To The Editor:

On behalf of the Newtown Parks & Recreation Department, thank you to everyone who helped make this past weekend's Newtown Summer Carnival such a tremendous success!

What a fantastic weekend! It was wonderful to see such an incredible turnout from our Newtown community and our neighboring communities. Fairfield Hills was filled with smiles, laughter, excitement, and the wonderful energy that comes from people of all ages coming together to simply have fun and enjoy time with family and friends.

Events like this truly take a community, and we are grateful to everyone who played a part. A special thank you to our ticket booth volunteers: Warren Spencer, Adam Angerami, Andrea Spencer, Jennifer Balbes, Lauren Ravo, Sherry Stein, Louise Cronin, Mary Negri, James Negri, Rita Pavia Loomis, Michelle Embree Ku, Bill Mangold, Aaron Britton, Brian Lageman, and Jon Birdsall.

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsor, Yale New Haven Health Urgent Care, and Trash Sponsor, All American Waste. We also appreciate the Newtown Lions Club for selling raffle tickets and displaying its beautiful Mustang, and the Public Works Department and Newtown Police Department for helping support a safe and fun event.

Thank you to our food vendors: Alba Wood Fired Pizza, Crazy Taco-Mex, Nomad Bites, Taste of Grill, and Ultimate Waffle, and to R&D Stewart Amusements for bringing the carnival excitement!

We are grateful to the Newtown Parks and Recreation Commission, led by Chairman Clinton DePalo, for its continued support. A final thank you to Carl Samuelson and the maintenance team, Assistant Director Connor Negri, and our Parks & Recreation office staff for all their hard work behind the scenes.

Thank you, Newtown, for another wonderful community celebration!

Amy Mangold

Director of Parks & Recreation