Some good Italian cooking

It was a bit damp, but the annual Italian-American Festival went on last weekend, despite rain showers and hot and humid conditions.

This marks the sixth year for the festival and the crowds keep on growing every year. The weather did keep numbers down this year though.

The festival is sponsored by the UNICO Club, Sons of Italy and the Chamber of Commerce, with Stop & Shop as the major host. The Sons of Italy celebrates 100 years this year and the celebration was a big part of the festival. The club, founded in 1910, is headquartered on Center Street where the Italian- American Festival is located.

“We are proud to put this festival out,” said Tom DelSanto, president of the Sons of Italy.

The festival kicked off Friday afternoon amidst rain showers. Despite the weather, the show went on, with various singers and comedians entertaining the small crowd that braved the elements.

The entertainment is known for creating large crowds of onlookers, and this year featured many returning performers like the Southington All Stars and Aaron Caruso.

During the opening ceremonies, both the United States and the Italian anthems were sung.

“It’s a nice gathering,” said Delores LaPorte, as she sat underneath a tent with some friends Friday evening. The trio voiced hope that the weather would hold off and not impact the evening’s entertainment.

Brian Cocchiola and his family braved the weather to get some food. “We’re hungry,” he said. “Tonight I’m here for the food. Even if I get a little wet, it doesn’t matter.”

Cocchiola recently moved to town and is a member of the Sons of Italy. More than 20 vendors featured a variety of Italian and American food, along with novelties and jewelry. A children’s carnival also offered various rides.

The vendors, representing many area businesses and civic groups lined Center Street. The vendors were under tents, hoping to keep their wares dry.

“It’s a good time,” said Southington Jaycee President Bryan Trudell. This is the fourth year that the Jaycees were involved with the festival.

They were selling fried dough. The Italian American Festival, along with the Apple Harvest Festival, is how the group raises the money for its various donations to the community.

Sunday, the closing day of the festival, showcased the morning mass, which has drawn as many as 1,000 guests each year. The mass included a two-block procession and was led by the Italian Mens Group, festival patrons and the Middletown Italian Marching Band.

The Ladies Rosary Society also sang at the mass.

Officials said the event was successful, even given the rainy and muggy conditions of the weekend.

“It went very well,” said Joe LaPorte, an event organizer. “We got hurt on Friday with the intermittent showers, and the heat probably kept a few people away. By and large, though, I think we did fine.”

Some small work is expected to take place on the Greenway Commons project, though the overall plan is in a holding pattern due to economic issues.

Meridian Development Partners, of New York purchased the old Ideal Forging property several years ago. Their proposal, also known the Meridian Project, was passed by the Planning & Zoning Commission in 2007.

It calls for a large condo complex, retail development and open space areas along the nearby Quinnipiac River. The plan has had its share of ups and downs through the last several years, including the creation of a special tax district and bonding issues that have hampered town efforts for a grant.

Town officials have given the plan enthusiastic support throughout the process, and the Meridian developers have maintained their commitment to the plan despite the setbacks.

Southington’s Economic Development Coordinator Lou Perillo said Meridian was still “actively engaged” in the project and had plans to remove one of the inside buildings on the property in the coming months.

“We remain optimistic that we will move forward in the near future,” said Howard Schlesinger, of Meridian, in an email interview. “Accordingly, we will be starting the first phase of the demolition shortly. To date, our project and the grant application has received overwhelming support from the administration, the town of Southington, its elected officials and from the community as a whole.”

Legislative History

In 2008, Meridian made a presentation to the Town Council about a special tax district encompassing the 14-acre parcel where the development was set to take place.

This district, which needed to be approved at the state level, would give the developers the ability to issue bonds to help finance the remediation costs at the old Ideal Forging site. The property is highly contaminated and the cost of cleaning it will amount to millions of dollars.

The initiative was approved by the state legis-

See IDEAL, page 17

The staff at the Mulberry Gardens assisted living facility has been using the unique Quiet Care system for years, but has found it especially useful in the current hot weather.

Quiet Care is a sensorbased system that monitors temperature in individual rooms.

It also uses motion sensors to keep track of a resident’s daily activity pattern and detect changes that may signal potential health issues or emergency situations.

“This system is not a replacement for the care we offer here,” said Perry Phillips, executive director of Mulberry Gardens. “It’s an enhancement. It helps us monitor the residents when our staff is not involved.”

The data is collected by a few small devices in each room. Staff members can access the information through a computer program which organizes the data and allows them to focus on individual rooms.

During a hot summer, keeping track of temperatures becomes especially important.

“As temperatures are in the high 90’s, it’s crucial to remember that seniors are especially vulnerable in these extreme temperatures,” said Tracy Siegel, a publicist representing GE, who created QuietCare. “They are at an escalated risk for heat stroke, or worse.”

If the temperature in any resident’s room rises above 90 degrees, a staff member can immediately respond. The same system helps in the winter months, where staff will respond if temperatures dip below 68 degrees.

The small motion sensors also keep track of when people step into different rooms, so if someone goes into the bathroom but doesn’t come out for hours, the staff could respond to help someone who may have fallen. On the other hand, if someone is going in and out of the bathroom constantly, it could be a sign of a medical condition that needs treatment. Philips said that all of this and more is accomplished without the intrusion of microphones or video cameras.

“It’s silent to the people here,” he said. “Similar to a carbon monoxide or smoke detector, it’s a quiet device that is not intrusive. It can even create a sense of security.”