The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Keeping Cool During COVID’ on tap this week
MIDDLETOWN — October is moving right along in Middlesex County, and the chamber continues to be on the move.
Another busy chamber week includes a number of important meetings that will be held through virtual means. Tuesday morning features the latest session of our KeyBank Workshop Series.
“Keeping Cool During COVID,” will be presented by Courtney Spencer of Courtney Spencer Coaching, who will discuss the impact of stress on the brain, body and productivity, and will teach ways to both manage the stress and improve your work and life despite the craziness of the world around you. Attendees will also leave with a toolkit they can implement immediately.
Courtney is an attorney, transformational life coach and speaker, and her passion is to help people conquer overwhelm and design a life that they love. We look forward to another great session. Please visit middlesexchamber.com for information.
While my team is busy executing that important seminar, I will be attending meetings of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County Board of Directors, and Metro Chamber Executives Work Group, which includes chamber CEOs from throughout the state. I continue to value our strong partnerships with both of these groups, and look forward to two more productive meetings.
Looking ahead to Wednesday afternoon, the chamber is excited to host a virtual open house from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. This important event will provide information to our members on how to maximize their membership. Chamber staff and ambassadors will be on hand to discuss the various benefits, resources and opportunities that are available throughout our organization. We look forward to a very productive session.
The chamber is hosting legislative candidate forums at our county-based divisions throughout October. So far, we have conducted productive virtual forums with our Chester, Deep River and Essex Division, our Portland and East Hampton Division, our Cromwell Division, our Durham and Middlefield Division, and our Killingworth Division.
I look forward to upcoming meetings of our East Haddam and Haddam Division Thursday, our Westbrook Division Oct. 27, and our All Middletown Division Oct. 28. I would like to once again thank our members for supporting these forums, and our candidates for their willingness to run and serve.
On Thursday afternoon, our Support the Troops and Honor the Veterans Committee will meet for the final time before our 19th Annual Support the Troops and Honor the Veterans member breakfast meeting held Nov. 2 at 8 a.m. This year, we will be going virtual, but that will not stop us from honoring the veterans who have served our country so well, and showing our unwavering support for those who are currently serving.
This year’s keynote speaker is Maj. Gen. Francis J. Evon Jr., adjutant general of the Connecticut National Guard and the top military officer in the state. In addition to having Maj. Gen. Evon address our virtual audience, we will also be honoring the Connecticut National Guard for the great work it has done on so many fronts during this very challenging year.
They have been instrumental in building the field hospitals in our state, they as well as in getting the state’s testing capacity up. After the tropical storm that hit our state in early August, the National Guard was right there leading the response.
As always at this event, we will also be presenting the William J. Pomfret Veteran Community Service Award. This year’s recipient is Jerry Augustine of Middletown, who has a sterling military record, but perhaps an even better community service record. We look forward to honoring his service.
We are so fortunate to have an outstanding planning committee led by retired U.S. Army Col. Phil Cacciola, who works yearround on the planning and execution of this event. I will have much more to share on this important chamber event in the coming weeks, but it is safe to say that we are excited about it. As always, I thank Vin Capece and the team at Middlesex Health for sponsoring the event.
I am afraid I must close this week’s chamber column on a sad note after the recent passing of David Kittle at 76. David was a wonderful man, and all of us who knew him are saddened by his passing. He served his county with honor in the U.S. Coast Guard, and led a distinguished professional career at Southern New England Telephone.
In recent years, he was a fixture in his beloved home town of Westbrook, and at chamber events throughout the county. David’s wife, Darlene Briggs, is a past chairwoman of our chamber, and one of our strongest and most dedicated supporters. We are so grateful for her longtime support and friendship.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Darlene, and David’s entire network of family and friends. May they take comfort in the fact that he led a life welllived, and that he always made them proud. David Kittle will be missed.