DEAR PAW’S CORNER: Is it possible to include a pet in your will? I saw all the controversy about Leona Helmsley’s dog inheriting her money on TV. I’m not rich at all, but I do want my two Chihuahuas and my parakeet “Bobby” to be well cared for if I should pass before them. — Beryl, Ormond Beach, FL

DEAR BERYL: It is possible and, in fact, recommended. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association estimates that 69% of American households own at least one pet. Of the 2.4 million Americans who die each year, statistically, many of those who pass away are pet owners.

Even if we aren’t wealthy, we still leave stuff behind when we die, including (and especially) pets. Adding a pet to your will is important – it’s less about leaving the pet your money as it is about making sure a pet will be cared for after you’re gone.

The online estate-planning service ItsMyLife.com  recommends that pets be protected in writing, as part of your will. Verbal agreements can easily be forgotten.

The company is offering its “Pets Letter of Wishes” for free through Valentine’s Day, and its other estate-planning documents are available at a reasonable price.

You don’t have to go through a service – you can add a provision for your pet in your existing will, or create a will, simply by writing out your wishes on paper and having a witness agree to and sign it. But I recommend an attorney look over any will, regardless of how or where it was made, to make sure it can be carried out with few problems.

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Prep: 20 min.
Bake: 15 min.
6 servings

1     small onion, thinly sliced
1     tsp olive oil
1     tube refrigerated crescent rolls
2     tbsp coarse ground mustard
1     package Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar Sausage

In a skillet, sauté onion in oil until light golden brown; cool slightly. Unroll crescent dough and separate into triangles (bake or discard two extra triangles). Spread each with mustard and top with onions. Place one sausage on wide end of each triangle; roll up. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

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photo & story
by Elizabeth Loomis

Custom Robos, The First Lego League Robotics Team of Nathan Hale Middle School, East Haddam won both the Champions Award and the Team Award. Both awards were won at Bash at the Beach competition in Old Lyme and Ragged Mountain competition in Berlin on December 6th. Citeria included team members inspiration and motivation and their respect and professionalism demonstrated to everyone involved in the competitions. Because of these high level awards, the team qualified for the State Competition at Central CT State University, where they proudly took home the Innovations and Solutions Award. Teacher Mrs. Tina Bernard and Co-Coach Mrs. Michelle Haynes are the team organizers.

Any company or individual who would like to give support or help sponsor the team can email for more information tina.bernard@easthaddamschools.org.

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CT’s 46,000 Girl Scouts are putting their marketing and entrepreneurial skills to work from now until January 23 in all 169 towns, as they roll out the annual statewide cookie program. All the favorites are available, along with a new cookie, the Dulce de Leche. All cookies contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving. Cookie deliveries will begin on February 28.

In addition, CT Girl Scouts are once again supporting our military personnel with their Gift of Caring program. Through the Gift of Caring program, cookies may be purchased for women and men serving our country, along with other local charities of the troops’ choosing.  Last year, Girl Scouts of CT delivered over 80,000 boxes of cookies to our military personnel around the world.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the nation’s foremost entrepreneurial learning experience for girls. It is a unique and valuable way for girls to learn the power of goal-setting, develop self confidence and learn business skills.  Proceeds from the cookie program will benefit all CT Girl Scouts.

For more information on how you can purchase Girl Scout cookies, please call 1.800.882.5561 or visit www.gsofct.org.

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by Roger Zotti

Mary Elizabeth Lang’s “true poetic voice,” as Michael Linnard writes in his Foreward, “is on every page of Under Red Cedars (Little Red Tree).” “During my first reading of a small selection,” Michael continued, “I was immediately drawn into the magical story-telling quality of the poems, which vividly illustrated an authentic view of the secret lives in Mary’s family that stretches back through 12 generations.”

Mary Elizabeth, who lives in Cheshire, wrote her strikingly imaginative book, her first, for many reasons. “One was because I was exploring my own ancestry and reflecting on what it was about my particular family that was unique,” she said.  Her family, she knew, thought and did things differently from other families. Her relatives were “somewhat of  mixed ancestry – Native American and predominantly English. I wondered maybe that was the reason for their uniqueness.” Mary Elizabeth added, “…the book is also about my ideas about nature and language and my relationship with them.”

Looking  into various documents, Mary Elizabeth discovered “there was absolutely nothing written by the women of my family. My mother [told me] she learned about some of these early ancestors from the sixteen and seventeen hundreds from her grandmother, aunts and other female relatives…” Later, Mary Elizabeth investigated the stories herself  -some of which were local, others family – and found they were true.

For example, Mary Elizabeth cited the haunting “The Apologia of Hannah Ocuish, Hanged at New London, CT, July 1786.” Hannah, twelve years old, was hung. “For whatever reason,” Mary Elizabeth said, “she did not speak for herself. I got it in my head to speak for her … From the evidence I discovered, I wrote a poem that explains her behavior.”

Mary Elizabeth has been influenced by Native-American writers “who have come to the fore recently, especially women like Louise Erdrich, and Joy Harjo.”  Another influence is Robert Browning, who Mary Elizabeth didn’t realize “was an influence until I started writing first person narrative poems. And there’s Emily Dickinson. I think her focusing on a tiny object or situation and making something of it is absolutely great.”

Then came the “big” question for Mary Elizabeth: “Many people don’t like poetry because they have trouble reading it. So,  how does one read poetry?”  When she reads poetry, Mary Elizabeth explained, “I assume the poet has something to say to me; that I am not going to get all of it; and that it is the poet’s expression of ideas, experiences, or a moment in time. The poet is talking in metaphorical terms about something that may or may not connect with me … I think what most people who read poetry do is look into the poem for what they can personally connect with. They take away something different from what their neighbors take away. I’m not talking about injecting stuff in a poem that really isn’t in the poem. What I mean is what the reader … takes from it is going to be unique for each individual.”

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