Sandy Hook native Shirley Ferris has been a journalist (including a very successful stint with this newspaper), is a former Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture, and married into a family that continues to work its dairy farm on Sugar Street.

In her recently released memoir, The Silver Bridge is Silver Again (But Somebody Tore Down Bill’s Hot Dog Stand), she uses the iconic Silver Bridge in Sandy Hook metaphorically, paralleling the changes in her hometown with those in her own life.

Named “One of 60 People Who Make New England New England” by Yankee magazine, Ferris will present her first public program next week, celebrating the release of her very enjoyable memoir.

Readers are invited to join her on Tuesday, November 21, at 1 pm, at Newtown Senior Center, 8 Simpson Street. Registration is required, and available by calling 203-270-4310.

Copies of The Silver Bridge is Silver Again are $20, and available at the office of The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road; C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; and Queen Street Gifts, 3 Queen Street.

All proceeds of the sale of the book go to FAITH Food Pantry.