Weight Loss Group Planning An Open House

By SHANNON HICKS

Published: Oct 31, 2008 12:00 am

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) extends an invitation to attend an open house that will begin at 6:15 pm on Monday, November 10, at Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street. The meeting, to see what the program is all about, is free and with no obligation.

It helps to have a plan for successful weight loss, and TOPS weekly meetings offer nutrition, exercise, and wellness information and more. Chapters provide support and encouragement to members regardless of where they are on their weight loss journey.

TOPS CT 194, Newtown was established on October 14, 2002, and has been very successful. Members talk with their doctors to decide on a weight goal that is healthy for each of them. When they reach their goal weight they reach KOPS (Keep Off Pounds Sensibly) status. The Newtown group now has seven KOPS in its group: chapter leader Krista Judson, and Lee Hitesher, Linda Long, Richard Merrill, Diane Morey, Betty Presnell, and Lois Pratt.

Together these folks have lost a total of 189.5 pounds.

âThanks to the TOPS programs and support I reached my goal weight in July and am the sevenths KOPS in our chapter,â said Lee Hitesher. âI feel better, have more energy, and have made great friends.â

âWithout TOPS and the support, Iâm not sure where I would be because my eating habits were usually fast food, truck stop food, and with driving long distance, I couldnât exercise,â added Mr Merrill. âI have learned that the choices I made affect my health daily.â

âTOPS friends are now my family,â said Ms Presnell. âWe are accountable for our own choices and everyone understands the daily struggled to get healthy and stay healthy.

âThis is a new lifestyle,â she continued. âTOPS members are a great support and we all share ideas and thoughts. I am not alone.â

Lois Pratt loves the people and the meetings. TOPS Newtown meets each Monday at the meeting house. Weigh-ins are from 5:45 to 6:15, and then meetings are held from 6:30 to 7:30. Cost is $2 per week, and an annual membership is $24.

âThe meetings give me great understanding,â said Ms Pratt.

Ms Long also finds the meetings helpful. âI look forward to the meetings each week,â she said. âI get the support and understanding I need from all the friends I have there.â

âThe friends I have met at our chapter have been an invaluable support to me,â said Ms Morey, âas I am challenged to make healthy choices in my eating and discipline myself to an exercise program.â

For more information about TOPS and/or the upcoming open house, call 426-6224.

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It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Thank you for pointing out the trail access provisions included in the BOS motion—it’s an important clarification that deserves more attention in this conversation. If the development is, in fact, required to provide permanent free public access and commit to ongoing maintenance of this section of the Rochambeau Trail, that is a remarkably beneficial outcome for the town. oIt’s not every day that a private project shoulders the long-term burden of preserving and caring for a public historical corridor at no taxpayer cost—especially one that previously had no formal access, upkeep, or visibility. Let’s be honest: the idea that the only way to protect history is by preventing any development nearby is a rigid and unworkable standard. What’s being proposed here appears to strike a rare balance—historic preservation, public access, and smart development all rolled into one. That’s not a loss its a win. So rather than allowing a handful of voices to derail progress under the banner of “historic purity,” maybe it’s time to acknowledge the reality: this trail is better off with structured stewardship and visibility than remaining an overgrown ghost on old maps. Let’s move forward. Bring in the easement, bring in the public access—and yes, bring in the bulldozers!!! Progress and preservation can coexist. Let’s not let the NIMBY use fear or nostalgia keep us stuck in the past.

Discusses Rochambeau Trail And 6 Commerce Road

I've heard that several people are under the impression that the public might be banned from the Rochambeau Trail. Points 2 and 3 from the BOS motion (included in full below) make it clear that public access to the trail is part of the requirements for the developer. From what I understand, it requires free public access to the trail in perpetuity. Technically, this could be argued to be a "payment-in-kind," that attempts to balance public good with overall town growth. We can argue about weather that balance is acceptable and how the trail may be affected, but with the understanding that the trail is expected to be maintained as a publicly accessible trail regardless. July 15, 2024 Board of Selectmen approved motion: Discontinuance of Reservoir Road: Selectman Cruson moved the resolution: Resolved, that the Newtown Board of Selectmen, in accordance with Section 2-115(d)(8) of the Town Charter and Conn. Gen. Stat. §13a-49, and subject to the conditions set forth below, hereby discontinues an unimproved portion of Reservoir Road described as “Portion of Reservoir Road to be Discontinued “on that certain survey map which will be recorded on the Newtown Land Records titled “Map Showing Portion of Reservoir Road to be Discontinued” dated August, 2023 and revised September 15, 2023, and certified substantially correct by Gregory Szyszowski of SLR (the “Survey Map”), said discontinuance contingent and effective only upon the completion of the following: 1. The approval of an application for the development of land in the manner described in a letter from Attorney Thomas W. Beecher to First Selectman A. Jeffrey Capeci and Members of the Board of Selectmen dated May 30, 2024, pursuant to the “Residential Open Space Development” regulations of the Borough of Newtown by the Borough of Newtown Zoning Commission, and construction of that approval project within the timeframes required for special exception approval; 2. The inclusion of the discontinued portion of the road as part of the final Declaration of Conservation Restriction; 3. The conveyance of a mutually agreeable public easement to the Town of Newtown for pedestrian, bicycling, equestrian, and all other passive recreational uses (to exclude the use of motorized vehicles except as may be necessary by the Town or its designee to effectuate the purpose of the easement), and for municipal utility purposes; Be it further resolved, that Castle Hill Real Estate Holdings, LLC., its successors and assigns, shall not use any portion of the discontinued road as a vehicular road or access way to and from any developed portions of the property. Be it further finally resolved, that should any of the foregoing contingencies not occur, then the discontinuance contemplated herein shall not become effective and this resolution will become null and void. From: https://www.newtown-ct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif12216/f/minutes/bos_7-15-24_min-_att_final.pdf

Is this paper road (roads that only exist on paper map but not in reality) even owned by the Town? Many roads that predate the Town's road standards are privately owned and were never accepted by the Town, such as many of the nonconforming roads around the lake communities where the property owners own right to the center line. That is something we had to deal with when working on the Roads Ordinance a few years back. We also had to deal with a private road to run the utilities to the new SHS.

For anyone who wants to know, I cant post a link here, but Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority has an entire website. Look up "HRRA whats in whats out"

I Get It!

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Weight Loss Group Planning An Open House

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