Working The Weekend

I was working Saturday, but not blogging. Sometimes all my time is spent getting information and writing a story and I run out of time for posting. That was one of those days.
I was too busy trying to find out what happened at Stephanie's Sports Bar in Forestville early Saturday morning.
I'm not the police reporter; I was just working that Saturday. My story about it appeared in the Sunday edition of The Herald Press and online at http://www.bristolpress.com/.
According to the police, there was a big fight at the bar, which is on Central Street next to Nuchies, and three men were apparently stabbed during the fracas. There may have been a gun brandished and shots fired, but no report of anyone shot, the cops said. One of the guys who was stabbed had surgery at Bristol Hospital. That's the last I know of anything. I don't know what happened to him or the other two as the cops didn't even release a name.
Some of my focus in writing about the incident was on Forestville Center, and the impact such a crime would have on that typically quiet little spot.
I never could reach the bar's owner, Steve Coan, whose home phone is unlisted. No one answered at the bar, either.
Dave Pasqualicchio, who owns Nuchies with his brother Mike, had plenty to say. He was furious at the mess he says is consisently left by Stephanie's and its customers. He was worried about the reputation of the village in light of the incident and also, understandably, the impact on his own business next door.
To be clear, Nuchies serves alcohol but is not a bar. It's a banquet facility and caterer and isn't even available for drop in customers as far as I know.
Anyone who knows Dave knows he runs a tight ship there and spends a good deal of time every day picking up litter all over Forestville. His own place is spotless, so off he goes with a bag and picks up trash that thoughtless people cast out of cars and drop along the roadways and in the parks, in and around the center of Forestville and beyond. He's been doing this for years without a lot of recognition, mostly because it just bugs him to see litter and he cares about the community.
He said the police didn't even call him to let him know that there had been a serious incident next door to his building, or that they'd put police tape around it and blocked off his parking lots. When he got to work Saturday morning, they wouldn't even let him enter his building at first. (Nothing happened in his building but apparently the search for evidence had a pretty big radius.)
I lived happily for many years not far from Nuchies and the Manross branch of the Bristol Public Library. That part of Bristol, Forestville, is a nice neighborhood with good businesses and decent people living there. I still like to visit there. It's clean, safe and usually quiet. Dave and the good people at the Forestville Village Association are working hard to keep it that way.

My Favorite Festival

Oh, the joys of the annual Duck Race on the Pequabuck!

There's something quite wonderful about this little Forestville festival and if you've never attended, you should give it a try this year.

It'll be Sunday, from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the center of Forestville. I wrote about it for today's edition of The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/.)
It's truly a family festival. There are things for kids to do, and some friendly vendors selling food and ducky stuff.

My organization, Youth Journalism International, has been part of the festival as a vendor since it began six years ago. We think it's cool, from the yellow ducks to Waddles, the mascot, to the awesome disc jockey who makes life at the festival a hoot for everyone.

We especially appreciate Dave Pasqualicchio, the honorary mayor of Forestville, who has done so much to make the festival what it is today, and to keep the village clean. He's an asset to Bristol and lately, he's been getting a vicious and unfair trouncing in the blogosphere just for speaking his mind. I hope he'll feel the love on Sunday in Forestville because I know he'll be there, working hard and probably picking up litter.

For the past couple years, my students at Youth Journalism International and some of our alumni have given away temporary duck tattoos to anyone who wants a little devil duck, angel duck, hippie duck... on their arm, hand or even on their face. Mostly it's kids who get them but older people sometimes do.

This year, we'll have the ducky tattoos and we also have a few Youth Journalism International trinkets on hand for anyone who might like a postcard, magnet or information about this non-profit organization.

Oh, and get this: we will have INTERNATIONAL ducks for display this year! They'll be making their community debut at the duck race, but I'll introduce them one by one to you as we count down the days to the festival. The handsome fellow in the picture is our German duck. We'll call him Sgt. Schultz after one of my favorite readers!

Mark it on your calendar for Sunday and be sure to come by and say hello to the folks at YJI!

Banish Cart Vendors, Pasqualicchio Says

The unofficial mayor of Forestville, Dave Pasqualicchio, jumped into the fight that's heating up over food vendors that sell out of vans and carts downtown, mostly across from City Hall.
Pasqualicchio, who co-owns Nuchie's banquet facility on Central Street in Forestville, says these temporary vendors don't pay property taxes and their fees aren't enough. They hurt permanent restaurants that provide jobs and pay property taxes, he said.
"They should be run out of town," said Pasqualicchio. I wrote about this for Thursday's edition of The Bristol Press. (www.bristolpress.com)