Sloper Hall of Fame Gets Four New Inductees

Justin Hubeny, Shane Altwies, Howard Levine, Daniel Levine, Julie Levine, David Levine, Linda Roy, Tony Michaud and Mark Pooler. YMCA CAMP SLOPER PHOTO

YMCA Camp Sloper has inducted three individuals and one family in the Sloper Hall of Fame for the 2026 Class: Shane Altwies, Tony Michaud, Linda Roy, and the Levine Family. The 2026 Sloper Hall of Fame Inductees were honored in an outdoor ceremony at Smokin with Chris on Tuesday, September 29th. “All four of the 2026 recipients have made a huge impact on camp and we are excited to honor them as part of the Sloper Hall of Fame” stated Justin Hubeny, Outdoor Center Director at YMCA Camp Sloper.

The 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees are: 

Shane Altwies 

Shane Altwies worked at YMCA Camp Sloper in a variety of capacities, working his way up from being a Camp Counselor to Camp Director over his 10 years of employment with us. Shane stated as a Camp Counselor in 2007 and then took his talents over to the Tower and High Ropes from 2008 to 2011, one of his many passion areas. He took a summer off in 2012 and eventually came back to us in 2013 as the CIT Director, then Assistant Director for two summer and finally ended his career as the Camp Director in the summers of 2016 and 2017.  Shane also spent about five years on our Professional Staff during that time as the Outdoor Center Program Director. He helped in developing, expanding and enhancing our year-round programs like Teambuilding, Science at Sloper, facility rentals, birthday parties, off-season programs and relationships with the school systems. Shane was always exceptionally talented in marketing, graphic design and video production and really enhanced work in these areas during that time. He was a dedicated, professional, hardworking and had a good understanding of culture, our history, our families, and had great relationships with staff, volunteers and donors. Shane was a great staff member in all of his roles.

Linda Roy 

Linda Roy worked for YMCA Camp Sloper from 2007 to 2013 in the role of Camp Administrator. Linda as the Camp Administrator was responsible for handling registration, transportation, parent changes, rental bookings and all the logistics A to Z! Linda did an amazing job helping our camp advance with the times. Linda’s major impact to Sloper really during a time of rapid growth and large enrollment booms. We had just cracked 750 campers per day when Linda arrived at Sloper and we were learning how to be one of the largest day camps in the country. Linda was responsible for the organizational and administrative enhancements to serve all those campers and families. YMCA Camp Sloper credits Linda with the development and implementation of many of the registration procedures, protocols and policies that we are still using today, that help make camp run smoothly on the back end. Linda really helped us modernize and organize our systems and administrative responsibilities to accommodate the growth in that present day and the future. In addition to that we had, during Linda’s time we had gone through several American Camping Association Re-Accreditation sessions. Which basically means we need to meet over 300 standards to stay accredited, and while that was a challenge in itself, we needed someone to organize that information and keep us on the right path! Linda did a great job with keeping everything organized and helping us achieve ACA re-accreditation! On top of all of that, she is just a really great person with a big heart and great family values. It is a true honor to have her as part of the Sloper Hall of Fame.

Tony Michaud

Tony Michaud has been donating his time, talents and treasure since 2011. Tony has served on our Outdoor Center Committee, Building & Property sub-committee, Workday Volunteer on Saturdays and is currently serving in his third term on the YMCA Board of Directors and now Chairs our Property Committee for the Y. Tony has served as Chairman for our Outdoor Center Committee from 2018 to 2023 where his leadership helped us complete our largest capital project ever – the dredging of Sloper Pond!  Tony is an Electrician by trade and the owner of MG Electric and Construction, where he has worked since 1989. He has shared his talents with us on many different projects and improvements. At this point Tony has either wired, re-wired, fixed or improved every electrical fixture at Sloper, and he was there as recent as yesterday helping us solve our latest electrical challenge. In our most recent Capital Campaign, Tony really acted as a Co-GC with Mark Pooler to help build the new Calvanese Bathrooms, Barnes Splash Pad, Soccodato Pavilion and most recently the Vasil Family Camp Office and Skarvinko Health Center. For all of his contribution to the YMCA Camp Sloper Capital Campaign, we honored Tony with the naming of the Michaud Family Archery Pavilion where is family name will forever be a part of Sloper History. In addition, Tony has been a very generous donor through the years. He has been a sponsor and participant in many of our special events and generously given donations and in-kind services to several capital campaigns. For the last 15+ years, Tony has been a huge part of our success at YMCA Camp Sloper. Tony has built strong relationships with all of our volunteers and staff at Sloper. Tony is talented, compassionate and really funny too!  YMCA Camp Sloper will be eternally grateful for having a dedicated volunteer like Tony Michaud.

The Levine Family

Howard, Julie, and children David, Rebekah, Chavah, Tamara and Daniel. A legendary Camp Family who has been faithful members, campers, volunteers and donors for over 5 decades. The Levine Family joined YMCA Camp Sloper in 1979 as Sloper Outdoor Y Members. Since then, Howard and Julie have spent decades volunteering at YMCA Camp Sloper. They both hike our trails daily sometimes more than once in a day. YMCA Camp Sloper is grateful to know that if there is an issue with our trails, tree down, etc. Howard or Julie will text me and let me know about it. Or they will volunteer to clear it on their own. It means a lot that we have them care about the Sloper property like we do. Julie was a Co-Director for our first year of Running our Wanderers Pre-school program. Julie was also a member of our Volunteer Outdoor Center Committee for some time. She also prior to our trails being blazed, put up many wood burnt signs on trees as “tree identification markers.” The Levine Family as a whole spent a lot of time on the weekend here at Sloper – for open waterfront swim, to hang with our staff members, etc. They also were part of our YMCA Indian Guide program and the Levine family opened up their house at least 3 times for 3 of our international camp staff members and was a host family for them. From John Myers – “The Levine Family was always around to help with projects, and events at our YMCA and Sloper. I spent a bunch of time with Julie marking and clearing our trails at Sloper, they were in very rough shape and hard to navigate. Julie played a major role in helping.” Lastly – Thank you so much for being such a dedicated family to YMCA Camp Sloper. You have given and continue to give so much back to Sloper, just by hiking here every day and helping us with various trail work. We are honored to have the Levine Family in the Sloper Hall of Fame.

The Sloper Hall of Fame was created in 2005 as a way to recognize and reward some of the past camp staff, families, and volunteers who have helped to make YMCA Camp Sloper the great facility it is today.  “Remembering those who have paved the way for our present and future generations at camp is very important to us at the YMCA” said Hubeny. "The Sloper Hall of Fame is a way to honor those who have made a lasting impact on the program, facility and people who have enjoyed this special place for many years. And of course, none of this would be possible without the amazing generosity of Cornelia Sloper Neal who donated the property to our YMCA in 1949,” stated Hubeny.  

If you would like more information on the YMCA Camp Sloper Hall of Fame please contact Justin Hubeny at 860-621-8194 or jhubeny@sccymca.org.

The Southington Outsider 2026 Candidate Video Sessions: A Preview

Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco addresses questions at the Southington Outsider Candidate Video Sessions. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTOS

In just a few days, the Southington Outsider will publish the videos of question-and-answer sessions that were held with eight of the candidates running to represent Southington at the State Capital. These sessions were filmed last Thursday, October 1, in the Community Room of the Southington Police Station. Our board member Wayne Edwards managed the filming and editing, with assistance from Jay Sanders. We are grateful to all of the participants and videographers and everyone who helped to make things run smooth.

Those who participated in the video sessions were:

Senator Rob Sampson (R) and his challenger Jack Perry (D)

81^st District Representative Chris Poulos (D) and his challenger Tim Wilk (R)

80^th District Representative Gale Mastrofrancesco (R) and her challenger Cheryl Hilton (D)

22^nd District Representative Rebecca Martinez (D) and her challenger Rich Mette (R)

30^th District Representative Donna Veach (R) and her challenger Linda Pierce (D) will have written responses to the questions.

All of Southington is in the 16^th Senate District, which is represented by Sen. Sampson.

The 81^st House District is the only one that lies entirely within Southington’s borders. The other three districts are split between Southington and Wolcott (80^th), Southington, Plainville, and Farmington (22^nd), and Southington and Berlin (22^nd). As a result, more than half of the town’s voters are represented by people who are based outside of its borders.

Four Common Questions

Candidates first introduced themselves and answered the following four questions:

A. What changes would you work for at the state level to make it easier for residents to afford electricity?

B. What is the most useful thing the state could do right now to help its municipalities?

C. Which segment of the population do you feel has needs that are being overlooked by the state?

D. Identify a national or international issue that impacts us in Connecticut. How should this issue be addressed?

Two Adversarial Questions

After that, each candidate replied to two adversarial questions crafted by their opponents:

For Sen. Rob Sampson from Jack Perry

1. In 2023, you were the only Senator of either party who voted against the bipartisan budget, which included approximately $460 million per year in tax relief - the largest low- and middle-income tax cut in Connecticut history, which increased the Earned Income Tax Credit for 211,000 working families and expanded tax relief for seniors. Especially given that every other Republican state senator voted for this historic tax cut aimed directly at middle-class families, how can you justify this extreme vote against relief for your constituents?

2. In 2020 you cast the only vote in the state Senate against capping insulin, calling it socialism. In 2025, you continued your refusal to protect against price-gouging for life-saving drugs, opposing Connecticut’s historic price caps on generic pharmaceuticals. How can district families trust you to lower the cost of their medications?

For Jack Perry from Sen. Rob Sampson

1. You describe yourself as “An Independent Voice for All of Us.” Please identify two significant laws or major policy initiatives advanced by Governor Lamont and Connecticut legislative Democrats during the current term that you believe were wrong, explain specifically what you object to in each, and tell voters how you would have voted.

2. Your campaign has called Senator Sampson “Ripoff Rob” and an “extremist,” while comments from Senator Sampson and other constituents challenging your claims have been removed and their accounts blocked. You have portrayed yourself as offering a more civil and independent kind of politics; how do you reconcile those tactics with that message, and is deleting criticism and blocking constituents the standard of political discourse you believe candidates for public office should follow?

For Rep. Chris Poulos from Tim Wilk

1. Connecticut residents continue to face the second-highest taxes and electricity bills in the nation. If more than a decade of one-party rule hasn’t made life more affordable, as it clearly isn’t, why shouldn’t people vote for a change? 

2. What vote do you regret the most?

For Tim Wilk from Rep. Chris Poulos

1. What is one of Chris Poulos’ accomplishments that you agree with and support? Please explain why.

2. As someone who spent his career in law enforcement, your reaction to the deaths of Americans Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during encounters with federal immigration-enforcement officers in Minneapolis bears special weight. Based on what you have seen and heard about these incidents, do you think the officers’ actions were justified? And regardless of someone’s immigration status or political views, do you believe federal officers must be held accountable when deadly force is used unlawfully?

For Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco from Cheryl Hilton

1. Representative Mastrofrancesco, you voted against the FY26/27 state budget and subsequent budget adjustment package. Those measures delivered $270 million in municipal aid, $190 million in additional education funding, property tax relief, family caregiver tax credits, firefighter cancer benefits, nursing home workforce investments, aging-in-place grants, early childhood education funding, and Medicaid rate increases. What specific budget proposal did you support that would have provided comparable benefits to the residents of Wolcott and Southington, and where in your proposal would the funding have come from?

2. Representative Mastrofrancesco, many members of your own party joined Democrats in supporting House Bill 5003, Workforce Development and Protection for Assaulted Workers, because it expanded benefits for assaulted healthcare workers and teachers, strengthened support for first responders and veterans, and provided new protections for the families of those killed in the line of duty. Why were those provisions not enough to earn your support, and which specific benefits contained in the bill did you object to? 

For Cheryl Hilton from Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco

1. Do you support requiring a valid photo ID to vote in person and verifying voter signatures on absentee ballots? Yes or no, and please explain.

2. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld state laws that restrict participation on women’s and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex. Do you support the Supreme Court’s decision, and would you support legislation in Connecticut prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams? Yes or no, and please explain.

For Rep. Rebecca Martinez from Richard Mette

1. You are endorsed by the Working Family Party (WFP). In 2020, The Working Family Party position was to defund the police and reallocate funds.  The WFP Charter called for a shift of resources from police, jails, and detentions centers, shifting to unarmed community-based responders, and endorsing candidates who are committed to defunding the police and rejecting police union support. Do you still support the WFP’s historical advocacy of Defund the Police? If you don’t, then why did you accept the WFP’s endorsement?

2. Why did you propose HB5133, an income tax increase, HB5139, for estate tax recapture, HB5186, a surcharge on business entity tax surcharges, and support bills raising Connecticut citizen tax burdens while Connecticut is ranked nationally with the 3rd highest citizen tax burden and the 5th highest property tax burden? Why no bills to lower state taxes and improve all citizens’ affordability? 

For Rich Mette from Rep. Rebecca Martinez

1. On September 2, you were approved for a Citizens’ Election Program grant. That same day, the SEEC opened an investigation about contribution information connected to your application. How many contributions are involved, and what information was wrong or did not match? Will you release the contribution forms so voters can see what happened?

2. Rep. Rebecca Martinez has helped bring millions of dollars in state funding back to the 22nd District for schools, town aid and local projects. Do you agree with using state funding for those investments? Which, if any, of those investments would you have opposed?

For Linda Pierce from Rep. Donna Veach

1. What are your thoughts on requiring voter ID for elections?  

2. Please detail how you would accomplish making Connecticut more affordable.

For Rep. Donna Veach from Linda Pierce

1. Do you believe every person should have the freedom to make their own reproductive choices—including the right to choose what happens to their pregnancy when continuing it puts their life at serious risk? 

2. Many Berlin and Southington residents—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—are deeply concerned about what they’re seeing from the federal government. You are a Republican and a supporter of President Trump. Where do you stand right now with regard to what is happening at the Federal level and how these policies affect Connecticut residents?

 

One Free Question and Final Pitch

Finally, candidates were given the opportunity to answer a question that they had written for themselves.

Rep. Rob Sampson

What do you most want Southington residents to understand about the way you have represented them in Hartford and the record you have built on their behalf?

Jack Perry

How do you define effective representation, and how does this vision clash with that of your opponent?

Rep. Chris Poulos

You refer to yourself as an ‘independent thinker.’ What does that mean?

Tim Wilk

Is there anything else that you would like voters to know about you?

Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco

Can you point out the differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party today?

Cheryl Hilton

Affordability, strong public schools and support for seniors have been central themes of your campaign. What specific actions would you take in your first term to advance those priorities for Wolcott and Southington?

Rep. Rebecca Martinez

What specific accomplishments can you point to from your first term representing the 22nd District?

Rich Mette

What proposals do you have for lowering Connecticut’s energy costs, the 3rd highest in the nation, in addition to controlling Public Benefits and lowering state taxes?

Rep. Donna Veach

As a member of the minority, how have you fought to hold the majority party accountable, protect taxpayers from government overreach, and defend the constitutional rights of those whose voices might otherwise be ignored?

Linda Pierce

What would you do differently as State Representative for the 30^th District representing Berlin & Southington?

Each candidate was allowed a maximum of nine minutes for their introduction and common questions, four minutes to address their adversarial questions, and two minutes for their free questions and closing statement.

Cheryl Hilton addresses questions at the Candidate Video Session.

Mindfulness and Self-Care Event Being Held on October 24

The Southington Community Health Outreach Project is working together with First Congregational Church of Southington’s W.I.S.E. to put together a FREE Mindfulness and Self-Care Event for adults in the Southington community.

This event will provide attendees with opportunities to learn practical strategies for supporting their well-being through mindfulness, self-care, wellness activities, and connections to local resources.

The event will feature three workshops, each offering a different approach to mindfulness and self-care:

• Meditation: Participants will learn mindfulness and meditation techniques designed to support nervous system regulation.

• Creating a Self-Care Plan: Participants will develop a practical self-care plan with strategies they can incorporate into their everyday lives.

• Brain-Body Connection: This collaborative workshop, facilitated by LiveWell and the Southington YMCA, will help participants understand how the brain and body work together and how sleep, stress, and physical activity can contribute to whole-person well-being.

Click here to sign up.

For more details, see the flyer above.