Brookfield Pop Warner JV Cheer Team wins national championship, other community highlights

Children’s Victorian Christmas tea party to be held

The Bethel Historical Society is having its annual Children’s Victorian Christmas Tea Party on Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Attendees will be able to bring along their favorite doll or stuffed animal to the event.

Attendees may dress up in their finest holiday attire and spend a morning of tea, hot chocolate, snacks, and stories, and crafts.

The event will take place at the 1842 Second Meeting House at 40 Main St. on the Bethel Historical Society property in Bethel.

Seat reservations were due last week.

Bookstore to honor author E.L. Doctorow

Byrd’s Books in Bethel is honoring legendary author and writer, E.L. Doctorow in a special edition of the online series, “Write America,” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Byrd’s Books has invited additional legendary authors in Richard Ford and Bruce Weber to “Write America.”

Author Roger Rosenblatt created the online series. It is generally presented over the Crowdcast Channel livestream social media platform.

Byrd’s Books owner Alice Hutchinson hosts “Write America.”

Register for the free episode at byrdsbooks.com/event/write-america-richard-ford-and-bruce-weber-honor-el-doctorow.

Byrd’s Books is located at 178 Greenwood Ave.

Cheer team wins national championship

The members of the Brookfield Bobcats Pop Warner JV Cheer Team were recently named national champions.

The members achieved the accomplishment on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at the Pop Warner National Cheer Competition in Florida.

Animal sanctuary to be surprised with Petco Love stories grant

The nonprofit organization Petco Love, in partnership with BOBS from Skechers, are celebrating the impact of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, and the love stories that they have helped create between adopted pets and their owners in a surprise celebration at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Petco store in Brookfield.

The story of two dog owners, and pet adopters in, Judy Taylor, her son Lyle, and her adopted pet dog, PeeWee, from the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, was recently the winning story, and selected as one of 100 U.S. winners from thousands of story submissions to help organizations earn a $1,000 to $100,000 lifesaving grant award from Petco Love. The grant will go toward Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.

The winning story is about Lyle, who was previously looking for purpose, and a dog named PeeWee, who was looking for a loving family. Together, the two each found love, care and companionship.

Winning stories generally reflect the many big and small ways that pets make peoples’ lives better in good and in challenging times.

The winning adopters will receive a Petco Love shopping spree and a BOBS from Skechers prize pack for their pet.

Petco Love previously partnered with BOBS from Skechers  to invite adopters to share how their pets have changed their lives to give the organizations they adopted from, a chance to receive the grant in the money range from the Petco Love Love Stories campaign this 2021 holiday season.  

The Petco Love location in Brookfield is at 169 Federal Road.

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary honors the memory of 6-year-old Catherine, who was an animal lover, and who lost her life in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Dec. 14, 2012.

Her mother, Catherine Hubbard, founded the sanctuary in her daughter’s memory. The sanctuary is at 3 Old Farm Road in Newtown.

Animal lovers can now also help the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary earn more lifesaving funds by voting for their story in the People’s Choice competition at petcolove.org/lovestories. The top five stories with the most votes will earn additional grant funding that ranges from $5,000 to $25,000. Voting closes on Wednesday at noon central time.

Harding to help raise money for local families

State Rep. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, will volunteer to help raise money for local families this holiday season by ringing bells as part of the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday.

The fundraiser will take place at the CVS at 14 Candlewood Lake Road in Brookfield.

All kettle donations stay in the communities where the funds are collected from. The money helps to provide meals, shelter, toys, clothing, many other services throughout each year. All area residents are invited.

Donors may text the the uppercase letters, CTREP, to 71777 to donate from their cell phones, or visit give.salvationarmy.org/team/396812 to make a donation online.

Danbury

WestConn seeks applicants for biology fellowships

The Western Connecticut State University seeks student applicants for research fellowships in biology.

The fellowships take place in a summer program and offer the students an opportunity to work with mentors at the school.

College students who are interested in pursuing research studies in the biology field are invited to submit applications to the school’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, or SURF program.

The fellowships will be offered in 2022 by the Western Connecticut State University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences.

Applications are being accepted from undergraduate students at any higher education institution, who meet academic requirements for participation, and who are willing to fulfill research commitments that average a minimum of 30 hours per week over an eight to 10 week period during the summer of 2022.

Applicants will compete for one of two fellowships with each grant paying a $4,000 stipend for research objectives that are established by the participating student’s faculty mentor.

Prior to submitting an application, the student must contact a Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences faculty member, who can commit to assisting the applicant in developing and defining a research project, and in writing a research proposal for submission to the department’s review committee. Applicants are advised to seek out mentors whose areas of research are most closely aligned with the students’ own research interests and career goals, and to do so as soon as possible.

The deadline for submission of all applications is Tuesday, March 15.

Early action to confirm a mentoring arrangement is also advised to allow sufficient time for the student to work with the faculty member in drafting a project proposal.

Fellowship awards from the program will be announced by Friday, April 15. Approved fellowship program projects will take place between May and August, with specific schedules to be determined by the mentor in consultation with the student researcher.

Prospective applicants may obtain complete information about eligibility requirements, the application process, research obligations, and available faculty mentors, and their areas of research specialization by accessing the department’s fellowship program website at wcsu.edu/biology/surf/.

Previous fellowship research projects’ information can be found at news.wcsu.edu/wcsu-students-earn-surf-awards-to-pursue-research-with-faculty-mentors/.

Western Connecticut State University is located at 181 White St. in Danbury.

Immaculate students commended

Immaculate High School students William Doran, and Julong Williams have been named Commended Students in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.

A Letter of Commendation will be presented to Doran, and Williams by Immaculate High School Principal Wendy Neil at an awards ceremony in the future. The letter is from the school and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation conducts the program.

Doran and Williams also placed among the top 50,000 students, who entered the 2022 national competition by taking the 2020 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the U.S. are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Culinary school recruits students

The Community Culinary School of Northwestern Connecticut is recruiting students for an upcoming training session.

The course offers 12 weeks of hands-on culinary learning.

Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the St. John’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall at 7 Whittlesey Ave. in New Milford, beginning Jan. 3.

Tuition is free for qualifying candidates. The school offers job and life skills training to adults with the food produced in classes donated to local food banks. The school also serves as the congregate meal provider for the New Milford Senior Center as well as the emergency food provider for the Town of New Milford.

Prospective applicants should contact the executive director, Dawn Hammacott, at 203-512-5791, email culinaryschool@sbcglobal.net, or visit communityculinaryschool.org.

Chef Blythe Roberts will teach the course. Students learn skills that cover all the aspects of working in a professional kitchen including food safety certification.

Time capsule sealed

St. Peter’s Lodge No. 21 sealed a time capsule on Nov. 23 that will be opened on the lodge’s 300th anniversary in the year 2092.

Mayor Pete Bass, Grand Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Connecticut representatives, including the Most Worshipful Grand Master, William E. Bohman, attended.

Everyone in attendance placed their object and/or letter into the time capsule. Examples of the objects placed in the capsule include a pocket edition of the Declaration of independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill or Rights and a gavel hand-crafted by Right Worshipful brother Al Thierfelder for the incoming Master in 2093.

Southbury

Free Live Well with Diabetes phone workshop starting

The Pomperaug District Department of Health and the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging are offering a free, six-week Live Well with Diabetes phone workshop for adults with the diseases, Type 2 diabetes, or pre-diabetes disease in the comfort of their own homes.

A new group begins from 1 to 2 p.m. Jan. 4 and concludes Feb. 8.

Call the Department of Health at 203-264-9616, extension 2, to sign up.

Class size is limited to six adults. Pre-registration is required. Participants must be willing to share their name, address, and phone number so that workshop toolkits can be mailed directly to them.

A new group also began Dec. 7, and concludes, Jan. 11.