Salem Valley Farms Ice Cream will hold its 8th annual fundraiser for Ray of Light Farm in East Haddam from noon to 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12. All of the sales will be donated to Ray of Light Farm, an animal rescue and rehabilitation facility. Salem Valley Farms has donated more than $17,000.

There will be free horse-drawn wagon rides for ice cream-buying customers from 1 to 4 p.m. during the Columbus Day event. Salem Valley Farms Ice Cream is at 20 Darling Road, Salem. For more information, call (860) 859-2980.

Cathi Strother, a personal lines service agent at Smith Insurance of Niantic, was awarded the 2015 Client Service Professional of the Year at the annual Insurance Professionals of Eastern Connecticut Industry Night event. She lives in New London.

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT will hold Business After Hours from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Dime Bank, 290 Salem Turnpike, Norwich. Members pay $15 admission and non-members $25. Learn more & RSVP online at www.ChamberECT.com/events or call  (860) 701-9113.

The Southeastern Connecticut chapter of SCORE will host a free workshop on "How To Manage Your Professionals” from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Russell Library, 123 Broad St. Workshop Presenter Brian Noe is an adjunct professor of economics at Central Connecticut State University. For more information, go to www.sect.score.org or call (860) 388-9508. 

James Venditti recently joined Chelsea Groton Financial Services as vice president and as a representative of Infinex Investments Inc. Most recently, he was a wealth manager at First Niagara Financial Group, Middlesex Wealth Management Group and Merrill Lynch. He lives in Moodus. For more information, visit www.chelseagroton.com.

The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce will host ribbon-cutting ceremonies at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6, Kaenyama Japanese Cuisine, Groton Plaza Long Hill Road; 4:30 p.m. Oct. 7, Fitnostics, 903 Pequot Trail, Stonington; and 4:30 p.m. Oct. 14, Mystic Organics & More, 35E Williams Ave., Mystic.

In addition, Business After Hours will be held at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at Chelsea Groton Bank, 391 Norwich Westerly Road, North Stonington.

For more info, visit www.mysticchamber.org/events.

Michael Alberts of Woodstock has joined Jewett City Savings Bank’s commercial lending team as vice president, commercial loan officer.

Alberts is a Connecticut state representative in the 50th District and former United States Air Force captain. He joins Jewett City Savings Bank from Citizens Bank, where he served as vice president and commercial relationship manager. For more information, visit www.jcsbank.com.

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT will hold a seminar on building trust in the workplace from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Chamber's office, 914 Hartford Turnpike, Suite 206, Waterford. The seminar is free and open to Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT members only. Learn more and register online at www.ChamberECT.com/events or call (860) 701-9113. This seminar is presented by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT in partnership with SCORE Business Mentors.

CRIS Radio and Mystic Aquarium are working together to offer visitors with low-vision or other print disabilities a new way to access print information displayed at the aquarium’s exhibits. The program, called CRISAccess, is a pilot program funded by the American Savings Foundation.

CRISAccess offers instant audio versions of print information displayed at the aquarium’s exhibits through a visitor’s personal smart phone that scans QR (Quick Response) codes. The QR codes link the phone to an audio version of an exhibit sign and an audio description of the exhibit, typically less than three minutes.

Connecticut Radio Information System is a 36-year-old nonprofit based in Windsor and is Connecticut’s only radio-reading service providing audio access to news and information for people who are blind or print-challenged.

For more information, visit www.crisradio.org or www.MysticAquarium.org.

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT members can bring any non-member friends to selected Chamber events for free admission. Learn more about the Plus One program online at www.ChamberECT.com/plusone or call (860) 701-9113.

CorePlus Federal Credit Union recently held its sixth “Unsung Heroes Recognition” event on WINY 1350AM Radio’s Morning Show with host “Gary O” in Putnam. This popular event has members of the listening audience call in to name an unsung hero in their community or someone who may have had a special impact on their life so that that person might receive recognition as an “unsung hero.” For every call received, CorePlus donated $25 toward the local charity of the caller’s choice, in the hero’s name.

Calls were answered by members of the CorePlus team: Brooklyn Service Manager Ashley Poe, Putnam Service Manager Elizabeth Zachow, Putnam Assistant Service Manager LisaBeth Adamick, Brooklyn Assistant Service Manager Sarah Cusimano, branch staff Maryssa Blanchette and Sabra Desrosiers, and Director of Marketing Susan Dombrowski. 122 callers named their unsung heroes, and $3,050 was donated to dozens of local nonprofit and charitable organizations.

For more information call (860) 886-0576 or visit www.coreplus.org.

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