The wail of police sirens, radio announcements (in oddly young voices) to “Pull over and put your hands up!” and the honking of fire truck horns that carried out to Church Hill Road from behind Hawley School, Friday, May 30 was no cause for alarm. It was all part of the fun of Hawley School Field Day, with Officer McGowan of the Newtown Police Department and Hook &d Ladder Company volunteer fire fighters Daniel Tomascek and Tarren Horvath educating Newtown’s youngest citizens on the roles of Newtown emergency departments.

Meanwhile, on Taylor Field behind the school, more than 200 students in grades K–2 gathered in the morning at the 11 fun-filled stations staffed by 60-plus volunteers. For two hours, rotating stations every ten minutes, the children scrambled over obstacle courses, draped themselves in oversized shirts for the Wacky Clothing Relay, carefully balanced (hard boiled) eggs in small teaspoons as they raced back and forth between set points, or dabbled bare toes in kiddie pools to fish out marbles — with their toes. Puzzled looks adorned faces as each child took a turn grasping unseen food items in a bag. “Is it spaghetti?” asked one first grader, groping in the bag.

The tug-o-war exposed the inner tiger, as classes split into “red” and “blue” teams and gave it their all. Another skill challenged the children to run with a filled water balloon balanced on a plunger. It was a more successful venture for some than others.

“It’s a parent-driven event,” said physical education instructor Doug Michlovitz, who agreed with parent volunteer Susan Burbank that the event could not have occurred without the organizational skills of PTA president Kristen Bonacci. Classes marched out onto the field arrayed in class-coordinated colors representing different countries — a nod to the World Cup.

“Hopefully,” said Mr Michlovitz, “the kids learned a little about each of their countries.”

Field Day is noncompetitive, he stressed. “It’s all about fun and sportsmanship.”

Older classes were entertained indoors during the morning event by mime artist Robert Rivest, Mr Michlovitz said, and would have their chance at Field Day fun in the afternoon.

More photos are available in this week's photo gallery, here.