In the last twelve months, there have been countless memorable moments and people that captured the community’s hearts and attention. Here are a few of what Newtown Bee readers enjoyed reveling in this last year:

Tanya DeJesus’s epidural did not kick in one early January afternoon, so she felt every moment of her younger son’s birth. Laughing, she called the birth of Efraim Jaxon Anderson “an unexpected natural delivery” and “the longest three minutes of my life” when she spoke with The Newtown Bee less than a week later.

Ms DeJesus and her husband, Joseph Andersen, welcomed their second child into their family this year. When Efraim was born at 2:08 pm Wednesday, January 3, he joined an older brother and also became Newtown’s First Baby of 2018.

The Garden Club of Newtown (GCN) and The Town & Country Garden Club (TCGC) each returned from the 88th Awards Meeting & Luncheon of The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut with armloads of honors for creative efforts. More than 500 people reportedly attended the October 24 event at Aqua Turf in Plantsville, where garden clubs and individuals were presented with national, New England regional, and Connecticut awards showcasing projects across the state.

Among the awards received by GCN was an Award of Excellence for Historical, Memorial, & Silver Gardens, for its continued work within The Victory Garden at Fairfield Hills; a first-place finish for its yearbook, a tie for first place for its newsletter (an honor shared by three other clubs, including TCGC), and certificates for individual achievement for members Holly Kocet and Mary Wilson.

TCGC received a national award, The Tommy Donnan Certificate of Merit, for its membership brochure; The Tapestry of Design Award for a year-long effort honoring longtime resident, gardener, and author Sydney Eddison; an Award of Excellence celebrating its many civic projects; first place for its yearbook in its class; and a first place in the Club Annual Photo Book, Brochures, and Electronic Media: Website category. In addition, TCGC member Josie Schmidt was presented an All Around Excellence honor.

Sydney Eddison not only won The Tapestry of Design Award, but she also released her third book of poetry, titled All The Luck: Poems Celebrating Love, Life, And The Enduring Human Spirit in February. She has since done a number of public readings, including the most recent at Queen Street Gifts on December 21.

Serving The Community

Newtown resident Eunice Laverty was tapped in May to be the Grand Marshal of the 57th Newtown Labor Day Parade. The owner of Bagel Delight and a former social worker was described by Parade Committee Co-Chair Melissa Kopcik as “a generous woman who gives with her whole heart to everyone she comes in contact with and also is a tremendous supporter of our youth and community.”

When the story about Ms Laverty and her honorary title was posted on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook page, it became one of paper’s most popular posts of the year. Multiple comments praised the parade committee for their choice, and a few months later, on September 3, Ms Laverty led dozens of participants through the longstanding route along Main Street, Glover Avenue, and Queen Street. Temperatures in the 90s did not deter the dedicated droves who turned out for the celebration of all things Newtown (and beyond).

A march of difference sorts took place this year, too, and captured the attention of many people in town.

On March 24, hundreds of Newtown residents participated in March For Our Lives rallies to stand up against gun violence and have their voices heard.

Many traveled to major cities like Hartford, New York City, and Washington, DC and held up handmade signs with personalized messages. Some signs made by Newtown residents read “Protect our children, not assault weapons,” “No kid should have to go through what I went through,” and “Enough is enough.” Also in the hands of March For Our Lives attendees were images of gun violence victims, like Daniel Barden, who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14.

People from all around the country showed their support for the Newtown community this year, including Dave Maldonado and Noah Reich.

The two men from Los Angeles spent the past few months traveling across the country, arriving in Newtown on December 10. Mr Maldonado and Mr Reich spent nearly a week in town, constructing a 5½-by-6-foot heart that carried the message “I hope U know how loved U are.” The wooden heart was installed on the corner of Glen Road and Church Hill Road on December 13, just ahead of the sixth year marking 12/14.

Their efforts to share that message with others in pain following gun violence began in June, when they created art ahead of the second anniversary of the shootings at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

Mr Maldonado and Mr Reich had also created site-specific art in Las Vegas and Thousand Oaks, California. After their visit here, the pair headed toward Pittsburgh to support Tree of Life Synagogue before heading back to the West Coast in order to be home for Christmas.

Youth Promoting Kindness

Readers met Daniela Delgado in April, when she was between projects.

When she is not attending school, being treated for a genetic blood disorder called Severe Von Willebrand Type 2, or on speaking engagements for The National Foundation of Hemophilia, the 10-year-old Sandy Hook resident bakes cakes for others.

Daniela’s Little Wish receives requests from children with an illness or a disability (or their parents), and then Daniela goes to work, crafting cakes that are decorated with a favorite character of the child. “Baking Smiles for Kids Since 2011” is the tagline of the project, and she has always gifted the cakes to the recipients without charge.

Also, this year, 11-year old Mariam Azeez of Newtown co-wrote a children’s book called Soulful Sydney Explores Diversity that teaches children, and even adults, the importance of creating a culture of kindness and understanding.

The book was officially released on April 27 through Amazon. She wrote the story with sisters Terry Murphy of Southbury and Deborah Clarke of Maryland, and it received colorful illustrations by an artist named Tian, based out of India. Together, they all worked to blend their backgrounds and expertise into a book that they hope inspires all of humankind to be just that — human and kind.

“I have a feeling this book is going to be everywhere in the world,” Mariam said in June. “It’s got such a powerful message… it’s something everyone can relate to.”

Around Town

Newtown Congregational Church sponsored a raffle this fall, with $10 tickets sold for a chance to win the cruise to any Royal Caribbean International destination of choice. A Community Holiday Concert, held Saturday evening, December 1, at the church, culminated in the announcement of the cruise winner — a very surprised Linda Jones.

Before the grand finale, though, the audience was entertained by Chris Smith on lead steel drum and Vanessa Wudyka on the double second steel drums; the Newtown High School young mens’ a capella group, The XY Chromotones; and soloist Melissa Vitrella.

The Reverend Matt Crebbin, who acted as emcee for the evening, summed it up for those with no winning tickets — it looked like he would be shoveling snow and just dreaming about a mid-winter cruise.

On May 15, Newtown was one of many towns throughout the state that felt the wrath of a destructive macroburst. However, it was not the result of the May 15 storm that reduced other homes to rubble and had big machinery tearing down a familiar structure near the intersection of Glover Avenue and Main Street this spring.

A planned demolition was underway Monday, May 21, on the historic Strasburger house at 4 Glover Avenue, one of Newtown’s early homes, with the original section from the 1700s, according to former owner Russell Strasburger, Jr. He sold the house to his son, Russell Strasburger III, and his wife, Heather, in previous months.

Wear and tear required the structure to be demolished, and new owners planned to rebuild “a similar, one-family [house]; a Greek Revival farmhouse,” Heather Strasburger said in May. They planned also to revive the apple orchard originally planted in the 1930s, of which several trees still survive.

Work on the new home was nearing completion by the end of the year.