Record-Journal
07-30-2007, 01:18 AM
Curtis center has new marketing tool
By Amanda Falcone, Record-Journal staff
MERIDEN — The Augusta Curtis Cultural Center’s executive director will be the city’s newest justice of the peace.
Staci M. Roy will have the authority to perform wedding and civil union ceremonies by the fall, and she says having that authority may boost business at the center.
“I really think it would be a good marketing tool,” Roy said.
Her justice of the peace appointment was approved last Tuesday by the Democratic Town Committee. She will replace Michael D. Quinn, who said he is resigning because of his new position as the city’s corporation counsel. Quinn wants to avoid as many conflicts of interest as possible, he said, adding that he is also resigning from other politically appointed positions. He serves as treasurer of the Democratic Town Committee, as a member of the Housing Authority Commission and as the Democrats’ chief moderator on Election Day.
Democratic Town Chairwoman Mildred Torres-Ferguson said Quinn must send City Clerk Irene Masse a formal letter of resignation before she can send a letter appointing Roy. The process should work itself out by the end of August, she said.
“I’m sure she’ll do well,” Torres-Ferguson said of Roy. “She’s just ideal for the position.”
As outlined in state statutes, Meriden has 36 justices of the peace. The list includes city councilors Patricia D. Lynes and Hilda E. Santiago, former Board of Education member Noreen Tow, and Frank W. Ridley, chairman of the state’s Board of Governors for Higher Education.
“It’s a rewarding experience,” Lynes said. “It’s kind of hard to mess it up.”
The city’s Democrats and Republicans appoint 12 justices of the peace each, and a dozen justices are unaffiliated with a political party and must apply for the position. If someone appointed by a political party resigns, Masse said, the respective town committee selects a replacement. However, if an unaffiliated justice of the peace resigns, she said, the position cannot be filled until the term is up. The terms for all Meriden justices of the peace are set to expire in January 2009.
Roy says she still needs to research her new role to find out about the responsibilities, but she said the legal ability to marry people will be another service the cultural center can offer to those renting the space. People holding weddings at the cultural center often ask who can perform the ceremony, and Roy said she gives referrals. Now she can tell her customers that they can get her to do the ceremony, Roy said.
“This is one more tool,” she said.
The cultural center is on a quest to become a venue for weddings and other celebrations, Roy said. The number of weddings at the center has increased over the years and now runs 12 to 18 weddings a year, she said.
To make the location more attractive to future bride and grooms, the center is in the midst of a construction project that will produce an outdoor activity area with a patio, a garden and an outdoor stage where bands can play. A $100,000 grant from the state is paying for the project.
The outdoor patio will overlook East Main Street, and it will be constructed on the east side of the building, next to the former Szymaszek-Taylor Funeral Home. Roy said the digging is done and construction workers are pouring concrete. If the weather holds up, she said, the project should be complete by the end of August — just in time for Roy to start performing those wedding ceremonies.
afalcone@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2232
By Amanda Falcone, Record-Journal staff
MERIDEN — The Augusta Curtis Cultural Center’s executive director will be the city’s newest justice of the peace.
Staci M. Roy will have the authority to perform wedding and civil union ceremonies by the fall, and she says having that authority may boost business at the center.
“I really think it would be a good marketing tool,” Roy said.
Her justice of the peace appointment was approved last Tuesday by the Democratic Town Committee. She will replace Michael D. Quinn, who said he is resigning because of his new position as the city’s corporation counsel. Quinn wants to avoid as many conflicts of interest as possible, he said, adding that he is also resigning from other politically appointed positions. He serves as treasurer of the Democratic Town Committee, as a member of the Housing Authority Commission and as the Democrats’ chief moderator on Election Day.
Democratic Town Chairwoman Mildred Torres-Ferguson said Quinn must send City Clerk Irene Masse a formal letter of resignation before she can send a letter appointing Roy. The process should work itself out by the end of August, she said.
“I’m sure she’ll do well,” Torres-Ferguson said of Roy. “She’s just ideal for the position.”
As outlined in state statutes, Meriden has 36 justices of the peace. The list includes city councilors Patricia D. Lynes and Hilda E. Santiago, former Board of Education member Noreen Tow, and Frank W. Ridley, chairman of the state’s Board of Governors for Higher Education.
“It’s a rewarding experience,” Lynes said. “It’s kind of hard to mess it up.”
The city’s Democrats and Republicans appoint 12 justices of the peace each, and a dozen justices are unaffiliated with a political party and must apply for the position. If someone appointed by a political party resigns, Masse said, the respective town committee selects a replacement. However, if an unaffiliated justice of the peace resigns, she said, the position cannot be filled until the term is up. The terms for all Meriden justices of the peace are set to expire in January 2009.
Roy says she still needs to research her new role to find out about the responsibilities, but she said the legal ability to marry people will be another service the cultural center can offer to those renting the space. People holding weddings at the cultural center often ask who can perform the ceremony, and Roy said she gives referrals. Now she can tell her customers that they can get her to do the ceremony, Roy said.
“This is one more tool,” she said.
The cultural center is on a quest to become a venue for weddings and other celebrations, Roy said. The number of weddings at the center has increased over the years and now runs 12 to 18 weddings a year, she said.
To make the location more attractive to future bride and grooms, the center is in the midst of a construction project that will produce an outdoor activity area with a patio, a garden and an outdoor stage where bands can play. A $100,000 grant from the state is paying for the project.
The outdoor patio will overlook East Main Street, and it will be constructed on the east side of the building, next to the former Szymaszek-Taylor Funeral Home. Roy said the digging is done and construction workers are pouring concrete. If the weather holds up, she said, the project should be complete by the end of August — just in time for Roy to start performing those wedding ceremonies.
afalcone@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2232