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.

An interview with me and Register Citizen Business Manager Andrea Benedict about the newspaper's "Warm the Children" program will be aired at 7:30 p.m. tonight on Channel 5 of Torrington-Litchfield-area Cablevision TV.
Warm the Children is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and Andrea has been coordinating it pretty much singlehandedly the entire time.
We are appearing on a show hosted by Bill Egan, executive director of the United Way of Northwest Connecticut, which is our partner in Warm the Children.

We were proud here at The Register Citizen last week to be honored for the newspaper's contributions to the United Way and all it does for charitable causes here in Northwest Connecticut.
But prouder still were our feelings about Andrea Benedict, leader of the business office here at The Register Citizen and Foothills Trader.
She was honored with the United Way's "People Who Inspire Us" award.
For years, Andrea has been the one-woman-band operating behind the scenes to coordinate The Register Citizen's annual Warm the Children campaign.
Warm the Children has provided money for warm winter clothing for thousands of children from needy families in Northwest Connecticut over the years.
It's one of the few charities out there that can boast zero administrative costs ... meaning that every penny donated goes directly to these kids. That's possible because Andrea does all the work!
So Andrea, we join the United Way in saying you inspire us! It was a bit of public recognition that is well-deserved.