Culture

Last Saturday, Southington High School’s robotics team, the CyberKnights, had just returned home from a dramatic tournament victory in Vermont, where they and two other teams in their alliance eeked out a close win in overtime against a rival trio of teams.

Southington High School has announced that the following students have earned first and second honors:

A crowd of over one hundred family members, friends, and supporters exploded into cheers as the Blue Knights Winter Guard returned home from Dayton, Ohio, where the team surprised everyone – even, to a certain extent, themselves – by taking home the gold medal in a nationwide competition.

From 1919 to 1974, The Southington News was the town’s main newspaper. For most of its run, it published a mix of articles on local news and sports along with editorials and ads, just like its successor, The Southington Observer.

There aren’t that many people who know as much about the business of sports broadcasting as Southington resident Mike Soltys. Having joined ESPN in 1980, just a year after the network’s birth, he served for several decades as its Vice President for Communications and witnessed first hand as a scrappy Bristol-based start-up turned into a global sports media empire.

Anyone driving by the Southington green Wednesday morning might have noticed something new on its lawn – a swarm of large white dragonflies.

Back in 2015, Chris Iverson was an Eagle Scout looking for a service project. Told to contact the Barnes Museum, he went on a tour of the grounds with the curator at the time, Marie Secondo.

In 1938, the American Legion held its first nationwide oratorical contest to provide high school students an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the U.S Constitution while earning scholarships for college.

On Tuesday, March 31, The Orchard Valley Garden Club is pleased to have Pam Bosward of West Woods Flower Farm in Hamden, CT presenting, “Growing Beautiful Dahlias.” West Woods Flower Farm grows pesticide free, locally-grown flowers from mid-June through mid-October.

Eleven members of the STEPS Youth Council made their on-screen debut recently in a short video highlighting the risks of sports betting.

The highlight for most community service organizations are the regular meetings and social outings where members forge ties of friendship. Like many local service groups, the Southington Lions club was hit hard by the COVID pandemic, which made it necessary to limit face-to-face contact.

Last summer Justin Dawley and his wife Jessica opened up Vue Brewing Company in a 1,500 square-foot space on Triano Drive, which runs off Hart Street not far from the Southington Police Station.

Starting a successful small business is notoriously hard. One path to success is to identify an underserved market segment and then figure out an effective way to reach your customers.

Raising a child can be one of life’s great joys – but also one of its greatest challenges. And while there are many resources out there new parents can take advantage of, navigating them can often be time-consuming and frustrating.

One in a million - as Jennifer Coan-Mahmood, Assistant Director at Mount Southington Ski Area, pointed out to the enthusiastic crowd, that’s literally how rare an Olympic athlete is.

Just a few months from now, Sloper Pond will be full of area children swimming, boating, fishing, and making friendships and memories to last a lifetime.

Many brewery owners get their start by experimenting with brewing at home. Josh Norris, the head brewer of Witchdoctor Brewing in Factory Square, is no exception.

Research shows that differences in generations are caused not only by life experiences (wars, famine, etc.) but also changes in technology.

The schools? Closed. Town Hall? Closed. The Library, YMCA, Calendar House, Community Services? All closed. 15 to 20 inches of snow – the totals vary depending on who you ask – will do that.

“Young people today are different.” Yes, it seems every older generation always says that.

There is no path to Southington’s Great Unconformity. Instead, visitors must tread carefully over boulders and through stands of oak and mountain laurel until they come to the edge of a steep ravine.

“What did you think of Barb’s?” a member of Sober Southington asked the group. “I liked it, it reminded me of the kind of pizza I grew up with," came the reply.

The executive director of Southington’s Bread For Life, Missy Cipriano, is a trained beekeeper...

The Southington Outsider recently put out an invitation for authors from the Southington community to tell us about books they have written or are working on.

The Southington Outsider recently put out an invitation for authors from the Southington community to tell us about books they have written or are working on.

Once a year, the Southington-Cheshire YMCA bestows five awards on individuals or groups who have done exceptional work to improve our community.

In the middle of the afternoon on Friday, downtown Southington suddenly lost power.

The passion that Bradley Barnes, last owner of the Barnes homestead, had for historical artifacts explains why the Barnes Museum is so full of treasures today.

The Knights traveled to New Britain for a statewide band competition and to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for a national competition.

When it formed in 1965, the Southington Historical Society's mission was not just to preserve stories about the town’s past, but to find a place where a growing collection of unique historical objects from its early days could be displayed

Alicia Diaz and Brandi Nik Kilbourne-Price SHERRIE SHOVER PHOTOS Downtown Southington continues to grow, and a new addition strives to help residents do the same. Infinite Growth Club, located at 35 Center Street, is a boutique fitness and wellness studio that blends physical training, yoga, mental well-being, and community connection. Founded by Brandi Nik Kilbourne-Price, a longtime personal trainer and coach, and Alicia Diaz, a yoga instructor and licensed social worke

In this day and age, it’s more important than ever to find opportunities for real connection. Such the view of Sauvignon Blanc, a Southington-born drag queen.

The first clue Southington residents had that something strange was coming to town may have been the unusual black jeep parked in the lot behind Factory Square last year.

The cold air stiffened performers' fingers and complicated sound equipment Saturday, as nineteen Connecticut high school marching bands took the field at Southington High School for the Music of the Knight! competition.

For the seventeenth year in a row, Bread For Life held its soup-and-bread dinner this past Wednesday.

This past Saturday downtown Southington was filled with people in various degrees of motion. Some inched patiently along while waiting for apple fritters

Friday evening at 5pm the streets of downtown Southington will be closed to traffic once again as thousands of visitors flock to the Apple Harvest Festival's many attractions.

Crowds gathered downtown under cloudless skies Friday evening and all day Saturday to celebrate the 56th Southington Apple Harvest Festival.

For most people, the idea of a small-town girl living a double life as a musician is nothing more than an entertaining plotline, one reserved for fictional characters like Hannah Montana. For Southington native (and former Camp Sloper counselor) Erin Gibney, however, that idea has become reality.

The two weeks starting September 21st have been designated “Paving The Path Forward To End FTD Weeks..."

For a few hours Friday evening Southington stepped into the cinematic limelight as the town's drive-in played host to the world premier of “Intentional Optimism” – a documentary about the creation of the Bristol-based sports network ESPN.

What should a town do with its undeveloped land? Let it be, to allow nature to recover and give residents more wilderness to enjoy? Or use it for new houses and businesses, to grow the population and the tax base?

This year’s festival, which will be held on the weekends of October 5–7 and 10–12, will feature several novel events and performances.

Encountering a century-old vehicle that is as shiny and new as the day it rolled off the assembly line can trigger memories of a distant era. The noise its engine makes when it turns over can be like the sound of ancient history roaring back to life.

Picture outdoor recess at a typical elementary school. Now raise the number of kids playing outside to one thousand. Divide them into groups and give each group some fun activity – swimming, fishing, archery, hiking, running, drawing, putting on a play, riding a ‘train’ made of golf carts, or playing on a splash pad.

"Taste" can mean to eat or drink something in small quantities, or to become acquainted with something through experience. This week's Taste of Southington embodied both definitions of the word.

The tranquil landscape of barns and meadows that greets drivers at the intersection of Flanders Road and Flanders Street now contains a surprise: three rare cattle whose striking coloration – white belt on a black coat – brings to mind the famous cookie.

Allison and Dipo Oseni Bring LA-style Karaoke to Southington

Photographer John McDonald from CT Drone Source was at the Southington Italian-American Festival.

The Italian ideal of la bella figura: the notion that almost every aspect of life can be turned into a ‘beautiful performance.’