I’m sure you’ve heard the University of Connecticut and the Burton family of Greenwich are friends once more. The UConn football operation will keep the family’s $3 million donation and the Burton Family Football Center will keep its name.You’ll recall Robert Burton, the family patriarch, had angrily sought a refund because he was unhappy with the selection of the new UConn football coach, a choice made without the proper input, as he saw it, from the generous Robert Burton. We don’t know what the incoming UConn president and the nervous athletic director said to the patriarch to make up, but I’m sure it was nice. At any rate, the team will continue to do what it does in the elaborate facility and play its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, a considerable distance from the campus and the Burton Family Football Center but convenient for fans who don’t attend the college. There is no danger Rentschler Field will undergo a name change in the foreseeable future as it was properly named for the long deceased Frederick Rentschler. He was the founder of United Aircraft, an ancestor of United Technologies, which gave UConn the land in East Hartford. The basketball teams will continue to play at arenas named for a donor, Gampel Pavilion, on the campus, and at the XL Center in Hartford, which is so named, not to honor the Roman number 40, but to promote XL Group, a not terribly well known, 25-year-old insurance conglomerate. This means the University of Connecticut, at least for now, will not be playing home games in arenas or stadiums named for orange juice, dog food, companies with funny names or unsavory reputations.This is, however, not true of away games. Just the other day, the UConn men played the University of Louisville in an arena with the tackiest name around, the KFC Yum! Center, complete with the !. When I was growing up, ball parks honored people named Ebbets, Crosley, Griffith, Shibe, Comiskey, or they had names that reflected the teams, Braves Field, Yankee Stadium or even their neighborhoods, as in Fenway Park. But just a bit of research reveals there have always been commercial motives behind some name selections. Fenway Park is in the Fenway neighborhood, but its naming in 1912 started with a Red Sox owner who thought the name would be a plus for his Fenway Realty Co. Wrigley Field was named in 1926 for the Chicago Cubs owner, but Philip Wrigley picked the name to promote his chewing gum. Since naming rights are granted for as little as three years or as many as 20, there can be some confusion when names change faster than team rosters. The TD Garden in Boston has had about 35 names since it was built as the Shawmut Center in 1993. It was Fleet Center until owner Fleet Bank was gobbled up by the Bank of America and attained its record number of names when the arena’s owner bought the naming rights back from Bank of America. The arena couldn’t find a long-term name renter, so it auctioned daily naming rights on e-Bay for about $3,000 a day. This gave the center a different name every day for about a month, and the owners rejected only one, an attempt to name the arena the Derek Jeter Center. They did, however, allow the place to be called Yankees Suck Center for two days in 2005. The proceeds of the auction, more than $150,000, went to charities. Some names turn out to be embarrassing for more than a day or two and have to be changed. The Houston Astros played in a park named for the notorious Enron Corporation until it ceased to exist in that unseemly financial scandal in 2002. But the worst naming embarrassment may have involved a name honoring a contributor. UConn basketball teams play Villanova in a campus arena known simply as The Pavilion, but it was the du Pont Pavilion until the man it was named for, John du Pont of the Delaware duPonts, was convicted of murder in 1996. I guess there is something to be said for short-term, renewable naming arrangements. Dick Ahles is a retired journalist from Simsbury. E-mail him at dahles@hotmail.com.
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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