Travelers Championship Opens Today, With Celebrity Pro-Am Wednesday

June in Middlesex County is synonymous with the . This year’s tournament, which begins today with the opening ceremony, is packed with an outstanding player field including defending champion Fredrik Jacobson, 2012 Masters Champion Bubba Watson, 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel, 2007 Travelers Championship winner Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley, Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson and Ian Poulter. 

Participants in this year’s pro-am, which will be held on Wednesday, include actor Bill Murray; six-time National Sportscaster of the Year Chris Berman; Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Michael Bolton; Hall of Fame College Basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma; musician Javier Colon, who won NBC’s “The Voice” in 2011; WWE superstar Booker T; Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie; NFL Hall of Famer Andre Tippett; “Baseball Tonight” host Karl Ravech; NFL player-turned-sportscaster Ahmad Rashad; former NBA player and UConn standout Scott Burrell; Quinnipiac Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Moore; University of Connecticut Associate Head Basketball Coaches Chris Dailey and George Blaney; Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton; and UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel. 

The Travelers Championship is very important to Middlesex County and to the State of Connecticut. It is an economic generator that provides a major boost to our area hotels, restaurants and other establishments. I want to publicly thank Tournament Director Nathan Grube, Sales Director Jason Soucy, and the entire team at the tournament who does a great job putting on this huge event every year.  Of course, this tournament would not be here without the outstanding support of the Travelers Companies. 

This is the sixth year that the Travelers Companies has served as title sponsor of the event and I want to once again thank Chief Executive Officer Jay Fishman, and Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer Andy Bessette for their outstanding support.  This company is a model corporate citizen and we are very fortunate that it has such a great presence in our state. The eyes of the golfing world will be on Cromwell this entire week and I urge everyone to head out to the TPC River Highlands and support this jewel that we call the Travelers Championship.

Each year during tournament week, our Chamber hosts a Member Breakfast Meeting with a PGA Tour Professional. We are very excited to welcome back Connecticut’s own J.J. Henry, who will be our guest speaker tomorrow, June 19, at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell. J.J. has been on the PGA tour since 1998 and won the Travelers Championship in 2006.  We are looking forward to hearing his remarks and we are very excited for another Travelers Championship.  Discounted tickets for the tournament are available at the Chamber office. 

I would like to extend a special thanks to General Manager Tina Fleming and the entire staff at the Courtyard By Marriott Cromwell for putting on a terrific Business After Work Networking Event last Monday. We had over 200 Chamber members in attendance and everyone enjoyed the great food, the fun atmosphere and the high quality networking. The Courtyard is about to undergo an extensive renovation of its lobby and restaurant area and I know that we are all excited to see the finished product. 

On Wednesday of last week, the Chamber’s Durham and Middlefield Divisions met at the new Golf Center and Apple Nine Course at Lyman Orchards, a comprehensive golf learning center with a nine-hole executive course.  Two very important issues were discussed at this meeting. First, Durham First Selectman Laura Francis announced that the town’s Board of Selectmen agreed to move forward with the design phase of a water supply system that would bring clean and drinkable water from the City of Middletown to homes in the Main Street area of Durham, whose wells are contaminated. 

This has been quite a long process and I want to commend Laura Francis for her perseverance and strong leadership on this issue.  I would like to also thank Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, and Water and Sewer Director Guy Russo for working with Durham officials to make this whole thing work. The Powder Ridge situation in Middlefield was also discussed at this meeting. 

Our Durham and Middlefield Divisions voted unanimously to support Middlefield First Selectman Jon Brayshaw and the town’s efforts to sell the Powder Ridge property to Sean Hayes, Managing Director of the Portland based Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park. Sean plans to create an “Adventure Sports Park” on the site which our Chamber believes can be a great economic generator for Middlefield and a great use for the Powder Ridge property. I visited the Golf Center and Apple Nine Course this past Saturday as they held a day-long celebration to commemorate the grand opening of the facility. 

The Lyman team has done a terrific job and I want to publicly thank the Lyman family and CEO Steve Ciskowski for their tireless efforts. 

Also on Wednesday, I attended the official groundbreaking of the Mattabassett District expansion project, held at district headquarters in Cromwell.  As I noted last week, investment in this infrastructure is critical, and I want to thank Mattabassett District Executive Director Brian Armet, Board Chairman Bill Candelori, and the entire Board of Directors for their leadership on this issue. DEEP Commissioner Dan Esty attended the event and offered remarks highlighting the importance of this project and the overall importance of efficient and effective infrastructure. Our Chamber will continue to be an active partner with the City of Middletown and the Mattabassett District as we see this project through. 

The Reaching Home Housing Awards and Celebration Dinner was held last Thursday evening at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell. I was honored to attend the event and present Ron Krom, Executive Director, St. Vincent de Paul Middletown, with The Rev. Richard Schuster Supportive Housing Advocacy Award.  Ron has done great work in Middletown and I want to congratulate him again on this well-deserved award. 

On a sad note, I would like to recognize the passing of Columbo “Cal” Vecchitto.  Cal was a lifelong resident of Middletown and was very devoted to the family business, Vecchitto's Italian Ice. He will be missed. 

The 15th Annual Cruise Night On Main presented by Town Fair Tire and Middletown Nissan, was postponed last week due to rain. The event will now be held this Wednesday in downtown Middletown. June 20 is the first official day of summer and we are expecting the sun to shine on Main Street and on our Cruise Night event that evening. For information, visit www.middletowncarcruise.com. 

For information, contact Jeff Pugliese at jpugliese@middlesexchamber.com.