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Wilton Man Spices Up the Family Business

Publish Date: 
February 19, 2011 - 12:01am

When Tony and Tiffany Tecce owned a pizzeria in California, it included a play area for their two kids. Some 10 years, a move to Wilton and one more child later, Tony has started Vintage Salsa, and his family is helping him make, bottle and distribute it.

“Right now, it’s slave labor,” Tony says with a laugh.

While the work may be forced, the kids enjoy it, Tony says, adding that his oldest, Kelsey, has helped from the beginning. He says she helped him figure out the nutrition facts as well as the exact ingredients and recipe for each salsa.

Tony started making salsa as a hobby and two years ago handed it out instead of cookies at Christmas. Last fall, before his son’s football games, he would bring it to the tailgating parties. It didn’t take long before people were asking for it regularly, and Vintage Salsa was born.

At first glance, the salsa looks like wine – it’s packaged in a 375 ml bottle with a cork top.  The comparisons to wine don’t stop there. Tecce has adopted the slogan “Better With Age,” which, he says, fits because “the flavors are constantly evolving.”

Currently, you can find Vintage Salsa on the shelves of Ancona’s Market, Village Market, Stewart’s Market, and Palmer’s Market. Tecce wants to expand beyond local distribution but says just seeing his salsa in stores is enough of a success for his family.

“We don’t care how much money we make,” he said. “It’s like we already made it big.”

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McMahon Cadets Learn About Life as Submariners

Publish Date: 
February 19, 2011 - 12:01am

Three-dozen cadets from the Brien McMahon High School Navy Junior ROTC program got an early start on their February vacation, traveling up the coast to Groton to visit the Navy submarine base. As part of the annual trip, the cadets learned about navigation and damage-control procedures for an undersea vessel. They also got to use firearm and dive control simulators as well as don a virtual reality headset that gave them a computer-generated view from the bridge of a sub steaming out into Long Island Sound.

The tour included lunch at the base galley and a visit to the Submarine Force Library & Museum, which included a tour of the USS Nautilus, America’s first nuclear-powered sub.

There was also a surprise promotion ceremony to highlight the day. Miguel Ramirez, twin brother of Angel Ramirez, the unit’s executive officer, was promoted to ensign in his first year in the program for his exemplary conduct and attitude.

The cadets met and talked to seamen stationed in Groton as part of the Navy’s “Silent Service.” "I'm thinking of joining the Navy after graduation, and submarines are something I might be interested in," said Jose Mandujano, who got to experience what his future duty might be when he got to take the controls of the diving station of a sub simulator. "It was cool to see it in person."

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Stamford Kids Celebrate 100 Days of School

Publish Date: 
February 19, 2011 - 12:01am

For the pupils in Debbie Okun’s kindergarten class at K.T. Murphy School, celebrating the first 100 days of school Friday was sweet. Make that “Yummy.”

That’s the word many students echoed as they bit into pieces of chocolate-and-vanilla cake marking the milestone. Friday, Feb. 18, was the 100th day the youngsters have been in school this academic year.

Five-year-old Gabriella Silba’s mom, Tatiana Silba, made the cake. She worked on it, said Gabriella, “when I was sleeping and when I was at school.”

The youngsters helped decorate it with 100 chocolates on top of the white icing, 10 rows of 10. Some of the kids wore open-crown paper hats with the number “100” written on them.

“That’s why we’re wearing these hats, because it’s the 100th day,” said Vanshica Dhurra, 5.

Getting there was sometimes tough. This winter has been marked by delayed openings, early dismissals and cancellations due to heavy snow storms and icy roads. All of the snow days for the academic year have been used, and April 18 – which falls during the April break – already has been added to the academic calendar as an in-session day.

More days from the April break will be added as school days if additional snow days are taken. However, the Good Friday holiday will not be affected, said Stamford Public Schools spokesperson Sarah Arnold.

After the 100-day celebration, students were looking forward to next week’s school vacation. The week-long break remains intact.

There now are 81 days left in the school year, said Arnold.

Now that kids are well past the halfway mark, what does the rest of the school year hold for your children? What are they anticipating after the break?

 

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J. Picyune

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Robert Wilson
Your Zip Code : 
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Actress Takes To Teaching in Fairfield

Publish Date: 
February 20, 2011 - 12:01am

Maria Verderber was just like her students once. From her first-ever role, in her fourth-grade production of “Swiss Family Robinson,” she was “bitten by the acting bug.” So now, after a long career on stage, she is helping Fairfield’s young students realize those same passions.

“I always thought, ‘That’s my gift — acting,” Maria says. “Then I started teaching, and I said, ‘Wow! This is my gift.’”

Maria pursued her love of acting at Duke University, and immediately after graduation she took to New York’s theater scene, embarking on a 16-year career. Her latest stop was in Bridgeport, with the Downtown Cabaret Children’s Theatre. It was there that Maria discovered a new love — teaching acting to kids.

Today, Maria fills her schedule with a mind-boggling number of ways to reach out to kids interested in acting. She teaches in New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts and Bridgeport’s Neighborhood Studios a few hours a week. She runs her own summer camp, Summer Stars, for kids in Fairfield. She also helped with the Music and Arts for Humanity Lighthouse program at McKinley Elementary.

She’s in charge of Notre Dame High School’s school play, and she’s done programs for four Fairfield elementary schools: Dwight, McKinley, Stratfield and most recently North Stratfield, where she spearheaded the production of the “Wizard of Oz.”

But the “Wizard” she helped put together at North Stratfield was not the traditional take on the musical. Maria prefers to put on what she dubs “twisted fairy tales.” In this version, Dorothy “lost her script” and has to ad-lib her way through a meta approach to the old story. She’s also done a version of “Cinderella” set in Venice with a “fairy Godfather,” and an "Aladdin" set in the 1960s, featuring a genie in a lava lamp.

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It's Time To Break Out the Birdbath

Publish Date: 
February 19, 2011 - 12:01am

Nina Miller of the Darien Nature Center said that with the warmer weather, we can expect to start seeing baby birds and squirrels around. Residents should start filling up their birdfeeders and birdbaths now, she said.

"People don't realize how important the water in birdbaths is to the birds," Miller said. She said many geese die of dehydration because everything is frozen. Miller said baby squirrels are born in early March. Last year, she adopted five baby squirrels after a bad storm knocked over a tree and left them stranded. Two died, but she took care of the others before releasing them back in the wild.

"People would ask me why I'm taking care of squirrels, they're so annoying. Well, what's the No. 1 type of road kill you see? Squirrels," said Miller, a licensed animal rehabilitator in Connecticut. She said that animals nursed back to health have no problems surviving in the wild. "They have these skills innately, as long as you feed them food they will want to eat."

Resident who find a baby animal or bird can help, she said.

"The main thing to do, rather than try and pick up an injured animal, is to try and reconnect it with its mother," Miller said. If you find a baby bird, you should try and locate the nest. If you can't do that, put it in a shoebox with leaves, grass and twigs and tack it in a tree where dogs and cats won't be able to reach it.

"Very likely the baby will call out for its mother, and the mother will find it," Miller said.

She said snapping turtles and snakes will also begin reappearing soon. She said the animals are prepared to survive even if there is another cold snap.

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Westport Man Faces Disorderly Conduct Charge

Publish Date: 
February 18, 2011 - 5:12pm

An argument between a boyfriend and a girlfriend ended in the arrest of Westport resident David Demace on Tuesday night.

Demace, of 3 Bradley Lane, allegedly hit his girlfriend during an argument, then left her apartment. Westport officers caught up with Demace, 53, at his home, where police said he resisted arrest.

He was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with an officer. He appeared in court Feb. 16 and is set to appear again March 23.

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Ice Mountain Buries Weston Home in Leaks

Publish Date: 
February 19, 2011 - 12:01am

Lisa Moskal moved to her Weston house last year and was excited to nest with her husband and two children. She wasn't expecting the record snowfall to turn her cozy home into a leaking mess.

"We've lost cable for four or five days, and now we're afraid about losing power," Moskal said as she left Weston Hardware and Houseware with a 50-foot hose and an axe.

The cable company visited her house but could not access the power box because it was hidden by a six-foot-high immovable block of ice. She also has no phone service or Internet.

"We've been hacking at [the ice block] for two or three days now with shovels," she said. "In desperation we're gonna try dousing it with hot water and hacking it with an axe."

Though Moskal welcomes the recent sunshine and warm weather, it has created another problem – the melting ice is leaking into her home.

"We have damage in three different parts of our roof," she said. The floor in her living room was beginning to warp as the snow melted and leaked into her home. A square portion of drywall was missing from the ceiling because of water leaking from ice dams.

The house is only 2 years old, and they are not the original owner. She's hoping her insurance will cover the damage. One thing is not covered – the broken mailbox at the end of her driveway.

"If the town had to pay for every mailbox that they knocked down they'd go broke," she said. "It's just what happens when you have a mailbox on the end like ours is."

Although this year's storms did not constitute a disaster, they have taken their toll. Connecticut has issued 14 weather disasters since 1953, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Only four states have issued fewer disasters. On Feb. 1, FEMA deployed liaison officers to state emergency operations centers in Connecticut to handle a number of town requests for storm cost reimbursements.

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School Drinking Incident Prompts Forum in Stamford

Publish Date: 
February 18, 2011 - 6:30pm

The arrests of several Stamford High School students this week on charges stemming from a life-threatening on-campus drinking incident has led to a public forum on the dangers of alcohol to be held at the school Tuesday, March 1. Stamford High School Principal Donna Valentine scheduled the discussion, said Sarah Arnold, spokesperson for Stamford Public Schools.

The forum is for students, parents “and anybody else who wants to attend,” said Arnold. It will take place from 6 to 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 18, all Stamford High School students attended an assembly about drinking and substance abuse, Arnold said.

To date, a total of eight students have been arrested in light of an unsettling video that shows their involvement in a drinking incident that led to the apparent alcohol poisoning of another student on school property Wednesday.

The most recent arrests were made today, said Sgt. Joseph Kennedy of the Stamford Police Dept.’s Bureau of Youth Services. A 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old female each was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment.

The video allegedly shows the intoxicated student, a 15-year-old female, lying unconscious in Boyle Stadium after consuming an excessive amount of alcohol. Nearby, other students are shown drinking, smoking marijuana and cavorting in front of the camera. None of them attempts to help the incapacitated female.

The girl was taken to Stamford Hospital Wednesday morning, then rushed to Yale-New Haven Hospital after attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. She was released Thursday.

Alcoholic beverages were found at the scene.

On Thursday, Feb. 17, two 15-year-old males, a 16-year-old male and a 16-year-old female were charged by Stamford police with first-degree reckless endangerment. In addition, two 15-year-old males were arrested Wednesday, Feb. 16, one of whom shot the video.

 

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johnpolasek

Full Name: 
John C. Polasek
Your Zip Code : 
32804

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