Once around the city: Time to put yard waste out

NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk will collect your yard waste, NCC’s president is honored and a free car wash for veterans and military personnel.

Yard Waste

The city is collecting yard waste this month. Residents are expected to have their yard waste out to the curb by 6 a.m. Monday of their scheduled week of collection, as the truck will pass by only once during that week. Once the truck passes it will NOT return until the second scheduled collection.

The collection schedule:

• Nov. 7-11: Residents with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday garbage collection
• Nov. 14-18: Residents with Thursday and Friday garbage collection
• Nov. 28-Dec. 2: Residents with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday garbage collection

• Dec. 5-9: Residents with Thursday and Friday garbage collection

For example, if your normal garbage collection day is on a Thursday, your Yard Waste will be picked up on the weeks of Nov. 14^th and Dec. 5^th. Your yard waste will be picked up any time during those weeks, not on a particular day.

Leaves, brush and grass clippings are on Connecticut’s list of mandatory recycling items. 

DO NOT MIX THESE ITEMS WITH GARBAGE.  The City of Norwalk encourages you to compost at home and mulch your grass clippings into your lawn.

Yard waste collection guidelines:

1. Yard Waste will be collected ONLY in brown paper leaf bags, garbage cans with no lids, or open-top cardboard boxes.
2. Yard Waste in plastic bags, loose piles of brush and leaves, rocks, soil, and sand WILL NOT BE COLLECTED.
3. Brush must be less than 4-feet in length and 6-inches or less in diameter. It MUST be tied up in bundles.
4. There is a 25-pound weight limit for bags of Yard Waste and 50-pound weight limit for cans or bundles of brush.
5. Logs and stumps WILL NOT BE COLLECTED. Logs and stumps can be brought to the Yard Waste Site, at 15 South Smith St. You need your Resident Pass and under some circumstances, you may have to pay to dump.
6. If you believe you are missed for a Yard Waste collection, call Customer Service (203-854-3200) on Monday of the following week.

NCC president honored by CONNTAC

Norwalk Community College President David L. Levinson, Ph.D., received the Friend of CONNTAC Award at the Connecticut Talent Assistance Cooperative Inc.’s (CONNTAC) 49^th Annual Meeting, held on Oct. 21 in New Haven.

CONNTAC Inc., based in Meriden, is a federally funded nonprofit organization whose goal is to “promote and expand equal educational access and opportunity for Connecticut residents.” The annual Friend of CONNTAC Award was established by the CONNTAC Board of Directors to honor and recognize leaders in the community who have demonstrated commitment to educational access. Only one winner is announced each year.

Levinson has been a long-time supporter of CONNTAC, and is described as a champion of all students who strive to enter or re-enter college despite obstacles, such as lack of funds or the competing demands of working and supporting a family while taking classes.

Levinson is a mentor to new NCC students and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

Under Levinson’s stewardship, NCC has been ranked second nationwide in Lowest Student Loan Default Rate and third nationwide in student Career Outcomes, by WalletHub’s 2016 Best & Worst Community Colleges study.  In addition, a review of the nation’s Best Online Colleges 2016 by OnlineColleges.com has ranked NCC second in Connecticut, and in the top 15th percentile of colleges nationwide.

With the restructuring of higher education in Connecticut in 2011, Dr. Levinson was appointed Vice President for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU), in addition to his presidency at NCC.

Car washes

Veterans and current military service personnel are eligible for a free car wash on Friday (Nov. 11) at Fred’s Car Wash locations in Southport, Norwalk and Watertown, through the Grace For Vets FREE Wash Program.

Grace For Vets was founded in 2004 by Mike Mountz, former owner of Cloister Wash & Lube, in Ephrata, Pa. Mountz vowed to find a way to honor veterans when he served and saw first-hand amputees and the seriously wounded at the Veterans Hospital in Valley Forge, Pa. Several years after opening his first car wash, he started the Grace For Vets FREE Wash Program. With the help of car washes across the country who participate, more and more military servicemen and women are recognized each year through this program.

“This day is not about the car wash operators who are providing the FREE washes, it’s about honoring and recognizing those that have and are serving and protecting our country,” says Fred O’Neill, owner of Fred’s Car Wash. “It’s an exciting and emotional day for everyone. Our management team and employees look forward to giving back to those that have given so much.”

Fred’s Car Wash has four locations: 498 Westport Ave., Norwalk; 64 Connecticut Ave., Norwalk; 3400 Post Rd., Southport; and 1008 Main St., Watertown.

For more information, visit www.fredscarwash.com or www.graceforvets.org.