Golden Opportunities works in partnership with several Newtown groups, as well as elder care facilities in Newtown, Danbury, Southbury and Norwalk. Its mission is to enhance the quality of life for residents in these facilities by providing outreach services of comfort, compassion, and support.

This year Golden Opportunities is again providing some holiday joy to the residents of these facilities, through a Tag-A-Gift program.

There are several locations in Newtown where trees are decorated with tags expressing the wishes of these seniors. These locations are Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street; Newtown Savings Bank's new location, 32 Church Hill Road; Stop & Shop, within Sand Hill Plaza at 228 South Main Street; and Taunton Press, 63 South Main Street.

All are invited to take a tag, purchase the wish list item, and return it to that location. Gifts need to be left unwrapped, and have their request tag attached to them, when they are dropped off. Girl Scouts in Newtown Troop 50293 have crafted handmade ornaments for the program. One ornament is attached to each gift request tag, and the ornaments are meant to be kept as gifts for those purchasing gifts for the Golden Opportunities outreach.

The tree at Edmond Town Hall was put into place on November 17. Lynette Daria and Karen Harris, volunteers with Golden Opportunities, began decorating the tree that morning. By early Friday afternoon, when they returned to put final decorations and additional request tags in place, a few had already been taken.

Edmond Town Hall Operations Manager Sheila Torres told the women she could overhear, from her office, some children and a parent talking about the tree.

"They were so excited," Ms Torres said. "The children were reading some of the tags and couldn't wait to help some of these people."

The gift requests are simple, and relatively inexpensive. One 86-year-old woman, whose tag had the note "knits everything!," is asking for knitting books for ideas and patterns. A 79-year-old male is hoping to find a pair of sweatpants under his tree Christmas morning. Others asked for sweaters or shifts, body wash and lotion, hand lotion, hats, a throw pillow, or chocolates.

The deadline for returning items is Monday, December 11.

For additional information call Karen Harris at 203-304-9858.