(l-r) Commander Reed Koepp, Lieutenant Commander Stephen M. Col proud to serve abroad the USS Colorado.

by Jack Lakowsky; photos by Seth Bendfeldt

The United States Navy commissioned its newest Virginia-Class submarine, USS Colorado (SSN 778) on March 17. It will be the 15th Virginia-Class attack submarine to join the fleet.
Described as the most modern and sophisticated attack submarine in the world, the Colorado can operate in multiple combat theaters and situations. The sub is equipped with multiple innovative features including Special Forces support and a new kind of non-penetrating periscope-rather than a traditional scope, it was replaced by infrared digital cameras, operated by a video game controller. This change was made to accommodate for the newest generation of submariners, according to Lt. Commander Steve Col. These innovations were made despite the cost-saving mindset behind the vessel’s construction. According to a news release, 20-percent of the ship was redesigned to reduce costs.
The ship was also built to accommodate women, according to Steve, who explained that integration of women will be a goal of future submarine construction. Excellent quality food was a goal in the Colorado’s construction as well, as this adds to the morale of the crew, who can spend as much as nine months underwater.

Commander Reed Koepp, USS Colorado

Steve explained how the submarine force will only expand in the future because land and air based military technology is vulnerable to tracking.
“The demand [for subs] comes from their stealth,” Steve said.
However, neither budget restrictions nor new technology presented the biggest obstacle. Steve said training new crew members on schedule for the Colorado’s first voyage, which entails operating at sea without support, presents the biggest challenge.

Sailors stand at attention as the commissioning of the pennant and flag take place.

A guided tour of the Colorado reveals the strength of character required for the job. The halls are barely the width of an arm’s length. The quarters are six-to-a-room. If uncleaned lint traps are not attended to, life-threatening fires can ignite. Finally, complete isolation from your family in an environment that is as hostile to human life as deep space. Only an iron will, and love of duty could carry one through these tolls.

by Jack Lakowsky

In 2006, Chris Lawton’s dog passed away, inspiring him to campaign for a dog park in Montville.
“When I presented my idea, at the time it was not received well, so I put it on hold,” Chris, now de facto head of the Montville Dog Park Commission, said. Interest in the park renewed in 2011 and Chris renewed his effort, starting a grassroots movement of locals. The town approved construction in 2014, after several years in limbo due to personnel shortages and lack of funding.
Chris said that no town funds would be used for construction. Chris has used local fundraising to fund the park. The park’s proposed location will be on Route 163 in Oakdale, across the street from Camp Oakdale.
Chris said the biggest obstacle to construction was time.
“We needed time to raise money, time to clear the land, time to schedule the work, [and] time for grass to grow,” Chris said. In addition to budget shortfalls, the park contended with Mother Nature. An October 29 windstorm knocked a tree onto a newly built fence.
However, this did not deter a dedicated group of volunteers. The park’s Facebook page displays pictures of volunteers braving the wind, rain, and cold to make this small recreational pleasure a reality. Lawton said that support also came from town offices, Montville Parks and Recreation, Public Works, the mayor’s office, and the town clerk.
“It will be nice to have a park of our own, instead of going to other towns,” Chris said. The dog parks closest to Montville are in Norwich and Colchester. The park’s rules and regulations will comply with normal standards, such as leashing and waste disposal.
In the future, Lawton said he’d like to have electricity and running water for the park, and to connect it to local hiking trails, essentially expanding the park.
Donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/montvilledogpark. The Dog Park Commission’s has raised over $14,000 of its $25,000 goal. Meetings are still being held for ideas and suggestions from the community. Meeting times can be found at www.townofmontville.org/dogparkcommission.

by Anna Trusky

Dan “the Auction Man” Stanavage presents check and certificates from the National Auctioneers Association to Sales Manager Rocky Sposato, Business Manager Robert Valenti, and Sales Manager Bruce Morrow of Valenti Toyota in Westerly, to thank them for Valenti’s contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

On March 6, Dan “the Auction Man” Stanavage presented a poster-sized check and two framed certificates to Valenti Toyota in Westerly. The items were presented on behalf of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA), to thank the good people at Valenti for their contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The funds were gathered between Thanksgiving and Christmas as part of NAA’s annual drive to benefit St. Jude.
“The $11,000 donation was the culmination of contributions from many caring people and car dealerships,” said Dan, who handles the wholesale auto auctions for Valenti as well as auctions for many other local businesses and organizations. “A lot of people gave their hearts and souls to this worthy cause!”
To help raise funds for St. Jude, Dan also auctioned off tools purchased from Lowe’s, donated toys such as die-cast trucks, and watches donated by TC Pawn Shops. “However, many people gave donations without even buying something,” he noted.
Dan pointed out that the NAA raises close to $1 million each year for charitable causes. He is more than happy to help—especially when it comes to St. Jude, a cause that is near and dear to his heart. He was born with a condition known as Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a hip disorder that occurs in roughly 5.5 of 100,000 children per year and affects more boys than girls.
“I was in St. Jude briefly and they determined it wasn’t cancer, so I then went to Newington Children’s Hospital,” Dan recalled. “My mother always said leaving me there was the hardest thing she’d ever done. But my parents would not give up on me. I had lots of X-rays and needles and was in traction for years.” Today Perthes disease is easily curable.
“That’s why I help St. Jude,” said Dan. “I know what it’s like to be in a hospital without your parents. I feel for the kids at St. Jude who have it way worse than I did. If I can save one kid’s life, then my life is worth living!”
To get in touch with Dan and find out how you can help, visit www.dantheauctionman.com.

story and photo
by Lisa M. Luck

Lighthouse Bakery, East Main Street, Mystic, sits back from the street. It’s housed in a barn-shaped two-story building with a loose-gravel parking lot, and a blinking neon open sign. Metal chairs, marble counter tops and a TV set to news inhabits the restaurant. Cream puffs, cookies, and baklava adorn the display cases. The bakery belongs to Massoud Kalkhoran, an immigrant from Iran, now a U.S. citizen since October 25, 2017. He makes everything from scratch.

Massoud Kalkhoran states, “Honesty is the only thing that helps you….”

In Iran, he owned an import business and he was an electrician but when an “immigrant moves to another country, you’re not able to do what you were doing,” he said. “It’s not you to choose what you’ll work at because the rules are different.” He never thought about being a baker but it supports his family.
Massoud came here from Iran with his wife, Mercedes and his six week old son, Kameal in 1998. The “U.S. has more opportunities” he states. He came to the U.S. because, “I had no other choice. My wife’s family was here and after the Revolution in Iran (from 1978-1979) the culture was different and my wife was unhappy.” He started the process in Istanbul, Turkey to move to the United States a full year beforehand which involved filling out numerous forms, paying fees, and answering questions about why he wanted to come to the U.S. Back in 1998, he received his Green Card at JF Kennedy airport.
Another reason Massoud came to the U.S. was for the education for his children, Kameal, now 19 and Kamal, 16. The U.S. culture touts education, he notes. “Starting a new life as an adult is tough. There’s a better future with education. There’s a chance to get educated in Iran but not necessarily a chance to use it.” Kameal, who took a year off to help his father at the bakery, will attend college next year to pursue being a lawyer. Kamel, a junior at Fitch High School, loves to read books and study will attend right after graduation.
The process for citizenship, he describes, required applying by filling out forms. Then Immigration interviewed him by asking questions about U.S. History, the Constitution, Amendments and the U.S. Government. They also asked, “Have you ever used guns? Have you been in Mexico or Canada? They know what countries you’ve been to. Once when my passport expired, they asked me what countries I had been to and they knew where I’ve been” by the ones he omitted. “Honesty is the only thing that helps you, not just for citizenship, or a green card but everywhere.” In three weeks, he received a letter about the swearing-in ceremony.
Massoud well remembers that day of his swearing-in ceremony; there were fifty-five people of “all different colors, nationalities, African, Asian, Hispanic, and I was the only Iranian.” Massoud talked to the judge after the ceremony and said, “I was the luckiest one.” Massoud became a citizen so that he wouldn’t be separated from his sons.
He still misses Iran though. “There’s so many things that you’d have to write a book about it,” he jokes. He talks to his mom everyday as well as his brothers. He misses the culture and the food especially the food. “Nobody cooks like my mother,” he says as he reminisces about her gourmet dishes such as sabzi, a vegetable dish, and bademjan, an eggplant and tomato stew. He then mentions how good the caviar tastes from the Caspian Sea.
Massoud wishes “good luck to all the immigrant people out there.” He knows how hard the process is not just for citizenship but learning the language too. When he first arrived, he heard others speaking English so fast and said, “God, I’m not gonna survive.” But survive he did. “I started with nothing and ended up here.” And he has flourished.

The former Fitch Middle School in Groton will be home to the town’s new, soon-to-be-named, community center.

by Eva Bunnell

The care of human life and happiness…is the first, and only object of good government,” so said Thomas Jefferson. As a town that boasts a beautiful Senior Center, the “Central Bark” Dog Park, an award-winning public library, a public golf course, and a myriad of outstanding park and recreational program offerings, town officials in Groton clearly takes this credo to heart.
As the town continues its efforts to create relevant, state-of the-art programs, the Groton Town Council, the Parks and Recreation and Public Works staff are currently amid retro-fitting the former Fitch Middle School to become the new community center. However, there’s one thing missing; the new center needs a name.
After conducting a needs assessment in 2009 that helped create the “Groton Parks and Recreation Master Plan,” town officials found that “residents ranked a community center as a top park and recreation facility need.”
The town has operated its Parks and Recreation programs at the former Williams Seely School for the last 15 years. The move to Fitch, allows the town to make “the Seely property available for development,” while at the same time, “saves the town money on operating expenditures.”
According to Mark Berry, Director, Groton Parks and Recreation, “our staff is very excited to move our programs to the new location at the former Fitch Middle School, the physical center of town, right next door to Groton Town Hall.” He shared that, “the new space and location will allow Groton Parks and Recreation to better serve the community through more programming opportunities and the increased proximity to facilities and town services.”
Mark and town staff are hoping the opening of the new center will take place by mid- to- late summer with most programming to begin in February of 2019.
All work completed will, of course, follow ADA requirements, thus ensuring that the center will be accessible and enjoyed by individuals at all levels of ability.
At this point in time, a survey of residents that asked their ideas for the center’s name has been closed. However, it’s not too late to have a say! Groton residents will soon be asked to rank the three-to-four top choice names that came out of the survey for final consideration by Town Council members. For further information please go to: www.GrotonRec.com/CommunityCenterName Be a part of this “new beginning!”