LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let's Retire The Phrase "Lady Blue Knights"

PHOTO COURTESY BILL MCKERNAN

Regarding the December 3, 2025 Southington Outsider article, “Southington Adds Girls Golf as CIAC Sanctioned Sport,” I would like to raise an important issue related to how we refer to our female athletes. I am writing to respectfully ask our school community to reconsider the name of our high school girls' athletic teams, the "Lady Blue Knights." While I admire the girls' prowess and the history of our programs, the name reinforces a subtle but persistent linguistic bias that marks our female athletes as secondary rather than equal. Currently, the boys’ teams are simply the "Blue Knights," the unmarked and more powerful default. The girls, however, are assigned the qualifier "Lady Blue Knights."

We do not refer to the boys as the "Gentlemen Blue Knights," yet the female team is required to carry a prefix. This suggests that the female form is a secondary version or an exception, rather than an equal standard.

The most compelling argument against this practice comes from history itself, where strong women have always embodied the spirit of the knight without needing a qualifier. Figures like Joan of Arc led armies to victory, functioning as a commander and general on the battlefield. Noblewomen like Matilda of Tuscany held military command, and elite women were formally inducted as "Ladies of the Garter," showing that high status and power have long included women.

There is a growing trend in collegiate and professional sports to adopt a single, powerful name that unites all athletes under the same banner. The clearest and most powerful statement we can make about true equality is to give all of our athletes the most potent title possible: the Blue Knights.

Let us recognize that our female athletes are not just female versions of knights; they are powerful, skilled competitors who deserve a name that conveys strength and achievement. Adopting one unified name would affirm to all young athletes that in Southington, excellence has no modifier.

Sincerely,

Bill McKernan     

Fritter Frenzy

To the Editor, 

“Fritter Frenzy!” has arrived – that’s what we at Zion Lutheran Church call our months-long planning period.

A personal memory. In the olden days of 1988, after the birth of our first child, we made a decision to find a local faith community so our kids would get some theology and doctrine and Sunday School. The congregation was welcoming. And Dottie Czarnota was there. Dottie knew our family because she worked with my husband’s dad. Tom, my spouse, was raised in the Swedish Lutheran Church on Franklin Square in New Britain. And I was a Catholic kid at St. Ann on North Street in New Britain. Tom’s great-grandfather was a founding member of that church. Neither of us had ever tasted a fritter.

Dottie said, “Hey, make sure you show up to prep the apples for our fritters!” After a 10-minute explanation about this festival favorite, we were pleased to be asked and included. Babies and kids of all ages were also trained to either look adorable next to their parents in their baby carrier, or were our runners and peelers. 

In the way back past, we had those heavy duty mechanical devices where you shove an apple on the spit and lock it into attached blades and turn a handle. The peels drop off and the apple along with many others in your personal bucket are whisked away to the center of the church hall, where the men and teens or college kids who came home to help dumped them into a dicing machine. Procedures for machinery like fryers and mixers and hoppers for cinnamon sugar were created and employed at the booth we still erect yearly. We had one fryer; now we utilize four of them. 

So my kids grew up with that special memory. The entire purpose is the same as it was back in the 1980’s: giving back funds to help those in need. Some of those folks returned to us to help in the incredible process created over time by folks who guide the newbies; meanwhile we boomers think about how young we were. Now new volunteers will take over the hard work and another era begins. 

Stop by and make new friends while waiting in line! Contact our church office if you would like to volunteer and speak to the administrator. Meet the third, fourth, and fifth generation creating fritters full of ‘agape’, or love. Every time we bag fritters the founding members are with us in spirit. The booth is a very busy but a very joyful place. Zion fritters are once a year; the memories are for a lifetime. 

Jacki Carson Willametz, Zion Church member, Southington

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Letter: SHS Wall of Honor

Southington High School Wall of Honor—History and New Inductees 

On October 22, at 6 pm, Southington High School will induct two new members to its Wall of Honor. Bill Pesce, chief medical officer for the Hospital of Special Care, college professor and more, and Chris Palmieri, principal of DePaolo Middle School, Town Council member and much more will join 70 others in this exclusive club.

The public is invited to the free ceremony in the high school auditorium 

The Wall of Honor was started in 2007, when Bob Brown, high school social studies teacher, approached the principal, Kathy McGrath, with the idea of honoring those who attended our school and went on in life to achieve greatness. There are two criteria for selection—must have graduated from Southington public schools (the only exception is veterans who enlisted before graduating but were killed during war), and one of the following accomplishments—lifetime achievement, humanitarian work, or outstanding community service. 

The Wall includes artists (Dale Zarella has sculptures in the Vatican and around the world!), college professors, writers, doctors, a former NATO advisor, successful businesspeople, Kay and Joe Calvanese (founders of Aquaturf), environmentalists, all those who gave their lives during wars from our town, former head of the TSA David Pekoske, families (the DePaolo family has Val, William, Gail and Barry!), one athlete (Rob Dibble), women’s leaders (Cara Belvin founded a national group helping young girls), public servants and elected officials, inventors, officer Pelletier who gave his life while on duty, Broadway and dance stars, the last person to balance the federal budget (Charlie Zwick was the federal budget director under Lyndon Johnson!), media personalities, and more!! 

Please nominate someone worthy and go see the Wall in front of the high school auditorium. Applications are on the school website. Please contact Bob Brown (chopin7777@aol.com) for questions or applications. 

Bob Brown is a former SHS teacher, creator of the Wall, and Chairman of Wall of Honor Committee.