Tercentennial Ball Invitations Go Out

By Jan Howard

About 10,000 invitations with reply cards have been prepared for mailing for the Tercentennial Ball scheduled for February 5, Major Events Committee Co-Chairs Janet Woycik and Barbara Kasbarian reported at last week’s Newtown Tercentennial Steering Committee meeting.

The ball, one of the opening events of the 2005 tercentennial year, will be held at the Fireside Inn and includes live and silent auctions.

Ms Woycik said Monday that all the invitations would be mailed by the end of this week.

“People should send in their replies as soon as possible because of limited seating,” Ms Woycik said.

Tickets are $100 a person. Black tie and period costumes are optional.

The dinner dance will offer music for dancing by Third Shift, an eight-member band, of Huntington. Bob Tendler and Richard Coopersmith will be in charge of the auctions.

The ball is the major fundraiser for the yearlong tercentennial celebration. The goal is to raise enough money to make it possible for other tercentennial events to be free or have a minimum charge for attendees.

Donations are being sought for the live and silent auctions as well as organizations or individuals to sponsor the band, flowers, wine, and other items needed for the dinner dance.

Some suggestions for donated items for the auctions include vacation home usage; a day sailing or fishing; private airplane or helicopter flights; dinners with celebrities, wine makers, or chefs; clambakes; tea parties; wine from private cellars; antiques; jewelry; and season tickets to sporting events or theatrical productions, among others.

To make a donation or a corporate sponsorship, contact John Martocci at Newtown Savings Bank.

In other business, Mike Fitzsimons, who is heading up the fireworks committee, reported that following a final line-of-sight test, he would seek proposals from three to four fireworks vendors.

He reported that no additional approvals are required from the town. “Nothing is needed from the town except the town property for a secondary site,” he said.

The fireworks will be held during the weekend of August 6 in conjunction with a townwide picnic, vintage baseball game, antique car show, bands, and more, to celebrate the town’s 300th year.

The Newtown Savings Bank announced recently it would donate $20,000 for the fireworks display.

Vice Chairman Mae Schmidle gave an update on the cable show, which will feature information about the tercentennial events and activities and interviews. Two shows have been taped for the cable show; however, the website is still being defined, she said, but will be ready for the beginning of the year.

A calendar for the tercentennial, featuring works by Newtown artists, is ready to be launched by December, Ms Schmidle said, noting, “It will make a wonderful gift item.”

She said an ecumenical religious service is in the planning stages. “It would be a nice idea, incorporating all the religious community,” she said.

Among other topics discussed by the Steering Committee was the return of the original deed to Newtown from Hartford, scheduled to take place in January as the first event of the tercentennial year. Marie and Dick Sturdevant are chairing the event.

Lucy Voves of Church Hill Classics made a presentation regarding framing of the document and the possibility of producing a reproduction that would be sold during the tercentennial.

Chairman Dan Cruson advised the committee that the Board of Realtors is interested in producing a pewter plate, using the tercentennial logo. After costs, profits would benefit the tercentennial, he said.

The committee voted unanimously that all requests to use the tercentennial logo should be sent to Secretary Cindy Simon, who would bring them to the committee for discussion and decision.

The Parks and Recreation Department received approval to use the logo on park permit stickers in 2005.

The committee also discussed an idea initially presented by John Klopfenstein to have tercentennial flags on Main Street and other areas of town. It was noted, however, that CL&P would not grant permission for the flags to be mounted on its poles.

In light of that, the committee will ask Mr Klopfenstein to look into an alternative flag that would be mounted in the ground for companies and individuals to display. It was initially estimated that the three-by-five-foot flags would cost $55.

Treasurer John Trentacosta reported revenue of $28,429.26 and expenses of $18,374.10, leaving a balance of $10,055.16.

Donations for the tercentennial celebration may be sent to Newtown Tercentennial Inc, c/o Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.

The next meeting of the Steering Committee will be December 1 at 3:45 pm at the C.H. Booth Library community room.