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Community Corner

Simsbury Hometown Heroes of 2011 to Receive Awards

All will be recognized at the board of selectmen's meeting Monday night.

The Hometown Hero Selection Committee has chosen the Simsbury Hometown Heroes for 2011. These persons have been nominated by friends, coworkers, and mentees because they each have demonstrated selfless and altruistic behavior that has enhanced the quality of life in Simsbury.

In a letter sent by First Selectman Mary Glassman, she wrote "one of Simsbury’s greatest assets is the number of people who truly care about our town, how it is run, and its future prospects” to describe the importance of these individuals and the appropriateness of their being recognized in an awards ceremony tonight, May 23 at 7 p.m. in the Simsbury Town Hall Meeting Room. The public is welcome to attend.

Nicholas Civitillo was nominated by the Civitan Club because of his special contribution to Boy Scout Troop 174. For 16 years he led 230 boys through the life lessons of citizenship, character, integrity, physical and mental fitness using his humor and good example. Civitillo is also responsible for guiding 53 of these young men to the rank of Eagle Scout.

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“What makes Nick a ‘hero’ to so many of Simsbury’s youth is the way in which he fulfilled his role — with compassion, kindness, and insight as to what makes a boy become a man,” wrote Michele Potvin-Piecuch, the Civitan liaison to Troop 174.

Using his “Scoutmaster Minutes” to motivate his troop to have “fun with a purpose,” Civitillo has made a lasting impression on the young people he served for well past his expected time.  

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“The ability to have had the opportunity to be a positive influence on boys in Simsbury is amazing,” said Civitillo.

“The kids were amazing . It kept me young,” he said while also expressing his modest view that he didn’t consider himself a true hero. In his words: “Felix Del Greco [an Army Sgt. from Simsbury who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom], to me that is a Simsbury Hometown Hero.”

Pam Lacko was nominated for Hometown Hero this year for her continued efforts to use her technology expertise and musical talents to benefit Simsbury and its residents, as well as her personal experience as a cancer survivor who passes on her wisdom, compassion and humor to others.

Notably, Lacko improved efficiency for the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce’s successful Job Shadow Day, by creating a website-based solution to mechanize the job of matching students with their job shadow mentors. She also personally sits with 7th and 8th grade students to discuss prospective careers for them by “getting students to think about their personality traits ... to look inside themselves to figure out what interests them,” she said.

“I do what I do because I love doing it … it is nothing out of the ordinary. I think volunteering is something we should all do,” said Lacko, who as a private percussion instructor also helps out with the jazz club after school.

Lacko routinely donates to fundraisers, utilizes her leadership skills with the Simsbury swim team, volunteers at , and has been a leading advocate for enlarging the parking lot around for the safety of the children, parents and residents.

Thomas J. Donohue Jr. is being recognized for his contributions to Simsbury for more than 20 years. Donohue is cited by Martin Geitz, president and CEO of , for his efforts to combine Simsbury’s four historical organizations (, Simsbury Free Library, Simsbury Cemetery Association, and the Daughters of the American Revolution) with ways that can benefit the community.

This includes the recent student documentary that gave the town recognition for Martin Luther King Jr.’s time spent working in the tobacco fields, as well as the Free Library’s popular series of presentations ranging from The Eno Family to Simsbury during The Great Depression  and World War II, and the Tariffville Train Wreck of 1878.

Donohue’s community participation is widespread and varied including everything from being a trustee (and parish council member and president) at in West Simsbury, the Simsbury Free Library, and , to having served as director of Gifts of Love, being on the Simsbury Board of Selectman and the Simsbury Planning Commission, but also as advisor to the Mock Trial Team at Simsbury High School.

“Of all the activities I have been involved in, working with the children is most rewarding,” said Donohue. “On any elective project like that, the children were an inspiration. They are talented, kind and bright. Their work in that project [The ‘Martin Luther King in Simsbury’ documentary] was extraordinary.”

Nicole Byer, one of the high school students who worked with Donohue on the documentary, wrote in her recommendation: “His optimism, hard work, and resourcefulness were admired by the team, and we also quickly realized how connected he is to Simsbury and its citizens. It seemed he has some sort of personal relationship with every single person we interviewed.”

A town resident for 44 years, Diane Nash is also a Hometown Hero of Simsbury. She has been a tireless advocate for Simsbury as a preservationist in town, at regional events, and at the state capital. She is a founding board member and first secretary of the now realized Community Farm of Simsbury. She was active in the capital campaign for the Simsbury Land Trust. She was the founding member and first president of the Simsbury Tree Committee, as well as the key advocate for Ethel Walker Woods winning the New England Conservationist of the Year Award.

She chose to live in this town from Long Island, New York, primarily because Simsbury had a plan for land conservation and development, which was unusual back then. Today her hometown on Long Island is unrecognizable to her, and Nash doesn’t want that to happen to Simsbury.

“I am still on my soap box,” Nash said. “If we don’t protect it, our children don’t have the option to protect it.”

Nash is a fighter for finding ways to protect the organic tillable land that still remains, plus for donating more fresh produce grown from this land to local food pantries including Gifts of Love, for saving Simsbury’s trees, and for maintaining the beauty and charm that brings people to Simsbury. As a former CEO at Prudential, she understands property value too, as well as the sacrifice of tax dollars from not developing.

“I am in awe of people who just roll up their sleeve and do,” said Nash, then commenting that Simsbury is remarkable for the amount of people who volunteer. “If we do one thing to improve somebody’s life, you pass it along. It grows.”

Frank Haviland is a Hometown Hero for significantly adding to the quality of life for local residents and to the economic prosperity of the community by being the chief organizer of the white water kayaking competitions at the Tariffville gorge.

Bringing national attention to Tariffville (and that includes customers to businesses), the white water kayaking event is only a part of Haviland’s efforts to revitalize Tariffville Village. He is one of the founding members of the Tariffville Village Association and has been a reliable and significant worker for the gazebo and the village green.

“Tariffville is a very special place with dining, hiking, biking and paddling opportunities, and many more folks than I are striving to boost the village as a recreational destination. I am delighted to be a part of that effort,” said Haviland in an email.

In the words of State Rep. Linda Schofield one of the reasons she nominated Haviland is "because he pulls together numerous volunteers to help with these events, he gives many local residents a shared experience of community and fun, thereby weaving them into the fabric of town.”

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