Stratford Community Organizations Council
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
Birdseye Municipal Complex
Present: Tom Holehan/ Library and Square One Friends; Jack Cratty/ Crime Watch, Police Department, Rotary, and Stratford Main Street Festival; Diane Puterski/ Baldwin Center; Maureen Whelan/ Heath Department; Tim Bartlett/ YMCA; Deanna Bogen/ YMCA; Diane Fried; League of Women Voters Bridgeport Area; Tammy Trojanowksi/ Community Services; Pat Patusky/ Recreation Department; Richard Hageman/ Continuing Education; Bob Wargo/ Sterling House.
Pat called the meeting to order at 12:05 pm.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes were not taken at the June end-of-school year shindig hosted by Pat Patusky at Short Beach.
Secretary’s Report – Peggy Ford, formerly of the Baldwin Center, emailed a message to me and asked to have it shared with the group. In it she shared that she was forced to leave the Baldwin Center, really enjoyed being a part of the SCOC, and wished us well.
Community Calendar Report – The last issue has been paid. The next issue is slated for January. Commitments to place ads are needed by November. Ads that are not camera ready are due by Thanksgiving. Ads that are camera ready are due the beginning of December.
New Business - Discussed speaker recommendations for the program year. Ideas included Neil Sherman, speaker to talk about the new EMS headquarters, speaker to talk about Stratford Patch (local news website), a representative from the Chamber of Commerce to find out how we can connect with the business community.
Jack volunteered to organize the December 1st Holiday Luncheon. He will research restaurants and put together some options for us to choose.
Department Highlights
Baldwin Center: September is National Senior Center month. There are also several staffing changes. Lauren Donovan is the new part time media specialist. The center is looking to fill the following part time positions: Title IV Worker, Outreach Coordinator, Family Caregiver Counselor, Dispatcher, and Activities Assistant.
Crime Watch: National Night Out was rained out twice. Looking to work with the sponsor to do an activity/event in October. There is a possible connection with the Recreation Department. 99 Restaurant wants to help out too so there may be a pancake breakfast in the works or something like that to help Crime Watch.
Rotary: The Golf Tournament is scheduled for September 17th from 10 AM – 2 PM. It is a shot gun start and is $40 per person. Tee Sponsorships are $50.
Stratford Main Street Festival: The next festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 2nd 10 AM – 4 PM.
Police Department: There is a new part time detective.
Library: The library will be opened 1-5 PM on Sundays once again. Author Peter A. LaPorta will be at the library on Wednesday September 14th, 7 PM in the Lovell Room.
Square One Friends: The next production Time Stands Still will run from November 4th -19th. Productions will be put on for the first time during the month of March. Freud’s Last Session goes from March 2-17th. Love, Loss & What I Wore will be performed May 11th-26th.
Sterling House: Erin’s Gym grand opening on Saturday, October 22nd at 10 AM with mayor and other dignitaries. Open House from 11 AM – 3 PM with a variety of giveaways as mementos for the grand opening and gift basket raffle. Erin’s Gym will feature boys and girls soccer grades 1-4, instructional soccer for 4 and 5 year olds, and flag football for boys and girls grades 5 to 8. Many softball programs will be offered under the direction of Jeff Babineau. Fall Soccer starts September 24th due to issues related to the hurricane.
Recreation Department: Men’s doge ball league starts September 29th. The Great Birding Festival will take place September 30, October 1 and 2 at Stratford Point, the old DuPont Property next to the lighthouse. Pumpkin Fest will be on October 15th from 10 AM – 5 PM at Boothe Park.
Community Services: Parent’s Place is not open yet. The family resource grant funding has not been awarded yet. A letter of award has not been received either so there is no indication if or when funding from the state will be given to Stratford to operate Parent’s Place. Counseling for students and families is continuing this year. In The Spotlight programs (in partnership with Sterling House) went well, along with the South End Community Center’s summer programing.
League of Women Voters: Currently working on candidate ballots. Also working on a voting guide that will be put in the Stratford Star and online. The league continues to constantly encourage people who are unregistered to register to vote.
YMCA: Tim Bartlett, Executive Director at the Bridgeport YMCA, was present and shared that he will be spending some days every week to support the Stratford YMCA. Camp went well this summer and after school programs are filling up steadily. Swimming classes start next week. A lot of effort is needed to spruce-up the property and look to have volunteers help with cleaning and light landscaping. Currently hiring lifeguards too. The Rodeo Round-Up, a showcase of programs, will be held September 24th from 10 AM – 1 PM.
Continuing Education: Classes start Monday, September 12. Need people to sign up quickly to meet deadline and programming goals. Will accept people up to the 5th week of classes for the high school credit diploma program and ESOL (path to citizenship) classes. The hurricane played a huge part in delaying the registration.
Health Department: Saturday, October 1st from 10 AM – 2 PM a clinic will be held. Staff will perform cholesterol, glucose, and diabetes testing’s. There is a School Dental Program for Stratford children and it is centered at Stratford Academy/Johnson House. Information was passed out about emergency preparedness and food and water safety during hurricanes, power outages, and floods.
Meeting adjourned at 1:05 PM.
Next Community Organization Council Meeting:
Thursday, October 6th at noon. The Stratford Library
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Wargo
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