From start to finish, 2023 featured plenty of the usual and unusual for residents and readers. Highlights from the past 12 months include the following:

With a small group of friends and family cheering them on, the inaugural Polar Pond Plunge on December 31, 2022 served as the finale to the first phase of fundraising for Love Has A Home Here. The grassroots nonprofit is working toward the purchase of Sticks & Stones Farm. On the final day of 2022, the bracing activity on the Huntingtown Road property also felt like a washing away of the outgoing year for the half-dozen hearty participants who jumped into chilly water.

Within a few weeks, Newtown Bee readers were introduced to Rosalina Marie Kritzman, the 2023 Newtown Bee First Baby of Newtown. Parents Alyssa and John were far from the first of the year at the hospital when their firstborn arrived, but she nevertheless helped her parents celebrate her birth and the new year with prizes from local businesses and advertisers.

Sandy Hook resident and longtime Lutheran Home of Southbury Chaplain Leo McIlrath turned The Bee’s 2022 Christmas cover — a reproduction of Steven Kellogg’s line illustration from 2017, featuring Santa, a reindeer, and myriad characters and creatures — into an art therapy project for some of those he serves. In late January he visited The Bee office to show off some of the colorful artwork Lutheran Home residents had created from the black and white design.

Lindsey Guerrero shared the story of the grassroots community movement Lasagna Love, which she learned about from a friend. Cooked up during the COVID pandemic in 2020, the global nonprofit had more than 35,000 volunteers by the beginning of 2023. Guerrero started locally, she said, as a way for her 6-year-old daughter to take part in helping others. The Newtown family had made seven lasagnas through the program by mid-February.

For the seventh year, Newtown Youth & Family Services in collaboration with American Legion Post 202 conducted Operation Heart To Heart — Valentines For Troops to show appreciation toward hometown heroes. In total, this year’s effort generated over 200 letters for the CT Army National Guard to distribute.

It was unofficially Eunice Day in Newtown on March 3, when First Selectman Dan Rosenthal surprised Eunice Laverty ahead of her 75th birthday. The popular local merchant and owner of Bagel Delight was presented with a proclamation by the first selectman, and flowers and balloons from friends, family and employees who had planned the surprise.

When Real Food CT (formerly Real Food Share), Newtown’s home grown nonprofit working to end food insecurity and fortify the shelves of FAITH Food Pantry and other regional distribution networks, started its fifth growing season it started with some big news: the completion of a new, grant-funded 70- by 30-foot greenhouse.

Newtown Senior Center members in April learned about the Homegrown National Park initiative through a presentation by Protect Our Pollinators (POP) co-founders Holly Kocet and Mary Wilson. POP worked this year with Pootatuck Watershed Association (PWA), Newtown Congregational Church and Trinity Episcopal Church to launch the national effort locally. The Great Room at Newtown Congregational Church attracted dozens of people eager to learn about the national initiative during the local kickoff event in late April.

Paul and Gavin Arneth shared their story with Newtown Bee readers, who learned about the copper bracelet Paul purchased shortly after the US Navy carrier pilot veteran returned home from Vietnam, which is now owned by son Gavin. The paper thin bracelet is cracked but not broken, and bears the name of a former POW the Arneths have now communicated with.

Town officials and representatives of Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP) broke ground for Sandy Hook Heritage Park on May 18. The activity kicked off the first phase of construction for the project, which by the end of the year has grown to include a pavilion and public parking spaces. A green space that extends from Glen Road to the nearby Pootatuck River is also part of the project.

Kirtana Kunzweiler and Lauren Jacobs, valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, were among the seniors to make up the Newtown High School Class of 2023. The graduating class celebrated its commencement June 13, with families filling the stands of NHS Blue & Gold Stadium for the late afternoon ceremony.

Richard Brady, a former Botsford Fire Rescue chief who died in December 2022, left a strong legacy in Newtown. His good deeds were remembered and acted on in June, when Brown Roofing replaced the roof of the Brady home, where members of Richard’s family continue to live. The job was gifted to the family by the Seymour company as this year’s Roofing For Humanity recipient. Members of Botsford Fire and the Brady family assisted Brown Roofing employees during the project.

EverWonder Children’s Museum conducted a ribbon cutting at its permanent home, at 11 Mile Hill Road, on June 23. Executive Director Merredith Christos said approximately 150 people attended the opening, including local residents, politicians, board members, and plenty of children and parents.

Like a pre-internet era Black Friday, shoppers filled parking lots around Reed Intermediate School and across the street at Fairfield Hills, and waited patiently to enter the general opening day of the 47th Friends of the C.H. Booth Library Book Sale, at Reed Intermediate School at 10 am on July 8. An estimated 200 dealers and other serious shoppers had visited the location a day earlier, but it was the Saturday opening that had hundreds of “regular readers” lined up along the southern wall of the Trades Lane school. The sale continued daily to July 11, with volunteers selling approximately 120,000 items.

Edmond Town Hall was filled with quiet competition from morning until night for members and guests of Newtown Bridge Club’s Longest Day event June 20. The long running local fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Association prompted per game donations for the cause with a few unique Newtown-only features, in the end, raising over $15,000 for the cause.

The Society of the Hawley Family, with members from across the United States, opted to celebrate its 100th anniversary in Newtown in honor of one of its founding members, Mary Hawley. During its visit in September the group visited Newtown Village Cemetery and placed flowers at Mary Hawley’s grave, toured Edmond Town Hall and its theater, enjoyed presentations by Town Historian Ben Cruson and longtime Newtown Historical Society member Gordon Williams.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal proclaimed September 29 “Society of the Hawley Family Day” in town. The society surprised Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers member Jennifer Guman with a framed 99-year-old photo that pictures Mary Hawley, which Guman in turn promised would be prominently displayed to honor her as the individual responsible for funding the Edmond Town Hall’s construction.

Newtown Forest Association announced an ambitious initiative in September to acquire over 60 acres of pristine land at Deep Brook Farm. The property, separated into two continuous parcels at 32 and 21 Deep Brook Road, would directly connect to the already existing municipal Dickinson Park — creating a vast open corridor for both hikers and ecologically sensitive wildlife alike. The nonprofit has a $1.8 million goal to complete the purchase. Presentations and walking tours of the property have been conducted to help the public understand the property, its importance, and the fundraising efforts.

The Newtown Parks & Recreation Fourth Annual Scarecrow Contest received applications from 29 teams — nearly double the number of entries for last year’s contest — and the public again selected three favorites. After one week and 1,000 ballots cast, Town & Country Garden Club of Newtown picked up honors for Most Original Scarecrow, UK Gourmet won People’s Choice, and The Newtown Bee won Newtown Pride.

An extraordinary display of compassion and community unfolded under the direction of the Spay and Neuter Association of Newtown (SNAN), who committed their efforts to a heartrending yet hopeful case. SNAN President Dolores Miller spoke with The Newtown Bee about the organization’s decision a few months ago to assume responsibility for the care of Star, an abandoned dog with a powerful will to survive despite abuse.

After reading about Star’s plight and the local group’s hope to care for her, a reader of this newspaper stepped up to pay for her care. The generous donor agreed to pay for monthly allergy injections, as well as spaying and even potentially expensive eye surgery Star may need in the near future.

Scout News

On January 6, five local Boy Scouts from Newtown’s Troop 70 earned their figurative wings as they were honored for their promotion to the rank of Eagle Scout at a ceremony at St Rose of Lima Church. Colby Fowler of Newtown, Colman Tokar of Monroe, Ryan Stutman of Newtown, Adam Zibluk of Newtown, and Maxwell Barbagallo of Sandy Hook all received their promotions following completion of their individual Eagle Scout projects. The ceremony, held at the parish’s Holy Innocents Faith Formation Center, was the first promotion for Eagle Scouts since the pandemic.

Girl Scout Troop 50440 earned the prestigious Bronze Award for outstanding work in their community. The local troop’s project focuses on the importance of recycling, and the positive impact it can have on the environment. The Scouts — Gracie Arbogast, Josephine DeLaurentis, Faye Corcoran, Riley Gerrish, Elin Lohmann, Ava McCrory, and Payton Tortora — were awarded their Bronze Pins during a small family ceremony in January. In mid-February they presented their Recycling Education and Awareness Project to the Leaders of the Girl Scouts of CT’s Newtown Service Unit.

Jocelyn Bazuro, a member of the NHS Class of 2023, was honored in June with a Girl Scout Gold Award. Jocelyn was the one honoree from Newtown this year. She earned the award for her project “Using Fidgets to Deal with Anxiety.” Jocelyn learned about the need for children and teens to have ways to deal with their anxiety. She decided to make a video and hold a workshop on how to make fidget objects that help ease anxiety. Her video was posted on multiple websites and sent to several mental health workers to use in their work.

When the Gold Award Ceremony was conducted in June, M.J. Taylor — a Sandy Hook Girl Scout Gold Awardee from 2022 — emceed the event. Official presentations were presented to 45 Girl Scouts from across the state.

In August Scouts BSA Troop 870 announced that its member Alyssa Jones was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout following a Board of Review. Alyssa is a founding member of Troop 870 and the troop’s first Eagle Scout. For her Eagle Scout Project, Alyssa worked with Middle Gate and Head O’ Meadow elementary schools to bring reptile and amphibian species into science classrooms. She also organized teams to fit-out enclosures and create informational booklets with book stands to go with each animal.

Two months later fellow BSA Troop 870 member Gabriella Arguello was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout. For her Eagle Project, Arguello collaborated with the Center for Empowerment and Education to create makeup kits for women entering and re-entering the workforce. This entailed collecting makeup via community donations, direct support from Beauty 21 Cosmetics, and purchasing additional products using money received from cash donations. Drawstring makeup bags were made by volunteers using fabric also donated by the community and local business Chintz-N-Prints.

Autumn & Winter

Residents, friends and visitors lined Main Street, Glover Avenue and the northern half of Queen Street on September 2, cheering for Monsignor Robert Weiss and all participants who celebrated the 2023 Labor Day Parade and its theme of “Deeply Rooted In Our Community.” Despite high temperatures, approximately 85 groups were welcomed by those along the parade route that Monday morning.

An annual tradition in Newtown, the dog license with the number “1” on it, picked by random lottery, was given by the Town Clerk’s Office to five-year-old black lab Bella for 2023. Bella, who relinquished her previous dog tag #1114 to be the #1 Dog for 2023, was a ball of energy and excitement while receiving her tag at the Your Healthy Pet shop on August 22. She was joined by her owner, Curtis Williamson, Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia Halstead, and Your Healthy Pet manager Chris Barry for the brief celebration.

Halloween returned in full force, with hundreds if not thousands of costumed visitors Trick or Treating among the homes on Main Street a few months ago. Two tree lighting events were held in early December, with the annual Newtown Holiday Festival sandwiched between them.

Three more installments of the ABCs of Newtown series were published in 2023. Readers this year learned that locally, L is for Lakes (Zoar and Lillinonah), M is for Meeting House, and N is, naturally, for Newtown.

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