A 1950- something alum of the nearby exclusive girl’s school has donated the estimated$1.2 million needed to purchase the property from the Zaco family that owns the building, according to a school source. Several hundreds of thousands of dollars need to be secured to rehab and renovate  the historic riverside place that also contains The Millrace Bookstore.

Anthony Giraulo, who owns the restaurant , said his new location in space formerly occupied by Carmen Anthony’s, which also closes today, will open in the next two weeks.

And those ducks that lived by the river and were incubated and raised by the Giraulo family? The Giraulos have a call out to several farms with ponds to make sure their ‘pets’ have an easy transition.

And on Wednesday he was spotted at Max’s Oyster Bar in downtown West Hartford.

That would be baseball legend Johnny Bench.

And what did the baseball great order from executive chef Scott Miller’s kitchen?

One guess, according to operations manager Bobby Venetianer.  

Sliders, of course!

And in picturesque Kent, Katie Holmes (Mrs. Tom Cruise)  sightings . She is apparently filming a retell of Chekov’s “The Seagull” there, has rented a home and is cruising the town with daughter , Suri. No hubby sightings yet, according to the locals.

The so-far unnamed Christian Carmago production stars Holmes, William Hurt and French actor Jean Reno and is scheduled for release next year.

For more go to: http://cour.at/Jq7k1L

Mystic Seaport kicks off the season by cooking more than 3,000 lobsters for its 27th annual “Lobster Days” Saturday to Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Diners can sit under the seaport’s open-air Boat Shed and watch the boats cruising on the Mystic river.

The Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington will hold its   20^th Annual Monet in May Dinner Auction today. It includes a  champagne reception for Monet’s Circle members, an open cocktail hour, dinner and auction beginning at 6 p.m. 

Of course Memorial Day means lots of parades and so many towns are celebrating and honoring its veterans. Go to courant.com for a listing.

Executive chefs and their staffs from Stew Leonard stores in Norwalk, Danbury, Yonkers, and Newington squared off in the kitchen and a panel of four judges  had to decide which low-cal, healthy meal (none of them tasted that way, trust me!) and what kind-of healthy cupcake tasted the best. For now…all I can share are these!

It was my pleasure to be your guest today! Thank you all! It was fun to be back in Newington again!

Sorry, but Robert Redford owns the role….http://cour.at/Korqbs

The Grist Mill, a longtime restaurant on the Farmington River, will close following dinner Saturday night. Owners Anthony and Kristine Giraulo will relocate to the Avon location with a planned opening as soon as possible.

No word on whether the ducks and geese that provided the outdoor entertainment at the restaurant are going too!  

Carmen Vacalebre, who owns Carmen Anthony’s said the Avon location will serve its last dinner on Saturday night as well. 

His other locations in Waterbury, Wethersfield, New Haven and Woodbury will continue to operate and will honor any gift cards from the Avon restaurant, he noted.

Vacalebre is also offering diners who visit the Avon site on Saturday one last parting gift, a $25 gift card (with restrictions)  that can be used at his other locations.

 “This was not an easy decision. I have been challenged in this location for the past couple of years due to the prolonged economic recession and the severe weather last year,” he said about his decision to close the Avon restaurant. “This recession has affected us, as it has every other business and unfortunately, in this down economy, this location just couldn’t keep pace with our other locations.”

 “I want to thank our loyal Avon guests and friends personally for their patronage,” he continued. I look forward to seeing you all in my other restaurants.”

Q: How did you get involved with “Open Arms: Raising Awareness of Upper Limb Spasticity?”

A: When my mother had her stroke in the 90s, we didn’t know about ULS that affected her upper body. Open Arms was looking for an ambassador who had experience with stroke in their family and approached me. It wasn’t until then that I realized my mother, who died in 1998, had suffered from ULS. The condition is a prison and no one was sure then how to treat it. If they knew then what they know now, it would have changed the outlook. It is a painful unsightly condition and difficult on the patient and the caregiver. Imagine not being able to unclench your hand or wash the palms of your hand.

Q: And now?

A: Botox is being effectively used for treatment. Treatments before affected the whole body, instead of just addressing just the affected parts of the body. So before, something might be administered that made the patient drowsy or have a negative effect on other parts of the body. I think it is wonderful as I go around the country and meet patients and doctors that something has been found that can help muscles that are overcompensating and seizing up.

Q: What is the biggest misconception about the disease?

A: That there is something that can be done to help.

Q: I know you en involved in other causes over the years. Is this another act of altruism on your part?

A: It is not a matter of altruism. This is unbelievable that I get to do this and is wonderful for me. It feels so terrific when you see human beings who can benefit from the right treatment. Lots of time when you do a media campaign you have to work at getting people interested. Everyone knows someone, by stroke or head injury or a back injury or cerebral palsy. People have been so receptive.

Q: I know you have a couple of tv shows, “Royal Pains” and in August “Children’s Hospital.” What else is going on professionally?

A: I have a new movie coming out in October with Kevin James, “Here Comes The Boom” and am working on bringing my new children’s novel “Ghost Buddy, “ to tv.

Q: What would “The Fonz” say about you efforts for “Open Arms?”

A: I believe he would be proud. He is a pretty sensitive guy.

From runway-ready outfits and looks from shops including Ann Taylor, Kathy Faber Design, Stackpole Moore Tryon Tuesday’s and Blades, to models including Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, St. Francis Hospital COO Kathleen Roche and ESPN anchor Steven Bunin, it was a night to celebrate the good cause  and second chances.

“I was living in a homeless shelter with my five-year-old in Hartford when Community Renewal Team hooked me up with Dress for Success,” explained client honoree, Kim Kelly, now a CRT outreach monitor.  “Dress for Success gave me more than clothes,” Kelly continued. “It gave me encouragement, a sense of empowerment,” she said. Dressed up and fussed over as part of the show, Kelly called Monday’s event, “the third best day of my life.”

“Dress for Success changed my life.” she said.

 A crew of WFSB loaded the catwalk along with Walmart execs Sharon Burns and Lauri Canales, Aetna exec Tito Colon, Travelers counsel Greg Davis, Mrs. Connecticut Vanessa Sebastian, Macys vice president Tom Mach, board member Debbie Wright,  and political maven and pr business owner Duby McDowell.  

Catwalk highlights included the 70’s fad dance, the bump, by Wyman and McDowell and the unknown model and meteorologist who fooled a lot of people including a dumbstruck lieutenant governor  and an equally dumbstruck Java,  with his Bobbi Brown make-up enhanced disguise.

Susan Cote, who was honored as the organization’s 4,000 client, received a standing ovation when it was announced that she will start a new job on July 1 thanks to the guidance and help from Dress for Success.

“It has been wonderful,” said Cote, of Bloomfield. “I am so grateful.”

What is it about my favorite Farmington restaurants these days?

First the Santorso Family’s Silo is sold so yet another CVS can be built and now the Giraulo Family’s The Grist Mill is moving to the Carmen Anthony’s  space  in Avon. http://cour.at/KEXjtT

Too many good memories from both places. http://bit.ly/LiwZbr  I guess though, there are never too many good memories, right? 

More than 800 people attended the JDRF “Path To A Cure” Promise Ball at the Connecticut Convention Center Saturday, a major fundraiser for the area’s regional chapter of the national non-profit.

Travelers executive vice president, Andy Bessette said his son Chris, was diagnosed last year with juvenile diabetes but is doing great.

“He is a freshman at University of Pennsylvania,” said Bessette lauding the JDRF. “He is doing everything a freshman in college does,” he  joked.  

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the “Star of Hope Award,” this year presented to The Hartford for the support its employees and the company provide to the JDRF initiative. Accepting the award was chairman, president and CEO, Liam E. McGee.

“It’s an honor,” said McGee who attended with his wife and three sons. “Our company is happy to support JDRF.

For two of his sons, Jordan and Aiden, the night was questionably special because it was the first time they had worn tuxes.

“It’s a little uncomfortable,” said Jordan. “But it’s okay.”

Among the special guests were Gov. Dannel P. Malloy who said he was there to support his good friend McGee.

 While special guests gathered at a private VIP reception, the rest of black-tie crowd could be found at the pre-dinner cocktail party outside the convention center ballroom.

There were also firsts there.

“I thought this was kind of odd for a first date,” said Stewart, an insurance adjuster who lives in Farmington and was out for the first time with Bill Connors of Avon. “Usually you’re lucky if you get dinner and movie,” said Stewart showing off a red cocktail dress she bought for the occasion. “In terms of first impressions, he is getting a 9 from me,” she said laughing. “A beautiful evening and an altruistic cause, he had me at ‘would you like to go?’ ”  

For more pictures go to: http://cour.at/JJYAms

Members of its Ovation and Director’s Societies and invited guests celebrated the return of Shakespeare with a pre-show party at The Marquee, a little soiree that included a poll of favorite works by the English master.

“King Lear,” said Bill Lally, whose Federman, Lally & Remis was one of the production sponsors. “King Lear” is about taxes and I am a tax person.” brother David Lally cited “Hamlet” as his favorite, stoically citing the story’s bend toward individuation from one’s past.

Bruce Anderson, whose wife, Lois Anderson, is joining the stage’s board, said his favorite is “Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

Not everyone was a Shakespeare fan, however, with one attorney who asked to be anonymous, admitting that he really was not a fan of any of the plays but was going to show his support for new artistic director, Darko Tresnjak.

“There are a lot of people excited about Shakespeare being back at Hartford Stage,” said the attorney. “Just not me.”

Excited about presenting Shakespeare in a new way, Tresjnak brought award-winning choreographer Peggy Hickey to the dinner. Hickey will be choreographing “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” scheduled to open at the theater in October.

After the illustrious, high flying and engaging production,  it was over to the nearby Rio,  where cast members, including Daniel Davis, who plays Prospero, the Duke of Milan,  but it also well-known as Niles the Butler from the former television show ”The Nanny, celebrated with a cast party.

Winkler, ambassador  for the  Open Arms Campaign will speak at the Fearless Caregiver Conference in Southbury and then  come to Hartford to the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center on Blue Hills Avenue.  

He will be speaking on a little-known, but very personal topic:  upper limb spasticity (ULS).

About a decade ago, Henry  became caregiver to his late mother, Ilse,  who suffered a stroke that left her with ULS, a relatively unknown condition. Winkler, an advocate for education, treatment options and awareness, has joined nine national advocacy groups in the“Open Arms: Raising Awareness of Upper Limb Spasticity” educational campaign (www.openarmscampaign.com).

As part of his work, on May 24, Henry will be sharing his family’s story.

This came through an email…At least it made my brain start working!

http://onforb.es/JI1yWT

  Quinnipiac University President John L. Lahey, left, awarded an honorary degree to Dick Robinson, founder and chairman of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, during the university’s 81^st undergraduate commencement exercises on May 20. Robinson also is president of the Robinson Media Group and heads the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook. http://theoriginalgasstation.com/ Looking on is Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan Komen for the Cure. Brinker also received an honorary degree and addressed students during the afternoon ceremony on the Mount Carmel Campus.

Uccello is not quite done celebrating however. She told guests she plans to stop by the new Russian Lady in Hartford this week, which is, of course, on the downtown road named in her honor, Ann Uccello Street.

Uccello, elected mayor in 1967, was the city’s first woman and the first woman in America to be the mayor of a major city. She was also the city’s last Republican mayor,

And by the way, this for sale on Ebay this week, a press photo of the trailblazing politician circa 1967.

It’s 35th anniversary time and that means a party on Monday…rolled back dawg prices as part of the walk down memory lane. 65 cents while they last.

 Come celebrate and wish them well.

Interesting story, thought Smith who was also a musician. “Someone should make a musical about this,” he thought.

Then he finished reading the story and learned Newton also wrote the classic hymn “
Amazing Grace.”

Smith was hooked. He had the musical in his mind.

On Thursday he saw the fruits of his labor to turn that historical tidbit into a stage production when his Amazing Grace” had its world premiere at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre in Chester.

“It is amazing,” said Smith, who co-wrote the book with Arthur Giron and then went on to write the music and lyrics for the play that tracks Newton’s tumultuous young adulthood  to his moral conversion and penning of the “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” best known as “Amazing Grace.” “I had no formal training in writing musicals or doing anything like this, but I could hear it in my head,” he said. “I have written a musical.”

The response was encouraging and overwhelming from audience members at the opening night, as entranced by the history as they were the music.

“I just never put two and two together,” said Amos Greene, a New London resident who said he was curious when he read that the play was about slavery. “Amazing Grace always brings my congregation to its feet, and to find out its roots come from the fight against slavery, makes it just more powerful.”

The storey also tracks the long and bumpy romantic relationship between Newton and his eventual wife, Mary Catlett, played by Whitney Bashor.

“I couldn’t tell for sure but she must have waited for him for 10 years,” said Westbrook resident, Rebecca Landerman, about the on again, off again relationship between the two characters as Newton sailed the seas before returning to England. “That’s love.”

Catlett and Newton weren’t the only ones celebrating love.

So were Dave and Lucille Viola.

The longtime Goodspeed supporters will be celebrating their 60^th anniversary in a few days and they are going back to where it all began, their honeymoon room at The Pierre Hotel in New York City.

“My uncle drove us there from our wedding on Long Island,” recalled Dave Viola. “The room cost a lot more now than it did back then,” he joked about the suite that overlooks Central Park. “But it was wonderful,” chimed in Lucille Viola, who has a surprise for her groom as the celebrate six decades together.

“I still have the white nightgown from our honeymoon night,” she said, noting that it too will be making the anniversary trip to The Big Apple.

It was just about three years ago when Java interviewed music legend, Donna Summer, who died of cancer Thursday. She was fun, spirited and more than ready to hit the stage at Foxwoods in 2009. Here is that interview with the “Queen of Disco:”

Grammy Award winner Donna Summer was one of the most successful recording artists of the ’70s, crowned the “Queen of Disco” with such signature hits as “Love to Love You Baby,” “Hot Stuff,” “She Works Hard for The Money” and “Last Dance.”

The first female artist to have four No. 1 singles in a 13- month period, Summer is still making music. On Friday, she’ll perform at MGM Grand at Foxwoods. The 60-year-old Summer, who kids that she has a Grammy and is a grammy, took time recently to Spill the Beans with Java.

CCSU English and Latin prof, Gil Gigliotti, also known as a tap-dancing, Frank Sinatra nut with a radio show, is trying to “date” Kelly Ripa.

He thinks if he can get enough names on a petition, he can somehow coerce the talk show sweetheart into letting him audition as her new co-host for “Live With Kelly.”

For those who don’t know the back story, Ripa was left solo last year when long time co-host Regis Philbin stepped down from the morning show. Since then she has been “trying out” a revolving door of  prospective co-stars ranging from Nick Lachey  and  Josh Groban, to a laundry list of retired athletes including Jesse Palmer and Michael Strahan. And then there was ESPN’s own Mike Greenberg.

Gigliotti, an author with a  slightly flimsy tv resume that includes a YouTube video and a website on 13 reasons he should be given a chance, is looking to his public for support.

The English professor has set up a petition website and is collecting names until May 31, which, for some reason, is the timeline he has decided is the drop dead date for getting his chance at a rendezvous with Kelly.

But word is it may be for naught. Ripa supposedly has hinted that she wants CNN newscaster Anderson Cooper, a regular guest host, to become her steady.

And the irony of it all, Gigliotti knows the “other man” very well.

The met three years ago when the CNN newscaster was a guest speaker at the university’s Robert C. Vance Lecture.

Calling his quest, “quixotic and trivial” Gigliotti has his own philosophy about attracting Ripa’s attention.

“They’re still looking for someone to replace Regis, and, since they’re trying out all sorts of folks,” said Gigliotti. “I figured why not a 50-year-old academic/Sinatra scholar/dj/television-host-wannabe?

Gigliotti’s petition is at  http://bit.ly/L3GaJ7  His reasons why are at  http://bit.ly/JtmPac

West Hartford celebrated in style Saturday at the Mayor’s Charity Ball under a white tent on the Town Hall Green.

 “I was born and raised in West Hartford, came back to work for the town 15 years ago,” said Rob Rowlson, director of community services for the town. “I just love what the town has become. We’ve grown into a special place that really allows everybody to do the best that they can.”

Guests included Mayor Scott Slifka; Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford; several members of the West Hartford Fire Department, including Lt. Kevin Munson and Capt. John Sokolowski; Tracy Murphy and Spencer Cain, president of the Hartford Tennis Club; Jen Krebsbach, president of the Mayor’s Charity Ball board, and board members Tracy Flater, Lou Luba, Chris Skelly and Carol McCabe; and Kevin Sullivan, commissioner of the state Department of Revenue Services and former mayor of West Hartford (1983-85).

Sullivan reminisced about the Mayor’s Charity Ball he remembered most.

“The year they had the former mayors do a song and dance routine, we had top hats, canes…we sang ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz’ with lyrics they made up about West Hartford,” said Sullivan. “After about a hundred tries I think I almost got close to the routine.”

A cocktail reception in the Town Hall auditorium featured music by pianist Sean Pallatroni and several vocalists, including Carolyn Cumming, daughter of Edward Cumming, former music director of the Hartford Symphony now at the Hartt School. Latanya Farrell and the Bookman Styles Band performed later in the evening.

The event benefited HopeWorks Inc. and Playhouse On Park.

“The people in the community are fantastic, they really are,” said Munson.

Amy Ellis (aellis@courant.com)

Raddatz will be honored at an invitation-only luncheon on June 7 at the Metropolitan Club, One East 60^th Street, New York City.

The award is presented annually to a journalist who has shown courage and forthrightness in preserving the First Amendment.

“Martha was chosen because she exemplifies the courage and dedication to journalism that are the very essence of the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award,” said Lee Kamlet,  dean of the University’s School of Communications. “She has literally put herself on the front lines to report the truth of war and human conflict to the American people.” 

Raddatz was named senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News in November 2008, after serving as White House correspondent during the last term of President George W. Bush’s administration. She traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan dozens of times and to Iraq more than 20 times to cover the ongoing conflicts. She was on the last convoy out of Iraq and she was the only television reporter allowed to cover a combat mission over Afghanistan in an F15 fighter jet, spending nearly 10 hours in the air on two separate missions.

 She will join past recipients of the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award: Dan Rather, Lesley Stahl, Bill Moyers, Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, Robert MacNeil, Don Hewitt, Peter Jennings, Mike Wallace, Christiane Amanpour, Tom Bettag, Tim Russert, Bob Schieffer, Steve Kroft, Charles Gibson, Morley Safer, Gwen Ifill and David Fanning.