O'Brien pinwheels underscore wish for peace

Students formed a peace symbol with pinwheels they created.

On Friday Emmett O'Brien staff and students placed pinwheels in the front of their school, 141 Prindle Ave., Ansonia, as well as along nearby Ford Street and Bruns Road.

Colorful pinwheels brighten the landscape.

I was unable to be there Friday as they installed the pinwheels, but I did manage to snap a few photos Saturday morning. 

 

 This one says it all: freedom, hope, peace, thanks, with USA in the center.

O'Brien Tech creates peace pinwheels

To honor veterans' patriotism, sacrifice

Two O'Brien students put peace pinwheels into the ground at the corner of Prindle Avenue and Bruns Road in Ansonia Friday. School is in the background. / Contributed photo

By Laurie LeBouthillier
Principal
Emmett O'Brien Technical High School

Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

We at Emmett O’Brien in Ansonia constructed more than 1,000 pinwheels as a school community. Staff, students, parents, community members, dignitaries and friends of Emmett O’Brien joined together to make these pinwheels.

The pinwheels are a visual representation about our feelings concerning war/ peace/ tolerance/ cooperation/ harmony/ unity.

Veterans win thanks 
We want to acknowledge our veterans and let them  know that we as a school community thank them for all that they have done for our country.



As children we look at pinwheels in amazement and want to see them spin. Today, it is our hope to have all of the pinwheels spinning to signify peace.
Peace as it pertains in our lives- a peace of mind.
Each of us may have a different meaning for peace, but, in the end, it’s definition is - a state of tranquility, with no anxiety, the absence of violence, freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Archbishop visits Derby to bless mausoleum

Solemn rite held on solemn anniversary 

A portion of the exterior of the mausoleum at Mount St. Peter's Cemetery.

Yesterday I attended the blessing of a major addition to the mausoleum at Mount St. Peter's Cemetery in Derby.
I had never been to that cemetery before and was impressed at how beautifully the grounds are maintained.

As I waited for the ceremony to begin, I gazed up at the beautiful blue sky and thought of how eerily similar the sky looked on another Tuesday morning - Sept. 11, 2001 - when terrorists attacked the United States. Tuesday was the 11th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of the Archdiocese of Hartford blessed the expanded mausoleum, and told the crowd gathered there he was thinking of that fateful day in 2001 as he looked up at the blue sky.
He told a story, which had a happy ending, about his nephew's fiancee being caught in one of the Twin Towers after the planes hit.
Mansell said she refused to turn around and go back up the stairs to her office, as she was told to do.


She escaped, she and his nephew got married, and they now have three children, he said.

Mansell said the architectural beauty of the mausoleum shows respect for all who are laid to rest there.
And he said experiencing "the magnificent sight looking up toward the heavens" offered all who visit an opportunity for reflection.
"This is not the end," he said. "It's a step to a larger world that awaits us."