Person of the Week • Published Apr 23, 2024 11 am
By John Lecardo
Emma Reilly craves the competition when it comes to gymnastics, but she also enjoys the free flowing and creative elements of the sport. Both of those facets of the mat b...
Person of the Week • Published Apr 10, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
On Janice Atkeson’s bucket list is a trip to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Janice has been to the area before, having visited another Himalayan country, Nepal.
“The ...
Person of the Week • Published Apr 03, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
Ever heard of J.D. and the Great Barber Battle? You would if you were an Essex Elementary School (EES) student. The entire school is involved with the book through the On...
Person of the Week • Published Apr 02, 2024 11 am
By John Lecardo
Emi Bisson spent her tenure with Valley Regional being one of the more stronger and decorated players in the girls’ lacrosse program. Utilizing the ultimate asset of conf...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 27, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
Talk about pressure! Players have only an hour to decipher the clues, crack codes, and follow the evidence to break free. And free from what? Hogwarts Magical Mayhem, the...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 06, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
When does retired not mean retired? When retirement is not the end of one’s working years, but rather, an opportunity to work differently. This is what retirement means f...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 05, 2024 10 am
By John Lecardo
When it comes to her skill set and acumen with the game of lacrosse, Rowan Pilon takes a slow but steady approach of improving herself every instance of every day. That g...
Person of the Week • Published Feb 28, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
It’s not like herding cats, but nonetheless, Lily Farrell has a lot of small bodies to keep track of these days. Lily is in charge of the mini-munchkins. Let there be no ...
Person of the Week • Published Feb 27, 2024 11 am
By John Lecardo
The game of baseball often imitates life and instills great lessons from it. It often showcases the idea that when you persist with positivity, you can truly ascend. This...
Person of the Week • Published Feb 21, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
You want to swim, bike, and run? You want to do it competitively? If so, you want to do a triathlon. That is what Bob Merrick does. A triathlon is an outdoor event, but B...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 31, 2024 08 am
What to do about February? The excitement of the holidays is over. Early spring flowers have not yet pushed through the soil to herald the warmer weather. The month can s...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 30, 2024 12 am
By John Lecardo
No matter where the ball lands once he fires it from his hands, whether off the iron or tickling the twine, Noah Dolinsky takes a new piece of information from each strik...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 23, 2024 10 am
By John Lecardo
Basketball is an imperfect game, with many flaws that can occur in a given play. It serves as a great metaphor for life in making the best out of any setbacks or disappoi...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 17, 2024 08 am
There’s an old military truism: never volunteer. That would not do for Tania Crosby. For 25 years, as an accountant, she has been doing the books as treasurer of the Deep...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 16, 2024 11 am
By John Lecardo
Cade Ensinger underwent a maturation process during his time at Valley Regional into a leader and First Team all-league competitor. Yet now as a Warrior of a different il...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 10, 2024 08 am
By Rita Christopher
You don’t need the calendar to know winter is here; you don’t need the weather report or the holiday decorations. How, then, to know winter has arrived? Because it is tim...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 03, 2024 10 am
By John Lecardo
When it comes to Valley Unified Sports, there is not a contest or competition that Allison Connell has not conquered and mastered. Yet more importantly, she has done it w...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 27, 2023 12 pm
By John Lecardo
Dog has been championed as man’s best friend, with a special bond that is shared between both parties. Yet for Ainsley Strecker, she is adding an addendum to that express...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 27, 2023 08 am
By Rita Christopher
Katelyn Ely will participate in an American rite of passage this March: she will go to Disney World.
But Kate’s trip is not just another long-anticipated family excursion...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 20, 2023 08 am
By Rita Christopher
Kathleen Lowe loved being outdoors as a child. Now, as an adult, the Essex resident has founded a group, Friends of the Forest CT to share that love with others.
“Anytime...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 19, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
Eli Sahadi always had the passion to play football and the athletic acumen to perform on the field, and he took full advantage of the opportunity to showcase that to the ...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 13, 2023 02 pm
By John Lecardo
Once Clara Shea first grasped a field hockey stick in junior high, she knew it was something she could truly sink her teeth into and advance far within the sport. And bac...
Person of the Week • Published Dec 07, 2023 10 am
By John Lecardo
From starting in dance as soon as she was old enough to do so, and participating in her inaugural solo within competitive dancing from the age of 8, Chloe Alsback’s undyi...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 29, 2023 08 am
By Rita Christopher
Luckily, the Claus family is a big one because its best-known member, Santa, has a very busy schedule at this time of year. To keep everybody happy, younger siblings can ...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 28, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
Support has been at the center of Abby Reardon’s relationship with the sport of field hockey. She had tremendous encouragement from peers and coaches to grasp the game ra...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 21, 2023 02 pm
By John Lecardo
In such a short stint, Hallie Moore has not only had a meteoric rise up the varsity ladder for the Valley Regional volleyball team, but she has additionally earned the re...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 15, 2023 10 am
By John Lecardo
From essentially the first time he could walk, Deryck Llivichuzca’s moving feet were always accompanied by a soccer ball. It was that passion and devotion to the game tha...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 15, 2023 08 am
By Rita Christopher
A career choice doesn’t lock you in forever. That is what Kurt Saenger-Heyl realized, and that is why he is the new pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Centerbrook and n...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 07, 2023 01 pm
By Rita Christopher
Once, people believed the Earth was flat. Ivoryton resident Ethan Goller, president of Structural Graphics, has his issues with flatness but in advertising.
Structural Gr...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 01, 2023 09 am
By Rita Christopher
Where’s Tony? You never know where Tony Carrano will appear next.
That’s because of the many different ways he participates in civic affairs in Essex.
He is such an effec...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 24, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
The long and winding course that has been Holly Board’s race within athletics has gone down many paths, but it has come full circle by reigniting her passion for running ...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 20, 2023 06 pm
By Rita Christopher
Once, some four decades ago, Jonathan Jacobson made videos that delighted friends and classmates at Chester Elementary School.
Now, those friends are still delighted, sen...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 18, 2023 06 am
By John Lecardo
In team sports, one can learn a lot about themselves through a devastating personal setback. For Madeline Siegel, her hurdle paved the way to a two-way lane to long-term ...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 11, 2023 09 am
By John Lecardo
Liam Welch’s journey within the sport of soccer did take a lengthy pause and sabbatical, but the passion for the pitch always lied deep within him, and he is very thankfu...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 05, 2023 07 am
By Rita Christopher
Jimmy Burch has an ambitious goal: He wants to be a famous actor and win an Oscar by the time he is 30.
That gives him 11 years. Jimmy, who lives in Ivoryton, is now 19.
...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 05, 2023 07 am
By John Lecardo
Ella Smith took right to the sport of soccer ever since she first laced up her cleats in her formative grade school years, and her efforts and desires to succeed have par...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 28, 2023 07 am
By Rita Christopher
Margaret Very was there at the beginning 40 years ago, on the board of trustees, when the Community Music School (CMS) in Centerbrook started. Now, she is on the board ag...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 27, 2023 07 am
By John Lecardo
With so many constant moving pieces on the chess board that is a volleyball court during any given match, keeping the lines of communication freely flowing is a big indic...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 13, 2023 03 pm
By Rita Christopher
Autumn means school starting, leaves changing color, and Christmas advertisements appearing well before Thanksgiving. But local music lovers know the Robbie Collomore Con...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 05, 2023 02 pm
By Rita Christopher
How do you meet people when you move to a new community? Try a classic: Join an organization.
That’s what Lou Mazzarese did when he moved to Essex three years ago. Now, h...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 05, 2023 02 pm
By John Lecardo
This summer across the shoreline within the Deep River Horseshoe League, one of the biggest stories of the campaign was the rapid and meteoric rise and emergence of a you...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 31, 2023 07 am
By John Lecardo
The Valley Regional High School Class of 2023 was full of decorated student-athletes, but when looking at it on a closer scope through the lens of the girls’ basketball p...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 29, 2023 10 am
A good meal is its own reward, but at the upcoming Chester Rotary Lobster Festival, a good meal will also provide a chance for people to support the rotary’s community pr...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 15, 2023 11 am
By Rita Christopher
The books on Elizabeth Kaeser’s bedside table changed seven months ago. That’s when she became the new executive director of the Connecticut River Museum, taking over fro...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 11, 2023 05 am
By John Lecardo
Brotherhood through struggles and achieving strength and victory has truly attracted Adam Metz to the gridiron, and now after a long standing career within the game, he g...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 10, 2023 07 am
By Rita Christopher
Make sure you get the N’s right: Glenn Herman’s first name has two; his last name has one. The students who apply for scholarships from Essex Rotary should know the corre...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 03, 2023 09 am
By Rita Christopher
Clint Reid calls the Community Foundation of Middlesex County (CFMC) a force multiplier, and as chair of the board of directors, he is not talking the language of “Star W...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 02, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
The bond between human beings and animals is one that has been unbroken for centuries and yields the greatest qualities among both parties involved. Addison Keyworth has ...
Person of the Week • Published Jul 25, 2023 11 pm
By John Lecardo
The more grueling a game is, quite often the deeper the connections that are cultivated through the grind. The theorem is certainly bolstered when it comes to Nick Cox’s ...
Person of the Week • Published Jul 18, 2023 12 pm
By John Lecardo
For Maizy Libby, playing goalie in lacrosse, much less continuing it in college, was the furthest thing on her mind upon first stepping foot onto the campus of Valley Reg...
