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WINDSOR — Mayor Donald Trinks, known for hearing constituent concerns from behind the counter at Bart's Restaurant, sold the Windsor diner after 18 years at the helm.

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Bart's, a popular breakfast and lunch spot in downtown Windsor, has been in town for over 70 years. In 2005, Trinks and two business partners formed a partnership, bought the restaurant and made Trinks the face of the business. In 2008, he bought them out and became the sole proprietor. On Jan. 13, Trinks signed the paperwork to officially sell the spot to a local family in hopes of starting his retirement.

"They committed to maintaining it as the Bart's that everyone knows and loves," Trinks said. "They're continuing the menu as it is. They're continuing the Bart's name. They've got other ideas, which I respect. But yeah, six months from now, you should be able to walk up to the counter, get a hot dog and a fry just like you had for the previous 75 years."

The new owners of Bart's, who have already started training, declined to be interviewed for the story. The family, who Trinks said lives in Windsor, also owns the Domino's Pizza located next door to Bart's. He also received several other offers, but this one stuck out the most.

"They have an established business going on in Windsor," Trinks said. "They're young and they're enthusiastic and energetic, and I thought that would be a great mix to pass the torch."

Trinks declined to say how much the family paid for Bart's, saying it would be "official soon somewhere in a land record." Land records show Trinks and his business partners bought the 1959 building and 1.9 acres of land for $350,000 in 2005, and the current appraised value is $329,800.

In his time as the owner of Bart's, Trinks has established a rapport with customers, including a group of regular golfers who pop in and the "Walker and Talkers," known for stopping in for coffee after a stroll at the Windsor River Trail.

"I've been the face of Bart's now for 18 years," Trinks said. "Purposely, I didn't really tell the walking group until today because I wanted them to see that it's really business as usual. Just I'll be sitting in a chair instead of behind the counter."

Trinks is working to train the new owners with the help of his staff, who he says will continue working at the restaurant. Trinks called his imminent departure "bittersweet."

"I'll miss the interaction with the customers," Trinks said. "I thrive on that every day. I still come to work with the same enthusiasm I had 18 years ago. But I know it's time."

How could he be so sure? He asked his customers.

"I polled some of my customers in a very generic way about knowing that moment when you're ready to go," Trinks said. "They said it's like buying a house. So you walk into a house that feels right, and you'll know it. And I did. I reached that point, but I still love coming in. I still love what I do."

Trinks said his retirement does not apply to his duties as mayor, which he will continue to do at least through November's election.

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WINDSOR – Two of the CCC's top softball teams, Windsor (16-2-1) and Bristol Central (17-1) will meet Wednesday night in a game that will impact not just standings in the CCC but potentially seedings in the upcoming CIAC Class L playoffs.

Bristol Central is ranked second and Windsor third in the CCC standings behind Southington. In Class L, Bristol Central is second behind undefeated North Haven with Windsor fifth behind Masuk and Jonathan Law. The CIAC awards winning teams a power point for each of its opponents wins, so tonight's winner could help itself with tiebreaker scenarios.

Windsor is one of the state's surprise teams, coming off a 9-12 season last year in which it lost in the first round of the Class L playoffs. A healthy bullpen and a connected group of six seniors has helped the turnaround.

"We've got consistent pitching, good defense and senior leadership,” Windsor coach Bill Alexander said. “I think it’s turned into a team that wins games it’s supposed to win and tries to compete in all other games.”

Windsor's two losses were against Enfield (10-8) and reigning Class LL state champion Southington (17-0).

Windsor lost 10-1 to Southington, but the game was tied 1-1 for six innings before the Blue Knights erupted after a pitching change.

Although Windsor lost, the game opened its eyes to what it could be.

“It showed us we can compete with anyone,” senior Addison Shaffer said. “We can compete with any team.”

When senior Annika Lachniet returned to the bus after the loss, she told her teammates they were the “dream team.”

“We can be that,” Lachniet recalled telling her fellow Warriors. “We can be number one. We can do it, so we’re going to try to do it.”

Windsor’s battle against Bristol Central Wednesday is one of two of its last games of the regular season. Its final game is against Cromwell (11-7) on Friday. A victory over Bristol Central would be a big step for the Windsor program.

“We work hard in practice," Alexander said. "I tell everybody ‘Rely on what you do and don’t try to do anything more. Just keep playing, stay in the game.’ If we continue to develop our mental toughness, we’re going to be hard to beat. That’s all I’m looking for. Then, we have a chance.”

WILLIMANTIC -- Zack Powers wants to be the best player he can be.

For the South Windsor U11 Little League All-Stars pitcher, that means playing against the best.

"I have confidence in myself," Powers said. "Being competitive is so important and I think that I'm a great competitor. I love facing teams that challenge us. Those teams make all of us better, not just me. Beating the not-so-good teams, it's easy and it is fun. But having to be clutch, coming through against really good teams, that feels so much better."

The right-hander wasn't dominant Thursday like he was most of the 2022 postseason. But with grit and guile he pitched South Windsor to another title and extended its season.

Powers fired five innings of five-hit ball as South Windsor completed a sweep of the best-of-three Section 4 U11 championship series with a 7-0 win over SFC (Sprague, Scotland, Franklin, Canterbury) at the Willimantic Little League Complex.

South Windsor advances to the state final four July 21-25 at Scalzi Park in Stamford. It will play the Section 3 champion — either Madison, Waterford, or Glastonbury National — at 7:30 p.m. on the opening day of the double-elimination event.

Powers walked two and struck out six, reaching the 85-pitch limit with the final batter of the fifth. He did not have a 1-2-3 inning. Of the 17 non-leadoff batters he faced, 10 came up with a runner on base. SFC stranded seven runners. Powers escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam in a 29-pitch first inning, and a second-and-third, one-out situation in the fourth with the game still on the line.

"Once he dials in he's good to go, and we saw that last year from him," South Windsor manager Seth Falco said. "The best part about Zack is that he always competes no matter the situation. SFC has the bases loaded in the first inning and I'm nervous, but Zack isn't and we get out of it with no runs.

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"What he constantly does is get the job done at the end of the inning or the end of an at-bat."

Shortstop Dominic Caputa was a defensive standout for South Windsor as was catcher Corbyn Falco and first baseman Weston Durbois.

Playing with such solid players gave Powers incentive to raise his game.

"Having some great defense, catching, and coaching gave me all the confidence to go out there and work hard and get better for this year," he said.

SFC, the District 11 representative, fell 11-1 in five innings in Wednesday's opener but showed its competitive spirit with a strong effort Thursday. Ian King had two hits while Brian Bessette tossed four innings of five-hit ball to keep his team in contention.

But South Windsor usually starts fast and for the second straight day it didn't. Manager Falco wasn't pleased.

"Every game has to be taken as the last game and I don't know if winning yesterday made us feel like, 'Well, if we don't win today we have tomorrow,'" Falco said. "I thought they'd be more fired up. But they're different. They're mature 11-year-old kids and they find ways to get the job done.

"I watch from beginning to end. If we get here at 4 for a 6 o'clock game that goes to 8, I'm watching for four hours. You have to be into the game. If we don't have energy in warmups, we don't bring energy to games. I don't like it and I was surprised to see it."

South Windsor took the lead in the second inning with an unearned run and doubled it in the third as Caputa's single plated Jayden Matos. The District 8 squad broke it open with a three-run fourth that included an RBI double by Powers and a two-run single by Grady Moynihan. Durbois' sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout by Lyle Dresser made it 7-0.

Grant Welnicki pitched a perfect sixth to complete the shutout. He struck out the first two batters on called third strikes and then got a fine play from right fielder Oliver Nicholson, who fielded what looked like a clean base hit and fired to first in time to get the hitter, to end it.

In seven postseason games, South Windsor has outscored its opponents 77-6.

Dresser finished with two hits for his second multi-hit game of the sectional. He also scored a run and drove in a run. Jacob Zande scored twice while Moynihan had the two RBIs.

South Windsor will now wait. Section 3 play is scheduled to finish on Saturday. But South Windsor won't wait long to prepare.

"I wanted to win today so we could practice tomorrow," Falco said. "We need to work on base running, on situational hitting. The game is going to come faster now that we're headed to states. We're going to face really good competition from some really good teams."

WINDSOR — A Baltimore-based wood frame construction solutions company says it's coming to town, bringing about 120 jobs and increasing the company's production capacity by 250 percent.

Blueprint Robotics manufactures wood frame components used in the construction of multifamily housing. The 450,000-square-foot Windsor plant will be the largest industrial building constructed entirely out of mass timber in North America, according to CEO Jerry Smalley.

"Our medium is wood," Smalley said. "We build wood buildings in panels and then assemble them on our customers' foundations. We only bring the structure and the electrical system, the plumbing system, the HVAC system and the fire protection system. We don't finish the building. We represent about 55 to 65 percent of the building."

The 62-acre lot on Day Hill Road selected by Blueprint is currently vacant. It is expected the facility will cost $97 million to design and construct. Smalley hopes to break ground in June or July and have the construction finished in the third quarter of 2024.

Once the plant is functional, it will fabricate mass timber components and large-scale cross-laminated timber. The company's Baltimore location is running at full-capacity.

"We need this building," Smalley said. "We need this capacity."

The Windsor Town Council approved an economic development incentive for Blueprint at a Dec. 19 meeting. Town Manager Peter Souza explained that the incentive is for five years. The abatement will be 65 percent per year as long as the company incorporates sustainability elements in the project, such as solar energy systems. If sustainability elements are not constructed or incorporated the abatement would be 60 percent per year.

The town estimates that in the year following abatement, town tax revenue will be $1,112,000. Later this spring, Blueprint will appear before the Planning and Zoning Commission.

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"It's zoned industrial, so they don't have to rezone," Souza said. "What they need to do is come in and they need to do a primary perm. They need to get what's called a site plan permit."

Smalley said Blueprint chose the location in Windsor because of the increasing demand for the products in the Northeast as the popularity of multifamily housing grows. He also cited proximity to the highway and the available workforce as incentives.

"Our market is growing to the Northeast," Smalley said. "The Northeast is more advanced than the rest of the country with regard to building sustainable buildings."

Windsor Economic Development Director Patrick McMahon said they encouraged the company to hold job fairs to recruit town residents and residents of neighboring towns. The 120 jobs will be in a variety of positions, ranging from carpenters and plumbers to HVAC technicians and truck drivers, Smalley said.

"We think we offer building innovation and a better way to build, and we're excited to bring that opportunity to the Northeast," Smalley said.

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Top academic achievers for the third marking period of 2022-23 are recognized at Windsor High School.

WINDSOR, CT — The following students have been named to the honor roll at Windsor High School for the third marking period of the 2022-23 academic year.

GRADE 12

High Honors

Shahid Abuzaideh, Nathan Acabchuk, Paige Andrews, Andrew Bourque, Kayla Callender, Ivy Chirinos, Naomi Cotto, Jenna Dallaire, Hunter Davis, Dantie Davy, Nathaniel Dayes, Johnathan Delskey, Edwin Diaz, Kolby Evans, Saad Farooq, Isabella Gagne, Damien Galvez, Althea Grace, Laura Gregory, Grant Harris, Jahleea Harris, Tashani Henry, Katelyn Huff, Guineviere Keeler, Kristen Koduah, Frank Kula, Dalton Levine, Justin Levine, Shaela Markel, C Martindale, Rhys Martindale, Rory Martindale, Kaliyah Maxwell, Selassia May, Allison McGovern, Amber McKenzie, David McManus, Gage Miller, Zoe Moore, Jonathan Nguyen, Austin Oberle, Natalya Pennant, Chelsey Petteway, Zoe Pierre, Bella Ramsey, Alexandra Rioux, Abriana Rivera, Selma Saeedosman, Winston Sanchez-Martinez, Mason Sanders, Lily Sargalski, Paige Shufelt, Rorion Soroka, Ryan Stillman, Dorian Sweeney, Daviah Watkins, Brittani Westberry, Jayveon Young.

GRADE 11

High Honors

Sophia DiFelici, Rjelyn Ersando, Alyssa Girard, Ethan Gomez, Jayden Hunter, Aron Kiehne, Jaycob Ly, Aleah Mattis, Maria McCauley, Kareema McKenzie, Sirena Raymond, Amber Rooke, Jadyanny Rosario, Trevor Roy, Lakpa Sherpa, Alicia Singh, Will Stillman, Sophia Wilson.

Honors

Salma Abuteen, Aliah Acosta-Mercado, Taeshawn Berry, Eva Blume, Cheyanne Bowman, Kaleb Burke, Laura Camara, Nya Chambers, Joshua Coy, Aubrey Dallaire, Alex Dauphinais, Leondra Dilworth, Xavier Facey, Grace Felgate, Quintin Floyd, Hunter Fortier, Aaron Foster, Parker Franklin, Brandon Hanchard, Tisonya Hastings, Cheyanne Haynes, Adia Hill, Jalese Holley, Hunter Howard, Julissa Incio Llerena, Kaila James, Myles Jennings, Senia Johnson, Olivia Karlowicz, Maisha Khan, Casey Krapalis, Emily Lattimer, Olivia Lawrence, Sophia Louison, Briana Martinez, Autum Mckoy, Ethan Naughton-Young, Natalia Pagano, Alyssa Patten, Alexa Powell, Ariana Prendergast, Kevin Quarshie, Tianah Robinson, Analiz Rodriguez, Dianyz Rodriguez, Destiny Ross-Bates, Colin Rudroff, Damela Seal, Kayla Smith, Vaughn Spencer, Parker Thomen, Gianna Tritto, Leila Vazquez, Julius Ward, Tyah Washington, Elijah Waterhouse, Korie White, Roshawn Williams, Carnel Young, Ethan Zhang.

GRADE 10

High Honors

Josmairy Acosta, Ashley Alvarado, Alexa Banbury, Alexa Bates, Kirika Bittner-Chee Hing, Jasmine Brown, Sophia Caldwell, Jack Chagnon, Imanuel Cox, Isabelle Elam, Gabriella Elwood, Amanda Eneh, Samuel Garcia, Aidan Illingsworth, Teysir Issaka, Kayhula Johnson, Rosepreet Kaur, Brett Lefurge, Gabriela Mieses Sanchez, Victor Montilla, Hannah Oberle, Ava Passon, Lucas Pearce, Leila Sperry, Amaiya Stevens, Caysee Venturini, Genesis Zhispon Harry.

Honors

Michelle Abbruzzese, Amani Abuteen, Aaja August, Mariam Bakr, Josephine Bannon, Jacob Beane, Zhyon Benjamin, Charlie Bergh, Aubrey Buxton, Laila Chance, Michael Ciccarelli, Ryan Erickson, Nicholas Esteves, Noah Fioroti, Joshua Fray, Lance Giacomazzi, Emily Girona, Connor Hall, Benjamin Hatch, Raiden Hollman, Michelle Huff, Jason Johnson, Oshani Kalu Arachchillage, Macy Karlowicz, Chloe Klingel, Taylor Krapalis, Sylvia Laplant, Kaila Livingston, Jayce Moore, Samuel Ndungu, Maget-Ami Niang, Kenneth Ofori-Boachie, Zandre Reid-Williams, Sarah Rendock, Anthony Robinson, Emily Romero-Lewis, Izaiah Santiago, Jordan Scott, Dilpreet Singh, Vismaadpreet Singh, Alexander Staron, Musa Sulieman, Aubrey Therian, Jaylese Turner, Sydell Yeboah.

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