We liked this week   Flowers showered the statue of the Madonna Della Strada as she was gently lowered on a table so marchers in the Southington Italian-American Festival’s Sunday morning procession could crowd around to pin money to her and pray. After a Mass the procession went through downtown Southington on the final morning of the three-day festival.   After two years on the market, St. Mary Church and school in Meriden have been sold to a local Pentecostal church, while the rectory went to a separate buyer in late May. The Pentecostal Church of God I.M. of Meriden bought the church at 55 Church St. and the school at 97 Grove St. for $275,000 from the Our Lady Queen of Angels parish. Dockside Construction Services bought the rectory for $85,000.   Hiking in 90-degree heat and occasional pouring rain, Chris Ulbrich, CEO of Ulbrich Stainless Steel and Special Metals Inc., hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail for 25 days to raise money for the Wallingford Emergency Shelter. The “Ulbrich Trek to End Homelessness” campaign set a goal to raise $20,000 and Ulbrich agreed to add $10,000.   A state law imposing a 10-cent charge for plastic bags at supermarket checkouts starting Thursday, for environmental reasons, has prompted two chains to eliminate those bags well ahead of a June 2021 deadline. Stop & Shop and Big Y customers will no longer receive plastic bags at checkout but will have the opportunity to use paper bags or reusable totes instead.   A Southington tax relief committee this week recommended adding a tax deferment program for the elderly, as well as increasing the income limits for another program already in place. If approved by town leaders, the program will provide $250 in tax deferments to homeowners who are disabled or at least 65 years old. The taxes deferred are due to the town when the property is transferred.   An area foundation has donated over $10,000 toward the replacement and refurbishment of four signs located at Cheshire’s Bartlem Park. The town recently accepted a donation of $10,500 from the John G. Martin Foundation to replace the Bartlem Park and Cheshire Community Pool, Parks and Recreation, and Yellow House signs, as well as to repaint the Medal of Honor Plaza sign.   Rogers Orchards in Southington have opened for their 210th season, offering visitors fresh produce like peaches, tomatoes and corn. “All things are looking good here and we’re excited to have another harvest,” co-president Peter Rogers said. Rogers said this summer’s heat and humidity have been good for the crops.   Gov. Ned Lamont has enlisted two top advisers to take a closer look at the management of two quasi-public agencies, the Connecticut Lottery and the Connecticut Port Authority, and determine whether changes are needed. Lamont  said Tuesday he has become increasingly concerned about reports of leadership strife at the lottery. The port authority’s executive director has also been placed on paid administrative leave from the organization.   Gathering loads of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers and packaging earned Derynoski School in Southington a new playground as part of a recycling company’s national contest run by TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey. The school took second place in the Northeast region contest and won a playground made of recycled materials, worth $25,000.   The Midstate Chamber of Commerce and the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce recently signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an alliance. The partnership is not a merger, but an effort to maintain the local chambers by retaining their boards, presidents and staff while fostering cooperation, said Rosanne Ford, interim president of the Midstate Chamber of Commerce.   A new interagency task force will soon begin work on a plan to minimize the impact of a group of potentially dangerous industrial compounds — PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” — on Connecticut residents. The panel will be led by the commissioners of the departments of Energy and Environmental Protection and Public Health.   Kick For A Cause’s 15th annual women’s soccer tournament started last weekend in Wallingford. The two-day event features teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York. This year’s event saw 18 teams, each with 15 players. All proceeds go to Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis, an organization that provides domestic violence services to those in need.