•Monday, March 14:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. National Junior Honor Society HKMS
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. HKHS Lip Sync X
•Tuesday, March 15:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. National Junior Honor Society HKMS
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. HKHS Lip Sync X
•Wednesday, March 16:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. Winter Short Films
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. HKMS Winter Choral Concert
•Thursday, March 17:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. Winter Short Films
10:00 a.m.& 9:00 p.m. HKMS Winter Choral Concert
•Friday, March 18:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. KES String Concert
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. Saybrook Torch Lighting Parade
•Saturday, March 19:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. KES String Concert
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. Saybrook Torch Lighting Parade
•Saturday, March 20:
8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m. KES String Concert
10:00 a.m. & 9:00 p.m. Saybrook Torch Lighting Parade
information provided by HKTV

• Reg. School District 17 has cancelled all activities for today, March 12, 2005
• CAPT Academy has been postponed until Saturday, March 19, 2005
• HK Recreation has postponed it basketball league jamboree games until Sunday, March 13, 2005. Games will be played on the same schedule.

Exciting classes are coming this spring for children and adults from the Arts Center at Killingworth. For children we are offering Beginning Drawing for Home Schoolers ages 8-10, Mixed Media for ages 6-8, Beginning Drawing II for ages 8-10, and Introduction to Drawing Manga (Japanese Anime) for ages 8-13. And for ages 2-6, Budding Artists, a parent/child workshop exploring theater, art and music.

Adult classes are also available. We are featuring Beginning Pastels I and II, Botanical Drawing I, Beginning Calligraphy and Family Origami Night Out.

All classes have a registration deadline of March 28, 2005 and require a minimum of five students. Details and fee information is available on the website under news. Please call 663-5593 or e-mail ArtcenterKillingworth@juno.com. If you have ideas for classes you'd like to see, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you!

Agenda
Meeting of the Board of Selectmen
Monday, March 14, 2005 at 7:00 p.m.
Town Office Building

1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting held February 28, and Special Meeting of March 5, 2005
3. Visitors: Ruth Patrick, Rich Cabral, Eric Auer
4. Tax Abatements & Refunds
5. Appointments/Vacancies:
    1. Killingworth Library Assoc. (vac)
    2. IWWC & WPCA (vac)
6. Old Business:
    1. 660 Rt. 81
    2. Employee Pension Mtg. Update
    3. Town Hall Computer Upgrade
    4. Status - Neg. w/Venuti Family Prop.
    5. Budget Approval
    6. Library Window
7. New Business:
    1. Bethke/Update
    2. Fee Reimbursement/Lot 17 Lower Ledge Subdivision
    3. Status - Bosco Farm House
    4. Auth. Town Meeting for Road Acceptance: Buell Hill Road, Beaver Dam Road, Rachel's Court
8. DLD Announcements
9. Selectmen's Concerns
10. Executive Session: Land Negotiations
11. Adjournment
Agenda as of 1:30 p.m., Friday, 3/11/05
Printable version

First Selectman David Denvir officially announced he will not run for re-election in the fall. Denvir has served on the Board of Selectmen since 1993 and is in his second term as First Selectman. According to the article, Denvir said he is returning to practicing law full time and may open his own law office in Clinton. Read more about this in the Hartford Courant.

The HK High Schools Boys Basketball team defeated Northwestern Regional, 71-60, in the opening round of the Div. IV CIAC Tournament last night. The three seniors came up big for the Cougars with Ryan Murray leading the way with 32 points, Anthony Andeen with 16 and Brett Zanardi with 10. The trio looks to keep their final high school season going tonight in the second round against the No. 25 seed Seymour. The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at the HK Fieldhouse. Update: Tonight's game has been postponed until Saturday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m.

Do you need an odd job done? Something you wish you could do yourself but are unable to do? Even more, do you want it done for free?

Q: What is Youth in Action (Y.I.A.)?
A: Youth in Action known as Y.I.A. is a group of students who volunteer for various activities during the year. This past summer they did everything from volunteering their time at the Jazz Fest at Sunrise Resort to cleaning a local citizen's garden who was unable to do it for himself.

Q: What is Y.I.A. all about?
A: Y.I.A members are all about helping not only our own community at home but people in the communities around us.

Give a call if you need anything done and Youth in Action will be happy to try to help! Please call Cheryl or Cathie at Youth and Family Services at 860-345-7498 or CchandleatYFS@aol.com

Tri-Town Youth Football, Flag Football and Cheerleading will hold open registrations on Wednesday, March 23 from 6-8:00 p.m. at Deep River Elementary School and on Wednesday, April 27 from 6-8:00 p.m. at Killingworth Elementary and Deep River Elementary Schools.

•Flag Football Program is offered for boys and girls ages 6-8. The fee is $50.00.
•Tackle Football is offered for boys and girls ages 9-14. The fee is $115.00.
•Cheerleading is offered for ages 5-14. The fee is $50.00.

All forms can be downloaded and printed from the website. Some protective gear is provided. Registration is open to residents of Haddam, Killingworth, Deep River, Chester and Essex. For more information visit www.eteamz.com/tritownfootball or contact Debbie Schaefer at 526-2789 with any questions.

The Killingworth Ambulance Association will hold its Annual Meeting and Election of Officers on March 23, 2005, at 8:15 p.m. at the Killingworth Ambulance Association building. The public is invited to attend.

The Killingworth Library sponsored a wonderful afternoon of science yesterday with Cheryl Blum and her Science Sense-ations program. The first through fourth-graders used their senses to learn about acid/base by experimenting on lemons and pickles; optics with the use of prisms and ultraviolet lights, and soundwaves with musical instruments and a 30-foot spring. Blum engaged the children with hands-on experiments, songs and the great collection of musical instruments to touch, try and have fun with.

Holyfire, a local rock music group will perform a concert at Living Rock Church on Saturday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. Holyfire travels throughout the United States and has recently returned from a European Tour. All are welcome and there is no charge for admission and refreshments will follow. Living Rock Church is located at 138 Route 81 in Killingworth. For more information please call 663-2069 or www.living-rock.org.

Regional School District 17 has cancelled its afternoon and evening activities for today, March 8, 2005.

After-school day care will remain open as usual. Parent/Teacher conferences will be held as scheduled.

The Board of Education Meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2005.

HK Recreation activities for this evening have been cancelled.

Killingworth resident Eija Faulkner recently received a Dream Builder award from Yale-New Haven Hospital in its fifth annual ceremony honoring the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The awards, named for King's "I Have A Dream" speech, are given to employees who personify his ideals and values. Read more about Faulkner in today's Hartford Courant.

This week, Killingworth Democratic Town Committee member, Gwenne Lally encourages residents to find out more about the town's involvement with the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program and attend the upcoming NEMO workshop on Open Space Planning. "This subject is of paramount importance for Killingworth, where critical woodland habitats and a unique rural character are under mounting pressure from development." Read her complete remarks here.

On Sunday, March 6, the HK Soccer Club U-16 Boys qualified for the Connecticut Indoor Cup by winning the Southeast District title. The team defeated Lyme/Old Lyme 1-0, Waterford 4-1 and Norwich 2-0. The State Title will be determined on Saturday, March 19 at the University of Bridgeport. The team is coached by Steve Isleib of Killingworth.
Photo from left to right: front row: Tim Swanson, Antonyo Serrano, Liam Isleib, Tucker Cumpstone and Matt Vivero. Back row: Greg Cumpstone, Dan Wendt, Tyler Bradley, Joel Blancaflor and Ryan Conway. photo courtesy S. Cumpstone

The Killingworth Library continues to be a very happening place. On March 8, Science Sensations will explore the world of science using all of our senses. Everyone gets to be a scientist with lots of entertaining and educational hands-on experience. The program will begin at 1:00 for children in Grades 1 through 4. Please sign up at the library.

There will be a Knitting and Sewing Bee and Tea on March 10 and 24 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both children and adults are welcome. Reserve your place as soon as possible.

One of the Killingworth Library Passes presently available to town residents allows free entrance to the New England Carousel Museum on 95 Riverside Avenue in Bristol, Connecticut. Here you can learn all you ever wanted to know about the unique artisans who carved the beautiful horses and other creatures you will see there. The Museum is open Mon-Sat from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday Noon to 5:00 p.m. At the same location is the Museum of Fire History. Please ask at the Library desk for more information about the Museum and various happenings there.

This month's Connecticut Magazine rates Killingworth as the No. 10 small town among the 25 Connecticut towns with a population between 3,500-6,500. After falling from 4th to 16th in the previous ratings in 2003, Killingworth moves back into the top 10 because of higher ratings in education, economy and leisure. The 2003 ratings were made of the 33 towns with populations between 5,000-10,000.

Some of the factors considered in the ratings are library funding, SAT scores, voter turnout and median house price. The leisure category relies heavily on local support for the public library. Killingworth is listed at $39.91 library per capita, compared to $38.45 for top-town Sherman with a population of 3,827 and $96.21 for No. 3 rated town Salisbury with a population of 3,977. Bethany, ranked second overall, with a population similar to ours at 5,040, spent just $16.41 library per capita.

SAT scores for all the top 10 towns ranged between 1000 and 1100 with Killingworth's average calculated at 1076. The voter turnout was also similar with all 10 towns listed at 80+ percent turnout for the November 2004 presidential election. Among the top 10 towns, Sherman had the highest median house price at $405,000; No. 6 Harwinton had the lowest at $194,000, and Killingworth was listed at $319,000.

According to the article, the strength of the local economy was determined by the 2004 Public Investment Community score, compiled by the Office of Policy and Management, which rates all Connecticut towns under a formula based on population, per capita income, the adjusted equalized grand list per capita, the unemployment rate, the equalized mill rate and per capita aid to children. Killingworth ranked fifth strongest overall for this category.

Neighboring Haddam, that shares our regional school district, jumped from 25th in 2003 to 12th in the 2005 ratings of the 22 towns with populations between 6,500-10,000. It made significant improvements in its ratings of crime, economy, and leisure with its highest overall being its 10th place rank in the education category.

Editor's Note: Nancy Bradley, the President of the Killingworth Library Association, Inc. has asked to clarify the information on library funding. The Town of Killingworth contributes (FYE 6/30/05) $156,000 or approximately $26. per capita to the Library. The Board of Directors is responsible for raising the balance, around $85,000. The total budget this year is $239,647.00. Bradley has provided the 2005-2006 proposed budget recently submitted to the Board of Selectmen. KLA 2005-2006 Proposed Budget in .pdf form

The Haddam-Killingworth High School Boys Basketball team will take on Northwestern in the opening round of the Division IV CIAC State Basketball Tournament Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the HK Fieldhouse. The winner will play the winner of the Seymour/Cromwell game on Thursday.

Grammar of Ornament
by Owen Jones
ISBN: 0789476460

First published in the 19th century, this design classic by Owen Jones has impacted many creative minds over the years, including William Morris, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The book is a result of Jones' travels through France, Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey while apprenticing with the architect Lewis Vulliamy.

The Grammar of Ornament is a visual feast of pattern and color. It includes reproductions of more than 2,350 color engravings of ornamental styles. The illustrations are grouped by geographic location (Indian, Persian, Greek); or time period (Medieval, Renaissance); or by special type, such as leaves and flowers from nature. While the reader may not read this book from cover to cover, it is a fascinating look at the key design elements reflective of particular genres.

Susan Miller is the Associate Director of the Arnold Bernhard Library at Quinnipiac University. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Music from Ohio State University and a M.S. in Library Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Contact Susan at covertocover@killingworthtoday.com