HK Sports
The All-Shoreline Conference awards were announced between games at the SLC semifinals yesterday. The league chose Old Lyme's Calli Coffee as MVP of the year, Don Bugbee of Old Lyme as coach of the year, and East Hampton for the sportsmanship award. All-conference first team selections were senior Megan Murray of Haddam-Killingworth, Liz Hopley and Katie McMahon of Cromwell, Kara Fillion of Morgan, Brooke Pitcher of East Hampton, Kasey McKernan of North Branford, and Coffee from Old Lyme. Second team were Shelby VanHuysen of H-K, Sam Scavo of North Branford, Liz Williams of Hyde, Michelle Santamaria of Morgan, Sarah Joseph of East Hampton, and Chrissy Civitello of Westbrook.

The Haddam-Killingworth Recreation Department will be offering a Lifeguard Training Course, March 12 - April 2 at the HK High School Rm. C-101 & pool. Mondays from 7:00 - 9:30 pm and a few Saturdays . After successful completion of this course, students will be certified in Lifeguard Training, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, and Standard First Aid. The class is for participants ages 15 and up. Students must be able to swim 300 yards continuously of crawl, sidestroke & breaststroke.

The fee is $170.00 for residents and $180.00 for non-residents. Fee includes books, pocket mask, and Certifications. Call the HK Recreation Dept. at 345-8334 to register and for more information.

Legal Notice
Town of Killingworth
Notice of Special Town Meeting
The Electors of the Town of Killingworth and all those qualified to vote in meetings of said Town are hereby notified and warned that a Special Town Meeting will be held in the All-Purpose Room of the Killingworth Elementary School on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. to consider and act upon the following items of business:

1. RESOLVED: That the Town Meeting adopt the following ordinance as recommended by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance:

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 12-144c of the Connecticut General Statutes, any property tax due in an amount less that TEN DOLLARS ($10.00) is hereby waived.

2. RESOLVED: That this Town Meeting hereby appropriates the sum of $18,600, As recommended by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance, to be added to $200,000 previously appropriated, for engineering services for the replacement of Reservoir Road Bridge, said sum to be taken from the Capital Reserve.

3. To consider and act upon a Re-appropriation of $122,743 for the Wettish Property Purchase.

4. To consider, discuss and vote upon an Open Space Agreement, Connecticut Open Space Project, Municipality of Killingworth Wettish Property-Soccer Fields STEAP 2002-17 as recommended by the Board of Selectmen and Approved by Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Finance.

The full text of this Open Space Grant Agreement is on file with the Killingworth Town Clerk.

We've all survived the Valentine's Day sleet snow and ice event and now all we have to do is wait for spring to arrive. You've all probably been getting plant and seed catalogues in the mail and have a nice reading pile set aside. Now is the time to get them out and look through and see what is interesting. The growers are constantly coming out with new hybrids of plants you already know and some that maybe you don't.

When choosing new plant material for your garden remember to follow some of these simple rules - 1) Many catalogues have plants suitable for many temperature zones, so make sure that you choose plants that are suitable for our area. Killingworth zone 6, but I like to make sure that I choose plants that are hearty to zone 5 or even 4 just to be sure that they will survive whatever sort of a winters we have in the future. 2) Make sure you have the right light conditions for the plants you choose - e.g., full sun means at least 6 hours of full sun. 3) Make sure you have the proper soil conditions and if you don't, make sure that you know how to supplement your soil to meet those conditions. 4) Make sure where you are planning them will have the right amount of water, e.g., some plants require constantly damp conditions and others require dry. 5) If you have never used native plants in you garden this may be the time to add some...they benefit the birds and wildlife and many will attract butterflies! There's more!

These columns as well as meeting and event reminders are available from the Garden Club's web page at www.Killingworthtoday.com/EGC

Colby-Sawyer sophomore forward Ryan Murray (HKHS '05) has received honorable mention honors for his efforts during the 2006-07 men's basketball season.

Murray, who averaged 12.4 rebounds per game in conference play, led the Commonwealth Coast Conference in that category, 1.4 rebounds per game ahead of his closest competitor. Murray also dominated the offensive rebounds category, averaging 5.5 per game. Murray ranked eighth in the conference in steals, averaging 1.88 per game.

Murray's rebounding prowess also ranks him among the nations best, ranked eighth in rebounds per game average. The Chargers finished the season 10-14, 8-8 in the CCC and earned the CCC North Division's No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.

Kathryn Frederick, was awarded First Honors at the 26th Annual Juried Photography Exhibition of the Shoreline Arts Alliance in Guilford. The exhibition featured 149 submitting photographers and over 900 photographs. Frederick works at Photografix, a full-service photo lab in Clinton. The show runs through March 3 at the Mill Gallery of the Guilford Art Center in Guilford.

Robert Altmannsberger Jr., 86 of Killingworth passed away on February 19, 2007. He was born May 7, 1920 in Clinton. He is the son of Robert Sr. and Ida (Adams) Altmannsberger. He is preceded in death by parents, sons, Robert Jr. and James Altmannsberger, grandson, Kevin Altmannsberger, brother, David Altmannsberger, sisters, Beatrice Radawich, Laurie Scott, Fay Scott, May Sypher and Peggy Stone. Robert is survived by loving wife of over 63 years, Mildred (Nettleton) and children; Jeanette Murphy and her husband, Willis of Deep River, Alan and his wife Paula Kelleher of Haddam, Patricia Roelants and her husband, Roderik of Vermont, Yvonne Schwab of Killingworth and Harold Altmannsberger of Atlanta. Robert is also survived by grandchildren: Valerie Wyzykowski, Rhonda Malcarne, Sean Scott, Craig Altmannsberger, Jennifer O'Malley, Sharon Jones, Amber White, Jessica Way, Christina Hall and 25 great grandchildren. He is also survived by brothers, Richard and Ronald Altmannsberger and sisters, Ruth Norton and Edie Kuhn. Mr. Altmannsberger was a carpenter who enjoyed the outdoors. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.
Family will receive friends from 4 to 7 PM Friday at the Swan Funeral Home, 80 E. Main Street, Clinton where Funeral Service will be held at Noon on Saturday. In lieu of flowers, please make donation in Robert's memory to Middlesex Hospice, c/o Middlesex Hospital, 55 Crescent Street, Middletown CT 06457.

The Regional School District 17 announced that a memorial service will be held for Haddam-Killingworth High School English teacher, Terrie Lusis, on Thursday, February 22, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Haddam-Killingworth High School auditorium. The Lusis family will be in attendance and intend that the service be informal and open to all who desire to participate, whether it be by their presence alone or whether they would like to share their experiences or express themselves publicly.

The Children's Room at the Killingworth Library will be closed this week, through the 23rd, for a little makeover. The room is getting a fresh coat of paint, with colors to whet everyone's appetite: nacho cheese, salsa, limelight, tangelo, and citrus blast! The books from the children's room are temporarily stored around the library (excuse our appearance!), so the collection is still accessible and browsable. Terrific Two's and the Moms & Tots group will meet as regularly scheduled. The classes will just be held at a different location in the library.

So again, please bear with us and excuse our appearance! We still have children's books, videos, audios, and the museum passes available -- enough to fill the hours of school vacation. And everyone please visit the Children's Room when we are back to "normal"; it will brighten your day!

The Congregational Church in Killingworth, United Church of Christ, invites the community to join us during the season of Lent and Easter.

On most Wednesday evenings during Lent, we will experience Taizé contemplative worship in our sanctuary. Taizé is a place hidden away in the hills of Burgundy, France. It is an ecumenical community of brothers whose worship is at the heart of their life. Worship at the Taizé community happens thrice daily and is called Taizé prayer. Taizé prayer has two essential elements: song and silence. The Taizé songs are a form of sung prayer. The songs are short chants (usually words from scripture) that are repeated over and over, giving them a meditative quality. The silence during Taizé prayer is a time of listening, a time to have one's soul open to God.

We will experience Taizé worship during Lent February 21 at 7:00 p.m. on Ash Wednesday as well as on the following Wednesday evenings: March 7, 21 and 28. On the last of these dates, March 28, we will begin the evening with a pot luck family supper in our parish hall at 6:00 p.m. Please join us.

During Holy Week, the following services will be offered: April 1 at 10 a.m., Palm Sunday Service and Communion. April 5 at 6 p.m., Family Seder Supper on Thursday, followed by the Maundy Thursday Service of Tenebrae and Communion at 7:30 p.m. April 8 at 10 a.m., Easter Sunday Communion Service. All are welcome!

For more information, please contact the church office at 663-1789 or visit our website at www.killingworthchurch.org

HK Sports
The HK Boys Basketball team lost to Coginchaug, 76-41, last night in Durham. Alex Pollack had 14 points followed by Steve Landell with 11. The Cougars fall to 9-11 on the year. Coginchaug is 19-1.

Twenty members of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company spent Sunday morning out on the iced-over pond in Chatfield Hollow State Park refreshing their skills with cold water rescue equipment. The KVFC has four cold water rescue suits, as well as various other associated equipment, that firefighters wear to safely retrieve someone who has fallen through unsafe ice. The training also includes low angle rope rescues to transport the victim off the ice and up onto shore. The process is very labor intensive, as well as time sensitive.

Though a cold water rescue has thankfully not been needed for decades, there have been close calls and near misses. The all-volunteer crew maintains a vigorous schedule of training to prepare for almost any emergency.

Medical emergencies account for about 60 percent of the company's 400 annual calls. Therefore, members train in CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), AED (automatic external defibrillators), as well as fire response vehicles and all aspects of first response basic life support. In addition, they participate in training for vehicle extrication, hazardous materials response, extensive fire suppression techniques, supplying water and rapid intervention training, which trains members to go in and get an injured or trapped firefighter.

To find out more about the fire company, visit www.killingworth-fire.org, call 663-1785, or just ask your neighbor. The squad includes junior firefighters still in their teens to members who have served the community for decades to retired members who still head out on calls to direct traffic and provide guidance.

Members of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company practicing a cold water rescue. Photos courtesy T. Hajek.

Sunday February 11:
• 6:04 AM: Medical emergency, Fritz Rd
Monday February 12:
• 8:05 AM: Medical emergency, Woodland Trl
• 8:12 AM: Medical emergency, Pond Meadow Rd
Tuesday February 13:
• 7:36 PM: Medical emergency, Woodland Trl
Wednesday February 14:
• 1:55 PM: Ice Rescue, Dudley Towne Rd
• 11:09 PM: Medical emergency, Roast Meat Hill Rd
Thursday February 15:
• 12:26 AM: Medical emergency, Boulder Trl
• 2:24 AM: Mutual Aid to North Madison, Structure Fire, Lake Dr
• 9:22 AM: Medical emergency, Route 148
• 1:37 PM: Medical emergency, Emanuel Church Rd
Friday February 16:
• 10:19 AM: Mutual Aid to Clinton, Fire Alarm, Glenwood Rd
• 9:21 PM: Medical emergency, Woodland Trl

Who would have thought that a historically conservative Republican Governor would propose such dramatic initiatives for education AND call for a 10% increase in the income tax to pay for it? Very few Republicans, and certainly not the Killingworth Republican Town Committee, are in favor of sending more money to Hartford without an iron-clad guarantee that it would not be poorly allocated by the state legislature controlled by the big city Democrats.

While the objectives outlined in the Governor's budget are admirable, the approach she proposes is misdirected and is not what is really required. Let us look at a few indisputable facts:

Connecticut is losing population especially the young and the old.

The truth is, most young people cannot afford to live in places like Killingworth or other suburban communities and do not want to live in our economically challenged cities.

Seniors are being driven from their homes by high property taxes, high income taxes, high estate taxes and a generally high cost of living when compared to our warmer neighbors to the south and west. Read the complete report.

HK Sports
For the second time in a week, the HK Girls Basketball team came out on the losing end to Morgan of Clinton. After a, 54-38, loss on Thursday night to end the regular season, the Cougars fell, 61-41, on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference tournament. The Cougars jumped to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter, but the Huskies recovered and outscored HK in the next three quarters. Jenna Loos scored 11 points, Megan Murray scored 10, Shelby VanHuysen scored 8 and Ally Hall had 5.

The Regional School District 17 wishes to acknowledge the passing of Terrie Lusis, English teacher. We extend our sympathies to the Lusis family during your time of loss. The students, families, faculty and staff of the school district have many fond memories attributed to Terrie's work as a classroom teacher and, most especially, her work with the drama program at Haddam-Killingworth Middle School and Haddam-Killingworth High School.

Details regarding services planned to recognize Terrie's passing will be announced as they become available.