OK, so it is a bit of a stretch, but President-elect Obama's choice for U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of CNN fame, has a connection to Torrington and this newspaper.

Warm the Children, the program that provides new, warm winter clothing each year to local children in need, was founded at The Register Citizen 20 years ago by former Publisher Mack Stewart.
After its succesful launch in Torrington, Stewart took the program with him when he was named publisher of the Middletown Press, and in retirement, Stewart spread the idea to newspapers across the country.

Gupta, 39, was a volunteer shopper for the Warm the Children program in Ann Arbor, Mich., when he was a student there.

The Register Citizen's Warm the Children campaign should hit its 20th anniversary goal of $20,000 within the next 24 hours or so.

After an anonymous reader stepped forward with a $100 challenge to others seeking to close the $700 gap left to reach the goal, The Register Citizen received a $500 donation this morning from a reader who read about the challenge.