NEIGHBORHOODS

What’s going on in your part of Greenwich

The Parsonage Cottage Senior Residence recently celebrated a major milestone anniversary: A total of 25 years of serving Greenwich.

The facility was established March 6, 1997, as a 40-bed senior home with a goal of providing a “safe, caring environment” in a congregate setting that promotes and ensures the “happiness, comfort and well-being” of the residents, according to the Parsonage.

Its leaders say the Parsonage has provided an important resource for seniors who wish to remain in town.

“It’s really the people that make the difference,” said Penny Lore, who has been Parsonage’s executive director for 20 years. “Parsonage Cottage has a caring staff, a hardworking board of directors and every resident is treated as a family member in a warm and home-like environment. … We really do cherish our residents’ happiness, dignity and pride.”

First Selectman Fred Camillo paid tribute to Parsonage Cottage on its milestone anniversary.

“Visiting Parsonage

Cottage is always a great experience for me,” Camillo said. “We are so fortunate to have a resource like Parsonage for the past 25 years. I congratulate Penny Lore and her extraordinary staff.”

Tamara Smith was the first employee at Parsonage Cottage and is still there today. She called working with the seniors there “my gift from God.”

“Helping the seniors and making sure their needs get met makes me very happy. And when you’re having fun and enjoying what you’re doing, the time flies,” Smith said. “I like to enable them to realize that they can still maintain their independence as much as possible.”

To learn more about the Parsonage or to arrange a tour, contact Penny Lore at 203869-6226 or Penny@parsonagecottage.org.

Downtown

The Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich will honor its 54th Youth of the Year with a special presentation at a fundraising dinner at 6 p.m. Wednesday at its headquarters.

The award recognizes a member who has “demonstrated service to club, community and family; academic success; strong moral character; life goals; and poise and public speaking ability.”

The Youth of the Year program began in 1969 to recognize members who give back both to the club and the community. This year, 12 members are up for the coveted award.

The nominated kids “are shining examples and living proof that great futures start at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich,” the club said. The winner will go on to compete in the Connecticut Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year contest and potentially in the national contest.

The club will also present the 2022 Champion of Youth award to longtime employee Don Palmer.

The award is “the highest honor a Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich supporter can achieve. The recipient is recognized as making a significant contribution of time and talent to the members and mission of the club.”

Palmer has been with the club since 1992, when he was hired as the aquatics director. He rose up the ranks and is now the vice president of programs and youth development.

“When Don’s not at his desk writing referral letters for members applying to college, or creating action plans for Camp Simmons, he’s coaching kids on winning checkers or chess,” the club said. “The list goes on. If he sees that someone looks like they are having a difficult day, he makes them a leader of an activity and encourages them to do their best.”

The Greenwich community recognizes that Palmer has been “instrumental in helping thousands of children grow and rea-ch their full potential through honesty, hard work and sportsmanship,” the club said. They called him a “kind, firm and supportive” person while noting his big heart.

Riverside

The Riverside Garden Club is looking for volunteers to help mark Earth Day by taking part in a project to beautify the Riverside Train Station.

At 9:30 a.m. April 22, garden club members and volunteers will gather to do maintenance work at the site. A check-in desk will be set up at the north side of the station, where volunteers will get their cleanup assignments.

Volunteers are asked, if possible, to bring a shovel, a rake and pruners and to wear work gloves. Refreshments will be available for volunteers.

Interested volunteers are asked to RSVP in advance by April 19 via email to riverside ctgardenclub@gmail.com. The cleanup even is open to all.

Beautification of the train station has been a tradition for the Riverside Garden Club for generations, dating to 1929. The club says it likes to keep the station maintained for the regular commuters and as a “welcome to those visiting our lovely community.”

The Garden Club holds cleanups in the spring and the fall at the station and has also planted trees, shrubs and flowers there in addition to doing regular maintenance.

In 2018, the club began to develop pollinator gardens at the site, with two garden beds along Oval Avenue that have “an abundance of flowering plants that pollinators seek.”

The effort earned the Riverside Garden Club a Conservation Championship Award from the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut.

“The passersby and daily commuters are now enjoying these gardens, especially spring through late fall when the plants are in bloom,” the club said.

Another pollinator garden was planted along the south side of the station. The goal is to attract birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators as well as produce blooms in the garden with seeds to create “the next generation of pollinators.”

Additionally, the club planted a Japanese garden and a dogwood garden as well daffodils blooming beyond the gardens on the north side of the station by the Post Road.

For more information about the Riverside Garden Club, visit www.riversidectgardenclub. org.

Downtown

Whether you grew up reading the classic Archie Comics books or watching the “Riverdale,” the more up-to-date rebooted version on the CW network, fans have been following the adventures of Archie Andrews and his friends Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead for generations.

Fans of all types are invited to a free virtual talk hosted by the Greenwich Library with Archie Comics co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit at 7 p.m. April 5. To register and get a link to watch, visit greenwichlibrary. libcal.com/event/8903201.

Silberkleit will share “the secret sauce on how the ‘Riverdale’ series has evolved from Archie Comics and why it has much of the same DNA,” according to the Greenwich Library.

“She will share some insight into being a publisher of comics, and how she uses comics to further her passion for the environment and anti-bullying,” the library said. “Another cause Nancy is passionate about is autism, and she will give a peek into a new character she developed that has autism and attends Riverdale High with Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead.”

The talk is held in conjunction with Autism Awareness Month in April. Silberkleit was previously a public school educator for 20 years, and she finds “comic books are a valuable tool for developing literacy and instilling a love of reading,” the library said

She has also used comic books as a vehicle to help young people talk about difficult issues, which she will address in her library discussion as well as a look at the evolution of Archie from comic books to television.