Norwich In the past, the Norwich Memorial Day parade has been a smallish community affair, with local veterans, civic and youth groups represented, followed by a solemn ceremony at the war memorials section of Chelsea Parade.
But after more than a year of canceled events, silent streets and masks, the entire region appears ready to march. Organizers estimate the parade that will step off at noon from the Little Plain green on Broadway across from the Cathedral of St. Patrick and head to Chelsea Parade, will be triple its normal size. The parade will take place Monday rain or shine.
Norwich Connecticut Appellate Court Judge Nina F. Elgo recalled a day in elementary school when a boy cornered her and said: “what are you? Are you a Jap? Are you a Chink?”
The stunned girl went home and asked her Filipino immigrant parents what the boy meant. Dissatisfied at the answer, Elgo said it took her years to understand her feelings and response to the experience.
Elgo recalled the incident during a forum Tuesday at Norwich Free Academy that featured several prominent Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders discussing their heritage and the importance of mentoring young students as future leaders. In the program, NFA students in the Asian Cultures Club organized the event as part of the school’s marking of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Emely Silver, left, with Jean Penny, RN, in Kenya.
The container that American Friends of Kenya loaded May 14, at Murphy Storage in Franklin.
Published May 24. 2021 12:33PM
By GLENN ALAN CHENEY, Special to the Times
What’s Norwich got to do with Kenya?
Quite a bit, actually.
It started back in 2004. Norwich resident Emely Silver, coordinator of the Career Center at E.O. Smith in Mansfield, met Irene Kimenyi, a math tutor there. Irene and her husband Samson, a professor of economics at UConn, were both Kenyans.
The Kimenyis had a modest but beautiful dream. They wanted to establish a little community library in their hometown back in Kenya, maybe even distribute books to nearby schools.