Country legend Trace Adkins shares the good news with Alexis Ann, editor & publisher, the Resident, “East Coast Girls like Country Boys.” The Sunny D’s Shine All Night Tour visited Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, March 13th, and Trace performed along with co-headliner Martina McBride.

Eleven years young, Anthony Maneri of Canterbury is a hip hop dancer and in a serious way.  “I like to compete,” says the dancer.  He is traveling with the undefeated Street Elite dance team, East Lyme, to Virginia Beach for National Competition in May.  Let’s wish Anthony well here.

Here, is our newest addition… Resident Gardening by Gene Henson.  Gene is a University of Connecticut certified Advanced Master Gardner.  Get this-Gene and his wife enjoyed tomatoes from eight plants until two weeks before Christmas last year!  Wow!

There are some very important scholarship announcements, including Ledyard Historical Society Scholarship, Freedom Alliance Scholarship for Children of Military Heroes, Connecticut Sun Foundation’s Bright Horizons Scholarship and The Nesbitt Scholarship is one of 65 funds at the Community Foundation that will distribute nearly $250,000 in scholarships.

The 7th Annual Mystic St. Patrick’s Parade, held last Sunday, was a smashing hit by all those in attendance.  Memories of the old days of Western Stagecoaches came alive when the legendary Wells Fargo horse-drawn Stagecoach trotted over the Mystic River Bridge-what a beautiful site!  We’re including lots of photos capturing this majestic event and all 300 and something will be up on our website, www.theresident.com/2010/03/31/MysticIrishParade2010 by Wednesday.  Enjoy!

This is a well-deserved brag—the Resident website scored 295,000 hits last issue!!!  Now, that’s a lot of fans!  So, here’s a BIG THANK YOU!

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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Anthony Maneri, 11 of Canterbury, is a competitor in hip hop dancing with the undefeated Street Elite dance team of East Lyme. His dance team travels to Virginia Beach May 1st for National competition.

story & photo
by Maren Schober

How many eleven year olds do you know whose passion is hip hop dancing?  Meet Anthony Maneri, 11, of Canterbury.  He performs with the  WNBA CT Sun Munchkin Dance Team starting out with them at age 7!  And this is not all.  In addition Anthony is a junior member of the award winning Street Elite competitive hip hop dance team out of Eastern Connecticut Ballet in East Lyme.

“Anthony started dancing very early,” his father Robbie tells me.  “Well before he started kindergarten, Anthony was dancing in our family room to the ‘Teletubbies’ on TV.”

“Anthony was dancing all over our house in every room!  He was doing head stands and all kinds of dance moves.  My wife Jackie heard about the auditions for the Munchkin Dance team and brought him there.  Anthony was accepted as a team member at the auditions even though he had no training or dance lessons at that time.”

“The hardest part of the auditions and competitions is remembering the new parts of the dance,” Anthony acknowledges.  “Hip hop dancing is a combination of dance styles such as break dancing, popping, freestyle, tricks and locking. I like to compete!  I am not afraid to perform in front of people. I like the exercise and I make lots of friends on the dance teams.”

“ So far this season all of the Street Elite dance teams are undefeated.  I will be travelling to Virginia Beach for National Competition May 1st,” Anthony continues.

“All of the Street Elite dance teams are truly incredible to watch,” Jackie affirms.

Anthony’s younger brother Logan inserts a DVD into the machine and turns on the TV.  There before my eyes dances Anthony with the Street Elite Dancers, front row center.  They are truly awesome.

How much rehearsal time is required?  Lots! “With the Munchkin Dance Team I rehearse every Friday night May-September,” declares Anthony. I rehearse two times a week all year long with the Street Elite dancers.  We have about ten competitions throughout the year.”

“Nothing is a ‘shoe in’ “ Robbie explains.  “Anthony has to audition every year in order to stay on the dance teams.”

Does Anthony show signs of slowing down?  Not on your life. “I want to keep on doing what I am doing for years ahead.”

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by Gene Henson

My grandmother had one and there’s a good chance yours did too. The concept of kitchen gardens is not new. My grandmother, well into her nineties, bristled at the thought of not gardening when her children suggested that she forgo all the hard work.

Her garden was about 50 feet by 30 feet, laid out in the classic form: higher plants to the west, shorter plants to the east – out of their big brother’s shadow. There were paths between the rows where one could walk.  By their nature, these gardens are quite labor intensive and extremely inefficient. The raised bed method changed all that.

Using raised beds boarded by concrete block, my garden produces more than three times what my grandmother’s did, in less than a quarter of the space, with far less work. For instance, last season, I had eight tomato plants. We enjoyed tomatoes from those eight plants until two weeks before Christmas. And we still gave some away. We got tired of eating fresh green beans and I canned and froze enough to last all winter.  All this and more from 250 square feet of raised beds.

In fact, once the garden was established, I doubt that I spent more than 15 minutes a week in there. I walked through in the early morning to check on predator damage, weeds and to see if any insects or diseases were at work. Then, a trip in the evening for dinner “stuff” and that’s about it.

But all this, of course, didn’t happen overnight. To establish a viable kitchen garden, you need three things: you must have good soil, as much sunlight as possible, and water. You can accomplish good soil two ways: you can buy rich, healthy soil, or you can treat your own with organic matter, but this takes time.

For my raised beds, I bought premium topsoil from a local sand and gravel company. This soil tested 7.5 Ph when I sent it to the UConn Extension Garden Center.

I  use no pesticides or chemical fertilizer.  Due to careful choices, my plants are virtually disease free. Utilizing raised beds, the soil never gets compacted and what few weeds pop up through the mulch are easily pulled by hand.

So let’s get started. I laid the concrete blocks right on the ground. My beds are four feet wide inside the block, so you can reach the middle from either side, and two courses high. The length can be whatever you like; mine are 50 feet long. The material used for the beds is not critical; I chose block because it’s convenient.

Next time, we’ll talk about what to grow.

Gene Henson is a University of Connecticut certified Advanced Master Gardner.

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Elizabeth Maloney “There is no need for me to quit Girl Scouts after I achieve the Gold Award.” The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts.

story & photo
by Maren Schober

For many of us the month of March means Cookies!, as the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street says. In particular we anticipate a knock on our door and the opportunity to order our favorite Girl Scout cookies.  For me it is the Thin Mints, my all time favorite.  At the same time we are reminded of the Girl Scouts and the good they do in our communities.

Elizabeth Maloney, 17, of East Lyme is as enthusiastic today about her experiences in Girl Scouts as she was in the beginning.  There is no thought of quitting Girl Scouts even as she approaches earning the Gold Award, which is the highest award in Girl Scouts.

“There is no need for me to quit Girl Scouts after I achieve the Gold Award,” Liz tells me.  “There is always more Girl Scout programs to join.  I also love to encourage younger Girl Scouts to stay in this wonderful program as well as teach them camping skills.”

Liz explains to me her current project which will earn her Gold Award this summer. “I plan to teach an eight session Special Needs Tennis Clinic at East Lyme High School this July for children with special needs.  The needs of these children are so individual that I will be teaching them one at a time.  To do this I need to enlist the help of many professionals and service clubs in the area.  I am doing all the planning from the ground up.”

Liz is also involved in many other community service projects.  “I serve on the Girl Scout Board of Directors, work at the Old Lyme Shoreline Soup Kitchen, and am an active member of Best Buddies, a high school club that pairs typical and atypical students to better integrate the atypical students into the main stream.  Next month I will begin to volunteer at the Crescent Point Assisted Living Home in Niantic.”

This past Wednesday, Liz had an experience she will never forget. “I was given the opportunity to travel to Hartford and have private meetings with Senators and Representatives, including our own Representative Ed Jutila!, to advocate for what I love about Girl Scouts as well as our new initiative to stop cyber bullying.  I spoke at a press conference in front of a room full of politicians, cameras and news reporters and got to induct House Majority Leader Denise Merrill as an honorary Girl Scout. The whole day was amazing and gave me a true look into the workings of politics and the difference you can make on a statewide level!”

“Doing community service is so rewarding in many ways,” Elizabeth concludes. “So join in!  If you find a cause you are really passionate about, it doesn’t become “service” or work, it becomes fun.  You have the chance to enrich other’s lives while enriching your own.”

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Jennifer Werling and her sons were dedicated a new home from the Habitat for Humanity of Southeastern Connecticut.  Jennifer reads a poem that she wrote about the new Jewett City home and the building process.

The renovation of this home was made possible thanks to the generosity of a coalition of faith partners in the New London county area under the theme of an Apostles Build.

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