Case leaves Special Olympics position

WINSTED — Former Selectman Jay Case, who served as the director of corporate development for Special Olympics, has left his position with that organization.Case also served as the lead organizer for the Penguin Plunge, a major fundraiser for the Special Olympics that has been held at Highland Lake every February since 2003.Laura Gremelsbacker, who is the vice president of communications at Special Olympics Connecticut, said the event will go on. “We are certainly planning on having it continue,” Gremelsbacker said. “It has been a pretty incredible fundraiser. We hope that it will continue to be held for many years to come.”The last Penguin Plunge was at Highland Lake on Feb. 12.The event raised more than $55,000 with 119 people from all over New England taking the plunge into the cold lake.“This fundraiser has always been very important to us as an organization,” Gremelsbacker said. “The Penguin Plunge is an event that we do not take lightly because it means so much to us. It is a great community event and it brings people together.”In place of Case, Gremelsbacker said that the organization’s director of special events, Lisa Carlone, and director of development in Northwest Region, Sharon Pelkey, will organize next year’s event.“They will be working together with the community, local officials and businesses to make sure this event continues on,” she said.

Latest News

Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.

Natalia Zukerman

Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert Cray’s soulful blues coming to Infinity Hall

Robert Cray

Photo provided

Blues legend Robert Cray will be bringing his stinging, funky guitar and soulful singing to Infinity Hall Norfolk on Friday, March 29.

A five-time Grammy winner, Cray has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned The Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance. He has played with blues and rock icons including Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and many more.

Keep ReadingShow less