Around Town
Congratulations to Arielle and Mike Nurczynski on the birth of their daughter, Daphne Rose, on May 21 in Boston. Mike is the son of Charlotters Rich and Lynn Nurcynski.
Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Edmund Brooks of Addison who passed away May 18 at the age of 85. His six children survive him, including a son, Richard who, along with wife, Pam, lives in Charlotte. Following Edmund’s wishes, there will be no funeral service.
Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Francys Garrett of Burlington and Bartlett, Tennessee, who passed away January 7 of this year at the age of 107. Born in Charlotte to Jennie and John Lucier, Francys was one of twelve children in the family. Celebrating her 100th birthday, she received a special certificate from the Pope to mark the occasion.
Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Carolyn Sackett Coleburn of Redding, Connecticut, who passed away May 19 at the age of 88. A graduate of Middlebury College, she raised her family in Rye, New York, where she and her husband, Kenneth, lived for 46 years until they moved to Connecticut. Her favorite days, however, were spent on Thompson’s Point in Charlotte where she spent every summer for 84 years. Her surviving family includes her son Robert and Robert’s wife, Robin, who until recently live on Whalley Road. A memorial service will be held for Carolyn later this year in Charlotte. In the meantime, the family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations in her honor go to The Ridgefield Library, 472 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
Regional Bites
Eich reports her status on the Big Island of Hawaii
A former Shelburne resident and a CVU grad, Jenn Eick, has been living in Kalani Retreat near the Kilauea Volcano on the large island in Hawaii. The retreat, which serves a variety of activities including yoga, meditation and the like, recently shut down its operations due to its proximity to the nearby volcanic activity. Jenn is a counselor there, and she contacted her dad, Will, to say that she was in the process of moving her possessions out of her house on the retreat grounds, which is only about four miles away from the fissures and vents of the volcano.
As of just over a week ago, 18 fissures had opened in this area, and there were several earthquakes in the 5 to 6.9 range. Jenn said the larger ones caused her house to shake. In her location, the main threat was from noxious air when the wind blew toward them. As a result, she has had to wear a special gas mask several times. On Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said that 90 earthquakes of various intensities occurred on the volcano summit.
The other primary threat to safety was isolation, with only two roads in and out of the region. Again, at the time Jenn spoke with her father, only one road was open to traffic. Since then, it has closed as well, leaving roughly 2,000 people affected by the possibility of isolation. The managers of the major development in the area, Leilani Estates, have encouraged all its residents to leave because of that and bad air quality.
Jenn’s management decided to shut down its operations at Kalani. Both guests and the retreat staff were living on the retreat’s grounds, so it was a matter of evacuating several hundred people to a spot on Hawaiian Shores, northeast of the active fissures. Jenn has had to move twice, once from her house to a guest cottage, still on the original grounds, and then from there to the new emergency offices of the retreat where she has settled for the moment. She is in the town of Pahoa from which much of the news of the quakes is being broadcast. She is not certain whether, and if so when, the retreat will re-open for business.
She is happy, however, to have been able to gather her possessions and to have her new shoreline spot somewhat away from the lava flow into the ocean. This volcanic activity forced residents to act quickly, while they find and collect their belongings, some having to search for a vehicle in which to carry them, and move them into new homes. Jenn says it has been exhausting.