FAIRFIELD: “My night owl ways; if you knew me you’d know how much this will wrestle with my flesh. I also increase giving and make more dedicated times of prayer.” Mary L Nelson wrote this on Fairfield Patch’s Facebook page in response to a question asking what Lent observers plan to give up this year.

RIDGEFIELD: “Pleasantly surprising to see the BOF showing more common sense than the Selectmen on this issue. Too bad BOF does not have the final say…” Robert Lavelle wrote this in response to news that the Board of Finance discussed and ultimately refused the March 13 standalone referendum for a $ 5 million contribution to the library renovation earlier approved by the Board of Selectmen.

STAMFORD: “Tenure for teachers is definitely a negative and should be eliminated. Why should teachers be able to hide behind a union driven wedge? Unions are (have) destroying the education system just like they are destroying jobs in America. It is greed that Americans have accepted over the years and is now negatively affecting jobs for middle America.” Lou wrote this in response to an investigation by the Connecticut Post, which found that tenured teachers are rarely fired.

WESTPORT: “Teachers are a visible, easy target. Easy, because the thinking is poor teaching is the root of the nation’s/state’s ills in student performance. Wrong. Widespread poverty is the cause. With over 20% of students in poverty, Connecticut and the nation need to fix the real problem, not take the easy way out.” Brian also wrote a response to the article about tenured teachers.

Fairfield Patch

Nestled on the Brick Walk promenade between Magnolia and Liquid Lunch is Pink Cupcake Shack, a cupcake boutique that boasts “every sprinkle comes with love,” according to its website.

And that’s not an exaggeration. That love, created by owner Diane Mercado and her family, is palpable in the bakery’s latest endeavor to support the family of a young Monroe man who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

A.J. Rogers, 19, a good friend of Mercado’s youngest son Danniel, is currently undergoing treatment at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Earlier in February, Pink Cupcake Shack dedicated a Sunday to sell cupcakes designed by Rogers, who termed his creation “Rebel With a Cause.” The cupcakes had orange frosting (orange is the color for leukemia), a boy’s face, and a brown mohawk, the same as Rogers’ hair after he was diagnosed in January.

Mercado asked Rogers to design the cupcake so he could “keep his mind off of what he is going through.” The “Rebel With a Cause” cupcake fundraiser raked in about $ 2,000 for Rogers’ family and medical expenses, Mercado said.

Everyone who came into work during that fundraiser volunteered, Mercado, who also hails from Monroe, said. “All the sales really could go straight to AJ.” Friends even jumped in to help, as Mercado said the fundraiser was a success and the shop was pretty busy.

“It was huge,” she said.

There’s more where that came from. Currently Pink Cupcake Shack continues to take orders for “Rebel With a Cause” cake pops and will be selling the cupcakes again this coming Saturday. All proceeds from either the cake pops or Saturday’s cupcakes will go to Rogers’ family.

Mercado hopes that one day when Rogers is well enough, he’ll come visit the store.

Helping in the fight against cancer is nothing new to Mercado, her family, and Pink Cupcake Shack. In fact, the “pink” in the shop’s name comes from the color’s affiliation with breast cancer. Mercado chairs the Swim Across the Sound Breast Cancer luncheon in Bridgeport every year.

Pink Cupcake Shack reached a milestone the first week in February, when it celebrated its one-year anniversary. The past year featured some drama when a big California cupcake company called Sprinkles Cupcake filed a lawsuit against the shop, which was originally called Pink Sprinkles.

The suit did not stop Mercado; she and her family decided to change the name to Pink Cupcake Shack and carry on.

Lawsuit aside, the business sprouted from Mercado’ love for baking and support from her family after she was laid off from a 20-year corporate career.

Why a cupcake shop?  “You can be so creative with the flavors,” she said.

Mercado’s favorite is Fluffer Nutter Peanut Butter. The best seller is a toss-up between Red Velvet, Pink Velvet, and Salted Caramel.

The bakery is run by Mercado with the help of her family and some part-time help, which also happens to be family, friends, or referred by friends or family.

Mercado’s son Joseph is the “artistic member of the crew,” according to Pink Cupcake Shack’s website. Her daughter Kiely develops recipes and helps deliver orders. Danniel helps with marketing and manages Pink Cupcake Shack’s Facebook page.   

Mercado’s father, Roland Young, 87, of Trumbull, comes in after every shift to do the dishes.

“Sometimes people come in just to see him!” Mercado said. “He has a group that comes in.”

Pink Cupcake Shack is open Tuesday – Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and open for orders on Sunday. Website: http://pinkcupcakeshack.com/index.html; Phone: 203-259-7465; Email: info@pinkcupcakeshack.com.  

Fairfield Patch

The Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe boys basketball teams enter the final day of the regular season still alive in the FCIAC playoff race, but they may need miracles to get in.

First, Warde (11-8, 9-8) likely needs to upset undefeated St. Joseph to stay alive. If that doesn’t happen, the Mustangs need Bridgeport Central to lose to a four-win McMahon team and have a chance in a series of tiebreakers against other 9-9 teams.

A Central win — and a Warde loss – eliminates the Mustangs — because the Hilltoppers would reach 10 wins and the Greenwich-Danbury winner would become the eighth FCIAC team will 10 victories.

Warde is in a five-way tie for seventh at 9-8 with Central, Danbury, Greenwich and Trumbull, which hosts Trinity Catholic in its regular-season finale on Wednesday.

Stamford, which defeated Bassick 77-72 on Monday to improve to 10-7, finishes at Harding on Wednesday. It is hard to imagine to the Black Knights losing to the Presidents, who are coming off a 52-47 defeat to a one-win New Canaan team, and Stamford owns a tiebreaker over Warde anyway.

Should Warde pull off the shocker against St. Joseph, however, the Mustangs would be assured of a playoff spot as they would win all tiebreakers.

Following Monday’s 46-36 loss at Trumbull, the best Ludlowe can hope for is to win a tiebreaker among a longjam of 9-9 teams.

The same scenario holds the Falcons, however, as they will be eliminated with a Central win.

If Central is upset, Ludlowe holds tiebreakers over Danbury and Warde but lost to Central, Greenwich and now Trumbull.

***

The Fairfield hockey team concludes its regular season on Wednesday against Darien at 2 p.m. at the Darien Ice Rink.

The Mustangs (10-9, 7-4) can clinch a spot in the tier one FCIAC playoffs with an upset of the Blue Wave.  Even if Fairfield loses, it can still grab one of the top six berths if Trinity Catholic loses to Westhill on Wednesday.

New Canaan and Wilton are tied for fourth at 8-4 while Fairfield and Trinity Catholic are tied for sixth at 7-4.

Should Fairfield and Trinity Catholic both win Wednesday, New Canaan would fall to seventh in a four-way tie. The Rams would then drop into the FCIAC’s tier two playoffs.

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

Boys basketball

Brookfield at Notre Dame-Fairfield

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

Boys basketball

Fairfield Ludlowe at Darien 7 p.m.

St. Joseph at Fairfield Warde, 7 p.m.

Boys hockey

Catholic Memorial (Mass.) at Fairfield Prep, 1 p.m., Wonderland of Ice

Fairfield Warde at Darien, 2 p.m., Darien Ice Rink

STANDINGS

BOYS BASKETBALL

GIRLS BASKETBALL

BOYS HOCKEY

Girls Hockey

Fairfield Patch

DARIEN: “What? Some prankster friends drop a young man off in a strange neighborhood late at night. He’s lost. He’s scared. He’s alone. So he knocks on the door of a house and has the good sense to explain his plight to the homeowner. The police arrive and… arrest the young man. What? He’s lost and scared, so he gets arrested? How does this story jive with parents telling their kids that if they are in trouble and need help, contact the police…. why… so they can be arrested???? Where’s our compassion?” Wondering wrote this is response to news that a Fairfield man was arrested for trespassing after he approached a stranger’s home and told the homeowner he was “lost and scared.”

GREENWICH: “We must find ways to cut this incredible spending escalation! Like many retirees, I have little choice, but to move out of CT to avoid the income & estate taxes that can only grow higher! When you lose all the upper-income taxpayers, the state will have ‘cut off its nose to spite its face,’ & we will see an escalating plunge into bankruptcy!! CT is in terrible trouble & spending cuts are the only way out!!” George B. Prince, Jr wrote this is response to a “Letter to the Editor” written by State Rep. Fred Camillo, R-151 about Connecticut’s budget woes.

SHELTON: “HELLO BOE have you heard of the Internet? An email survey could of went out and you probably would of got just as much or more of response in better timing and best of all for FREE or a smaller fee. What a waste and those poor [families are] struggling for pay to participate. Could $ 20,000 afford all the kids to participate in sports for a lot less then $ 300? In return, give the money to the kids in the town who would like to play sports and can’t afford it or maybe even start a college scholarship. The BOE should be run like a business. A statement of profit and loss should be available for those that participate in sports, and everything else they do that, including the gate money collected at all the games. That’s just poor management of money and a very OLD way of thinking.” Nancy Scaramazza Kitson wrote this in response to news that the Shelton Board of Education spent $ 20,000 to distribute a mail-in survey to all residents.

TRUMBULL: “Pam… Thank you for bringing us back to ‘a happier time.’ There is nothing better than the ‘simpleness of Peacefulness’…How did we make it so complicated? and why did we make it so complicated? Why does everything have to come with a message to be discovered? Pondered? Disected? Did you ever wonder how those stones became rocks, then boulders? There IS so much this Town has to offer — finding it and enjoying it — seems to be the real task… both figuatively and literally. Thoughtful article — thank you.” gail jarvis wrote this in response to a post by “Local Voices” blogger Pam Georgas about her view of politics as the chairman of the Trumbull Nature Commission.

Fairfield Patch

[Editor's Note: Incident information is supplied by the Fairfield Police Department.]

A Reef Road resident reported to police on Monday that the entry door to his rental home was forced open, police said.

Nothing was reported missing and the complainant’s roommates had no information regarding the forced opening, according to the report.

This is under investigation.

***

A Fairfield Beach road resident reported that several items were taken from the house on Saturday, police said.

All the doors and windows of the house had been locked except for one door, which was left unlocked for the complainant’s roommates, according to the report.

Several cabinets and interior doors were open and a sliding glass door appeared to have been moved out of place, police said. It was unknown at the time of this report exactly what was stolen.

This is under investigation.

***

The owner of a business on Old Post Road in Southport reported to police on Monday that she believes the business was burgled sometime over the past month or so, police said.

The complainant walked into the building and discovered the alarm wasn’t set and pictures on the wall had been taken down, according to the police report. She also discovered that magnets on the door that were supposed to activate the alarm had been removed.

She had noticed early in January that a box was missing from the utility closet and a lock on the interior door of the business had been malfunctioning, police said.

This is under investigation.

***

A Cross Highway barn was vandalized over the weekend, police said.

Someone threw eggs at the barn, according to the report. The complainant also reported that someone spray painted graffiti on the Rt. 15 sign on the nearby overpass, police said.

State police were notified of the graffiti.

Fairfield Patch