Tercentennial Planning—

Some Spent Much Of 2004 Thinking About 2005

 

By Jan Howard

Planning began in earnest in 2004 for the tercentennial celebration of the purchase of Newtown from the local Native Americans in 1705.

The Newtown Tercentennial Commission’s Steering Committee, appointed in 2003 by the Board of Selectmen, began 2004 by adopting an official logo for the 2005 celebration.

The tercentennial logo, created by Brad Howe of Curtis Packaging, depicts the flagpole and meetinghouse and will mark all official events and products sanctioned by the Tercentennial Commission during 2005. Encircling the red, white. and blue design are the words “300 Years — Newtown Tercentennial — 1705–2005.”

The public unveiling of the logo and reception that followed took place on March 7 at Edmond Town Hall’s Alexandria Room. Pageantry marked the unveiling, with Karl Stewart of Newtown, a member of the Bethlehem-based Litchfield Hills Pipe Band, playing the bagpipes outside as citizens gathered for the tercentennial’s kickoff celebration.

Tommy Catalina, 7, whose name was drawn prior to the event, helped Steering Committee Vice Chairman Mae Schmidle unveil the logo.

Following the unveiling, pins depicting the tercentennial logo were distributed to the attendees.

Fundraising Efforts

Fundraising for the tercentennial celebratory events began early in 2004 with John Martocci, chairman and chief executive officer of Newtown Savings Bank and a member of the Tercentennial Commission Steering Committee, leading the effort, through letters to the corporate community.

In March, 15 businesses had responded to the appeal. Newtown Savings, Union Savings, Savings Bank of Danbury, and People’s Bank donated $1,000 each toward the effort. Mr Martocci was also receiving donations from local clubs and organizations as a result of presentations by Tercentennial Steering Committee members.

Mr Martocci also solicited sponsors for the upcoming tercentennial ball and other events during the celebratory year.

Mr Martocci estimated that costs for the entire celebratory year would be about $250,000. A request for $75,000 submitted for consideration in the town budget was reduced to zero by the Board of Finance and though advocates for the tercentennial spoke in favor of its inclusion in the budget, it was not included in the 2004-05 budget. The Board of Selectmen had originally approved the expenditure for the yearlong celebration.

In May, Selectman Bill Brimmer, a member of the Steering Committee, advised that the Board of Selectmen was committed to the transfer of $25,000 to the committee to help with startup costs.

The committee has also approved the sale of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and caps, which are available for purchase at the Parks and Recreation office at Town Hall South, the Newtown Savings Bank offices on Main Street and in Sand Hill Plaza, and The Newtown Bee.

Cable Show And Website

A cable television production of Newtown 300, featuring tercentennial events and interviews designed to keep Newtowners abreast of events throughout the tercentennial year, premiered early in December after months of planning.

The programs air on Thursdays at 6:30 pm and Saturdays at 4:30 pm. The first program featured Town Historian Dan Cruson, chairman of the Newtown Tercentennial Commission Steering Committee, and Ms Schmidle, who gave an overview of the tercentennial year and the major events.

Another program features Father Bob Weiss of St Rose Church and the Rev Gregory J. Wismar, who address some of the interfaith events that will take place during the year. A third program features Newtown artists Ruth Newquist and Betty Christensen, whose works are included in the Tercentennial Calendar.

The cable show will be in tandem with a website that has been set up by volunteer Kathy Beals. The site, Newtown300.com, will feature information about the tercentennial, including photos, stories, who’s who, names of the members of the Tercentennial Commission Steering Committee, and a calendar of events, among other topics.

Tercentennial Ball And Other Events

Among tercentennial events in the planning stages in 2004 is the Tercentennial Ball scheduled for February 5 at the Fireside Inn. The first major fundraising event of Newtown’s celebratory year, the ball includes dinner, dancing to the band Third Shift, an eight-member band of Huntington, and live and silent auctions.

In November, about 10,000 invitations were sent out for the ball, and ticket sales are now closed.

The goal of the ball was to raise enough money to make it possible for other tercentennial events to be free or have a minimum charge for attendees.

A tableaux vivant planned for sometime in October 2005 will include five separate still-life scenes from Newtown’s past, each lasting approximately five to seven minutes.

A committee began meeting in March, outlining each scene in the tableaux and determining estimates for the number of and type of actors needed, set and lighting elements, props, costumes, and special backstage and crew requirements.

A townwide picnic, fireworks display, vintage baseball game. and other events are being planned for the weekend of August 6. The fireworks would be launched from fields at Fairfield Hills.

In September, John Trentacosta, president of Newtown Savings Bank and treasurer of the Tercentennial Commission Steering Committee, announced that the bank would donate $20,000 for the fireworks display.

Among other highlights being planned for the year are a beard-growing contest, issuance of a medallion by the Newtown Woman’s Club, and books about Newtown. The traditional Labor Day Parade will have a tercentennial theme.

Newtown’s Original Deed

In November, it came to light that a governmental snag was affecting plans for the opening event of Newtown’s tercentennial celebration planned for January 2005.

Plans for the event, which was to highlight the town’s original 1705 deed, had to be changed because the Connecticut State Library was resisting the return of the deed to Newtown.

Because it appeared efforts to retrieve the deed might mean a lengthy legal battle and to avoid controversy for the tercentennial celebration, the committee appointed Town Clerk Cindy Simon, the committee’s secretary, to take the issue of the original deed to members of the Board of Selectmen to find out how they would proceed in regard to the state’s position.

In the meantime, the Tercentennial Steering Committee has decided to consider a digital color copy of the original deed for the January event, to be displayed in conjunction with a 1723 deed in the town’s possession that conveyed land to Newtown not covered by the original 1705 deed.

Tercentennial Calendars

Just in time for holiday gift giving, Newtown’s Official Tercentennial Calendar was ready for distribution on December 18. Lexington Gardens was the kickoff place for the sale of the calendar and artists signing followed by a reception for the artists at My Place.

Only 1,000 of the limited-edition calendars, the first major publication of the tercentennial, were printed and hundreds had already been reserved at the time of the sale.

The calendar features the work of Paul Attard, Patricia Berjman, Betty Christenson, Robert Cottingham, Dana Fradon, Eleanor Loecher, Dick McEvoy, Michael Morshuk, David Merril, Ruth Newquist, Ms Schmidle, James Travers, and Virginia Zic.

The calendars, which cost $15, are available while supplies last at Lexington Gardens, The Drug Center, My Place, The Bagel Shop, the C.H. Booth Library, the General Store, the Hallmark store at Sand Hill Plaza, The Newtown Bee, and the Board of Realtors.

Donations for the tercentennial celebration may be sent to Newtown Tercentennial Inc, c/o Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.