Allan Appel Photo
DeLauro, Jackson-McArthur, Massey.
A little girl living on Front Street fell in love with tennis. In the winter months, in a family unable to afford a club, she went over to the Farnam Neighborhood House on Fillmore Street and hit the ball against the gymnasium walls.
Roll the clock ahead some decades, and that little girl grew up to earn a full academic and athletic scholarship to Howard University, become a pediatrician, and assume the role of president of the board of directors at Farnam, now called The Farnam Community.
Dr. Tamikoa Jackson-McArthur recalled that story as she helped preside Wednesday night over the Farnam Community’s 18th annual awards dinner.
Farnam lovers State Sen. Martin Looney and Fran Calzetta.
The festive fund-raising event, with lots of sports memorabilia available in a silent auction, drew nearly 300 supporters and friends to the airy and light-filled banquet room of the Woodwinds, in Branford.
They were there to tell stories about the 109-year old settlement house, along with its storied basketball leagues that bring kids together across neighborhoods, the pre-and-after-school and leadership-training programs, and the 70-acre camp in Durham where thousands of kids over the generations, including now U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, had some of their first out-of-the city experiences.
“The swimming, the crafts, and all the little beaded bracelets I made. My mother probably still has them. What a place!” DeLauro recalled,
“Familes then needed a safe place for their kids while they [the parents] worked. Not so different from today? We [that is, working families] shouldn’t have to struggle the way we do today,” she added.
The Farnam board of directors, along with new Executive Director Jamell Cotto, honored DeLauro with its highest recognition, the Distinguished Alumna Award.
Al and Patricia Proto.
They also recognized Shirley Massey as Farnam’s Volunteer of the Year. They gave two community service awards — to Susan Nappi, who is the senior director of impact at United Way of Greater New Haven, and to Marilyn and Luis Rosa of Fair Haven’s Boxing in Faith Gym.
The evening featured the unveiling of Farnam’s Hall of Fame along with the inauguration of the first inductee, Alphonse Proto.
The 77-year-old Proto himself did not play at Farnam as a boy because, he said, he lived a full five blocks away from the house, which was then on East Street. Five blocks then made a neighborhood, he recalled. He played on the streets and in the parks with his local crew.
Still, he remembered visiting his father’s barbershop in the area. All the fathers waiting for haircuts talked about all the activities their kids were engaged in at Farnam.
After college Proto got his first job as a basketball referee at the Farnam leagues. He went on to a 45-year career teaching history and coaching basketball and track at Hillhouse High School and then Southern Connecticut State University.
He described the Farnam he experienced over the years as “a great melting pot,” where the basketball leagues brought in teams from all over the city and were a positive force for integrating different groups from different neighborhoods. There were friendships beyond sports, among kids from all over town, he said.
Opening bid on the Yogi Berra/Babe Ruth photo: Five-hundred fifty dollars.
Proto said he was surprised and honored to be the first inductee. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like to live with a Hall of Famer,” added his wife Patricia. “I’ll let you know.”
Norman Bender, a longtime supporter of the organization, put the matter simply: “Farnam is for the kids, always has been, always will be.”
In that spirit, the evening featured presentations to six “Rising Stars,” top high school athletes in a range of sports in the New Haven area.
These young people were chosen based on recommendation of high school athletic directors, and the kids’ personal statements, and academic performance as well, said Jackson-McArthur.
The 2018 Rising Star nominees are Jatzari Aguilar, Ky’Jae Hardgrove, Travis Jones, Dyshon Vaughn, Davon Warner, and Kristen Washington. One of them will be presented with a thousand-dollar scholarship at Farnam’s fall community event.
Jackson-McArthur and Cotto took over leadership of the 109-year old organization after an administrative shake-up last summer.