Southington Rotary Meet the Members

Elaine Maloney

2005-08-10T03:58:00.000-07:00

She was born in New Britain, raised in Meriden, attended public schools and graduated from Francis T. Maloney High School. Elaine now lives with her husband, David, in Southington. She has four children; Denise, who lives in Monroe; Karen, who lives in Phoenix, AZ; Eileen, who lives with her husband, Mike, in Southington; and Cliff, who lives with his wife and three children in Cheshire. Elaine also has a granddaughter who lives in New Hampshire.

She worked at Plantsville General Store at its conception in 1974 for a few years, leaving to work in the corporate world. Returning in 1984, she purchased Plantsville General Store in 1985 from the original owner. In 1989, with the help of her husband, they renovated the store, changing the venue to a group shop. She now rents space to other dealers, which gives the shop a wide variety of antiques and collectibles. You can find anything from old baseball cards, antique dolls, estate jewelry (gold and costume), glassware, pottery and antique furniture. People come from all over the country and Europe to shop at Plantsville General Store Antique Center.

Elaine and David will celebrate their 20th anniversary this year.

Ron Klein

2005-08-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Arrived into this world at Devil's Lake, ND, the son of Roy, a farmer and former tank driver in Patton's army, and Maria, a seamstress ad World War II bride. A devastating rainstorm at harvest time caused the family to sell the farm and pack it in.

In 1955 they took all their possessions, including Ron and sister Marcella, bundled them into a 1950 Chevy and headed off to Southington with the lure of a job at Pratt & Whitney. Farmer/machinist....a perfect fit for Dad.

Ron attended Holcomb, Hatton, Thalberg, JFK and Southington High School, graduating in 1970. Having been the mail boy at the old Southington Bank & Trust asfter school, the logical thing to do was to continue to work for SB&T full-time unil he decided what to do with his life. Thirty-five years later, he's still mulling it over.

A most fond memory is that of September 1, 1970. While working as a teller in the Queen Street office of SB&T, a masked gunman entered the bank, started yelling and fired two shots, one of which glanced off the floor and hit Ron in the foot. Hey, he was in a hurry.

In 1976, Ron met the lovely Lisa Dinello. An infamous 1977 ride on his '74 Harley Davidson out to Kent Falls led to marital bliss (depending on what your definition of 'bliss' is). She could not resist the black flies and other assorted bugs stuck to his face and body after this spring ride.

They reside in Southington with their three sons - Jonathan, Jeremy and Nathan, all avid golfers. Ron at one time was also an avid golfer but, with the advent of kids' golf, UConn and CCSU, he now suffers 'starving wallet syndrome' which, sadly, reduces playing time.

In the early 80's he began taking night classes at CCSU. With a kid in one arm, a book in the other and working the TV remote with his toes, he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Finance. He also is a graduate of Williams College's School of Banking.

Ron joined the Rotary Club of Southington in 1979, sponsored by Joe Grecki. His arrival brought the average age down to around 68. A career move with the old CBT brought him to the Torrington Rotary Club from 1982-1987 and thenback to Southington, then to Hartford, finally again settling in Southington in the early 1990's. He was president of the club in the 1994-95 year, sneaking in when the then president-to-be fell ill and headed for sunny Florida.

Ron enjoys a round of golf here and there, riding his bike (no peddles please), an occasional card game "with the boys" and is an avid NASCAR fan.

Mike Mathieu (pronunciation undetermined)

2005-06-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

Born in 1972, Mike Mathieu is the younger of two sons unleashed onto Southington by Roger and Sandra (Cerrone) Mathieu. He grew up on the streets around South Plains road, where he once tossed apples in Audrey Brown's pine tree. To the shock of educators (Bob Brown included), Mike graduated from Southington High in 1990. He then began studying sports medicine at CCSU, only to receive a B.A. in East asian Studies.

In 1994, Mike received a scholarship to study in China. In order to pay for the rest of the trip, Mike goofed off at Southington Country Club and Nyren's Florist. Bob Potrepka's son even paid Mike to operate power equipment. In 1995, Mike began wearing a tie (and shirt) at Pratt & Whitney. It was there, next to the Xerox machine, that he met his future wife, Rita.

In 1997, Mike gave Rita's family a boatload of cash and two live chickens in exchange for her hand in marriage. Chicken-less and broke, Mike and Rita fled the country to work at Pratt & Whitney's joint venture in Singapore. There they saved enough money to return to Southington and buy a house on Spring Lake Road. Although there were no chickens, turkeys frequented the yard.

In 2000, Mike flew under the radar of the admissions office and was offered a scholarship for for graduate studies at Yale. He graduated with an M.A. in East Easian Studies, but no chickens. In 2001, the CIA made Mike an offer he could refuse, so he did the next logical thing and opened a monument shop on Meriden Avenue.

Mike enjoys Chinese film, the Beatles, the Red Sox 2004 season, eating caramels and experimenting with different facial hairstyles. He dreams of one day living under a thatched roof in Tahiti with his wife and some chickens.

It's Joe DePaolo's fault that Mike is a member of Rotary.

Matthew O'Keefe

2005-06-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Matt is a partner in the Hartford/Southington offices of Jackson, O'Keefe and Phelan. Since joining the firm, Matt's practice has concentrated in all aspects of estste planning, probate administration and real estate transaction of a wide variety including representation of lenders, developers, buyers and sellers. He has extensive family law practices including divorce, child custody and pre-nuptial agreements. He also counsels many businesses relative to the selection and formation of business organization specifically designed to meet their individual needs.

He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in 1982. In 1987, he was admitted to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was admitted to the United States Supreme Court in 1988. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross in 1979. Thereafter, he obtained his Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Suffolk University in 1982.

Matt O'Keefe is an active member of local political and community organizations. He served as chairman of the Conservation Commission for the City of New Britain from 1986 to 1991. He served as Special Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New Britain. He has been a member of the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency since 1997. He often serves as Family Special Master for the Hartford Superior Court.

He is a member of the Southington Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and served as chairman from 2001-2002. He also served as a member of the Bradley Memorial Hospital from 2001 to present.

Matt resides in Plantsville with son, Andrew, and he is an avid golfer and skier.

Steve Parsons

2005-05-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

Steve Parsons grew up in Farmington CT, the fourth of six children. After high school, he headed north to Waterville, ME where he got his bachelor's degree at Colby College.

Most of his summers while in school were spent at Parsons Buick Company sweeping parking lots, washing cars, and working in the Parts/Service Departments. Upon graduation, he joined the family business. He met his wife, Cindy, who was working as a telephone operator there and they married in 1975. Marrying a girl from Southington meant moving into town, as she would not leave.

Steve and Cindy have two children: Nick, currently teaching at Washington State University and working on his doctorate in sociology, and Erin, currently on a 6+ year plan at Wentworth Institute in Boston.

Sponsored by Pat Porriello, Steve joined Rotary in 1983 and was president in 1988 (the year women were first allowed to join). He is currently on the Scholarship Committee and heads up the Refrigerator Wrestling Team for the Apple Harvest Festival (mainly the result of having access to pick up trucks). It was also having a truck that caused fellow Rotarian Rod (Slumlord) Greaves to convince Steve to go into partnership and seek their fortune in the real estate market of the 80's. Despite that episode, they remain on speaking terms.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys traveling and golf. (ed. note: Tiger Woods once asked to have a picture taken with Steve; if you are persistent, Steve will show you the photo.)

Harvey Polansky

2005-05-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

Dr. Harvey B. Polansky has served as Superintendent of Schools in Southington, CT since July 2000. The school district has close to 7,000 students and 1,000 certified and non-certified staff members.

Harvey, 51, served as assistant superintendent of schools in East Lyme, CT prior to his tenure in Southington. Previous to that, he was Director of Administrative Services in Stamford, CT. He began his education career in New York City as a social studies and science teacher.

He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in 1987, his research focused on high school climate and resource allocation. He did additional graduate work at Long Island University, C.W. Post College and City College of New York and received his B.A. cum laude from the City College.

Harvey has authored over 30 articles and has edited a textbook on school law. He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and at Southern Connecticut State University.

Harvey was born in New York City and currently resides in Trumbull, CT with his wife Harriet Borke Polansky, who is a Vice President of the Goodwick-Leverage Marketing Group in Newtown, CT. They have two children - Rachel, 20 and Adam, 13.

Robert Potrepka

2005-03-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

Robert was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but moved to Albany, NY and then to Southington within two years. He also has a brother James and two sisters, Marianne and Kathy.

After schooling at Holcomb, Lincoln-Lewis and Southington High Schools, he obtained his BS in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut. After graduation, he was married to his wife, Justine. His education continued with a Masters and PhD inPharmacology from the University of Iowa. Their two children, Susan and Kevin were born in Iowa City, Iowa.

The Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, DC was his first job for 3.5 years and then transferred to the Environmental Prtection Agency, Pesticide Division for a similar time period. Living in Arlington, Virginia allowed the family to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms and the country's200th Anniversary in 1976.

The move back to Connecticut came in 1978 when Bob left the government and joined Industry working in Farmington for Stauffer Chemical Company, ICI and Ciba-Geigy to develop new pesticide products that would need EPA approval. After 18 years the laboratory closed and Bob changed careers to enter the real estate market as a realtor with Century 21 Access America, formerly Century 21 Apple Valley Properties.

Robert and Justine enjoy traveling every 2 to 3 months to Chicago to see their daughter Susan, son-in-law Mark and two grandchildren, Davis 6 and Tess 4 (on May 4th). Susan graduated as a psychology major from UCLA on a swimming scholarship for a backstroke. Our son, Kevin, lives in Cheshire after graduating from Southern Connecticut University with a degree in biology and he owns Blue Hills Landscaping and Lawn Care.

They enjoy the warmth of Aruba with five trips in the last six years. Annual conventions for real estate meetings allow travel to Las Vegas, San Diego, Orlando, New Orleans and San Antonio. Gardening and golf are part of Bob's relaxation.

Donnnnnnnn Reilly

2005-03-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

Donnnnnnn was born in Bristol, but the family moved to Plantsville when he was 7 years old. While in the third grade he met his future wife, Linda Bass, with whom he has been intrigued ever since. Linda is an elementary school teacher in Southington. They make their home in Marion with their daughter Erin, age 23, who graduated from Plymouth State University and is employed by Mount Southington Ski Area where amoungst other duties she is a ski instructor. Their son Ben, age 26, is a graduate of Bates College and lives in Park city, Utah and is employed by Surefoot.

Donnnnnnn is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant with offices in Plantsville. His practice primarily serves the tax preparation and tax planning needs of individuals and small businesses.

When Donnnnnn wants to get away from the office, he enjoys skiing and hiking with his family.

Carl Sokolowski

2005-01-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Carl Sokolowski grew up in Southington, spent ten years as a Navy enlisted man, then graduated from Yale and Yale Law School and returned to Southington to practice law.

His Navy years were spent mostly in the Atlantic Fleet, with a tour also in Eritrea, East Africa. He met and married his wife Melita when she too was in the Navy. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren, who live in Florida, Virginia and Connecticut.

Carl has been a member of the Rotary Club of Southington for about 25 years, and is a member and past chairman of the board of directors of Bradley Memorial hospital. He served for 23 years as Southington's Judge of Probate. Now he is in general law practice in Southington and serves as Southington's Town Historian.

John Salerno

2005-01-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

John Salerno was born in New York City and raised in New Milford, CT and New Jersey. He graduated from Quinnipiac University and he is the owner of Tops Supermarket.

He adores his five children: Janalynne, VP of Phoenix Investments; John, Jr. who assists John in running the store; Emily, soon-to-be elementary education teacher; Hillary, a student at UConn; and Christiana, an eighth grade student who enjoys the dance team and volleyball. He has a grandson Jake and is impatiently awaiting the arrival of Nicholas Mathew. John enjoys traveling and riding his motorcycle.

John served as the treasurer of the Rotary Club of Southington in 2003. He enjoys the projects that involve teens. He has been the RYLA and World Affairs coordinator for the past three years. He is a member of the United Way and is strongly involved in the Relay for Life Campaign.

John is looking forward to traveling to Ecuador with Hillary on a mission trip this coming August.

Rev. David Stroshal

2005-01-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

David is a native of a small town in Pennsylvania where his family has lived for
generations. He graduated from Mansfield University, part of the state of Pennsylvania University system, and from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, MA. Ordained in the American Baptist Churches, he has served pastorates in West Newton, MA, Hudson, NH and in Southington.

His wife, Cyndi is also ordained in the American Baptist Churches and has served as a chaplain in a nursing home and a veterans hospital as well as an interim pastor in a number of churches in Connecticut. They have two children. Andrew will be graduating from college in the Spring. He is a midshipman at Maine Maritime and is looking to a career as a deck officer in the merchant marine. Sarah graduates from Southington High in June where she has been active in the marching band. She plans to pursue a major in music education. Dave and his wife enjoy Maine.

Dave also does part-time work as a college admissions representative. He is an avid model railroader and for the last two years has been consumed by building a model clipper ship begun in 1937. He also enjoys short term mission work in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

“There is nothing like riding in the back of a stake body truck with livestock in a third world country to gain a good perspective on life.”

Victoria Triano

2005-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

A Southington native, Victoria has lived a life of service to this community. She serves as Pastor and Director of Pastoral Care at Southington Care Center, where she provides counseling and religious services for the residents, their families and staff. She is currently President of the United Way of Southington, and further serves the community as Chair of the Southington Town Council. She has been a member of the Rotary Club of Southington for the past four years and appreciates the Rotary's commitment of helping others. "There are many ways to serve those in need, but Rotary provides one of the best. We have an opportunity to really change someone's life forever."

Victoria hold a Master's Degree in Counseling, has done post graduate work at Yale Divinity School. She is a graduate of king's seminary and is Senior Pastor at East Haddam Christian Church in East Haddam, CT.

She has traveled a great deal and has been a missionary to Cote I'vore Africa. She lives in her childhood home with her mother Molly, who is her inspiration, and her dog Jedidiah, who is her penance.

Audrey Vinci

2004-12-29T16:56:00.000-08:00

Audrey was born in Coldale, PA and moved to Wallingford, CT where she has resided for the last 54 years. She has two children, a daughter Heather (29) who teaches English in Canton, CT and a son Michael (27) who is married to Charlotte and is employed by Pequot Financial in Westport, CT as a financial analyst.

Audrey graduated from Quinnipiac College as a Registered Nurse. She returned to Quinnipiac College in 1984 to pursue her nursing home administrator's license. She worked in the skilled care and in 1999 went into the Independent and Assisted Living facet of the industry.

Audrey enjoys reading and traveling with her husband Dave to warm and sunny climates.

Ruth Warner

2004-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Ruth was born and raised in Southington. She gradulated from SHS and from the Moody School of Business in New Britain. She has been a retirement analyst for cigna; compliance manager for ING Financial Services; and NASD consultant before becoming a financial advisor for American Express Financial Advisors, Inc.

With American Express, she has focused her financial practice on the needs of women. She counsels her clients in taking control of their financial future and making informed decisions about their money. Her specialization is financial planning including income strategies, estate preservation, tax reduction strategies and working with small business owners.

Ruth has three children, Robbie, Allyson and Laura. Mary Elizabeth is her first grandchild.

She enjoys perennial gardening, travel, Christian music and road trips.

Ruth has been awarded The American Express Financial Advisors, Inc. Mercury Award for 2002 and National Quality of Advice Award for 2003.

Trish Walden

2004-12-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ms. Walden was featured in the 12/15/04 newsletter. Unfortunately, the editor has misplaced his issue of the newsletter and cannot get the information from anyone. By all accounts, Ms. Walden is a lovely individual and was portrayed as such in the piece.

Eureka! We have been able to obtain the lost information.

Trish was born and raised in CT but has lived in Peru, Indiana and Fort Worth, Texas with her aunt and uncle who was a Lt. Col in the Air Force. She has a 20-year old son, Michael, who goes to CCSU and works at Omega Communications. Trish has two sisters, Maura Rettman of Meriden, and Kathy Corcoran (owner of Beadecked Bead Shoppe) of Southington. Her Mom is her greatest hero and she lives in Dunedin, FL. Trish recently married her high school sweetheart, George Gorecki, after reconnecting with him on classmates.com.

She attended SCSU and received her bachelor's degree in education and psychology. She attended UCONN for post-graduate work and has taught at Quinnipiac College and Rensallaer Polytech in Hartford. She is a licensed nursing home administrator and has worked for Southington Care Center and the Bradley Health Care senior care communities for the past 14 years. Trish is a certified scuba diver, she enjoys skiing, snowmobiling, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Trish and George are going on a safari in April of 2005!

John Ryan

2004-11-08T03:53:00.000-08:00

John Ryan was born in 1946 and has been busy being John Ryan ever since. He has promised this editor to reveal his innermost thoughts for publication.

He lied.

John A. Kennedy, Jr.

2004-11-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

John was born and raised in Southington, the eldest of seven children (six boys, one girl) of John (Jack) Kennedy of Southington and Agnes (Dempsey) Kennedy of New York City. He attended local schools through 6th grade, when Jack and Agnes felt young Johnny needed the discipline of a Catholic School education and promptly shipped him off to St. Anthony's in Bristol, where he completed grade school and graduated from SAHS in 1964. At St. Anthony's he starred in baseball and basketball and, because John F. Kennedy was running for office at the time, was elected president of his class by his easily impressed peers. He was subsequently 'impeached' from office by the school's principal for an attitude unbecoming a class officer. Young John felt he was a misunderstood genius. During his high school period, he played on two Bristol American Legion state championship baseball teams.

After one year at St. Michael's College in frigid northern VT, John transferred to Quinnipiac College, where he graduated with a degree in accounting and played shortstop on the school's 1968 Div II New England baseball champions. After college, he obtained his CPA certification and began a career in public accounting. He was a partner in a regional firm based in West Hartford until 1991 when he left to co-found the firm Kennedy & King, LLC. John now is a sole practitioner in Plantsville where, ironically, his office is located in the very house he grew up in. He occasionally has flashbacks of being disciplined.

John has been a Rotarian for 22 years, sponsored by Rod Greaves. He was president in 1989-90; succeeded Ralph Mann as the Club's official finer; has chaired various fundraisers including the William Thomson Golf Scramble, Mardi Gras Night, Jazz 'n Ribs; is a Paul Harris Fellow; is a trustee of the Southington Rotary Trust; maintains the Club's website; is a proud member of the infamous Apple Harvest booth setup committee. He was 'Carnac' to Bill Taylor's Ed McMahon in the legendary Installation Dinner skit flop.

He and Rita (Flynn) have been married for 36 years and after 12 years of trying to figure it out, produced two sons, Jonathan and Garrett. The family reluctantly puts up with John's "no joke too obvious" philosophy and he thanks them for it. John's interests are sports, music, humor and writing (he is working on his 3rd novel - the first two have not yet been published, or completed).

He has not yet decided what he will be when he grows up.

(He has not been featured in any newsletter. He wrote the above, so don't believe a word of it.)