Newtown’s Holiday Weekend

You would think people would have had their fill of dragging trees here and there given the events of the past month, but the community appears to have taken up saws again. Christmas trees have been cut by the thousands and are making their way from farmed forests to parlors and living rooms in the trunks and on the roofs of sedans, in the beds of pickups, and in the way-back precincts of mammoth SUVs. We are once again so besotted with the smell of balsam that we are dragging evergreens of every shape and size into our houses and wrapping our families around them.

And since Newtown is as close as a town can come to being a family, we throw lights on a few prominent trees in public places and then flock to them by the thousands to carouse, to sing, to count down, and to flip the switch on the holiday season. The number of community tree lightings in town has grown to three over the years, beginning with the oldest and biggest in the Ram Pasture sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce on Friday evening, starting at 6:30 pm. Sandy Hook and Hawleyville keep the light moving outward by illuminating their own trees on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Sandy Hook Tree at the corner of Church Hill Road and Washington Avenue will light up a celebration hosted by Sandy Hook merchants starting at 4 pm. The Hawleyville tree at the site of the new post office on Barnabas Road will be lit in the midst of music and amusements coordinated by the Stony Hill Four Corners Association between 5:30 and 6:30 pm.

These events sparkle not so much because of the lights on the tree but because of the great number of people who come to do something nice for others — to sing, to dance, to delight and amuse, to applaud. In Sandy Hook, people will be bringing donations to the FAITH Food Pantry. In Hawleyville, people will be bringing unwrapped children’s gifts for distribution to those in need by The Newtown Fund. With the spirit of giving in mind, the weekend reaches its culmination with the 26th Annual Holiday Festival, presented by the Newtown Savings Bank for the benefit of Newtown Youth & Family Services.

The face of the holiday festival is decorated trees, gingerbread houses, performances, refreshments, and conviviality throughout the center of town. (See the calendar of weekend events.) The heart of the festival, however, is the community’s support for the critical work of Newtown Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit licensed youth service bureau that offers mental health clinical services and other resources for at-risk children and their families. Be a part of the festivities, but more importantly, be a part of that support. The Annual Holiday Festival will run from 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday, December 4.