West Haven Christmas tree lighting on Green set for Saturday

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 21, 2023 — The annual lighting of West Haven’s Christmas tree on the Green will herald an evening of merriment Saturday.

The holiday festival will commence at 4 p.m. with the national anthem sung by a West Haven High School student.

DJ Dan will play holiday-themed music while costumed Christmas characters and Victorian-clad carolers entertain families around the downtown park.

WOW Radio personality Brian Smith will serve as the master of ceremonies for the event, which is presented by the city, ArtsWestCT, the First Congregational Church and West Haven United, an organization aimed at bringing the city’s volunteer groups together.

The sponsors are Affordable Waste Systems LLC, All Purpose Contractors LLC, Baybrook Remodelers Inc., Cordone & Son, EarthLoop LLC, Frankson Fence Co., Herrington & Sons Tree Specialists LLC and Winkle Bus Co.

The four-hour festival will feature an inflatable Santa’s village and craft stations on the 5-acre Green, where children can decorate wooden ornaments, write letters to Santa, and make cards for U.S. troops overseas and those at the West Haven VA Medical Center.

The Yuletide festivities will continue with performances by Top Hat Dance Academy at 4:05 p.m., the West Haven High dance team at 4:30 p.m. and the Mulkerin School of Irish Dance at 5 p.m.

A half-hour later, West Haven’s own Judy Pancoast, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, will sing holiday classics, including her popular original song, “The House on Christmas Street.”

At 6 p.m., Mayor Nancy R. Rossi will greet revelers from a portable stage on the Main Street side of the Green. The West Haven High cheerleading team will then escort Santa and Mrs. Claus to the stage, where they will join Rossi and her special guests, members of West Haven Vietnam Veterans Inc., to set the tree aglow.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive in the West Haven Fire Department’s 1935 Mack pump firetruck.

Rossi said the lighting will mark the “50th Anniversary of Freedom.”

In 1973, President Richard Nixon held a White House reception for U.S. prisoners of war from Vietnam. On May 24, the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, observed the homecoming’s golden anniversary — 50 years to the day of the then-president hosting the largest dinner in White House history in honor of the 591 POWs released by the North Vietnamese.

To mark the anniversary locally, the city and West Haven Vietnam Veterans are sponsoring a City Hall poster series, “A Learning Experience,” to recognize the unwavering courage and selfless sacrifice of the approximately 766 American service members held captive during the Vietnam War, said Dave Ricci, the veterans group’s president.

The 19-month series, which began in September in City Hall’s first-floor entryway, will also chronicle nearly every aspect of the war, said Kevin Sullivan, a member of West Haven Vietnam Veterans.

The city’s official Christmas tree is flanked by a smaller evergreen tree that will glow with fluorescent-colored lights.

The trees are being decorated by West Haven Boy Scout Troop 821, the first all-girl Boy Scouts of America troop established in the United States. The troop’s charter sponsor is the City of West Haven Fire Department Allingtown.

Garland adorned with white lights will decorate The John C. Ireland Bandstand, and Victorian lampposts bedecked with angels blowing on trumpets will illuminate the walkways.

The decorated park will include inflatable attractions that youngsters can go in and have pictures taken.

Before returning to the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus will meet children and pose for snapshots until 8 p.m.

Just steps from Santa’s workshop, boys and girls can drop off wish lists at St. Nick’s official U.S. Postal Service mailbox.

West Haven United will stamp children’s holiday “passports” and award prizes.

Along with hayrides, kids can ride in a vintage West Shore firetruck provided by Baybrook Remodelers.

The activities are free, but people are asked to bring nonperishable items for the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force, which provides food for residents in need.

Volunteers from First Church will sell food, and volunteers from West Haven United will sell hot chocolate and popcorn.

If it rains, the lighting will go on at 5 p.m. Monday.

Bargain Bingers marks grand opening on upper Campbell Ave.

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 21, 2023 — (Pictured): Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, right, cuts the ribbon with Bargain Bingers owners Jordan and Michelle Greenstein, with daughter Eden, 6, and son Zachary, 4, to celebrate the grand opening of the “extreme discount and bargain bin” store at 719 Campbell Ave. on Saturday.

Shown with them are, from left, Councilman Gary Donovan, D-at large; Mayor-elect Dorinda Borer; and Councilwoman Colleen O’Connor, R-at large.

The ceremony was also attended by Simon McDonald, the director of membership and marketing at the Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The new retailer is located in the upper Campbell Avenue business district near York Street and specializes in new, like new and used items, as well as donated merchandise.

According to Jordan Greenstein, the store offers savings up to 85% off retail prices. Bin items drop in price daily until sold, he said, starting at $10 with fresh merchandise coming in weekly.

In addition, all profits from selling items received as donations support people in need, Greenstein said.

The ribbon-cutting included giveaways for veterans.

(G. Gregory Geiger/West Haven Chamber)

New UNH police officer sworn in

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 21, 2023 — (Pictured): New University of New Haven police Officer Thomas Minar pauses with Mayor Nancy R. Rossi after being sworn in by Rossi at City Hall on Friday.

Minar is a former Bridgeport police lieutenant who recently retired after a 30-year career.

The ceremony was attended by Minar’s wife, Joyce, and stepson, Andrew Drake, along with UNH Deputy Police Chief Brett Mahoney.

(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

Westies Nutrition supports breast cancer scholarship fund

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 21, 2023 — (Pictured): Amanda Forst, left, and Mandy Hutchinson of Westies Nutrition at 153 Sawmill Road present a $207 check in support of the West Haven Breast Cancer Awareness Program on Nov. 13.

The money will benefit the program’s Susan A. Ruickoldt Scholarship Fund. The fund was founded in March 2003 to raise breast cancer awareness in honor of Ruickoldt, who taught third grade at Savin Rock Community School before dying of breast cancer in 1997.

Each spring since 2003, scholarship organizers have awarded $2,000 in Ruickoldt’s memory to a female high school senior from West Haven who plans to continue her education.

(City Photo/Beth A. Sabo)

Bereavement group for widows, widowers, partners

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 21, 2023 — The first gathering of a bereavement group for widows, widowers and partners is scheduled from 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at the West Haven Senior Center on the upper floor of the Johnson Community Center, 201 Noble St.

To preregister or for more information about the bereavement group, call facilitator Cate Saxton at 203-535-1163. The preregistration deadline is Nov. 27.

Sensing a need in West Haven and the surrounding communities, the group’s formulation was established in 2021 by West Haven residents with support from the city Department of Youth and Family Services.

The group is offered to individuals who have experienced the loss of a spouse or partner so they can come together locally and support one another during the life-altering period.

The group’s mission is to provide a confidential, safe, supportive grief-sharing environment for widows, widowers and partners.

Gatherings are held monthly on the first and third Wednesdays from 6-7:30 p.m. at the senior center.

Visit the group’s Facebook page.

Vertical Church’s Dream Center honored with mayoral citation

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 8, 2023 — Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and chief of staff Tom J. McCarthy presented a citation to Vertical Church Senior Pastor Ken Vance on Nov. 8 to celebrate the recent grand opening of the church’s Dream Center at 263 Center St.

On Oct. 28, Vance, who leads the Meloy Road-based nondenominational Christian church, held a ribbon-cutting with city, state and federal officials, along with congregants, business leaders and volunteers, to mark the opening of the new center in the heart of downtown.

The 3,000-square-foot center includes a clothing closet, a food pantry, services for employment counseling and financial education, and resources for emergency support needs, such as medical services and education assistance.

The bodega-style food pantry is open every Saturday from 9-11 a.m.

According to its mission statement, the Dream Center aims to aid people in need, including those without homes or jobs or with low incomes, “to restore hope and allow them to dream again.”

“Vertical Church has a proud history of serving those in the greatest of need, and this center will help ensure that the doors of opportunity continue to open wide for all who are willing to dream big,” said Rossi, reading the citation. “Your center will inspire individuals and families to be the best version of themselves by giving them hope and help through hunger relief, clothing support, job training, recovery support ministry, medical care and education.”

The ribbon-cutting opened with remarks by Vance, who thanked the city and the Rossi administration for their “tremendous partnership in serving the people of West Haven.”

Republican Rep. Charles J. Ferraro and Democratic Reps. Dorinda Borer and Treneé McGee, all of West Haven, presented a General Assembly citation to Vertical Church on behalf of the city’s delegation.

The ceremony also featured remarks by church Outreach Pastor Paul Bronson, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3.

“In America, people should never go homeless, they should never go food insecure,” Blumenthal said. “Their children should never go without a great education. In the United States of America, we need hope, we need dreams.”

Consultant chosen for Boardwalk Eco-Restoration

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 24, 2023 — The West Haven Shoreline Restoration Committee has chosen GEI Consultants Inc. for Phase 2 of the West Haven Boardwalk Resilience and Eco-Restoration Project.

Over the next four months, the committee will collaborate with the Glastonbury consulting company to complete the coastal resilience and ecological restoration of a 1 ½-acre portion of the West Haven shoreline adjacent to Old Grove Park.

The committee, also known as the SRC, will announce its final plans to the public in February 2024.

“The project addresses challenges associated with restoring and preserving native coastal habitat in a densely populated urban area and in response to climate change,” said project co-leads Marilyn Wilkes, the vice president of the Land Trust of West Haven, and Mark E. Paine Jr., the director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation. “It will help the community understand the connection between robust ecosystems and coastal resilience, will provide accessible and healthy green spaces to systemically marginalized and vulnerable populations, and will manage the shoreline space so that wildlife and people can thrive.”

The project’s target outcomes and impacts include:

— The restoration of 1 ½ acres of native coastal habitat and improved habitat connectivity to adjacent public green spaces.

— A long-term plan for invasive plant control and restoration maintenance at the site.

— A living classroom for public school and public use that includes interpretive signage linking by QR code to in-depth information on the Land Trust’s website.

— Free educational events on-site designed to appeal to a range of audiences and ages.

— Improvements to public amenities, including benches and walking paths at the site.

— Access for residents under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including access mats to the beach area.

— The creation of a replicable model for use by similar coastal restoration efforts in other communities.

— More site visitors equating to more economic opportunity in the area.

In August 2022, Rep. Dorinda Borer, D-West Haven, secured $200,000 in state funding for the project’s design phase.

Additional funding is needed for the construction phase, and the committee is applying to a number of state and local environmental agencies.

GEI, a full-service ecological firm, provides geotechnical, environmental, water resources, civil design and construction services throughout the project’s delivery lifecycle, from conceptual planning to permitting, design, engineering and construction management.

The committee chose GEI from a competitive pool of request-for-proposal applications because of its innovative strategies, extensive experience with successful shoreline projects and team approach.

The SRC is composed of members of the Land Trust, the city and the City Council, as well as residents who volunteer with local environmental groups.

Extensive community outreach contributed to Phase 1’s completion of preliminary engineering plans to 30% design.

Phase 1 plans and community surveys can be viewed on the project’s website.

Shoreline Restoration Project updates can be found on the Land Trust’s website or the city’s website.