From a press release:
“Hope for Haiti: A Benefit Concert for its People” will be held on Saturday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. at The First Congregational Church in Essex, Connecticut, UCC, 6 Methodist Hill. A free will offering will support the United Church of Christ’s Haitian Relief Fund.
The evening of spirituals, inspirational, traditional and contemporary music will feature performances by the Senior, Youth and Junior Choirs and the Grace Notes Bell Choir of The First Congregational Church in Essex, UCC; and the Senior Choir of The United Church of Chester.
Business As Usual Will Perform in Essex March 20th
Performances by Connecticut musicians, composer/pianist, Lee Ann Olsen of Higganum; guitarists Taylor Bickford and Danny Minor of Essex and vocalists Veronica Lee of Old Lyme and Charles Della Rocco of Chester round out the program.
Music directors of the concert are Barry Asch of Old Saybrook,CT, Senior Choir Director of The First Congregational Church in Essex, Connecticut, UCC; Shari Wilcox of Centerbrook, CT, Youth Choirs Director at The First Congregational Church in Essex, Connecticut, UCC; Cheryl Harger of Ivoryton, CT, Bell Choirs Director at the church; and Karli Gilbertson of Chester, CT, Senior Choir Director at The United Church of Chester.
In addition to serving as Senior Choir Director, Barry Asch is Music Director/Conductor and Co-founder of Cappella Cantorum. He has conducted critically-acclaimed concert tours with Capella, performing throughout Europe and in Canada. A graduate of the Hartt School of Music and The University of Hartford with a master of music education degree, Asch served as music department chairman at Valley Regional High School in Deep River, CT, where he taught for 31 years. During the summer of 2000, conductor Asch was part of the Conductors Master Class with Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival and a participating conductor in the Dennis Keene Choral Festival at The Kent School in Connecticut. Asch received the Shoreline Arts Achievement Award in 2007 for a significant and on-going cultural contribution to the shoreline community.
Shari Wilcox is the Youth Choirs Director at The First Congregational Church in Essex, Connecticut, UCC. She teaches voice and piano, both as a member of the faculty at The Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT, and at her private studio. A mezzo-soprano, she has appeared in opera, musical theatre and as a guest soloist with regional orchestras. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor of music performance degree, she studied voice with both the late Mary Langdon of Mystic and Connie Bloomer, former choral director at Ledyard High School. She is a member of Con Brio, a 50-voice auditioned chorus.
Since 1999, Cheryl Harger has directed the bell choirs at The First Congregational Church in Essex, Connecticut, UCC, comprised of the Grace Notes, Rainbow Ringers and Cheerful Chimers. In addition to her position at the church, she is also a member of the Shoreline
Ringers, a community handbell choir, based in southeastern Connecticut. Cheryl performs with the Ringers at venues throughout Connecticut and appeared with the ensemble when the group played at Carnegie Hall in New York City and at the annual “Joy For The Kids” concert in Hartford, sponsored by WFSB-TV.
Karli Gilbertson, Senior Choir Director at The United Church of Chester, is artist-in-residence and a member of the voice faculty at The Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT. A graduate in vocal performance of the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Minnesota, she has studied voice with Doris Yarick-Cross, Susan Fischer-Clickner and Donna Pegors. As Resident Artist with the Connecticut Opera Company, Ms. Gilbertson has performed many leading roles at The Bushnell in Hartford.
For more information on the “Hope For Haiti” benefit concert, call The First Congregational Church office at (860) 767-8097.
DEEP RIVER & CHESTER— The criminal cases against Charles “Chuck” Della Rocco, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for first selectman in Chester, and Laura Smith, the wife of Deep River First Selectman Richard Smith, have been continued to next month after scheduled appearances Tuesday at Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown.
Della Rocco’s case, with charges of seond degree forgery and third degree larceny, has been continued to Dec. 23. The charge of first degree larceny against Laura Smith has been continued to Dec. 15.
Della Rocco, 41, was the unsuccessful Democratic challenger to Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh in the Nov. 3 Chester town election. Della Rocco was arrested by state police on Nov. 5 on charges related to the alleged illegal sale of a Ford pick up truck he borrowed earlier this year from neighbors Peter and Cheryl Lynch.
Smith, 46, was arrested and charged with first degree larceny on Nov. 4 for the alleged theft by embezzlement of $47,983 from accounts at the Liberty Bank branch on Main Street. Smith, who had been employed at the bank, is alleged to have taken funds from accounts controlled by Patricia Pytlik of Haddam Neck, the co-owner of an Old Savbrook car wash.
Della Rocco and Smith are each free on bond.
By Charles Stannard
CHESTER— Charles “Chuck” Della Rocco, 41, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for first selectman, cancelled a scheduled Oct. 22 interview with Trooper Matt Warren at the Westbrook State Police Barracks as his electoral challenge to Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh entered its final days.
It was also the final days of Warren’s investigation of an alleged illegal sale of a motor vehicle that resulted in Della Rocco’s Nov. 5 arrest on charges of second degree forgery and third degree lareceny. Della Rocco’s initial appearance at Middlesex Superior Court Tuesday was postponed to Nov. 24 at the request of his lawyer, Hartford attorney A. Paul Spinella.
An arrest warrant released by court officials shows the police investigation of Della Rocco, a former Old Saybrook police officer who now works as a police officer for the state Judicial Department, began in late July when a neighbor, Cheryl Lynch, told Warren that Della Rocco had not returned a Ford pick-up truck he had borrowed earlier in the year. Della Rocco, who was nominated for first selectman by town Democrats at a July 27 caucus, returned the truck on Aug. 4.
But further investigation revealed that Della Rocco had allegedly advertised the truck on Craigslist.com in early July, and sold the vehicle in July to Paul Toumi of Coventry for $1,200.
Along with the Craigslist ad, police recovered a Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles bill of sale with an alleged forged signature of Peter Lynch, the husband of Cheryl Lynch. Peter Lynch is a Hartford police officer, and the warrant indicates Toumi had contacted Hartford police in late July with questions about the sale.
The Lynches, who had initially indicated that they did not want to have Della Rocco arrested, decided to press charges in the case after learning about the alleged forged bill of sale.
Trooper Warren contacted Della Rocco about the investigation on Oct. 5. According to the warrant, Della Rocco told Warren that he was running for first selectman in Chester and agreed to be interviewed by police at a later date.
Warren attempted to contact Della Rocco on his cell phone twice during October, with Della Rocco agreeing to be interviewed at the Westbrook Barracks on Oct. 22. Della Rocco contacted Warren on October 22, telling the trooper that he had obtained legal counsel and cancelling the scheduled interview. Police applied for an arrest warrant after Della Rocco cancelled the Oct. 22 interview.
By: Charles Stannard
CHESTER— Charles “Chuck” Della Rocco, the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for first selectman in the Nov. 3 town election, was arrested by state police Thursday on forgery and larceny charges.
Della Rocco, 41, was arrested on a court warrant and charged with second degree forgery and third degree larceny/fraud by computer or phone. Della Rocco turned himself in Thursday afternoon at the Troop F barracks in Westbrook and was later released on a $1,000 non-surety bond for a Nov. 17 appearance at Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown.
Della Rocco, a former Old Saybrook police officer who currently serves on the Chester Board of Education and the Chester Democratic Town Committee, was defeated in the election by Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh on a 758-465 vote.
Della Rocco currently works as a police officer for the state Judicial Branch, providing security at the State Library/Supreme Court building in Hartford. Rhonda Stearley-Hebert, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Branch, said Friday Della Rocco would be assigned to desk duty “with no police powers.” when he returns to work next week. She said department officials are currently “gathering information,” on the charges against Della Rocco.
The charges were filed after an investigation of a complaint from a neighbor, Peter and Cheryl Lynch of Turkey Hill Road. The investigation that began in July focused on allegations that Della Rocco had allegedly borrowed a pick up truck from the couple, and later sold the vehicle to another person using the Craigslist website.
Della Rocco, contacted Friday, referred questions to his attorney, Hartford lawyer Paul Spinella. Spinella could not be reached Friday for comment.
Marsh said Friday he is “surprised and disappointed” to learn of Della Rocco’s arrest. Marsh said he learned of the allegations involving Della Rocco during the summer from the Lynches, adding that town Republicans never raised the subject during the fall campaign because they did not have complete information on the situation.
Marsh also contended that various members of the Chester Democratic Town Committee were aware of the allegations involving Della Rocco when he was nominated for first selectman at a July 27 caucus. Top town committee members could not be reached Friday for comment about the situation involving Della Rocco.
Mario Gioco, chairman of the Chester Republican Town Committee, has sent a letter to three Democratic state elected officials who endorsed Della Rocco at appearances in Chester during the fall election campaign. In the letter, Gioco asks state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Comptroller Nancy Wyman, and Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewciz whether they were aware of the investigation of Della Rocco when they made the endorsement and appeared at local fundraisers for his campaign.
Chester will hold a First Selectman’s debate between the two candidates, Tom Marsh and Charles Della Rocco, at the Chester Meeting House on Tuesday, October 20 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.
The debate will be independently moderated. LocalOnlineNews.TV’s Charles Stannard will be one of the questioners at the event.
The debate will be taped for broadcast on the Comcast Local Access Channel (Channel 19) at various times between October 23rd and November 2nd to be announced. The event will also be available for viewing at any time after October 22nd at www.CommonGroundCT.com.
For more information contact Emily Masters at ememtp@msn.com or Mario Gioco at mgioco@giococpa.com or Glenn Reyer at glenn@thechestercompany.com.
CHESTER — Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh, first elected in 2005, will face Democratic challenger Charles Della Rocco in this fall’s election. LocalOnlineNews.TV’s Danica Pecirep sat down with both candidates recently and filed these profile pieces.
Later this weekend LocalOnlineNews.TV will post the full, extended length interviews with both candidates. Extended length videos will be added to the bottom of this post when they are available.
Profile of Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh:
Profile of Democratic Candidate Charles Della Rocco
