Christmas is the transcendent holiday of our culture. It is a Christian holiday, reflecting our nation’s history as a refuge for Europeans. But its appeal and celebration reach beyond the holiday’s deep sacred meaning for Christians and it has become something— not greater, certainly — but broader, more encompassing.

The symbols are everywhere. Its celebration seems at times to have been appropriated entirely by commercial interests and pop culture foolishness. This leads to concern that its true meaning is or will be lost.

Do not fear.

The message is alive and shines for all to hear. Peace on earth. Goodwill to all. Caring for, and sharing with, the least among us. Forgiveness. People don’t always live up to ideals. But who does not know that charity — and not buying stuff — is the message, the meaning of Christmas?

And who that hears does not recognize this is goodness itself, simple and pure?

All the tinsel and canned music, the mall Santas and TV specials, cannot diminish the power of Christmas, and its message of goodness. What power the story holds: the star, the shepherds, the angels. No room at the inn, and the child born in the hay — to be presented with gifts by kings and worshiped as a savior, the world’s hope.

And our pervasive celebrations of the holiday — the music, the decorations indoors and out, the parties, the bell-ringing, card-sending, gift-giving, the charitable collections — change our streets, our communities, our lives each December.

It’s all an assertion, a belief in the Christmas story’s promise: that the world, so often disappointing — unjust, painful, or simply mundane — holds the seeds of something finer, better, more generous and forgiving. This world can be transformed, reborn as it should be.

That is the magic of Christmas, echoed and asserted each December by all those yards overfilled with colored lights, all the fake white beards, every tired shopper sporting an incongruous red hat with white fur trim.

The meaning is not lost amid the music and glittering lights. The story and its promise are too powerful.

The real Christmas lives.

And it will live on as long as there are people to tell the tale — a journey, a star-filled night, a birth invested with the sacred, the holy, the world made better — and believe.

Joanne Nastro, 63, of Danbury, formerly of Greenwich and Ridgefield, wife of Frank S. Nastro, died on Monday, December 23, 2013 at her home.

Mrs. Nastro was born in Port Chester, NY, March 23, 1950, daughter of Rocco Vito and Ida Michelina (Giannotti) Bellfatto.  Raised in Port Chester, Mrs. Nastro graduated from Port Chester schools and attended Iona College.

She was a former interior designer with the U.S. Tobacco Corporation at their former Greenwich location.

A resident of the area for the past twenty years, Mrs. Nastro enjoyed gardening and travel.

In addition to her husband, Frank Nastro of twenty-eight years, Mrs. Nastro is survived by a son, John Paul Thygerson, his wife, Lisa and their daughter, Alexandria of Stratford; three daughters, Cori Nastro and her son, Evan of Dallas, TX, Kimberly Nastro of New York. NY and Francesca Nastro of Ridgefield, CT; a brother, Salvatore “Teddy” Bellfatto of Danbury; a sister, Sandra Pears of Bradenton, Florida; father in law, Sal Nastro and his wife, Stephanie of Darien; a niece, Veronica “Ronnie” Casturani and two nephews, Angelo Michael Bellfatto and James Pears.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Nastro was predeceased by her step-father. George “Mike” Mikuls, and sister in law, Valentina Bellfatto.

Fuuneral services will take place on Saturday, December 28, 2013 at 11 am in the First Congregational Church of Ridgefield, 103 Main St., Ridgefield, CT.

Burial will follow in St. Mary Cemetery, Ridgefield.

The family will receive friends in the Kane Funeral Home, 25 Catoonah St., Ridgefield on Friday from 4 pm to 7 pm.

Contributions to Regional Hospice and Home Care of Western CT, 39 Old Ridgebury Rd., Danbury, CT 06810 would be appreciated.

The AAA Southern New England offers these tips to help you prepare yourself and your vehicle for colder weather:

On the outside: During the winter, visibility is very important. So inspect those wiper blades for wear and oil; and replace the summer versions with heavy-duty winter blades, including — if you have one — the blade on your rear window. Make sure your headlights and rear lights are working. And finally oil your door and trunk locks with a special lock lubricant.

On the ground: Before installing snow tires, inspect the treads for wear. Worn tires lose their grip on slippery pavements. Make sure tires are properly inflated according to the manufacturer’s specifications. In cold weather, check tire pressure weekly since pressure can drop one pound per square inch for every 10 degrees the temperature drops.  Make sure your spare is properly inflated too!

Under the hood: Examine hoses and belts for wear; top off your windshield wiper fluid. By now, you should have tested or replaced your antifreeze. Check battery cables for corrosion and clean them with baking soda if necessary. Have the battery tested to make sure it’s operating at full capacity.

And Finally, in the trunk: Once your vehicle is in top condition, put an emergency kit in your trunk. At minimum, the kit should include:

• A bag of sand or kitty litter for traction when you’re stuck;
• A snow shovel;
• An ice scraper and brush;
• A flashlight and fresh batteries;
• Paper towels or rags;
• Road triangles and flares;
• A blanket, gloves; an extra jacket and
• A first-aid kit
• Jumper cables
• A cell phone to call us!

Now you’re ready to face the elements! Depending upon weather and road conditions, drive with common sense — a bit slower and with extra braking distance between vehicles. But sometimes the best driving decision is not to drive. If you’re uneasy about your abilities to drive on slick winter roads or your car’s ability to handle them, then stay home!

AAA Southern New England is a not-for-profit auto club with 50 offices in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, providing more than 2.7 million AAA members with travel, insurance, finance, and auto-related services. Our web site is www.aaa.com .

The New Year is almost here so get ready to spread some cheer, but don’t forget to put away some money too.

That’s right, customers of Metro North’s New Haven line must prepare their wallets for a spike in train fare — a 5.04% increase, to be exact — that will make riding from Branchville to Grand Central Terminal cost $340 a month.

The increase will also affect anyone traveling to or from any Connecticut station and some travel on the line between Rye and Port Chester, N.Y, but will not affect the Harlem line that serves Katonah and Goldens Bridge stations.

The decision to raise the rates took place in 2011 and was instituted by the state’s Department of Transportation, which owns the New Haven line, last year.

“The more than 16% fare hike on Connecticut commuters has been taking place since 2012 and will continue through 2018,” State Senator Toni Boucher said.

The increase will raise a monthly ticket for Branchville riders from $324 to $340. A peak one-way ticket will increase from $15 to $15.75, while off-peak tickets will increase from $11 to $11.50

On the train, one-way peak and off-peak will cost $22 and $18, respectively. Weekly tickets will climb from $103.50 to $109.

“This fare increase is the third in nine years,” said James Redeker, the state Department of Transportation commissioner, earlier this month. “During that time, operating expenses continued to grow due to inflation and service has been increased on weekdays and weekends on both the New Haven Line and Shore Line East. We held several hearings throughout the state prior to adopting the phased implementation of fare increases over three years.”

The fares were set to increase by about 4% at the beginning of 2012, 2013 and 2014, but received an additional 1% hike from the General Assembly to help pay off costs for M-8 rail cars that are replacing cars that have been in service for over 30 years.

The compounded average increase of 5.04% will effect all Connecticut rail fares including weekly and month UniTickets, which are combined bus-rail tickets.

Tickets bought before Jan. 1 will be honored for up to six months, depending on the type of ticket.

 —Additional reporting done by Joshua Fisher.

A principal’s job just isn’t what it used to be, educators say.

Three of the district’s six elementary school principals made the point at a recent Board of Education meeting, discussing the possibility of adding assistant principals at the elementary level and saying that a “dramatic change over the last 10 years” has forced them to spend less time in classrooms, rendering them less effective as educational leaders.

“It’s dumb to look at the principal role as a manager — we moved away from the management role years ago,” said Jason McKinnon, principal of Branchville Elementary School. “It’s better to look at it like the quarterback of a football team, because we have to touch the ball every play, and we’re involved everywhere.

“If we have less effective people around us, we settle for a field goal rather than score a touchdown,” he continued. “Principals are most effective when we’re closest to the teaching, closest to the learning, where we can support our instructional leaders and ensure we have high-quality teachers.”

Dr. McKinnon added that principals at the elementary level have had to add a bevy of external tasks, such as adjusting their schools’ learning environment to fit the Common Core and implementing safe school climate plans, to their “already loaded plates.”

Board member Richard Steinhart posed a blunt question to the principals in attendance — “What is it you’re looking to take off your plate?”

“Because there are things you can’t offload or delegate,” he said. “I’d like to see a more clear picture at what you want changed.”

Dr. McKinnon, who was supported by Farmingville Principal Susan Gately and Ridgebury Principal Jamie Palladino, suggested that a different model of leadership support should be looked into — one that allows principals more time in the classroom.

“The job has changed so much between the heightened security efforts, the changes in school culture, teacher evaluations, bus schedules, and curriculum shift, it takes a lot of time and requires us to give 110% every day,” Ms. Gately said. “The duties we signed up for are the same, but there’s a lot more to do and not enough time to get it done.”

Hesitant to back the idea of adding an assistant principal role at each of the six schools, board members advocated for a more centralized position.

“We want to help, but we want to know what the right solution is,” said board member Mike Raduazzo. “It has to be financially plausible — I know that much.”

“I’d like to see a model where you can offload the responsibilities you can’t get done in a given week to a central coordinator,” said board member Chris Murray. “Centralization will be key to making this work.”

Superintendent Deborah Low, who pushed forward the idea in her 2014-15 district priorities that were presented to the board on Nov. 12, affirmed that the model educators are looking for is still “undetermined.”

“I just wanted to make sure that you understood the need and that we need to start to look at ways to fulfill that need,” she said. “The next step is bringing forth workable, affordable models that can make this possible.”

A recent ceremony at Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church honored Alex Kresic (left) and Connor Tepfer for becoming Eagle Scouts in Troop 76. In addition to earning 21 merit badges, working many hours of community service and holding leadership positions, earning an Eagle rank requires planning, organizing and completing a major project. Alex’s project is seen along Main Street where all the trash receptacles were sanded, rustproofed and repainted. On Silver Spring Road, Ridgefielders may visit the result of Conner’s project, the renovation of the area around the actual Silver Spring into a micro park, complete with a parking area. Troop 76 meets Tuesday evenings at its sponsor organization, Jesse Lee Church. For more information visit www.troop76.org .

Jennifer Anne Sedney of Blackman Road passed away unexpectedly among family on December 25th, 2013.

Jennifer was a graduate of Ridgefield High School, class of 2004, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Business from The University of Michigan in 2008.

Jenny loved adventures, cooking, running, and spending time with her friends and boyfriend, Brian.

She was working in Philadelphia for Vymanic as a healthcare consultant and recently became a Certified Health Coach.

She is survived by her Mother Alison, her Father Len, and her brother Matthew.

Services will be Saturday at 1:30 at Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church. There are no calling hours.

The family has requested donations in lieu of flowers to the Danbury Animal Welfare Society 147 Grassy Plain St # 1, Bethel, CT 06801

Kane Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

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

• A couple has purchased Spruce Ridge Farm, one of the largest pieces of residential land in town, and plans to use it for retired horses.
• The first selectman looks back on 2013 and what’s been accomplished.
• She’s only 11, but Evelyn Carr is singing on stage and at public events.
• Former RHS volleyball standout Theo Brunner is  seeking a spot on the U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team.
• Laurie Scholl, named town Employee of the Year, looks forward to the daily challenges of her human resources job.
• More than $18 million in homes were sold last week.
• The elms in front of the town hall must come down, and the plaza there will be redesigned and rebuilt.
• A Ridgefield scout will use music to help Waterbury kids get books to read.
• Yankee legend Mariano Rivera spent an hour and a half, chatting with the public in a benefit for Tiger Hollow.
• If a car doesn’t hit the Fountain, what else could?
• The Ridgefield Library is looking for some equipment for its new building.
• Volunteers from Temple Shearith Israel went to New York City to help the homeless.
• Were there bears on Bear Mountain?
• At the holidays 75 years ago, Ridgefield was still in the Great Depression, notes historian Tom Belote.
• The quest for a new Chamber of Commerce director has begun.
• Nasty dog owners,  violent video games, the “hotel vote,” Schlumberger land’s future,  and smoky arguments inspire letter-writers this week.
• Test driver Steven Macoy reviews some of his favorite cars of 2013.
• Note: Next week’s Press will also be published on Friday instead of Thursday.

• Readers  may enjoy free access to our e-edition over the holidays. Visit our website, TheRidgefieldPress.com , click on the e-edition icon and follow  the prompts.

• The Ridgefield Press is on Facebook — become one of more than 1,635 friends and get news updates. Facebook.com/RidgefieldPress.
• 7,924 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.

Police Chief John Roche has a new five-year contract renewal, approved by the Board of Selectmen and the Police Commission.

Chief John Roche

“John Roche has been with the department for 30-plus years, knows this town as well as anyone, and has done a good job for the people of Ridgefield,” First Selectmen Rudy Marconi said.

Chief Roche came into office in 2008. He had been the department’s second ranking officer, its captain, when Chief Richard Ligi died unexpectedly.

The Police Commission had vote to rehire Chief Roche, and the terms of the five-year contract renewal were approved by the Board of Selectmen Dec. 11, after an executive session discussion with Human Resources Director Laurie School.

“The Board of Selectmen took his previous five-year contract and brought it up to what he’s making now,” Ms. Scholl said later.

Chief Roche’s salary is a little under $134,000 a year.

“Nothing else changes from his previous contract,” she said. “He’s on the non-union medical plan.”

Chief Roche’s new contact will run through fall of 2018.

“It’s really just the same contract, for five more years,” Selectmen Andy Bodner said later. “It was literally just a roll-forward.”

Jacqué Lang of Ridgefield was co-chair of Swim Across America, which recently donated $460,000 to Stamford-based Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, the nation’s only nonprofit dedicated exclusively to cell and gene therapies for cancer.

Swim Across America is a national nonprofit dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research.

Jacqué Lang

Ms. Lang, who co-chaired the Greenwich/Stamford swim for the seventh time, has been involved with the organization for more than 20 years as a participant, board member and fund-raiser.

“I swam growing up, and this organization provided a wonderful way to take my love of swimming and do great things with it,” she said.

Her sister, Janel Jorgensen McArdle, who also grew up in Ridgefield, has been the national executive director of Swim Across America since 2005 — she was also a 1988 U.S. Olympic silver medalist.

“She asked if I would mind ‘helping out’ to launch a new swim, and here we are going into our eighth annual event — having raised over $2 million for the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.”

Nationally, Swim Across America raised more than $5 million in 2013.

The next Greenwich-Stamford swim is Saturday, June 21. See  www.swimacrossamerica.org for details.

UPDATED Friday, 6:30 — A car has gone off Route 7 and into the Norwalk River.

The car was upside down in the water, with the driver stuck inside, when emergency personnel arrived.

The motorist was extricated at 6:25 and taken to Danbury Hospital a short time later.

A half dozen fire and police units were on the scene of the accident off the northbound lane of the highway, north of the Cain’s Hill/Topstone Road intersection.

While the driver was stuck in the car, he was able to call police using a cell phone.

The accident occurred around 5:55, and police had some trouble finding it because the car had gone down a 20-foot embankment, and was not visible from the highway.

Police needed two wreckers to remove the vehicle.

The fire department  called in volunteers with a rescue truck to help with the extrication.

A foot therapy station, boys changing room, three studios, and a student lounge are just some of the highlights of the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance’s new home at 440 Main Street (formerly the Gap).

“The student lounge is really nice,” said Nell Walton, a sixth grade dance student who takes ballet, jazz and modern dance. “I think it is great that we have so much space, and I like being able to have a changing room.”

Students have been snacking, doing homework and spending time with friends before or between classes.

During the fall, the conservatory produced two informal concerts in its new performance space and The Nutcracker at the Ridgefield Playhouse. Guest artist instructors included principal ballerina Violeta Angelova, New York Theatre Ballet’s artistic director, Diana Byer, and Broadway star Lindsay Wood.

The spring semester will have Ryoko Kudo of the Jose Limon Dance Company and Jennifer Golonka of Luminary Dance Project to work with students.

Registration for spring classes begins in January. For more information, call 203-438-5597 or visit ridgefielddance.org.

Thanks to our forefathers the backbone of America has been the free enterprise system. We have had the freedom to make our own economic decisions mostly free of government constraints. The private market along with individual responsibility has resulted in an economic engine that brought unparalleled prosperity to millions. The challenge to keep this running is the ability to maintain freedom and self government. We must avoid the threat of Big Government and those that think they can better plan our lives for us. The bigger the government the more money and power it takes from its citizens and the more it chokes the economic engine we rely on.

The problem with Big Government is it deprives society of its most cherished value, freedom. A government that appoints itself as economic distributor will inevitably interfere with both individual and social freedom. Instead of letting free economic and social systems distribute economic and social goods, government takes on that function and becomes the master allocator, often to special interests and its favorite supporters.

Today the federal government’s role and scope of power is ever expanding into just about every aspect of our lives: education, transportation, health care, welfare, food, medicine, energy, commerce, and on and on. Under President Obama, in fact, the federal government has been one of the few areas that has grown during the economic downturn. The number of federal employees grew by 123,000, or 6.2%.

Recently we have seen agencies of this government used to reward supporters, exact revenge and punish critics. The IRS recently has admitted to targeting conservative groups and the Justice Department subpoenaed the phone records of about 100 reporters, besides specifically targeting a FOX News reporter and his parents. I think we can all agree, no matter what party is in power, this is a “red flag” warning signal that our liberties and freedoms are being threatened by such abuse of power.

The most recent assaults on our liberty and economic freedom are the government’s runaway spending and the “Obamacare” wealth distribution scheme. This was a shameful Grow Big Government scam of bait and switch. The formula is quite simple: target the rich, pander to the poor with unsustainable promises, and make the middle class pay for it. President Obama tells us he just found out this Insurance thing is pretty complicated stuff and the federal government is not very good at implementing complex technology solutions. Don’t worry, it only affects one sixth of our economic engine and the personal health of every one of us.

Waste and corruption occur under every administration and the bigger the government the more it siphons away fuel from our economic engine. Our only hope for future prosperity and individual freedom is to reduce the size and power of the federal government to its constitutional limits. Big Government advocates such as Representative Jim Himes need to be replaced in 2014 by those who will rein in government power, thereby reducing the damage that either party can do.

This column is supplied by the Republican Town Committee.

The state Department of Education has crunched the numbers, written the assessments and published the reports, and the results are positive: All nine Ridgefield schools exceed the state target for performance.

“All Ridgefield schools are classified as either ‘Progressing’ or ‘Excelling’ — the highest two classifications,” said assistant superintendent Kimberly Beck in a press release.

Schools that were classified as “Excelling” have a minimum of 25% of students performing at the advanced level on state-mandatory tests.

The percentage of Ridgefield students performing at the advanced level on the Connecticut Mastery Test, administered to students in third through eighth grade, or the Connecticut Academic Performance Test,  administered to high school level sophomores, ranges from 39 to 66.5%

“All Ridgefield schools, across all grades and subjects not only meet this criteria, but exceed it,” Ms. Beck wrote.

The performance reports, published by the state’s Accountability System for Schools on Dec. 5, calculate separate ratings for school districts and for individual schools.

Both indexes range in value from 0 to 100 with the state target set at 88 or greater.

Ridgefield’s nine schools ranged from 92.4 to 95 with the district receiving a score of 93.8.

After calculating the scores, the state classifies individual schools using a six-level scale that ranges from “Turn-around” to “Excelling” based on their rating score and the performance of student sub-groups made up of 20 or more students.

“For our schools labeled ‘Progressing’ rather than ‘Excelling’ — this reflects a ‘gap’ of 10 (or more) points between the majority of sub-groups and the overall scoring performance,” Ms. Beck explained. “In Ridgefield, our achievement gap occurs between our special education sub-group and the overall performance of the school.”

Ms. Beck added that some schools in town do not have a sub-group large enough to report; therefore, the “achievement gap” is not a designation.

“Where the special education achievement gap indicates room to improve, all our schools, administrators and teachers have already included performance goals related to reducing the achievement gap in their 2013-2014,” she concluded.

New York Yankee legend Mariano Rivera speaks to 300 people at Ridgefield High School’s student center in a benefit for Tiger Hollow. —Steve Coulter photo

With Metallica’s notorious anthem Enter Sandman blasting and the crowd on their feet applauding, Major League Baseball’s all-time save leader Mariano Rivera made the routine entrance he had done almost a thousand times in his 19-year career.

Only this time it wasn’t Yankee Stadium, it was Ridgefield High School’s student center. And it wasn’t an opportunity to notch career save number 653; it was a chance to help raise funds for the lights at the new Tiger Hollow practice field, called Guido Maiolo Field, and for Mr. Rivera’s church in New Rochelle, N.Y., el Refugio de Esperanza — the Refuge of Hope.

Mr. Rivera, a first-ballot Hall of Famer once eligible in five years, gave a brief introduction speech Saturday morning, which was met with a standing ovation. He then stopped to pose for photographs at each of the three dozen tables that were packed with fans — young and old — who came out to see the New York Yankee legend talk about his career and answer questions from the audience.

“I’ll answer one for you guys,” he said. “I’m not coming back next season, so please don’t ask me that question.”

He fielded more than two dozen questions during an hour-and-a-half session, ranging from personal ones such as whom he looked up to as a child growing up in Panama to baseball-oriented ones like which batter he most hated to pitch to.

Youth baseball players asked him about his technique, preparation and motivation, while fans wanted to know what his favorite memory was wearing the famous Yankee pinstripes.

Mr. Rivera, the first-ever Yankee to have his number retired in Monument Park during his playing career, talked about coming up through the team’s farm system in the early 1990s, perfecting his signature pitch — the cut fastball, and winning his first World Series ring in 1996 as the team’s setup man.

He discussed the Yankees’ franchise-best record in 1998, when the team finished 114-48 and swept the World Series — the club’s second of four championships from 1996 to 2000.

Mr. Rivera named his favorite teammates — Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada — as well as which former teammate he thought would make the best manager, other than current Yankee manager Joe Girardi.

“Believe it or not, some people think the best players make the best coaches — that’s not true,” he said. “To me, the best coaches are the ones who have had to fight for what they’ve accomplished, someone who really watches the game and cares about every detail of it. …

“To answer the question about which player I played that would make a great coach, it really was Joe Girardi, to tell you the truth,” he said. “He didn’t have that much talent, but he fought and worked for everything he accomplished, and I saw that in him when I first met him.”

The 43-year-old didn’t shy away from questions about why he elected to retire this season or what it was like to come back from an injury he suffered in May 2012 that kept him out the entire season.

“It was such an honor to come back and play this season,” he said. “One of the top highlights of my career.”

He answered questions about his modesty toward being universally renowned as the greatest closer of all time, and how his legacy is different from, if not greater than, that of other all-time icons such as Michael Jordan.

He also talked about what current athletes inspire him, including his former teammate Jeter and quarterback Peyton Manning, both of whom had to recover from serious career-threatening injuries in their late 30s.

Mr. Rivera shared personal memories, such as breaking the all-time saves record with his 602nd save in September 2011 and the gifts he received on his farewell tour this past season.

He discussed the club’s last World Series title in 2009 and what he thought about the franchise’s moves this offseason.

“I see a lot of hitting, but not a lot of pitching,” he said. “I hope they can sign some really good pitchers.”

The event didn’t skimp on memorabilia, as signed photographs, baseballs and jerseys were auctioned off through a silent auction that concluded after the guest of honor spoke. Each member of the audience was given a raffle ticket for 42 “door prizes,” which included posters, plaques and baseball cards of Mr. Rivera as well as copies of his book, The Closer.

Audience members also had a chance to bid on auction packages that included a special jersey with a 602 all-time save patch, baseballs signed from his last game and the 2009 World Series, and posters and photographs — all of which were personally inscribed and signed by Mr. Rivera after the event.

John Pavain, chairman of the Tiger Hollow Committee, said he did not have an estimate Monday afternoon of how much was raised during the event, but added that the committee needed about $125,000 to complete the project.

“Saturday’s event with Mariano was a small piece of our bigger fund-raising plan — we’ve still got some ground to cover,” he said. “Mariano, besides being a great baseball player, is such a great person, and he really did such a great job answering all the questions with such grace and humility.

“Everyone got what they wanted out of it.”

Ridgefielder Angelo Formisano, a longtime friend of Mr. Rivera’s, arranged the visit to the high school — the legendary closer’s fifth appearance in town.

Saturday’s event was more intimate than some of his others in the past. The event was limited to just 300 attendees, who were given a commemorative T-shirt at the door as well as an opportunity to pose with Mr. Rivera in a table group photo.

“I’ve been good friends with Angelo all of these years and I want to be a good friend to all of you guys,” Mr. Rivera said in his introduction. “I’m always trying to help however I can, and that’s the most important thing in life— helping each other and helping others.”

In summer, the big elm trees on either side of town hall rise above the building in leafy majesty. They’re in poor health, and a redesign of the area in front of the building has been started. —Macklin Reid photo

With the declining health of the big elms on either side, a redesign of the front of town hall — not the building facade, but the raised brick plaza area — has forced its way onto the town’s agenda for 2014.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said last week that the building will not be changed. “We want to try and maintain the current look, obviously,” he said.

“The front brick walls need to come down and be replaced. The two trees, assuming that they’re removed in the next couple of years, we need to re-look at that whole area.

“That wall will probably come down a little lower; we still want that little courtyard area to the left, facing town hall.”

Mr. Marconi and Tree Warden John Pinchbeck had said earlier in the year that they were worried about the condition of the big old elm trees that bookend the little plaza. And now their concern has been confirmed by Bartlett Tree Experts, the tree care firm.

Based on an arborist’s report, “it appears that we will need to begin planning the future removal of those trees, and while doing that, a refurbishing of the entire area. ” Mr. Marconi said. “We’ve just started looking at that.”

Mr. Marconi said a local landscape architect, James Delalla, has suggested a couple of different concepts.

The first selectman didn’t want to make any drawings public yet, fearing the first visual image released would stick in people’s minds throughout any discussion of the plans, even if there were substantial changes.

“They’re very, very rough, but they are plans,” he said.

The plans will be widely discussed, he promised.

“It will be a project that many people will want to weigh in on,” he said.

There are some practical aspects to be considered.

“One of the issues that we know we will have is that currently the large American flag is displayed at that location, from Memorial Day to July Fourth,” Mr. Marconi said.

“When those trees come down, so will the wire that the large American flag is hung from,” Mr. Marconi said.

“The landscape architect hasn’t addressed that issue yet, so we need to come up with a solution.”

Exactly when the trees will have to come down isn’t clear, but Mr. Marconi said Mr. Pinchbeck agrees the time is approaching.

“Probably sometime in 2014 or the early part of 2015,” Mr. Marconi said.

“I worked with John Pinchbeck to do an assessment. Those trees have needed special treatment over the last couple of years. But there’s no doubt they’re nearing the end of their lives, and a plan needs to be presented to address their removal and replacement.”

It’s early in the design process, and numerous questions need to be answered.

“We don’t know, do we want trees? If we do want trees, where do they go? If we know we want trees and we know where they should go, then what kind of trees?

“That decision, the type of tree, I would naturally yield to the Tree Committee and their recommendation,” Mr. Marconi said.

The architectural treatment will also get widely discussed, he said, with agencies like the Architectural Advisory Committee that reviews plans for the Planning and Zoning Commission, the commission itself, and the Ridgefield Design Council.

“The Design Council has pretty much all but dissolved; there haven’t been many meetings,” Mr. Marconi said. “I would still look to some of the individuals who participated in the Design Council, as well as the Board of Selectmen and Planning and Zoning.”

With so much consulting and discussion yet to come, the ultimate result is hard to predict.

“There are going to be many people who will have a say in this. Who knows what the front of town hall will look like?” Mr. Marconi said. “But hopefully, not too different than what it looks like now.”

Ridgefield Rotary Club has awarded Rides for Ridgefield a grant covering all of its technology needs, hardware and software.

Rotarians recently assisted Rides volunteers in installing the equipment at the Rides for Ridgefield office in Town Hall.

Rides for Ridgefield will be fully functional and providing rides for seniors and mobility-disabled residents, as well as providing information on other driver-assisted services, by the first of the year, thanks to this grant from the club.

Rides for Ridgefield thanked the officers and members of the grant committee from Rotary, including Joe Kreitz, president; Angelo Tartaro, secretary; Rainer Gonet, treasurer; Cliff Heidinger; and Simon Cooper of the grant committee.

Working on the blood drive are, from left, top row Sean Fuchs, Mike Tullis, and Shane Gagliardi. In foreground is is Jillian Bailas.

Scotland Elementary School at 111 Barlow Mountain Road will be sponsoring Connecticut’s third student-run blood drive  Thursday, Jan. 9, from 4 to 8:30 p.m .

Students, who have worked to both educate and recruit potential donors, will act as ambassadors for the drive, escorting people to their seats, handing out snacks and juice and entertaining the children of the donors while they wait.

The Little Doctors program makes children aware of the importance of donating blood and how to approach people about becoming blood donors.  It also creates a familiar, accessible location for the Ridgefield community.

According to the  New York Blood Center, which is  sponsoring this drive, only 2% of the eligible population donates blood each year, which is somewhat attributed to people not knowing where to go to donate.

“The blood drive was created by Karen Brothers, who is a teacher in New York who wanted her elementary-aged students to experience the responsibility and pride that is associated with collecting blood that saves lives,” said Cheryl Osher, a fifth grade teacher at Scotland.  “One pint and an hour of your time can make a huge difference in someone else’s life.”

People who are interested in donating must be between the ages of 16 (with a permission from a parent) and 75, not have traveled outside of the country in the past year, 110 pounds or more and in good general health at the time of donation.

Helping the homeless are, from left, back row: Wendy Murad, Jack Sulzinsky, Brooke Murad, Justin Landzberg, Nicole Meyer, Cole Butchen, Adam Davidovich, Georgia Rich, Dawn Roberts, Debbie Landzberg, and Wendy Meyer; middle row: Ben Sulzinsky, Karen Sulzinsky, Sam Sulzinsky, Valerie Rich, Kate Alvarez, Joan Benowitz, and Emelie Howard; front row: Lawrence Taylor and Malcolm Bonds.

After a congregation-wide effort, the members of Temple Shearith Israel’s Social Action Committee recently provided more than 75 homeless adults with a hot breakfast, warm winter clothing and personal sundries.

Dozens of teen and adult volunteers spent weeks preparing for the annual Breakfast Run.

Religious school students collected new undergarments and toiletries for donation. Younger children decorated lunch bags and wrote notes of encouragement for the homeless. Various hats, gloves, socks, and thermals were packed for easy distribution, and more than 75 breakfast sandwiches were prepared. Local businesses, including Dunkin Donuts in Ridgefield and Cross River donated items.

The day began  at 6 a.m. for the volunteers, who met to assemble, sort and prepare. Cars were packed with bags, boxes of clothing, back packs, food and tables, and the caravan was on 11th Avenue and 33rd Street by 8:30 a.m., where Midnight Run volunteers Malcolm, LT, and Ernie directed the set up.

Midnight Run vice president Malcolm told the  volunteers, “We hope you will come back soon! Everyone really appreciates you, your positive smiles and encouragement. They’re still here even though they usually grab their stuff and head out. Everyone feels welcome.”

Malcolm, a volunteer for the organization, was homeless himself only a short time ago.

“The people we served really appreciated our efforts,” said Debbie Landzberg, chairman of the temple’s Social Action Committee and coordinator of the event. “Jewish law commands that we do ‘tikkun olam’ — ‘repair the world’ — and it feels like we did just that.”

The Breakfast Run is one of a series of events the temple conducts for the community. In addition to monthly visits to the Dorothy Day Hospitality House and Habitat for Humanity, congregants organize coat and toy collections, among various “mitzvah” projects.

For more information, visit www.tsiridgefield.org.