1. By Stephanie Wilcox
Town Times
Last September,
Durham-Middle-
field Youth and
Family Services,
with the help of the
Local Wellness
Council, received a
Drug Free Commu-
nity grant. Along
with receiving
$125,000 per year for
five years, a new
hire was needed to work with
the grant out of the DMYFS
office. Enter Paula Palmieri,
the new Drug Free Commu-
nity program coordinator
who took some time to talk
with Town Times about the
grant and why it’s critical
that the entire community
get behind it.
Paula, can you give us
some of your background?
I’m from Old Saybrook. I
lived there for 20 years. I’m a
mother of four and
have three beautiful
grandchildren. I
have always felt I
was an advocate for
children. That’s how
I started down this
road.
What road are you
referring to?
I worked eight
years with the same
Drug Free Commu-
nity grant in Old Saybrook. It
was a tremendously success-
ful initiative. They started a
Healthy Community Healthy
Youth Coalition. I was there
for eight years and loved it. I
haven’t worked for a couple
years now, but then I heard
DMYFS was looking for a co-
ordinator. I feel like I’m right
Volume 19, Number 40 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall www.TownTimes.com Friday, January 11, 2013
DMYFS’s new hire has
big job ahead
Paula Palmieri
Photo submitted by Kelly Johnson
Kelly and Ed Johnson with daughter Emma, 4, and
their newest addition, Seth, who was the first Con-
necticut baby born in the new year.
Durham is home to Connecticut’s NewYear’s baby
By Michelle P. Carter
Special to the Town Times
It’s the start of a new year,
which for many means new
beginnings, new adventures,
and a whole year of memo-
ries to make. For Durham
parents Kelly and Ed John-
son, the holiday now has an
extra special meaning: the
birth of their son, Seth Ed-
ward. But not only is he a
New Year’s baby — he’s the
New Year’s baby.
Baby Seth, a healthy 8
pounds and 20.5 inches, was
born at 12:06 a.m. on Jan. 1
and crowned the first Con-
necticut baby of 2013. Origi-
nally due to arrive on Dec. 28,
2012, Seth must have had his
heart set on that title be-
cause, despite this being her
second child, mama Kelly
was in labor for 15 hours. But
just after midnight into the
new year, Seth finally made
his debut appearance.
“Whenever I told people
my due date, many of them
would say, ‘Oh, he could be a
New Year’s baby!’” Kelly
shared. But she and her hus-
band, Ed, never expected that
their son would grab the
state’s First Baby title. If Kel-
ly was still pregnant and feel-
ing well, the couple had plans
to go to a friend’s house on
New Year’s Eve for a low-key
get-together. But around 9
a.m. on Dec. 31 she went into
labor.
The celebrity status that
followed was a bit unexpect-
ed for the Johnsons. “It’s
pretty crazy!” Kelly said. “I
never would have imagined,
number one, that we would
have the first (Connecticut)
baby of 2013, and number
two, that it would have
brought so much attention.
It’s pretty cool that Seth will
always have that special ti-
tle.”
Winter birthdays seem to
run in the family, including
Seth’s father. “We have a lot
of family with birthdays in
December,” Kelly said, “(and)
Ed’s birthday is in January,
so (he and Seth) share the
same birthday month.” Baby
Seth’s birthday falling on a
winter holiday also means it
will be easier to get the fami-
ly together to celebrate. “I
think it’s a great birthday to
have,” Kelly added. “We —
and he when he’s an adult —
will most likely always have
Photo by Sue VanDerzee
Hockey players in sneakers took to the ice at Durham’s skating pond on Route
68 Jan. 5.
Winter recreation
See Drug, page 6
See Baby, page 9

2. Commentary
Friday, January 11, 2013 — Town Times 9
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Town Times
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Stephanie Wilcox, Editor
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Contributors: Diana Carr, Trish Dynia,
Elisabeth Kennedy, Karen Kean, Judy Moeckel,
Mark Dionne, Christine Foster and Michelle P. Carter.
Old Home Days ’13 honors
resourcefulness
money for your non-profit,
email her at carolss-
chiling@yahoo.com.
For the parade, Carrie An-
derson will step it off once
again. Contact her at ander-
soncl1202@yahoo.com. Jean
Gay and Louise Tosetti have
taken on the crafters and
businesses; contact either of
them through Jean at jean-
nieg625@comcast.net. Chil-
dren’s activities will be run
this year by a new member,
Carol Bufithis. Reach her at
carolbufithis@gmail.com if
you have ideas or want to
participate in the children’s
program. Don Ginter will be
working on the Safety and
Parking Committee. Do you
have a suggestion? If so,
reach Don at
zephyrrd@aol.com.
If you happen to get a let-
ter from Sydney Mintz,
please send in a contribu-
tion. She is the heart and
backbone that keeps this
wonderful day free and ac-
cessible for all of us. If you
would like to donate or have
a question about sponsor-
ships, email Sydney at semi-
ntz43@gmail.com.
Of course, if there is any-
thing I can help you with,
email me, N. Summer Lerch,
OHD Committee chairper-
son, at n.summer.lerch@
gmail.com. We all look for-
ward to discovering with
you how resourceful our
community really is.
Mark your calendars —
Old Home Days 2013 is com-
ing your way June 7 and 8 at
Peckham Park in Middle-
field. The event will feature
a parade, talent show and
fireworks with a lot more in
between.
This year’s theme honors
our area’s resourcefulness.
We want to showcase what
we are all doing to empower
living sustainably in our
community and on our plan-
et. We want to show off our
local resources; we want to
share our local ideas; we
want to help each other recy-
cle, reuse, re-treat, re-enjoy
and re-purpose our local re-
sources. We want to empow-
er sustainability here in our
community. We are a small
community with a very rich
past, and we have room for
everyone’s ideas. If you have
ideas for showcasing this
theme, email Rob Badin at
robertbadin@sbcglobal.net.
New this year is the
“MDR’s Got Talent” show
(Middlefield, Durham, Rock-
fall). Bill Currlin and his
wife Nancy have volunteered
to run this first-ever talent
show. Talent is a local re-
source, so if you have a tal-
ent, email Bill at
wcurrlin@comcast.net.
We are looking for local
resources for our Main Stage
entertainment. Contact Joe
Liseo at liseohwa@aol.com if
you play music or have an
act.
Carol Schilling is back or-
ganizing concessions. If you
have ideas, questions or
want a booth space to earn
By N. Summer Lerch
OHD
chairperson
the day off, and there’s al-
ways a party somewhere the
night before to celebrate.”
It will certainly give the
Johnsons a good excuse to
party on New Year’s Day.
Their usual New Year’s plans
involve relaxing from the hol-
iday rush and catching a foot-
ball game. “I think adding a
birthday to it will just be an-
other excuse to get family to-
gether after the holidays,”
Kelly said.
Baby
Continued from page 1
But let’s not forget little
Emma Johnson, 4, who is so
proud to be Seth’s big sister.
According to her parents,
she has been a big help with
the new baby’s arrival. She
got a big kick out of seeing
herself and her family on tel-
evision when they were inter-
viewed by WTNH. She was so
excited that she called her
mom, who had not yet been
discharged from the hospital,
to ask if she had seen them
on the news.
When asked what she had
to say about all this, Emma
said, “I love my baby brother
the most!”
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