This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/11/2016 08:30 AMAnyone who thinks busy kids and soccer moms are a recent phenomenon didn’t know Kim Inglis growing up.
A resident of Clinton since the age of three and a member of The Morgan School’s class of 1987, Kim’s afternoons and weekends were a flurry of soccer games, track meets, Girl Scouts, softball practice, musicals, cheerleading, a variety of school clubs, and 15 years of dance lessons.
“My mom drove me to a dance studio in North Haven, sometimes four times a week when I danced competitively. I helped plan Morgan proms, pep rallies, and homecoming activities, and some of my fondest memories were of homecoming activities like hall-decorating, dances, float-building, and our parades.”
Kim was also in The Morgan School’s inaugural honors program.
“We were the ‘guinea pig’ class,” she says. “Our freshman class was the first to be offered honors classes at the high school, and back then it was all or nothing—meaning students were required to take all honors courses if they wanted to participate in the program. That requirement—thankfully—has changed.”
Starting Traditions in Town
The oldest of three siblings, Kim, whose mother worked for Clinton’s Parks & Recreation Department—and still does—and whose father was an electrical engineer, says her family has always been close.
“We were a very busy family. My sister and brother were heavily involved in sports and extracurricular activities, and I don’t recall our parents ever missing any of our games or activities when we were children. They were always extremely supportive. They’ve always been active volunteers, and at a very young age I learned from them the importance of giving back to our community.”
Like many high school grads, Kim moved away during her college years. She left for Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, where she graduated in 1991 with a B.S. in business administration and a concentration in finance. Unlike a lot of college grads, she had no intention of staying away for long.
“I knew at a young age that I would want to raise my family here. I can’t imagine not living on our beautiful shoreline. Growing up, I witnessed how much organizations and families cared about Clinton, and I continue to be amazed by how many people volunteer their time to make our community great,” she says. “There is so much I love about Clinton—its quaintness, its diverse program offerings, its location, its character, its history, our schools and teachers, its passionate people, our parades, our volunteers, and all of our nonprofit organizations. I can honestly say I am inspired every day by everyone’s kindness and generosity in our community. We always come together when there is a person or a family in need.”
A Supportive Career
An insurance executive at Travelers in Hartford for the past 25 years, Kim has held positions ranging from account analyst in billing and collections to senior director in business insurance underwriting and workers’ compensation, where she was recently awarded a U.S. patent for a workers’ compensation system she helped design.
Though a career in the insurance industry (gray suit, red umbrella) hardly seems a natural fit for someone as outgoing as Kim, she says her company and coworkers are on the same page when it comes to community-building.
“My Travelers colleagues are my second family and some of my closest friends. They’re generous, knowledgeable people, and Travelers encourages and values employees giving back to their communities. They have a wonderful Volunteer Rewards Program that offers grants to qualifying nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations when employees have volunteered for a minimum number of hours. We also have a choral club, the Travelers Chorale, that was founded in 1924 and is the oldest company-affiliated choral group in the U.S. I’ve been a member for the last seven years.”
The choral group also performs at the opening ceremonies for the Travelers Championship golf tournament, where Kim volunteers each year. Proceeds from the tournament benefit local charities, including one of her favorites—The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.
“If you’ve never had the opportunity to visit or volunteer at this camp, do so,” she says. “It will inspire you and change your life.”
Getting Involved
On a ski trip to Mount Snow in 1997, Kim met her husband, who just retired after 29 years with Connecticut State Police Troop F in Westbrook. The couple’s three children, ages 14, 12, and 10, are at three different schools—Morgan, Eliot, and Pierson—where they are active in music, sports, dance, and REACT clubs, in which students work together to strengthen developmental assets, positive influences, and healthy choices. Kim began volunteering at Joel and has expanded into the other schools as her children have progressed through the grades.
“I would spend an hour during my lunch hour on Fridays helping out in the classroom. It was then I decided to join Friends of Joel, a group of parent volunteers who bring enrichment programs and cultural events to the school through fundraising activities like Monster Mash and Ice Cream Socials. In preparation for Monster Mash, dozens of us would spend weeks painting murals so that we could decorate the halls for Clinton’s kids for one special evening around Halloween,” she says. “I loved watching that hallway transformation every year and the joy it continues to bring kids.
“Once my children were out of Joel school, I joined Friends of Eliot, dedicated to middle school programs and events.”
Later she joined the New Future New Morgan group, centered on the high school.
“I don’t think I saw a better group of people work harder in this community since I have lived here. Moms, dads, grandparents, and friends sacrificed hundreds of hours with their families to attend late-night meetings, make phone calls, develop voter lists, create educational fliers, send out mailers, email and text friends and neighbors, all to make sure our community had the facts before going to the polls to vote on the new high school,” she recalls. “I attended Morgan in the mid- to late 1980s, when it was falling apart, and as hard as it is to imagine a building where I have so many fond school memories gone, our kids deserve better. I will never forget the night of the vote in the Green Room at the Town Hall. There was a record voter turnout that evening, and we were jumping up and down like little kids, hugging one another when we learned the outcome of that vote. I’m planning to attend a tour of the new high school in May, and I can’t wait.”
For the past year, Kim has been active with the Friends of Clinton Youth & Family Services Bureau (CYFSB) board.
“This is where I have been spending most of my free time since last spring. After reading hundreds of articles about the opioid and heroin epidemic sweeping the nation over the last few years...I decided I wanted to raise awareness within our community about substance abuse. I called on friends who were interested and shared with them a TedX UMass Amherst talk called ‘The Game Has Changed: Chris Herren.’ I didn’t know much about Chris Herren until a close college friend of mine shared his inspiring story with me about five years ago.”
Herren is a recovering drug addict who became addicted to OxyContin and heroin while playing college and professional basketball. His nonprofit group The Herren Project seeks to help individuals and families suffering from addiction.
“He spent much of his career battling drug addiction, and he overdosed several times,” Kim says. “Although he started experimenting with alcohol and marijuana in high school, it was during college that he became addicted to prescription drugs, which eventually led to heroin. He has been sober since 2008 and dedicated his life to educating students, professional athletes, and communities across the country. He started The Herren Project’s Project Purple Initiative in 2012, which is a national anti-substance-abuse initiative. Over 450 schools participate in the THP Project Purple Initiative, and it grows bigger every year. What I love about the program is that their message is not just ‘Don’t do drugs’; they want to kids to know they are good enough just the way they are. With DARE programs no longer in our schools, I think we need programs like this for our kids.
“When our members talk to parents, friends, and neighbors about our mission, we quickly learn that there aren’t many families not affected by addiction. Our small community is not immune; we want to change the perception of ‘Not my kid.’ Every day, I read stories about current and former school athletes, musicians, club officers, honors students, and kids from close-knit families who are battling addiction or have died of a drug overdose, and I don’t want that to happen to any of our Clinton children,” she says. “Our hope is that Chris will inspire our kids, encourage them to make smart and healthy choices, start those important family conversations in our community, and help us increase awareness about substance abuse.”
Thanks in part to a series of fundraising efforts by Friends of CYFSB, for which Kim is treasurer, Herren will be speaking in Clinton this fall.
Aside from her work with Friends of CYFSB, Kim served for four years on the board of Clinton Little League and is in her third year on the Clinton Youth Football and Cheerleading board, where she helps with registration, website and Facebook administration, special event planning, fundraising, and other administrative tasks.
“Our organization’s work is ongoing, all year long, despite the fact that the actual football season starts in August and ends in early November,” she says.
She is also a founding member of the Clinton Family Day committee, which celebrates its 11th anniversary this summer. Planning for the July event—which is held at Town Beach and offers free games, crafts, and activities for children aged 4 to 12—typically starts in April.
“What I love most about it is seeing the kids who participated as toddlers come back as volunteers,” she says. “They are simply the best.”
Growing up in Clinton, Kim has fond memories of the town decked out for Halloween and is glad the tradition has been revived.
“I’m a member of the Halloween Window Painting committee, and each fall, we invite students in grades 4 through 8 to paint the windows of businesses in downtown Clinton. This was something I did as a child, and we brought the tradition back six years ago,” she says. “This event has grown tremendously since it began in 2009. Last October we had a record number of student painters—over 100—and almost ran out of windows. Our local businesses are very generous, donating their windows for two weeks in October—yet another reason I love our community.”
When she’s not at her desk, in the bleachers at her sons’ baseball games, in the audience at her daughter’s musicals, or organizing a community event, Kim says, “I am usually home trying to keep up with the laundry.”
She’s also a shutterbug.
“My cameras are always with me, wherever I go. I love capturing special moments, especially of kids celebrating their accomplishments; their smiles make me smile, and I enjoy sharing that joy with others when I can,” she says.
The second Saturday in April—opening day for Connecticut freshwater fishing—also kicks off the season for one of her favorite pastimes.
“My husband, Tommy, taught me how to fly-fish when we first met. I immediately fell in love with it. He showed me how to tie flies, and I have my own fly rod, waders, wading boots, and fishing vest—my first gift from Tommy. I’ve been on float trips out west, in Montana, and have fished several rivers in Yellowstone National Park. There is a sense of peacefulness and beauty in and along a river I have never quite found anywhere else.”
In the winter, the Inglises finds their downtime spent on the ski slopes, and summers they and several other families camp at Hammonasset State Park.
“We’ve been doing that annual camping trip together since our kids were toddlers, and my kids look forward to it every year,” she says. “It’s another tradition I hope never ends.”
Kim encourages anyone interested in joining Friends of CYFSB to attend one of the group’s monthly meetings or email them at friendsofcyfsb@gmail.com. “We’re also on Facebook,” she adds.