Judy Klem, Home Staging, Senior Move Management, Fairfield/New Haven counties

Volunteering for the Pequot Yacht Club 2011 Invitational Regatta

The summer sun was bright and strong this morning, as sailors aged 12-15 years prepared for the Invitational Regatta hosted by the Pequot Yacht Club in Southport, CT. This invitational regatta is the second oldest running junior regatta on Long Island Sound. It was started in 1954.

This year saw the introduction of something new: a collaboration between Pequot and Sailors for the Sea, an ocean conservation organization. Setting this as a Clean Regatta means not only best efforts at recycling effort, but also distributing water to each sailor in insulated stainless steel bottles instead of plastic ones, which can easily fly overboard and cause problems with marine life.

It was fun to volunteer to coordinate various activities, and see the excitement of all these young sailors as they prepared for their first sail of the day this morning.

They are sailing in small boats known as Pixels, specifically chosen for intermediate sailors. They make quite a display when they're all lined up at the docks.

The Racing Committee boat is seen here with a long view of the route the Pixels will take as they're towed from the docks to their starting positions.

The Pequot Yacht Club is set in a truly beautiful part of Southport, CT on Harbor Road. It was a joy to participate in a small way, and I'm sure the young sailors had a lot of fun - I know I did!

Volunteering for the Pequot Yacht Club 2011 Invitational Regatta

Feeling Crabby and Stressed Out? Take a Hike!

Spending too much time in your car, or hunched over your computer? It's enough to get anyone feeling crabby and stressed out. There's a really easy solution: put on some comfortable clothes and good walking shoes, and take a hike!

Here in Shelton, CT, you can enjoy a hike up to 4.8 miles long, using the "Bridge to Bridge" route. This takes you along most of the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path plus a scenic section of the Dominick Trail. You'll walk past several bodies of water along the way, including Pine Lake, Silent Waters and Hope Lake.

The Trail is well marked, and there are trail maps available on the Shelton Trails website. Volunteer work crews are busy making the trails wide enough to be handicapped accessible, which also means families with young children in strollers can get out and enjoy nature, too.

You'll see Shelton Rec Path maps on trees along the path so you can orient yourself.

The Shelton Trails website offers lots of interesting information for new and seasoned hikers, such as the Trails Blog, which keeps hikers up to date on the latest news about the trails, a Trail Guide page that contains handy information such as downloadable trail maps and instructions on reading trail markings, and a very well-written page on Trail Safety.

So, take advantage of the great weather, grab a friend, and walk off that crabby stress. You'll be glad you did!


Feeling Crabby and Stressed Out? Take a Hike!

Shelton CT HBL Book Sale in Progress!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Get your gently used, great selection of books! Here in Shelton CT, the Huntington Branch Library Sale is now in progress.

Located behind the Shelton Community Center, the Huntington Branch Library is at 41 Church Street in Shelton, CT. Their phone number is 203-926-0111.

The book sale is on until this coming Saturday, and hours of the are shown in the sign below. I hope to see you there!

Be sure to bring some heavy-duty shopping bags. If you love books, they'll really come in handy!

Shelton CT HBL Book Sale in Progress!

Setting up for a Fabulous Book Sale!


This morning, along with other Friends of Shelton Libraries, I'll be working at the Huntington Branch Library to set up for the Library Book Sale that will take place next week. This group is great - women of all ages, all of whom love books and our libraries. We always have good laughs, so although I know I'll come home with an achy back, it's totally worthwhile.

The Huntington Branch Library will have books in many categories, including House & Home, a large Children's section, History, Art, and many more. By far the largest pool will be the general fiction section. Last time, we had eight books carts plus several large tabletops filled with these beautiful, gently used hardcover books - many looking as though they were never read.

I'll post more information about the dates and times for this book sale in the next couple of days. Now I just have to try VERY hard not to come home with a couple of shopping bags full of must-have books!

Setting up for a Fabulous Book Sale!

Strut Your Stuff!


Do you work in Connecticut? Or maybe just live here? Well, here's a great opportunity to see and hear about many of the products and services to be found in the Greater Valley area.

On Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - yes, that's tomorrow! the Connecticut Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 10th annual "Strut Your Stuff" Valley Business Expo & Health Fair.

You won't want to miss the fabulous keynote speaker: Kim Bensen, an author, columnist, TV personality and entrepreneur. This down to earth, fun woman has built a great business around a truly amazing accomplishment: Kim weighed 347 pounds in 2001, and lost - and has successfully maintained that loss - an astonishing 212 pounds!

She is inspiring in a very "woman next door" kind of way. Even if you don't need to lose weight, you will be inspired by her energy, her creativity, and her sense of fun.

The Keynote will be given from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the Expo is open from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. It will be held at 6 Armstrong Park in Shelton CT. You can register for the "Strut Your Stuff" Expo & Health Fair.

Come and enjoy Kim Bensen's presentation, and learn lots about businesses here in the Valley. I hope to see you there!

Strut Your Stuff!