Imani Community Garden on Terrace Ave. dedicated in memory of 6-year-old

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 14, 2025 — Mayor Dorinda Borer and state Rep. Treneé McGee were joined by neighbors, city officials and volunteers to dedicate the Imani Community Garden on Wednesday.

The flower, fruit and vegetable garden is located on city-owned property at the end of Terrace Avenue, past Glade Street next to West Haven Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation.

With dozens of residents looking on, the afternoon ceremony featured a ribbon-cutting and included remarks by Borer, McGee and 5th District Councilman Mackie McMillian, who served as the master of ceremonies.

It was attended by 4th District Councilman Gary Donovan, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Christopher M. Suggs, City Engineer Abdul Quadir and former 5th District Councilwoman Robbin Watt Hamilton.

The dedication included opening and closing prayers by McGee’s mother, the Rev. Denya C. McGee, the pastor of Abba’s House International Fellowship in North Branford.

It also included remarks by Damon Davis, who talked about the garden bearing his late sister’s name. His mother, Samuella Marlow, also spoke.

On June 4, 1991, 6-year-old Imani Davis-Marlow was struck and killed by a motor vehicle, just a stone’s throw from the site of the new garden.

Since that difficult time, Davis has had a dream to honor his sister’s name in a way that would leave a legacy and impact the community.

Now, 34 years later, tragedy has turned into joy as the West Haven community dedicates the garden in Imani’s memory.

“This garden is great for the community,” said Davis, who thanked Borer and Ernie Chiarelli, the city’s project coordinator, for shepherding the garden from conception to completion.

“Everybody, come on out, enjoy!” Davis said. “We have an opportunity to do something for ourselves. Let’s build this family and build this community!”

Marlow, choking back tears, then spoke about Imani, saying: “My daughter absolutely loved flowers, so the garden, to me, represents life. Thank you all for your support.”

McMillian said Davis had a vision “to create a nurturing space where the community in which Imani lived can come together and fellowship in a healthy place of healing.”

“The Imani garden is also a place where community members can interact as well as grow healthy, sustainable food that is both nutritious and life-giving,” said McMillian, whose district includes the garden.

During her remarks, Borer thanked Chiarelli for overseeing the garden’s construction and crews from the Department of Public Works for clearing the site and helping to cultivate the area for planting.

The mayor also thanked everyone who played a role in bringing the garden to fruition, including employees of West Haven Center, whose parent company, Essential Healthcare, donated $10,000 to the project.

Borer then presented Davis with a gold-plated shovel with “Imani” in black lettering, which the mayor said she personally created for her love of community gardening and to thank Davis for sharing his story and dream with the city.

“It truly does take a village,” Borer said. “It was an individual with a dream, but everybody in the community came together to make that dream a reality because so many people are going to be benefiting from this community garden for years to come.”

McGee, D-West Haven, presented Davis and his mom with a General Assembly citation dedicating the garden.

“A garden brings the community together,” McGee said. “Statistics show us that it brings people together, that it helps the community revitalize, especially in urban, inner-city communities where people don’t have access to planting, to farming, to agricultural lifestyles.

“It also brings spiritual, emotional and nutritional health to our community.”

Chiarelli said the project started last fall. Work included running a waterline from the street, backfilling the garden with a bed of wood chips and building a shed for gardening tools, he said.

The garden’s centerpiece is the raised corrugated plastic garden beds, which house fresh-grown flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Chiarelli said the monthslong project also included new fencing, lighting and millings for parking.

Applications for garden plots are expected in March 2026 on the Department of Parks and Recreation website at https://westhavenct.myrec.com/info/default.aspx.

Vivid playing Old Grove Park at 7 p.m. Friday

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 14, 2025 — Vivid, “thee party band,” continues the city’s Summer Concert Series at 7 p.m. Friday in Old Grove Park, 1 Palace St.

Get ready for a high-energy set of pop, dance and party rock hits.

The free concert is presented by Mayor Dorinda Borer and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Join us Friday night!

Park-Rec lifeguard cited for ‘extraordinary heroism in action’ during water rescue off Sea Bluff Beach

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 13, 2025 — Jack Miklos, the Department of Parks and Recreation’s head lifeguard, received a citation from Mayor Dorinda Borer on Tuesday for his recent rescue of a young male swimmer in distress off Sea Bluff Beach.

Miklos, who is entering his junior year at Stonehill College, was recognized by Borer and other city officials during a ceremony at a pair of lifeguard chairs on Oak Street Beach.

He was accompanied by his parents, John and Marybeth Miklos, and his grandmothers, Mary Lou Miklos and Patricia Reardon.

“I join the members of the West Haven Department of Parks and Recreation and the residents of our great city in commending your vital role in safeguarding the lives of swimmers on the West Haven shoreline,” said Borer, reading the citation to Miklos, who was flanked by several lifeguard staff members and Pool and Waterfront Coordinator Margaret Ruggiero, who supervises Park-Rec’s lifeguards.

Borer continued her praise of Miklos, saying, “You are an inspiration to the Park-Rec Lifeguard Training program and a true ambassador of our community.”

According to Miklos’ account of the rescue, which occurred at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, the distressed swimmer chased a beach ball into the water at high tide near the pedestrian bridge on Sea Bluff Beach, where the Cove River flows into Long Island Sound.

Perched on a nearby lifeguard chair, Miklos said the current took the swimmer under the bridge where he could no longer touch the bottom. Once he spotted the swimmer’s arms flailing, he immediately jumped into action and swam out to save him.

Borer said Miklos’ “prompt response and extraordinary heroism in action prevented a tragedy.”

The ceremony was also attended by Councilman Gary Donovan, D-4.

Tony Inzero Farmers Market open through Oct. 11

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 13, 2025 — The 2025 season of the Tony Inzero Farmers Market is in full swing.

The farmers market is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday on the Green, at Campbell Avenue and Main Street, and every Saturday next to the Oak Street Beach parking lot, off Captain Thomas Boulevard.

The market will feature homegrown fruits and vegetables, baked goods and homemade crafts through Oct. 11.

Parking is available on Campbell Avenue and in the City Hall municipal lot, 355 Main St., as well as in the Oak Street municipal lot and on Palace Street. Oak Street is on the senior shuttle route and the CTtransit route.

The farmers market was dedicated in 2010 in memory of Anthony F. “Tony” Inzero, a leader in the downtown business community who co-owned Flower Affair on Campbell Avenue with Betty DelVecchio for many years. Inzero was a founding member and longtime president of the West Haven Business Association who spearheaded a variety of events and programs to drum up business for fellow merchants, including the first farmers market in 2000.

Inzero, who lived in Hamden, died in 2009 at age 59.

Carmel Gambardella marks 100th birthday

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 13, 2025 — (Pictured): Lifelong Westie Carmel Gambardella celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday.

Gambardella marked the “momentous” occasion with friends and loved ones.

The centenarian received a citation from Mayor Dorinda Borer for “leading a remarkable life.”

“Your rich legacy is a source of inspiration for all Westies and is rooted in the heart of the American spirit,” Borer said.

(City Photo)

The Breakwall restaurant marks opening of new outdoor patio with ARPA grant

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 13, 2025 — (Pictured): Mayor Dorinda Borer, second from left, cheers as The Breakwall owners Brendan and Katrina Snow help their daughter, Emelia, cut the ribbon to officially open their restaurant’s new outdoor patio at 305 Captain Thomas Blvd. on Aug. 7.

Joining the ribbon-cutting are, from left, Councilwoman Dawn Callahan, D-6, and Simon McDonald, the director of membership and marketing at the Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce.

During the chamber-organized ceremony, the husband-wife owners thanked Borer and the city for awarding a grant that paid for the new concrete patio and its decorative black aluminum fencing.

The grant was made possible through Borer’s ARPA Small Business Grant program, which is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Home to “food, drinks and music,” The Breakwall offers a variety of local beers on tap and daily food specials.

The shoreline restaurant and bar, which opened in 2023, sponsors West Haven’s Acoustic Sunday Morning Concert Series.

(City Photo)

Park-Rec boys summer basketball champions

WEST HAVEN, Aug. 13, 2025 — (White Team Pictured): The White Team, the 7-to-10-year-old champions of the Department of Parks and Recreation’s boys summer basketball league, show their medals at the Veterans Memorial Park courts on Bull Hill Lane on July 23.

Front row, from left: Josh Jordan, Bryce Hayden, Khiry Lamothe and Carter Burrell. Back row, from left: Jack Fernandez, Nathan D’Aurio, Cayden Russell, Nicholas Pratt, assistant coach Josh Jordan and coach Colleen Jordan.

(Navy Blue Team Pictured): The Navy Blue Team, the 11-to-14-year-old champs of Park-Rec’s boys summer basketball league, show their medals at the Veterans Memorial Park courts July 23.

Front row, from left: coach Brian Tillman, Dante Douthit, Jay’Ceon Greene, Khylan Crawford, Luis Cruz, Jayden Lopez, Cayden Carter and coach Don Simmons. Back row, from left: Hosea Lattimore, Jayden Potter, Tristian Crawford, Zyair Vilsaint, BJ Bagley and Bryson Bagley.

The league just capped its 25th season and is supervised by Park-Rec program coordinator Brian Hayden.

(City Photos/Brian Hayden)

Program supports kids with siblings with disabilities

WEST HAVEN, April 25, 2025 — West Haven Youth and Family Services is excited to launch a new program at WHINC in collaboration with Southern Connecticut SIBshop at Southern Connecticut State University.

The program, SIBshop, is designed to support children in West Haven who have siblings with disabilities.

SIBshops provide a unique space where children can connect with peers, enjoy recreational activities and build emotional resilience. While many children express positive experiences growing up alongside a sibling with a disability, they often face unique challenges, such as emotional stress, a heightened sense of responsibility or a drive to “compensate” through high achievement.

While the primary focus is on Spanish-speaking families, all are welcome. The program is limited to eight spots.

For more information, contact youth services coordinator Coraly Colon at 203-943-8802 or ccolon@westhaven-ct.gov.