Lil' Roosters Day Care opens in Palco
by Candace Rachel, Plainville Times

A group of Palco citizens saw a need for Palco residents, and went forward with the idea of bringing a day care to town.  Lil' Roosters Day Care opened for business on September 5, 2006. 

"We were concerned, and realized young parents needed a place to take their kids," said Chris Desbien, Day Care Board member.  She explained that many parents work out of town, and take their children to Day Care in that town, where they also begin pre-school and then school.  With day care in Palco, the idea was to keep kids in town for not only day care, but on through pre-school and their school years.

The idea seems to be working.  With 17 children enrolled for different times of the day, the Lil' Roosters Day Care has proved to be a popular choice for Palco residents.  Mary Belisle is the director of the day care.  She has 24 years experience in the day care business.  Employees of the day care are Sam Thyfault, Jane Durr, and Sandy Burlison.

The day care happened with the donation of the building from Earl and Shirley Thomason, monetary donations, and a loan.  An advisory board was formed to begin plans for the day care.  Board Chairman Myron Keller explained the Lions Club raised over $10,000 with a raffle, individuals donated from $10 to $5,000 and there has been a lot of sweat equity in donated labor.  "If people are looking at a community, it helps to have services there," he said.  "This also helps the school out and the community too.  This was a $126,000 project - if this is one more key piece to keep the school here, it's worth $126,000."  Palco Economic Development is behind the project and has helped with construction, grant funding and financing. 

The Lil' Roosters Day Care is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and has rates for full-time, part-time, and drop-in children.  It serves breakfast, lunch, and a p.m. snack.