Air-Pack Deficiencies Draws Fines for Borough Fire Department

The Stonington Borough Fire Department is being fine $300 by the Connecticut Labor Department's Division of Occupational Safety and Health for not having a "complete policy on the use of air packs and for deficiencies in air-pack training" according to a news item in the Day. OSHA was advised of the air-pack problem by a Borough firefighter who filed an official complaint on 9 July about the department's not having enough packs. Chief Hoadley had removed 7 of 14 air packs from service after they had tested unacceptable. A 12 July inspection by OSHA of the department found four air-pack violations plus other failures in training and policy regarding air packs. Chief Hoadley accepted responsibility for these findings and said he hoped the department would be in full compliance with regulations by 1 October. Fourteen new air packs have been ordered for the department, at a cost to the Borough of more than $69,000. Another air pack will be purchased by the Stonington Fire District. These should be delivered by the end of this week. Chief Hoadley and Borough Warden Don Maranell said they hoped that OSHA would reduce the fine if the fire department meets the 1 October deadline.

Children, please !

Yet more proof that drinking and driving don't mix – Tuesday night, just before 10 pm, two folks got into a vehicular contretemps around Grand and Water Streets. Had to do, reports say, with parking. Ms Barbara Oliver, 62, of the Big Apple was parking her car, assisted by Steve Sheehan, 57, of Groton, when she, inadvertently one can only hope, ran over his foot, pinning it. Sheehan responded energetically, by kicking the car with his free foot and, in the mild words of the Day report, "shouting expletivs." Indeed, our ears are tingling now. Police and bystanders were able to lift the offending vehicle off of Sheehan's foot (which, we're told, seemed somewhat smooshed - yuck! – but he declined medical services.) Ms Oliver got a ticket for DUI and other minor infractions, while Mr Sheehan of the flattened foot was charged with criminal mischief and second-degree breach of the peace. Turns out they were acquaintances, too. Now if they can only stop those evil skateboarders!

Water, water, everywhere

The Four Starr Gallery show "Coastal Landscapes" opens this coming Friday, 31 August 2007 with a reception from 5 to 9 pm. Artists with work in this exhibition and sale include Sheila Barbone, Chris Dixon, Gray Park, Howard Park, Sarah Seip, Tod Johnstone and Rieta Park. The show runs through 26 September 2007. The Four Starr Gallery is located in the former American Velvet Mill building, 22 Bayview Avenue, Stonington, and hours are Monday-Friday 10 am - 5 pm and Saturday 10 am - 2.30 pm. For more info, call 860-535-1844.

Mi casa es su casa

The folks at Calvary Church in the Borough want to invite everyone to come by the Parish Hall in Church Street, just opposite Borough Hall, on Wednesday night, 29 August, at 6 pm to hear about their recent work building houses in Ecuador. Here's a copy of the e-mail I got:

Hola Amigos!

Por favor - come join Mark & Sewell Robinson, John & Sara Groton, James Fayal, and other HABITAT BUILDERS for a SLIDE PRESENTATION on their recent mission trip to Ecuador.

TOMORROW NIGHT!!
Wed., Aug. 29, 6 p.m. in the Parish Hall

Brushing Up

Our spies, who are, of course, everywhere and usually dressed in ways I can't begin to describe (sartorial subtlety is not their strength, but gossip is), tell me that William Kimmerle, son of George and Lynn of Water Street, has been painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York – this YouTube video introduces Mr Kimmerle and put him in the never-easy position of having to "explain" his work in just over 45 seconds (Kimmerle interview starts at 2.13). For a less stressful viewing of young Kimmerle's new work, click here.

She's BAAAAAACK!!!

Janis Albamonti, formerly of Fun! in Water Street, confirms rumors that she and husband Ron will be coming back to the Borough (or environs) soon. See Letters to the Intelligencer for details and pix (of many doggies).

Down in Baltimore over Labor Day

Anyone passing through or near Baltimore, Maryland, on the Labor Day weekend, Thursday 30 August through Sunday, 2 September 2007, might like to say hello to Borough resident Rick Unruh, whose Greenwood Gallery will be exhibiting at the 27th Annual Baltimore Summer Antiques Show at the Baltimore Convention Center, which is downtown at the Inner Harbor. If Rick's booth is cleaned out (we hope so!), you have 549 other fine art and antiques dealers to inspect, plus 60 dealers of antiquarian books.

Sail Away...

Lots of sailing activity in the harbor this past beautiful weekend, some of which is nicely covered on the J22 blog called Fishers Island Sound J 22. Personally, I think it's probably a good thing to keep the Committee Boat "on its toes", as it were, with a little 'close contact'. But of course I am an avowed and proud landlubber.

Lots of photos from the Farmers Market here.

A fine band concert organized by the SVIA took place on the Square last Sunday evening, just as I, alas, had to face the traffic on I-95. Lots of people enjoying the music as I regretfully drove past.

Tracking (Not So) Still Lifes

Another fine art establishment has moved into the Borough: Adelaide Fine Art, owned by one-time and now again Borough resident Ann Marenakos, has set up an elegant base for showing and selling 19th and 20th century art, mostly American but with, for instance, a few French tableaux as well. (Some pictures of Ms Marenakos and of her new gallery can be seen here)

Of course the Borough is rich with galleries showing new and old paintings etc. Among my perennial favorites are The Greenwood Gallery on Wadawanuck Square with its fine, museum-quality Connecticut Impressionist and Tonalist works on display, Roberto Freitas, 119 Water Street, who shows a lot of Early American paintings, and Devon House Antiques and Gallery, at 72 Water Street, near the Inn, where I keep seeing some particularly lovely landscapes in the window, by an artist whose name I don't know. At any rate, a nice reason to take a constitutional in the Borough on a fine summer afternoon.

Lobsters al fresco

The weather Saturday was spectacular, and especially perfect for the Stonington Borough Fire Department Lobster Boil (see pictures here) held in front of the Fire House. A stout gentleman asked "How do they get the butter like this?" – to which I had no immediate clever answer (a FD person later advised that they simply melted it). Lots of politicos in evidence, including Bill Brown (First Selectman of the Town of Stonington), Don Maranell (Warden of the Borough), and Scott Bates (Burgess).

Wet & (Not So) Wild

A dreary day in the Borough – harbinger, no doubt, of autumn to come, with blustery nor'easters etc.

Fun evening at the opening last night of the 51st Regional Art Show in Mystic (though the traffic was something else, and the parking lot packed!) I overheard reports that local art dealers are scouring the Velvet Mill looking for artists to exhibit. Pictures here.

Did anyone besides me notice the fireworks off Sandy Point last night? Rather pretty, if, I suspect, illegal. I tried to get photos but my camera is too slow when it's pitch black (can't figure out what to focus on.) Someone else "answered" these fireworks with fireworks of their own, shot off in the vicinity of Ash Street, it seemed to me. Collusion in crime? Maybe.

Don't forget the Lobster Dinner tomorrow night benefitting the Stonington Borough Fire Department – for $20 per person, a local lobster drenched in butter, corn, cole slaw etc – starts at 6 pm (or soon thereabouts, I think) at the Fire House.

Waiting

While we didn't have, to my knowledge – I slept quite soundly last night, thunderstorms equal to the ones our friends in Manhattan experienced last night (and subway service is still screwed up, I'm told), it is hot and incredibly humid today in the Borough, as I wait for a password to upload the latest issue of The Stonington Intelligencer – these computer things so often foil my best efforts!

Anyway, two local art events of note: Sue Scala's exhibition now at Noah's Art at Noah's Restaurant in the Borough and the 51st Annual Regional Show at the Mystic Arts Center, which opens tomorrow night from 5.30 pm to 7 pm and for which 1st prize was awarded to a painting by the Borough's own Jan Mercer. Go see them both.

Westerly Band Concert, Wed. August 22 at 7 pm

Everyone in Stonington has heard the Westerly Band – these fine fellows and fellowettes in their crisply smart uniforms march in every Borough parade (and were the subject of a painting by Borough artist David Black a few years ago – a painting which I think still lives in Trumbull Street in arty SoCa). Well, every summer when it sizzles, the Westerly Band plays a free concert in nearby Wilcox Park, Westerly (a spectacular city park designed by a former associate of the King of Park Design Frederick Law Olmsted — think Central Park in NYC and Mount Royal Park, Montréal).

This year's concert will be held on Wednesday, 22 August 2007, at 7 pm at the bandstand in the park and it will feature, we're told, lots of types of music: popular, show tunes, classical and marches. But, sorry, no rap or techno.

From the e-mail we got: "A highlight of this year's concert is the "Spirit of Westerly", a march composed by Par Siravo, a trumpeter with the band. A long-time member of the Westerly Band and the Columbus band, Mr. Siravo composed this march as a tribute to Westerly's musical heritage."

It's free, it's close by, and admit it, your Wednesday evening's not already booked up.

Welcome to « Beside the Point »

Welcome to « Beside the Point » – a new blog feature of The Stonington Intelligencer, a monthly web journal published in the Borough of Stonington, Connecticut, USA.

« Beside the Point » will offer brief news, announcements, updates, notices, gossip, hearsay and whatever else seems of interest to residents and friends of the Borough of Stonington. Comments are welcome and will be moderated.