The Taste of Mystic, presented by Mohegan Sun on September 5, 6 & 7 in historic downtown Mystic, was a success.  Friday, Cottrell Street was flooded with hungry spectators, and the true foodies came out on Saturday despite threatening weather reports.  Sunday was a beautiful day filled with fun family entertainment.

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by Maren Schober

It wasn’t easy, but I found his driveway at last. William Paradis stands in the grove of trees by the edge of his driveway waiting for me.  He is a welcome sight as he greets me and guides me to his home in Lyme down the long winding path in the woods.

“My wife Virginia and I bought this stone house in 1960.  It was a much smaller house at the time, and I made lots of changes.  I put an addition on the house – doing it myself.  Virginia always wanted a parlor room so I built this room,” Bill declares.

Bill opens the door and we walk into the largest “parlor” I ever saw.  It is a long large room comfortably furnished and inviting.  The huge fireplace built into one of the walls is an example of Bill’s handiwork.

Bill’s home rests on seven acres of land in the Lyme countryside. It is a lovely piece of property facing Beaver Pond surrounded by a combination of woods and open fields.

“We raised six children here and there was never a lack of things for the kids to do outside, such as camping in tents, riding horses, hiking in the woods and swimming in the pond.”

I asked about the camping out.

“Yes, the kids camped in tents on the property.  When they didn’t like listening to the wild animals at night, they crept back into the house!”

What wild animals!?!

“Oh, we have lots of animals roaming around here, “ Bill explains. “I see deer, turkey, chickens, coons, beaver, rabbits, mice… and the bear.”

The bear!?!

“Yes, I have seen the bear lots of times.  He’s only about this high,” he says, with his hand about four feet from the floor.

William Benjamin Paradis was born in 1927 to John and Leah Paradis of Rockport, MA.

“I had a happy childhood growing up in Rockport hanging out around the water,” Bill shares.  “I loved jumping from the roof of the yacht club and diving for quarters when the boats of tourists came in to the pier.”

After high school, Bill joined the Navy.  He was sent to college and then trained to be a pilot.

“I saw active duty for 94 days, but stayed in the Navy for a period of 24 years.  My biggest adventure was when the aircraft carrier ‘Bennington’ I was on blew up in an explosion.  One hundred and nine men were killed.  None of the men in my squadron lost their lives.  The explosion was due to the failure of the hydraulic system of the catapults.”

Bill met his wife Virginia at a dance hall when he was on leave. “My wife was a trophy wife in the way she looked and acted. We have had a good marriage and traveled this country together from Florida to Maine.”

Bill stays active with his home projects, church, senior citizens club and his electric train hobby. “I tell people I think they should do something they like in life and not to pay attention to what other people think of them.”

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Through a grant, generously funded by the Community Foundation of SECT, the VNA of Southeastern CT (VNASC), in partnership with UConn student nurses (Carelink Plus) are going to hold Nurse-Managed Foot Care Clinic at the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center (PNC) every Tuesday morning throughout the year.

At the PNC, people will be seen by nursing students under the supervision of a UConn faculty member, and the VNASC wellness coordinator.  The goal of the VNASC is to improve the proportion of the community who receive foot care and follow-up, and an additional goal is to increase student nurse clinical opportunities for community-based nursing.   Sherry Bassi, R.N.,  VNA, says, “This program is using a holistic approach to address an important health issue. Early detection of health problems, through foot care, is our goal.”  If you’re a low-income senior, or someone of any age without any health insurance and would like to have your feet checked, please schedule an appointment by calling April Sauchuk, program assistant, at 860.599.3285 x 15.

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story & photo
by Christopher Annino

At a very young age Dodie Hightower struggled with a neurological disorder -  Epilepsy. Dodie’s condition is hereditary and happens when huge electrical bursts occur during normal brain function. Individuals will often result in uncontrollable body movements, which may result in injuring themselves or others. In many cases these seizures are unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Dodie spent most of her life in hospitals recovering from her seizures. Doctors and specialists doubted  if Dodie would live a normal life, but her parents were adamant that she be the same as everyone else.

School was very difficult for Dodie, many of the kids called her cruel names like “seizure woman,” but despite the ignorance of some, she was able to make friends with very good people. With support from her family, she never gave up on living a normal life.

Dodie was able to graduate from high school, get a drivers license, get married, and work full time with people with mental and physical disabilities. “I really enjoyed working in the homes and half way houses, many of those individuals were viewed as monsters. But they were the kindest people that I had ever met,” she said. During this time, she still lived with Epilepsy but she could harness it and detect when she was going to have her next seizure.

Dodie was living her dream until she had two massive brain seizures during the birth of her second child. Doctors had to perform two emergency brain surgeries. During surgery she flat lined, and had an out-of-body experience where a relative told her that it wasn’t her time.

Dodie was able to make a remarkable recovery and she resides with her two sons and husband in New London. She still has seizures, but because of the surgery they are very small. Dodie is still very involved with volunteering her time to help others. Recently, she assisted at a bike fundraiser for the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital that five-year-old Chase McGrath organized. “One of the ways that I was able to recover from my surgeries, was that I kept myself busy. I did art, I challenged myself by helping others, and I listened to a lot of music,” Dodie explained.

Platinum recording artist Leslie Knauer, who over came a hereditary condition added, “Absolutely YES! Passion and loving what you do is a brain healer. Learning something new that you love every day helps grow new neurons. Right on, keep on doing what you are doing Dodie!”

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