International publishing award for local author

MIDDLEFIELD » A book by Middlefield resident Marc Youngquist has been recognized with two publishing awards.

“The 143rd in Iraq: Training the Iraqi Police in Spite of it All,” published by Emerald Lake Books, is a memoir about the heroism of a Connecticut National Guard unit during the Iraq war.

The awards from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association (FAPA), were for autobiography/memoir and cover design. FAPA annually gives awards for excellence to North American authors and publishers. FAPA will announce during its Aug. 5 President’s Book Awards ceremony at which level — gold, silver or bronze – “The 143rd in Iraq” will be recognized.

Youngquist joined the Marines as a teenager and served briefly in Vietnam. After several years in civilian life in Connecticut, including time as a patrolman with the Cheshire Police Department and as a security investigator, he joined the Army Reserves and trained as a drill sergeant.

He left the reserves after the Army failed to activate his unit for duty in the Middle East and transferred to the National Guard, which had seen action in Iraq.

Youngquist realized upon his return to Connecticut that military personnel did not talk about their experiences when they came home, oftentimes to their own detriment.

“With this book, I am trying to let everyone know,” Youngquist said in a statement.

A former commander of the 143rd describes the memoir as a “bare knuckle blow-by-blow account of how my former soldiers performed so magnificently in Iraq … the gritty truth as only a soldier’s NCO would tell it.”

The book’s cover was designed by Mark Gerber, coowner and art director of Emerald Lake Books.

The design award is the second award this year for Gerber, who won an IPPY award for cover design in May for “The Life and Times of the Great Danbury State Fair,” by Gladys Stetson Leahy and John H. Stetson.

A second book published by Emerald Lake Books, “Love Your Life: Cultivating Your Vision and Tending Your Dreams,” by New Jersey author Cheryl Marks Young, was also honored by FAPA this year in the categories of Business Book and Nonfiction: Adult.

Mobile Food Pantry coming to Epoch Arts

EAST HAMPTON » The Ct. Mobile Food Pantry will be coming this summer to Epoch Arts. The mobile pantry is a source for the community for fresh, nutritious food for those in need. The Pantry offers healthy food such as fresh produce, perishables and other grocery products for no cost to those with limited income and in need. Partnering with the East Hampton Food Bank and Epoch Arts the Pantry will be making a stop twice this summer at Epoch Arts: Tuesday July 25, 2:30-3:30 p.m., and Tuesday Aug. 22, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Don’t forget to bring reusable bags or boxes. For more information, contact Elizabeth Namen at elizabeth@epocharts.org or call 860-365-0337. Epoch Arts is located at 27 Skinner Street, East Hampton.

CPA Society appoints area residents to leadership positions

The Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CTCPA) has announced that the following Middletown-area residents have been appointed to serve on its 30-member Advisory Council for the 20172018 activity year:

Gerard J. Frame, CPA of Middletown, a partner in the Killingworth firm of Buckley, Frame, Boudreau & Co., PC. He holds a BS in Accounting from Bryant University.

Joanna M. Purtell, CPA of East Hampton, a financial reporting and technical accounting specialist with United Technologies in Farmington. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the College of Our Lady of the Elms and a Master of Science degree in accounting from the University of Connecticut.

The Advisory Council contemplates the future of the Connecticut Society of CPAs and the accounting profession, and in doing so serves as a sounding board and source of information for the CTCPA Board of Directors.

The Connecticut Society of CPAs is celebrating more than a century of service to membership and community alike.

Formed by nine CPAs in 1908 at New Haven’s Union League Club, today CTCPA has a current membership of almost 6,000 individuals in public practice, business and industry, government and education.

Its function is to advocate on behalf of the accounting profession, foster a professional community among CPAs, and provide continuing education opportunities as well as a comprehensive peer review program and a variety of membership services for CPAs in Connecticut.