Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction

One of the best things about the flaming monkey of chaos that the State Police dropped in Willington's lap is that fact that all this grassroots activism has helped us get to know our neighbors.

And there's nothing like sharing a meal with someone to help foster those relationships.  So mark your calendar for unWillington's spaghetti dinner and silent auction:

Please call Maureen Parizek 860-429-5239 for tickets, silent auction donations, or to help volunteer.

Resident Meeting Tonight: Wilderness Lake Campground

Don't forget tonight's resident meeting at Wilderness Lake.  6:30-8:00 p.m.

Come and see how you can help with the referendum, the upcoming spaghetti dinner fundraiser, and more.

Click here to download your copy of the agenda.

Referendum FAQ

This weekend, flyers about the August 18th referendum were posted on every mailbox in Willington.  Since space was limited, there are a couple Frequently Asked Questions about the issue that need to be addressed here:

Q: Where is this $100,000 coming from?  Is it pulling from other budgets?

A: No.  This money is unbudgeted.  School funds, road funds, etc. will not be affected at all by this appropriation.  This is money that has already been collected, is not budgeted, and is sitting in the town's reserves- The General Fund.

Q: Will we see a tax increase due to this appropriation of funds?

A: No.  Since this money is already collected, there will be no tax increase to raise the funds.  

Q: This training complex is a done deal.  Why are we spending money on something the state is going to do anyway?

A: As Governor Malloy himself said, the final location of this project has not yet been decided.  While this is truly a David vs. Goliath moment, it is by no means a lost cause.  With good legal representation and excellent experts to help pull apart the Environmental Impact Evaluation when it is published, we have a fighting chance.  

Further questions about the August 18th referendum?  Please email them to unwillington@gmail.com

Daily Action: Let's Keep the Media on Us

If you've been following unWillington's struggle in the media, you may have noticed an interesting, and hugely positive thing: the tone the news outlets are taking in covering our story has shifted. 

Where we were once painted as an ignorant group of NIMBYs,  without an intelligent leg to stand on, reporters are now realizing that this story goes so much deeper than a bunch of hicks doing their best Chicken Little impersonation.

Now that we have the unbiased, investigative attention of the media on us, it is so important to cultivate it and keep it here.  The more news stories we can get about this little town in the Quiet Corner doing battle with the Goliath of state overreach, the better it is for us.

After all, we here in Willington know that this proposed training complex wouldn't just effect us.  We know that the fiscal and environmental ramifications would effect ALL of Connecticut, and we need to do our part to help get that word out.

So, today's Daily Action will help nurture the relationship we're fostering with the media.  One of the biggest things news outlets use to determine what stories to cover is social media engagement.  They look at which stories got the most comments online, the most shares on Facebook, and the most mentions on Twitter.  They look at those metrics, and plan their stories around them.

The following links are to recent media coverage of Willington.  If you could take a moment to do the following for each link, it would be hugely helpful:

1.  Leave a comment.  It doesn't have to be any more in depth than, "Thank you for covering this important story".  If you're reading this from somewhere outside of Willington, making mention of that would be enormous- "We here in Waterbury are rooting for you, Willington", that type of thing.

2. "Like", or "up arrow" other people's favorable comments.  It looks like this:

or

3.  DO NOT ENGAGE THE CRAZIES.  It will be tempting.  But don't do it.  Right now, we're cultivating a relationship with the media, not correcting those less informed about the issue.

If you could take 15 minutes and do item 1 and 2 (while making sure to follow 3), you would be doing a tremendous service to our fight.

Recent Articles About unWillington:

WNPR's piece
NBC CT's coverage of our recent Town Meeting
CT Mirror's coverage of the rally
The Harford Courant's comment section on the article covering the rally.  This piece particularly needs favorable comments.  The registration process to be able to comment is cumbersome, but if we could show the Courant that there is huge opposition to this project, it would help us greatly.  (The original story is here)
CT News Junkie's coverage of the rally.  This one also needs an account to comment.  It's a couple more minutes, but helpful.

BONUS ROUND:

If you have a Facebook account, the following are links to the news media reports about unWillington on their Facebook pages.  The same protocol as above: leave a quick comment, "like" favorable comments, and ignore the crazies.

NBC CT's Facebook page- a quick, "Thanks for covering Willington's fight against fiscal and environmental disaster" would work here.
Fox CT's Facebook page- same as above.  A quick note, thanking them for coverage.
Hartford Courant's Facebook page- same as above.

As more news stories are written about us, this action will be repeated, but for now, if you could take a part of your weekend for some social media warrior-ing, it'll put us in a good spot.

And don't forget to hit up the Stafford Springs Blues Fest tomorrow!

Weekend Plans!

It is supposed to be GORGEOUS this weekend.  Like, the kind of weekend that you just know is a reward for surviving that stint of days and days in the 90s.

So if you're looking for a great way to spend some of this beautiful weekend, look no further than the Stafford Springs Blues Fest.

We here in Willington know about singing the blues lately, don't we?  In fact, unWillington, Inc. will be there, slinging Hosmer Mountain root beer and selling some of those wildly popular unWillington t-shirts.

Also, please note that a PayPal button is now over there on the right hand side of the page.  Donations to unWillington, Inc. can be made securely online.  Please share this with your friends and family, so they can help us fund our fight to save Willington.

Town Meeting Tonight- Please Attend

Just a handy reminder that there is no residents' meeting at Wilderness Lake tonight.  Instead, please make plans to attend the Town Meeting tonight, at the HMS gymnasium, starting at 6:30.  

There will be time for public comments before the Board of Selectmen set the official date for the referendum.  Outside the building, representatives from unWillington, Inc. will be manning a booth to sell fundraising t-shirts, provide information about the referendum, and answer questions.

See you there.

Get Ready for the Long Haul & Pats on the Back When They Are Due

In a grassroots, long-haul fight like ours, it's important to remember to celebrate victories, lest we burn out and let the state just steamroll over our ashes.

And we've got some victories to celebrate!

Pat yourself on the back.  Just like a professional wrestler.

After our successful rally on the capitol, Scott Devico (yes, the same Scott Devico who falsely told Senator Guglielmo "We [the State Police's training complex] won't go where we're not wanted"), felt it necessary to do a little damage control in the form of new documents about the proposed training complex.

Those documents are listed HERE and HERE.  Please note that the highlighted points and commentary was done by Stephanie Summers of unWillington, Inc.

Also, please note a couple of things- and get ready to pat yourself on the back:

1. The helipad, which was never part of the official presentation, and only existed in off-the-record comments, has been addressed, and soundly removed.
This means that yes, there are plans for this site that exist beyond the official records, and that through our efforts, one of those plans have been scrapped.

2.  The specter of unnamed, mysterious "international" agencies using the proposed training complex has been dropped from the language.  
To be sure, we still have federal, state, and local agencies on the docket for off-hours (read: weekend) use of the facility, but at least we no longer have to wonder what international groups will be firing weapons one mile from our children's schools.

Add these two points to the rumors that the Environmental Impact Evaluation has been pushed back from an October release to a late winter 2016 release, due entirely to our pressure to fully catalog the unique flora and fauna of the Ruby Road site, and we've got cause to celebrate.  Our voice is being heard in Hartford.

However, we can't rest now.  Indeed, the two new documents from Devico contain a number of troubling aspects that we as a town, no--as a state--need to demand answers for.  So in the upcoming weeks, the Daily Actions will focus on getting the folks in Hartford to be true servants of the people, and give us answers for their actions.  Gird your loins, folks, we're in for a long, bumpy ride.

But for today, give yourself that pat on the back.