DANIELSON — The Office of Marketing & Communications at Quinebaug Valley Community College has been recognized for outstanding achievement in two-year college communications by the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR).

At the recent District I conference held outside Washington, DC, QVCC received three Medallion Awards: a bronze Medallion in the poster category for the Thanksgiving Food Drive poster; a bronze Medallion in the video shorts category for the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center video; and a gold Medallion in the special events category for the “Discover the Next Piece to Your Future” Open House promotional materials.

NCMPR is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges. As one of the largest affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges, NCMPR has more than 1,550 members from nearly 650 colleges across the United States, Canada and other countries.

 

 

 

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Cookoff

Pictured left to right: Jim West, Director of Operations for Connecticut National Golf; Sheila Frost, Owner of The Courthouse Bar and Grille; James Martin, Owner of 85 Main; Karen Osbrey, Owner of WINY Radio; David T. Panteleakos, Administrator of Westview Health Care Center; Gary Osbrey, Owner of WINY Radio; Carolyn Granberg, Owner of Bellas Bistro; Keith Barnes, General Manager of The Crossings Restaurant and Brew Pub. Courtesy photo.

 

 

 

DAYVILLE — Westview Health Care Center in Dayville hosted its 2nd annual Great Soup, Stew, Chili, Bisque and Chowder cook-off. Thirteen homemade dishes were judged.

Judges Choice 1st place awards went to Gen Dubois for her Autumn Kale Soup, Carol Reynolds for her Chicken Tortilla Stew, Lynn Kennedy’s Lobster Bisque and James Kellaway for his Siracha-Cha Chocolate Chili. 

The Peoples Choice Award winners were: Louise Taylor for her Hearty Hamburger Soup, Eileen Panteleakos for her Beef Stifado Stew, Roxanne Alicea for Goya Turkey Chili and Lynn Kennedy for her Lobster Bisque.

Celebrity guest judges and culinary experts Carolyn Granberg of Bellas Bistro, James Martin of 85 Main, Sheila Frost of The Courthouse Bar and Grille, Gary and Karen Osbrey from WINY Radio, Keith Barnes of The Crossings Restaurant and Jim West of Connecticut National Golf sampled the selections and presented the Judges Choice Award for all four categories of Best Soup, Stew, Chili and Bisque. They judged according to flavor, consistency, aroma and color/presentation. 

 

 

PUTNAM — According to recent numbers compiled by Connecticut’s Child Advocacy Centers in 2013, Windham County has, by far, the highest incidence of child sexual abuse per capita in the state. 

 “I couldn’t continue to hear the number of children that are affected by child abuse in my community and not figure out how to do something about it. I started by personally being trained in how to identify the often subtle signs of child sexual abuse. I work with Dr. Marc Cerrone as part of the Windham County Multidisciplinary Team providing medical consultative services for children who have reported sexual abuse,” said Erica Kesselman, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Day Kimball Medical Group.     

Last year to respond to the high risk and high incidence of abuse in Windham County, Day Kimball enhanced its child sexual abuse prevention efforts and began training all of its clinical teams and staff members that have direct responsibilities for caring for children in the Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children child abuse prevention program. Using real stories and sometimes inviting survivors to share personal stories, the program focuses on The Five Steps to Protecting Our Children. They include: 1. Learn the facts. 2. Minimize opportunities. 3. Talk about it. 4. Recognize the signs. 5. React responsibly. (Learn more at www.d2l.org.) To date, Kesselman, an authorized Stewards of Children facilitator, has trained 120 employees with the goal of 100 percent participation by the end of 2017.

Almost 300 additional people outside the Day Kimball organization have also been trained by working with community-based organizations. Pomfret Community School (PCS) has already hosted two sessions and trained more than 100 teachers, staff members and bus drivers. The Pomfret school serves 475 children, kindergarten through eighth grade.  

 “We feel very fortunate to have had Dr. Kesselman training Pomfret Community School employees on the warning signs of sexual abuse through her two recent workshops held for the entire PCS faculty and staff.  With Dr. Kesselman’s support, we believe we are ahead of the curve as far as ensuring our employees are up-to-date and educated in identifying and responding to any issues of sexual abuse that may arise during the school year,” said Dr. Matt A. Bisceglia, PCS superintendent. 

Bisceglia added that on June 11, 2014, Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed Erin’s Law, SB 203. This bill requires age-appropriate sexual abuse education in Connecticut.  At this time, the State Department of Education is in the process of developing a curriculum that will be used throughout the state.  

“Child abuse is an uncomfortable topic to address. I applaud those who are willing to come forward, look at what’s happening in our community, and then feel empowered and inspired to make a difference. Abuse is something that’s passed down generation to generation, so every time we prevent another incident we stop the cycle for that family.   Darkness to Light Steward’s of Children gives adults the questions to ask other adults to keep children in the community safe.  By doing this, we send a clear message that we are a child friendly community and we will minimize opportunities for abusers to have access to our children.” said Kesselman.  

The Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children child abuse prevention program is one component of The NEST, a community collaborative to provide Northeast Connecticut children and families the support needed to create and sustain healthy and safe family environments. Day Kimball is a founding member of the collaborative.

 

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