie chats. I’ll always be grateful for those chats and his talking me up to a lovely woman who made the golden age of television so special.

Thank you, Charlie. And say hello to Dagmar.

•

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Chief Vernon Riddick Retires From Waterbury Police Department Accepts Police Chief Job In West Hartford

Story By John Murray After serving as Waterbury’s top cop for the past six years, Vernon Riddick (above, left) retired from the Waterbury PD on June 4th and immediately accepted a job as the police chief in West Hartford.

Riddick told the Observer he was eligble to retire in 2014 but stayed on to serve the city that he has always called home. Riddick said the national average for a police chief to stay in position is two to three Iyears, and after six years in Waterbury, he said it was time to move on.

“The longer I stay I’m blocking people from moving up,” Riddick said. “It’s important to avoid stagnation in a police department. Movement keeps people fresh and creative.”

When Riddick announced his retirement in early April he said the response was overwhelmingly positive. “I felt a joy mixed with sorrow,” Riddick said.

“I’ve been a Waterbury cop since December 1994.”

Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary (a former Waterbury Police Chief himself) was not surprised by the development. “Vern has reached the age where he is eligible for retirement and can collect a pension,” O’Leary said. “With his new position and his pension he will now go from making $130,000 a year to $220,000 a year. That is a significant increase. This is a very typical move for police chiefs to make.”

O’Leary said in the past two years he had been approached by a big city mayor interested in hiring Riddick, but Riddick had no interest. “Vern has had other offers and hasn’t been interested,” O’Leary said. “Now he has two kids in college and the opportunity to be police chief in a town half the size of Waterbury, with less crime, and he’ll make a lot more money. Vern was born and raised in the Waterbury Police Department and he has done a good job. I’m happy for him. It’s time he took care of himself and his family.”

Riddick said being police chief is challenging and he has faced issues of recruitment, retention and trying to increase minority representation on the police force.

“We’ve gone into the churches to try and recruit candidates,” Riddick said, “and our current hiring list has a majority of minorities (women, Blacks and Hispanics), and that has never happened before.”

Riddick acknowledged an uptick in crime the past few years with the explosion of opioids, and a new wave of gang violence in the North End and Brooklyn. He oversaw the reintroduction of a gang task force and said he had opportunities to leave last year, but the timing was bad and he said he didn’t want to let the city down. “It would have bothered me if I had run out when things were tough,” Riddick said. ”We’re in a better place now.”

Fernando “Fred” Spagnolo, above right, has assumed the role of Acting Chief as testing and interviews for a permanent replacement unfold. •

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Best Festival Best Cultural Attraction Best Community Event More Than 100 Cultures Represented

Music, Food and Dance From Around The World

The Gathering September 22nd, 2018

Library Park, Downtown Waterbury 11AM to 7 PM

waterburygathering@gmail.com

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Issues. People. Events

Waterbury Connecticut’s Independent Newspaper

The Waterbury Observer, an independent newspaper taking an indepth look at the people, issues and events in the Brass City, and beyond, is now online at Waterburyobserver.org. The Observer, published monthly, now delivers fresh content, photographs and events daily online, which includes breaking news, coverage of local events and more.

Applying the same philosophy from our print edition to our website, the Observer jams a flashlight into the shadows of Waterbury to illuminate people and issues often overlooked by the local mainstream media; AIDS, homelessness, battered women, Hispanics, Blacks and Democrats.

On our website you’ll also be able to find in-depth travel articles that explore issues and events across the globe. In the coming months, you’ll be able to tap into the rich publishing history of the Observer’s archives, accessing stories from our first issue to our most recent. The Observer attempts to give a voice to the voiceless, and is unlike anything ever published in Waterbury (or online). Enjoy the journey.

Waterburyobserver.org

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opened its doors to the greater Waterbury community in September 1979. It is a nonprofit, state licensed preschool, which is owned and operated by the United Methodist Church of Waterbury, Inc. Country Garden Preschool supports the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children that “a high quality early childhood program provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children while responding to the needs of families.”

We believe that with respect for young children and knowledge of acceptable practices in early childhood education, our school will prepare children to become confident in themselves and their ability to learn about the world around them.

Country Garden students enjoy a special event, “Donuts with Daddy.”

Did you know that...

• Our teachers are experienced, warm and nurturing adults.

• Each class says a blessing at snack and meal time.

• Parents are invited monthly for special activities.

• We provide two healthy snacks each day.

• We provide a loving Christian environment and a place for children to be the wonderful and unique creation God made them to be.

Deborah W. Platt, Director The Country Garden Daycare/Preschool of the United Methodist Church of Waterbury

250 Country Club Rd. Waterbury, CT 06708 . 203-574-4981

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Displaced by the Lounsbury Street fire.

The Lounsbury Street ďŹ re in May 2017 was the worst neighborhood ďŹ re in Waterbury in the past forty years. 39 city residents - almost all Hispanic - were displaced. Swift action from the Hispanic Coalition helped coordinate a compassionate response from people all across greater Waterbury who donated 2000 bags of clothes, $10,000 in cash, gift cards, toys and lots of love.

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Zumba Class Tuesday @ 11 am

Victor Lopez, left, is the executive director of the Hispanic Coalition

The Waterbury Observer

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e Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury, Inc. has been in existence since 1988.

The Coalition has three decades of social services experience in the greater Waterbury area and is a principal leader for bilingual services, advocacy, collaboration, education, and policy development in the Latino community.

ase Management Program - provides assistance with obtaining essential vital records, i.e.; birth

rtificates, divorce paperwork, identification cards, etc. Also Community advocacy, Family crisis intervention, anslation of documents, Medical Transportation and Immigration Services.

a Casa Bienvenida - Our Adult Day Center ensures that the elders within the Hispanic Community

ve the necessary nutritional supplements and that their social and medical needs are met. Transportation is ovided to and from the Center daily.

ultural Arts Program - provides middle and high school students with after-school programming to

lp advance their knowledge of the Latino Culture through art, music and dance.

.A.C.E. Youth Development - program seeks to promote youth development via four components:

adership, Athletics, Community and Education.

Developmental Services

- we’re contracted with the Department of Developmental Service to provide pport for the individuals with mental disabilities, behavioral disabilities and psychiatric issues or impairments.

Bingo

Thursday & Friday 9:30am to 11:00am.

Dominoes

very day from 9:00am.

lecting donations for fire victims

Annual Three Kings Day celebration.

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Bullying Needs Community Response The Waterbury Observer

Column By Danielle Hargrove Albert

One of the best things I have experienced while living here in Waterbury is the amount of diversity that exists. Being a mother, I believe we should be raising our children to embrace and learn from the differences that exist in one another. When your child interacts with other children who are different from them, those are opportunities for growth, tolerance and respect. Sadly, too often they are overshadowed with bias and antipathy.

We can all take part in celebrating diversity at a beautiful event like the “Gathering”. However when it comes down to basic school days respectful interactions are not happening. Personal bias and reactive behaviors are manifesting themselves in the form of bullying.

I cannot understand what it feels like to be bullied as a Muslim, an individual who is African American; a child who is overweight, in a wheelchair or because I may be trying to figure out if I am transgender.

What I can relate to was the torment that I lived with throughout my Middle School years. I was bullied before “bullying” was even a word. My bully was a girl named Tracey who I will never forget, even though over 30 years has passed. When bullying and its repercussions are cutting so deeply and wounding our children so intensely. The ripple effect extending so far that it has begun to destroy childhoods.

Bullying is taking lives on both sides.

There are two sides to this story. Each having a cause and effect yet interconnected with each other.

I am trying to find a balance and understanding as I battle with both sides of bullying. As woman now in her 40s who was bullied, as a mother trying to raise three strong, confident and empathetic daughters and as a member of the community that views the violence, hatred and potential repercussions on our children. And most simply as person who believes in rules, structure and appropriate consequences for actions.

We all are aware of the mass shootings, bomb threats, lock downs and acts of violence that our children are exposed to. Including the newest “SNAPCHAT”, this actually allows children to film video and post acts of bullying and violence on Social Media. Imagine, being able to watch children threaten, belittle and in some cases physically assault each other. What I believe, is that many of these cases are a direct result of a string of other ongoing situations that finally just reach a breaking point.

When reading or hearing about any act of violence including those in our own Waterbury schools, my immediate reaction is always “thank God my girls weren’t involved”. Sadly though, I feel that a sense of complacency exists. We can only say for so long, “that won’t happen in Waterbury”. We can “never say never” because “it” is happening. The bomb threats are happening, the weapons are being brought to school right under our noses, lockdowns and shelter in place drills are occurring. What should be kept in mind is if things keep going as they have been it’s only a matter of time before an act of violence will touch all of us. If the worst incident of school violence happened 20 minutes to our west it “can” happen in Waterbury.

A phrase used often in our home is “be aware of your surroundings”- that specifically applies to school days. Should any parent have to worry as I do about basic safety? There should be a degree of trust when our children go to school; that teachers and administrators will keep our children protected and safe. Trust that teachers are doing what is in the best interest of our children. There should be confidence that administration will follow a uniform set of policy and procedures when children and

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families come forward with concerns and issues.

Parents need reassurance that the Waterbury School System is going to be part of the solutions and that any problem that leads to the destruction of the health, well-being or self-esteem of our children will be met with consequences. Several years ago I had a Principal tell me, “I cannot guarantee you anything but what I can tell you is that we have all of the resources in place to avoid an unsafe situation”.

However, too much disappointment what we are finding is that “resources in place” is not the case.

Instead, the violence and bullying are present and becoming more commonplace. I have said before, it is not the job of the Waterbury school system to raise our children. It is their responsibility to protect my children while they are in its care. The problem lies in the fact that there has been an obvious lack of following protocol and procedures. That is evident in the families that come to the Board of Education podium, speak out on social media and contact their children’s schools and Community Advocates for help. If there was a system of oversight, many of these cases would not reach a boiling point. In a most recent incident at Regan where a weapon was brought to school, as reported by the Rep-Am it was stated that staff failed to follow procedure. If a child or family was sending out signals for help and those warning signs were ignored or missed shame on the school, administration and lack of support services. In addition, there should be consequences for City staff not doing their jobs just as there are consequences for our children who do not adhere to proper expectations. Where is the oversight from central office on the staff that is in some cases part of the bullying problem?

Many families have come forward in an attempt to address these issues. What are they supposed to do when they follow proper protocol within the schools only to find themselves at the BOE podium where still nothing gets resolved? How long are parents supposed to watch their children be tormented before they tell them to stick up for themselves; only to then be disciplined? Is that teaching our children “indirectly” that bullying is an excuse for violence? I was tormented for 3 years. Tracey spit and put gum in my hair, stepped on my heels, called me names, made fun of my glasses and knocked books out of my hands. However, I never once thought about causing harm to that girl.

We have children bullying each other, killing themselves for unimaginable reasons, and being murdered in cars. I don’t believe any parent supports violence as an acceptable way to deal with bullying; but what happens when the torment doesn’t stop and the people that should be protecting are not?

There is something leading our children to think that violence is the solution and we as a Community need to get to the bottom of it.

There needs to be consequences for a student who puts another child or staff member in danger.

What happens if children have access to weapons at home and they do feel threatened? We’ve seen the repercussions. Are the consequences different depending on the race or minority status of the child?

In other cases those who should have been punished are not and the victim ends up taking the brunt.

The simple fact is if a student brings that weapon to school knife, rock or gun and has intentions to use it there should be appropriate consequences. It is unacceptable. The punishment should be uniform and fit the crime not the race, gender or minority of the child. Allowing children back into the school creates an unsafe environment for students and staff. If the City shows there are no consequences a message is being sent that those behaviors are tolerable. It’s giving our kids ideas that it’s ok to “get even”. What if the knife recently brought to Regan

was a gun? And why is it ok for our teachers to in some cases come to work in fear.

We have staff that cares about our children but teachers cannot do this alone. There may be a perception of not caring. Could it simply be the fact that some schools are running on the bare bones of Social Service support. I have personally gone to the podium and advocated for help. For solutions that include more Social Service Support, full time Counselors, Social Workers and Psychologists in every school. We shouldn’t be giving up our social workers to step in for interim VP positions as was the case at Gilmartin. Schools require more direct hands on support in the form of Paraprofessionals, for SROs in all of our Pre-k to 8s. As cases of violence increase, even an investment in metal detectors would provide a degree of breathing room for everyone staff and parents alike. We will hear the familiar refrain of excuses about money. Yet our Board of Education passes $25,000 consultant fees and without the blink of an eye and votes to increase that salary range for a Superintendent we do not yet have.

We have all these Community tools available; but seminars, workshops at Silas Bronson and forums only draw the parents who are already advocating for the safety of their children. It does nothing to address the problem from the inside. The City brought in the Wingman program. We used it at Gilmartin in the beginning- It started out with a bang last year but like everything else slowly has faded. Why are we not consistently teaching our students tools that include conflict resolution?

Children must feel good about themselves. That needs to be nurtured.

If it is not available at home the Community is the next option. Our kids must have outside outlets that will help build their confidence, offer mental health support, and even teach basic life skills. We have so many support mechanisms working within the City I do not understand why the BOE does not tap into them. Programs like SAVE GIRLS ON FYER and the UNGROUP Society have the capacity to change our children’s lives.

Everything is at our fingertips but until there is collaboration nothing changes.

This City is a preacher of parent engagement; yet where has everyone been besides Facebook? Come to the meetings, voice concerns to your Community Leaders- Parents need to advocate for the safety and well-being of their own children. If I simply stopped at the teacher or principal I would have gotten nowhere with issues involving my children or the school district. We are our children’s advocates it is our job to fight for them. Parents have the power to make things better for your children.

Neither side to this story owns the blame. This is a system failure; there are consequences for actions whether you are a child or not. That is a basic life skill learned at home. Sadly, we see the lack of respect for individuals and intolerance of differences in the form of bullying. Bullying is a form of violence that crosses every gender and racial line; but bullying is not an excuse for violence. There has to be a way to find the balance and cooperation within this Community. For our children who just want it to stop and don’t know who to go to we have to give them somewhere to go. And get systems in place that help our children realize that reacting to a behavior is often times just as volatile as a threatening behavior.

Whether it be a weapon or a person’s words pain is pain. One mechanism is just as dangerous as the other. Sometimes all we need is sound logic. Until this collaboration takes place; what school officials are indirectly telling us is- “operation status quo” until something serious happens.

Words of my own mother come to mind; “Dan, it’s a different world than when I was young; if you think you’re prepared for kids… you have no idea, the worry never stops”. She was right.

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A Note On The Wall

A handwritten note found on the wall in Mother Teresa’s room said; People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

A Note On The Wall If you are successful, you will win some false friends, and some true enemies; be successful anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

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Registrars of Voters

Hours of Operation: 8:50 a.m. to 4:50 p.m.

Republican Registrar, Timothy De Carlo (tdecarlo@waterburyct.org)

Democratic Registrar, Teresa Begnal (TBegnal@waterburyct.org)

The polling places for November 6th, 2018 will be State Districts Mission Statement The Registrars of Voters are responsible for conducting elections, primaries and special elections and maintaining accurate voter records. Other activities include redistricting, canvassing and registering voters, having special voting sessions and conducting registration sessions at high schools.

Registration Requirements U.S. Citizen | Waterbury Resident | At least 18 years old on or before the next election

Waterbury Polling Places 71-1 Kennedy High School, 422 Highland Ave. 71-2 Gilmartin School, 94 Spring Lake Rd. 71-3 Tinker School, 655 Congress Ave. 72-1 Mount Olive AME Zion Church, 82 Pearl St. 72-2 Jonathan Reed School, 33 Griggs St. 72-3 Woodrow Wilson School, 235 Birch St. 72-4 Regan School, 2780 North Main St. 72-5 Edward D. Bergin Apartments, 70 Lakewood Rd. 73-1 Carrington School, 24 Kenmore Ave. 73-2 Blessed Sacrament School, 386 Robinwood Rd.

73-3 Kingsbury School, 220 Columbia Blvd.

73-4 Sprague School, 1443 Thomaston Ave. 74-1 Chase School, 40 Woodtick Rd. 74-2 Crosby High School, 300 Pierpont Rd. 74-3 St Peter & Paul School gym, 116 Beecher Ave. 74-4 Wendell Cross School, 1255 Hamilton Ave. 5-1 Willow Plaza Community Center, 60 Elmwood Ave. 5-2 Washington Park Community House, 283 Sylvan Ave. 5-3 Maloney School. 233 South Elm St 5-4 St. Francis Xavier Church Hall, 625 Baldwin Street

Voter Registration Forms: Register to vote in Connecticut | Change your name and/or address on current registration Enroll in a political party or change party enrollment

236 Grand Street, 1st Floor, Waterbury, CT 06702 Phone (203) 574-6751 Fax (203) 346-3533

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THANK YOU AGAIN

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WATR is greater Waterbury’s #1 local radio station.

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Best Local Beer

Over the centuries people have gathered together to enjoy beer crafted by local artisans. The experience

draws us in - the taste, the smell, the feel of the cool glass in your hand and a goodness that fills the soul. Nothing compares to a pint of a finely crafted beer whose process remains as important as the final product. No matter what uncertainties come our way, we will always have this. This is lasting.

A lifelong native of the City of Waterbury, Ed Silva has been brewing beer in his hometown for nearly 15 years. He began as a 10-gallon home brew production delivering high quality, authentic and hand-crafted brew to local enthusiasts. Ed quickly immersed himself in the craft beer community, participating in local competitions, beer tastings and other community events. His passion grew along with his supporters and within 15 years he began Lasting Brass Brewing Company. Along with six unique recipes, Ed continues to evolve his brewing techniques with experimental batches brewed as often as possible. Lasting Brass brewery in the Old Pin Shop building in Oakville, CT. The building was originally erected in 1729 by James Williams and used as a gristmill. From there the mill became the Oakville Pin Company. Lasting brass is honored to be located in such a beautiful old building whose rich history and character inspire our drive to experiment with our own form of brass.

Friday 3pm-7pm Saturday 12pm - 7pm Sunday 12pm - 4pm

@lastingbrass www.lastingbrass.com

The Old Pin Shop 1864 Watertown Avenue Oakville, CT 860-417-2581 (Across from Highline Car Connection and on the opposite side of the building as Hardcore Sweet Cupcakes)

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Who We Are

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Highland Brass Co is the brainchild of three “lifers” in the hospitality industry, Corey Bonderenko, Dimitrios Zahariadis and John Bourdeau, who wanted nothing more but to bring the cocktail resurgence to Waterbury that is taking the world by storm. Creating custom cocktails and paying homage to the classics that the Connecticut market is thirsting for, literally. So please take a look at our newest cocktail menu and if there is something you want that you don’t see, we will do our best to blend you a libation that will satisfy.

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THE POWER OF

Working together, the organizations of Waterbury HEALTH are providing comprehensive, high quality care to our community. From primary and specialty medical care to acute and emergency healthcare services to home health and rehab services, Waterbury HEALTH offers a vast network of services to help keep you healthy and well and take care of you when you are sick or injured. That’s the Power of WE.

The Greater Waterbury Health Network is now...