‘Perfect’ parade celebrates UConn women’s perfect championship win

UConn women's basketball team member Renee Montgomery stops to pose for a photo with a young fan, Gabrielle Allen, 9, of Manchester. at the April 19, 2009 parade and rally. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com ----------

HARTFORD – It was a perfect day for a parade, and a perfect way to end a perfect season.

“It couldn’t have been more perfect this afternoon. The weather was absolutely gorgeous,” said Shana Segal of Glastonbury, one of the estimated 25,000 people who attended a parade and rally at the Capitol on Sunday to honor the undefeated UConn women’s basketball team.

Segal was at Bushnell Park with her children and her parents, three generations of Husky fans all basking in the glow of an unforgettable string of 39 victories.

“We’re all huge UConn fans,” said Segal, who added that she watched every game this season with her dad, Marshall Yudin of Mystic.

Gov. Jodi Rell and State Rep. Denise Merrill applaud the UConn women's basketball team. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com

The modest parade through downtown Hartford included dignitaries in open cars, UConn musicians and cheerleaders, local marching units – and of course, the team, riding astride the top of an open double-decker sightseeing bus.

The UConn women ended this season at 39-0; it is the Huskies’ third unbeaten season and the sixth national championship under head coach Geno Auriemma.

After the parade, during a 25-minute rally on the steps of the State Capitol, emcee Bob Joyce – the voice of the Huskies on WTIC Radio – praised Auriemma for the continued success of the team.

“He recruits talented and headstrong players and he gets the best out of them,” Joyce said, and added that most of the women “are better people” for their effort, because of the coach’s concern for not only the players’ physical welfare but their mental and emotional well-being.

The UConn women and friends arrive on a double-decker bus. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com

Renee Montgomery’s bright future

Auriemma received a loud welcome when he walked to the podium, but it didn’t move the audiometer quite as much as the roar from the crowd when departing senior Renee Montgomery took her turn at the mike.

“No offense to Minnesota, but this is why I don’t want to leave Connecticut,” said Montgomery, who was recently drafted by the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Renee should be returning to eastern Connecticut on a regular basis when her new team travels here to take on the local WNBA franchise at the Mohegan Sun.

UConn women's basketball Head Coach Geno Auriemma. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com

There was a touching moment as the women were about to get back on the team bus after the festivities, working their way through the crowds of fans, when a little girl approached Renee for an autograph and the captain eagerly obliged.

Moments later, after Montgomery had boarded the bus, the nine-year-old burst into tears of joy for having had the chance to meet her favorite player.

UConn President Mike Hogan cheers his team. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com

Perhaps that’s what Gov. Jodi Rell was referring to when she told the team, during Sunday’s rally, that “you have represented Connecticut in the best possible way.”

Gov. Rell thanked this talented troupe for providing a bit of brightness and cheer during a New England winter made even more dreary than usual thanks to a faltering economy.

“During this past winter, when the weather wasn’t the greatest, when we had all had a lot of things weighing on our minds, we were looking for a little diversion and, thanks to you, we got it,” the governor said.

And, as politicians are wont to do, as soon as she had praised the team, Gov. Rell turned around and gave the fans their due.

“I just told Geno, ‘This is the greatest fan base any team could ask for,’” Rell said.

UConn Marching Band member Chris Pratt, of Old Saybrook, clowns around before the parade with cheerleader Lara Edmonds, of Branford. Photo © by Vito J. Leo for HTNP.com

Fans gave the event a thumbs-up. “This was a great idea. It was an excellent day, well-organized, lots of friendly people and Mother Nature cooperated too,” said Willington resident Dorene Willey, an administrative assistant with the UConn Plant Sciences Department.

Dorene’s husband, Victor, then summed up what was no doubt in the thoughts of many UConn fans: “Hope to be back here again next year.”

Some video clips from the parade:

team enters

merrill introduced

Video © by Vito J. Leo

Posted April 19, 2009

Human Rights Awareness Week: includes member of ‘Angola 3’ and Obama’s 'friend' Bill Ayer

Paritosh Pande and Regina Graziano at the Slow Food table, where they shared information about the UConn EcoGarden, Local Routes - which promotes cooking with food in season, and the East Area Council. Photo © Brenda Sullivan. ----------

A funky beat filled the air this weekend as the University of Connecticut kicked off Human Rights Awareness Week.

As music played from a solar-powered sound system, visitors toured tables where they could learn about the – unfortunately – long roster of human rights issues ranging from climate change to the impact of   the food we put on the table, as well as violence in other countries – including the rape of women and children in the Congo.

Speakers, films, rallies and other activities will continue through Thursday.

On Monday, from 4 to 6 p.m. there will be a screening of “Walmart: the high cost of low price,” at the Whitney dining hall. ( click here for map and use Whitney as search word)

Photo © Brenda Sullivan.

Later that evening, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.,  there will be a Fair Trade Coffee House where visitors can learn more about choosing Fair Trade products that pay fair prices for goods and services from developing countries.

Tuesday’s events include a talk by Robert King – from 1-3 pm at the Konover Auditorium, in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. His talk is entitled, “Injustice and the Case of the Angola 3,” and it is free and open to the public.

The online publication, PM Press writes about King:

“In 1970, a jury convicted Robert Hillary King (formerly known as Robert King Wilkerson) of a crime he did not commit and sentenced him to 35 years in prison. He became a member of the Black Panther Party while in Angola State Penitentiary, successfully organizing prisoners to improve conditions.  In return, prison authorities beat him, starved him and gave him life without parole after framing him for a second crime.  He was thrown into solitary confinement, where he remained in a 6-by-9 foot cell for 29 years as one of ‘the Angola 3.’  In 2001, the state grudgingly acknowledged his innocence and set him free.”

Photo © Brenda Sullivan.

Wednesday’s events include

• a Women’s Empowerment Fair from noon to 2 p.m. on the green at the Student Union (in case of rain, the event will move indoors to SU Room 304B)

• a Reproductive Rights Panel from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Women’s Center — – (4^th floor of the Student Union, 210 Hillside Road, 486-4738)

• and the same evening, from 7 to 11 p.m., there will be a Take Back the Night Rally. Participants will rally in the Student Union ballroom (rooms 330 & 331) for a “speak out,” followed by a candlelight vigil to raise awareness about violence against women.

Other events include a screening of “Supersize Me,” a now infamous one-man exposé on what happens if you live on a diet of fast food, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the André Schenker Lecture Hall 55 (behind Monteith building, at the corner of Whitney and Mansfield Road).

This will be followed by a Healthcare Panel at 6 p.m. in the same lecture hall.

Friday’s events include a talk by Bill Ayers, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Torrey Life Sciences Building (TLS) Room 154, (across from the north campus residence halls on North Eagleville Road).

SpongioBlast. Photo © Brenda Sullivan.

The online Huffington Post writes: Calling a state senator’s push to get him axed from his public university job “frivolous,” William Ayers on Thursday said lawmakers have more important things to do than to go after him. Ayers, a former member of the radical Weather Underground and a topic of heated discussion during the 2008 presidential and primary campaigns, was responding to a Downstate Republican’s proposal to forbid a public university from employing someone who has “committed a violent act” against the United States or Illinois.

For more information about these events, call the UConn PIRG office at 486-5002

To learn more about UConn’s Human Rights Institute, the minor in Human Rights program and graduate certificate in Human Rights, click here.

Posted April 19, 2009

Carolyn Daniels – Aug. 18, 1923 – April 15, 2009

Carolyn Daniels of Storrs/Mansfield, died on April 15, 2009 at Hartford Hospital. She was the daughter of Gustav Daniels and Katherine (Fitzgerald) Daniels. She was born in Charlotte NC in 1923 and attended local schools there.

Later, she lived in New York City for about 10 years, eventually driving with a friend to California. There she lived in San Francisco and Sonoma, until moving to Connecticut.

She recently moved to Juniper Hill Village in Storrs/Mansfield, CT so she could be near her sister Elna Daniels.

Carolyn worked in the travel industry and took advantage of trips offered. She saw many ports of the world and loved the sights.

She spent many vacations in Wallingford, CT, staying at the home of her grandmother Margaret Elizabeth Fitzgerald.

Carolyn is survived by her sister Elna Daniels of Storrs/Mansfield, CT; nephews, Ried Jones of Pineville, WV; Keith Jones of Snellville, GA and Brian Jones of Rockville, MD.

There are no calling hours.

Her funeral service will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church on the University of Connecticut Campus (North Eagleville Road) on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 10 a.m., followed by a luncheon in the Aquinas Center.

Burial will be at the convenience of the family.

The Potter Funeral Home, Willimantic assisted with arrangements.

Posted April 19, 2009

Mansfield wins school security grants

Gov. M. Jodi Rell

Gov. M. Jodi Rell recently announced that dozens of Connecticut school districts – including four locally – will share a total of $1.69 million in state grant funds for school security upgrades.

Local grant winners are: Hebron school system, $16,401; Lebanon schools $60,000; Mansfield school system $119,922; and Regional School District 19 (E.O. Smith in Mansfield) $59,614.

“We are working to make our schools as safe as possible and these grants will help to boost security measures across Connecticut,” Rell said.

“Our public school teachers and administrators do a phenomenal job every day to maintain a secure and protective atmosphere in the hundreds of schools around Connecticut. We want to continue to help provide peace of mind to parents and their children by helping school districts be as well-prepared as possible,” she said.

In applying for the grants, a school facilities security checklist was completed by the school district and first responders in each community.

Posted April 19, 2009