Take On Life

Hi everyone,

Jolene Kronen never fancied herself as a military mom, at least not until her son, TJ, enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduation from New Fairfield High School in 2001.

All of a sudden, with an inky streak of his signature, she was proud, worried, angry, scared, you name it.

“When TJ signed his enlistment papers — I remember I was at my sister’s house — I cried,” Jolene said Wednesday over a cup of coffee at the New Fairfield Luncheonette. “Oh, my god, I cried.”

Just about four years later, on a spring night in 2005, everything changed for Jolene after she picked up her son at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Together, they rode in a limousine up the Hutchinson River Parkway toward Connecticut. It only took a few moments for the truth to sink in: The boy she had sent off to the Persian Gulf was gone.

Forever.

To read more about Jolene and TJ Kronen, read my “Take on Life” column Friday.

Only in the print edition of The News-Times.

Hi everyone,

Two local school districts — Newtown and Bethel — have been named “Best Communities for Music Education in America” by the National Association of Music Merchants.

Only 174 school districts in the country earned the 2010 distinction, including seven from Connecticut: Newtown, Bethel, Greenwich, Cheshire, Simsbury, West Hartford and Torrington.

Here’s the NAMM Foundation link if you’d like to check it out for yourself:

http://www.nammfoundation.org/press-room/namm-foundation-survey-reveals-best-communities-music-education-united-states

Congratulations to the school music programs in Newtown and Bethel!

Hi everyone,

To borrow a cadence from “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney, who like me, grew up in upstate New York: “Even the word sounds old-fashioned.”

In this case, the word is landline — as in a telephone line tethered to a wire, not a cell tower or satellite.

I like having a landline phone for our family, a central phone number that doesn’t show up on caller ID as “Dad’s cell phone” or “Mom’s cell phone” or “Mike’s cell phone.”

In fact, according to a May 12 report released by the National Health Interview Survey, I’m still in the majority.

For now.

The survey, which is conducted twice a year through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that nearly one fourth of all American homes — 24.5 percent — are exclusively wireless. The survey data was collected during the second half of 2009.

The old AT&T phone latched onto your kitchen wall?

Forget about it.

The clunky black phone on your parents’ night stand?

That’s gone, too.

Industry experts say that consumers like me are becoming as rare as, well, those old rotary phones. Or maybe, the pay phones we used to gorge with dimes, and later, quarters.

Sure, I love my personal wireless phone, even though my 18-year-old son thinks I’m nuts for not having unlimited texting.

And I really love my work BlackBerry, which makes it so convenient to post updates on Twitter and keep track of e-mails.

But what happens if you are exclusively wireless and you drop your phone and break it? Sure, you can go buy another one.

But if you’re not eligible for an upgrade, get ready to open up the wallet. And don’t forget to buy a cell phone that matches your two-year contract extension.

As for me, I still get frustrated when I’m talking on my headset driving along Route 302 in Newtown and parts of Dodgingtown and I lose service.

To me, it’s really that simple.

As long as calls continue breaking up on wireless phones, I’m not breaking up with my landline phone.

To read more about my tug-of-war with landline phones and wireless phones, check out my “Take on Life” column Wednesday.

Only in the print edition of The News-Times.

P.S. What phones do you use? Landline? Wireless? Both? Leave me a comment!

Hi everyone,

Greg Holt has plenty of video footage of people cheering for his son, Danny, after he scored touchdowns for the Danbury High football team a few years back.

Danny was strong, talented, smart and charismatic, the kind of guy everyone wanted to call their friend.

Although Danny never smoked and wasn’t raised in a house with secondhand smoke, the 23-year-old Danbury man was diagnosed with lung cancer in March.

And people are still shaking their heads around here.

Last Friday, Danny’s family and friends held a fundraiser at Cousin Larry’s, a popular Danbury night spot, to help pay for his medical bills.

Suddenly, the cheering for Danny “Baby Bus” Holt was never louder. But don’t take my word for it.

Check out the e-mail I received today from Danny’s brother, Jay:

“The Baby Bus Benefit was an overwhelming success. Cousin Larry’s was packed immediately after (the) doors opened, and stayed heavily populated until the night ended.

“Spending so much time planning and getting the word out, I had no idea it was gonna be so much fun. Family, friends, friends of friends, parents, coaches, you name it — everybody was there.

“Danny stayed a lot longer than anticipated; he stuck around late enough to hang out stage right, as his boys the Hot Shots performed a medley of D. Holt songs. Danny took the mic, thanked everybody, and has been resting ever since.

“We made more than expected and feel a great weight lifted off of us for the time being. People were extremely generous and also patient, as the only bad thing the night had to offer was waiting in line to get inside the venue.

“It was nice for people to see exactly how well Danny looks, and for him to be able to tell his story.”

Hi everyone,

As principal at Danbury High School for the better part of two decades, Bill Ryan was used to kids pulling the fire alarm as a prank.

For the record, that’s never a good idea. It’s also against the law.

But during the race riots of the early 1970s at Danbury High, a pulled fire alarm was the least of Ryan’s problems.

Instead, Ryan was faced with spontaneous combustion at the drop of a dirty look. Or a racial slur. Or a poke in the chest.

At one point, the high school’s race riots became national news. Suddenly, Danbury was notorious for fighting and unrest, not the best state fair in the country, or a rich legacy of hat-making, or even, its great teachers college.

“There was a lot of student turmoil and unrest at Danbury High School at that time,” recalled Gus Edwards, the school’s longtime football coach and guidance counselor.

“You had to have real leadership ability — true leadership ability — to keep the school running and Bill did that during an extremely difficult time. I miss him tremendously.”

Bill Ryan died in Florida on April 24. He was 87 years old.

Ryan, a World War II veteran and a good athlete, had the perfect DNA to be a high school principal. Just ask Edwards or anyone else who worked with him.

“I’ve served under maybe 30 principals and house masters, both in public schools and private schools,” Edwards said. “I’ve had a pretty good sample of who could do the job and who couldn’t.

“Bill was one of the best because of his military background, his upbringing and his participation in athletics. He was the guy who could teach a principal how to be a principal.”

And yet, Bill Ryan was more than that. A lot more.

To see exactly what, check out my Take on Life column Sunday.

Only in the print edition of The News-Times.

Hi everyone,

Just before Dawn Blom’s mother, Liz Maestro-Yanzo was wheeled into surgery for Stage 4 colon cancer, she looked her daughter in the eye and asked the only question that mattered.

“Do you have faith?” Maestro-Yanzo asked, pointing her finger straight at Blom.

“Well, do you?” the mother asked again. There was only one right answer, of course.

“Her finger seemed like it was a mile long,” Blom recalled Thursday morning. “Finally, I told her yes.”

The experts gave Maestro-Yanzo a 5 percent chance of surviving the emergency surgery. As it turned out, that’s all she needed.

“My mother made it out of the surgery alive,” said Blom, the owner of Dawn’s Pizzazz on White Street in Danbury. “But a month later, she was gone.”

Liz Maestro-Yanzo was only 58 years old.

Cancer is cruel that way. It’s an indiscriminate thief without a conscience.

And yet, Blom refuses to let it steal any more mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, neighbors or anyone else without a fight.

On Sunday, for the 25th consecutive year, Blom and her staff at Dawn’s Pizzazz will give back to the community with a fundraiser.

This year’s event — and 100 percent of the proceeds — will benefit Ann’s Place: The Home of I Can, a Danbury support center for cancer patients and their families.

The benefit will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Haircuts, color treatments, 30-minute massages, mini-facials and pedicures are $25. Manicures are $10.

To read more about Dawn Blom and her fundraiser, check out my Take on Life column Friday.

Only in the print edition of The News-Times.

Hi everyone,

If you live in New Fairfield, don’t forget to circle June 5-6 on your calendar for Relay for Life. As of Wednesday night, the event had already raised $42,818.52 – with more on the way.

Hopefully, a lot more!

In addition to the normal fundraising ventures in town – bake sales, car washes and tag sales — a pair of sixth-grade teachers at New Fairfield Middle School, Joel Pardalis and Paul Laedke, came up with an even crazier idea.

After months of growing out their hair to raise money for Relay for Life, the teachers recently collected $6,081.53 for the American Cancer Society.

Laedke and Pardalis capped their efforts with a boisterous head-shaving assembly at the middle school.

According to one observer — Joel’s mom, Rosemary — the men looked “ridiculous” before they enjoyed two of the most expensive haircuts in history!

But as each row of buzed hair fell to the floor, Laedke and Pardalis never looked more handsome. Or more compassionate.

“The assembly was wild,” said Rosemary Pardalis, who retired as a Bethel High teacher last year. ”I forgot how exuberant middle schoolers can get.”

Who says teachers aren’t role models anymore? Nice job, Joel and Paul!

P.S. Thanks to Joel’s wife, Emily, for providing the picture for this post!

Hi everyone,

Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general for a generation in Connecticut, found himself in the frying pan Tuesday.

But it was hardly a non-stick surface.

According to a report in The New York Times, the 64-year-old Blumenthal, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has misrepresented his military service.

The newspaper wrote about a 2008 speech that Blumenthal gave in Norwalk and two more he delivered in Bridgeport and Shelton. Each time, Blumenthal referenced his military service in Vietnam.

As it turns out, Blumenthal didn’t serve his country in Vietnam. But he did serve it in the Vietnam era.

This is one of those times when a small word — era — can make a big difference, especially if you’re a politician with a seemingly spotless record and the mantle of a frontrunner.

Blumenthal has always been the man from Greenwich with the perfect life and the perfect hair, whether he was driving a tractor in a Bridgewater parade, marching down Queen Street in Newtown, or laying down the law in Hartford.

He’s worked hard to create this image as a lawyer of the people, a powerful crimefighter dedicated to safeguarding the rights of his constituents.

But is it just that — a made-for-the-masses image?

The New York Times article tells me it is. My gut tells me it is not.

To read more about Dick Blumenthal and Tuesday’s service call, check out my Take on Life column.

Only in the print edition of The News-Times.