NDDH also launching
survey for current needs
BROOKLYN — The Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH) celebrated its 50th year of preventing illness, promoting wellness, and protecting public health with an open house June 30.
CT State Senator Mae Flexer presented a General Assembly Official Citation to the NDDH team congratulating NDDH on its many years of service with special acknowledgment and appreciation for the leadership, guidance, and service provided throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for “50 years of extraordinary and high-quality health services to the residents of northeast Connecticut” was received from CT 2nd District Congressman Joe Courtney, as was a letter from United States Senator Christopher Murphy thanking NDDH for its role as “a health care leader in Connecticut and providing critical public health services to so many.”
Richard DiPentima, who served as the second NDDH Director of Health from 1976-78 sent his reflections and congratulations via email citing that “through years of unique challenges and problems to address, there was a professional, well-trained, and dedicated health department present in northeast CT to manage these issues and protect the citizens of the region.”
“We are so very grateful for the well-wishes of so many and the privilege of serving our member towns and many constituents for so long,” said NDDH Director of Health Sue Starkey. “Public health achievements like vaccinations, fluoridated water, the recognition of tobacco as a health hazard, safer workplaces, family planning, safer and healthier foods, and infectious disease control have increased life expectancy since 1900 by nearly 30 years. We are proud to provide public health services that contribute to the health, longevity, and well-being of all people and look forward to continuing our important work.”
NDDH also took the opportunity of its 50th anniversary celebration to launch their 2023 Community Health Needs Assessment Survey, which asks for public feedback and opinions about community health concerns in northeast CT. Adults ages 18 and older who live or work in the NDDH service area which includes the towns of Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Sterling, Thompson, Union, and Woodstock are encouraged to complete the survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LG8ZB35.
NDDH will use the results of this survey and other information to identify the most pressing matters which can be addressed through community action.
“It’s important to look back to see how we’ve addressed community health in the past and use those lessons to chart a course for the future,” said NDDH Public Health Programs Specialist Isaac Combs. “In preparing for the 50th anniversary, it was interesting to find a 1974 report by the then NDDH Board of Directors that recommended solving problems with the aid of community involvement. Public opinion mattered then and matters now. The results of the survey will not only help us to look forward but assure that we are looking in the right direction as we address 21st century health challenges.”
Starkey added, “NDDH was established in 1973 by the Northeastern CT Health and Environmental Advisory Committee, led by Committee Chair Claire Adiletta of Thompson. We are grateful for their early leadership and vision, continue their mission, have expanded public health services substantially in that time…and look forward to the next 50 years.”

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It is an understatement to say that I am enjoying this year’s Tour de France as those around me might consider that I am just the tiniest bit OBSESSED with the 3-plus weeklong cycling competition.
In the past, I would watch a bit of the cycling race simply to see the spectacular views of the French countryside: Mostly because I did not know much, if anything, about the sport of professional cycling. But this year, two documentaries, several hours of internet searching and nearly 60 hours of watching (12 stages as of this writing) later, I now consider myself a more educated cycling fan!
In planning my Tour de France watching schedule, I thought that I would fast forward through the beginning parts or boring middle parts of each stage so that I wasn’t glued to my TV for 5-plus hours. But truth be told, the beginning is almost more exciting than the end as riders try to establish a breakaway group. And the middle parts are far from boring as they are often filled with steep climbs, fast descents or amazing maneuvers for individual points accumulations. And the end of each stage usually begins more than 20 kilometers back and so skipping or missing or fast forwarding through even one minute of competition feels like I am cheating myself.
However, at a recent lunch outing, I realized that I was talking (quite fervently) to my companions all about my favorite cyclists and teams and strategies and stages …  and that my lunch companions did not seem to share my enthusiasm about the subject. This caused me to wonder what it is about THIS year’s Tour de France that is so captivating to me?
In considering my answer, three things that have attracted me to this sport: The first reason is that the cyclists, themselves, are AMAZING athletes. They ride hard and with risk for hundreds of kilometers, up and down mountains and hills and around bending curves and by fans who wave or spray things in their faces. They cycle for many kilometers (sometimes 10) just to reach the START. They cycle to cool down and they cycle when they have a rest day. They cycle while they eat or pee and, most importantly, they KEEP cycling when they are tired or hurting or hot or have a mechanical issue… until they reach the finish line.
The second reason for my love of this sport is the strategy that is involved in trying to procure a win or a jersey color. There is an overall winner (yellow jersey), but there are also winners of each stage, or of the sprint points (green jersey) or of king of the mountain points (polka dots jersey) and getting these wins (or points) requires intense strategy.
And the third reason for considering cycling my new favorite sport is perhaps, the most important! I am in total and utter awe at how much of a team sport professional cycling is. Never have I witnessed how completely selfless athletes can be for the purpose of propelling an individual teammate to receive the glory. Watching the professional cyclers in the Tour de France is the apex of watching an event that is all about…
TEAMWORK!  TEAMWORK!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
KILLINGLY — There may not be strawberries anymore at what was known as the Old Strawberry Farm but ... perhaps something equally cool.
This year the acreage at 65 Cotton Bridge Road is overrun with fireflies.
Owner Ken Demers said he was out checking part of the land and happened to come along the dirt road along the Quinebaug River and see “maybe 50,000 fireflies.”
They are not the synchronized fireflies in Tennessee but, well, just as stunning.
He invites folks to go see them.
If you come onto Cotton Bridge Road from Rt 101 come down a small hill. Just before the bridge, look to your left and you’ll see a dirt road with a chain across, he said.
Park along the road and walk past the chain to get into “firefly central.”
He’s owned the property for a long time and said he’s never seen anything like it.

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