Cortese wins three awards at Invention Convention

KENT — After winning the top two prizes at the Kent Center School Inventor’s Fair, second-grader Katherine Cortese and sixth-grader Katherine Starr traveled to the University of Connecticut in Storrs to participate in the Connecticut Invention Convention on Saturday, May 14.Cortese’s invention was called the “Be Healthy Bracelet,” a bracelet fitted with beads corresponding to the food pyramid. The bracelet helps the wearer keep track of what food groups they are eating each day.Starr’s invention was the “Dinner Decider,” a system that helps an indecisive family choose what to serve for dinner.After the inventions were presented at the Connecticut Invention Convention, Cortese came out of the day with three more prizes: one from the Connecticut Safety Society for an invention that promotes health or safety, one from the Connecticut Invention Convention Board of Directors as a Recognized Inventor and one from the Lincoln Financial Foundation for an invention that benefits community and society.Cortese is now looking for ways to keep working on, developing and promoting her invention.

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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

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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.”

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Robert Cray

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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.

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