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Ridgebury Elementary School hosted a group of young dancers and musicians from a performing arts school in Kasangati, Uganda, April 30. The group, from the Tender Talents School and Theatre, is called Abantu Mu Buntu (People in Harmony), and features nearly a dozen performers aged 13 to 18. After a program of dancing, drumming, and music and a dramatization of the tale of Ttimba and Wakkonkome, the group invited Ridgebury students to join them on stage to dance along with Owimbowe (The Lion Sleeps Tonight). Shown from left are Ryan Ambrosino, Hannah Agwa, Joseph LeFebvre, Christopher Provenzale, and Carina Steinmann.— Jill Bigelow photo

Here are some of the stories and features in this week’s Ridgefield Press, out today in print and e-edition.

• The Memorial Day Parade, and plenty of other activities, are set for this long weekend — complete details.
• For the first time ever, the parade grand marshals will be a husband and wife.
• In two weeks, the town will be celebrating the veterans of the Civil War with a big fair in Ballard Park.
• Opponents to retail zoning on upper Route 7, approved last week, are mulling over what to do now.
• The “Goosinator” has taken over chasing the geese from the Ridgefield Golf Course.
• Students had emotional reactions when they watched the realistic mock car crash yesterday.
• Tough decisions dealing with adding sewer connections — especially for apartments — is prompting the selectmen to study the Water Pollution Control Authority’s role.
• CHIRP concerts in Ballard Park begin next week.
• A murder is involved in a Civil War novel, part of a trilogy set in Ridgefield.
• Speaking of murder, why is a convicted murderer, hanged for treason by the Union Army, on a veterans monument here?
• Looking for nearby places to go and things to do this summer? 100 Things to Do is a special section this week.
• The Purple Frog, a new shop in the village, offers gifts from around the world.
• Three chefs are sharpening their skills in preparation for a culinary challenge to benefit Founders Hall.
• Two RVNA nurses have won Nightingale Awards.
• An aviary filled with free-flying lorikeets will open at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk this weekend.
• Young Scrabble players from the library did well in national competition.
• Students from Far Rockaway, helped after Sandy by Ridgefielders, will be visiting Scotland School.
• Money is needed for Tiger Hollow lights
• Safe and roomy, the Toyota Yaris doesn’t offer much zip, says test driver Steven Macoy.
• The Ridgefield Press is on Facebook — become one of more than 1,440 friends and get news updates. Facebook.com/RidgefieldPress.
• 7,148 people have signed up for Ridgefield Press news bulletins via Twitter. You can, too, by stopping by twitter.com/RidgefieldPress.

For newsstands carrying The Press, click here.

Bowling, crew, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, rugby and sailing — these are sports teams Ridgefield High School wants its students to be able to participate in as club sports in its athletic program.

However, the school doesn’t have an approved set of guidelines, or procedures, necessary to show its commitment level to these activities.

RHS principal Stacey Gross and Athletic Director Carl Charles drafted a procedure for sports team to be considered as a club sport and brought it to the Board of Education for discussion Monday night.

“These sports aren’t in our athletic budget— they don’t fit under the student life umbrella — so they don’t have a home,” said Ms. Gross. “We really want to support our kids and what they want to do without any prejudices.

“We want to give parents of kids who want to play these sports a real answer and a real direction to go.”

After a 20-minute dialogue, the board concluded Ms. Gross and Mr. Charles would need to return after they calculated what the program’s insurance cost would be and how much of the liability the board would fall under if the clubs were accepted as part of the athletics program.

“Our initial thought is the insurance won’t be covered by the club itself and it’s something our school district will have to cover to show our commitment,” Mr. Charles said.

He added that all other funding for the program— salaries, supplies, transportation, uniforms, officials, facility and field rentals — would be covered by the club’s participants.

When the proposal drew some negative feedback from board members, Mr. Charles said  “the clubs will be picking up a lot more” of the total cost compared to the insurance cost the board will be asked to cover.

The drafted procedure presented to the board states that for a team to be considered for approval by the Board of Education as a club sport, the organizers must submit a written request to Ms. Gross and Mr. Charles, which they will review.

If a club gets preliminary approval by the high school, then it gets forwarded to Superintendent Deborah Low before final submission to the Board of Education.

The board has the right to accept and reject a team as a club.

According to the drafted procedure, when considering applications, the board will have to evaluate the overall athletic opportunities already provided to students in the district as well as the impact of the proposed club on the district’s compliance with Title IX.

Most importantly, the board will have to determine the likelihood that the organizers of the club will be able to raise enough money to sustain the team as a club for at least three years. It would also consider the long-term sustainability of the activity as a varsity sport.

“There needs to be a financial commitment from the club’s organizers and that’s three years,” Mr. Charles said. “These clubs need to be efficiently self-funded without the district’s paying for their costs.”

In addition, the board must consider future financial constraints it may face if the club becomes a varsity-level team.

“Should the Board of Education eventually decide to adopt a sports club as part of the athletics program at RHS, the following costs would need to be considered in regards to budgets and fundings,” the memorandum the board received Monday states.

According to the drafted procedure, before the request gets anywhere near the board, the parties submitting the request must provide the following information:

• Documentation of student interest adequate to support a viable competitive team
• The qualified coach(es) who will coach the club sport. Coaches must have a coaching permit issued by State of Connecticut standards and must attend pre-season athletic department meetings conducted by the RHS ahtletics director.
• Proven and sustained availability of appropriate competition within reasonable distance from the school by submitting a copy of the club’s proposed athletic schedule to the athletics director. The director will provide scheduling support to the club.

In addition, clubs must agree to be supervised by the athletics director and club participants must be follow the RHS “Athletics Training Expectations,” which states that all athletes participating in any sport at Ridgefield High School are to be chemical free.

The athletics office will also oversee required paperwork, including parental consent forms, emergency consent to treat and current physical forms, as well as a submitted roster of the team one week prior to the start of the season.

As for the sports listed on the memorandum presented to the board, Mr. Charles said that rugby and fencing have drawn the most participants with 40 and 35 students, respectively.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi; Peggy Marconi; Elaine Cox, auction committee chair and recipient of the Robert S. Young Humanitarian Award; and L. Kevin Cox, director emeritus, Ability Beyond Disability and Robert S. Young Humanitarian Award recipient.

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Ability Beyond Disability hosted a gala that raised a record-breaking $1 million, with donations still coming in, on April 27 at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury.

Longtime supporters Kevin and Elaine Cox of Ridgefield were honored with the Robert S. Young Humanitarian Award for their “unmatched commitment to the community.”

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi chaired the event. Mr. Marconi has supported Ability Beyond Disability for many years and employs an individual served by the organization at Ridgefield Town Hall.

More than 550 people attended.

Ability Beyond Disability helps people with disabilities succeed through community job training and placement, supported living, and recreational and educational opportunities.

A hot dog cart, a lunch trailer, two ice cream trucks:  The weather’s warming and rolling food vendors are gearing up for the outdoor eating season.

“Things are great. With the weather, it gets better,” Mike Principi, owner of the Chez Lenard hotdog cart, told the selectmen at their May 15 meeting.

That night the Board of Selectmen renewed four town permits for outdoor food vendors:

• Mr. Principi’s Chez Lenard cart, which operates on Main Street;
• Greg Zawacki’s ‘Zawack Shack’ lunch trailer, that is parked regularly in a pull-off area along Route 7, north of Branchville;
• Zachary Cohen’s Cones for College ice cream truck, which has no spot but drives around;
• Enver Ceylan’s Circusman ice cream truck, another roving vendor.

All approvals were   unanimous 4-0 votes.

Vendors pay $200 each for permits,  good for a year. Two other food vendors have permits to operate in town that aren’t due expire until later in the season — the Blue Dog lobster roll truck that parks on Route 7 near Simpaug Turnpike, and the Redding Creamery ice cream truck.

Food vendors are also subject to inspection by the Health Department.

There was none of the contentious debate  that filled the selectmen’s meeting room last spring, as the board considered whether there might be too many vendors in town and ended up adopting a policy to limit each vendor to one permitted location or roving truck each.

The selectmen did have a bit of friendly back-and-forth with each of the owners.

“Have you gotten vegetarian hot dogs?” Selectwoman Barbara Manners asked Mr. Principi of Chez Lenard.

He replied that he did get periodic requests for veggie dogs, but had yet to add them to the menu.

“There are options,” he added. “I have sautéed onions and peppers, served on a roll, with or without cheese fondue.”

Selectman Andy Bodner pondered the practical implications of a vendor cart that served conventional meat hot dogs also offering veggie dogs.

“Can they co-mingle?” he wondered

From the audience, John Katz chimed in:

“She said ‘vegetarian’ not ‘Kosher.’ ”

Breann Dick, a senior at Ridgefield High School, is a winner in the 2013 National YoungArts Foundation. An engraved award will be displayed at school for the coming year. Breann submitted a body of paintings to YoungArts, including ‘Happy Hour Two,’ above, a 24- by 36-inch oil. Founded in 1981, the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) recognizes and supports America’s most talented 15- to 18-year-olds in the visual, literary and performing arts. This year, YoungArts named 685 winners from 46 states, selected from a pool of more than 10,000 applications nationwide. Over the past three decades, YoungArts has awarded more than $6 million in monetary awards and facilitated in excess of $100 million in college scholarship opportunities. YoungArts is also the exclusive path to the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts award.

Memorial Day dominates the long weekend, of course, but the traditional beginning of summer offers other activities as well.

• The Music Fest takes place in Ballard Park Friday afternoon and evening.
• An Artist Salon is set for the Guild Friday.
• Ridgebury veterans will be honored Sunday.
• Author of a book on women at work in World War II will speak Saturday at the Guild of Artists.
• Martin Park will be open free of charge all weekend.
• Lucy and Desi will be screened Sunday at the Playhouse.
• Local musicians will perform in a benefit for the teen center Sunday in the park.
• A dance performance will take place at the Guild of Artists Sunday.
• The parade steps off Monday at 11:30.
• Fifes and drums will be the subject of a new show and a party Monday at the Aldrich.
• Pulled pork will be the fare Monday at St. Stephen’s barbecue.

Details on all of these events will be found in this week’s Press. The basics on many are in the Datebook.

For information on regional events, see Arts & Leisure’s This Weekend listings.

Attorney General George Jepsen, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Insurance are warning Connecticut residents about a telephone scam that is misrepresenting the DMV as providing information for automobile insurance quotes.

Recently, there have been numerous reports of residents being called with an automated message claiming that DMV provided information so that they can save costs on auto insurance premiums.

The message claims that information provided by the Connecticut DMV has allowed them to research their insurance history and permitted them to make contact with the resident.

The DMV does not and will not, share its customers’ personal information for these purposes. The claim of receiving insurance information under the guise of DMV’s approval is false and misleading, Attorney General George Jepsen and DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey said today.

“Consumers should never give out personal information over the phone unless they’re absolutely certain they know who they’re dealing with,” said Attorney General Jepsen.

Scam artists have gotten increasingly more sophisticated and creative in the methods used to get personal information, he said.

If someone receives this call, or a call like it, do not respond, but simply hang up, the commissioner and the attorney general said.

Scam artists use special software to disguise the number they are calling from to fraudulently gain access to your money and personal identifying information. These are fraudulent attempts by con-artists to obtain funds, personal and financial information from consumers by sending solicitations via email, fax and regular postal mail in an effort to reel in money, as well as personal and financial information.

If you submitted information in response to this or any other similar attempt, you should act immediately to protect your identity by placing a fraud alert or credit freeze on your credit report, contact the financial institutions for which you provided information and be extra wary of all future solicitations.

You can verify whether an insurance company or agent is licensed to do business in Connecticut by checking with the Connecticut Insurance Department at 1 (800) 203-3447 or on the agency website at www.ct.gov/cid/.

Information on identity theft can be found on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ or Attorney General George Jepsen’s website at www.ct.gov/ag/.  You may also report these kinds of fraud attempts to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Additional information on IC3 is available at www.ic3.gov.

Ashley Heisler and James Strandjord

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Heisler of Ridgefield have announced the engagement of their daughter, Ashley Elizabeth, to James Mark Strandjord, son of Mark Strandjord and Joan Manella of Denver, Colo.

Ms. Heisler graduated from Ridgefield High School in 2005, Fordham University in 2009, and Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2013. She lives in Ridgefield.

Mr. Strandjord is a veteran of the United States Navy. He graduated from the University of Colorado, Denver, in 2009, received a master’s degree in 2010, and graduated with Ms. Heisler from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2013.

He currently attends the Thomas M. Cooley Law School LLM program.

They plan to marry in April at St. Mary Church in Ridgefield.

The scene of the shooting late this afternoon. —Thomas B. Nash photo

Friday, 9:40 p.m. — A man, who police said had been wielding a gun, died at Danbury Hospital tonight after he was shot by an officer.

State Police said that at around 5:15 p.m., Ridgefield Police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at a house at 423 Ridgebury Road.

Officers confronted a man in the yard, armed with a handgun.

“Ridgefield officers attempted to order the subject to disarm and put down his weapon,” said State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance.

“The male subject refused to comply with the officers’ orders. He raised the weapon towards the officers and caused a Ridgefield officer to discharge his service weapon, striking the male subject.”

The man was taken to Danbury Hospital where he died shortly after admission. His name has not been released, pending notification of next of kin.

The Ridgefield officer was not injured at the scene, but was taken to Danbury Hospital where he was treated and released.  His name was also being withheld until his family was notified.

The crime scene was secured by Ridgefield Police. At the request of the Danbury state’s attorney and Ridgefield Police Chief John Roche,  Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad Detectives responded to conduct the shooting investigation.

“State Police Detectives will process and document the scene, collect physical and forensic evidence, and also interview all witnesses,” Lt. Vance said.

A post mortem examination will be conducted by the Office of the Chief State’s Medical Examiner to determine the manner and cause of death.

This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer — a three-day holiday filled with shopping, picnicking, outdoor sports, arts and leisure activities. Parades will feature children marching behind various and sundry banners, showcasing the wide range of activities and organizations available to contemporary youth. Outdoor swimming facilities will open for the first time in nearly nine months, and lamp poles, buildings and homes decked with flags and red-white-and-blue bunting will seem to confirm the weekend’s festive, celebratory atmosphere. While enjoyable, such atmosphere threatens to obscure the solemn, sacred purpose of Memorial Day, and it is imperative that we recall that purpose and actively teach it to our children.

The origins of Memorial Day are rooted in the American Civil War. During those tragic years, individual towns began observing “decoration” days on which fallen Civil War soldiers were commemorated and their graves decorated with flowers. Following the war, May 30 was designated as a national Decoration Day, and the holiday remained a remembrance of Civil War dead, until World War I, when the observance was expanded to honor all members of American military killed in combat. Over time, Memorial Day became preferred to Decoration Day as the name of the holiday, and it has rightfully become an occasion to recognize all who have served our country in uniform. But the core purpose — honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country — remains unchanged.

Remembering and honoring their sacrifices is right and proper, an obligation each American owes to those men and women. But it is also an obligation we owe our democracy and our children. A just society must contemplate, grapple with and be ever aware of the service and sacrifice of its veterans and fallen military. Each life is a precious and sacred price paid for the self-determination and democracy we cherish. While we enjoy the youth, freedom and festivities that accompany this weekend, we must recall the lost youths who never came home and whose enjoyments of such freedoms and festivities were cut painfully short. Recent years and world events have seen their numbers expanded yet again. We must remain mindful of their sacrifices — the precious costs of all we enjoy — so that such losses do not become hidden from our conscience, and so we may ensure that our national decision-making does not discount or obscure these true and terrible prices.

While enjoying the extended holiday weekend, please plan to actively remember and share with your children the real meaning and sacred purpose of Memorial Day. Visit the War Memorial monument on Main Street (in front of Jesse Lee Church) and explain what it means and whom it commemorates. After the parade, attend the memorial ceremony in Ballard Park. Explain that many of those we remember this day were just beginning their lives, barely removed from high school and the joys of youth. And thank those living who did return. Remember and teach.

 The Ridgefield Democratic Town Committee supplies this column.

State Senator Toni Boucher (R-Wilton) raised concerns over what she called controversial proposals that were considered this week during the legislative session and also successfully advanced a bill that would improve school safety measures.

“With less than two weeks remaining of the legislative session, several controversial proposals came up for a vote this week,” said Senator Boucher. “Businesses, families and individuals have raised concerns about these proposals that will make an economic recovery more difficult and could potentially lead to cases of fraud.”

Three of the controversial measures that were considered this week include:

House Bill 6495, AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO THE MOTOR VEHICLE STATUTES. which would allow people who cannot provide the state Department of Motor Vehicles with proof of legal residence in the U.S. or a Social Security Number to obtain driver’s licenses for driving purposes only. While the bill states that the licenses cannot be used for federal identification purposes, such as boarding a plane, or as proof of identity to vote, the measure has raised concerns about voting, employment and benefits fraud. This week, it was debated throughout the night in the House of Representatives and finally passed by a vote of 74 to 55 at 5:48 a.m. It will likely be brought up for a vote by the majority democrats in the senate soon, Senator Boucher said.

Senate Bill 387, AN ACT INCREASING THE MINIMUM FAIR WAGE would raise the minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.00 per hour by 2015. Small businesses submitted testimony opposing the proposal due to increased costs that could slow hiring and reduce available work hours.

“Studies have shown that increased minimum wages often end up harming workers, especially teenagers and minorities,” said Senator Boucher. “To make up for the increased wages, businesses are forced to adjust by cutting employees and work hours, reducing benefits and charging higher prices to consumers. Considering the significant challenges facing our state, I raised concerns that this proposal will further slow our anemic economic recovery and limit job creation.”

She cited Harvard University economist Greg Mankiw, who said, “The minimum wage has its greatest impact on the market for teenage labor. The equilibrium wages of teenagers are low because teenagers are among the least skilled and least experienced members of the labor force.”

Senator Boucher said, “Labor costs are one of the most significant components of the cost of doing business and living in a state. The last thing the legislature should be doing in this economy is to further reduce jobs opened to our youngest workers and drive up Connecticut’s high cost of living even higher.”

Senate Bill 1154, AN ACT CONCERNING THE ACCIDENTAL FAILURE OF SUIT STATUTE. This bill allows someone whose malpractice case was dismissed for failure to meet this requirement to file a subsequent case once under the accidental failure-of-suit statute, even if the dismissal was for a reason not currently covered by that statute.

Senator Boucher said that under current law, a personal injury lawyer already has 60 days to correct an inadvertent or an excusable error to properly re-file a lawsuit. If the personal injury lawyer was negligent in following the statutes, the client could file a legal malpractice case against the lawyer.

“Many are concerned that this bill would provide near immunity against the personal injury lawyer for failing to properly file the claim,” she said.  “There is a belief that if this bill were to pass, more stress and costs would be placed on Connecticut healthcare.  Connecticut has already become less feasible for doctors to set up practices. The state’s medical profession and healthcare institutions have testified that they are finding it difficult to attract and retain doctors under the current unfavorable medical malpractice laws that favor the legal profession.”

Senator Boucher represents the 26th Senate District, including the communities of Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton. She is the Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s Education, Higher Education and Transportation Committees and also serves on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

Adoption of the new “Gateway Zone” allowing limited retail uses around the intersection of routes 7 and 35 has prompted a lot of talk, and opponents are wondering if there’s anything they might do to change it.

“I’m very frustrated,” Selectwoman Barbara Manners said last Wednesday, the night after the Planning and Zoning Commission’s 5-to-4 vote to adopt the proposal. “A vote that could possibly alter the character of the town was made.”

She was troubled that a controversial measure, strongly opposed by a sizable majority of speakers at two public hearings, could be passed on so narrow a vote of just a nine-member commission.

“When we have a proposed ordinance, it’s always subject to a public hearing and a town meeting,” Ms. Manners said of the Board of Selectmen.

Main Street jeweler Wayne Addessi had opposed the measure from the perspective of a retailer and landlord, worried that creating a new retail zone might weaken the commercial vitality of the village area.

He said late last week that he was looking at what might be done.

“Disappointed in this entire process, believe it was a bad decision for Ridgefield,” he said in an email to The Press on Friday. “Reviewing any recourse that might be available to us.”

The new zone contains numerous changes and design adjustments, but the most controversial aspect is to allow more retail uses in the area.

Partly in answer to those concerns, the commission limited the size of new retail uses with an 8,000-square-foot maximum for each tenant, and a 20,000-square-foot maximum for all retail uses on a given property or lot.

Helen Dimos, a member of the Village District Committee, had also opposed the change. She called the commission’s decision “unfortunate,” but said she was “not sure if there’s anything we can do” as a practical matter.

“There are people that are very concerned, upset about it. Various people are exploring the options right now,” she said Wednesday, May 22. “There’s been no action yet. We’re just looking into it.”

If the commission decision were to be challenged in court, an appeal would need to be filed at State Superior Court in Danbury within 15 days of the legal notice announcing the decision, which is in the May 23 Press.

“Literally we’re just exploring every option there is,” Ms. Dimos said. “There are not many.”

No other member of the Board of Selectmen spoke on the subject last Wednesday after Ms. Manners, who’d asked that it be put on the agenda, expressed her frustration.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said Monday he’d been approached about a possible legal appeal of the commission’s decision.

“Helen Dimos came in. She said, ‘Would you support an appeal?’ I said, ‘That’s a question for the Board of Selectmen.’ Personally, I feel the zone change was not at the right time,” Mr. Marconi said.

“We’re still in an economic recession. Our unemployment in town is just under 6% — normally it’s at 2% or below. So is the timing right? No, I believe there are many merchants in our community that are surviving, at best,” he said.

“And we continue to urge people to shop locally to support our downtown, our Copps Hill area, our Branchville area. And opening up yet another retail district, I think, is poor timing.”

Mr. Marconi also said he understood Ms. Manners’ concerns about the process.

“People have stated that the testimony given at the public hearing definitely and overwhelmingly was against the zone change,” he said. “And I think all of us as elected officials represent the people and need to listen to the people.”

Involved in planning the Civil War programs are (front row) Kay Ables, Lesley Lambton, Elise Haas, and Mary Rindfleisch; (rear) Chairman Hilary Micalizzi, Nancy Selander, and Charlie Pankenier. Not pictured: Dr. Charles Hambrick-Stowe (Congregational Church), Sue Law (Graveyard Committee), Di Masters (Community Center), and Marion Roth (Chamber of Commerce). —Jay Haas photo

Celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War will happen only once and Ridgefield wants to ensure it pays a fair tribute to those who fought in the conflict that came to redefine our country.

Members of the Ridgefield Civil War Commemoration Committee are planning a Soldiers Fair, the culminating event in a six-month community-wide series of commemorative events entitled “Ridgefield Remembers the Civil War.”

“A lot of people recognize Ridgefield’s significance during the American Revolution, but few people have an appreciation for the sacrifices our citizens made during the Civil War — this is the first time we are bringing it to the forefront,” said Hilary Micalizzi, the program director at the Keeler Tavern Museum.

The Soldiers Fair will take place in Ballard Park on Saturday, June, 8 from 1 to 4:30 with a rain date of June 9.

The fair will feature a battle reenactment as well as music from the era.

“We want to remember all the soldiers who fought so we can never forget the huge sacrifice they made for this country,” said Ms. Micalizzi. “Many soldiers from Connecticut thought the war was going to last only three to six months and we wanted to capture their perspective and tell about their lives and how the war impacted them.”

In addition, she said the fair will depict how Ridgefield participated in the war at home, away from the battle fields.

Ms. Micalizzi said the Soldier’s Fair will be modeled after historic Sanitary Fairs, which were events that were held throughout the United States during that era to raise money and support for injured war veterans as well as the Union Army.

The community wide series has been no small undertaking for those groups involved in the planning process.

“We’ve been meeting for over a year and a half, bringing committees from all over town together and making sure everyone had a voice in the process,” Ms. Micalazzi said. “There’s been growing support and cooperation from all the organizations involved and we want to continue to build on the participation we’ve seen at recent events and keep it going into the Soldier’s Fair.”

The goal of the fair is to entertain and educate the general public.

So what was Ridgefield’s wartime role?

The town contributed 170 to 200 of its natives  to fight for the Union army.

Ridgefield Remembers the Civil War will continue June 8 with a modern-day Soldiers Fair featuring Civil War re-enactors from Company A of the 11th Connecticut Volunteers. Members of the group, who are from Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, will recreate the camp life and experience shared by Union soldiers 150 years ago. The fair at Ballard Park from 1 to 4:30 p.m. will include music and other activities of the period; admission is free.

“Civil War record keeping was very bad so the number of people from Ridgefield who served varies,” said Charlie Pankenier, a member of the commemoration committee. “One reason the number seems to change is that someone from Ridgefield may have enlisted in Waterbury, but if he died during battle he was shown as someone from Waterbury, although he was buried here and lived here.”

The number of dead soldiers varies as well.

Mr. Pankenier estimates that six died in combat, while the number who died from disease or other unknown causes is approximately 16.

“There’s a difficulty in knowing the true number of causalities because some soldiers abandoned their posts and decided to leave the East and went West during the war or after it was done,” he said.

He added that Ridgefield had approximately 70 soldiers in the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, the town’s most served unit, which suffered many causalities at Chancellorsville in May 1863 and at Gettysburg in July 1863.

Back at home, Ridgefielders suffered from loss and months of uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.

“Ridgefield had its fair share of heroes and heartbreak,” Mr. Pankenier said.

The fate of the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry is why the town is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2013, because Ridgefield’s greatest sacrifice came in a two-month period in the spring and summer of 1863. Approximately 11 men were killed, wounded and captured on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg — July 1, 1863, more than any other day of the war.

“The reasoning of many soldiers who joined was wanting to keep the union together and prevent secession,” Ms. Miccalazi said. “There are really so many heroes from Ridgefield who participated in the war.”

Eddie Pickett was one of the Ridgefielders who lost their lives at Gettysburg. He is claimed to be “the town’s greatest Civil War hero.”

Henry Keeler was the first person from town to die on the battlefield, when he was killed at the Battle of Antietam on Sept.17, 1862.

There will be enactors for these two men as well as Edward Knox, John Jarvis, Phineas Lounsbury, Jacob Dauchy and Hiram Davis. Col. Knox won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism under fire.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to educate and to bring awareness to these men and what they did for our country,” Ms. Micalizzi said.

In addition to Ridgefield soldiers, there will be actors impersonating Abraham Lincoln and Clara Barton.

The free event is open to people of all ages and will include a proclamation read by First Selectman Rudy Marconi honoring Ridgefield’s Civil War veterans.

Several other events will take place during the fair.

For a lover of historical music, the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra’s wind ensemble will perform along with the Ridgefield Chorale with songs of the North and the South. The Serendipity Chorale   will perform Negro spirituals.

“We would love the townspeople to participate and to show interest in the reenactment and the music from the era,” Ms. Micalizzi said. “We hope people really engage with what we’re offering them.”

There will be hands-on activities and games for children as well as an opportunity for them to meet Abraham Lincoln and to learn about what he accomplished during the conflict.

A small number of the re-enactors are from Ridgefield, while a large majority of them will come from a group based in New Fairfield and southern Litchfield County.

The Gettysburg Address will be recited and  Civil War artifacts will be on displayed.

The event will also encourage those in attendance to write letters to active soldiers and to learn about opportunities to support veterans across the country.

“We wanted to make this fair relevant for today, so there’s going to be a connection to our modern time period and the soldier’s who fight for our freedom now,” said Ms. Micalizzi.

More than a dozen groups have partnered together to present Ridgefield Remembers the Civil War, including the Ridgefield Library, the Keeler Tavern Museum, Ridgefield Historical Society, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Ridgefield Playhouse, the Ridgefield Graveyard Committee, First Congregational Church of Ridgefield, Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra, Ridgefield Chorale, Ridgefield Community Center, League of Women’s Voters, Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Ridgefield.

Ms. Micalizzi added the committee is still looking for sponsors and anyone who is willing to contribute.

“We are in great need of financial support,” she said. “This event’s success is dependent upon the generosity of our local businesses, individuals and organizations. We look forward to the opportunity to include you as a partner in this effort.”

The total expenses for the event are approximately $3,000.

Donations can be made payable to Keeler Tavern Museum.

For more information, visit the Ridgefield Library and Keeler Tavern websites at www.ridgefieldlibrary.com and www.keelertavernmuseum.org.

Paul Baker

The older I get, and I have gotten pretty old, Memorial Day becomes more meaningful. However, at the same time, I suspect my contemporaries will agree the real meaning of the day has gotten away from us.

For far too many, the meaning of the day is losing ground to the sound of bands, the grinding engines of fire trucks, decorated bicycles and hundreds of happy Boy and Girl sccouts in the line of march. This is by no means intended to diminish the enthusiasm surrounding the parades, but only to bring to light their purpose. There is more to the day than parades, picnics, and games.

When I was just a youngster, I saw those men who had returned from World War One on parade. I saw men who had been in the trenches at Verdun, Argonne and Ardennes proudly strutting up Main Street in Ridgefield. There were men who walked with difficulty as a result of their wounds, a couple shell shocked, and others who had been severely gassed in a march three times the length of the parade there today. I remember the sound of the guns being fired at the cemetery where the parade ended. All around me there was a grim silence as the crowd remembered one who had been lost. The crowd quietly disbursed and we were also so grateful we would never have to go through it again.

Who could have guessed that less than 30 years later, we would have been taking that same walk. Ridgefield had grown a little. This time, many more were lost and the memories much deeper and more painful. Some of my friends who watched that first parade, would not be watching the latest one. They paid the supreme sacrifice in Africa, Europe and the Pacific.

When I think of the anquish parents and families suffer for those lost today, I reflect over some I’ll be thinking about this Memorial Day.

I’ll always think of the first Ridgefield young man to die, Jim Birarelli. “Jim Bar” hadn’t accomplished much with his life. It was no great surprise when “Jim Bar” enlisted in the army. It wasn’t long before we were to learn he was Ridgefield’s first son to die in action. Reports were that when his unit was being overrun by Rommel’s forces in North Africa, Jim went down with his gun blazing away at the oncoming forces.

Another one of Ridgefield’s early volunteers was Gino Polverari. He was every youngster’s friend when he doled out the oversized ice cream cones in Joe’s corner store, or repaired car engines later. Everyone was surprised when they heard he had become a ski trooper. Skis were not part of his itinerary in town.

It’s not well known how this ski trooper ended up at Anzio, but Geno became one of the terrible tolls of those lost there. Sadly, Geno’s wife gave birth to their son after he left to go overseas. That son fulfilled an ambition when he made the trip to Italy to see the grave of the father he never knew.

I think of two of other friends of my vintage. One came back and one did not, Dominic “Poni” Bedini and Armando Frulla. Both were paratroopers who were dropped behind enemy lines as part of the invasion. Armando never had a chance as his widely scattered unit was overrun. Bedini became one of the most unusual stories of WWII. He was badly wounded and captured by Germans. However, as American units advanced and Germans retreated, the Americans came upon Bedini’s wounded body with a note on it that read, “I did all I could do for this man. I hope he survives.” It had the signature of his German benefactor, and the name of the United States University he had attended.

I think of a young man who became a navy fighter pilot, Billy Bell. His is a very unusual story. He took off from Pensacola with two other pilots and was never heard from again. There are those who attribute the loss to the “Bermuda Triangle.”

Not all of the memories are sad ones. I think of the five Ridgefield brothers, the Tulipani boys, all of whom served “overseas.” Their mother, a deeply religious woman, prayed to Mother Cabrini that if She would bring her sons home alive she would donate a statue of her to St. Mary’s church in that town. They did and she did.

Added to my saddest memories are my friends lost from units trained at our base in Bruning, Nebraska, the men in the 449th bomb group. They sustained the heaviest losses largely during unescorted raids over the Ploesti Oil Fields. I think of Lt. Henry Silvers who came up to say goodbye when the group was leaving with the words, “Paul, we’re going over and most of us are not coming back.” Most didn’t and he was one of them.

I think of the 26 P-47 fighter pilot trainees who went down when the C-47 carrying them to a gunnery mission crashed during a storm not long after I had given them clearance for takeoff. They included twin brothers. I think of Lt. Al Leoni, who crashed to his death on the runway only minutes after I had radio communication with him. For me, memories of what happened during and after Bruning are a daily memorial day.

I know there are many whose experiences are far more perilous and painful than mine. I speak for them as well as myself when I urge everyone to look and think beyond the parades, music, games, fireworks and other activities on that day. Display your flag; respect your country; think of those who have paid the price of our liberty. Honor them by making Memorial Day really memorable.

Josi and Jim Connelly are the first married couple to share duties as grand marshals of Ridgefield’s Memorial Day parade. ‘I know we’re the first couple,’ he said. —Macklin Reid photo

A pharmacist mate and a Navy nurse, Jim and Josi Connelly, are the grand marshals of Ridgefield’s Memorial Day parade — the first husband and wife to share the honor. Both witnessed war’s terrible price, not as combatants but as hospital workers.

After enlisting when he turned 17 in 1943, Jim Connelly went through boot camp and was sent to the Navy’s Hospital Corps School. He worked in a series of medical facilities — in San Diego, Bainbridge, Md., at the big Marine base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and back home in Boston.

“At Lejeune, there was a lot of action in the Pacific then, we were seeing a lot of young guys coming back with terrible wounds — horrible stuff,” he said.

“I was lucky that I wasn’t exposed to any of that kind of stuff,” he said of combat. “But I saw the results of it, and it wasn’t pleasant.”

Josi Connelly worked in the naval hospital in Portsmouth, Va., just after the Korean War.

“We had a big psych unit. Quite a few  — ‘shell-shocked’ is what we called them. Today they call it post-traumatic stress. It’s still a terrible thing,” she said.

“I often wished there were something more you could do. It’s a very painful and difficult thing to work through,” said Ms. Connelly, who spent most of her career as a psychiatric nurse.

“I don’t think we were as skilled as they are today,” she said.

Both entered the military out of high school.

Jim Connelly is from Boston.

“Born and raised, went to school there, went to college there, Boston College,” he said. “Boston English High School, 1943.

“At that time in Boston, instead of graduating in June, I graduated in December 1942.”

This allowed young men to have a high school diploma in hand and join the service as soon as they turned 17, which is what Mr. Connelly did in February 1943.

“I was so darn young, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

After serving through the end of the war caring for the wounded and sick at various stateside naval hospitals, he finished his naval career helping process servicemen for discharge at the Boston Naval Separation Center.

“I could practically walk home,” he said.

He received his own honorable discharge as a pharmacist mate third class in May 1946 — nine months after the Japanese surrendered, ending the war.

“I had a very uneventful service time,” he said. “I didn’t kill anybody. I never saw battle. I just saw a lot of guys that were in battle.”

Josi Connelly grew up in Langhorne, Pa., and enlisted for training as a Navy nurse during the Korean War.

“I signed up while the war was still on, but I didn’t go in until it was over,” she said.

“All the boys in my school were going into the Marines, so I decided I’d better do something to take care of them.

“They went directly out of high school. A lot of them saw action — the Marines, they were quick to send them in.”

She studied at the Episcopal Hospital Nursing School, affiliated with Temple University.

She worked first at the naval hospital in St. Albans, N.Y., and then went to Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia.

“While I was there we had a horrific polio epidemic — that’s when polio was still around,” she said.

Common among the young — children, but also young adults like servicemen — polio with its threat of paralysis was greatly feared.

Did hospital staff worry about catching it from patients?

“I think that’s a fear you don’t discuss.” Ms. Connelly said.

“I remember as a little kid,” Jim Connelly said. “You don’t do this, you don’t do that. Don’t associate with other kids.”

“We didn’t have anything to treat it,” Josi Connelly said.

“Jonas Salk was a hero when he developed the polio vaccine,” Jim Connelly said.

After his service, Mr. Connelly went on to a 40-year career in the pharmaceutical business, with Eli Lily — which made polio vaccines.

Josi Connelly left the Navy during her first marriage, when she was expecting her first child — women weren’t allowed to remain in the service through a pregnancy. She resigned her commission and was honorably discharged as an ensign.

While raising a family she had a long career in nursing, much of it with the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association. She was one of the RVNA’s first hospice nurses.

Though both lived in Ridgefield for more than 40 years, they didn’t know each other until about 25 years ago. Both already had grown children when they married, and their shared family now includes eight children, 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

“I can’t believe we have children that are 60,” he said.

“Most of them live around here, so we don’t have any trouble keeping busy.”

Yes, they baby-sit.

They are retired, serve as Stephen Ministers at their church, St. Mary, and are, of course, Navy veterans — both of them.

“She attained officer status; I was just a regular swabbie,” Mr. Connelly said. “She still retains that respect.”

Ridgefield High School junior Daniel Salciccioli designed a website for students at the high school to vote on senior superlatives. He completed the site in two weeks this winter. —Janet Salciccioli photo

Remember senior superlatives?

Those pesky, popularity-ridden titles supplemented into yearbooks at the end of the year awarded the star jock and the blonde bombshell with a gluttony of recognition and added to the already bloated confidence of a few, while neglecting to praise the majority?

Well, have no fear — the start of a new era in voting for superlatives has arrived, thanks to Ridgefield High School junior Daniel Salciccioli.

Mr. Salciccioli created a website in February and March after he met with Jennifer DeJulio, a history teacher at the high school and the senior class adviser, who counted the superlative ballots by hand last year.

“Ms. DeJulio wasn’t sure if it could be done and wanted me to try it out to see if it would work,” he recalled. “She thought it would be super difficult, but it was actually really easy for me.”

Mr. Salciccioli said the website took him only two weeks to create.

Ms. DeJulio calls Mr. Salciccioli a “visionary” with “natural website design skills.”

“I don’t understand that stuff at all, and he created this awesome website with complete ease — it blew me away,” she said. “Last year, it took us several hours to count the votes, so we are really thankful for his help.”

The way the site works is a voter is given a login code to sign in. Once logged in the site, the voter can use a drop down menu to select a male and a female winner for any given superlative listed.

Mr. Salciccioli hopes a fair voting structure, where a student is given a login code to his site and can vote only once, will level the playing field. But even if it doesn’t, he believes the website will benefit future classes from spreading the superlative wealth.

“The way I programmed the site, it removes any possibility of multiple ballots by a single user,” he said. “The user only gets one vote and they can’t go back, which is the most important part of the code I wrote. …

“The logic behind starting the site was eliminating multiple ballots.”

He said he finished the back end of the website with the drop-down module and the login codes per student before he worked on the front end, or the “looks,” of the site.

As for the feedback he’s received from the senior class, he says they approve of the new, digital system for the most part, but he has had some critics.

“People didn’t realize right away that once you vote, you can’t go back, so I added a notice at the top of the site that tells them that,” Mr. Salciccioli said. “I had to reset a few votes and allow students access to login again, but other than that I’ve received a lot of compliments.”

He added that he will work with the school again next year at maintaining the site and that he intends to make it look a bit nicer by tweaking the front-end layout and making it more user-friendly.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to maintain,” he said.

Mr. Salciccioli started programming websites when he was a freshman. The superlative site for the school is the first website he’s created, but he has plenty of programming experience.

Last summer, he interned at Wikia Co., a San Francisco-based company, where he wrote code for the company’s website.

“Wikia operates the world’s largest network of collaboratively published video game, entertainment and lifestyle content on the web,” the company’s website reads.

As for this summer, he said he intends to work with his friend Devin Gund to create a push notification app for Ridgefield Public Schools.

While most people his age are just beginning to think about college, Mr. Salciccioli has his eyes set on some of the country’s best technology schools, including Stevens Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Salciccioli said he intends to study computer science in college, specifically cyber and website security.

Emma Hardiman, owner of the Purple Frog gift shop, displays colorful and creative storage boxes. Ms. Hardiman opened business on April 27. —Steve Coulter photo

Sushi plates from Scotland, asparagus-shaped candles from Paris and necklaces from Kenya — these are only some of the wares the Purple Frog gift shop at 5 Bailey Avenue offers to its customers.

Store owner Emma Hardiman said she always wanted her store to be bright and modern with gifts for everybody. And it has taken on a more international identity since its official opening on April 27.

“The idea is you can buy anything for anybody of any age,” she said. “There’re gifts for both men and women, students and babies; gifts for travelers, chefs, gardeners, and animal lovers.”

Her shop carries products that come from all around the world, ranging from Sweden to New Zealand to South Africa to Vietnam.

“It’s more international than I was planning,” she admitted. “But there’s been a tremendous popularity with foreign goods.”

She has an abundance of local products as well, including a large display of Bayberry beauty products from North Stamford, Swarovski crystal from New Jersey, and Bellocq Pure Teas from Brooklyn.

Mugs from the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan are one of her favorite items on sale.

How was she able to get the Met to allow her to sell those all the way up in Connecticut?

“I spoke really nice to them and now I am selling them,” she explained.

Other products include baby onesies, Internet address and password logbooks, picture holders, and miniature candle corks for wine bottles.

For men, she sells cuff links, wallets, beer glasses, cologne, and pens.

Ms. Hardiman moved to Westchester County with her husband, Graham, and her two children in 2011 after living Madrid, Spain, for two years. She has been a Ridgefield resident since May 16, 2012.

“We are celebrating our one-year anniversary of living in town,” she said.

Before Spain, the family lived outside of London, where Ms. Hardiman is from originally.

In addition, she has traveled to diverse locations around the world, ranging from Russia to New Zealand.

“I think it really has to do with you get to a certain age where you want to sit down and do something you enjoy doing every day,”  she said of her shop.

She added that owning the Purple Frog has been a way for her to socialize more and to escape her accounting background.

“I didn’t want to sit in front of spreadsheets anymore,” she said. “I knew this was something I would enjoy.”

“I really wanted to meet people, and this is a much more social job than anything I’ve ever done.”

Mrs. Hardiman believes another attribute that makes her business stand out is the basket service she offers that allows customers to choose their gift, or gifts, and their basket type and color scheme. Customers may take the finished baskets with them or she can mail them to “most destinations” in the United States.

“I think it’s a really original idea — at least I haven’t seen it anywhere,” she said. “I wanted a more modern version of the wicker basket.”

“It’s been a really good idea with giving baby gifts.”

Ms. Hardiman said business has been great so far, thanks to Mother’s Day and Take Pride in Ridgefield on May 4.

“There was such a lovely atmosphere in town, and it was so great to have a lot of people coming into the shop and browsing around,” she said. “The event also introduced me to country music, because it was playing outside of my door all day.”

Mrs. Hardiman wants to market the store to a diverse group of customers. She intends to have a more active presence on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

She also plans to launch a website for customers to buy goods from her store online from all over the world.

“So much shopping is done online these days that I need to have that option available for potential customers,” she said, adding she hopes the website is up by July or August.

So where does the shop’s name come from? The purple frogs that live along the Amazon River?

Not exactly.

“I really wish I had something profound for why the shop’s named the Purple Frog,” Mrs. Hardiman said. “I really liked ‘The Armadillo’ and ‘Pink Pig’ as potential names, but those were shot down and eventually my friends and I came up with ‘the Purple Frog.’”

She added that there are no purple frogs on sale in the shop, but that purple itself is a popular color among both men and women.

Mrs. Hardiman believes the Purple Frog’s diversity has given her a new outlook on the world.

“I’ve found out that the world’s not that big of a place — I can pick up the phone and call anybody or go on the Internet and order goods from anywhere,” she said.

Purple Frog  is open from 10 to 5:30 Tuesday through Saturday and from 10 to 4  Sunday. The store is closed on Monday. Its website is purplefrogshopping.com.

Veterans, brass bands, selectmen and civic groups, scouts and sports teams, floats and fire trucks will make their way through flag waving crowds Monday, as Ridgefield’s Memorial Day Parade celebrates the service and sacrifice of Americans who answered their country’s call.

“It is a day that we should show our reverend gratitude to the men, women and the surviving families of those who gave their all and paid the supreme sacrifice for our freedom,” said American Legion Commander Post George Besse. “They fought for us, they fell for us, let us never forget them.”

The parade starts at 11:30 at Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church, and heads north on Main Street to Ballard Park, where there will be solemn ceremonies.

Grand Marshals this year are Navy veterans Jim and Josi Connelly. He served a World War II Navy hospital corpsman, and she cared for Korean War veterans as a Navy nurse. It’s the first time a married couple has shared duties as grand marshals (see related story).

The American Legion estimates that there may be 2,000 participants in the parade.

“We have 48 or 49 groups marching or riding in the parade,” said Bob Tulipani, who coordinates it. “We’ve got eight sections, eight bands.”

Highlights include a horse and buggy float celebrating the Keeler Tavern’s 300th birthday, and a stagecoach courtesy of Wells Fargo Bank.

The weekend’s honoring of service and sacrifice will begin Friday evening, May 24, as the American Legion’s Everett Ray Seymour Post invites Ridgefielders to help put out small American flags to decorate the graves more than 600 veterans buried in Ridgefield cemeteries. Anyone who’d like to help should come by the American Legion Hall on North Salem Road, near the end of New Street and across from the cemetery.

People will gather shortly before 6, and there’ll be brief instruction on the proper placement of flags. It’s suggested people bring a large screwdriver or similar tool to make holes in the earth.

“This is a huge task and the American Legion relies on help from all the scouts: cub, girl, boy and brownies, as well as volunteer residents from the town,” Commander Besse said. “There are over 600 flags that need to be placed on the veterans’ graves that evening. All are invited to lend a hand.”

On parade day The Aldrich Museum is inviting the public to the opening of an exhibition and performance series celebrating fife and drum music. Festivities include a jam session starting at 1, gourmet food trucks offering picnic fare for sale until 3, as well as family activities and curated tours of the museum (see page 1C).

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is inviting people to a parade day barbecue featuring southern smoked pulled pork — sold to raise funds for HOPE home repair mission trip to Maryland (see page XX).

Participants marching or riding in one of the floats should arrive between 10 and 11 at the staging area on King Lane by Jesse Lee Church.

King Lane will become a one-way street, from High Ridge down to Main Street, starting at 9:30. Parents dropping off children in the staging area can only enter King Lane from High Ridge.

“There is absolutely no parking allowed except for authorized vehicles,” Commander Besse said. “There will be American Legionnaires in all areas to insure your child gets to their designated area.

“Floats and vehicles that will be in the parade are to enter King Lane from High Ridge also. You will be directed to your assign position for the parade,” he said.

The parade starts with a wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial by Jesse Lee, concluding with a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps.

The parade’s eight bands include seven returning from past years: The Ridgefield High School Marching Band; the Portuguese Club Band of Danbury; The Young Colonials from Brewster, N.Y.; Celtic Cross, the bagpipe band from Danbury; the New Fairfield Sparklers, a fife and drum corps; the Danbury Drum Corps; and The Germantown Ancients, a colonial period group.

The eighth band expected to march this year will be The Celestial Ancients Fife & Drum Corps, part of the Aldrich Museum’s exhibition and celebration. Their repertoire reflects fife and drum music’s history, from its origins in the Ottoman Empire to its development in Europe and in  America during the Revolution and Civil War.

The parade will have many floats — the Keeler Tavern’s, but also the Woodcock Nature Center, Ridgefield Boys and Girls Club, St. Mary’s School, and Jesse Lee Church’s Appalachian Service Project.

SPHERE will have a two-ton truck.

The Ridgefield Music and Arts Center (RMAC) plans to have the winning band from its music competition play in the back of a truck.

There’ll be three fire departments and numerous fire trucks, including Ridgefield’s brand new pumper.

Ridgefield’s career fire department is returning to march in the parade this year.

“That’s been a few years, ” Mr. Tulipani said. “They said they want to participate.”

The Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department will be marching as usual, and the Georgetown Fire Department is entered again.

Ridgefield Civil War Commemoration Committee is another new parade entry.

Due to the budget cuts in Washington, no fly-over is expected by jets from the Air National Guard.

At the parade’s culmination in Ballard Park there will ceremonies featuring music, prayers, thoughts and words.

“Our grand marshals will be the keynote speakers,” Commander Besse said.

“Prayers will be offered by the chaplains of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corps League.”

First Selectman Rudy Marconi, State Rep. John Frey and Commander Besse will speak. The RHS Band will play a patriotic medley. There will again be a gun salute to the fallen, followed by Taps.

Mattie Joyner, the Ridgefield High School vocalist who has been singing at events organized by the American Legion since she was at Scotts Ridge Middle School, will be sing America the Beautiful and God Bless America.

“Mattie Joyner graduates this year,” said Mr. Tulipani. “We’ve had her six years…

“I called her and said ‘Would you do it?’ She said ‘I love you guys. I wouldn’t miss singing.’ ”

State police have identified the man fatally shot Friday afternoon on Ridgebury Road as John Valluzzo.

A Ridgefield officer fired his weapon after Mr. Valluzzo refused to drop his gun and pointed it toward the policeman, state police reported Friday.

State police spokesman Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said the Ridgefield officer’s identity has not been revealed yet. He didn’t say how many shots were fired.

Mr. Valluzzo was pronounced dead at Danbury Hospital Friday night.

Police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at about 5:15 p.m. The caller reportedly said there was an armed man who was intoxicated and making threats at the residence.

Mr. Valluzzo, 75, founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in 1995, and served as president. The not-for-profit museum is located on Park Avenue in Danbury.

The museum released the following statement on their website:

“Sorrow fills our hearts at this sad moment. A sorrow that is deep and personal for all of us. The news of the untimely death of John Valluzzo comes as a great shock to all who knew him. His departure was sudden, unexpected and particularly distressing. The Executive Directors of the Military Museum of Southern New England believe it is befitting on this Memorial Day weekend to honor his memory by remaining open to the public during this difficult time. Our deepest sympathies go out to the Valluzzo family. Until we have all had a chance to comprehend fully the impact of this senseless tragedy, we will have no further comment to make on the behalf of the museum.”

Mr. Valluzzo was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving three years in Korea from 1956 to 1958, according to reports.

He purchased the 423 Ridgebury Road home for $1.9 million in 2009 after living at 884 Smith Ridge Road in New Canaan.

Mr. Valluzzo went through what has been described as a “contentious” divorce with his former wife Cynthia Kasper from 2009 to 2011, according to Brad Stender, the owner of Answers Process Service in Westport, which serves civil process and other legal papers.

Mr. Stender said he had to serve Mr. Valluzzo “about a dozen times” and first met him in 2011, which he recalls vividly.

“The first time I met he was tending to his lawn and I thought he was the lawn keeper,” Mr. Stender said Sunday night. “He was always really nice to me.”

Mr. Stender said the last time he met with the victim was around a year ago. He added the conflict between Mr. Valluzzo and Ms. Kasper involved a money dispute as well as Mr. Valluzzo’s new girlfriend, who Mr. Stender never met.

Mr. Stender said the girlfriend moved into the house on Ridgebury Road with Mr. Valluzzo around two years ago.

Ms. Kasper currently lives in Palm Beach, Fla. She lived with Mr. Valluzzo in New Canaan previously and ran a business there called Interior Accounts.

Neighbors on Ridgebury Road said they didn’t know much about the homeowner and didn’t know who was living on the 3.4 acre property before the shoooting.

“We are so spread out here; we don’t know what goes on in other houses — it’s very difficult to know your neighbor in this topography” said a neighbor who lives a few houses down from Mr. Valluzzo’s home.

“I was home when the incident took place, but I didn’t even hear the gun shots — that gives you an idea of the spacing between the houses. The proximity seems close but in reality it’s not.”

The neighbor added that the response time of the police was great and she felt protected Friday night; however, she was still in shock throughout the night and into the morning.

“It was a big surprise — I still really can’t believe it,” she said. “It gives me a real uneasy feeling.

At the request of the police and the state’s attorney, the shooting is being investigated by the state police Western District Major Crime Squad. An autopsy will be conducted Tuesday by the state medical examiner, Lt. Vance confirmed.