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GHS Bowling Team: Coed, Competitive and Displaying Character

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From losing almost every game in 2002, to becoming formidable opponents in 2014, the GHS Bowling team has come a long way since starting out with just five bowlers and a van. Coach Wayne Gioffre, who also coaches GHS football, has gone from cajoling students to give bowling a try, to having to cut 15 players in order to winnow down the roster to 27 this year. Wednesday night’s team dinner was as much a celebration of unlikely friendships as it was the final punctuation on a winning season. Indeed, the humility and camaraderie that were prized back in 2002 when the team lost 47 games and won just one — a forfeit — are still prized. Former GHS Athletic Director Jim DeCarlo attended Wednesday’s Bowling banquet and reflected on the team’s origin as well as its steady trajectory under the leadership of Gioffre. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Schools, Sports, featured

Talk Turns to Heroin in Norwalk

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Part Two in a Series on Heroin Addiction

Everyone is talking about heroin in Norwalk. Along with their parents, children as young as grade school and middle school attended the 10th annual Courage to Speak family night on Tuesday at West Rocks Middle School to talk about drugs. “It was sad and emotional,” West Rocks 7th grader Jason Iverson said, describing Ginger Katz’s visit to his school to talk about her 20-year-old son’s death in 1996 of a heroin overdose. “Most people were crying. Boys too,” Iverson said. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Government, Parenting, Schools, featured

Photos: GHS Students & Staff Lopp off Locks, Shave Heads for St. Baldrick’s

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Raising money for St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a wide cross-section of the school community climbed an elevated platform in the student center, donned a barber’s smock and winced as the volunteers from Generations Barber Parlors buzzed them bald, or, alternately, lopped off a minimum of 8″ of hair for those able to sacrifice an entire ponytail. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Giving, Schools, Volunteering, featured, Generations Barber Parlors, Greenwich High School, St. Baldrick's Foundation

The Beauty Within Olivine Gabbro: Designed and Stitched in Greenwich

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By Leslie Yager
Bucking more than one retail trend in Greenwich, Olivine Gabbro is not only family-owned, but the store’s upscale clothing for women is  designed and stitched here in town. The store, a partnership of Susan Neumann and her niece Grace Kang, opened in 2009 at 19 East Elm Street, a stone’s throw from Smart Kids and Doppio Restaurant. And while it’s less common these days to spot a “Made in USA” label in a garment, Olivine Gabbro’s sewing studio is located right around the corner on Mason Street, where a team of seamstresses brings custom orders to life. Though the store features a rack of ready-to-wear apparel and cases of beautifully displayed jewelry, it is the custom orders made locally that make Olivine Gabbro unique. The relationships forged between the store’s owners and customers during the planning process have been the key to success, but also, according to Neumann, those relationships are also what make her work enjoyable. Typically, customers are local mothers and daughters anticipating events like bat mitzvahs, weddings or Cotillion events like the debutante ball. Describing the genesis of the business, Neumann said that after graduating the top of her class from Parson’s School of Design, her niece worked in the wholesale end of the apparel business for Donna Karan and Dolcé & Gabanna, but hungered for a more creative opportunity. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Business, featured

Greenwich Blues News: Squirt A Wins New England Sectional

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Congratulations to Coach Farson and the Greenwich Blues squirt A team winning Tier III New England Sectionals this weekend. The team faced state champions from Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire before getting a rematch from the Connecticut state championship game versus ECHO.  In the all-Connecticut final, the Blues won the game 2 to 1. Reminder: Tryouts start April 2. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sports, featured

Secret’s Out: Greenwich Winter Farmer’s Market Runs Through March at Teen Center

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By Leslie Yager

Greenwich townspeople love their summer Farmers Market at the corner of Horseneck Lane and Arch Street in the “Horseneck Lot.” The popular market, which started in 1996 opposite the Boys & Girls Club is set to open for the season on Saturday, May 17 from 9:30am to 1:00pm. Jim Carr is the market director, but the ever-present manager Judy Waldeyer who runs The Herb Basket, said the market moved indoors last December. The winter market is open on Saturdays from 10:00am until 1:00pm through March 29. The winter market is held at the Arch Street Teen Center, where this weekend a trickle of customers found their way upstairs for fresh eggs, potatoes, flowers, maple syrup, frozen organic meat and shepherd’s pie, to name a few of the items on offer. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Around Town, Business, featured

Sold Out! Greenwich Continuing Ed Cooking Class Is a Hit!

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By Leslie Yager
Amelia Bonacorso loves to cook and though she claims she is not a big fan of pasta — “I like bread,” she admits — the Glenville resident whips up a homemade cheese-filled ravioli without so much as a pasta machine. And despite her modesty, Bonacorso’s cooking classes, available through Greenwich Adult and Continuing Education, have been such a hit that they sell out and waiting lists start. Indeed, Bonacorso’s self deprecating humor belies her talent in the kitchen. In her Wednesday night session held in the Cardinal Cooks kitchens at Greenwich High School, Bonacorso taught women from Greenwich and neighboring towns how to make homemade cheese filled ravioli, garden fresh Checca sauce and orange biscotti with orange glaze. With a delightfully short list of ingredients — all-purpose flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and water —  Bonacorso demonstrated how to make pasta dough right on the kitchen counter with nothing more than her bare hands. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Around Town, Schools, featured

Greenwich Public Schools Student Art Show Draws Crowds to Havemeyer

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In a sure sign of spring, the annual Greenwich Public Schools Student Art Exhibition packed the Havemeyer Building on Wednesday evening. With about 10 artists from each of the 11 elementary schools, roughly 15 from each of the middle schools and about 70 from GHS students, there was much to admire. More photos posted on the Greenwich Free Press Facebook page. Related Stories:

Welcome to Your Flinn Gallery. It’s Free and Open to the Public. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Schools, featured

Adopt-A-Dog Rescues Puppies from Uncertain Future in Deep South

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Brian Gordiski has driven south to rescue dogs before. The trek to South Carolina trek is about 15 hours. But, his recent trip to Alabama was a 17 hours each way. Gordiski,  events coordinator for Adopt-A-Dog, the local rescue sanctuary organization, said he doesn’t mind the long drive, especially if one of his colleagues accompanies him in the Adopt-A-Dog van. “Having someone else saves me three or four hours that I’d spend cleaning,” Gordiski explained. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Dogs, featured