Cultural Events

Flagpole Photographers Focusing On Season Finale, Recent Wins

Published: Jun 05, 2026 7:30 am

Flagpole Photographers Camera Club will conclude its 2025-26 season with its final monthly competition night on Thursday, June 11. Members will present work across five categories: Nature, Open Color, Open Monochrome, Assigned Subject, and Monthly Challenge. This month’s Assigned Subject is Golden Hour/Blue Hour, and the Monthly Challenge theme is Weathered.

The event will be held both in person and online, with the in person portion taking place at Newtown Senior Center, 8 Simpson Street. Social time will begin at 7, followed by the competition at 7:30 pm.

Programming will resume at the senior center after the summer break on Thursday, September 10. The evening will feature an ice cream social followed by a hands-on program. Additional details will be announced closer to the date.

Annual Competition & Exhibition

Earlier this spring, the club held its annual competition and exhibition. On May 3, members submitted their best work in five categories: Creative, Landscapes, Nature, Open Color, and Open Monochrome.

Awards were presented in each category, along with honors for Best in Show, Judge’s Choice, and People’s Choice.

New member Justin Smith earned Best in Show for his photograph "On The Hunt." Michelle Babyak received the People’s Choice Award for her image "Sea Parrot." The full exhibition and winning images are available on the club’s website, FlagpolePhotographers.com.

The club also recently earned second place in its division of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) Monochrome Interclub Competition for 2025-26. Founded in 1934, PSA is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing photography as an art form, an educational tool, and a means of communication.

Flagpole’s result reflects the club’s broad range of talent and creative strength.

Flagpole Photographers is a nonprofit camera club committed to nurturing creativity and building community among photographers of all experience levels. Meetings and events are free and open to the public, while members enjoy additional opportunities including workshops, field trips, competitions, and annual exhibitions. Learn more at FlagpolePhotographers.com.

“On the Hunt” by Justin Smith, a new member of Flagpole Photographers Camera Club who recently won Best in Show honors with this breathtaking image. —Justin Smith photo

Flagpole Photographers Camera Club will conclude its 2025-26 season with its final monthly competition night next week. Member of the local photography club are also celebrating wins following a recent annual competition.

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I’m not sure I would call this a victory lap. The contentious relationship between the NIMBY crowd and local builders has not served Newtown well. In fact, this kind of obstructionist approach is part of what leaves us with worse outcomes. We have already seen projects like the cinder block row housing on Oakview pushed through in ways many residents were unhappy with, and it is only a matter of time before a company like Vessel Technologies decides to block up an area like Castle Hill if we continue down this path. We need to learn how to work with builders, not meet every proposal with lawsuits, angry Facebook groups, and organized opposition. That does not mean residents should stay silent or accept every plan as presented. It means we should engage constructively, negotiate for better outcomes, and work toward development that fits Newtown rather than spending everyone’s money fighting until there are no good options left. Let’s learn to work together.

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"Think about women seeking reproductive healthcare." In which state does Brandon think he's running for office? If that's your moral imperative to run for office, move to Texas and insert yourself in their culture wars. Campaigns like this one choose the very odd "but Trump" angle because they have no other leg to stand on. Mitch has represented Newtown with integrity in Hartford, and it is evidenced by the complete lack of criticism of his record in the statements above.

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That may have been true in 1995-2008 when every new unit of housing had 1.5 kids, but with an aging population and declining birth rates, our demographics have stabilized and our enrolment has been decreasing for 20 years while population has remained relatively flat at 28k. Less people in the homes. Not all households use the same amount of services as 2/3rds of our budget is for education. For example, Senior housing uses very little services relative to the taxes they pay, and we recognize that with a Senior Tax Credit to keep them here. It is the same for one bedroom units. Age diversity distributes the costs of education, and housing diversity supports age diversity, allowing young people to live in town and seniors to downsize (freeing up their colonials for new families.) Newtown and R-2 zoning pushes a type of building geared towards families with kids, but 4,000 sq ft 4 br homes with big lawns to mow are not what young people or empty nesters are looking for or can justify at those phases of their lives. There is also a commercial aspect as CT business associations routinely support housing so their employees can afford to live close to their jobs. Commercial tax payers need employees, be it manufacturing, medical, retail, services or our restaurants. Without a workforce, commercial property is less desirable, the commercial assessments decline and more of the tax burden gets shifted onto residential at revaluation. Housing supports the school district too. Where can a bus driver afford to live in Newtown? Why would a bus driver commute to our community to drive a bus when the municipalities they can afford to live in also need bus drivers? Newtown schools would have to pay more to incentivize them to commute further (increasing traffic on the highways.) Its no wonder we have had a chronic a bus driver shortage.

It may seem like a foreign concept to a partisan political insider, but many in Newtown feel Mitch won by a larger margin because of his years of community focused constituent service, helping local families and businesses navigate state bureaucracy during COVID, and successfully advancing legislation, especially for seniors and our special education families.

Sad to see that Mrs. Pesce has passed. She was my teacher at Sandy Hook School Grade 4 1964-65. I believe it was her first year teaching, We shared the same birthday. She was my “favorite” teacher. May she RIP.

Judith Pesce

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Flagpole Photographers Focusing On Season Finale, Recent Wins

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