Lois's Story

Lois's Story
Author: Ed Edelson
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-11-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781736247921

How should your community respond when an organized group known for spreading hatred of others announces it wants to build a training camp in your town? It is a big question that ten-year old Lois must consider when it happens in her town where her Father is a respected minister. Based on a true story that happened in Southbury, CT in 1937, the story begins with members of the German American Bund, an American organization based on the teachings of Adolph Hitler, confronting Lois's father to try to convince him to support the building of a large camp on private land. Lois understands that her Father is conflicted. With her encouragement, she convinces him that he should preach about this to his congregants the next Sunday. This sets in motion events that result in the peaceful termination of the plans for building the training camp.The book comes with an introduction for Parents and Teachers to help put this story in context. In addition, the moving illustrations by Betty Ann Medeiros help the reader understand the world Lois finds herself in November 1937.The author, Ed Edelson, was First Selectman (Mayor) of Southbury from 2011 through 2015. Along with Rabbi Eric Polokoff and Reverend Shannon Wall, they revived the story through the production of a documentary film that has resonated with adults and older children. Ed was convinced that a younger audience needed to learn the important lessons that can be gleaned from the real events. This book is the result of what he learned from both the oral and written history developed as part of making and screening the documentary film. The film was first shown in 2012 to commemorate the 75th anniversary. The Southbury story became part of an important exhibit at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Failure to Drive Right

Failure to Drive Right
Author: Kevin Burns
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-06-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692896884

HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING, SIR? Officer Kevin Burns made a remarkable 1,590 DWI arrests in his 27-year career working for the town of Southbury, CT, from 1989 to 2016. Early in his career, fed up with being called to accidents caused by drunk drivers, he decided to do something about it. He determined the best way to prevent such accidents was to stop drunk drivers before they crashed. "I saw DWI detection enforcement as preventing homicide/suicide/assault with a motor vehicle." Such an illustrious achievement should be celebrated by law enforcement, and Kevin Burns crowned a hero. Instead, he suffered discrimination at the hands of his department, including being unjustly accused of offenses that earned him a sixty-day suspension. Failure to Drive Right tells the stories of over one hundred of Officer Burns's more memorable DWI arrests in his career. From the lady partying after an AA meeting to the one with a baby strapped in the backseat, and the man driving drunk on a lawn tractor to the one Burns arrested eight times, Burns's stories are compelling and perhaps even familiar to those from the Southbury area. Burns includes a chapter revealing both the details of his unjust suspension and how he missed out on a well-deserved promotion. He also debunks the myths associated with Officer Burns, and explains how to beat a DWI.