Carl Sokolowski speaks of Rochambeau

Rotarian and Southington Town Historian Carl Sokolowski entertained and educated us at Wednesday's luncheon meeting, with accompanying charts and graphs, about Lt. General comte de Rochambeau's connection to Southington during the Revolutionary War, but disputed Ron Klein's claim that he was giving a first-person account of the events.

Rochambeau commanded the French expeditionary army sent to help the American Revolution during 1780 to 1782. His skillful leadership and professional wisdom were vital to the American-French allied victory at Yorktown in September 1781. The year 2006 represents the 225th anniversary of the French march from Newport, RI, through Southington, to Yorktown, VA. Carl informed us of a project to erect a plaque on the Plantsville green to commemorate the event, which will cost about $1,200. Are we interested in funding this project?

revolutionaryct.org

SouthingtonCARES

John Myers and Janet Mellon spoke about SouthingtonCARES, a new community-based action-oriented task force of members representing agencies, businesses, town officials and individuals who are dedicated to helping victims of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

Vision
SouthingtonCARES will act as a conduit with other agencies such as the Red Cross, AmeriCares, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army and other service organizations to match available resources with the needs of people affected by this and futures disasters.

Meetings
Meetings will be held every other week for the first three months to develop an organizational structure and identify short-term, mid-term and long-term goals along with an action plan to accomplish those goals.

Objectives

1. Coordination of workers, skilled and unskilled, who want to help in whatever way they can.
   
2. Coordination of training programs to prepare workers to provide services to those in need.
   
3. Coordination of immunizations needed for workers.
   
4. Coordination with the Red Cross for blood drives.
   
5. Coordination of financial resources.
   
6. Coordination of support services for displaced families in Southington.
   
7. Coordination of support groups for those returning from disaster areas.

Group to aid in disasters - Southington CARES a permanent entity
By JESSICA KASTNER, Observor staff writer

When disaster strikes, most people are willing to help. But a group of community leaders calling themselves Southington Cares says it will be a permanent resource for disaster victims for years to come. The group was initially created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when representatives from the - article continued

Carl Sokolowski, John Ryan honored

YMCA honors three for their efforts by Jessica Kastner, Observer staff writer

Carl Sokolowski is the Town Historian. Mike Albert is President of Pilgrim Furniture and John Ryan was the coordinator of the Apple Harvest Festival. Although the three men represent different sectors of the community, they have one thing in common- they help people. Sokolowski, Albert and Ryan were honored by the Southington-Cheshire Community YMCA last week for their contributions to the community over the past year.

YMCA Executive Director John Myers said the decision to select Sokolowski as the YMCA Person of the Year was a “no brainer,” since the historian’s reputation precedes him. Myers used terms like “compassionate” “man of high ideals,” “high integrity,” “true friend” and “town resource” to describe him. “Your place in Southington history is secure,” Myers said. “Because history is not only what we are, but who we are.”

Sokolowski’s roots with- - more