Pearl Harbor remembered at solemn West Haven tribute

The city and the West Haven Veterans Council commemorated Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day at the West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center on Wednesday.

The ceremony, traditionally held on the Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park, was moved indoors because of rain.

Before a gathering of veterans, city and state officials, and residents, Councilman Gary Donovan, D-at large, read prepared remarks on behalf of Mayor Nancy R. Rossi honoring the American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice 81 years ago during Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

On Dec. 7, 1941, just before 8 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time, a swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes descended on the island of Oahu and bombed the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,335 service members and 68 civilians and thrusting America into World War II.

“Although the attack happened 81 years ago today, that doesn’t outweigh the suffering that is still felt,” said Donovan, speaking from a World War II exhibit in the museum at 30 Hood Terrace.

“Despite the event occurring more than eight decades ago, there are still dozens of survivors who still have to live with their memory of that fateful day,” said Donovan, flanked by a wingtip from a Japanese Zero fighter that was shot down by a Bridgeport anti-aircraft unit.

Read the full story and see the photo spread at Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2022.

Public info meeting set Dec. 15 for two shoreline projects on Beach St.

The Water Pollution Control Commission is holding a public information meeting to seek input from city residents for studies on two projects aimed at protecting the shoreline from future storms.

The meeting is set for 5:15 p.m. Dec. 15 in the Harriet C. North Community Room on the second floor of City Hall, 355 Main St.

The projects, both on Beach Street, call for safeguarding the Water Pollution Control Plant and rehabilitating the outfall pipe at Sandy Point.

As part of the preliminary outfall and “flood hardening” studies, the city will apply for grants and loans for the projects.

West Haven residents are encouraged to take advantage of the meeting to learn about and discuss the studies.

Those with questions can call City Engineer Abdul Quadir at 203-937-3577.

West Haven holding Hanukkah menorah lighting Dec. 19 on Green

The city is holding a Hanukkah menorah lighting on the Green later this month.

Although this year’s Jewish holiday begins at sundown Dec. 18, West Haven’s annual lighting of the menorah will celebrate the second day of Hanukkah at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 19.

The lighting will mark the Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day commemoration of rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.

The ceremony, led by Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, will include a Jewish blessing by Rabbi Schneur Wilhelm of Chabad of Milford-Hebrew Congregation of Woodmont.

The public is invited.

Community Development Block Grant applications available

The West Haven Community Development Administration is accepting applications for federal Community Development Block Grant funding for program year 49.

The program year begins July 1, 2023, and ends June 30, 2024.

Interested agencies can obtain an application by contacting the Community Development Administration, 355 Main St., West Haven, CT 06516, or by calling 203-937-3550 or emailing [email protected].

The application deadline is noon Dec. 22.

Special guests help Rossi light West Haven Christmas tree

Santa and Mrs. Claus accompanied Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and a trio of special guests to light the Christmas tree on the Green at the city’s annual holiday kickoff Nov. 26.

After arriving in the West Haven Fire Department’s 1935 Mack pump firetruck, Santa and Mrs. Claus were escorted to a portable stage on the Main Street side of the Green by the West Haven Seahawks cheerleading team to the sound of applause and shouts of glee from several hundred merrymakers.

Before the lighting, radio personality Brian Smith, the master of ceremonies, thanked and praised the guest trio — a Notre Dame High School executive, a University of New Haven staff member and a UNH senior political science major — as the all-ages crowd clapped and cheered.

Rossi then wished people a merry Christmas and helped Smith lead them in a countdown to set the tree — and the Green — aglow.

Read the full story and see the photo spread at Christmas Tree Lighting 2022.

West Haven heralds launch of state’s largest food-to-clean-energy program

West Haven is the first city in the state to offer a citywide curbside food scrap diversion option to all single-family residents, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi announced.

Rossi said the program allows all single-family homes — one, two and three families — to easily separate food scraps and have them collected at the curb in the same container now used for residents’ trash collection.

The city has received a $1.3 million Sustainable Materials Management grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to develop and launch a food-to-clean-energy program.

Grant Coordinator Doug Colter, who secured the funding for the city, said the state is facing a solid waste disposal crisis, as traditional options for disposing of municipal solid waste are diminishing or becoming more expensive. With fewer and rapidly aging disposal options in Connecticut, residents and municipal leaders can expect disposal costs to increase at the remaining waste incineration facilities “as well as out-of-state landfilling,” Colter said.

On Nov. 7, the West Haven Food to Clean Energy program launched a nine-month pilot project for curbside food scrap diversion. Participation in the program comes at no cost to the 16,000 eligible households.

Colter said the funding covers the purchase of special color-coded bags for trash and for food scrap separation for the nine-month pilot. It also covers the cost of educational materials — mailers, a website and a Connect mobile app — along with personnel to sort the bags and the shipment of food scraps to Quantum Biopower in Southington, where the food will be converted into clean electricity, he said.

More details at Food Scrap Recycling.

Informational Materials

The Downsizing Donation Guide: A Resource for Residents of New Haven County (PDF)

What’s In? What’s Out? A Guide to Recycling (PDF)