By LISA CAPOBIANCO STAFF WRITER Over the past year, Randy Groop has collected bottles and cans around Bristol Hospital with the hope of using money to buy clothes for the emergency room’s most vulnerable patients. From shirts to sweatpants to jackets, Groop will offer a variety to patients leaving the hospital. “I collect them, return them, cash in the money, and I just…bought $100 worth of sweatpants and sweatshirts…so they have something warm to go home with,” said Groop, who works as an emergency room technicians. This is just one way in which Groop tries to make a difference in the lives of patients who enter the emergency room on a daily basis. This month, Groop was recently named “Health Care Hero” by the Hartford Business Journal. “It was quite a surprise because I didn’t know it was coming,” said Groop, adding how his former manager and director nominated him for the award. Groop starts his day at 6 a.m., and conducts a wide range of tasks from putting in special orders for the department to introducing himself to patients to stocking. He also draws blood for patients and does EKGs, as well as splinting and monitoring blood draws. When […]
By LISA CAPOBIANCO STAFF WRITER Over the past year, Randy Groop has collected bottles and cans around Bristol Hospital with the hope of using money to buy clothes for the emergency room’s most vulnerable patients. From shirts to sweatpants to jackets, Groop will offer a variety to patients leaving the hospital. “I collect them, return them, cash in the money, and I just…bought $100 worth of sweatpants and sweatshirts…so they have something warm to go home with,” said Groop, who works as an emergency room technicians. This is just one way in which Groop tries to make a difference in the lives of patients who enter the emergency room on a daily basis. This month, Groop was recently named “Health Care Hero” by the Hartford Business Journal. “It was quite a surprise because I didn’t know it was coming,” said Groop, adding how his former manager and director nominated him for the award. Groop starts his day at 6 a.m., and conducts a wide range of tasks from putting in special orders for the department to introducing himself to patients to stocking. He also draws blood for patients and does EKGs, as well as splinting and monitoring blood draws. When […]
By MICHAEL LETENDRE STAFF WRITER BRISTOL – Every good hoops team is going to drop a game or two along a successful campaign. Every squad seems to do it and expecting to sail through a scholastic campaign undefeated is sometimes unrealistic. And in the grand schemes of things, a loss is a good learning tool in the end. In the case of the team from St. Paul, it took one heck of an individual effort to finally topple the Falcons on Monday night, Dec. 22. Watertown’s Abby Collier notched over half of her squad’s final point total to help defeat St. Paul as her game high 29 points led the Indians to an impressive 49-45 win from the Maltby Street Gymnasium in Bristol. It was the first loss of the season for the Falcons (3-1) while Watertown moved over .500 in the victorious effort (3-2). In the Naugatuck Valley League tilt, Watertown won the first three quarters – by just a total of four points – and played St. Paul even over the final eight minutes to put up a huge win on the road. Collier’s effort was impressive as she hit only six field goals but from the free […]
The 2014 Lady Knight softball team was honored during halftime of the varsity girls basketball game against Conard on Saturday, Dec. 27 for winning their second straight Class LL championship title last spring . The 2014 Lady Knights went 20-0 during the regular season to earn the top seed in the postseason tournament. Southington scored wins over Newtown (13-0), Cheshire (2-1), and Hand (8-0) to reach the Class LL finals and out-lasted Amity, 1-0, in the championship game with a 15th inning walk-off home run by Rachel Dube. The 2014 title was Southington’s 16th state championship. Southington is 16-4 in title contests and holds the record for the most titles (16) and championship game appearances (20) in state history. Amity is second overall in championship game appearances with 13. The Spartans are 5-7 in title games and 3-4 against the Knights in championship contests.
Beginning on Jan. 15, a three-part workshop for adults and high school age patrons will be given by Jennifer Piccirillo, a Meriden photographer and educator. She will conduct a series of workshops on the basics of photo framing and how to take winter photos. The first workshop, Thursday, Jan. 15, will begin with a short introduction to the rule of thirds and positioning yourself to take the best photo. The second workshop is Thursday, Feb. 5 and the third workshop is Thursday, March 12. Each workshop begins at 6:30 p.m. If you are interested in these workshops and do not have your own camera the library has several digital cameras available to borrow. Contact Jeanne Chmielewski at (860) 628-0947, ext. 113 or Julie Rio, Reference/Teen Librarian at (860) 628-0947, ext. 5 with any questions.
portfolio_slideshow id=8020 Five Southington Soccer Club teams rallied to a total of 51 wins this fall, and no team suffered more than two losses over the course of the season. The U-12 ‘Swamp’ girls soccer team led the way with a perfect 8-0 record that culminated with a State Cup title.
The Southington Public Library will be holding a contemporary fiction discussion series with Patricia D’Ascoli. Contemporary fiction normally focuses on giving readers a window into some corner of everyday experience and showing what it would be like to walk in someone else’s shoes. Some of the stories may be politically motivated or designed to raise social awareness, while others exist purely for entertainment. D’Ascoli is an award-winning journalist whose work has been published in Connecticut Magazine, News-Times, and Greater New Milford Spectrum. She publishes the Connecticut Muse which includes a calendar of literary events and information about new releases by Connecticut authors. D’Ascoli earned her M.S. in English from Southern Connecticut State University and was a recipient of a graduate research fellowship and winner of the inaugural graduate commencement speech writing contest. She works as an adjunct professor at Lincoln College of New England. The books are available to borrow from the library. Registration is required. Visit the library website at www.southingtonlibrary.org, click on Calendar or contact the Reference Department at (860) 628-0947, ext. 5. Here are the selections and dates for the discussion series: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain: Thursday, Jan. 22, 6:15 p.m. A deeply evocative story […]
The Southington Community YMCA will be offering an American Red Cross Lifeguard Class beginning on Monday, Jan. 5. The class will run on Mondays through Feb. 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants must be at least 15 years old to participate, and attendance at all sessions is mandatory to receive certification. The YMCA will also host a lifeguard recertification class on Thursday, Jan. 8 and Friday, Jan. 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Attendance on both days is required. Anyone with questions should contact Barbara Glaude at (860) 426-9553 or bglaude@sccymca.org.
The Southington Emergency Management Team has announced the opening of warming stations through Friday due to the expected cold weather and wind chills. The stations are located at the Calendar House (Senior Center) and the Southington Public Library during their normal business hours. Calendar House is located at 388 Pleasant Street in Southington, and its business hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Southington Public Library is located at 255 Main Street in Southington, and its hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Watch for Wednesday night for all of Northern Connecticut. A brief but dangerous arctic cold air mass will impact our area on Wednesday night and Thursday with a reinforcing push of cold air on Friday. Light snow and snow squalls are also expected during much of this period. The following forecast is based on a blend of the GFS and NAM models: Tonight…Clearing and cold with lows near 20 F and wind chills ranging from +5 to +15. Wednesday…Partly sunny in the morning with an arctic front moving across the state […]
