SNAPSHOT: Phyllis Lloyd

 

How Long In Newtown: My husband David and I have moved around a lot. He was an internal auditor with Perkin-Elmer in Danbury, but he started out in Neenah, Wis., with Kimberly Clark. He has been retired 11 years now.

We have lived in Newtown 26 years. When we moved into town our kids were grown and, at first, I wondered how I would meet anyone. But Elizabeth Ray of Welcome Wagon took care of that. She told me to join the Woman’s Club of Newtown, and she was right. There I was, an eager new worker. I was busy right away. One thing leads to another.

Now, we’re packing up to move again in a couple of weeks, leaving Newtown to go back to Germantown, Wis., to be near all of our family. It’s going to be hard to leave, especially my friends and the garden and our wonderful bluebirds that come every year to a certain box in the backyard.

 

Organizations: I am an advanced Master Gardener and member of the Horticulture Club of Newtown, also a member of the Garden Club of Newtown that meets during the day. We belong to the International Club, I belong to Spay and Neuter, and I have been a Red Cross volunteer for years.

 

Biggest Change You Have Seen In Town: They are cleaning up the old junky places. Putting in The Pleasance was the greatest thing. I think it is the most beautiful place in town.

 

Family: Our grown children are Shari, who works in pension insurance, David Jr, who is a dentist, Richard, an electrician, Donald, also a dentist, and Michael, an electrician. We have ten­­­­­ grandchildren. And one-and-a-half great-grandchildren

Pets: Nothing now. But we did have a big Afghan hound that kept me company.

 

Hobbies: Embroidery and counted cross-stitch. I used to belong to FCE (Friends of Counted Embroidery) that met at the Lutheran Church. I painted needlepoint canvases, which is very silly if you think about it, because you are actually painting on holes!

 

Favorite Form Of Entertainment: I love Broadway musicals and many of the needlepoint canvases I painted were taken from the covers of musical recordings. I remember that A Little Night Music was a real challenge.

What Will You Miss Most About Newtown: My favorite spot is the beautiful world of my own backyard, and I have loved watching how it has changed over 26 years. When we first came, it was just a field and we had nothing but starlings, crows, and sparrows. Now we have planted all these trees (we’ve got our own names for most of them) and gardens, and there are so many varieties of birds.

We’ve counted 54 different bird species including wild turkeys with little ones, and an indigo bunting that comes to the feeders for a week or so around May 14 every year. Then he goes off to somewhere else farther north, I guess.

 

Favorite Vacation Spot: Alaska, where I’d like to go back to someday. And the Burgundy area of France, where there is great wine.

 

Personal Philosophy: I hope to live as long as my mother who is 102. We’ve moved a lot and I have found out you can’t be shy. I grew up in Chicago. I was a city girl and I was shy to begin with, and when we moved to Wisconsin, strangers would say hello and it scared the daylights out of me. Now I talk to everyone. You never know who you might meet by just chatting away.