BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Kiwanis Clubs of Weston, Bridgeport, and Norwalk treated veterans experiencing homelessness to a Super Bowl feast on gameday. Continuing a tradition begun over a decade ago, Kiwanians prepared or purchased food and decoration and served the veterans at two residences of Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (ABRI): Homes for the Brave and The PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home, Connecticut’s first and only community-based transitional home exclusively for women veterans experiencing homelessness and their young children.

The Kiwanis Super Bowl menu included spiral sliced ham, roast turkey, pulled pork barbecue, chili, macaroni and cheese, mixed greens salad, Italian hard bread, crudité, tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa, popcorn, cakes, fruit platters, brownies, and cookies. Beverages – milk, juice, and assorted soft drinks were provided by The Kiwanis Club of Bridgeport. Each veteran received a hand-decorated snack bag that The Kiwanis Club of Norwalk prepared.

Weston Kiwanis Past President Steve Thomas organized this year’s event and provided thematic serving ware and decorations for the dining room. Kiwanis members delivered their contributions to the feast to Norfield Congregational Church on the snowy Sunday morning. From Norfield, a contingent of volunteers traveled with the food to Homes for the Brave in Bridgeport, where they set up in the commercial-grade kitchen (upgraded with a commercial-grade stove in 2014 by Kiwanis clubs) and served the residents through the serving window.

Photographs contributed by Geoff Hollander.

By Dan Gilbert

The Kiwanis Club of Weston and Weston High School Key Club members were out in full force Saturday, January 25, 2025 receiving donations of shelf-stable food and personal care products for clients of the Weston Food Pantry.

With temperatures in the mid-teens, Kiwanians and Key Clubbers reached out to Westonites shopping at Lily’s Market and the Weston Pharmacy.  The Community Food Pantry President Anne Bigin noted:

“For years, Kiwanis has been a steadfast partner to the Weston Food Pantry, helping to ensure that families facing food insecurity have free access to vital resources.  Thanks to the collective effort of the Kiwanis members and dedicated students from Weston High School, the drive was a tremendous success. Over 40 bags of shelf-stable food, pet food, toiletries, and household products were gathered to replenish the pantry’s shelves. 

The generosity didn’t stop at the physical donations. Residents of Weston also gave generously in the form of cash donations, raising a total of $416.  The event not only provided essential items, but it also reinforced the sense of community spirit that defines Weston.”

The Community Food Pantry, Inc.‘s (d/b/a Weston Food Pantry) mission is to stock non-perishable items so that no one in Weston goes hungry. The Weston Food Pantry’s most significant activity is providing free supplemental food weekly to those with food insecurities.

In the photo (Photo credit to Jim McMorris), from left to right are Leka Mustafa, Julien Horovitz, Genevieve Small, Dan Gilbert, Anne Bigin (President Weston Food Pantry), Steve Thomas, Karen Chrisley, Phyllis Gary, Dallas Kersey, and Ryan Bigin.  Not pictured above are Kiwanis volunteers Reed Ameden, Dave Burns, Tom Failla, Frank Ferrara, Jim McMorris, Judy Stripp, Ed Hutchins and Key Club volunteers Tabi Cappella (President Weston High School Key Club), India Kreger, Eleni Perez-Christoforidis, Charli Marto, and Antonina Chmiel, as well as, Justin Lisbon who helped move donated items to the food pantry.

Next up for our club is the Super Bowl party the club sponsors for veterans experiencing homelessness at Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute’s transitional residences in Bridgeport: Homes for the Brave for men and The PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home, Connecticut’s first and only community-based transitional home exclusively for women veterans experiencing homelessness and their young children.. 

Chef Alison Milwe Grace is a lifelong Connecticut resident and AMG Catering and Events owner. In addition to teaching adults in her Wilton catering kitchen, she is the culinary arts teacher at Staples High School in Westport. Alison has received a James Beard Scholarship, has appeared on the Food Network’s “Kitchen Casino” and “Supermarket Stakeout”, and her recipes have appeared in numerous publications. She says she is her “best self” in the kitchen and that she “loves through food.” 

With 30 years of food industry experience under her toque, Alison decided it was time to add “cookbook author” to her career accomplishments.“ So many of my adult cooking school clients have asked, ‘Why don’t you have a cookbook?’” she recalls. “These words have stuck with me for over a decade, and I have been trying to carve out the time.” One day in the fall of 2023, Alison woke up and realized as a person who always does what she says she is going to do, “it was time to get this cookbook started!”

“Savor” is a carefully curated collection of Alison’s favorite recipes, themed classes, and menus for enthusiastic home cooks to create festive gatherings for friends and family and will be on sale at the meeting.

Alison lives in Weston with her (very patient) husband, Bob Grace, three children, Conner, Kellan, and Hadley, and their two rescue dogs. Savor is her first cookbook.

Meetings are open to all, drop-ins are welcome, and your first breakfast, normally $10 for a full breakfast or $5 for a continental,  is on us.

The Kiwanis Club of Weston meets weekly from September through June on Saturday mornings at Norfield Congregational Church parish hall, 64 Norfield Road Weston, Connecticut.

Weston Today publisher and editor Edward (Ted) Craft spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Weston meeting on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Ted recapped the history of Weston’s digital news publication, which is coming up on its seventh birthday at the end of January. Ted created Weston Today to address the news desert created when The Weston Forum, a weekly broadsheet published on Thursdays, ceased publication.

As far as Ed can tell, the last Weston Forum print issue was on January 4, 2018. A week later, on January 11, 2018, Hersam Acorn Newspapers announced the closure. Weston Today launched on January 31, 2018.

Hersam tried a sort-of regional paper, the Aspetuck News, to replace the Weston, Easton, and Redding papers. The Aspetuck News lasted only nine months. Hersam later sold the four papers to Hearst, who apparently weren’t interested in the Weston, Easton, and Redding papers.

Ted took questions from an appreciative Kiwanis audience on a variety of content covered since the birth of Weston Today, how Weston Today’s editorial policy maintains objectivity in reporting and guides authors of letters to the editor and guest essays, the potential and impact of artificial intelligence, and challenges and opportunities for local journalism in the coming years.

Juan Negroni contributed to this article.

By Dan Gilbert.

The Kiwanis Club of Weston conducts a food and personal care products drive on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at Weston Shopping Center to benefit Weston Food Pantry clients. The event provides Westonites with the opportunity to help our neighbors in need. Kiwanians will be at the shopping center from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., collecting shelf-stable food products at Lily’s and personal care products at the Weston Pharmacy.

Fall’s been a busy time for the club. During October, Kiwanis held its13th annual Weston Kiwanis Reservoir Run half marathon, 5K, kids fun run foot races. Registrations totaled almost 500 runners. Men from West Point’s cross-country team ran the half marathon. The day is a community-wide effort supported by Weston’s Board of Selectmen, public schools, the police department, Weston Volunteer EMS, Weston High School Key Club and Girl’s Track Team, and the Scouts BSA Troop 788.

Kiwanians dressed up as witches and goblins to help transform the Lachat Town Farm’s
landscape in the Haunted Halloween production of “Meteor, The Immersive Theater
Experience.” Strange things happened at Lachat as children and their parents encountered
disturbing creatures and supernatural surprises. The 45-minute interactive Walking Tour was
filled with live actors (some Kiwanians), horrific scenes, and chilling surprises. The children,
their parents, and Kiwanians had a wonderful time.

Weston Kiwanis is dedicated to serving children. Through a combination of community service and philanthropy, the club supports worthy causes in Weston and neighboring communities. The club has donated over $900,000 since 2000 to help children. Weston Kiwanis meets each Saturday at the Norfield Congregational Church parish hall. Meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. A full breakfast is available for $10 and is complimentary on their first visit for individuals exploring membership. All are welcome.

By Frank Ferrara

Today, Wednesday, December 18, 2024, the Kiwanis Club of Weston provided new winter coats to keep 145 needy children warm this winter. In the nearby photograph contributed by Frank Ferrara, Frank, and Harry Spencer are pictured with a few of the delighted three- to five-year-old recipients.

Weston Kiwanis Community Service Committee members volunteered over 80 hours to ensure 136 children of Head Start Family Services in Norwalk and 19 children of Rippowan Park complex In Stamford would have a coat to keep them warm.

Working with Kiwanis Club community service funding, Costco Wholesale® of Norwalk managers played an essential role in accomplishing this mission.

Head Start programs are provided at no cost to eligible families. They provide high-quality pre-kindergarten education for children who are 3 years old until they enter kindergarten.

Head Start, delivered in Norwalk by the Family & Children’s Agency,  is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. It is the oldest and largest program of its kind.^[1] The program’s services and resources are designed to foster stable family relationships, enhance children’s physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills. The transition from preschool to elementary school imposes diverse developmental challenges that include requiring the children to engage successfully with their peers outside the family network, adjust to the space of a classroom, and meet the expectations the school setting provides.^[2]