Week in Review: House Fire, Burst Pipes and the FSA

Today, as you know, is Super Bowl 47. The San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens but more importantly, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh competes against his older brother, John, for the ring, the trophy, the glory and the all-time greatest bragging rights. Ledyard’s eateries have been preparing all week and have a bunch of specials in store for you.

And, at the first of the week, we ran an article featuring a photo taken in 1940 in Ledyard that’s for sale on eBay. It’s not an ordinary photo, it was taken by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration, the same organization that’s responsible for all those great photos of rural American, everyday Americans and many of the iconic images we have of the Great Depression.

On Saturday, the Ledyard Patch joined P! News for Groundhog’s Day in Manchester where the newest official groundhog, Chuckles VIII, was frightened by her own shadow, which indicates six more weeks of winter. As the newest State Groundhog, Chuckles generously granted P! News an exclusive interview and close-up footage of her swearing in, which was officiated by Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman.

Earlier, students at the Gallup Hill Elementary School were treated to a cultural experience as members from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation performed a demonstration of drumming, singing and dancing.

"It was great to see what some of the kids do outside of school," said Principal Pam Austen after the performance. "It's such a rich culture, right down the road, we may as well tap into it."

For about one hour, Kenny Merrick, Jr. a cultural instructor for our local tribe beat the drums while explaining the significance of the dances and how they were used to communicate and express feeling. Also as Merrick stated, it brought families and tribes together for entertainment when the world had no television.

Believe it or not, it’s not too late if you want to tie the knot this month. FREE wedding ceremonies will be performed at the Olde Mystick Village meetinghouse on Valentine’s Day, if you are so inclined.

Regrettably, on one of those nights where the temperatures fell down into the single digits, a water pipe located in the attic of an office building on Chapman Lane burst and flooded all businesses located underneath, including Curves and , which are closed for now.  

Worse yet, one family of three was displaced after a basement fire in the early hours on Thursday. According to reports, two family pets perished in the blaze, and two people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.