STEPS XYZ Club Turns SHS Parking Lot into Art Space

Painted senior parking spots at Southington High School. CTPHOTOPRO PHOTOS

According to Rich Aroian, principal of Southington High School, the school’s administration had long toyed with the idea of allowing students who park at the high school to paint designs on their assigned spaces. But because the project was such a formidable undertaking, with many details that needed to be sorted out, it sat on the back burner for a long time.

That all changed last year when the high school’s STEPS XYZ Club – which focuses on promoting healthy lifestyle choices – took the lead.

“The leadership of STEPS XYZ made a proposal last year about using this as a fundraiser,” Aroian said. “They wanted seniors who park to paint their own spaces. We looked at their proposal and came back to them with questions. They answered all our questions. Superintendent Madancy and [Board of Education Chair] Oshana signed off on it. So it happened.”

From that point on, the club took over most of the planning. “Tony Loomis, who is the head of STEPS XYZ, oversaw it with his leadership team,” Aroian said. “Roughly 140 seniors paid $25 each to paint their parking space. All those funds will go to the STEPS XYZ club.”

“A few Saturdays ago we had a Community Day. We had at least a hundred families out there cleaning up spaces, putting coats of primer down, bringing their own paint and brushes. They had to submit their designs ahead of time to make sure there were no concerns; there were none. It was fantastic. Tony was out there with water and music. It was a great day.”

Seniors decorating their spaces. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICH AROIAN.

Aroian speculated that there will be a follow-up event early next year. “We’ll probably do something in the spring for students who got the licenses during the school year. It’s up to Mr. Loomis and the club, but I would love to see a spring community day. We are also thinking of having a contest, but we’re still figuring out how to do that.”

One unknown in this endeavor is how well the paintings will survive the elements, and the winter’s snowfall: “Truthfully, I don’t know,” Aroian said. “Sometimes we get no snow, sometimes we get a boatload. We gave everyone specifics on what kind of brushes, what kind of paint to use. The first coat is always primer. I imagine they won’t be as bright, but we’ll see.”

As for next year’s cohort of seniors who drive to school, they will have a variety of options when it comes to their space. “If a sibling wants their brother’s or sister’s same spot, we’ll allow them to have it. Anybody else who gets the spot can either leave it alone or they can pay $25 and do what these kids did.”

The event raised several thousand dollars for STEPS XYZ, which they will use to host club-related events. “Last year STEPS XYZ did a hobby fair that cost a fair amount, bringing in vendors to promote all sorts of hobbies,” Aroian said.

Aroian stressed that the project was about community building as well as fundraising and public art. “I was thrilled to see parents and siblings and friends painting together," he said. "It wasn’t just one kid per space. It really brought people together.”

In October, Southington Outsider photographer John McDonald of CTPhotoPro took drone photos of all of the painted parking spaces. A selection of these is presented below. A complete gallery can be found on Facebook at this link.

Local Health District Welcomes New Leader

Incoming South Central Health District Director Jamie Luckhardt, left, and outgoing Director Susan Lonczak. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

For the past five years, the South Central Health District, which includes Southington, has been headed by Susan Lonczak. Lonczak helped to guide the community through the Covid-19 pandemic, and more recently has overseen substantial growth in its programs and staff.

Effective November 1, however, Lonczak will step down to take up a new leadership job in the state’s Department of Agriculture. Her successor, Jamie Luckhardt, will now be the point person for local public health.

“The last five years have been amazing in terms of our growth,” Lonczak said. “It’s nice to pass it along to someone who I think will do a great job taking it over.”

While South Central has its main office in the Weichsel Center on 196 North Main Street, it serves the three towns of Southington, Plainville, and Middlefield. The State of Connecticut mandates that it provide a variety of services involving public health outreach and monitoring. One of the most labor-intensive tasks is conducting health inspections for restaurants, salons, and certain infrastructure items like septic tanks. Lonczak has worked hard to make sure there are enough sanitarians, or health inspectors, to do that job.

“We are very heavy in restaurants and salons and all our regulated businesses,” she said. “When I walked in, there were two sanitarians. There were some vacancies, but it was almost like a desert island here. We now have a chief sanitarian, a supervising sanitarian, and four full-time sanitarians, which is so much better than where we were.”

Lonczak also led an effort to make inspection information more accessible to the public, by having it posted on the district’s website.

“We digitized all of our street files. That is up on our website, so it is free and you can look up properties. It is much easier from a FOIA perspective, and that freed up our staff to do more.”

She has steered more resources to outreach, adding a part-time nurse and another full-time staff member to work on community health, particularly in the school system. The district has also started an education campaign based around a large, cheerful dog named ‘Epi,’ which is short for ‘epidemiologist.’

“We got a mascot, a dog named ‘Epi.’ In addition to a lot of youth and family outreach, we’re making an ‘Epi’s World’ website. It has all kinds of resources for families about healthcare, with a child-facing side and a family side.”

Epi relaxing on a bench at the Weichsel Center. SOUTH CENTRAL HEALTH WEBSITE SCREENSHOT

Luckhardt, the incoming director, began her career in public health in Wallingford in 2016 as a volunteer for their medical reserve corps. She later worked in the Naugatcuk Health District as a community health educator, with a portfolio that included emergency preparedness.

During the Covid pandemic, she worked for the Meriden Health Department performing contact tracing, and developing quarantine procedures. She served as a liaison to the schools, often communicating with parents who were concerned about the disease and its repercussions for their children’s education.

Most recently she has taught in the Public Health Masters program at University of New Haven.

“She has a really diverse background in terms of experiences,” said Lonczak. “I think it’s going to be a really nice addition.”

She plans to spend the next few months getting a detailed grasp on the needs of the three towns. “You really need to understand your community,” Luckhardt said. “I plan to spend a portion of the next few months learning more about the needs of our district.”

While both seek to build awareness of public health and its specific challenges, they acknowledge that their work does not always receive much recognition.

“Public health is often invisible,” Luckhardt said. “If we’re doing a great job, then everything runs pretty smoothly.”

“A lot of things are done behind the scenes every day, never seen or heard, to protect our communities,” Lonczak added.

Blue Knights Marching Band Offers ‘Reflections’ on the Past

The Blue Knights Marching Band and Color Guard perform 'Reflections', October 24. BKMB PUBLICITY PHOTOS

Every October, the Southington Blue Knights play host to a marching band and color guard competition, Music of the Knight (MOTK), where dozens of teams from all over the state combine to stage a multi-hour spectacle. This year’s festival of music and movement, held on October 24, was capped by a performance from the University of New Haven Marching Band.

This year was the 33rd celebration of MOTK. It saw, “the most bands, the most volunteers, the most teamwork, the most collaboration with football, the most compliments from the USBands team and Executive Director, and the most income!,” according to a statement from Kevin and Kelly Flood, the MOTK Co-Chairs.

Before the UNH team came on the field, the hosting Blue Knights put on a show of their own. With costumes and props designed to evoke the glitter of mirrors, the 27 color guard members and 69 percussion, brass and woodwind players moved through an intricately choreographed routine. As flags, sabers, and rifles spun through the air, the band played a jazz-themed version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides, Now.’

Along with reflections, a second theme of the night was alumni recognition. Dozens of former marching band and color guard members paraded onto the field just before the Knights’ performance, cheered on by the crowd that packed the stands.

Normally during MOTK, the Blue Knights rely on returning alums to man the concession booth. This year, in order to make it possible for them to be recognized on the field, a group of volunteers from the football team showed up to take their place.

The Blue Knights Marching Band Alumni will be holding a reunion for alumni at Paul Gregory’s, 168 Center Street, on November 27, 6-9pm. Tickets, which must be purchased in advance, are available here.

Band Director Sara Ossias and Associate Director Harry Stuppler consult with each other.

The DePaolo Middle School Marching Band takes the field.

A visiting team with cyberpunk costumes.

The 'Reflections' show begins.

BKMB alumni on the side of the field. PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTOS

The UNH marching band performs.