Honoring Rep. Tony Tercyak

On Tuesday, Sen. Don DeFronzo and Rep. Peter Tercyak officially dedicated the bridge over Rt. 9 near West Farms Mall as the "Anthony Tercyak Memorial Bridge", on honor of the late Rep. Anthony "Tony" Tercyak.

Tony Tercyak served in the state House of Representatives for several years before I was elected.  I had the honor of serving with him for a year after I took office in 2003.  Tony was a real gentleman and was just an infinitely generous person.  As a legislator, he stood up for average, everyday people and was not afraid to take a strong stand when working people, seniors and especially children needed his advocacy.  I have great admiration him, and I am still sorry that I was only able to serve in the legislature with him for just one year before he passed on.

The New Britain delegation pushed for legislation to designate this bridge in honor of Tony Tercyak.  As Chair of the legislative Transportation Committee, of course, Sen. DeFronzo provided the leadership to make it happen.

Sen. DeFronzo led the ceremony dedicating the bridge.

 

Rep. Peter Tercyak, Tony Tercyak's son and successor in the legislature, gave a very touching tribute to his father.

Pictured here is the New Britain delegation, Rep. John Geragosian (at the left), Sen. DeFronzo, me, and Rep. Tercyak.

Next time you are driving in the area, look for the signs.  For me, it will always remind me of a truly good man who spend a lifetime helping people.

Thanks, again, Tony.

Photos taken by Marcin Olechowski.

Resources for veterans.

Dr. Linda S. Schwartz, who is the Commissioner of the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs just sent me the "2008 Reference Guide for Connecticut Veterans, Active Duty, National Guard and Reserves".  I consider it a high priority, as the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs says, “To Serve Those Who Have Served,” so I want to pass this information on.

The Commissioner said in her message that,

This guide contains the offices and telephone numbers for a variety of assistance and services for our veterans and their families.  It was originally designed to assist veterans and their families after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it has important information that is helpful to veterans from any era.

I have included the full Guide below.  If you or anyone you know would like a copy of this, feel free to e-mail me at tim@timobrien.org or call me at 225-1575.  If would be happy to mail or e-mail it.

 

 

 

  

Of course, always feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance.

End of the 2008 legislative session

The 2008 session of the legislature ended this past Wednesday. Sorry that I have not been able to write any updates recently. Of course, while I was busy working on legislation, there was little time to break free to write on my blog.

So I wanted to start writing about some of the things that were accomplished - and some things that still need to be done in the future. Over the next days and weeks, I hope to post a number of articles with updates on the action at the Capitol.