BETHEL - Newtown Scholarship Association (NSA) has been hard at work all summer.newtownscholarship.org/beer-bourbon-bbq-2016.facebook.com/newtownscholarship.

"We've been planning our fall fundraiser," Linda Trentacosta, co-chair of NSA's events committee said, "and it's going to be a blast. We wanted to do something different- more casual, jeans and T-shirts encouraged, and more fun. We're calling it Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ."

According to committee member Dawn Bogdan, the Saturday, September 24 event will feature tastings of craft beer from Two Roads Brewery and bourbon from Hartley and Parker. A Sundae Bar will feature ice cream donated by Ferris Acres Creamery.

There will be line dancing to the live music of Whiskey & Rye. Live and silent auctions will feature an array of items, including a Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour, a tour of the Sam Adams Brewery in Boston, a weekend in New York City that includes Broadway theater tickets, designer handbags, craft beer and bourbon baskets, "Around Newtown" gift certificates, and much more.

According to NSA's incoming president, Ted Kohler, "The fall BBQ is one of three major annual fundraising efforts that support our organization's mission to provide need-based college scholarships to high school graduates from Newtown. And today, the need is greater than ever."

This year, NSA awarded more than $430,000 to 175 students in scholarships and as continuing aid. Over the course of its 79-year history, NSA has provided more than $4 million in financial aid, helping make the dream of a college degree a reality for hundreds of young people from Newtown. The scholarships are funded through the generous donations of local businesses and individuals, and through named memorial and honorary scholarships.

In addition to supporting a worthy cause, the BBQ will pay tribute to one of NSA's most dedicated and enthusiastic supporters - a woman who believed that all students have the right to a secondary education, regardless of financial circumstances: the late Betty Lou Osborne.

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ will be held at Michael's at the Grove, 42 Vail Road in Bethel, on Saturday, September 24, at 6 pm. Tickets are $125 each, or $1,000 for a table of ten, and can be purchased through the NSA's website,

More information is also available on NSA's Facebook page,

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