Nearly four dozen people gathered in the community room of the Nunnawauk Meadows Community Building recently to hear a guest speaker sharing the history of Bigelow Tea Company.

Cindy Manning, assistant marketing manager for the Fairfield-based tea company, visited the community on August 18.

Her presentation followed a Nunnawauk Meadows Residents Association meeting. Shirley Kopnicky provided a very lighthearted moment during the meeting when she read a poem called “Pills.”

When it was time for the afternoon’s feature event, Manning told the 33 Nunnawauk Meadows residents and six guests that she really was thrilled to be spending time with them.

“None of us have been able to travel out of the Bigelow building for quite some time,” she said. “I’m so happy to be here, to share in your company and share the history of Bigelow Tea.”

Manning talked about company founder Ruth C. Bigelow and the creation of the company based on her “Constant Comment” tea recipe. She also shared what it is like to work for the Bigelow company today.

Manning sent each person home with a gift bag filled with Bigelow goodies.

Before the Wednesday afternoon program began, a display of teapots was set up. Guests were told that the collection had been built up during the past year-and-a-half by Betty Presnell, who sought donations of the teapots and teacups through Buy Nothing Newtown.

Presnell is a very active member of the local chapter of the international Buy Nothing Facebook movement. Members of Buy Nothing groups wish for or offer items, free of charge or any strings, to fellow members of each chapter. They also show gratitude for gifts receive through follow-up posts.

The outgoing president of Nunnawauk Meadows Resident Association, Presnell said she had created a “wish” post on Buy Nothing Newtown in the spring of 2020.

“I’ve been planning this event for over a year,” she told those in the room with her. “The pandemic just kept going, though. But so did the donations.”

Following Manning’s presentation, the teapots were raffled off among the guests. One teapot lamp was also awarded to a lucky attendee.

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Associate Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.