Stone Doll: An Immigrant’s Memoir from War-Torn Italy to The American Dream
Join us on Wednesday, February 25 at the Kiwanis Club of Wilton for a compelling and deeply personal presentation by our very own First Selectman, Toni Boucher, as she introduces her new memoir, Stone Doll: An Immigrant’s Memoir from War-Torn Italy to The American Dream. This powerful story traces her family’s journey from poverty and wartime hardship in rural Italy to a new life in Connecticut, ultimately leading to her path in business and public service. From crafting a makeshift “stone doll” as a toddler on a farm to navigating life as a non English speaking child in an American classroom, Toni shares the formative moments that shaped her resilience, her belief in education, and her commitment to community leadership.
During this special program, Toni will reflect on the immigrant experience, the role of education as the ultimate empowerment, her advocacy for Holocaust education and combating antisemitism, her experiences surrounding 9 11, and her perspective as a woman breaking barriers in business and politics. If you value perseverance, leadership, and the enduring promise of the American dream, this is a program you will not want to miss. We warmly invite members, guests, and friends of the community to attend, listen, and be part of the conversation.
This promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking discussion about opportunity, determination, and the American dream.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Agenda 12:15 PM — Meeting begins 12:30 PM — Lunch is served 1:00–1:30 PM — Speaker presentation and Q&A
Longtime Connecticut legislator releases new personal memoir of immigration, public service, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy
WILTON, CT- Amplify Publishing is thrilled to announce the release of Stone Doll: An Immigrant’sMemoir from War-Torn Italy to the American Dream (on sale March 3, 2026) by Toni Boucher—her “American dream” story of her extraordinary journey from a dirt floor in Italy to a distinguished career in Connecticut state politics, business, and philanthropy.
In 1955, five-year-old Toni Boucher left everything she knew behind. Her family’s stone farmhouse in war-torn Italy—with its dirt floors and no running water—would become a memory as they boarded a ship for America with empty pockets, no English, and nothing but hope. From those humble beginnings emerged an unstoppable force: entrepreneur, political leader, philanthropist. Boucher would run seventeen political campaigns and win fifteen, rising to the highest levels of Connecticut state government.
Today, as a major benefactor of the University of Connecticut and champion for society’s most vulnerable, Toni Boucher proves that the American Dream isn’t just about where you end up—it’s about lifting others as you climb.
This is her story. It could only happen in America.
Toni Boucher is currently serving her first four-year term as the First Selectman (mayor) of Wilton, CT, after a lengthy career in public service for the state of Connecticut, including in the Connecticut State Senate and Connecticut House of Representatives. Boucher recently retired from her career in the private sector as director of a leading $30 billion asset management company. She has an MBA from UConn, has founded several startups, and is now helping the UConn School of Business grow its entrepreneurship and student-run investment programs. She’s the author of The Husky Effect: How UConn Is Creating the Entrepreneurs of the Future (Amplify Publishing, 2025). “From a childhood marked by hardship to a life shaped by public service, family loss, and entrepreneurial triumph, Toni Boucher has lived many lives—and now, finally, she’s writing them down,” writes the New Canaan Sentinel.
Stone Doll is available March 3, 2026, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers. To order your copy or find out more information about the book, please visit toniboucherauthor.com
About Amplify Publishing Group Amplify Publishing Group is a leading independent hybrid publisher that is passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard. APG publishes across a wide variety of genres and is the culmination of twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books.
Last Updated: February 19, 2026 by saulwgoldberg
Meeting/Lunch at WEPCO – Feb. 25, 2026
Meeting/Lunch at WEPCO
Kiwanis Guest Speaker Toni Boucher
Stone Doll: An Immigrant’s Memoir from War-Torn Italy to The American Dream
Join us on Wednesday, February 25 at the Kiwanis Club of Wilton for a compelling and deeply personal presentation by our very own First Selectman, Toni Boucher, as she introduces her new memoir, Stone Doll: An Immigrant’s Memoir from War-Torn Italy to The American Dream. This powerful story traces her family’s journey from poverty and wartime hardship in rural Italy to a new life in Connecticut, ultimately leading to her path in business and public service. From crafting a makeshift “stone doll” as a toddler on a farm to navigating life as a non English speaking child in an American classroom, Toni shares the formative moments that shaped her resilience, her belief in education, and her commitment to community leadership.
During this special program, Toni will reflect on the immigrant experience, the role of education as the ultimate empowerment, her advocacy for Holocaust education and combating antisemitism, her experiences surrounding 9 11, and her perspective as a woman breaking barriers in business and politics. If you value perseverance, leadership, and the enduring promise of the American dream, this is a program you will not want to miss. We warmly invite members, guests, and friends of the community to attend, listen, and be part of the conversation.
This promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking discussion about opportunity, determination, and the American dream.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Agenda
12:15 PM — Meeting begins
12:30 PM — Lunch is served
1:00–1:30 PM — Speaker presentation and Q&A
📅 Date: Wednesday, Febuary 25, 2026
🕛 Time: 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
📍 Location: WEPCO Parish Hall, 48 New Canaan Road, Wilton, CT
Full Event Images
About Toni Boucher
Longtime Connecticut legislator releases new personal memoir of immigration, public service, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy
WILTON, CT- Amplify Publishing is thrilled to announce the release of Stone Doll: An Immigrant’sMemoir from War-Torn Italy to the American Dream (on sale March 3, 2026) by Toni Boucher—her “American dream” story of her extraordinary journey from a dirt floor in Italy to a distinguished career in Connecticut state politics, business, and philanthropy.
In 1955, five-year-old Toni Boucher left everything she knew behind. Her family’s stone farmhouse in war-torn Italy—with its dirt floors and no running water—would become a memory as they boarded a
ship for America with empty pockets, no English, and nothing but hope. From those humble beginnings emerged an unstoppable force: entrepreneur, political leader, philanthropist. Boucher would run seventeen political campaigns and win fifteen, rising to the highest levels of Connecticut state government.
Today, as a major benefactor of the University of Connecticut and champion for society’s most vulnerable, Toni Boucher proves that the American Dream isn’t just about where you end up—it’s about lifting others as you climb.
This is her story. It could only happen in America.
Toni Boucher is currently serving her first four-year term as the First Selectman (mayor) of Wilton, CT, after a lengthy career in public service for the state of Connecticut, including in the Connecticut State Senate and Connecticut House of Representatives. Boucher recently retired from her career in the private sector as director of a leading $30 billion asset management company. She has an MBA from UConn, has founded several startups, and is now helping the UConn School of Business grow its entrepreneurship and student-run investment programs. She’s the author of The Husky Effect: How UConn Is Creating the Entrepreneurs of the Future (Amplify Publishing, 2025). “From a childhood marked by hardship to a life shaped by public service, family loss, and entrepreneurial triumph, Toni Boucher has lived many lives—and now, finally, she’s writing them down,” writes the New Canaan Sentinel.
Stone Doll is available March 3, 2026, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers. To order your copy or find out more information about the book, please visit toniboucherauthor.com
About Amplify Publishing Group
Amplify Publishing Group is a leading independent hybrid publisher that is passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard. APG publishes across a wide variety of genres and is the culmination of twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books.
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