A Successful House & Garden Tour

To the Editor:

The Newtown Historical Society’s 2008 House & Garden Tour was a rousing success.

Despite the soaring temperature, many tickets were sold. This is due in no small part to the efforts of Andrea Macaluso who is now a resident of the Philadelphia area. Andrea was the chairperson of last year’s tour and found out this spring that her husband, Jeff, was being transferred; however, she pitched in and worked hard to make this event a success.

I think what made this event unique was the diversity of properties, which gave everyone a broad view of the wonderful homes and gardens in our beautiful New England town. We thank Sigrid and Kent Carpenter, Sydney Eddison, Mary Fellows and John Conk, Judy Fishman and Andy Wiggin, Maureen McLachlan, Nora and Richard Murphy, and Matthew Schlansky and Richard Barker for letting us use their properties this year. Your homes and gardens are indeed magnificent, yet so different, which made the tour interesting.

Special thanks go to George and Shane Miller who let us use their wonderful barn in our town’s Historic District to host an art show and a postevent party in conjunction with the tour. Thanks to the local artists who participated at the Miller Barn: Paula Brinkman, Betty Christensen, Robert Cottingham, Bruce Degen, Ross MacDonald, Grace McEnaney, Paul Meisel, Ruth Newquist, Stacy Olszewski, Linda Pickwick, Michelle Rosenthal, and Virginia Zic.

We are convinced ticket sales would not have been so brisk if it were not for the efforts of the Booth Library, The Drug Center (who also donated balloons) and The Red Barn. We thank Shannon Hicks and the staff of The Newtown Bee for getting out the word.

Thanks to Ella Jurgielewicz of the UPS Store for donating signs, Andrew Carey for photography, Sherry Paisley for the nametags, and Bonnie Miller of our board who always works tirelessly at all of our events, and last but not least, Lise Karas our webmaster.

Our corporate sponsors helped underwrite much of the cost of producing this event.

 Thanks to: Beth Caldwell of Beth & Company, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage of Newtown, Cathy Masi of Flagpole Realty, The Red Garage, The Taunton Press, and Matt DeAngelis of Yankee Fine Wine & Spirits. In addition, the Town & Country Garden Club and the Garden Club of Newtown provided flower arrangements for the homes.

Bravo to the dozens of docents who volunteered their time at the properties. You were all terrific.

In conclusion, I want to thank the committee, whose work started a year ago. Ginnie Carey was responsible for all our publicity, Margareta Kotch coordinated all the docents, Paula Stephan arranged the art exhibit, and Gordon Williams did about everything possible. Your diligence and hard work is greatly appreciated.

The Newtown Historical Society is a volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and presenting Newtown’s history. We hope you will consider becoming a member. Information is available on our website, www.newtownhistory.org.

On behalf of our board, thank you.

Lincoln R. Sander

President

211 Walnut Tree Hill Road, Sandy Hook                      July 23, 2008