Holiday Festival Preparations Are Underway

By Nancy K. Crevier

“I’m looking forward to the best Holiday Festival ever this year,” said Layne Lescault, board chairperson for Newtown Youth & Family Services (NYFS) and chairperson, for the fourth year, of the 24th Annual Holiday Festival, which will be here on Sunday, December 6. Ms Lescault is assisted in her duties of preparation for the day long festival by Amanda Walsh, grant coordinator for Newtown Prevention Council.

The yearly holiday event consists of activities up and down Main Street and the immediate area, with the Holiday House Tour being the big draw. This year, five Borough residents (to be announced closer to the date of the festival) will deck their halls and open up their doors to the public for viewing. Homes for the house tour are solicited each year by Cyndy DaSilva, house tour coordinator, to find out who is willing to take part. The committee tries to showcase homes in the Borough so that people can do the tour on foot, even though shuttle buses are available to take people to any of the day’s events.

“To open your house to strangers is really, really wonderful. We appreciate the homeowners who do this for us,” Ms Lescault added. Visitors are welcome at the tour homes anytime between 11 am and 5 pm on Sunday.

The Festival of Trees will take place over two days this year, on Saturday, December 5, 9:30 am to 5, and Sunday, December 6, from 11 am to 5 pm, in the C.H. Booth Library meeting room. All other Holiday Festival events will be Sunday only.

The display of decorated trees, wreaths, gifts baskets, holiday centerpieces and other holiday decorations donated by individuals and businesses are raffled off as a fundraiser for NYFS. Members of Girl Scout Troops 50809, 50512 and 50335, ranging in age from fifth graders to seniors in high school, will assist in set up and sales of tickets at the event. To find out how to donate a tree or holiday creation, contact Denise Rodriguez at 203-426-5859.

Also in the library will be the delicious architecture of local bakers hoping to win the 2009 Gingerbread House Contest. Contest entries will be exhibited in the lobby by the second floor main entrance, from 11 am to 4 pm. Following judging, winners in each division will be announced at 5 pm. The theme for this year’s contest is “Newtown Scenes.” Call Jessi Zeigler at 203-270-4335 for a contest registration form, rules, and regulations.

Take a break at the Victorian Tea Room in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall between the hours of 11 am and 4 pm, when Newtown Savings Bank staff members will serve up hot tea, mulled cider, and homemade scones and tea breads to festival goers. Presentations by local music students will provide background entertainment to those enjoying a few restful moments. Centerpieces on each table at the tea, made by members of the Town and Country Garden Club, will be available for purchase.

At 1 pm and 3 pm, in the theater of Edmond Town Hall, students of Jennifer Johnston’s Malenkee Ballet Repertoire Company will present a condensed version of The Nutcracker Ballet, with each performance followed by a question and answer period with the dancers.

In the gymnasium of the Edmond Town Hall, holiday shoppers will find a juried craft fair managed by local artist Stacey Olszewski. More than 30 crafters will take part in the fair, said Ms Walsh, with examples of quilling, wood turning, folk art, jewelry, handmade soaps, and quilting available for purchase. The craft fair will be open from 9 am to 4 pm.

Youngsters are certainly not forgotten during the Holiday Festival, said Ms Walsh. The free Santa’s Workshop for ages toddler to 10 years old takes place in the former town clerk’s office on the main floor at Edmond Town Hall, from noon to 3 pm. A parent or adult caregiver must accompany children, she stressed. Children will make suncatchers and color dreidels. Across the hall from the town clerk’s office, professional photographer Cindy McIntyre will photograph children with Santa Claus, at a cost of just $10 for a 5x7 photograph.

Also in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall will be a very special sale. Linda Jones will be selling jewelry created by her 16-year-old autistic son, Tyler, who died earlier this fall. The sales will promote autism awareness.

Newtown residents look forward to other non-Holiday Festival events that have become part of the tradition over the years, and 2009 will not disappoint. The historic Matthew Curtiss House, located at 44 Main Street, will be open from noon to 4 pm. Costumed docents will provide brief tours and answer questions, and textile artist Rebecca Arkenberg will demonstrate weaving.

Music lovers can make an afternoon of it. At 2 pm, Trinity Episcopal Church will present its annual Advent Lessons and Carols service. Then, the Newtown Choral Society will present a winter concert beginning at 4 pm, in Newtown Meeting House on Main Street. Cost of admission to the concert is separate from the Holiday Festival ticket price.

“I love the holiday season,” said Ms Lescault, “and the Holiday Festival. It’s such a special part of Newtown, and it’s one of the biggest fundraisers we hold for NYFS.”

The Holiday Festival is a great tradition for families, agreed Ms Walsh.

“I enjoy the spirit of the occasion. People realize it’s fun, and a wonderful fundraiser for a good cause. NYFS is a dynamic agency and we try to be the best we can at what we do. We have definitely made an impact in Newtown, especially in the schools,” she said. 

Both women are keeping their fingers crossed for a pleasant day that will allow people to walk from event to event.

“Traffic can be an issue, so we encourage people to park in outlying areas and walk as much as possible or take the buses,” said Ms Lescault. The shuttle buses run from Newtown Middle School, where plenty of parking is available.

Beginning Monday, November 23, tickets for the Newtown Savings Bank Holiday Festival to benefit NYFS will go on sale at NYFS offices at 17 Church Hill Road and 121 Mt Pleasant Road;  C.H. Booth Library; and Newtown Savings Bank branches in Danbury, Monroe, Bethel Stony Hill, Southbury, and both Newtown branches (Main Street and Sand Hill Plaza).

Tickets are $15 for individuals, and $25 dollars for a family of two adults, and two children up to age 12, with an additional charge of $5 per additional child. The ticket price covers admission to all homes on the house tour, the Victorian Tea, the craft fair and the ballet. There is no charge for events held at the library. Individual event admission to the craft fair, Victorian Tea, and the ballet only are $5 each.

Tickets will be available for purchase on the day of the festival at C.H. Booth Library and Edmond Town Hall.

For questions concerning the 24th Annual Holiday Festival, contact Amanda Walsh at 203-270-4335.