Category Archives: osn

Vista Partners with Shoreline Community Women to Sponsor “Boxes for Soldiers” Drive

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The Shoreline Community is invited to help support and brighten the days of our troops around the globe.  Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center is partnering with the Shoreline Community Women of Clinton to sponsor a collection of items for soldiers stationed overseas from now through January 2014.

Shoreline Community Women has spearheaded this drive for several years and has sent over 1,200 boxes to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Cindy Stevens, chairperson of Boxes for Soldiers since 2006 says, “The troops are really happy that people they don’t know are thinking of them.”

Community members are invited to donate any of the following items:

Hand wipes, baby wipes, Wet Ones (small or individual packages are best), hand sanitizer, disposable cameras, sunscreen, non-aerosol bug repellent, individual size shampoo and mouthwash, chap stick, band aids, Advil, Tylenol, aspirin, foot powder, deodorant, beef jerky, individually packages snacks like rice crispy treats, nuts, power/protein bars, granola bars, raisins, pop tarts, crystal light/Gatorade powder drink mixes, ice tea mix, hot chocolate, dry soup mix, tea bags, instant coffee and Dunkin Donuts coffee, writing paper, note cards, envelopes, pens, Sudoku puzzles, books, current magazines, playing cards, movies on DVD, games, batteries (AA or AAA), either white or dark socks, hand and foot warmers. NO CANDY OR GUM PLEASE.

Donations can be brought to Vista’s Westbrook Campus, at 1356 Old Clinton Road or to Vista’s Madison Campus at 107 Bradley Road.

Based in Madison and Westbrook, CT, Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center is a 501©3 nonprofit organization.  Vista’s mission is to provide services and resources on an individualized basis to assist adults with disabilities to live independent and successful lives.

For more information regarding Vista, visit www.vistavocational.org

Letter From Paris: Seasonal Signs in the City of Light … and Beyond

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Nicole Prévost Logan

Nicole Prévost Logan

France is very festive at this pre-Christmas time.  I just returned from a short visit to the village of Sanary Sur Mer on the Mediterranean.  The grandiose gold and silver decorations contrasted with the bright colored “pointus” (small fishing boats) tossing about in the port.

Our next stop was Aix-en-Provence, which was also getting ready for the holiday season.  It is a pleasure to look for shops wandering through the pedestrian streets of the old town and discover the 17th century architecture  with its elegant courtyards and stairs.  Rows of prefabricated chalets selling glühwein and regional pastries lined the Cours Mirabeau (the heart of the city) ending in an illuminated fountain.  A hot chocolate in the old fashioned terrace of the Grillon cafe was a must.

If  Paris ever deserves its name of the “City of Light,” it is at Christmas time.  Each arrondissement  has its own style of illuminations.  They range from the elegant avenue Montaigne where trees and lights match the costly look of the main fashion houses to the more popular Bastille (where I live), which turn into an amusement park offering a stomach -curdling ride in the highest contraption of Europe.

The Champs-Elysees in Paris with Christmas lights.

The Champs-Elysees in Paris with Christmas lights (file photo.)

The sight of the Champs Elysees is spectacular.  This year the decorations consist of blue lights circling  the  trees.  The computerized lighting of the Grande Roue (ferris wheel) overlooking the Place de la Concorde makes it look as if it is exploding in the sky.  For many years, it has offered the best view over the city, .

The Eiffel Tower decorated for Christmas.

The Eiffel Tower decorated for Christmas.

The Eiffel Tower stands aloof and sparkles for a few minutes every hour on the hour.

Borrowing a tradition which used to be more common in Germany and Central Europe, Christmas markets are now found every where in Paris.  Their alpine look make up for the absence of snow.  The esplanade of the Hotel de Ville attracts visitors with free skating ring and merry-go-round.

And, of course, there is the Christmas shopping, including the most popular toy of the year: the clone.  I thought it was a good time for me to discover the latest and largest shopping mall in downtown Paris.  The modernistic glass facade of Beaugrenelle is part of the group of skyscrapers  built in the 15th arrondissement by the Seine river.  As a sign of times, the budget of many families been has been reduced to 300 euros per person.  As a result, shopping online and the use of newly-created second-hand supermarkets have exploded.

Oysters, foie gras and a good bottle of champagne are still the favorite with the French for their reveillon (meaning ‘the eve.’)  On the 25th itself, the celebratory meal will be planned around a goose and end up with a bûche de Noel (Christmas log.)

HeadshotAbout the author:  Nicole Prévost Logan divides her time between Essex and Paris, spending summers in the former and winters in the latter.  She will write a regular column for us from her Paris home where her topics will include politics, economy, social unrest — mostly in France — but also in other European countries.  She also will cover a variety of art exhibits and the performing arts in Europe.  Logan is the author of ‘Forever on the Road: A Franco-American Family’s Thirty Years in the Foreign Service,’ an autobiography of her life as the wife of an overseas diplomat, who lived in 10 foreign countries on three continents.  Her experiences during her foreign service life included being in Lebanon when civil war erupted, excavating a medieval city in Moscow and spending a week under house arrest in Guinea.

Singalong — or Just Listen — to the ‘Messiah’ at The Kate This Afternoon

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The Annual Messiah Singalong or Listen, sponsored by Cappella Cantorum, will be held today, Sunday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m. in the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Art Center, Old Saybrook, CT.

The Singalong is open to all.  Professional soloists are featured, performing the Christmas Section.

Bring your Messiah scores if you have them or they will be provided.

Singers Call Time is 3:30 p.m. for rehearsal.  There is a $10 fee to cover expenses,

The audience is invited to sit in the back.

Tickets are available through the Box Office at 877-503-1286 or on the website at www.thekate.org or on the day of performance.  There are no reserved seats.

For more information, visit www.cappellacantorum.org

Join a Moment of Silence for Newtown at 9:30 This Morning

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On Dec. 14, one year ago today, we lost 26 fellow Americans to gun violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.  We lost 20 of our youngest students and six dedicated school workers.

To mark the anniversary of that senseless tragedy, President Obama will honor those lost at Sandy Hook with a moment of silence this morning at 9:30 a.m. ET.

We invite LymeLine readers to join him and us as we honor the victims of Newtown.

No More Silence: Local Moms to Honor Newtown Anniversary in Hartford This Afternoon

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12/14 Update — Event Cancelled Due to Storm:  On Saturday, Dec. 14, moms and others who support the same goals will gather at over 50 events in more than 35 states to honor the victims of the tragedy in Newtown and the thousands of Americans lost to gun violence every year.  All events will include a communal bell-ringing to remember the victims and to show resolve to never again be silent about gun violence.

These events are co-sponsored by Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America .

In Hartford at the event starting at 2 p.m. at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Ave., attendees will hear from Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, Senator Beth Bye, Kara Nelson Baekey, Rev. Henry Brown, Mrs. Henrietta Beckman, and Iran Nazario about the need to reduce gun violence.

Local sponsors, with whom a common goal of gun violence prevention is shared, include Step Up, Step Out at Asylum Hill Congregational Church and Mothers United Against Violence.

Bells will be rung loudly, honoring the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy with a promise to continue making noise on gun reform until change comes.

For more information, visit http://momsdemandaction.org/no-more-silence/

Speakers will include:

  • Kara Nelson Baekey, Chapter Leader, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
  • Rev. Matthew Laney, Asylum Hill Congregational Church
  • U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
  • U.S. Senator Chris Murphy
  • State Senator Beth Bye
  • Rev. Henry Brown, President, Mothers United Against Violence
  • Mrs. Henrietta Beckman, Director, Mothers United Against Violence
  • Iran Nazario, Director of Peacebuilders and Community Relations, COMPASS Youth Collaborative, Inc.

Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving was created to change laws regarding drunk driving, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to build support for common-sense gun reforms. The nonpartisan grassroots movement of American mothers is demanding new and stronger solutions to lax gun laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our children and families.

In nearly one year, the organization has more than 127,000 members with a chapter in every state in the country.

For more information or to get involved, visit www.momsdemandaction.org.  Follow the organization on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MomsDemandAction or on Twitter @MomsDemand.

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 1,000 mayors from across the country. The organization has more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making it the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.

The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation’s mayors around these common goals:

  • protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable
  • demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking
  • working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.

Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org