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By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
Peter Getz remembers the Saturday not too long ago when he and other members of the Canton Athletic Booster Club drove to Orange along with a donated 18-wheeler and spent the day unloading and cashing in cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles at a mobile redemption center.
At the time, the booster club was without a vendor who would have been handling that chore. But the redeemable cans and bottles were still coming in, so Getz and the others did what they had to do.
 The familiar drop-off point for redeemable cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles at the Canton transfer station. Photo: dotCANTON A resident of North Canton, Getz is in his fifth year as president of the nonprofit booster club, an organization that supplements the needs of all athletic teams at Canton Middle School and Canton High School. Over approximately two decades, he says, the club has provided more than $50,000 in financial assistance.
A good chunk of that money, as much as 75 percent in a given year, according to Getz, has been generated through the redemption of cans and bottles left voluntarily by the residents of Canton at three drop-off bins just inside the gate of the town’s transfer station on Ramp Road. Getz and two other men tend to the cans and bottles regularly, keeping everything sorted and ready for pickup.
CW Resources, a nonprofit agency in New Britain that’s dedicated to “empowering persons with disabilities and the economically disadvantaged through employment” picks up the load each month and sends back a check.
According to Getz, money from the booster club has been used recently to obtain headsets for the football coaches and to fund a scoreboard for the high school gym and to refinish the gym floor.
The booster club has other ways to raise funds, including family memberships and an annual golf tournament. In addition, Getz says the individual teams are beginning to get more involved in the process.
As examples, Getz says the girls high school basketball team is planning a breakfast fundraiser in February, and the high school baseball team is putting together a pasta dinner in the spring.
“We’re starting to involve the kids a lot more,” Getz says. “It’s good for community relations, and it gives the kids a sense of ownership.”
That doesn’t mean Getz no longer wants your empties. He says you don’t need a transfer station sticker to drop off redeemable cans and bottles. And, he says, if for some reason you can’t bring them in, don’t throw them away.
If they call me, I would be more than happy to go pick stuff up,” he says. “It’s not just that we’re looking for money, but I’d rather recycle it than have it wind up in a landfill.”
 Route 179, near the Canton Center Congregational Church on June 7, 2010. Photo: dotCANTON By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
In France, folks might call it “la route de drapeaux.”
In Spain, they might say “el camino de las banderas.”
Americans might refer to it as “the road of flags.”
In Canton, we call it Route 179.
What began in 2004 as a local woman’s tribute to a son serving in Iraq and a late brother who was an Air Force veteran has become over time something that seems quite natural for Route 179, all the way from the Barkhamsted line to the Burlington border near St. Patrick’s Church in Collinsville.
When the 200 or so American flags that line the roadway come in for the winter after Veterans Day each year, it feels like something’s missing. When they go up again in May, sometime before Memorial Day, the red, white and blue mixes quite well with all the other colors of spring.
“I think it’s a part of the town now,” Melissa Zils says.
Melissa’s sister, Elaine Zils, began putting up flags in 2004, but only for a relatively short stretch of Route 179 in Canton Center, from Canton Clay Works to North Mountain Road. She did it with money out of her own pocket. Then another Canton woman got involved.
“I was just so moved when I saw the part (of Route 179) that she had done,” says Stella Richardson. “I cried all the way to work.”
Richardson says her motivation for joining up with Elaine Zils was simple. “I’m just proud to be an American,” she says. “I think what our soldiers do is outstanding.”
In 2005, Richardson says, “I suggested we do all of 179.” The women raised some money and made it happen. “When people noticed, they started asking around,” Melissa Zils says, “and Stella and Laney started taking donations. I still don’t think they got enough to cover the whole route, but it was nice.”
Richardson and Elaine Zils got the flags up again in 2006, but tragedy struck a few months later when Zils died in a traffic accident in Simsbury.
“In lieu of flowers, we asked for donations to a new fund,” the Elaine Zils Memorial Flag Fund, Melissa Zils says. The fund remains active, and “people still send donations; I get notes that are so nice,” Melissa says.
Continue reading A Route In All Its Glory
 The Blue House, 161 Albany Turnpike. Photo: dotCANTON  For sale at The Blue House. Photo: dotCANTON By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
In simple terms, The Junk Shop on Route 44 is expanding. But it’s a little more complicated than that.
Eric Hathaway isn’t putting an addition onto his ramshackle building at 181 Albany Turnpike. Instead, he and his wife, Kim, will now be working out of two locations only a few hundred feet apart on the busy roadway.
And what Kim Hathaway will be selling in The Blue House (Nice Old Things) at 161 Albany Turnpike will generally be more “upscale.”
Shoppers will have a chance to see what Kim is offering beginning at noon this Saturday, Nov. 20, when The Blue House opens its doors for the first time.
“(Items) range from 5 years old to 100 years old,” Kim says. “It’s all in good condition, which is a little different from The Junk Shop. Here, we want things ready to move into your home.”
The Blue House is located on the north side of Albany Turnpike (Route 44) next to The Whole Donut and across the street from Davidson Chevrolet. The historic building has been vacant for about three years and was last occupied by The Pet Route of Canton, which is now in space next door at 163 Albany Turnpike.
Kim Hathaway says she and her husband, Canton residents for 26 years, are eager to sell what they have, so she believes shoppers will like her prices.
“It’s important to both shops that there’s a continually changing inventory,” Kim says. “That’s what makes it fun for shoppers.”
 Custom made chairs at The Blue House. Photo: dotCANTON Kim Hathaway doesn’t seem inclined to use the word “antiques” when talking about what’s in her store, though she says she’ll stock lots of “collectibles,” including a “big collection of vintage linens.”
Dishes, artwork, furniture and vintage clothing are among the many other items she’ll have.
Working in a store is new for Kim, who spent 16 years with the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, the last 10 as its executive director. She left the foundation a year ago, and she and Eric have been gathering items since June in anticipation of opening the The Blue House.
Eric Hathaway has been operating The Junk Shop for 11 years. Before that he owned an “industrial inventory company,” Kim said.
“There’s a large amount of used furniture on the market right now,” Kim says. “The Junk Shop wasn’t large enough, so we decided to expand. … The purpose was to have a place where we could sell nicer and larger things.”
The Blue House will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
 Sawyer's Martial Arts will move into the space at 215 Albany Turnpike currently occupied by Boomerangs Resale Outlet. Photo: dotCANTON By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
Mark Sawyer is bringing his martial arts school back to Canton.
Sawyer’s Martial Arts, currently operating at 8 Wickett St. in the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford, will take over the space at 215 Albany Turnpike (Route 44) that’s being vacated by Boomerangs Resale Outlet.
Sawyer says he expects to hold his first classes at his new address on Monday, Jan. 3.
A lifelong Canton resident, Sawyer says he has been teaching Tang Soo Do (pronounced “tongue sue doe”) for 22 years, first as town parks & recreation program, and since 1991 through his own business. That enterprise, Sawyer says, has occupied space in Canton Green on Route 44, at the ax factory in Collinsville and the now-remodeled area that’s home to Joni’s Child Care at 352 Albany Turnpike. He says he has been in New Hartford for three years.
“I’m really hoping this is my last move,” Sawyer says, adding that he had his eye on the 215 Albany Turnpike storefront before Boomerangs, then known as Tag Sale Guys, arrived.
A supervisor by day at PMP Corporation (formerly Petroleum Meter & Pump Co.) in Avon, Sawyer and other instructors teach Tang Soo Do in evening classes during the week. He says he currently has about 30 students ranging in age from from “5 into their 50s.”
Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art that Sawyer says “teaches you a little bit about (self defense) in every situation you (might) find yourself in.” But, says Sawyer, a sixth-degree black belt, or “master belt,” the martial arts provide more than self-defense skills.
“Just training in the martial arts … the sacrifices you have to make to improve, that’s how you gain self-confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline and respect.
“One of the biggest benefits of the martial arts is the physical fitness and mental strength you gain.”
 "Neu Contemporary IV" / Shirley Mae Neu By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
Artist Shirley Mae Neu experienced a creative awakening in the 1990s, when she stumbled upon spray enamel as a new medium with which to work.
“Previously, I had been doing a lot of hard-edged painting, like a child does in coloring books,” Neu says. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but I found it was very time consuming.
“I had sprayed a basket to change the color, and I thought, why not spray on canvas? I became wildly free.
“There are still lines and angles and circles, but I can work faster and change things, and it’s a lot more fun.”
Multiple examples of Neu’s spray enamel work are on display at the Canton Public Library through December as part of an exhibit entitled “A Contemporary Exploration.” Also on display are some much different acrylics from the “Celestial Dreams and Terrestrial Visions” series Neu created for a show in the Spotlight Gallery at Gallery on the Green in the spring of 2008.
Neu, a resident of Bloomfield who is currently a member of the Canton Artists’ Guild’s board of directors, says her work reflects her passion for life, color and harmony. But she has some advice for anyone thinking about expressing themselves through the use of spray enamel.
“You need a well-ventilated place,” she says, acknowledging the presence of fumes, “perhaps a fan, or in an open garage or outside on a sunny day.” And, she says, a breathing mask is a good idea.
More of Neu’s work can be seen at Canton Town Hall, where an exhibit that originally was scheduled to come down at the end of October has been held over at least through November.
Neu is the narrator of “Celebrating 50 Years of Art, Artists and Community,” a commemorative DVD about Gallery on the Green produced by Jeffrey Schlichter of Collinsville and Cameo PhotoVideo.
To check out some of Shirley Mae Neu’s work currently on display at the Canton Public Library, click on any of the 12 images in the gallery below and use the arrow left or arrow right button at the bottom of the larger image that pops up. To return to this page, click on the full image you are viewing.
Author and artist Marcia Reid Marsted of Canton is out of the hospital again and back at McLean in Simsbury, where she continues her recovery from a serious Oct. 1 automobile crash on Avon Mountain.
Marsted first checked out of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford on Oct. 15. Two days later she left McLean and returned to the hospital to be treated for an infection, according to posts on family’s carepages.com website.
Marsted checked into McLean Monday afternoon, Oct. 25, according to a new post on the website. “Marcia’s progress remains strong and positive!!!” the post said.
– dotCANTON
 Photo: dotCANTON By Steve Wilder dotCANTON.com
Deanna Damen probably will be running on fumes today, Oct. 23, when she finally opens the retail portion of her Cake Gypsy business directly behind Walgreens pharmacy in Canton Village.
A visitor late Friday afternoon could see there was still plenty to do at the “boutique bakery” in preparation for today’s 10 a.m. grand opening, and Damen conceded a few odds and ends — including a coffee and tea bar she’s excited about — will remain unfinished for a bit.
Putting the bakery together has taken Damen longer than she anticipated, so it’s not likely she’ll let a little weariness and few loose ends interfere with the upbeat mood she was in Friday as she explained what she’s trying to do with space that once was home to the Canton Chamber of Commerce and most recently was the site of The Charming Frog tea room.
“I’ve wanted to do something different,” says Damen, who will continue to create custom cakes for a wide variety of special occasions and teach cake decorating classes for kids, teens and adults.
“I’ve wanted to create an experience.”
 Photo: dotCANTON Cake Gypsy will sell ready-made cakes, brownies, cookies, homemade chocolate and what might wind up being the most fun of all … cupcakes that customers will be able to fashion to their liking at the cupcake bar. You choose the kind of cake you want, then the filling, the frosting and the topping.
“I researched and researched on the Internet to see what everyone else was doing, and I only found two other cupcake bars in the United States,” Damen says. “I’m trying to create something exciting for this area, something you’d more likely see in a city.”
Damen doesn’t hesitate when you ask her to describe the difference between a basic bakery and a boutique bakery.
“You know, a boutique is different from Macy’s,” she says. “Everything is fancier.
“I felt there was a need for it here. I sell cannolis. You can’t get good cannolis around here.”
The boutique bakery experience at Cake Gypsy will include a gift area for customers to browse and special packaging for Damen’s products. “If you go to someone’s house, you want to be proud of what you’re carrying in,” she says.
Today’s grand opening from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will include free samples of Cake Gypsy products and contests to win spots in classes Damen teaches.
Damen says Cake Gypsy initially will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with the hours expanding as the holidays near.
Click here for an earlier dotCANTON report about Cake Gypsy.
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