Alexis Ann, editor & publisher, the Resident, congratulates David Silvia, Mystic, on winning the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce’s Volunteer of the Year Award at their Annual Dinner & Silent Auction held at Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa, Groton, on December 10th.

by Alexis Ann

First up-On behalf of the Resident Good News Team, we are wishing you warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!   Let’s make 2010 a TEN Year for health, happiness and prosperity!

A big thank you goes out to artist Peter Barrett, whom I met at a Chamber event last summer.  We’re pleased that Peter generously shared his beautiful art work with the Resident so YOU could enjoy.  Read about this talented Coast Guard Officer (ret) from East Haddam here.

Speaking of prosperity…Dime Bank introduced its own small business stimulus program during a press conference on the 10th.  Jim Cronin, president, put together a “$10M loan pool” to help local small businesses and non-profits in need of financing.  The program is targeted toward credit-worthy businesses in need of funding for working capital, expansion, to upgrade or replace equipment or for those that would benefit by restructuring existing debt with more favorable terms.-Merry Christmas to you, too, Jim!

A final Salute to Civil Air Patrol’s most famous World War II “subchasers”, honored for heroism by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Colonel Edmond I. “Eddie” Edwards passed on December 5th.  He was 96.  Read the story here.

Thanks for reading the Resident, the Good News that Rocks! Please remember to patronize our advertisers as they’re helping to make the “good news”  happen.

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The Stonington Historical Society introduces a limited edition jug based on the antique Liverpool Pottery Battle Jug.

photo by James Boylan

Earlier this year, after long research, the Stonington Historical Society introduced a limited edition jug based on the antique Liverpool Pottery Battle Jug that holds a place of honor at the Society’s Old Lighthouse Museum.

The Society commissioned only 100 of these numbered jugs from the noted Mottahedeh Porcelain Company in Portugal. When the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House was decorated for holiday events, Elizabeth Wood, former president of the Stonington Garden Club, chose to use the jug as the basis for a mantel decoration. Her design is shown here, lush with roses and greens, but she said holly and ivy are also appropriate.

This jug, like the original 1818 jug, portrays what the historian Tertius de Kay believes is the only reasonable representation of the way Stonington Point looked during the three-day attack by the Royal Navy in August 1814. In the foreground is the shore of Wamphussuc Point, with a tree. Beyond on the horizon is Napatree Point. Bulking large is the British flotilla around Stonington Point, including an earlier lighthouse. This is the battle in which the 16-star flag was nailed to the staff and the ragged militia drove the ships off.

For the reproduction jug, 7¼ inches tall, computer techniques were used to flatten the curved image and create a level horizon. For the back of the jug, de Kay, author of the history “The Battle of Stonington,” selected lines from the final  verse of “The Star Spangled Banner,” which was written shortly after the battle.

The new porcelain jug proved popular for graduation and wedding presents, but it now emerges as a wonderful gift to ornament local homes.  This jug is available only from the Society.

The jugs are $200 each, plus any shipping. For information, call Anne Tate, director of the Historical Society’s Woolworth Library, 860-535-1131.

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(l-r) David Brown, Director of Development, accepts a donation from Mary Lou Lamontagne, Business Development Officer, NewportFed, and Mildred Dion, VP & Branch Manager.

NewportFed Charitable Foundation donated $4,000 to the Fairview Odd Fellows Home of Connecticut to help pay for the installation of an automatic door opener in the new courtyard.  Fairview also received a $2,000 grant from the Chelsea Groton Bank Foundation and $1,000 from the Wal*Mart Foundation to help with this expense and the install of another new door leading into a greenhouse.

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Thomas J. Sullivan is the recipient of the CT Community Providers Association’s 2009 Community Lifetime Achievement Award.

The CT Community Providers Association (CCPA) awarded the organization’s Annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Thomas J. Sullivan, a Groton Long Point resident whose contribution to human services spans 42 years and three states including the government and private sectors.

Sullivan is recognized for championing the rights of people with intellectual and related disabilities. His honors include: an American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Fellow; a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow; and a Town of Waterford Citizen of the Year (1985). Until his retirement as Executive Director of The Arc of New London County, Sullivan led the not-for-profit agency to new levels of growth and service in fulfillment of its mission to advocate for full inclusion of people with intellectual and related disabilities here in Southeastern Connecticut.

On his retirement in June 2009, The Board of Directors of The Arc of New London County named the Arc’s new Sullivan Employment Transition Center in Groton, to honor Sullivan.

The 130-member CCPA represents groups statewide that provide services and supports for children and adults with disabilities and significant challenges including people with substance use disorders, mental illness, developmental and physical disabilities. Nominees for the Lifetime Achievement Award must demonstrate sustained commitment and significant contribution to the human service field and the consumers it serves.

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