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West Haven inaugural set for noon Sunday at WHHS
WEST HAVEN, Dec. 2, 2021 — Democratic Mayor Nancy R. Rossi will serve as West Haven’s chief elected official for another two years when she and the rest of the city’s elected officials are administered the oath of office at noon Sunday.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will swear in Rossi for a third term during a ceremony in the West Haven High School auditorium, 1 Circle St.
The public is invited. Face masks are required regardless of vaccination status.
Democratic Town Committee Vice Chair Kathy Tucker will serve as the master of ceremonies, and Blumenthal will serve as the keynote speaker.
Rossi defeated John W. Lewis in the Sept. 7 Democratic primary and Republican candidate Barry Lee Cohen in the Nov. 2 general election.
Rossi, 63, is the 12th and first female mayor of West Haven since it was incorporated as a city by the General Assembly in 1961.
Blumenthal will administer the oath of office to incumbent Democratic City Clerk Patricia C. Horvath and incumbent Democratic Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli.
Probate Judge Mark J. DeGennaro will swear in the nine incumbents and four newcomers on the City Council.
Returning council members are Bridgette J. Hoskie, D-1; Mitchell L. Gallignano, D-4; Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5; Peter V. Massaro, D-6; Treneé McGee, D-7; Robert Bruneau, D-9; Gary Donovan, D-at large; Ronald M. Quagliani, D-at large; and Colleen O’Connor, R-at large.
New to the council are Meli Garthwait, R-2; Sarah J. Ackbarali, D-3; Victor M. Borras, D-8; and Steven J. Johnstone, R-10.
DeGennaro will administer the oath of office to members of the Board of Education, including elected Democrats Patrick O. Egolum, Kim Kenny and Morgan Watts and elected Republican Jennifer L. Frost.
DeGennaro will also swear in incumbent Democrat Joseph W. Harvey III, elected Democrat Ruth Figueroa and elected Republican David Riccio Jr. to the Board of Assessment Appeals.
The West Haven Charter mandates that all elected officials take the oath of office on the first Sunday in December.
The inauguration will commence with a procession led by the West Haven Police Honor Guard.
The ceremony will feature Rossi’s inaugural address and include musical selections performed by the West Haven High School Band under the direction of Donata Lupacchino.
Air Force veteran Allen Garlock will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Jaclyn Chiarelli will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Vertical Church Pastor David Diewalg will give opening and closing prayers, and Nora E. Mullins will sing “America the Beautiful.”
The public is invited to a reception after the event in the school cafeteria.
Rossi, a certified public accountant most recently at Whitten, Horton + Gibney LLP in Orange, is no stranger to public service in West Haven.
She is a former five-term councilwoman who was elected to represent the 7th District in 2005. She served as the Finance Committee’s chairwoman from 2007 to 2015.
Rossi lives in the 7th District with her husband of 40 years, Arthur Rossi. They have two sons — Angelo and Stephen — and three grandchildren: Arthur, 11, Julianna, 2, and CeCe, 9 months. |
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West Haven observing Pearl Harbor Day on Tuesday
WEST HAVEN, Dec. 2, 2021 — The city and the West Haven Veterans Council will observe Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on the Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
All veterans are invited to participate in the solemn service, which will commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The public is also invited.
The annual ceremony, held in front of the Walk of Honor’s William A. Soderman Memorial, will commence with a flag-raising by the West Haven Fire Department Honor Guard.
It will feature remarks by Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and Veterans Council President Dave Ricci. Louis P. Esposito Jr., Rossi’s executive assistant, will serve as the master of ceremonies.
Representing the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Florence Stoeber, the wife of the late Jack Stoeber, a Navy veteran of Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima who was a regular at West Haven’s Pearl Harbor rites for many years, will read the names of the 17 Connecticut servicemen who died in the Japanese bombing of the U.S. Navy base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. A member of the honor guard will toll the department’s chrome bell each instant a name is called.
Stoeber, whose ashes were scattered in Pearl Harbor after he died Jan. 16, 2016, at age 97, was a .50-caliber machine-gunner aboard the destroyer tender USS Whitney in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Connecticut’s last known Pearl Harbor survivor died Aug. 17, 2020, at age 99.
The Pearl Harbor tribute will include the Pledge of Allegiance led by Florence Stoeber’s 8-year-old grandson, Matthew McCann, along with the national anthem sung by Nora E. Mullins and opening and closing prayers given by newly elected Councilman Victor M. Borras, D-8.
It will also include a wreath-laying, followed by taps played by former West Shore Fire Department Lt. Kevin McKeon. |
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Residents urged to test for radon
WEST HAVEN, Dec. 2, 2021 — City Health Director Maureen B. Lillis is encouraging residents to protect their health by testing their homes for radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
Radon is a colorless, odorless and naturally occurring radioactive gas formed from the natural decay of uranium. It is found in rock, water and soil.
While radon in outdoor air poses a relatively low risk to human health, it can enter homes from the surrounding soil and become a health hazard inside buildings, Lillis said.
Lillis said testing for the presence of radon in the home is recommended in the winter months.
A limited number of free radon test kits have been made available to West Haven residents by the state Department of Public Health. To receive a test kit, call the city Health Department at 203-937-3660.
A sanitarian from the department will deliver the kit and help place it in the home, Lillis said.
To learn more about radon, visit the DPH Radon Program.
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Vietnam Vets holding toy drive for West Haven Community House
WEST HAVEN, Nov. 30, 2021 — West Haven Vietnam Veterans Inc. is collecting toys for children ages 4-12 on Dec. 11.
The toy drive will take place on the Green from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and benefit the West Haven Community House at 227 Elm St.
Organizers will not accept stuffed animals or toy guns.
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 Frank Sinatra tribute artist Steve Kaz, center, will lead American Swingtime Featuring the Echoes of Sinatra Orchestra in a concert at 2 p.m. Dec. 12 in the West Haven High School auditorium. The two-hour show will trace Sinatra’s career and life through music and storytelling and will close the West Haven Centennial Celebration. (Publicity Photo)
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Sinatra tribute show closing centennial festivities Dec. 12
WEST HAVEN, Nov. 30, 2021 — The West Haven Centennial Celebration will officially close with a concert by American Swingtime Featuring the Echoes of Sinatra Orchestra on Dec. 12.
The show is set for 2-4 p.m. in the West Haven High School auditorium, 1 Circle St. Face masks are required regardless of vaccination status.
Presented by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee, the concert finale is part of the community’s 100th anniversary festivities, a six-month series of free events commemorating West Haven’s 1921 birth and its incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest municipality, said Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman.
The six-piece EOS Orchestra, fronted by Frank Sinatra tribute artist Steve Kaz, will trace the career and life of Ol’ Blue Eyes through music and storytelling.
According to Kaz, the show will also include big-band standards from Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Count Basie and selections from the Great American Songbook.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to experience this exciting show, featuring classic songs, skilled storytelling and world-class musicianship,” Kaz said.
The concert will join a long list of special events observing West Haven’s secession from Orange a century ago, including the Centennial Boat Parade in June, the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in July, the Centennial Fireworks and the “Hubbard Farms” exhibit in September, and the Centennial Fire Expo and the “100 Years of Veterans” exhibit in November. The rural and residential sections of Orange separated in 1921 when the residential part, West Haven, became the state’s youngest town.
In the spirit of West Haven’s birthday, committee Chairwoman Beth A. Sabo will sell signed copies of the new centennial book, “City of West Haven: Village to Town,” along with centennial coins, lapel pins and WestHavenOpoly, the centennial version of the board game Monopoly.
All book and merchandise proceeds generated by the committee will offset expenses and support the $50,000 centennial budget approved by the City Council, said Sabo, the city’s commissioner of human resources.
For other centennial merchandise, visit the official Online Store.
The store, hosted by West Haven vendor West Shore Associates, sells such centennial-branded merchandise as long- and short-sleeved T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, stainless steel tumblers, stemless wine glasses, insulated beverage bottles, ceramic mugs, retro sunglasses, canvas and cotton tote bags, eco-performance face masks, and pigment-dyed twill and mesh trucker caps.
A portion of the vendor’s merchandise proceeds will support the centennial account, Sabo said. |
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 West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, with grandson Arthur Rossi, 11, right, leads Executive Assistant Louis P. Esposito Jr. and Santa and Mrs. Claus in a countdown to light the Christmas tree on the Green at the city’s holiday kickoff Saturday. (City Photo/Andrew Kosarko)
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Rossi lights city’s Christmas tree; watch on YouTube
WEST HAVEN, Nov. 30, 2021 — Santa and Mrs. Claus joined Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and a group of essential workers who helped West Haven through the coronavirus pandemic to light the Christmas tree on the Green at the city’s holiday kickoff Saturday.
After arriving in the West Haven Fire Department’s 1935 Mack pump firetruck, Santa and Mrs. Claus were escorted to a portable stage on the Main Street side of the Green by the West Haven High School cheerleading team to the sound of applause and shouts of glee from an estimated 400 merrymakers who braved the bitter cold.
Before the lighting of the tree, which is flanked by two smaller evergreen trees adorned with fluorescent-colored lights, Louis P. Esposito Jr., Rossi’s executive assistant, thanked and praised the mayor’s special guests — nurses, first responders and other front-line workers from West Haven — as the all-ages crowd clapped and cheered.
Rossi then thanked people for coming and led them in a countdown to set the tree — and the Green — aglow.
Read the full story, see the photos and watch the video at West Haven Tree Lighting. |
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Hanukkah menorah lighting marks Festival of Lights
WEST HAVEN, Nov. 30, 2021 — (Pictured): Rabbi Chanoch Wineberg of Chabad of Westville in New Haven, joined by his children, leads a Jewish blessing and the lighting of the menorah on the West Haven Green at the sundown celebration of the first day of Hanukkah on Sunday.
Among those attending were Mayor Nancy R. Rossi; City Council members Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, Treneé McGee, D-7, Barry Lee Cohen, R-10, and Gary Donovan, D-at large; City Clerk Patricia C. Horvath; Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli; and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Steven R. Mullins.
The annual ceremony marked the Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day commemoration of rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.
Before the lighting, Rossi delivered words of inspiration, saying: “Never be afraid to stand up for what’s right. Judah Maccabee and his band faced daunting odds, but that didn’t stop them. With a prayer on their lips and faith in their heart, they entered the battle of their lives — and won. We can do the same.”
(City Photo/Patricia C. Horvath) |
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 From left, West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, Councilman Gary Donovan, D-at large, City Clerk Patricia C. Horvath, Councilwoman Treneé McGee, D-7, mayoral aide Ruth G. Torres and Councilwoman Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, pause before the annual Hanukkah menorah lighting on the West Haven Green. (City Photo/Dorothy Chambrelli)
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 West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and author Dan Shine sign paperback copies of the new centennial book, “City of West Haven: Village to Town,” at the city’s Main Library on Nov. 17. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
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Centennial book signing heralds gift-buying season
WEST HAVEN, Nov. 18, 2021 — Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and author Dan Shine signed copies of the new centennial book, “City of West Haven: Village to Town,” for West Haven history buffs at the city’s Main Library on Nov. 17.
The $20 book, printed in partnership with GHP Media of West Haven, chronicles the stories and photos that shaped the community’s past 100 years. The information was sourced from the “Historian’s Corner” series written by Shine, one of the foremost authorities on West Haven history.
The 116-page historical work, which has black-and-white and full-color photos, was commissioned by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee to commemorate the community’s 1921 birth and its incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest town, said Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman.
The paperback book is also available for purchase while supplies last in the Department of Human Resources at City Hall, 355 Main St., or by calling Commissioner Beth A. Sabo at 203-937-3558.
Sabo, the committee’s chairwoman, said the book is the perfect gift for the holidays. |
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