A Grand Celebration For Newtown’s Historic Library

By Shannon Hicks

Ron Buttner paid $1,000 for a painted star that will remain at town hall — “a town hall on Main Street,” he stipulated — and Kelly Urso went home with a $3,000 piece of jewelry around her neck.

As the 75th anniversary year of C.H. Booth Library winds to a close, two events last weekend highlighted the need for continued financial support of the Main Street resource and the history of the building whose creation was made possible through the generosity of town benefactress Mary Elizabeth Hawley.

C.H. Booth Library opened in December 1932, a time when Newtown boasted a population of about 2,700 people. When it opened, the library had a capacity for 25,000 volumes and its staff consisted of a librarian and an assistant librarian. The building was a posthumous gift of Miss Hawley named for and in honor of her maternal grandfather, who served as a physician in Newtown between 1820 and until his death in 1871.

Today the library serves a town of more than 27,000 residents, has staff members that cover the main floor in addition to Young Adult, Children’s and Reference departments, and contains more than 100,000 items plus resources and technology to support nearly any research.

Last Friday afternoon Library Director Janet Woycik selected the winning tickets for a raffle whose ticket sales will help the library purchase a much needed audio-video projector that will support PowerPoint presentations (see related story in this week’s Bee for the details about that raffle).

Last Saturday evening it was time for the big event: A gala at Rock Ridge Country Club that had been more than a year in the planning billed as “Diamonds in the Sky: A Gala to Benefit the Library.” Kathy Geckle, the chairman of the gala committee, looked beautiful in an ivory off-the-shoulder gown as she and the other members of the committee returned to the ballroom they had begun decorating nearly 36 hours earlier.

As guests entered the country club’s building on September 29, committee members welcomed them and handed out bidding numbers. The highlight of the evening would be a live auction of 14 stars that had been hand painted by resident artists. Meanwhile Rock Ridge waitstaff worked through the crowd with trays of hors d’oeuvres and drinks, drinks stations were set up for those who wished for something beside the champagne and red wine being offered on trays, and dozens of guests arrived and began to mingle between the front area, the bar room, and the ballroom itself, where gold tablecloth-covered tables awaited them.

Following a cocktail hour, the formal portion of the evening began with opening remarks from Selectman Bill Brimmer. Mr Brimmer invited some “surprise guests” into the ballroom, and a group of about a dozen children joined the adults for a few minutes. While being serenaded by Mr Brimmer, who sang “When You Wish Upon A Star,” the children gathered in front of the speaker’s podium, sat down, and listened to brief readings that followed the theme of diamonds and stars. Guest readers were Marie Sturdevant, Gordon Williams, Bruce Degen, and Library Director Janet Woycik.

When the readings were finished the children, each carrying a flameless candle, left the room while singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

“There’s a reason we asked the children to be here tonight,” said Mrs Geckle. “We wanted to point out what a huge percentage of the library population they are. Children begin with the arts and crafts programs, then participate in story times, and move into the ever-growing Young Adult department.

“We love it when kids get hooked on books,” she continued. “We currently have 2,200 children enrolled in library projects.”

Father Bob Weiss, the pastor of St Rose of Lima Church, had been invited to be the auctioneer for the evening. Through his efforts and the generosity of the evening’s guests, the auction raised $6,450 for the library, which will more than cover the cost of the audio-video projector.

The auction began after dinner, but not before Bill Brimmer grabbed the mic once again and encouraged everyone to sing “Happy Birthday” to Father Bob.

Before he begin the auction Father Bob mentioned how much he loves the library and the community that keeps it alive.

“We got through 75 years with this one, and that’s nothing in this world,” he said.

As was the case when he was the auctioneer for last year’s Rooster Revue, a fundraiser for The Parent Connection, Father Bob was humorous in his attempt to get attendees to spend their money. He had prepared information about each artist, but used his own knowledge about their work and/or personality to inject humor and good-natured teasing into the proceedings. He knew the majority of the bidders by name too, which allowed him to truly work the crowd during the sales.

The highest bid of the evening was for Michele Rosenthal’s “Hawley Family Star,” which featured detailed renditions of the buildings created thanks to the generosity of Mary Hawley. Bidding on all of the stars opened at $100 (except David Merrill’s “Flutter” because, said Father Bob, “this is David Merrill”) and quick bidding on Mrs Rosenthal’s star brought its price up to $500 before bidding slowed.

As the price wavered around $600, one gentleman raised his hand to draw Father Bob’s attention. When the microphone was in front of him, Ron Buttner said: “I will promise a bid of $1,000 if that star can be hung in the town hall.”

As clapping and hollering filled the room, most attendees missed Mr Buttner’s second point. “…on Main Street,” he added, referring to the current issue of moving Newtown’s town hall away from Main Street and onto the Fairfield Hills campus. Mr Buttner won the star, which will soon be hanging at 45 Main Street.

Also selling high was “Newtown’s Diamond in the Sky,” by Stacey Olszewski, whom Father Bob called “an extraordinary folk artist.” That star sold for $700.

“Hawley Star,” which incorporated Mary Hawley’s face, the words “Read Books” in a number of type faces and sizes, along with a gold star in the center of the work and the outline of a rooster, sold for $750. Created by Daryl Zang, the star was the perfect final lot for the evening.

“This is the ‘Read Books’ star,” Father Bob said, “which is of course the point of tonight.”

A few lucky bidders went home with stars following surprisingly low final bids. Bruce Degen’s “Bustar,” featuring the main character and school bus from the Magic School Bus series of children’s books the Newtown resident illustrates, went home at $400.

Similarly, the first star of the evening, Stephanie Adam’s “Night Star 75,” sold for $250; Claudia and Ben Coopersmith’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” went out the door at $175; “A Perfect Day for A Stroll,” featuring the character from Ross MacDonald’s Another Perfect Day, sold for $300; and even Dick McEvoy’s “Sunstruck Waterlilies,” which the auctioneer called “a magnificent work of art in the traditional Impressionist style,” sold for $350.

Following the auction, Father Bob raised another $900 for the library by asking that anyone who wanted to donate $50 to the library to raise their paddle. Eighteen bidders complied with that request.

About midway through the auction, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and State Representative Julia Wasserman took the floor and read proclamations that had been created for the library’s anniversary. The final highlight of the evening came after the auction, when raffle tickets were won. Guests knew going in to the gala that a drawing would be held for a one-of-kind contemporary diamond pendant designed by Quality Gem of Bethel. What they didn’t know was that Marilyn Alexander, a member of the library’s Board of Trustees and also a member of the gala committee, had donated a case of Cabernet Sauvignon, also to be raffled, in honor of her late husband Paul.

The wine, 75 Cabernet Sauvignon Lake County Red Hills Amber Knolls Vineyard in California, is a young Cab. It is a 2004 vintage that will age well for the next 10–12 years.

“We were interested in the wine solely for the label,” Marilyn Alexander said this week. She and Kathy Geckle had been in a wine store when they found the wine. “The 75 was very prominent and caught our eye. I thought it was be a nice thing to do, and a fun addition to the night.”

Judge Bill Lavery was asked to draw the raffle tickets. The first one he pulled from the tumbler was put into an envelope and held for the end of the drawings. Then he pulled 12 more tickets, which were for the individual bottles of wine, and called their numbers.

After the wine was handed out, Judge Lavery opened the envelope that had been put aside and read the winning ticket number for the evening’s big prize. Kelly Urso — who ironically had been selling last-minute raffle tickets only 90 minutes earlier — was the winner of the necklace.

Dennis Janofsky, the graduate gemologist from Quality Gem who had designed and crafted the jewelry, placed the necklace on Ms Urso and congratulated her on her win. The necklace is valued at $3,000, he said, and it took nearly 20 hours to create the piece.

“But,” he told the evening’s guests, “it was an honor to be asked to design something for this unique evening.”

Henry Ward Beecher once said: “A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” Newtown residents who have supported any of the special events this year have proven that they are not about to let go of the strength of their much-needed resource at 25 Main Street.