(l-r) David Brown, Director of Development, Fairview, stands with Pat Bowden, Niantic, in front of her new Honda Insight Hybrid.

The Fairview Odd Fellows Home of CT car raffle took place on Saturday, July 11. This year 471 tickets were sold resulting in a net profit of $22,690.62. All proceeds will be used to help pay for ongoing computer upgrades including the implementation of an electronic medical records system. This year’s winner is Pat Bowden from Niantic.

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Tamara Martin and her mother, Vernice Quebodeux, began their children’s book, “The Flea & the Ant” 48 years ago.

by Roger Zotti
photo by Michael Linnard

After Tamara Martin and Vernice Quebodeux’s latest work, a children’s illustrated poem titled “The Flea & the Ant” (Little Red Tree Publishing), was read to several local Girl Scout Brownies, the youngsters wrote their responses. Elana, 7, writes, “I like the rhymes,” and Bridgett, 8, believes “this is good for kindergartners because they learn about bugs.” From Kelly, 8: “The flea should be with his friend.” Hannah, age 7, says, “It was a good story and I like how it sounds.” Rave reviews – and rightly so – for this captivating book!

Enchantingly and vividly illustrated by Tammy Hunter, the poem is about picking and knowing who one’s true friends are or, as the authors write, “The shaggy dog could tolerate/ The presence of a flea,/ But not an ant upon his ear,/ That just could never be.”

“The Flea & the Ant” is the first in a series of fourteen books. “Each book has a moral and teaches a lesson about life,” Tamara says of her first children’s venture. And the idea, Tamara explains in her Introduction, “…began the moment my mother [Vernice] witnessed me drawing characters for our little story on the kitchen table.”  At the time Tamara was five, had just moved from Lafayette to Eunice, LA, and was lonely because she didn’t have any friends. So she and her mother “discussed, in great detail, the need for making the right sort of friends. The story emerged and together we planned every page of the illustrated book. Sadly, most of my early sketches have long since disappeared, apart from the front cover…but with the help of illustrator Tammy Hunter it is finally complete more than forty-eight years after it was first started.”

After several books in the series are published, Tamara hopes to visit elementary schools and “establish a reading group with children.” More specifically, the series is designed for children ages two, three, four, and those in kindergarten.

Tamara explains, “They are the ones to be read to. The print is big enough so that as children are learning to read, they can pick out different words. With the pictures, which are big too, they can point to flowers and colors. I’ve always enjoyed dealing with children because they have such a fresh, clean slate to work with and their ideas, responses, and questions are honest and interesting.”

Michael Linnard, Tamara’s husband and CEO of the New London-based Little Red Tree Publishing, says, “We’ll be launching a new website called Little Red Acorns for children. So for the other thirteen books in the series, they’ll be able to log on and ask questions. Those books will have the Little Red Acorns imprint.” Tamara adds: “We’re going make the website interactive because then children will be able to ask an author or publisher questions and even submit things. Maybe that will spur them on to write and be published one day.”

For more information about “The Flea & The Ant” visit www.littleredtree.com. You’ll also learn about Tamara’s first book, the splendid “Sundays in the South,” and other books from Little Red Tree Publishing.

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Mitchell Grossinger Etess President & CEO, Mohegan Sun

You may have already noticed it has been an eventful few months at Mohegan Sun. Many of you are enjoying the re-opening of our winter entrance, including the addition of Bobby’s Burger Palace and Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana along with our 12th Annual Hot Summer Fun activities and a packed lineup of entertainment in Mohegan Sun Arena and the Wolf Den.

If you haven’t visited us yet this summer, there’s still one more month of Hot Summer Fun left. Our Wild Wednesdays festivities continue this year with a rooftop party and farmer’s market beginning at 5:00pm with fireworks over the Thames River at 9:00pm.

Two for Tuesdays, Thrills and Chills Thursdays and Free Play Fridays offer plenty of deals and chances to win cash and prizes like a Ford Mustang Convertible, as well.

Mohegan Sun is proud to have re-opened our Winter Entrance on July 1st. The renovation includes the opening of Fidelia’s Market, a food court featuring Jasper White’s Summer Shack Express, Chief’s Bagels Subs and Sweets and Woodland Wok. Coming soon is The Original SoupMan, who you may be familiar with through episodes of Seinfeld.  Also in the Winter Entrance, we are proud to have Connecticut’s own Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana which many of you may know as Pepe’s Pizza and celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burger Palace. (Bobby Flay will open a second restaurant, Bar Americain, here later this year.)

As always, we’re excited to have a wide variety of entertainment on schedule. Whether it be in the 10,000-seat Arena or a free concert in the Wolf Den, there is live entertainment nightly. Headlining in the arena in the coming weeks are Barry Manilow on August 15th, Taylor Swift on August 28th and Journey on September 7th. Coming to the Wolf Den are Night Ranger on August 15th, Vertical Horizon on August 21st and Lonestar on September 5th.

I hope you have a great remainder of your summer in Mystic Country. We’re so lucky to live in an area that offers pristine coastlines, beautiful countryside and a wealth of activities to do from museums to family attractions, outdoor activities, concerts and dining. I hope that you’re able to take some time to enjoy it!

Sincerely,
Mitchell Grossinger Etess
President and CEO
Mohegan Sun

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