Sally Larkin Green

Author. Speaker. Publisher. I turn writers into authors. I hear from a lot of people who want to write a book someday… I’m the one they hire to make it happen.

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo It’s FAFO time!!

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo Yes we are!! Woot woot

[Kristi L. Talmadge @KristiTalmadge]

🔴🇺🇸 CONNECTICUT: Petty Politics Over Patriotism: Connecticut Democrats Snub America’s 250th — and the Heroes, Innovators, and Traditions That Define Us

In a display of small-minded political spite, Connecticut’s Democratic leadership, including Governor Ned Lamont, refused to fund and then rejected a generous private offer to fully underwrite a proper Connecticut booth or pavilion at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. This 16-day event, running through mid-July 2026, is a centerpiece of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Officials cited “resources” and costs estimated at $100,000 or more for staffing a multi-week exhibition. When retired businessman RP Scelzo organized $100,000 in private donations from 10 anonymous donors to cover every penny, the administration’s response was blunt: “It’s a genuinely kind offer, but it’s too late.” Too late to celebrate what, exactly?

Connecticut, the once great Constitution State, has one of the richest and most diverse legacies in American history. We are the state that gave birth to the very idea of written constitutional government with the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639, a direct forerunner to our national founding documents. Connecticut delegates, including Roger Sherman of New Haven, were central to the creation of the U.S. Constitution itself, helping craft the Great Compromise that saved the Constitutional Convention and shaped the Senate we still have today.

We gave the Revolution one of its most iconic martyrs: Nathan Hale, born in Coventry, Connecticut. The young schoolteacher turned spy for George Washington famously declared before his execution by the British in 1776: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” His courage and sacrifice remain a symbol of selfless patriotism.

Connecticut also became the cradle of American innovation and industry. Eli Whitney, who studied at Yale in New Haven, pioneered the system of interchangeable parts at his armory in Hamden, Connecticut, laying the foundation for modern mass production that powered America’s industrial rise. Samuel Colt, born in Hartford, revolutionized firearms with his revolving-cylinder pistol and built one of the nation’s great industrial empires right here in Connecticut, employing thousands and helping define the American System of manufacturing.

In aviation, Igor Sikorsky established his company in Stratford and developed the world’s first practical helicopters in Connecticut. Technology that transformed both military power and civilian life.

Connecticut’s maritime and defense contributions run deep. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy has called New London home since 1932, training generations of officers who protect our shores and enforce maritime law around the world. Just across the river in Groton, Electric Boat has built submarines for the U.S. Navy for more than a century, including the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS *Nautilus*. Groton proudly calls itself the “Submarine Capital of the World,” and Connecticut workers have helped keep America safe beneath the seas for generations.

In the struggle for civil rights and equality, Connecticut has long been ahead of its time. In the 1830s, Prudence Crandall courageously opened a school for Black girls in Canterbury, Connecticut, defying violent mobs, legal persecution, and the prejudices of her era. She became one of America’s earliest and bravest champions of integrated education.

More than a century later, in the summer of 1944, a 15-year-old Martin Luther King Jr., then a student at Morehouse College, worked harvesting tobacco on a farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, alongside fellow students. In his autobiography, King later wrote that experiencing the lack of segregation in Connecticut’s churches, restaurants, and public life, a stark contrast to the Jim Crow South, deeply influenced his decision to enter the ministry and dedicate his life to the fight for civil rights.

Connecticut has also produced trailblazing leaders. Ella Grasso, elected governor in 1974, became the first woman in American history elected governor in her own right — a milestone that broke barriers for women in politics nationwide.

Even in everyday American culture, Connecticut has left an indelible mark. New Haven is widely recognized as the birthplace of American pizza as we know it. In 1925, Frank Pepe opened what would become Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana on Wooster Street, introducing coal-fired, thin-crust “apizza” that helped make New Haven-style pizza one of the most beloved regional foods in the country. Generations of families have made pilgrimages to Pepe’s, Sally’s Apizza, Modern Apizza, and other legendary spots, turning Connecticut pizza into a delicious source of state pride that has influenced pizzerias across America.

These are not minor footnotes. They are the living legacy of a state that helped forge the nation, from the Revolutionary era through the Industrial Revolution, technological breakthroughs, naval defense, civil rights, political firsts, and even the simple joy of a perfect slice of pizza.

A Connecticut booth at the Great American State Fair could have proudly showcased Nathan Hale’s story; Eli Whitney’s manufacturing revolution; Samuel Colt’s industrial legacy; Igor Sikorsky’s helicopters; the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Groton’s submarine heritage; Prudence Crandall’s courage; Martin Luther King Jr.’s formative experience in Simsbury; Ella Grasso’s historic governorship; New Haven’s pizza legacy; the Fundamental Orders; and so much more.

Instead, Lamont’s team chose to sit it out.

The official excuse was money. But when private citizens removed that obstacle entirely, the door was still slammed shut. This was never really about budgets. It was about politics. Democrats' reflexive refusal to participate in a national celebration associated with the current Republican president, even when it meant honoring Connecticut’s own heroes, innovators, pioneers, and cultural traditions.

While the state government stayed home, private initiatives have attempted to fill part of the void. Radio host Reese On The Radio, conservative outlets like Connecticut Centinal and local independent journalists like Tony DeAngelo and Bob Swick have encouraged Republicans to set up a presence anyway, drawing attention to the embarrassing absence of official representation. Citizen journalists and everyday Nutmeggers expressed their frustration loudly: Connecticut had the chance to wave the flag for all of these stories and chose not to.

The 250th anniversary comes only once. Connecticut has given America extraordinary figures, breakthroughs, and even delicious traditions worth celebrating on the National Mall. By rejecting both public and private support for a proper booth, Connecticut’s Democratic leaders didn’t just skip an event. They turned their backs on the very heritage that makes this state worth being proud of. The people of Connecticut, and the heroes who came before us, deserved far better.

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

I feel this in my bones. For me, rock bottom looked like standing at the bathroom mirror one morning and realizing I didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me.

Somewhere in all the giving, carrying, and pretending I was fine, I had quietly shattered.

But that morning became a beginning.

Sometimes the breaking point becomes your turning point.

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo Here’s the title of the book I am currently writing. Maybe I should change it to: Enough is enough!! It’s about faith not politics. 😁

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@elonmusk But it’s not about politics or elections. 😁

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@elonmusk Title of the book I’m writing. 😉

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 💥

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 🔥

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo @LaraLeaTrump @EricTrump @Scavino47 @SecRubio Yes you do!!

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 🔥🔥🔥

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@Jaqo483 @luxemiaa You come into “my” kitchen and leave cookies in my refrigerator for more than 3 days, they are considered legally mine. I don’t make the rules. 😂

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 😂

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@luxemiaa Omgosh this sounds like me and my husband. 😁It just happened a couple months ago with cookies someone gave him at church. You would think he’d be used to it, but he still gets mad every time. 😂 He walked into church the following week and told everyone I stole his cookies.

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 👽 😂

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo ❤️❤️❤️

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo 🇺🇸

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo Yes! I

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo Yes!!🙌🏼

[Sally Larkin Green @SallyLGreen]

@PapiTrumpo Us too!