Person of the Week • Published Nov 22, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
Diana Caty is a co-founder of non-profit Traveling Toys Inc., which funds and creates toy libraries by partnering with local libraries in high ALICE population communities. Photo courtesy Diana Caty
Person of the Week • Published Nov 21, 2023 02 pm
By John Lecardo
Camaraderie among a unit of players, or an entire team on a bigger front, can draw attraction to the game of football in many young athletes. Tommy Hansen falls under tha...
Person of the Week • Published Nov 09, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
By capturing images of children and adults in daily life in Asia, Africa, and South America, Branford photographer Alice Laurenson offers a stunning display of the univer...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 31, 2023 12 pm
By John Lecardo
Alyssa Kendrick came into learning the sport of field hockey under the umbrella of one of the state’s most prestigious programs in the sport at North Branford High School...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 31, 2023 12 pm
By Aaron Rubin
Volunteering has always been a part of Mary Amter’s life, and food was a fixture in that work. Even during her involvement with the Parent Teacher Organization or with to...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 20, 2023 10 am
By John Lecardo
Once Reese Brigance first grasped a volleyball, it was all systems go, as she hit the ground floor running and is now quickly ascending up the ranks as a resounding rooki...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 11, 2023 09 am
By John Lecardo
Friendship has been the biggest conveyor for Aiden Hutchinson when it comes to him becoming connected with a sport, and so it is almost fitting that when it comes full ci...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 11, 2023 09 am
By Pam Johnson
Now that she’s launched her debut record at age 56, Laurie Kenney is ready to meet her next challenge: performing live. She’s set to take the stage for the very first tim...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 06, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
Whether it is gliding across the dance floor, or maneuvering herself around the volleyball court, Sam Melillo has always been fast on her feet, and is setting the North B...
Person of the Week • Published Oct 03, 2023 12 pm
By Pam Johnson
Saturday, Oct. 14 at Guilford Fairgrounds
Gather your family and friends: from donkey rides, a petting zoo, and touch-a-truck to live music and festive food and drin...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 29, 2023 07 am
By Pam Johnson
Call it the luck of the Irish — or, in this case, a love of everything Irish — for Bernadette Canning, the 2024 Grand Marshal of the Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day P...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 22, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
As a Community Dining Room (CDR) board member, John Allen brings a lot to the table, including his dedication to helping CDR incorporate more nutritional, plant-based mea...
Person of the Week • Published Sep 22, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
Nico Falcioni has enjoyed baseball from the first time he hit a ball off a tee, very much so for its tendency to reward the patient and mentally fortified athlete, and it...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 25, 2023 04 pm
By John Lecardo
If any individual spent just a few quick moments speaking to Cameron Garrett, they would instantly come away from the conversation knowing full well that he is someone wh...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 23, 2023 06 am
By Pam Johnson
Jim Plunkett is proud to help put on a signature shoreline event for a great cause, the St. George Men’s Group Italian Festival in Guilford. The 2023 Italian Festival is set for Friday, Aug. 25, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 26, from 3 to 10 p.m. Admission is $5; ages 15 and under are free.
Person of the Week • Published Aug 18, 2023 06 am
By John Lecardo
An absence of complacency has proven to be quite an asset for the North Branford softball program and its lengthy string of success, and Natalia Lucibello embodies that s...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 11, 2023 05 pm
By John Lecardo
While other toddlers were playing in their toy boxes with trucks and various other trinkets, John Onofrio took his play time outside with a bat, ball, and glove in his ha...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 04, 2023 04 pm
By John Lecardo
When he first picked up a lacrosse stick, Eli Defaranos was not all too keen on the idea of playing the game, yet he changed his tune after being drawn to the entertainme...
Person of the Week • Published Aug 02, 2023 11 am
By Pam Johnson
Mary-Elissa Giovanni and her PoCo co-coordinators are prepared to bring an exciting festival to North Branford Friday Aug. 4 through Sunday Aug. 6.
Person of the Week • Published Jul 18, 2023 12 pm
By John Lecardo
Intensity is not always an early indication of proficiency with any given task, as Tessa Juniver has learned with a more relaxed approach in the field, at the plate, and ...
Person of the Week • Published Jul 18, 2023 12 pm
By Pam Johnson
Community Dining Room’s (CDR) Andrea Savino has developed a 9-week series where weekly free Tuesday Night Community Dinners on the green are landing in one of four towns assisted by non-profit CDR: Branford, North Branford, Guilford and East Haven.
Person of the Week • Published Jul 13, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
As founder of LINKED-Autism Safety Project, North Branford mom Ashley McClain is linking first responder emergency preparedness with the important family issue of safe and effective assistance to loved ones on the Autism spectrum.
Person of the Week • Published Jul 11, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
Sports can often wield instances of overcoming hurdles and personal adversity on the road to triumph, and another fine example of that resided at North Branford High Scho...
Person of the Week • Published Jul 08, 2023 09 am
By John Lecardo
For Morgan Lucibello, the physical nature of the game of lacrosse really attracted her to the turf, and in such a short time span with the sport, she has laid down the hi...
Person of the Week • Published Jul 07, 2023 05 am
By Pam Johnson
Soundview YMCA Camp Director Carl McDowell helps campers enjoy exploring nature, swimming, shooting bows and arrows, singing camp songs, making friends and new memories, and much more, day by day.
Person of the Week • Published Jul 02, 2023 10 am
By John Lecardo
Sometimes in athletics, through rigorous reps and training, an action for an individual can transform from a simple hobby to pass the time to someone’s personal pastime–t...
Person of the Week • Published Jun 29, 2023 07 am
By Pam Johnson
This fall, Alexander Shadman, the multi-talented valedictorian of the North Branford High School (NBHS) Class of 2023, heads off to begin his studies at Yale University.
Person of the Week • Published Jun 13, 2023 12 pm
By John Lecardo
Gianna Palma sees the game of lacrosse as a strong stress reliever and, for the North Branford girls’ lacrosse team, the feeling was mutual as she helped put the Thunderb...
Person of the Week • Published Jun 02, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
Gianna Gamble was drawn to the game of lacrosse through the desire to be amongst her companions and friends when she was very young. Yet years later, it is that camarader...
Person of the Week • Published Jun 02, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
Working behind the scenes since 2018, Brandy Markovich is one among a group of remarkable volunteers supporting the annual #SongStrong 5K, a June 3 shoreline event with a message that resonates in every town.
Person of the Week • Published May 26, 2023 07 am
By Pam Johnson
Branford native Ken Johnson’s local shop, A Sound Choice, is celebrating 25 years of providing unique services and inventory that have made it a destination location, in an era when many brick-and-mortar businesses don’t stick around for long.
Person of the Week • Published May 16, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
For over a decade, the one steady aspect of Mea Riordan’s life and athletic career has been the game of lacrosse, and while even through switching positions this spring, ...
Person of the Week • Published May 09, 2023 08 am
By Ben Rayner
Laura Wellington’s great idea blossomed in the wake of several personal losses that dramatically impacted her life. The basic app is free and allows users to locate potential friends within a five-mile radius of their homes to easily and safely find someone to chat or take a walk with.
Person of the Week • Published May 05, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
For Payton Kamienski, she truly sees the micro-level impact of individuals’ actions on the macro stage that is a total team’s success–an observation she has taken to hear...
Person of the Week • Published Apr 27, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
Branford artist Martha Link Walsh’s latest artful assist to Community Dining Room (CDR) is a piece she’s donated as one of 24 artists featured at CDR’s Dinner and Art Auction, coming Tuesday, May 2, 6 to 8:30 p.m. to Nataz restaurant in North Branford. Pam Johnson/The Sound
Person of the Week • Published Apr 18, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
Molly Lacroix stepped onto the North Branford High School campus as a rookie to the sport of tennis, yet with only two full seasons under her belt with the girls’ tennis ...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 31, 2023 06 am
By Ben Rayner
Joe King’s photo mosaic artwork is on display at Branford’s Blackstone Library through April.
Person of the Week • Published Mar 25, 2023 07 am
By John Lecardo
For some, representing your entire school in one sport could be quite intimidating and cause great mental and physical trepidation. Yet Chris Manganiello is not like most...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 24, 2023 06 am
By Pam Johnson
Lyne Landry, director of Guilford Youth and Family Services, is also a founding committee member of the annual SHEro Awards, organized by nonprofit Women and Family Life Center. Nominations are open through April 5 for recipients of the awards, which recognize exceptional area women and girls. Photo Courtesy Lyne Landry
Person of the Week • Published Mar 15, 2023 10 am
By Pam Johnson
Together with his co-developers, Branford’s Theodore ‘Ted’ Kim has won an Oscar for an innovative computer animation program. Kim was honored with a 2023 Academy Award for Technical Achievement during a special Feb. 24 awards ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
Person of the Week • Published Mar 14, 2023 11 am
By John Lecardo
From a young age, James Mascari found a fire from the ice when it came to his passion for the sport of hockey. It is that love of the game, combined with his unrelenting ...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 07, 2023 06 am
By John Lecardo
No matter whether she was watching her family play in New York from afar as a spectator or had the ball in her hands down one with seconds left on the clock in the fourth...
Person of the Week • Published Mar 07, 2023 06 am
By Pam Johnson
Step by step, ‘The Art of Raising a Kitten’ is an insightful, integrated primer on kitten care by Branford cat expert and author Sally E. Bahner, shown here with one of her Russian Blue cats, Sofiya. Photo by Krista Haniford
Person of the Week • Published Mar 04, 2023 07 am
By Pam Johnson
To provide a respite for those in need of some comfort, support and empathy during their day, Officer Rich Simons, a North Branford resident and Yale Police Department (YPD) veteran, visits community institutions with Officer Heidi, YPD’s Public Safety Facility Dog. Simons and Heidi, on the job since 2020, began making regular visits to Branford High School (shown here on Feb. 14) at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, as part of an initiative of a student alliance, Mental Health Matters.
Person of the Week • Published Feb 10, 2023 08 am
By Pam Johnson
Lori Brignola, Branford Compassion Club’s (BCC) newly-appointed board vice president and volunteer of 10 years, helps BCC succeed in its mission to rescue and rehome felines.
Person of the Week • Published Jan 31, 2023 11 am
By Pam Johnson
Local author Kimberly Behre Kenna, a former 5th grade teacher, launches her eco-conscious, magic-filled middle grade book.
Person of the Week • Published Jan 24, 2023 09 am
By Pam Johnson
For St. Stephen’s AME Zion Church’s 100th anniversary in Branford, its religious community leaders want to inspire the greater community to join in the celebration. Associate minister Rev. Alberta Woody is helping St. Stephen’s Pastor in Charge, Rev. Dr. Leroy O. Perry, to organize the effort. Photo by Pam Johnson/The Sound
Person of the Week • Published Jan 19, 2023 10 am
By Pam Johnson
Branford’s Kevin Zuniga will soon become the first member of his family to attend college. The Branford High School senior has just won a full, four-year scholarship to Stanford University through a national non-profit college match program, QuestBridge.
Person of the Week • Published Jan 18, 2023 08 am
By John Lecardo
CJ Sherwood has played hockey since virtually he could first walk, and ever since then, no matter the name of his team, he has always been about winning games while gaini...
Person of the Week • Published Jan 15, 2023 10 am
By John Lecardo
Sometimes when you want to reach a goal or objective in life, you may have to dip out of your comfort zone a little bit. For Joshua Kuczynski, he did just that and it yie...
