Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS) Chore Services is available to all Newtown residents age 55 and over who own their own homes and may need assistance contacting contractors for home repairs and maintenance. The program was established in 2019, three years after the founding of FONS.

One of the more significant Chore Services projects was recently undertaken when seven kitchen windows were replaced in a Sandy Hook home. Homeowner Beth Beatty caught up recently with FONS members at Superior Remodelers to thank all involved for making her home safer and more comfortable.

FONS Chore Services Coordinator Beverly Bennett-Schaedler said the work was set in motion after she was contacted by a friend of Beatty’s.

“They reached out to me because Beth’s windows weren’t keeping cold air out or heat inside her home,” Bennett-Schaedler shared September 23. “The windows were leaking, and the cranks were all broken.”

Funds remaining from an AARP grant helped cover the cost of the windows and their late-August installation, according to Bennett-Schaedler.

A home visit was done in late July, after which Bennett-Schaedler approved the request. Outreach was made to Superior Remodelers, the South Main Street business formerly known as Windowland. That’s when John Varca entered the picture.

“I did measurements and began prepping for the job, including ordering windows and other necessary items,” said Varca, the general manager for Superior Remodelers. Varca and his team do custom measurements in advance, he said.

“I measured each window to within a quarter of an inch to make sure each would fit properly within the home,” he said. He also took photos, he said, “to make sure the installers not only had the correct windows but also the appropriate tools and ladders when it was time to return to Sandy Hook.

A team was sent to Beatty’s home on August 29, and everything was accomplished that day.

Varca said it was a “smooth installation, a pretty straightforward installation for us.”

The team arrived between 8:30 and 9:30, “went over details with the homeowner, and then got right to work,” he said.

Beatty could not believe the transformation.

“The team was completely professional,” she said. “All the old windows came out, the new ones came in, and they took care of all the clean-up, which was phenomenal. Sawdust, rotting wood, their equipment — it was absolutely spotless at the end of the day.

“If it weren’t for the new windows, you wouldn’t even know they’d been there,” she added. “The whole thing was amazing.”

Beatty is “humbled and grateful,” she said. She wants more people to know about the program that helped her reappreciate her home.

“Others should know there is help out there,” she said.

Bennett-Schaedler encouraged others to reach out.

“Don’t be too proud to ask for help,” she said. “There is help, and there are companies, like [Superior Remodelers], that will work with us and around what we have, to help our residents.

To learn more about FONS Chore Services contact Bennett-Schaedler at fonschoreservices@gmail.com or call 203-430-0633.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.