USS Virginia (SSN 774) departs Naval Submarine Base New London to begin her first scheduled full length deployment. Virginia is the sixth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name of the first English colony and the 10th American state. It is also the first U.S. nuclear attack submarine designed for battle space dominance across a broad spectrum of regional and littoral missions as well as open-ocean, “blue water” missions. Land, sea, and undersea firepower, advanced sensors, and other special features enable the Virginia-class to execute numerous war fighting tasks simultaneously.
Natalie Anderson, 12, Waterford, succeeds in raising more than $10,000 for the Women’s Center of Southeastern CT. Collecting money for the Center since she was nine years old, she inspires other students at her school to collect for the charitable agencies of their choice. Natalie will receive the “Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy” Award on November 19th.
story & photo
by Maren Schober
How many of us know a 12-year-old who devotes much of her time raising thousands of dollars for the local charity of her choice? How many of us know a child who on the day of her eighth birthday party invites her guests to donate items for local shelter residents instead of giving her birthday gifts? Meet Natalie Anne Anderson, 12, Waterford, youth extraordinaire.
Natalie, currently a seventh-grader at St. Joseph School, New London, will receive the “Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy” Award on November 19th and for good reason. “On my eighth birthday, I asked my party guests to donate items for the Women’s Center of Southeastern CT instead of bringing me gifts,” Natalie explains. “I overheard my parents discussing a magazine article about charity birthdays and that sounded like a good idea to me.”
Natalie began collecting money for the Women’s Center when she was nine-years-old. On her 10th birthday, an endowment was started when she decided to raise $10,000 and thus the Natalie Anderson Children’s Fund for the Women’s Center came into being.
“I appeared on WCTY 97.7 FM during the Women’s Center’s annual radio-thon,” Natalie states. “I speak about my work to support the Women’s Center and my mission to help children affected by domestic violence. I collect new children’s pajamas for the children in the emergency shelter. Right now I’m helping to plan a benefit concert called ‘Inspiration 2’ which will take place at Waterford High School on October 24th. All monies collected goes into the Natalie Anderson Children’s Fund endowment at the Center.”
“It is important to me that others might be inspired to help people because of what they see me do. This summer on a survey a teenage boy said he was scared to tell someone that there was abuse in his home. That’s one of the reasons I continue my work at the Women’s Center. It is so I can help kids who aren’t safe at home.”
One person Natalie inspires is her younger brother Charles. On his ninth birthday Charles accepted donations instead of gifts, raising enough money to support his sister in reaching and surpassing her $10,000 goal!
Natalie’s enthusiasm is catching. She inspires other students at St. Joseph to host charity birthdays. The Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center and the Humane Society are some agencies that benefit.
Miss Marianne Cote, principal of St. Joseph School, confirms this. “Natalie Anderson is an excellent student academically at our school. She is a great leader and her peers think very highly of her. She is the first student to collect gifts for a charity at her birthday party and now others in this school are doing the same thing. Natalie is an inspiration to all of us.”
Surprisingly, Natalie also has time to enjoy her hobbies. “I take dance lessons, play the flute and guitar, and sing in the school chorus. I am a Girl Scout, altar server, play softball and love to read and write stories.”
Our local community is surely blessed with Natalie and her efforts.
Maria Petrillo, Mystic, shown sailing at the ICSA/Gill National Championship, is named to the The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All Academic Sailing Team for 2009, adding to the All American honors the 2009 Roger Williams University graduate earned last spring. The 2009 ICSA All Academic Team recognizes ten First Team and ten Second Team student-athletes who maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a scale of 4.00, were a key starter or reserve member of their school’s sailing team, and who had reached junior standing at his or her institution of learning in order to be considered eligible for this distinction. Also remarkable is that six of the scholar athletes named to the 2009 All Academic Sailing Team – including Maria Mahler-Haug, Branford – were also named to the ICSA All Academic Sailing Team in 2008.
(l-r) Ginny Kozlowski, Executive Director, CLA , Harriet Mashuta, Winner, Outstanding Food & Beverage Associate, Brook Papazoni, Winner, Outstanding Sales Associate, Anthony Covino, Nominee, General Manager of the Year, Nereida Delgado, Nominee, Outstanding Housekeeping Associate, Caitlin Swartz, Nominee, Outstanding Front Desk Associate, Wendy Czerwinski, Nominee, Outstanding F&B Associate, Valeria Cars, Winner, Outstanding Housekeeping Associate, April Lacas, Nominee, Outstanding Sales Associate, Alexandra Chevalier, Winner, 2009 Hospitality Scholarship, John Fraher, Winner, General Manager of the Year (150 rooms or more), Steven Rosen, Nominee, Outstanding Manager, and Chuck Moran, president, CLA.
The Connecticut Lodging Association (CLA) recently honored five Waterford Hotel Group associates as “Stars of the Industry” at its 105th Annual CLA Meeting and Awards dinner, held at the Holiday Inn, Bridgeport. Chuck Moran, CLA President and General Manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Cromwell, was on hand to present the awards. Waterford Hotel Group, a national hotel management firm, currently manages 16 Connecticut hotels, representing nearly 2,600 rooms.
(l-r) Lawrence Martin, Sharon Porter, Vanessa and Brian Sebastian, Laura Porter, Mike Porter, Denise Anderson, Katrina Sebastian, William and Pat Charity and Evelyn Simmons.
Laura Porter, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Elder, shares the Good News of her 77th birthday with friends and family at Tony D’s, New London.
