Playing Crocodile Club Catch Up

 meant to get all caught up with Crocodile Club last week, but I didn't. So here are the tidbits left out in the telling:

Host Ray Dunaway did a good job. He wasn't prepared to say the blessing before the meal, but the expected preacher didn't show, so Ray had to man up and do it. He figured his credentials as club president gave him "the authority" so he plunged right in. I don't think he'll be running off to theology school anytime soon, but I'd say he passed. On a side note, he told me his accordian was in rough shape, so he didn't bring it. Hope he gets it fixed in time for next year.

Ray had a bell that he said he'd ring if anyone didn't abide by the five-minute time limit on the speeches. The only time he had to use it was on the first speaker -- Bristol Mayor Art Ward -- who was just getting warmed up and hadn't even tried to be funny by the time the bell rang. The bell didn't stop the mayor from moving ahead with his remarks, though.

The picture here is one of me and Wally Barnes, and the mayor, before he got the bell.

Carolyn Norton was the only Norton at this year's dinner. She was the toast of the town and the belle of the ball. She had fun, too.

Lots of old timers were happy to see the club back, thanks to the permission of the Norton family, who owned the rights to it, the hospitality of Lake Compounce, the great food provided by Nuchies catering and the hard work of the New England Carousel Museum, which brought the event back as a fundraiser.

Tons of newcomers were excited to get to attend the club for the first time. Many of them were seated up front at the head table and they had to give speeches. There could have been some better briefing by staff, since a couple people didn't understand how the humor was supposed to be playful and remarks weren't supposed to be mean. Hopefully next time, they'll know what it is and get with the program.

The worst offender was Mark Boughton, who is running for lieutenant governor on the Republican side. He took a serious shot at Dan Malloy and the crowd definitely didn't like it. As he made his way back to his seat, I heard Malloy tell him his "joke" didn't go over "any better than when Ned Lamont told it."

Malloy and Tom Foley were both there for the first time. I'm not sure they were excited or enjoying themselves, though. When they weren't working the crowd, they sat next to each other at the head table and didn't look all that comfortable. When they spoke, they both tried to be funny. They were, but only a little bit.

Worst joke of all? Tom Marsh, the independent candidate for governor. "What's brown and sounds like a bell?" Marsh asked. "Dung."

No, I'm not kidding.

Linda McMahon surprised me with her wit. She had a few off the cuff remarks that were pretty good, including a swipe at Dunaway for noting her age when he introduced her and no one else's. Her opponent, Richard Blumenthal, joked about how un-funny he is and sure enough, wasn't especially amusing, except when he talked about being camera shy.

George Jepsen recited a short limerick, which in my book gets a few props for creativity:

"It is the year 2010

The crocodiles have assembled again

At long tables they eat

Some really odd meat.

For me, I will stick with the gin."

Classiest speaker, in my humble opinion, was Nancy Wyman, who raised a glass to the memory of Stretch Norton, recognized Carolyn Norton and just stayed in the spirit of the Crocodile. It's not hard to see why she's popular.

Not sure why the carousel museum decided to take a "break" in the middle of the program to draw a raffle number. It could have been done quickly but instead, a break was announced and a whole bunch of people, including many of the candidates on stage, beat a path to the door.

John Larson and Ann Brickley had to wait until after the break to speak, which didn't seem right to me, since much of the room had emptied by then. It is the U.S. Congress, after all.

The award for best patient goes to Betty Boukus, who is healing from total knee replacement surgery. She's getting around pretty well, she said, and is definitely following doctor's/physical therapist's orders.

Most conspicuous absence that day? Stretch Norton. Everybody missed him.

Biggest delight for me? Wally Barnes was there. My favorite moment of the whole thing was taking a spin on the park's antique carousel with him.

I discovered that, like me, he also prefers a jumper to a stander. He didn't get the brass ring, he said, but I felt like I did.

Wally hadn't expected to be in town, but when he found himself there, he "didn't want to miss it," he told me. I'm glad.

Foley Visits Quality Coils

Tom Foley, the Republian candidate for governor, paid a visit to a Bristol manufacturer yesterday.
Foley, along with his wife Leslie Foley, state Rep. Bill Hamzy, City Councilor Ken Cockayne and state senate candidate Jason Welch, toured Quality Coils Tuesday morning.
I like these kinds of stops by candidates because I get to meet the people who run the factory and hear what things are like for them. I also get to spend a little time with the candidate and his entourage, which is helpful.
At Quality Coils, I spoke with Mike Thiem, the plant manager and company vice president who's been around since the 1970s, and Keith Gibson, one of the three brothers who took over the company, which was founded by their dad, Archibald Gibson.
Mostly I learned from them that the biggest challenge facing the company is the uncertainty of its customers. The customers aren't ordering far in advance, so when they do want to make a purchase, they want the stuff right away. That means that if they want the business, they need trained people on staff, ready to make the products, which are all custom made. But without knowing what orders might be coming in the future, it's hard to plan. They've rehired and now have a larger payroll than when the recession started, but there's still a lot of uncertainty.
I also learned that Hamzy spent a summer working at Quality Coils a number of years ago.
I wrote about the visit for The Bristol Press. The story's online now at http://www.bristolpress.com/.

Croc Tickets On Sale Today!

Until 5 p.m., you can buy your ticket to the Crocodile Club dinner at Lake Compounce for $50.

Tomorrow, at the door, they'll cost $55.

Not that the $5 will go to a bad cause -- proceeds are going to the New England Carousel Museum, which is worth a donation, but still, five bucks is five bucks and you might need it.

So you heard it here, folks -- get your tickets today at the museum on Riverside Avenue, or call them at 860-585-5411 and charge it.

A little while ago, Louise DeMars, the director of the musuem, told me nearly every candidate for statewide office, including both Dan Malloy and Tom Foley, candidates for governor, will be at the event.

About 300 tickets have been sold so far, which is impressive for the first year back since the last Crocodile Club dinner in 2002.

Foley May Attend Croc

Tom Foley, Republican candidate for governor, told me recently that he's still figuring out whether he'll be able to make the Crocodile Club on Tuesday at Lake Compounce.

The Crocodile Club, an institution in Connecticut politics, will be Tuesday, Aug. 31 at the Starlite Ballroom at the park. It's being revived this year after ending in 2003. The New England Carousel Museum, which will benefit from any proceeds, is bringing it back.

I contacted both Foley and his Democratic opponent, Dan Malloy, to see if either of the candidates for governor will be at the dinner, and Foley answered right away. He didn't have a definitive answer but he got back to me and promised to follow up.

Something I really like about Tom Foley is that not only is he pleasant in person, each time I've reached out to him, he's responded pretty quickly and with a great deal of courtesy.

I know candidates are generally more responsive than seated officials, but my experience with Foley makes me think that if I had a question for Governor Foley, I'd be able to get an answer, from him.

That's not the case now with Gov. Rell. She's friendly when I see her in person, but there's no way to ask her anything directly if we're not eye to eye. 

I haven't heard from Malloy yet. He's always very friendly in person, but getting an answer otherwise hasn't been easy. I'll let you know when I hear again from either of them.

I hope they both decide to attend. It'll be a better event for it, and they'll have fun.

Maybe the Wizard Can Win the GOP Primary

I talked with Oz Griebel last week, trying to find out which of the candidates for governor planned to show up at this year's Crocodile Club.
Oz was the only one I spoke with who really knew what it was, though he'd never been to it.
For the record, Democrat Dan Malloy seemed to have heard of it (his running mate Nancy Wymany LOVES it) and Republican Tom Foley said he'd like to learn more. Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Mike Fedele did not respond to my queries at all.
Anyway, back to Oz. He thought the Croc might be a great place to get ideas, which I thought was a wonderful attitude and indicative of his approach.
During our conversation, he also told me he's confident about the primary, which is Tuesday, August 10.
He said he thought he did well in the most recent debate, that Foley's numbers were dropping and Foley and Fedele were busy beating up on each other.
Oz told me he believed he could win it. I wished him well. It would be so cool to have a governor named Oz, don't you think?
Remember, the Crocodile Club is Tuesday, August 31 at Lake Compounce. Don't miss it!

Foley Coming to the Crystal

Republican Tom Foley, who hopes to win the primary next week and be the party's candidate for governor, is making a stop in Bristol early Saturday. The word is, he'll be at the Crystal Luncheonette at 8:30 a.m. I'm not working Saturday and I hope I'll still be sleeping at 8:30 a.m., so don't look here for an account. I asked Foley if he could come on Friday or Monday instead, but he said the schedule is locked in. He also said he'd be back to Bristol, which was good to hear. The photo below is from the campaign, by the way. It wasn't taken at the Crystal.

Politicians, coffee and dry cleaners

I spent the day with politicians. First, Tom Foley's little coffee chat with the chamber early this morning at the Tunxis Bristol Campus. It wasn't especially well-attended; 20 people in the room if you count Foley, 17 men and three women, for anyone who is interested in that sort of thing. Almost half, including all the women, are employed by either the chamber, the Press, Tunxis or Foley. (He had an aide there, a young man who was easily the only person in the room under age 40.)

I'm not sure why the turnout was so poor, but Foley didn't seem to mind.

Next I went to a little press conference staged by Tom Colapietro, Bristol's senator, and Donald Williams, the state senate president. It was at Bristol Custom Cleaners and Tailors on Main Street and focused on how the Senate Dems want to improve the economy through their jobs package.

The cleaners only has one job -- the one held by the owner, Mark Policki, and he's hanging on by a thread, if you'll pardon the pun.

He's a really nice guy with a sad story to tell. He gave up his home of 17 years, an apartment he loved, to save the business by saving expenses. That's commitment. Business has to increase by at least 30 percent for him to break even. He's trying to hold out for development across the street at the city-owned, former mall site.

Mark is not only a friendly, swell guy, but he has great music (usually jazz) playing in his shop every time I stop in to say hello. He works on his store window to make it attractive (sometimes he sits there reading and watching the city go by, he told me) and burns candles to make the place smell nice. I'm not kidding when I say the guy is trying.

Today he had on a nifty hat (to keep warm, since he keeps the shop pretty cool) and what's more, it was his 51st birthday. The picture above doesn't do Mark justice. And it doesn't show his cool hat. I think a better one will be in The Bristol Press. Thanks to Gregg Davis at the Capitol for the photo!

Tom gave Mark a big fancy birthday card signed by some of the folks at the Capitol, but it didn't have a tax break inside or anything like that, though Mark seemed tickled by it all the same.
To me, it seemed a card was the least they could do for Mark while they used his nice little shop as a backdrop for their press conference about the folks on "Main Street."

So happy birthday, Mark! I hope you get a present of some new customers in the coming weeks.

If you have some dry cleaning, laundry or tailoring to do, think about sending it to Mark, who is trying to keep his business alive on Main Street.

I'd sure rather have Mark a few doors down from the Press than a boarded up storefront, but that's an understatement if I ever made one. He's a great neighbor, so I hope we can keep him in business in this community. I know I'll be looking to see if I've got any other cleaning I can bring him and I hope other people will, too.

I wrote stories about all of this for The Bristol Press, but I'm not supposed to post them here anymore. Hopefully you can see them at www.bristolpress.com.

Tomorrow, I get started early again with Ned Lamont at the chamber.

Let it Snow... Foley is Staying in Greenwich

If anyone was thinking of coming to the chamber in the morning to have coffee with Tom Foley, one of the Republicans who wants to be our next governor, you'll have to wait a week.

Mike Nicastro, the chamber president, wisely checked the radar and decided to postpone Foley's informal coffee chat for a week, given the expectation that we're getting a decent sized snowstorm starting late tonight.

Look for Foley at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17 on the Bristol Campus of Tunxis Community College -- the chamber will be full that morning, so Tunxis is opening its doors. That's in the North Side Square plaza near SuperNatural.

The next morning, Thursday, Feb. 18, Democrat Ned Lamont is scheduled at the chamber at 8 a.m. for his informal coffee chat.

That's two mornings of free coffee next week! You don't have to register or be a chamber member to attend. But you have to show up to get the coffee.

Guess Who's Coming to Coffee?

Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, tells me he has three more "coffee chats" with potential future governors lined up. The last one with Dan Malloy was kind of fun, so I'm looking forward to the others. Of course, it's the chamber, so it's at the crack of dawn:

Wednesday, February 10th @ 8AM – Tom Foley

Thursday, February 18th @ 8 AM – Ned Lamont

Thursday, February 25th @ 8AM – Lt. Governor Mike Fidele.

In case you can't tell one from the other, and who could blame you? -- it's Ned on the left, Mike in the middle and Tom on the right.

Mike Nicastro promises more to come, so stay tuned!