Valentine’s Day came a little early for some of Newtown’s youngest as well as the town’s most experienced residents. For the second year in a row, the Newtown Youth Basketball Association (NYBA) teamed with Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball program, the cheerleaders, and the NHS culinary department to hold Senior Citizen Appreciation Night, a pre-Valentine’s Day dinner for the community’s senior citizens.

This year’s event, which was held at Newtown High on February 6, drew 60 seniors who were greeted by elementary school-age and high school basketball players. Generations may separate the seniors and up-and-coming basketball players, but they came together to enjoy dinner and mingle for an hour before sitting in the stands to watch the NHS girls defeat Weston.

Girls and boys presented seniors with valentines, brining smiles to everybody’s faces. NYBA Vice President of Administration David Hamula said this event is one of the ways the program pairs sportsmanship with citizenship and brings together community members who otherwise might not interact.

The seniors were presented with flowers by the high school cheerleaders.