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I taped this episode at Twisted Vine, a restaurant at 285 Main St. in Derby where Mayor Rich Dziekan was guest bartending to raise money for The Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.
Dziekan raised about $500 in two hours for the club.
Guests on this episode include Twisted Vine owner Mike Picone, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Shaye Roscoe, Boys & Girls Club Board President Fred Serra, Mayor Dziekan’s chief of staff Andrew Baklik, and the mayor himself.
This podcast, by the way, is made possible thanks to the support of ValleyGivesBack.org.
There’s a detailed show rundown on the other side of the following advertisement.
The Rundown
Intro (start of broadcast to 1 minute, 55 seconds):
Did you know The Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley sees just under 3,000 young people a year, and that 65 percent of its population live in single-parent households?
Twisted Vine owner Mike Picone (3:25 to 11:28)!
Twisted Vine is in a building that is 126 years old and once functioned as a bank. Owner Mike Picone talks about the building’s history, how he’s managed to keep the business going for more than a decade … and the spirits that haunt the place!
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
(From left to right)Perhaps an unseen spirit, Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Shaye Roscoe, Twisted Vine owner Mike Picone.
A Derby Throwback (11:30)
Hey, did you know there’s an old (and crazy) Dworkin Chevrolet ad on YouTube? Have a listen!
Shaye Roscoe and Fred Serra (12 minutes to 26:35)
Shaye talks about how the Boys and Girls Club facilities in Ansonia, Seymour and Shelton try to teach young people how to become good citizens — community service is a key theme.
Serra gives a glimpse into the life of the organization’s board of directors. I suggest that the Club is almost thought of as the Walmart of nonprofit groups, but Serra pops my stereotype by talking about how the vast majority of money needed for the local Club is raised locally.
Mayor Dziekan’s Chief of Staff Andrew Baklik (27:22 to 52:57 )
Drew Baklik talks about a serious leg injury he recently endured playing pickleball, and also explains just what the heck pickleball is …
Things then take a newsy turn as Baklik reveals the strangest rumor he’s heard about goings on in Derby, and what he thought of a recent CT Post article that declared the downtown Derby dining scene was “almost nothing” after two bars closed.
We also chat about a proposed water tank, a new tax break, the old VARCA building, downtown development, Route 34 widening, and the Payden Field House under construction off Chatfield Street.
Stella from Twisted Vine also pops into the interview to share her thoughts on the redevelopment of the former Marshall Lane Manor property, and political fighting in Ansonia.
Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan (53 minutes – end)
I transition into an interview with the mayor using a short clip from a YouTube video review by two people who love “Books by the Falls” on Roosevelt Drive in Derby.
Then Mayor Dziekan closes out the episode by talking about the downtown business district, why he decided to do a “state of the city,” the fate of a few old buildings at the corner of Main Street and Factory, and whether he plans to run for re-election.
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