Friends of Newtown resident and American Legion Auxiliary Third District President Alice Saxton are planning a benefit dinner to help Ms Saxton with medical expenses. Ms Saxton is recovering from esophageal cancer treatments and now needs surgery.

A pasta dinner is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, from 2 to 7 pm, at American Legion Post 2, 22 Hooker Court in Bristol.

Tickets are $20 and they must be purchased in advance, by May 10. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

The evening’s menu is ziti, meatballs, salad, bread and butter, desserts, and beverages. The event will also include raffles. For information and reservations call any of the event chairs: Julie Carney at 203-453-2612, Rachel Wache at 860-621-0890, or Linda March at 860-942-7444. For those who cannot attend the event but would like to help Ms Saxton with a donation, those can also be accepted. Contact one of the organizers for details.

Ms Carney said she and the other two event chairs “are close friends” of Ms Saxton.

“We wanted the event to welcome the community, people from work, church,” she added.

Regarding the upcoming dinner/fundraiser, Ms Saxton said, “It’s humbling to have this done and I am grateful to the legion family and the auxiliary and the friends I have made and the people who care and show their support.”

She daily receives cards and gifts.

“It’s overwhelming; nobody wants to be sick, but through this I have learned how much people care,” she said. “My experience with the legion and the auxiliary is phenomenal and I am glad to be part of it and I hope I can continue.”

Ms Saxton, who went through both chemotherapy and radiation treatments at the same time, said she gets tired easily.

“Each day I am feeling better,” she said, and is in the process of scheduling surgery. “That’s good.”

Friends, civic organizations, her church and work communities, and family members have all been a support for Ms Saxton.

“I have been blessed,” she said. While working with the Taunton Press for 29 years, she knows they care for her. She thanks them for their “tremendous” support. “It’s a tough journey, but has been very rewarding and God has been with me the whole way; I am thankful.”

Newtown United Methodist Church, where she is a member has also been a “big help,” Ms Saxton said. And, her husband Boyd has been “an awesome caregiver.”

Ms Carney and the other event chairs hope for Ms Saxton’s recovery.

“She is a fighter. Prayer helps her too, she is a very religious person.”