#MiddleburyCT #Letters #Fireworks #RochambeauMemorialMonument
Editor’s note: The first letter is in response to the editorial on the need for Middlebury to enforce laws against illegal fireworks that appeared in the August 2026 Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer.
Fireworks can maim and blind
To the Editor:
I am writing as a board-certified ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) in support of your campaign against the use of fireworks by non-professionals. This is in fact a very dangerous activity that can maim and blind. Your warnings should not be mocked or disregarded, and I applaud you for keeping this matter before the public.
The very first patient I ever cared for in my ophthalmology practice was a patient with a fireworks injury. It was shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, and I was called to see a teenage boy who had been injured when his father, a member of a fire department no less, was celebrating the new year by setting off some private fireworks. One would think … but it was too late. The eye was damaged beyond repair, permanently blind and rendering this nice young man ineligible for life from any profession requiring binocular vision and depth perception and turning what he used to see with that eye into eternal blackness. I will never forget having to deliver this terrible news to the patient and his distraught family.
That was the first of a long line of fireworks injuries that my partners and I treated over the ensuing decades. The number must be well into the hundreds. Some of the injuries were “minor,” meaning frightening and often very painful but not sight-threatening. Others were much worse.
In every case, however, the nonchalant and deliberate disregard of the risks of home fireworks was the needless cause, almost always on the part of adults who should have known better, presumably did know better, but nevertheless set aside good sense and their responsibility to others.
This letter is about ocular trauma from fireworks, but there are a number of other injuries that can occur. My cousin, for example, has had only two fingers on one of his hands since he was a young boy. Facial injuries beyond the eye can be particularly horrendous, although scarring isn’t as disabling as blindness.
This long line of fireworks injuries will continue so long as people disregard messages such as mine and the Bee’s. Don’t let it be you or your family.
W. Scott Peterson, M.D.
Middlebury
Rochambeau Memorial Monument thanks
To the Editor:
It’s very gratifying to see many visitors to our new Rochambeau Memorial Monument in Rochambeau Plaza in Meadowview Park. As a wondrous addition to our town, it will serve to educate and inspire generations. The society wishes to express its deepest gratitude to so many throughout Middlebury and beyond who helped bring the monument to fruition.
The family of Ray and Penny Albini was at the forefront of support for its creation, and we are grateful for their patience and generosity. Many followed their example, including the late Joan Reed. The donors to the memorial are all recognized on the society’s website (middleburyhistoricalsociety.org/rochambeau-project) and we encourage all to view this page to inspect their listing. Soon, a permanent plaque at the plaza will honor supporters; in addition, graphic signs will be installed to tell the story of the Rochambeau march and of the meaning of this magnificent memorial.
In 2019, Middlebury attorney Bill Crutcher encouraged the historical society to enhance the town’s recognition of the contribution of the people of France and the French army under Comte de Rochambeau and their encampments on our Breakneck Hill in 1781 and 1782. Members of the society spent thousands of hours over seven years to fulfill Bill’s dream, overcoming many obstacles with positive perseverance. The statue, pedestal and surrounding plaza, for which the Middlebury Historical Society paid with money from generous donors, will soon be formally and legally signed over to the town as a gift.
We are grateful to artist and sculptor Tony Falcone who designed the statue manufactured by the George Mummert Foundry. The Stoney Creak Quarry and the Connecticut Stone Company created the pedestal from native Connecticut granite as they did for the Statue of Liberty pedestal 140 years ago. The plaza was designed and created by Vincent Vizzo and company under the direction of general contractor Larry Janesky, with Abigail Adams of A2 Land Consulting LLC and Tony Falcone contributing.
Our town’s Beautification Committee designed and installed the array of plantings donated by Vaszauskas Farm; Bruce Richardson, P.E., donated the foundation design; the Dumoulin family of Kenneth Lynch and Sons donated the benches. Former First Selectman Ed St. John and First Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr supported us all the way, and our Department of Public Works helped immeasurably to make everything happen. Senator Joan V. Hartley’s support was indispensable in making the memorial a reality.
The Rochambeau Memorial Committee consisted of Kevin Casey, LeAnn Cassidy, Alice J. DeMartino, Ann Merriam Feinberg, Terrence McAuliffe, Frank Mirovsky, Edward B. St. John, Janet Serra, Dr. Michael F. Simms III, Dr. Ray Sullivan, and Dr. Robert L. Rafford as chairman. The memorial would not have been created without the deep generosity and patriotism of Larry and Marie Janesky.
Dr. Robert L. Rafford
Middlebury, CT
