The Rooster Review:

A Fundraiser For The Parent Connection Featuring One Of Newtown’s Mascots

By Shannon Hicks

For a few months now, visitors to many of Newtown’s businesses and even one of its churches have seen what are certainly the most unique roosters around. Hatched from a series of 13-inch-tall flat bisque ceramic sculptures, 24 artists have turned each rooster into a unique work of art.

Those roosters are getting ready to head to new, permanent homes. The sculptures will be auctioned on Saturday, April 29, during “Newtown Rooster Review ’06,” a special event that will double as a fundraiser for The Parent Connection. The event is going to be held at Rock Ridge Country Club, off Route 302, and will run from 7:30 until 11 pm.

Tickets for the fundraiser are $30, which covers the auction and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets can be purchased by stopping in at The Gym at Newtown (18 Commerce Road) and C.H. Booth Library, or by contacting Wendy Davenson at 426-1997.

Father Bob Weiss, pastor of St Rose of Lima, will be the auctioneer.

In addition to the roosters on view around town, organizers have now added silent bidding boxes to each display. Anyone interested in bidding on one of the ceramic roosters, but unable to attend the event on April 29, can now place a bid on their rooster of choice. The bid will become the opening bid on the night of the auction. Someone from The Parent Connection will contact the bidder to confirm their interest prior to the auction.

Brochures have also been produced and put on display with the roosters around town. The brochures have illustrations of each rooster going on the block next weekend. A large PDF showing all of the roosters has been posted on The Parent Connection’s website, NewtownParentConnection.org.

David Merrill was the first of the group of artists to be finished with individualizing his rooster. On view at Flagpole Realty, Mr Merrill’s rooster, “Newtown Forever,” was done in a patriotic theme and continued Newtown’s tercentennial theme of 2005. The rooster has a red face, white neck, red and white saddle feathers, and a blue body covered with white stripes. In gold across the rooster’s breast Mr Merrill painted “1705 Newtown 2005,” and the number 300 is centered under the word Newtown.

Patriotism also shows in LuAnn Maute’s creation, which she named “John Hancock.” Ms Maute drew upon her career as an English teacher for inspiration. She has always admired great pieces of writing, and The Declaration of Independence is one of her favorites.

Her rooster’s comb has been transformed into a three-pointed Colonial hat and he is “wearing” a blue jacket from the same era (the jacket is painted onto the rooster; it is not a separate item). A Colonial flag has been painted on one side of his tail, and a piece torn from The Declaration of Independence is on the other. John Hancock’s signature is re-created on the base of the sculpture.

Continuing the patriotic theme, at least in name, is “Cock-A-Doodle Dandy” by Pat Barkman. Mrs Barkman’s friend and hiking buddy Ray Poincellot came up with the name, she said, while a group of friends were hiking in the White Mountains.

“Thus the dandified name and pattern,” she said.

Pat Martin accepted the challenge of creating an identity for a ceramic rooster and decided to celebrate Newtown High School’s blue and gold colors. Having spent the past nine years as an instructor for the Summer Arts Program (SMART), Mrs Martin combined her pride of Newtown High School with her love of working with children in a creative art-oriented atmosphere to create “Nighthawk Nation,” done in blues and golds and featuring miniature sports equipment patches attached to the base of the sculpture.

Newtown also served as inspiration for “Chanticleer,” Marilyn Doyle’s rooster. With a sky blue background over the upper two-thirds of the sculpture, hot air balloons — which can frequently be seen over town — cover much of the body of the sculpted rooster. The lower third of the sculpture is done in green, representing Lake Zoar while also paying homage to Newtown’s countryside.

The Newtown Bee was the inspiration for Kathy Murdy, who covered her rooster in a deep blue coat of paint and then painted dozens of bumble bees on her bird to create “All The Buzz.”

A big screen “Rooster” — one portrayed by John Wayne in two feature films — helped Karen Pinto come up with her creation, “Rooster Cock-burn.” Wayne’s character, a US marshal named Rooster Cogburn who wears an eye patch, has been recast in Ms Pinto’s sculpture, which comes complete with its own cowboy hat, neckerchief, vest, spurs, and of course, an eye patch.

Donna Ball meticulously adhered thousands of small rhinestones onto the ceramic sculpture she decorated the fundraiser. She named her rooster “Razzle B. Dazzle.”

When Heiu Morgan was growing up in Germany, she became familiar with celebrating Mardi Gras. It wasn’t until her family arrived in the United States that she learned about and fell in love with the American version of Halloween.

Now a Newtown resident, the artist combined these two interests when she decided to decorate a rooster that has since been named “Poultry-Geist.”

Lisa Willvonseder-Greto turned to her kids for suggestions with her rooster. With less than a month to work on her sculpture, she and her kids decided to go with a Mardi Gras theme for “Mardi-Gras Rooster.”

Folk artist Stacey Olszewski went back and forth a few times with ideas before doing what she does best: The antiqued and weathered paint style she features on many of the wooden bowls and containers she regularly decorates (most of which is motivated by the circa 1847 Sandy Hook home she and her family live in). Her finished work is called “Fair Weathered Friend,” a play on the style Mrs Olszewski incorporates into most of her work.

Tracy Anderson and Susan Murray, the co-owners of Finish With Style, carried their business partnership into another creative partnership when they co-created “Le Coq Soulieado.”

“Loosely translated, it meads The Sun Shining Through the Clouds After the Rain,” Ms Anderson said. The rooster has incredible detailing with dots, flowers and paisleys covered different sections of the rooster’s body and neck. The women patterned their intricate work after a French wood printed fabric that dates to the 1700s.

Ron Turri followed a French flair as well when he came up with “Beau Jacques.”

Also done was “Sunflower Rooster,” by Liz Parsons, who incorporated a popular theme into her design. Children’s book illustrator Paul Meisel went with a French country theme in designing “Gluteus Maximus,” Leslie Gunn followed the style of a very famous artist when she created “Van Gogh Rooster,” Patty Caputo used her folk art skills to decorate “Barnyard Rooster,” and Michelle Rosenthal painted a building on the side of her sculpture, “Newtown’s #1 Barn Rooster.”

Kris Beckman said she felt her rooster was “strutting his stuff” when she first looked at her sculpture, so hers was named “Romeo” once she finished painting him. “Pablo,” a realistic-looking rooster, was done by the youngest artist of the bunch — Sara Hill, who is a student at Newtown Middle School.

Tracy Van Buskirk’s “Raku-ster” was done predominantly in luminous hues of blues, greens and purples, with a red-orange comb, wattle and feet, and a gold beak.

Beautiful earth tones, including plenty of pink, cover “Expect Miracles,” the rooster done in honor of breast cancer — both the awareness of and ongoing research to combat — by Janice Wilkinson.

“Sobriety Rooster” was painted by an anonymous artist.

The inspiration for “Rockin’ Rooster,” the rooster by Bek Meyers, was a drawing by 4-year-old Lindsey Gallagher that shows bright, neon colors reminiscent of a tie-dyed T-shirt.

“I grew up in the 60s, and I believe [that’s] when the idea that drug use was harmless or acceptable began,” Ms Meyers said. “This terrible myth has grown to widespread and very dangerous drug use among kids. It’s a tragedy.

“As whimsical as this rooster may be, it also represents the beginning of a wrong turn we took in our country,” she added. “The Parent Connection is trying to help and I fully support that effort.”

Roosters are on view at Bagel Delight, Booth Library, Chase Bank, Church Hill Physical Therapy, Coach’s Deli, Coldwell Banker, Drug Center Pharmacy, Dunkin’ Donuts, Flagpole Realty, Galerie Van-Os, Dr Henry Gellert’s office, The Gym at Newtown, The Inn at Newtown, Mona Lisa Restaurant, The Newtown Bee, Newtown Deli & Catering, Newtown General Store, Newtown Savings Bank, People’s Bank, Porco’s Academy of Karate, St Rose Church, The Toy Tree, and Western Connecticut Federal Credit Union.

Roosters will remain on view around town until Thursday, April 27. Then they will make their way over to the country club in time for Saturday’s fundraiser.