Dear Paul:

I am sorry that you are retiring. Please know that I always will have a special place in my heart for you– and you know why. When a person enters a profession such as teaching, it may never dawn on that person that he or she may make a difference in a students’ life. But, believe me–you have made a difference in our family’s life.

When one of our children needed encouragement-you were there. And I know, it was not an act or just part of the job. It was real. You took a child that would sit for hours on end in the basement of his home just watching television, and turned this child into a man that had enough confidence to enroll in Gateway Community College when he was 16, get on the Dean’s List at the same time  while attending High School, win the President’s Award for Academic Excellence and then when he turned 18, enter college in Montreal, Canada to live on his own.

I remember going to the Parent conferences in your office and seeing your eyes light up when he would enter the room. You doted on him like a proud peacock. Your face grinned from ear to ear. No-one could “pretend” like that. It was genuine.

Don’t think for two seconds this did not make a positive impact on this young man and his family–for it will be a lasting impression. Whenever I cross the Canadian border, I see  your smiling face, your guidance and trust and your perserverance.

They say one person can’t make a difference.  All I can say is that they never met Paul Calaluce and because of that, they are less of a person for it.

Good luck Mr. Calaluce and all the best–you deserve it.

Your friend:

Cindy

UPDATE: I went by the BP Gas Station around 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29th and noticed the big ball of yellow tape was gone. I did notice that a straggling piece of tape was left behind.

Well, at least the bulk of it was cleaned up. It is up to the residents and the town government to ensure our town is kept clean and kept safe. This is done because we all should have pride in the way our town looks. To me, it just seems that the tape was hastily picked up “because we had better do it now.” It never should have gotten to this state in the first place. Thank you for the clean up.

I am sure many of you have seen this scene captured in the photo above if you  have been driving by the now closed BP Gas Station across from the Notch Store on Rt.68-70 in Cheshire.

Where did this yellow tape come from? It obviously came from the BP Gas Station which was cordoned off by the Town and the State Department of Environmental Protection when approximately 10,000 gallons of gasoline “leaked” into the soil around this gas station.

The tank was removed several weeks ago. A fence has been put up but there is still a hole where the tank or tanks used to be. There is a plywood sign with the scrawled words “closed” in front of the station.

If you remember, there was yellow tape cordoning off this area from the public. it says “caution.”

So, after the tank was removed and the area cleaned up where did the yellow tape go? You got it!! Right across the street to blow around in the wind. In fact, if you look closely at the photo, you can see the tape starting to intrude onto the roadway.

First of all, I wonder what SLOB just dumped the tape there in the first place. You could not wrap it up and either throw it away or re-use it? And even if it were vandalism, you mean to tell me, no one on our Police Department has seen this or anyone in Town Government or the Town Council? Come on!!! How lazy can you be???

I will tell you straight up, If I or any member of the public without the right “connections” or right last name did this, we would be getting a knock on our door no time flat from law enforcement.

Can you imagine if your neighbor had this tape around their property after doing construction and just “threw” it on your front lawn? No, you couldn’t imagine it now could you.

What if the tape was strewn across the people that run our town’ s lawn or property for that matter.

How would they like it. THIS IS AN EYESORE!!  GET RID OF IT NOW!!

Do the people who run this town have to be TOLD everything?? I.E.: the rusty barrels that sat for years at the old Huxley Garage until UTH had a photo of it. Then a few days later after the photo ran, the grass was cut and is still being cut, and the barrels removed?

I know people have been complaining about this gas station. Well, get the owner to restore the property, or condemn it and raze the building. Don’t just leave it.

As I have said time and time again: it is AMAZING what the authority in this town “SEES” and what they “DON’T SEE”

They supposedly “saw” my husband putting up a “no mall” sign on a telephone poll several months ago and actually had the police call our house to tell us.  They don’t see this mess in the photo above. What if the wind blows and it gets tangled in a vehicle or a bicyclist or motorcyclist for that matter and that person gets in a serious accident!!  Nope, they don’t see that but they “see” my husband allegedly not stopping at a stop sign at the corner of Carriage Drive and Academy Road/Rt. 68-70 at rush hour 5:30 p.m. Yeah, right.

Do you realize how much traffic is going down that road 45-50 mph around a blind curve on BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD at that time. And yes, you just sail right through–I DON’T THINK SO!!

Please, clean this up before there IS a serious accident from the tape blowing onto someones windshield or getting tangled in the spokes of a motorcycle or bicycle. THANK YOU!!!

I haven’t posted the Cheshire Police Department Monthly Reports for a while. I am GLAD they are being kept up to date. It is always interesting to read what has been going on in town. So, here is the link:

Police Monthly Reports for July 2008

Onto a different topic, it looks like the Democrats got their act together and nominated Sen. Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I haven’t been this excited or had this much hope since 1992 with Bill Clinton and Al Gore. I remember how exciting it was when Bill Clinton won. I remember him coming out of the Arkansas Governors Mansion to give a statement to the press. That was a turning point in history.

And on Wednesday, we turned another page. This country needs to get over its need to classify everything and everybody. For when we all work together, no one can stop this country. We have to try. Things have been bad for the past several years. Our reputation has been tarnished. I hope this will all change. It may not, but at least let us give Sen. Obama a chance.

I have heard many people call this man the anti-Christ believe it or not. Why? Because he is Black? Probably!! Grow up will you. First of all, the anti-Christ will be born in Rome. Sen. Obama was NOT born in Rome. So there!! Hey wait a minute!! Wasn’t I born in Rome?? No. Phew, off the hook. But then again, some people have called me Cheshire’s Anti-Christ. Whatever.

Well, school is starting. The summer is over. I will be away for a few days so I hope you all have a nice Labor Day. I may be attending the Capital Budget Town Council meeting before I go away. Hope you all will attend, but you won’t. You will just sit home and armchair bitch like you always do.

A few weeks ago, my sig other and two of my children decided to take a staycay to Clinton Crossing in Clinton, Connecticut. It took us a little over an hour and when we arrived, the parking lot was crowded but we did find a space. I want to tell you, my sig other and I were really impressed with this shopping center.

Now mind you, we felt the parking, which was not head in, it was a normal parking lot layout, was not adequate. And we know the parking over the holiday season at Clinton Crossing was inadequate. But, my sig and I thought the setup was a LOT NICER than what is being proposed by W/S Development for Cheshire.

Sans the parking lot, this entire facility really did look like an old time village. There is a lot of greenery and it seems very homey. In fact, when I was looking at the Clinton Crossing website and clicked on other locations throughout the country,  operated by Chelsea Premium Outlets who own Clinton Crossing, I happened to recognize the Outlet Stores in Flemington, New Jersey which I visited years ago. That is also reminiscent of an old time early American village.

The reason I am bringing this subject up at this time is because we all should be seeing some sort of site plan from W/S Development in September. Now, I do like the Shoppes at Canton, I have been there several times. The two things I DON’T LIKE is that head-in parking. It is just too congested, trying to back your vehicle out of the parking space while other vehicles are trying to go down the “street.”

I know W/S feels this type of parking has an old time downtown feel, but I believe they should nix this for a regular parking lot. Frankly, the traffic pattern in Canton is too busy for my liking. It seems you have to have eyes in back of your head–traffic seems to be going in every direction and then on top of it, you have to watch for people backing up. It is too much.

The other thing I didn’t like about Canton was the way the Kohls, Shaws and Dicks Sporting Goods was set up, almost like an afterthought. It really does not fit in with the rest of the layout.

Now at Clinton Crossing, they have a bridge that crosses over to another parking lot with some more retail shops. These shops are like a strip mall or a small shopping center. There are some nice stores there and no, it does not follow the same setup as the old time village at the main shopping area, but it IS SEPARATED by the bridge, so you really do not notice and it doesn’t look out of place.

Instead of having a bridge that would connect to the residential, I suggest a bridge to some additional shopping. Those stores seemed to be a little less “expensive” if you get my drift. Also, the bridge was nice. It was not just a footbridge, it had places for you to sit and relax and eat your lunch. Well thought out.

I am including a link to the Woodbury Commons website which is a cousin of Clinton Crossing. Woodbury Commons is located in New York.What struck me about Woodbury Commons is the “phony Town Hall” that is in the center of the photo. This is what the Town of Cheshire should have done with West Main Street. They should have redone the Cheshire Town Hall to look like the Town Hall or Town Center in the Woodbury Commons photo and the “street” should be West Main Street. Boy is this NICE!!

I will also add a few links to their other outlet stores throughout the country. I must admit, some of the outlets look a little “outdated” but the new ones are nice. See for yourself.

Click here for Woodbury Commons

Click here for Clinton Crossing

You can navigate the map of the other store locations and see the different styles.

In other news: the Convention is heating up. My contacts are gearing for Hillary Clintons speech to the delegates. It seems there are many who will just not give up the fight to have Hillary nominated. We will have to see what happens. But I think the Hillary supporters should bite the bullet and go with Obama. I know how they feel. I really supported Al Gore in 2000 and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!! The CHEATER got in instead. Maybe after Sept. 11 Al Gore was happy he was not in the White House, I don’t know.

A few of you wanted to know if I will be “covering the GOP Convention. Are you off your rocker? OF COURSE NOT!! I DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE IN MY HOME TO WATCH ANYTHING GOP INCLUDING THEIR CONVENTION. If I catch my husband trying to watch it on Fox News with O’Liely, I make him shut it off immediately. And, since I pay the cable bill, I have all the say. There is no democracy in my home when it comes to politics. I know I have brainwashed three out of the four to be Democrat. The youngest is a little Derfette unfortunately. Oh well, three out of four ain’t bad!!

Also, this BobCop post I did seems to be very popular. It is receiving a lot of hits. I hope the Town Goverment will look into this program. I was surprised when I got a response from the people who put this together. It was great to hear from them. The big plus with this BobCop is that officers can complete their reports FROM ANY LOCATION!! So, let us nix the software upgrade and this nonsense that if more that a few officers are filing a report the system goes down, and look into this system PLEASE!!

I did receive three  Audio Public Service Announcements from Cheshire Police Chief Michael Cruess from the Ct Police Chiefs Association regarding safe holiday driving this Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, I really can’t run them because they are the property of CBS Radio.

So, in its place, I did find some good VIDEO PSA’s that I will be running under “Featured Video”

I thank the Chief for these announcements. Drunk Driving is not a joke. My husband and I were both hit this year by drunk drivers. He in Massachusetts and myself in June in Southington. All Police Departments and the State Police will have roadblocks set up this weekend. So if you are planning to drink, PLEASE act like an adult and either designate a person who will not drink or call a taxi. Don’t try to drive drunk. It will not work.

I have some French speaking people from Quebec reading the site, so I thought I would put the first few paragraphs in French.

J’ai reçu trois annonces audio de service public du chef de police de Cheshire Michael Cruess de l’association de chefs de police de Ct concernant des vacances sûres conduisant ce week-end de Fête du travail. Malheureusement, je vraiment ne peux pas les courir parce qu’ils sont la propriété de la radio de CBS.

Ainsi, dans son endroit, j’ai trouvé une certaine bonne la VIDÉO PSA que je courrai sous « la vidéo décrite »

Je remercie le chef de ces annonces. La conduite en état d’ivresse n’est pas une plaisanterie. Mon mari et moi étaient deux coup cette année par les conducteurs ivres. Lui dans le Massachusetts et moi-même en juin dans Southington. Tous les Départements de Police et la police d’état auront des barrages de route installés ce week-end. Ainsi si vous prévoyez de boire, SATISFAIRE agir comme un adulte et l’un ou l’autre indiquent une personne qui ne boira pas ou appellent un taxi. Ne pas essayer de conduire bu. Cela ne fonctionnera pas.

With the Democratic National Convention in full swing, my “contacts” at the Convention report a lot of fervorous talk about Barack Obama and believe it or not, Hillary Clinton!! John McCain and the Republicans are planning an “appearance” in Denver. I don’t know why they are even bothering. The Republicans have about as much chance of winning the 2008 Presidential election as an ice cube in hell. OR DO THEY?

What are people really thinking about Obama? Well, unless you get inside someones mind, we can only speculate. I will be honest. A lot of older people, like WWII generation, NOT ALL, but many, are concerned about a Black president. Some people are doubting his experience. They say he does not show enough backbone and it seems to many that Obama many times avoids saying controversial things just to keep everything in balance.

All I can say to that is: first of all, Barack Obama is controversial, just because and it really is true if you admit it to yourself, just because he is the FIRST BLACK person to run for President of the United States. I mean really, if he started acting and talking tough and not caring about hurting people’s or country’s feelings, I think he would be getting raked over the coals even more than he is now. Give the guy a chance. He has to warm up to many people in this country who just can’t handle the fact that a Black person may be the President. All I care about is his agenda-how he will fix the mess that asshole from El Paso created!! Sorry about the swear but I had to make a point!!

I saw Sen. Obama last December in New Hampshire. I shook his hand and spoke to him for a few minutes. I like him. I like his style. Is he “inexperienced”?

In a way. But the office of the Presidency has a way of toughening and experiencing people in a short matter of time.

We need a person like Obama who will look at the issues (calmly) and deal with them in a professional manner. We need someone who relates to people-who can talk with the average person about joblessness, because he was there, about poverty, because he experienced it. He lived in different nations and has a perspective on these countries, their cultures and how they view the United States. He does have that “experience” life experience. Give it a chance.

Will the Hillary Clinton supporters make the convention a “little more interesting” as my contacts like to call it. Probably. We will have to wait and see. I like Hillary, but her supporters need to bite the bullet, act like adults and get behind Obama. We really can’t afford to have another Republican in the White House. SORRY TIM WHITE!! This country can’t afford it!!!

Please don’t vote for McCain because he is WHITE!! Vote for the person of your choice with your heart and conscience.!!!

So as you know, I always like to bring issues to light, no holds barred. Here are a few articles discussing just this issue-Is America Ready for a Black President?

Click here

Click here

Of course you will hear people say, (mostly behind closed doors) that with a Black Presidential Candidate, the White race may be declining. What does this MEAN? WHAT IS RACE?? Here is an interesting PBS article that discusses just this issue.

Click here for PBS article on Race.