Where's the Blight?

By Diane Hoffman

The Hamden Clean and Green Commission will soon kick off a monthly column in the Hamden Daily News called "Where's the Blight?" Readers will be shown pictures of blighted areas and asked to guess their location, and then contact their legislative councilperson to get the area cleaned up.The location of the blight will be revealed in the column that will accompany each photo.

The commission's most recent cleanup was on Nov. 5, a bright, beautiful day. Fifteen Hamden residents spent the morning cleaning up parts of Pine Rock Avenue, Arch Street, Dixwell Avenue and Bowen Street. The volunteers filled 20 trash bags with garbage, and collected approximately seven bags of recyclables, a propane tank, four tires and several bulk items.

On Nov. 12, the Rotary Club held one of its regularly scheduled cleanups of Skiff Street. Eleven volunteers cleaned Skiff from Whitney to Mix avenues. The Clean and Green Commission applauds the club's commitment and urges all Hamden businesses and civic organizations to follow its lead by adopting a street or section of Hamden to clean on a regular basis.

Remember, it's up to all of us to keep Hamden clean and green.

To get involved in a cleanup, please contact Pam Roach at 287.7021 or PRoach@Hamden.com.

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From Smith & McCarthy

Fred McCarthy and Russ Smith of Post 88 are taking care of the troops.

By Sharon Bass

Quick. What do peanut butter, shaving cream, nuts, gloves, deodorant, potato chips, batteries, gum, shampoo, popcorn, soap, canned tuna and CDs have in common?

Give up?

All that stuff is cohabitating inside boxes, en route to Hamden men and women fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would be 56 boxes weighing a total of 5,500 pounds. They will take two to three weeks to make their destination.

The "box of stuff" effort was kicked off by American Legion Post 88 a couple of years ago. "This started as a Christmas thing," said Russ Smith, post commander for 88. "But it turned into a year-round project."

The supplies are all donated. A few times a year, Smith and Fred McCarthy, senior vice commander of 88, stand outside of Hamden's Wal-Mart with empty carts. They catch shoppers before they enter smiley face, handing them a list of needed items in hopes they will come out of the store with donations.

"A lot of people don't like to give money," said McCarthy.

Post 88 pays the shipping fees, which are $8 to $10 per box, he said. The soldiers tell Smith and McCarthy what they need. Two of those soldiers are Elizabeth Nolan, daughter-in-law of John Nolan, who owns Nolan's Hamden Monument on Washington Avenue; and police officer Cedric Jones.

In addition to the food and other supplies, the men add some literature about Post 88 and letters of appreciation from schoolchildren.

The weirdest donation?

Three hundred pounds of peanut butter. Smith said it was too costly to ship so the jars were donated to food pantries.

And with the billions of dollars the federal government continues to pour into the wars, should they instead be sending these supplies?

"Right now there's only one thing on the mind," said McCarthy, "to take care of the troops. Whether we do it or the federal government does it, it doesn't matter. It's slanderous to criticize the government in a time of war. I'm not going to second guess anyone."

Smith and McCarthy won't be outside Wal-Mart again this year. But donations can be made by bringing them to the Post at 3005 Dixwell Ave., Mondays through Fridays from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; weekends from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. No glass jars or bags of chips.

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Check Out the Small Guys this Holiday Season

Brad McRoberts shops at Books & Co. with his parents, Christine Olson and Jerry McRoberts.

Story and photos by Sharon Bass

Yesterday was the Big Shopping Day. And Hamden looked like every other community that has OD'd on corporate big-box stores -- packed parking lots, packed stores, packed carts of stuff, stuff, stuff.

But there's another side of the retail biz that isn't so packed because it doesn't offer slashed prices or huge inventories. That would be the independents. The Davas and Books & Co.s of the American retail landscape. Those shops that are often owned by the same person for decades, who eschews mass-made products. Instead, they offer high-quality unusual items -- clothes, jewelry, books, music posters, T-shirts, healthy plants and luscious fresh flowers you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

The HDN visited several of those small shops yesterday, away from the frenzied masses. Seems the BSD is not such a BSD for them. These shopkeepers say it usually takes about a week or two longer for their holiday business to start humming.

Cool Threads on Dixwell

"This isn't a big day for us," said Coleen Campbell, who's owned the clothing, etc. shop Dava for 24 years. It's stocked with hippie-type clothes -- natural fibers, cool designs -- jewelry -- handmade earrings and necklaces and bracelets -- and a smattering of other hard-to-find stuff, like specialty bathing and body products.

"When people can't find what they want, they come here," she said.

Kathleen Hayes, son, Derek Updegrove, and daughter, Mariel Updegrove, do Dava.

Kathleen Hayes of Waite Street and her daughter, Mariel Updegrove, a sophomore at Hamden High, and son, Derek Updegrove, a student at Spring Glen, were poking around Dava yesterday. Derek had picked out a handful of political buttons: "Bush: Insult to Primates Everywhere." "Think. It's not illegal yet."

"I buy a lot of gifts for my friends here," said Mariel.

Music on Skiff

Over at Exile on Main Street, proprietor Al Lotto was having a slowish day. He's also got an Exile shop in Branford. He sells a wide variety of CDs, new and used, T-shirts, posters, incense and other music-related doodads.

Christmas Eve is Al Lotto's big day.

"This is not a big day for us," Lotto echoed Campbell. "It's not a special day. We pick up progressively from now on, but the last two weeks are really, really busy. We get hit all at once."

He said people hold off until the latest releases are out. The biggest rush comes Christmas Eve.

Flowers on Whitney

Jim Adams not only detests the big boxes, he also seems like one sweet hubby. He was in Glen Terrace Flowers and Gifts the day after Thanksgiving. Buying flowers for his wife. The occasion? None.

Husband of the year? Jim Adams, holding a bouquet he bought for his wife -- just because -- chooses independent stores over the chains.

"I went to the Hamden Plaza and it was horrible," said Adams, who lives in Spring Glen. "I went into Radio Shack and bought a cable for the television." He said the plaza was very crowded, it was hard to find a parking space and there weren't enough salespeople in the stores. He said he prefers the independents.

Business at the Whitney Avenue flower shop, which opened in the same location in 1915, picks up in a couple of weeks, said Jessica Symington, a relative of the owner. "And then it gets very, very busy until Mother's Day."

However, like thousands of other small retailers, Glen Terrace Flowers has been adversely affected by corporate America. "We've been struggling a bit because Wal-Mart and Stop & Shop have floral shops. And they're cheaper and convenient," said Symington.

Books on Whitney

"I don't think it's been more (business) than a regular Friday," Molly Ferguson, a salesperson at Books & Co., said about the BSD. The used bookstore on Whitney has a café, comfy chairs and a homey feel. Folks stay for hours reading, eating and sipping java.

"I'm getting a book for my mother. She has macular degeneration, so I'm getting her large-print books," said Christine Olson, who was quietly perusing the shop with her husband, Jerry McRoberts, and their son, Hamden Middle School eighth-grader Brad McRoberts.

Brad was clutching "The House of the Scorpion," but doesn't get to read it until Christmas Day. It gets wrapped and put under the tree.

Whereas his dad was buying two sci-fi books, which he gets to read whenever he wants. "I don't have anything else to read," Jerry McRoberts said. "Brad does."

"We don't spend a lot for Christmas," said Olson, who was also purchasing some note and Christmas cards. "We buy books and music and games and things for our home."
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Pat Carney's Turn

Tom Carney said his wife, Pat, was there for him when he was sick. Now he and hundreds of others are there for her.

Story and photos by Sharon Bass

Tom Carney likes to talk about the good deeds his wife, Pat Carney, has done.

"She's always the first person there when people need her," he said last evening at the Knights of Columbus. Pat has run numerous fund-raisers for spinal muscular atrophy research and treatment. In fact, she is the chair of the Connecticut chapter of the organization. She's also raised loot to help folks who are homeless and to build playgrounds for children with handicaps. When she held a coat drive, she sent 250 to a homeless shelter in New Haven.

According to her husband, a former Hamden Youth Hockey coach, and hundreds of her friends, the woman doesn't stop giving. Yesterday it was her turn to be helped. Pat was diagnosed in early October with an inoperable brain tumor. Tom has recently recovered from congestive heart failure; he credits his wife for his "complete" recovery. The family is struggling financially because of their illnesses, with the high cost of medicine and medical care and loss of work.

So their friends literally filled the Knights of Columbus to give them a hand. The Carneys have four children: three in their 20s and one 13.

"It's just not right. She's so young," Marie Cusano said of 49-year-old Pat Carney. Cusano, Lenore Salvati and Monica Mesner organized the fund-raiser. They attracted dozens of sponsors, but asked that those names not be printed.

Folks paid $10 apiece for a ziti dinner. There were also raffles for stuff like wine baskets, beauty supplies and food gift baskets.

Cusano said the Carneys were told "just a few friends" would be at the fund-raiser. When they made their entrance, the place was already packed. Eyes welled with tears. One by one people kissed and hugged Pat.

"It's overwhelming," said Tom. "A lot of parents of kids I coached are here. A lot of kids Pat has touched are here."

Pat was a teacher's aide at West Woods School, where she helped one child who has spinal muscular atrophy.

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Crack and Run

By Sharon Bass

Ronnie Jefferson almost got away with it. But an eyewitness spotted the 38-year-old, who lives at 24 Helen St., allegedly trying to break into a car Nov. 21 at nine minutes after midnight -- in an apartment building parking lot on Arch Street.

"(The eyewitness) was pulling into the parking lot and saw this guy bending down next to his friend's car and got suspicious," said Hamden Police Capt. Robert Maturo. The witness stayed in the parking lot, called the police from his cell phone and when the cops arrived pointed to the suspect as he was fleeing, he said.

Turned out Jefferson had reportedly broken into another car in the same parking lot that night. When he was frisked, CDs and other "property" were found on him, said Maturo, which were linked to the second car. Also confiscated from Jefferson were a crack pipe and a metal chisel. The chisel was linked to a broken window found on the first car Jefferson was accused of tampering with. "He had a cut on his hand," the captain said, presumably from using the chisel.

The Hamden man was arrested for burglary, manufacturing and possessing burglar's tools, larceny, drug paraphernalia and criminal mischief. He is being held on $10,000 bond.

"A general rule with vehicles is to keep them locked, in a well-lit area, not in a location where it's all by itself, and keep valuables out of sight," said Maturo. "If somebody's desperate they will take anything. (Jefferson) was found with loose change in his pocket. Even (visible) loose change can prompt someone to break into car."

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November 23, 2005

November 22, 2005

November 20, 2005