Lighting Up

The Town

To the Editor:

The weather held as Newtown celebrated our 23rd Tree Lighting on November 30. The town glowed with luminaria set out by residents and other volunteers, turning Main Street, adjacent streets, and Ram Pasture into a Festival of Lights. Once again we came together as a community to share music, food, the countdown to the tree-lighting, and the coming of Santa and Mrs Claus.

It’s a lot of fun, for which we have many to thank: committee volunteers who maintain the tree lights, make phone calls, pack supplies and deliver boxes; the residents who set out their portion of the luminaria and clean up afterward; Curtis Packaging Corporation for donating the wonderful luminaria boxes; Newtown Hardware for its candles; People’s Bank and Union Savings Bank for food and drink donations; Dr Gellert and Dr Baum for big candy canes; our own Chamber of Commerce for its sponsorship; individual private donors; and those wonderful Parks and Recreation folks for assembling and placing the luminaria around Ram Pasture.

Thanks also for NHS super entertainers — The Dance Ensemble for their splendid routines and The Singers for great harmony plus sing-alongs. Thanks to Dr Tahweh for lighting the tree this year on behalf of Kevin’s Community Center. Let’s not forget the folks behind the scenes, too, including the NHS Leo Club, Brownie Troop 599, Junior Girl Scout Troop 891, Girl Scout Troop 440, Den 10 Webelos, and other volunteers for lighting luminaria at 5 pm and cleaning up the Pasture the day after. Together, we give one another and our town the gift of holiday spirit — priceless!

Diana Johnson on behalf of

The Christmas Tree and Luminaria Committee

26 Parmalee Hill Road, Newtown                          December 5, 2007