SALEM, Conn. – Dropping revenues and rising costs are forcing town officials to propose one of the leanest budgets in years while still trying to maintain certain services the public is deeming non-negotiable.

The newest proposal, including a number of changes adopted as a result of a widely attended and occasionally contentious public hearing on April 8, stands at $13.9 million, a 2.87 percent decrease from 2008-09. This includes a 1.18 percent rise in the general government allocation, a 0.65 percent decrease for the Board of Education and a 37 percent reduction in capital spending.

”This is how democracy is supposed to work,” said First Selectman Bob Ross. “The Board of Finance is doing its best to bring services in at the lowest possible rate.”

Ross said Salem is not “issuing as many building permits, conveyance taxes or seeing a lot of people buying new cars or land.” He said the town could have a tax-rate increase of as much as a half-mill.

Most at issue are layoffs, the first proposed in Salem in 25 years, which would eliminate a $12,000 town clerk assistant position, $11,000 worth of summer help positions and a $27,000 full-time public works maintainer.

Townspeople spoke out adamantly at the public hearing against elimination of one of the resident state troopers, arguing that in tough times crime rates tend to go up.

The Board of Finance put the trooper back into the budget and added $5,800 to general-government funds for a custodian to open the school’s gym early for summer recreation programs and $17,000 into the Board of Education budget to restore school recreation programs, including the late bus.

Balancing services against the need to hold down costs is proving particularly difficult on the general-government side, where employee benefit costs are set to rise $35,000 because of health care premium increases, an increase Ross said may push the town toward a new insurance provider next year. For the first time, Salem will also have to pay $30,000 in unemployment expenses this coming year.

Salem general-government salaries as a whole are set to decrease by $22,500, or 2.73 percent, factoring in the proposed layoffs and certain concessions from employees and unions.

Most of the remaining town salaries are proposed to receive 3 percent increases, which town officials have kept in line with similar scheduled increases in unionized salaries. The selectmen elected to forgo their token compensation, totaling just over $11,000, to help offset these costs.

Salem will hold its town meeting May 6 and its referendum May 13.

This article originally appeared on B1 of the New London Day and is available online here: http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=fb8c2acd-2047-462c-9201-079e22147467

SALEM, Conn. – Facing tight constraints in a tough budget year, the town of Salem is proposing its first series of layoffs in 25 years.

After a special meeting on March 19, the Board of Finance asked the Board of Selectmen to cut $75,000 from the general government budget and the Board of Education to cut $240,000 from the schools’ proposal. Having already pared their plans significantly prior to the meeting, both boards were left with little choice but to start eliminating or reorganizing positions.

”These are not cuts that anyone is advocating. They are reluctant recommendations based on a requirement by the Board of Finance,” First Selectman Bob Ross said. “ They are what we see as the least harmful, but any time you cut staff it comes with an impact on service.”

Ross said these are the first layoffs he can recall in 25 years in the town. They include eliminating a town clerk assistant, a full-time public works maintainer and two summer help positions, as well as sending one resident state trooper back to the barracks. The proposed layoffs would result in only two actual job losses for the town, since the two summer help positions have not yet been filled and the state trooper would still be employed, just not stationed in Salem.

The Board of Selectmen discussed alternatives to the proposed layoffs, including approaching the public works and firefighters unions and asking them to restructure their contracts and concede annual cost-of-living raises, which they were unwilling to do. Ross was then forced to compose a list of potential cuts to winnow the budget by the necessary $75,000.

”Even with all these reductions we’ve made in the proposal, we’re still looking at a $300,000 to $400,000 increase in taxes, and that reflects a one-and-a-half to two percent increase from last year,” Board of Finance Chairman Bill Weinschenker said. “I’m not even sure the proposal we have on the table right now is palatable to the public.”

The cuts come amid a general government budget that includes 3 percent pay increases for most town employees, as well as similar increases scheduled in the public works and firefighters union contracts.

However, Ross was quick to point out, “all told, you’re talking about $37,000 of pay increases, which is spread out over 30 to 40 employees, and in the grand scheme, that is small. Nobody is getting rich in municipal government, people are just eking by.”

The Board of Selectmen approved the layoffs in a special meeting March 24, though Ross said the votes were far from unanimous. He added that the forced budget reductions are a revenue problem, not the result of irresponsible spending.

”What changed this year is the dramatic decline in revenues and you simply can’t spend money you don’t have, “ Ross said. “We’ve cut capital back as far as I think we should at this point and the downsizing on personal property, licensing fees and things of that sort, as people cut back on their expenses, means that the town loses a lot of revenue and that’s what forces us to scale back on the budget.”

Overall, Salem’s budget proposal – currently $13,807,516 – reflects about a 3 percent decrease from last year. The general government portion stands at $3 million, while the school board is asking for just under $10 million and $650,000 is planned for capital expenditures.

The Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Monday to finalize its budget proposal before the Board of Finance holds its public hearing at the Gardner Lake Firehouse at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The proposal will then go to a town meeting, followed by a referendum.

This article originally appeared on B1 of the New London Day and is available online here: http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=755ddded-bdaa-44cc-9c6e-93a854677b55

EAST LYME, Conn. – This spring, East Lyme High School is growing something unique in its new rooftop garden: organic electricity.

The 481-kilowatt, photovoltaic solar system includes a “garden” of more than 2,900 solar panels, from which the school started drawing power for the first time on March 9. The system’s sunlight harvest is expected to account for 25 to 30 percent of ELHS’s annual electricity needs, saving it approximately $1.2 million over the next 20 years.

“Even on a cloudy day, we’re still pulling plenty of electricity from it,” East Lyme Public Schools business manager Don Meltabarger said while surveying the array of panels atop the main building. “I’m curious to see what our first electric bill will look like.”

The project is the result of a contract between ELHS and Constellation Energy, a nationally recognized and publicly traded company that has financed and built more than $1 billion in energy related projects to date. Under their power purchase agreement, Constellation owns and maintains the solar equipment for the next 20 years and sells the energy it produces to the school at a rate of 12 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).

To put this figure in perspective, Meltabarger said ELHS currently pays Connecticut Light & Power 18 cents per kWh and uses about 2.4 million a year. Saving more than 30 percent on the energy the school buys from Constellation will add up greatly over time, likely saving the school about $12,000 in the first year alone.

All told, the project cost $4.1 million and was financed entirely by Constellation Energy, less a $1.8 million grant the company won from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund if they completed the work by Dec. 31, 2008. Constellation receives a 30 percent federal tax credit and state tax benefits on the work, as well, and then transfers ownership to ELHS after the 20-year contract expires, when the grid will still have 80 percent of its operational capacity.

An added bonus is that ELHS teachers and students have a whole new solar system to study and learn from, complete with a Web site that provides real-time reports of the system’s electrical output. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund’s grant includes a provision that requires teachers to build the project’s function and data into their students’ curriculum.

“We’ll tie in the Web site’s energy collection capabilities; many of our math projects and problems will be based on the data we collect from the grid,” said ELHS science teacher Laura Rotchford. “The whole concept of think global, act local—that’s what our students will be seeing firsthand.”

Meltabarger said the solar panel project has been on East Lyme’s to-do list for years but was tabled until the school’s roof was replaced to ensure it could bear the weight of the new system. ELHS finally got 125,000 square feet of new roofing in 2007, which enabled project organizers to finally move forward. The new panels will actually help preserve the life of the replaced roof, as well.

The solar garden is one of many steps East Lyme plans to take toward becoming more environmentally friendly. The school’s Ecology Club just received a $5,000 grant toward green initiatives for an honorable mention it received in a video and essay competition, and Meltabarger said the school is exploring everything from natural light harvesting and geothermal energy to things as simple as composting lunchroom leftovers.

In the meantime, the new solar system is enough to give ELHS bragging rights, as it is the largest solar installation at a public school in Connecticut, according to Meltabarger. It certainly beats the fictitious plan announced in the school’s newspaper on April Fool’s Day, claiming ELHS had decided to not turn on the heat for an entire year and, instead, go green by purchasing a large quantity of Snuggies to keep its students and faculty warm and save money on graduation gowns.

For more information or to see the real-time project Web site, visit ELHS’s Web site or www.fatspaniel.com and look under “live sites” for the East Lyme location.

This article originally appeared in the Lyme Times and is available here: http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/lyme_times/archive/2009/04/09/solar-savvy-east-lyme-high-school-turns-on-the-solar-power.aspx

SALEM, Conn. – Set to receive a $100,000 grant in June and with visitors arriving in ever-increasing numbers, the Salem Free Public Library is looking at a bright future despite the recession.

According to statistics released this week by Jackie Hemond, Salem’s head librarian, the library’s patron base has increased by 720 members since July 2008 to 3,232, a 29 percent jump. It has also seen a sizeable rise in the use of the services and resources it offers.

”I’ve been in the library business for quite a long time, and to me this [uptick] is pretty unique,” Hemond said. “I’ve seen use increase before, but this time is different. It’s much more noticeable.”

Hemond believes as the economy continues to slow, people are seeking out inexpensive (or in this case, free) options for entertainment and information, and the library is topping locals’ lists. Computer use at the facility was up 205 percent from September to February, interlibrary loans have jumped 122 percent from July to February and the library’s total circulation has risen by 3,203, or 8 percent, since July of last year.

According to its Web site, Salem’s library used to be housed in an 864-square-foot colonial building with books piled so high they encircled windows and displaced chairs. Since December 2004, when the library moved to its new building, which is roughly 10 times the size of the old one, it has been able to expand its offerings substantially and develop an ambitious vision for the future.

The library is trying to continue to improve the resources and programs and assist the rising number of visitors while operating on a tight budget.

Judy Rabe, the chairwoman of the Salem Library Board, said the library’s operating budget was $19,530 this fiscal year, and the Salem Board of Finance sent letters to all town departments requesting that their budget requests for the upcoming year not exceed a 1 percent increase.

For the library, this means it would be able to add $195 at most, which Rabe said “doesn’t do much.” Fortunately, the library learned last September that it would be getting a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut as part of the organization’s “Love Our Libraries” initiative.

”We had a couple large gifts in the last fiscal year, and the timing was such that it was our 25th anniversary and we wanted to do something special for the community,” said Jennifer O’Brien, the Community Foundation’s program director. “Our board tried to find something that we could do for every town that would have a nice, wide impact, and the winning idea was to take the 13 libraries in the 11 towns we serve and give them each up to $100,000 to help them.”

The libraries are free to use the funds at their discretion, though the Community Foundation is still reviewing and finalizing the details of the libraries’ individual proposals. The monies will be distributed in June, which is determined to be an ideal time as by then town budgets will likely have been finalized.

The Salem library plans to use the grant to expand its technological offerings, such as paying for the recently installed Value Line system, a powerful financial database and research resource it believes will be particularly useful to patrons in the down economy and will attract new visitors.

The grant also will go toward the implementation of Bibliomation, the library’s new online catalog, and toward improving the programs it sponsors. The library currently hosts a book club, a knitting club and a variety of other events, but the grant money will allow it to branch out.

”We’d love to be able to do outreach programs for people that are homebound and that kind of thing,” Rabe said, “and the grant will make that possible.”

Rabe pointed out how much the library has benefited from Hemond’s work and vision since she took over as head librarian in March of last year. Rabe and Hemond both want to see the library become a top community destination and believe the grant and their continued hard work will help make that possible.

”I think Salem used to be viewed as a small-town library,” Hemond said, “but we’re going to have an online catalog people can access from home, a new Web site … these are things that other libraries have had for years and years but Salem didn’t, and so these kinds of things will really help us move forward.”

This article orginally appeared in the New London Day and is available online here: http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=1963e726-f047-46cb-a437-77434c43d7c4

GROTON, Conn. – A collection of city officials, parents, and administrators breathed a small sigh of relief Wednesday night as the Groton Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (GASP) released the findings of its recent youth substance abuse survey.

Approximately 30 people attended the meeting at the Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School that presented the results of a biennial survey GASP helped to administer to 828 students at Fitch High School and Cutler, Fitch, and West Side middle schools in May of 2008. The survey was designed to “ascertain prevalence, attitudes, and behaviors related to use of substances [tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs].” Archie C. Swindell, PhD, of Quantitative Services and Michelle Hamilton, GASP’s program coordinator, led the forum.

“Whatever we find here is not just a school issue,” Swindell cautioned the audience, “but an issue that concerns the whole community.”

According to its executive summary, the survey documents a “steady, albeit somewhat uneven, decline in the recent use (within the previous 30 days) of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.” More specifically, “substance use by 9th and 10th graders from 2000 to 2008 was: alcohol, from 41 percent to 27 percent; cigarettes, from 20 percent to 14 percent; and marijuana, from 20 percent to 14 percent.”

There were some negative trends, such as “experimentation with hallucinogens and cocaine may be on the increase among older youth…among 7th and 8th graders inhalant use increased from 2004 to 2008,” and prescription drug use showed a slight uptick across grades. But overall most substance abuse appeared to be trending downward, while youth and parental awareness of such issues was on the rise.

Founded in July of 1999, GASP is a coalition of 21 local groups and agencies and area parents and teens dedicated to addressing substance-abuse issues. It is run under the supervision of the Ledge Light Health District, a government entity that serves Groton, Ledyard, Waterford, New London, and East Lyme in lieu of local health
departments.

Hamilton and Stephen Mansfield, Ledge Light’s deputy director of health, were pleased with the survey results and attributed the decrease in abuse, at least in part, to GASP’s initiatives. Among them, the efforts of local youths in the Youth Against Drugs Committee (a 10-member student organization led by Kaitlyn King, a junior at Fitch High School) and Ledge Light’s summer internship program.

“They are really good at telling us what will work and what won’t,” Hamilton said of the students’ influence.

Hamilton and Mansfield said the survey data helps to let them know their efforts are pointed in the right direction and helps them keep an eye on the road ahead.

“We don’t want to leave the survey on the shelf,” Hamilton said. “We want to use it to strategize to see what to do next. We do use the data to set priorities for the future.”

These priorities will include continuing productive initiatives, such as the “Locker Shock” campaign they ran through the youth group that blanketed school lockers with GASP magnets, as well as mentoring other city’s budding programs (GASP currently assists both Norwich and Waterford’s contingents). They will also use the new data to further their candidacy for future grants.

GASP currently receives approximately $100,000 a year from the Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA), according to Hamilton, as part of a 10-year grant GASP received in 2001. When this grant expires, the coalition will have to seek alternate funding, which members plan to do as the expiration date aproaches.

“We can seek funding more easily because our program is up and running and has been successful,” Mansfield said. He said the favorable data from the 2008 survey helps to support their efforts and makes the process of applying for future grants and funding that much easier.

Asked if the downward trending data might show substance abuse issues resolving themselves, and thus preclude GASP from securing future funding, Swindell said, “That’s absolutely not the case. It’s like holding something underwater. While you’re making an effort, it stays down, but as soon as you let up, the problem will pop right up again. I don’t think success breeds difficulty in getting another grant.”

The GASP coalition has set up a Web site, www.gaspcoalition.org, which provides history and news about the organization and gives directions on how to get involved. Its next event will be the New London County Tobacco Retailers Breakfast on March 17 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Groton. For more information on the event or GASP’s efforts, contact Michelle Hamilton at 448-4882, ext. 305.

This article ran originally in the Groton Times and is available online here: http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/groton_times/archive/2009/03/12/a-healthy-trend-substance-abuse-coalition-releases-survey-result.aspx

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Typically, college enrollment goes up when the economy is down.

And despite the severity of this economic downturn, the trend, for now, is still holding true.

”Many people think that people wouldn’t have money to spend on courses, but it has always been the reverse and enrollment goes up,” said Michael P. Meotti, the state’s commissioner of higher education. “People recognize that higher education in all forms, particularly shorter programs at community colleges, can help you get a job at a higher pay.”

Local college admissions officers are sorting through applications and trying to figure out what their fall 2009 enrollment numbers will look like, knowing that the economy could change drastically by then and that data about past trends may not apply this time.

”We have data that shows you should admit this number of students to enroll this number of students and we use that historical data to come up with an enrollment model, but the wild card is the economy,” said Lee H. Melvin, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Connecticut. “Will people be able to afford it? And that throws a wrench into everything.”

This past fall, enrollment across all of the state’s higher education institutions reached a new high of 184,544. This was 3.2 percent more than the previous year – the largest annual gain in two decades.

The Department of Higher Education does not collect spring enrollment figures from the schools. At Mitchell College, there were 55 fewer full-time students enrolled for the spring semester, but some who left were seniors who had met their graduation requirements.

While some students may have chosen not to return to their schools because of financial issues, Meotti said, no schools have told him about a big drop-off between semesters.

Last fall, UConn planned to enroll about 3,250 freshmen, but 3,600 students accepted the school’s admissions offer.

”People had grabbed on early since the economy didn’t seem to be getting better,” Melvin said.

Many of these new students applied for school in the spring of 2008, largely before the economic outlook worsened. The schools are expecting even higher numbers this year.

Nearly 23,000 people applied to UConn’s Storrs campus for the fall, up from about 22,000 last year. The university plans to put more people on the waiting list, gradually accepting them as space becomes available, to prevent enrolling too many students again.

”The big outstanding issue right now is what happens for the fall, and could you start to see Connecticut students, whose families may have opted for expensive private schools or out-of-state schools, shift to enroll in Connecticut public institutions,” Meotti said. “It’s too early to tell how that will play out.”

Connecticut College is one application ahead of where it was last year, meaning the college expects applications to be just short of record numbers.

Applications to Mitchell College in New London – 2,000 so far – are up 20 percent over last year, which was the biggest year in 30 years. The current student population is just under 1,000.

Kevin Mayne, the school’s vice president for enrollment management and marketing, attributes the increased interest more to improvements made to the school’s facilities and curriculum rather than the economy.

But he did say that small schools can be vulnerable in a tough economy because they do not have the same resources and endowments as larger universities.

”We’ve grown our enrollment 5 to 6 percent every year for 10 years,” Mayne said. “We don’t need to grow it again so we have a little bit of wiggle room, but you never know what’s going to happen. We’re cautiously optimistic we’re going to be fine. Every indicator says we’re on par to meet our enrollment for the fall, but you kind of wait for the other shoe to drop.”

Local community colleges are anticipating high numbers for the fall, figuring that students will look at the price tags for four-year institutions and choose their institutions as less-expensive alternatives.

”2009 will be another record year for enrollment, the fifth year in a row,” said Dan Zaneski, director of admissions and recruitment at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich.

”Is the economy affecting our enrollment? Yes. It’s greatly increasing it,” he said, adding that the trouble now is not finding students; it’s accommodating everyone who wants to come.

Meotti is confident that enrollment will be up in the fall.

”We may see another record,” he said.

This article was written by Jennifer Grogin of the New London Day and Christian Camerota and ran on page A1.  It can be found online here: http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=3c3f2822-8756-47e0-9e2a-ec35aea48d64

GROTON, Conn. - Frustration took center stage at a forum on infrastructure and transportation at the Groton Municipal Building Auditorium on Wednesday night, Feb. 18.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney led a panel of four experts in a discussion that was supposed to focus on the allocation of the $487.5 million of economic stimulus money headed in March for Connecticut shovel-ready projects, which are defined as those ready to break ground in 180 days. It began at 6 p.m. with more than 150 people in attendance.

“This graphically demonstrates that what we’re experiencing right now is not a normal business cycle in any economic definition,” Courtney began, pointing to a chart that compared the current state job losses to those of previous recessions in 2001 and 1991. “The steps that I believe need to take place to get this downward spiral to turn around are going to require extraordinary measures.”

Courtney described the idea behind the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), specifically as it relates to infrastructure and transportation, as being a way for the federal government to promote projects that “will get people out there working again.” The $787 billion ARRA, signed into law Tuesday, Feb. 17 by President Barack Obama, is expected to save or create an estimated 41,000 jobs across Connecticut and help lessen the state’s current 7.1 percent unemployment rate.

But the audience seemed skeptical throughout Courtney’s presentation and those of the other panelists, State Rep. Ed Jutila, President of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association Don Shubert and Jim Butler of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments (SCCOG). Many found it frustrating that southeastern Connecticut is expected to only receive $5.3 million, or about one percent of the state’s overall transportation and infrastructure funding.

Once the panel’s presentations concluded, there was a Q & A session that reflected the audience’s skepticism. Most questions came in somewhat accusatory fashion and tension between the audience and the panel escalated quickly, with Butler, serving as moderator, having to frequently step in and control the peace.

“My question was danced around and never answered,” said Frank Jennette of Groton, who asked about bonding issues and legislation to protect and assist local minority contractors. “I’m tired of the double talk. I want some answers.”

The tension persisted when Butler adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m., as many audience members had expected it to run much longer and allow more time for discussion.

“It was a good but short,” Bob Dantzler of Montville said afterward. “I wish they’d given us a chance to ask all of our questions.”

Courtney stayed for an hour after the forum’s conclusion to individually address people who had formed a line more than 30 long. Jennette later admitted that this helped ease some of his concerns.

Still, the night ended with little discussion of the exact process by which local and state officials will determine what projects merit stimulus funding.

“In an ideal world, you’d have more measured criteria to help make these decisions,” Courtney said following the forum. “Some of the guys that have been around a while are not happy about conceding all this discretion to the governors.”

Asked about whether the focus on shovel-ready projects would mean the exclusion of other, more progressive projects still in their infancy, Courtney conceded.

“This is a crisis-driven proposal that affects its ability to look long-term,” he said. “But I don’t think this boost is going to be the final word in transportation.”

When asked a similar question about the list of 11 local proposals his council approved earlier in the day, Butler responded, “The SCCOG does believe these are all eligible and worthy projects.” But, he added, there are many projects that perhaps should be looked at that are just too far away from starting to consider, such as a $45 million plan for a new Route 2A bridge.

The forum on Feb. 18 was one of a series of five such meetings Courtney is holding around the state. The first took place in Storrs on Monday, Feb. 16 on education, one was scheduled as of press time for Norwich on Thursday, Feb. 19 on healthcare, and one in Westbrook on Saturday, Feb. 21 about alternative energy. A forum is also scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28 in Enfield on small business.

This article ran in the Groton Times and can be found online here: http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/groton_times/archive/2009/02/26/infrastructure-and-transportation-forum-held-feb-18.aspx

GROTON, Conn. – The Nutmeg Ancient Junior Volunteer Fife and Drum Corps is mustering its musicians and needs local young people to join its ranks.

GROTON, Conn. – Grace Curtis paid it forward and now the Lighthouse Voc-Ed Center is paying her back.

The Voc-Ed Center, along with the Family Support Network, is presenting the third annual Grace Curtis “Stand Up and Be Counted” Day at the Mystic Marriott on Monday, March 23. The day honors its namesake, a powerful advocate for state special needs residents, by turning attention to the people who devote much of their time to caring for them.

“Because Grace brought us so much together and made us all better, we decided we wanted to start a conference in her honor,” said Kathryn Greene, the Voc-Ed Center’s executive director. “We like to have the participants be waited on since they work so hard for others all year.”

“Stand Up and Be Counted” Day will begin at 8 a.m. and feature two prominent speakers, Jonathan Mooney and Liane Holliday Willey. Attendees also will be served breakfast and lunch. The cost is $75 per person and the proceeds go to funding the speakers and providing scholarships to Camp Harkness for local special needs residents.

Mooney is a dyslexic writer and speaker who graduated from Brown University and has written two books, with much of his work focusing on the “audacity of normalcy.” One of his two books, The Short Bus, narrates his journey across the U.S. and his attempt to free himself from his learning disability by interacting with others who overcame their own disabilities in unique ways.

Wiley is a psycholinguist and best-selling author who lives with Asperger Syndrome, a highly functioning form of autism. She has overcome her disease to become a senior editor at Autism Spectrum Quarterly and founded The Asperger Society of Michigan.

Greene said event organizers chose Mooney and Wiley because of the way their efforts mirror Grace Curtis’ belief that people with special needs can overcome their challenges to lead exciting and important lives. Curtis had a special needs son who prompted her to start SCAR, the Southeastern Connecticut Association for the Retarded, and had been a leading area activist for the disabled until her death in February of 2006.

Curtis also was responsible for the start of the Voc-Ed Center, providing the initial $1,500 donation to pay its insurance costs in 1992. The conference aims to honor Curtis’ efforts and help area professionals combine and share their resources and feel appreciated for the day,
according to Greene.

Greene and April Dipollina of The Family Support Network spearheaded “Stand Up and Be Counted” Day in 2007, when it was held at the First Congregational Church in New London, where Curtis was a member. Greene and Dipollina have managed to expand the event from about 80 attendees to 250 last year, and expect that by the time everyone is standing and counted they will have closer to 300 participants this year.

This article appeared in the Groton Times in February 2009, and can be found online in its native environment here:  http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/groton_times/archive/2009/02/10/stand-up-take-a-bow-organizers-revving-up-for-grace-curtis-stand-up-and-be-counted-day.aspx

LEDYARD, Conn. – For Laurie Gorham, karma may have just come calling in the form of Service on the Sound.

Gorham, 46, is a job coach at New London High School, where she helps seniors in the Special Services Department gain work experience at businesses. This full-time job helping others means she has little time left to tend to the needs of her own home.

”I found out about this program by e-mail through a friend,” Gorham said. “I hesitated to apply because I didn’t want to feel like a charity case. But I just don’t have the means to do the work myself.”

Service on the Sound, or SOS, is a project initiated by St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Groton that specializes in charitable home-repair projects for elderly, low-income and disabled families. SOS is an offshoot of the Group Workcamps Foundation, based in Loveland, Colo.

Sam Eisenbeiser, SOS co-chairman, is working with St. Andrew’s and St. Luke’s Lutheran in Gales Ferry and hopes to include more area churches as plans progress.

He said the inspiration for the program came from local students that had attended camps in other locations and brought the idea back to their local parishes.

SOS has generated significant interest and was the first Group Workcamp in the country to sell out, but is still looking for homes to work on.

”Students volunteer their time and pay to attend the camps,” Eisenbeiser said. “Many times, youth groups will raise funds for them to attend.”

More than 400 teenagers, most from the northeastern U.S., will stay at Ledyard Middle School from July 19 to 25 during the camp. Their days will include scheduled faith-based activities in addition to their home-improvement efforts, except for a free Wednesday afternoon that Eisenbeiser imagines will be spent at local beaches or the Six Flags amusement Park in Agawam, Mass.

SOS continues to encourage applications for repairs and has extended its deadline to Feb. 28 in hopes to more than double the 50 or so applicants it has. Applications can be found on the group’s Web site, www.serviceonthesound.org, and are accepted on the basis of need and feasibility of the work. Homes must be within a 30-minute drive of Ledyard.

Gorham seems a worthy applicant and would be glad to have help repairing her shaky deck and some damaged skirting around her mobile home. She hopes to be one of those selected in March or April.

”I was embarrassed to even ask about the deck because it’s so bad,” Gorham said. “But, the fact they can do it and seem so happy and excited is just wonderful.”

This article ran in the New London Day on 2/2/09 and can be found in its native environment here:  http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=82591284-39bd-494d-8c68-4210e6f25b5c