The third program in the Newtown Authors Reading Series, a collaborative effort between Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS) and C.H. Booth Library, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19, from 5 to 7 pm.

Newtown resident and prolific author Andrea Zimmermann will be this month’s guest. Her 2015 release The Great Danbury State Fair will be the featured title.

Registration is required, and copies of Zimmermann’s book will be available for the first 20 people to register. Call 203-426-4533 or visit chboothlibrary.org to register.

Advance reading of the book is requested, to better facilitate an interactive discussion.

Zimmermann spent over a year capturing the excitement and history of an era when ten days each autumn ruled the area.

The Danbury Fair was first held in 1869, a weekend event, under a borrowed tent. Gaining in popularity, by the time it closed, it had become a ten-day extravaganza, and one that was anticipated all year, by many.

From Freak Shows and Girlie Shows to livestock competitions, pie contests, horse races and car races — and the occasional odd ostrich race — the Danbury Fair had something for everyone.

Despite its name, The Great Danbury State Fair was a private enterprise, and never a “state” fair at all. Zimmermann’s 156-page book covers that, and many other interesting and unknown facets of the 112-year history of the former spectacle that vanished, as she wrote in her Introduction, “just like the towns that disappear under the waters of a new reservoir.”

The April 19 program will continue a series funded in large part by a CT Humanities grant to FONS in late 2022. The Newtown Authors Reading Series will continue monthly to September, with local authors all being featured.

FONS will provide accessible transportation to all Newtown Authors Reading Series events; contact the group at 203-430-0633 or info@FriendsOfNewtownSeniors.org for details or to arrange transportation.

All programs are late Wednesday afternoons, and run 5 to 7 pm. The series will continue as follows:

May 17: The Smoke of Horses by Charles Rafferty;

June 21: My Truths, My Triumphs, My God by LaVerne Blackwell;

July 19: The Slaves of Central Fairfield County by Daniel Cruson, to be presented by his son Ben;

August 16: Home Front: A Memoir from WWII by C.D. Peterson; and

September 20: One God One Goal by John Boccuzzi Sr.

Registration is required for each program, and can be done by calling 203-426-4533 or visiting chboothlibrary.org.