Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra signed a proclamation last  week establishing October as Arts and Humanities Month in Newtown. Presented during the September 18 Board of Selectmen meeting to members of Newtown Cultural Arts Commission, the proclamation in part encourages the citizens of Newtown to "celebrate and promote the arts and cultures in our area."three days of events at Fairfield Hills."Beautiful Consequences: The Art of David Brooker," a one-night exhibition and reception, will be presented Saturday, September 30, from 7 to 10 pm. It will be hosted by Yolie Moreno, in the barn at 16 Taunton Hill Road.3rd Annual Newtown Lantern Parade is slated for Saturday, September 30, at Fairfield Hills. All are invited to gather in the parking lot of Cochran House, on Mile Hill South, by 7 pm.play readings featuring works by members of Garner Players, inmates at Garner Correctional Institution who participate in the theater program at the Level 4 high security institution on Nunnawauk Road.Civil Rights: From the War to the Movement, by Shakur, Chauncey, Abdullah, Lawrence, Jamar, and Kevin(following Garner CI protocol, only the first names of those incarcerated are being used). Three short plays, according to Ms Young, address civil rights from Lincoln to modern day.Mixed Messages, an evening of comedy, by Solomon, Veronica, and Andrew. The Plays, said Ms Young, "all involve a failure to communicate. These three shorts are seriously funny, clever and smart," she added.will return for its third "Random Acts of Chamber Music" performance on Friday, October 6, at 7:30 pm. The ensemble will again be at Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street.Yoga Art Mat ShowAlso on October 6, a fundraising thenewtownyogacenter.com. Additional information is available by calling 203-270-1018.staged reading of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey, directed by Matt Austin, is scheduled for Saturday, October 7.Additional EventsVertigo (1958) will be screened at 1 and 7 pm and High Anxiety (1977), directed by Mel Brooks, will be offered at 4 pm. The matinees will have subtitles. Tickets are $3 each.Lucy Kaplansky & Flagpole Radio Cafe Orchestra show will be at Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street.flagpole-band.ticketleap.com/lucy-kaplansky.newtownartscommission.org/event-directory.

In speaking about the proclamation, Mrs Llodra congratulated NCAC on the culmination of Newtown Arts Festival weekend. A concert by Sawyer Fredericks opened

Jennifer Cebry, chairman of the 2017 Newtown Arts Festival, noted on Monday the economic benefit of an active cultural community. Hundreds of people attended the Friday night concert, she said.

"And they came from as far away as California and Tennessee," Ms Cebry continued. "They stayed in our hotels, ate in our restaurants, shopped in our stores, and got to see what a wonderful town Newtown is."

Beyond the weekend festival, individual 2017 Newtown Arts Festival events will continue into early November.

Mr Brooker, the caretaker for Newtown Forest Association and a leader for Resiliency Center of Newtown workshops in addition to being an artist, is creating nearly 30 new works for the special presentation. The abstract artist will be presenting a collection of the abstract splash paintings that many in the region have come to expect from him, alongside a new line of works that incorporate plaster cloth and paint.

The

An event "celebrating the creative kid in everyone," organizers will have a supply of paper lanterns to share, but are also hoping to see creative lanterns brought by those planning to walk around Fairfield Hills for the event. There will be a Best Lantern prize handed out.

"It's time," said Lantern Parade Chair Terry Sagedy, "to light up the night again."

Elizabeth Young is directing a series of

That series opened Wednesday, September 27, at The Brookfield Theater for The Arts.

It will continue Wednesday, October 4, at Ridgefield Theatre Barn, 37 Halpin Lane in Ridgefield; and Wednesday, October 18, at The Little Theatre, 18 Orchard Hill Road in Newtown. Each reading will begin at 8 pm.

The Ridgefield reading will feature

"Two of the plays," she told The Newtown Bee on September 19, "reveal the thoughts and opinions of historical figures. The third shows us how to treat each other with respect and kindness."

The actors participating in Civil Rights will be Ken Anderson, Shelby Davis, Rob Frangione, Kevin Harris, Mensah Robinson, and Steffon Sampson.

The finale, in Newtown, will offer 

Actors for that reading will be Tony Benedetti, Chris Bird, Rob Frangione, and Ms Young.

New England Music Ensemble, a chamber music group that performs classic as well as unique and daring music compositions,

, featuring a pair of yoga mats collaboratively painted by Aline Marie and Dave Brooker, will take place at Newtown Yoga Center, 78 South Main Street. Running from 7 to 10 pm, the event will include light libations and hors d'oeuvres, and the raffling of two painted yoga mats.

Tickets are $50 per person, $90 per couple, and the artists are requesting black and white attire. Proceeds will be divided between the Resiliency Center of Newtown and Newtown Cultural Arts Commission's Scholarship Fund.

Reservations are requested and can be made at

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The reading will be at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, and will begin at 7 pm.

Featured actors will include Mike Armstrong, Matt Austin, Rob Bassett, Billy Dempster, Jim Hipp, Eric Mendelson, Eli Patton, Terry Sagedy, Erin Shaughnessey, Tom Sheehan, Steve Stott, Kate Valiska, and Beth Young.

"The Wordsmiths," with readings of contemporary and humorous essays by their authors, will be Wednesday, October 11; time and place TBD.

A pair of classic films will be screened at Edmond Town Hall on Sunday, October 29.

Part of the ongoing Someday Cinema Series, Alfred Hitchcock's

Flagpole Radio Cafe Orchestra returns on Saturday, November 4, at 7 pm, when Lucy Kaplansky stops in town for a show with the popular house band of Flagpole Radio Cafe performances. The

Tickets are $20, and available at

Ms Kaplansky is a Billboard-charting singer, and one of the top-selling artists on Red House Records. She has topped the folk and Americana radio charts, and has been featured on shows around the world, from NPR's Weekend Edition and Morning Edition to BBC Radio and CBS Sunday Morning.

The special guest headliner will be joined by local musicians Jim Allyn, Rick Brodsky, Howqie Bujese, Richard Neal, and Francine Wheeler, for whom audiences have filled Edmond Town Hall Theatre for years for the Flagpole Radio Cafe series.

"Shadows of Newtown's Past," photographs by Phil Keane on metal, is on view at Newtown Municipal Center through October. The exhibition can be viewed weekdays between 8 am and 4:30 pm.

Additional details concerning 2017 Newtown Arts Festival events are available at