News in Brief: Accreditation, Doctors Honored and Flip-Flop Recycling

Two Coldwell Associates Accredited: Two sales associates have been awarded the Accredited Commercial Agent designation after completing 50 hours of training.

The associates, Trumbull  residents Raman R. Singh and Paul Wettenstein, must also attend monthly advanced training seminars and webinars.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage sales associates who complete this educational program have been extensively trained in commercial sales, leases, exchanges, buyer and tenant representation, negotiations and financial analysis investments, according to a press release.

“The Accredited Commercial Agent training program is designed to fully support our sales associates’ career development,” said Cathleen Smith, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y. “In taking this course, Raman and Paul are developing the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the real estate industry, and are demonstrating their dedication and commitment to their clients and customers.”

They can be reached at the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office in Trumbull at 203-452-3700.

Bridgeport Hospital Doctor Honored: Trumbull-based internal medicine physician William Greg Hulcher was named physician of the year during Bridgeport Hospital’s Academy of Making the Difference Awards on March 15 at Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Hulcher, a practicing physician for 35 years whose office is on White Plains Road, earned the honor for his outstanding scores on patient satisfaction surveys and for the many positive comments he received from patients and hospital staff members, according to a press release.

“Dr. Hulcher is a leader among his colleagues,” said Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs Dr. Bruce McDonald, in presenting the award.  “He is an excellent clinician with an outstanding bedside manner.” 

More than 350 employees and physicians were recognized for service excellence during the annual Academy of Making the Difference ceremony.

Tidy Up Trumbull II Postponed until May 1: Trumbull Community Women, along with Trumbull’s new Bipartisan Coalition, will be sponsoring a second “Tidy-Up Trumbull” event on May 1 from  11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  The focus of the effort will be on Trumbull’s Great Oak Park and is being done in conjunction with Earth Day 2011. Parking is in the gravel lot on Dayton Road.

“We are happy to work in conjunction with Trumbull Community Women on this effort to assist the clean-up of our town,” said Tom Kelly, a member of the Trumbull Board of Education and leader of the Bipartisan Coalition. 

Questions regarding this event can be directed to Kelly via email at tommyk8@aol.com.

Shaving for a Cure: On April 10, TeamBrent held its annual St. Baldrick’s event at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Almost 500 men, women and children shaved their heads to raise money and awareness for children with cancer.

Trumbull’s Emma Dighnello, Patrick and Timmy Farrelly and members of Team Tashua participated.

Recycle your Flip-Flops: TerraCycle, Inc. and are partnering in a month-long drive to collect used flip flops and recycle them into four public playgrounds around the country.

Donors can stop by an Old Navy store to deposit used flip flops in designated collection bins. This is the first time a nationwide retailer has initiated a large-scale effort to collect and recycle flip flops, according to a press release.

Donations can be made through May 21.

Supporting the Troops: The Kiwanis Club of Bridgeport recently joined members of its younger counterpart, the Key Club, to pack and send more than 60 gift boxes to troops serving in Afghanistan, according to a press release.

Kiwanis members collected money for supplies during their weekly meetings, and Key Club members went around to home rooms at Trumbull High seeking donations. Then the two groups purchased items in bulk, including snacks, candy, disposable razors, socks, toothbrushes and other toiletries.

The students also collected shoe boxes, in which Key Club members placed some treats and extras, such as handwritten thank-you notes, a hand-drawn cartoon, and print-outs of puzzles.

The two groups assembled the packages last week at Aquarion Water Company’s Monroe facility, where John Herlihy, Kiwanis Club president, is the director of water quality and environmental management. Also helping were student advisors Christie Kania and Shannon Healy. The task took 90 minutes except for a pizza break.

Rob Harry of Trumbull, who served as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, came by with his wife and young daughter. Harry, who is now a Trumbull police officer, admired the collection of donated items spread out on the work table and said the soldiers would appreciate the gifts.

Kiwanis members delivered the boxes to Mike and Carol Weinschel of Fairfield, who send care packages to the troops regularly.

Trumbull High School students who participated in the project were : Sneha Alaparthi, Julianne Boggs, Shannon Boyd, Erin Chapman, Christie Costello, Taylor Dawson, Joanna Ebersold, Jill Epstein, Alie Fetzer, Rebecca Feuerberg, Katie Foley, Erin Grady, Kunal Jhaveri, Akeylah Khandwala, Keshav Khazanchi, Anna Larracuente, Corrie MacLean, Elizabeth Nagy, David Picirillo, Matt Rieger, Jackie Rose, Stefanie Salvatore, Andrea Shulick, Gina Shulick, Hunter Sigona, Juliet Stickle, Andrew Vojt, Amanda Wong and Stanley Zheng.

Make-A-Wish Gala Planned: The Evening of Wishes Gala will be held at 6 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Casino on April 30.

New this year is a special dinner menu created and presented live by Celebrity Chef Todd English to celebrate Make-A-Wish’s 25th anniversary.  The evening will feature an evening of music and dancing along with a live auction to follow dinner; in addition attendees are invited to participate in the silent auction throughout the Gala. 

Kevin Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer of Middletown-based Wireless Zone, is Chairman of the foundation's Board of Directors. The company has donated $160,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut.

For more information on the ® of Connecticut, visit http://ct.wish.org/.