The Oak Lodge Nature Center at Chatfield Hollow State Park, will reopen after being closed for several years.

The center will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Interpretive programs will be given Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. The programs are free of charge and all age groups are welcome.

This weekend, visitors are invited to learn how to recognize various signs left by the mammals of Connecticut. The program will include activities to learn how to identify several tracks and a short walk on the trails to try to find animal signs in the park. Children will have the opportunity to make their own track prints at the nature center.

For more information, call Amy Gottfried at 203-734-2513. For cancellations due to inclement weather, call the park at 860-663-2030.

John O'Leary was unanimously elected at the town meeting Monday to fill the vacancy on the Regional School District #17 Board of Education. He will serve the term vacated by the May 15 resignation of Mary Withington. Withington was elect last November. The term runs through the 2007 town election.

O'Leary, a seven-year resident, is the father of two students at Killingworth Elementary School. He works at the Yale University School of Medicine and has been involved with HK Youth & Family Services as well as the school district for several years.

The Killingworth Chamber of Commerce will host a Business After Hours on Wednesday, June 28 from 5:30-7:30p.m. at 9 Old Post Road (Rte. 145)in Clinton at the beautiful historic yellow colonial office building.

The event is sponsored by Tracy MacKinstry of MacKinstry Financial and Educator's Retirement consulting, Estate Planning Attorney, Joan Reed Wilson, and Dawn Parker, Countrywide Home Loans. It will be a patriotic theme event, as the 4th of July is near! ...so feel free to wear any red, white and blue.

Directions: Left on Route 1 from Rte 81, left on Rte 145,first building on left. Please also remember there is additional parking in back of the building all the way on the right of the driveway, and if necessary you can park at the Clinton Motel on the corner.

Please bring your business cards and marketing material, as we will have a table for your material at the event. We look forward to seeing you all!

You may or may not have noticed in your travels last week, that the birch tree in the center of the Town traffic circle is gone. The Killingworth Evergreen Garden Club, that plans and cultivates the garden display, made arrangements with the town to have the birch tree taken down. The tree was removed last Friday, June 16.

According to Garden Club President Elisabeth Verderame, "the tree had been looking progressively worse over the past several years and this year only about 1/3 of it had leaves on it". It was essentially bare on top. Verderame had an arborist take a look at the tree this spring and he said he believed that it would not survive another winter. A decision was made to take the tree down now while it was still strong enough to stand, rather than wait until it got so weakened that a strong storm might bring it down and cause a problem with traffic or possibly cause an accident. It was believed the tree was infested with birch borers.

The traffic circle is state property. The Garden Club obtained a permit to plant a garden there in 1982 and has been caring for its upkeep ever since. Verderame said she thought the original tree was hit by a car and replaced with the birch.

The Garden Club does plan to replace the tree. They are not sure yet what kind of tree or possibly shrubs will be planted in its place. Because of the location, thought must be given to line-of-sight. Most likely nothing will be planted until the fall, as trees do better when planted in cooler weather.

As reported several times over the last two years, the state plans to redo the traffic circle. The plan calls for making the turns more round to cause motorist to slow down while going through the curves. This was first brought to the attention of the Garden Club in Sept. of 2004. Verderame has been in contact with both the project manager and the project engineer. When contacted in early May, Verderame was informed that the project had been postponed yet another year. The good news is that the new plan calls for the center part of the island to remain intact, including the garden.

Timothy John Ahearn, 50, of Houston, TX died Saturday, June 17, 2006. Born February 17, 1956 son of Pamela M. Ahearn and the late John J. Ahearn. Timothy lived in Killingworth until moving to Houston in 1989. He is survived by his mother, brothers and sister, Michael of Katy, TX, Brian and Julie of Killingworth, nephews John and Michael; nieces Shannon and Heather. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held June 24, at 10 a.m. at St. Lawrence Church, Killingworth. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Lung Association.

The Town recently settled the labor complaint resulting from First Selectman Marty Klein's firing of town hall administrative aide Diane Zukowski. Zukowski worked at the Town Offices since 1987. She was fired last December for job performance issues. According to the Hartford Courant, the settlement allows Zukowski to take early retirement and receive her full pension.

Killingworth Library's John P. Hine, Jr. Memorial Golf Tournament attracted 90 golfers to the Clinton Country Club on June 12, for a beautifully sunny day of golf, food and fun. Tournament Director Michelle Cumpstone said she was very pleased with the outcome. "It was a great event. Everyone had a lot of fun. It was a financial success due to the generosity of our sponsors and the golfers!" Please visit the list of the tournament sponsors

The winning team for the day was the foursome of: Dave Darling, Frank Sparks, Chris Lawrence and Scott Ryan. The longest drive was won by John Hine of South Carolina, nephew of John P. Hine, Jr. The closest to the pin was won by Eric Auer and Angela Annino. The best mixed team was John and Elena Stepler and Andy Savo.

The tournament was named for John P. Hine, Jr, a past president and 14-year member of the Library Association. Hine passed away in January.

Cumpstone said the Library is looking into available dates for next year's tournament. The Library receives only limited funding from the Town coffers, so volunteers must raise most of the funds necessary to maintain the library's excellent staff, programs and collections. For information on library programs or to give a donation, please visit the library website at www.killingworthlibrary.org. There are more photos from the event on display in the Library.

Fred Dudek, Bryan Mahoney, Nate Dudek and John D'Ambra

The Haddam-Killingworth High School Class of 2006 is said to be one of the finest classes to ever graduate from the high school. The class is also lucky, as the rain held off just long enough for Alexandra Zila to get her diploma and for Schools Superintendent Gary Mala to proclaim the class of 170 students graduates.

President of the Class and Salutatorian Chelsea Anderson said there wasn't something in the water or air in Haddam and Killingworth to make this class great; it was the exceptional mentoring provided by parents, teachers and peers that have allowed them to reach such high goals.

Superintendent Mala evoked the words of former New York City Major Rudy Giuliani's three lessons of leadership: Know what you stand for; be an optimist and that leadership requires relentless preparation. He ended with a plea to the graduates to "Help". "We need help; be willing to help and be helpful." He said "it is your duty to help without ceasing".

Class Valedictorian Jeffrey Chambers' remarks included a charmingly relevant story of an Admiral of a U.S. Warship finally having to concede his sailing course on finding out the light in front of him was a lighthouse not a lesser ship. In thanking his teachers, he likened them and their work to the lighthouse and its beacon.

HK High School Principal Charles Macunas concluded the formal remarks by first requesting the singing of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" by senior Kelsey Monroe. He spoke of what defines "age" and "growing up", passed along some rules by Comedian George Carlin and reminded the graduates that the age on the outside does not have to define the age on the inside. "May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true...May you stay forever young."

To the Editor:
As September bodes the end of summer, I will find it surreal that I am no longer a part of KES' opening day. For the last thirty-seven years I have joyously been involved in the process of student-teacher reunion. Retirement is certainly bitter sweet for anyone leaving a life-long tenure, but my leaving KES will be exacerbated by the feelings I have experienced with teachers, administrators, parents and, most importantly, the kids of Killingworth.

I have had and appreciated the guidance of principals who have exercised humanistic approaches to learning. Bob LeBlanc was a father-figure every 22-year-old could gain insight from. Bill Cheslukowski was a friend and collaborator and Maureen Fitzpatrick was always there to help you reach your goals. Read more

At last night's Senior Awards Night, almost 200 awards, scholarships and academic distinctions were awarded to members of the Haddam-Killingworth High School Class of 2006, who will graduate today at 6:30 p.m.

Seven of the top ten ranked members of the class are from Killingworth. (pictured at bottom r-l) The top ten are: 10. Candice Rountree 9. Andrew Granucci 8. Katelyn Deimel 7. Cameron Regan 6. Katherine Deane 5. Jessica Fox 4. Perry Pratt 3. Curtis Meyer 2. Chelsea Anderson 1. Jeff Chambers.

Some of the Killingworth Scholarships awarded last night were:
Killingworth Chamber of Commerce Presidents Award: Danielle Langer(pictured top left) and Jessica Andrade.
Century 21 Access America Scholarship: Ashley Montesi and Ashley Giddix (pictured 3rd row right).
Killingworth Lions Club Service Award: John Ahearn and Andrew Wright. (both pictured 2nd row left)
Killingworth Women's Association: Candice Rountree and Alexandria Martindale (pictured top right)
Killingworth Ambulance Association: Lucy Dornfeld, Jen LaChance and Jeff Chambers (pictured 3rd row left)
Killingworth Scholarship Association: Alexandria Martindale, Christine Griswold (pictured 2nd row right), Candice Rountree, Grant Salzano, Chris DiStefano, Chelsea Anderson and Jeff Chambers.

Last Friday night, The Arts Center at Killingworth hosted an utterly entertaining evening of storytelling at the Chester Meeting House. The evening featured creative and engaging puppeteers; each with a different vision of their craft. From behind masks or by speaking through puppets, the artists mesmerized the audience with their stories.

Children and adults in the audience roared with laughter at Jim "Nappy" Napolitano's work with shadows and classic sing-a-long tales. The humor then took a decidely more painful turn as Lindsey "Z' Briggs recounted a true comedic horror story of a young girl's visit to the dentist. Multi-talented actor and mask-maker Larry Hunt performed several characters throughout the program including a young boy with superhero aspirations, an old man's contemplation of a flower and a powerful illustration of Gandhi. Storyteller Marilyn O'Connor Miller then charmed the audience with her ability to bring life to foam and cloth. Her stories of Scotland and Italy came alive as we listened along with her puppets Tiffany and Piccolo.

The Arts Center hosts unique performances in many areas of the arts throughout the year. It also offers classes and camps for adults and children in performance as well as visual arts. For more information on the programs or to support the Arts Center, please visit the website at www.artscenterkillingworth.org

To the Editor::
I am writing to ask for your support of my candidacy to serve on Killingworth's Board of Education (BOE). The position I seek runs through 2009 and will be voted upon on Monday, June 19th , during a special Town Meeting at Killingworth Elementary School, at 8:00 p.m. The meeting should be brief and the vote for the BOE is likely to be the first agenda item. I recognize that this is a very busy time of year, but I encourage you, if at all possible, to take the time to come out and vote.

As a resident of Killingworth for the past seven years, and parent of fifth and second graders who attend Killingworth Elementary School, I am very motivated to make certain our tax dollars are invested wisely. During the past two years I have been a frequent attendee at BOE meetings, and I have learned a great deal about the responsibilities of the board. My understanding of the board will help accelerate my learning curve in becoming a fully functioning member. The strengths that I will bring to the board include open-mindedness, a willingness to listen and strong analytical ability. In addition, my experience as a researcher at Yale University will be useful for promoting academic accountability and for developing data-driven educational solutions. Read more.