By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, St. Patrick’s Day will be here. Earlier in the week, I cheated a bit when I had a healthy helping of corned beef cabbage and plenty of Irish soda bread, compliments of Child No. 2. A complimentary loaf of the bread, dressed up very much for St. Patrick’s Day with green sprinkles, arrived at the door, from neighbors up the street. Thank you, neighbors. All delish!
Saturday evening was the Shamrock Run & Walk Pasta Supper at St. Gregory CCD Center. I am still marveling over the efforts of the people behind the event–over 20 years and almost $200,000 to the local St. Vincent DePaul Society to assist people in need. And when I mention it, what does one of those people say? “I wish it could have been more.”
Last Sunday was a World War II veterans’ reunion at the Bristol Public Library. Five veterans, the youngest at 98 years, talked among themselves, listened to some history about the role of the Navajo Code Talkers and the significance of the Battle of Iwo Jima, before being honored with proclamations and letters from one U.S. Congressman and our local state legislators.
And what does one survivor from all those years ago say? “The real heroes are the ones who never made it back.”
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Nice week for yard work, until you look at the weather forecast and see that the highs for next 10 days will be in the 40s. My task, which I haven’t gotten to, will be to trim the daisies, meaning to cut the stalks to get ready for another flourishing this spring. We have a plethora of them, and often Mary will dig out a few and pass them along.
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Reading and listening this week starts with a very old favorite, the “Capital Isn’t” podcast with Luigi Zingales and Bethany McLean. This one is titled, “Poverty in America: Terrible Scourge or Measurement Error?” featuring conversations with U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, who has a new book out called “The Myth of American Inequality,” and Matthew Desmond, whose “Poverty by America” I am just finishing reading, a second time. Yes, the latter has made an impression.
The podcast is broken into two segments, each featuring a conversation with the author followed by a conversation between the hosts about the discussion. If you get to this podcast, stick around for both. Click here.
And for reading, once again there is the book, “Poverty by America.” It sounds like an indictment, and it is, but it’s worth reading through to the very end–and for me, twice. It offers some very practical initiatives, that, I am thinking, might resonant if given a proper hearing.
Then, there is for light read, Jimmy Breslin’s “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight,” which might push buttons for some readers, since the language is very much street talk, spattered with profanities. How you tell the two apart, well.
I finished Chester Himes’ novel, “Cotton Come to Harlem,” and I am living with “How To Live or A Life of Montaigne,” a collection of Paul Bowles short stories and “IDA: A Sword Among Lions.” Anyone have a recommendation? Email dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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City meetings this week include the following:
On Monday, March 18
- Board of Finance Budget Hearing, 5:30 p.m., council chambers in City Hall.
On Tuesday, March 19
- Real Estate Committee, 5 p.m., Meeting Room 1-1, in City Hall.
- Board of Police Commissioners, 6 p.m., council chambers in City Hall.
- Sewer Commission, 6 p.m., Bristol Water & Sewer Filtration Plant, 1080 Terryville Ave.
- Water Commissioners, 6:15 p.m., Bristol Water & Sewer Filtration Plant, 1080 Terryville Ave.
On Wednesday, March 20
- Retirement Board Workshop, 1:30 p.m., council chambers in City Hall.
- Salary Committee, 5 p.m., Human Resources Conference Room in City Hall.
- Board of Park Commissioners, 5 p.m., Meeting Room 1-2, in City Hall.
- Board of Finance Hearing, 5:30 p.m., council chambers in City Hall.
On Thursday, March 21
- Commission on Aging, 11 a.m., Room No. 103, at Bristol Senior Center.
- Animal Control Building Committee, 5 p.m., council chambers in City Hall.
TBE will do our best to update meeting times and locations, but it’s a good idea to check the agendas ahead of time for cancellations. Click here for specific meetings and times.
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As for our efforts at TBE, we continue to work on developing our financial base. We are familiarizing our readers with a new look–the banner and post blocks on our pages waiting for sponsor messages. Because we are so small and in the startup phase, we work slowly, but we do work and we are getting closer to agreements with sponsors.
We encourage all people, young and old, from our community, who have an interest in telling Bristol stories and improving their skills to do this, to join us. If you are one of these people, or know of one, please contact dfortier@bristoledition.org.
TBE is the website of our nonprofit, The Central Connecticut Online Journalism Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. One-time donations and regular recurring monthly donations from our members are welcomed and encouraged.
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Enjoy!
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The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
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