19th Annual Event Returns In Just Two Weeks!

Holiday Festival’s Homes Tour Has A New Approach This Year

When the 19th Annual Newtown Holiday Festival is presented Sunday, December 5, regular attendees will notice some changes and additions to an event that has become a major focal point for the holiday season.

Laura Miller Kurtz and Leslie Troy have stepped into the shoes of Nancy Obremski, who single-handedly chaired the festival for the past two years after co-chairing it with Lynne Brault in 2001. Mrs Obremski’s family was moving out of Newtown this fall, so it was time for another change of leadership for the holiday festival.

Mrs Miller Kurtz and Mrs Troy have kept the staples of the festival — the arts and crafts show and sale, the antiques show and sale, the tour of private homes, live music, a Victorian Tea Room and an informal New England Café, and the Festival of Trees — but they have changed some locations, or, working with chairmen of each event, have reinvented an offering.

After years of trying, a new event has been added. Students of Newtown High School will be featured in an art show and sale, with artists vying for a scholarship while exhibiting some of their favorite works (details about the art show will be presented in next week’s Enjoy section).

As has been true for all previous Holiday Festivals, entry to most events will be through a ticket. Advance tickets are available at Family Counseling Center, 121 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6); C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; Drug Center Pharmacy, 61 Church Hill Road; and all branches of Newtown Savings Bank.

Advance tickets are $25 for adults, or $22 with a coupon that will be printed in The Newtown Bee. Tickets for children/students and senior citizens are $23 in advance, or $20 with a coupon.

On the day of the festival, tickets will be available at most event locations including Edmond Town Hall and Newtown High School. That day, tickets will be $28 for adults ($25 with the coupon), $25 for children/students and seniors ($22 with coupon).

This year’s events and their locations are as follows: Antiques Show & Sale, at Newtown High School cafeteria, opens at 10 am; Arts & Crafts Show & Sale, at Newtown High School foyer and gymnasium, opens at 10; Festival of Trees, at Edmond Town Hall, a raffle for theme baskets, decorated wreaths and miniature trees, gift items, gift certificates, etc, created by local individuals, groups and businesses, with tickets available at one for $2, three for $5, and eight for $10, opens at 11, drawings will be at 4 pm.

Also, there will be the Ideas Homes Tour, running 11 am to 5 pm, details below; New England Café, at Trinity Episcopal Church’s undercroft, with pizza, muffins and similar snacks and soft drinks, running noon to 5 pm; New England Café Too!, a new presentation at Newtown High School, featuring food prepared by NHS Culinary Arts students, also running noon to 5 pm; NHS Student Art Show, in the high school’s foyer, running 11 am to 5 pm; and the Victorian Tea Room, featuring homemade scones, tea breads, hot teas, and related offerings, accompanied by live music, running 11 am to 5 pm.

For ticket purchases and additional information contact Family Life Center at 426-8103.

Idea Houses

The largest change this year will be seen in the walking tour of private homes. In the past, ticket holders have been invited to walk through most rooms of a privately owned home on or near Main Street. While the location of the homes is still in the same general area, the homes tour has been renamed Idea Houses.

Visitors will be kept to one or two main rooms in each home this year. There are seven private homes being opened for the Ideas Homes event (details below), and each home will feature a different decorative theme. Some homes will have snacks for ticket-holders, another may offer a soft drink, and another will invite visitors to create small craft.

In addition to the private homes, Newtown Savings Bank — a major sponsor of the event and a large part of the town’s financial history — will also be open for visits on December 5.

Home of Kim Stendahl

9 Hanover Road

Theme: Vintage Mansion

Decorators: Arrangements,

Painted Bungalow,

Newtown Curtains,

and Elizabeth Ricci Gifts

Florist: Arrangements

House Captain: Cindy Lapp

Sponsored by Pepsi Bottling Group

Built in 1923, this house is significant as a largely intact example of an early 20th Century dwelling in the bungalow form. The building is also important being one of a group of houses built during the first half of the 20th century on the west side of Hanover Road, representing the development that occurred at that time on the side streets of the borough of Newtown.

The garage at the northeast corner is also important as an interesting example of an early 20th Century garage with its hip-roof and flared eaves with exposed rafters. The building is also noteworthy for its site as it looks out to vacant land and woodland across the street, so appropriate for the bungalow style.

An antique sign indicates this home may have been one of the first insurance offices in the town.

The Painted Bungalow will transform the dining room with faux finish, Newtown Curtains will grace the windows with new treatments, Arrangements will be creating special floral designs, and Elizabeth Ricci Gifts will set the holiday table.

Home of Jay & Maureen Maher

9 Glover Avenue

Theme: The Gift

Decorator: Volunteers, using donated and loaned items from Victoria Yarrow, Hollandia and others.

Floral Donations:

Hollandia Home & Gardens

House Captains: Maureen Maher

and Delores Sullivan

Sponsored by Century 21 Home

Services-Scalzo Group

The true meaning of Christmas will abound in this newly remodeled Cape. Visitors will be invited to reflect upon the many “gifts” that are enjoyed during the holidays and throughout the year.

Built in 1947 as a 700-square-foot brick Cape on what was just a dirt road off Main Street, this house has been doubled in size by the current owner. In what can only be called a stunning transformation, this home has a new kitchen, study, two-car garage with a master suite above it, as well as a gunnite pool with a waterfall in the back. I hope the Mahers won’t mind us coming back next summer to check out the waterfall.

During the Holiday Festival visitors will be welcomed into the living room, dining room, and new kitchen. Volunteers will decorate all of these rooms for the tour. They will rely upon loans and donations from local merchants including Victoria Yarrow, Hollandia, and others to complete their vision.

Home of Bruce & Holly Walczak

12 Glover Avenue

Theme: The Hanukkah House

Decorator: Sisters of Adath Synagogue

Florists: Centerpieces by

Newtown Florist

House Captain: Beth Israel

Sponsored by Webster Bank

This 1920s Tudor-style home will be transformed into The Hanukkah House, brimming with warm latkes and Hanukkah treats.

Because Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights, a collection of special menorahs and dreidels owned by members of the congregation will be on display. There will also music and chances to play the dreidel game.

Built at the height of the popularity of the Tudor style in this country, this is a four-bay asymmetric house with a front-facing gable positioned at the east side of its façade, a gable-roofed side entrance, and a garage having an open porch area with a graceful curved opening to the street.

Also important as one of a group of Revival structures built during the early part of the century on Glover Avenue, it is representative of the architectural continuum of development that occurred on the side streets of the Borough of Newtown during the 20th Century.

The Barn

(behind the home,

pictured above)

of George & Shane Miller

50 Main Street

Theme: A Country Barn

Decorator: Victoria Yarrow

Greenery and Floral Donations

 Agway of Danbury

and Peaceable Farms of Ridgefield

House Captain: Michelle Grillo

Visitors are in for a treat when they visit the picturesque barn that is part of the charm of 50 Main Street.

The house on this property — also known as The Budd House and/or The Glover House — has been open during the Holiday Festival but having the barn open to the public this year is a first. Visitors will enjoy the rustic beauty of “A Country Barn” decorated for the holidays.

The barn and carriage house, which sit behind the house, were restored in the 1970s by Mark Oppenheimer. The barn underwent more restoration in the 1990s

 True to Newtown’s love of all things equestrian, documents from 1929 indicate the homestead was known as The Roadside Farm, where competitive jumping horses were stabled. Its simplicity is highlighted by white bead board walls and original stable layout.

Home of John & Chris Reed

63 Main Street

Theme: Christmas at Williamsburg

Decorator and Florist:

Linda Manna (Newtown Country Mill)

House Captain: Deb McGrath

Sponsored by Flagpole Realty, Inc

“Christmas at Williamsburg” will greet those the moment they step inside this two-story bungalow built in 1900. One particular highlight will be Reeds’ collection of antique ornaments and special holiday touches throughout the downstairs.

This stunning two-story house has a fieldstone foundation and upper story covered by a deep hip roof with gables and an arched eave over the front door.

The land on which the house stands was donated to the town by a descendant of the Rev John Beach, who was the first Episcopal rector in Newtown. The town built the Beach Memorial Library on this property and it remained a library until 1932 when the Booth Library was established.

Visitors may recognize the current homeowner, Mr Reed (or at least his name), from the 20 years he served as Newtown’s superintendent of schools. Reed Intermediate School was named in his honor.

Home of Richard Shepherd & Kathie Adams-Shepherd

The Rectory of Trinity Church

64 Main Street

Theme: The Season of Advent

Decorators: Volunteers

Floral Contributors: Irene’s Garden Party of Monroe, Lexington Gardens, Corham of White Plains, N.Y.

House Captains: Prabha Makayee

and Rhonda Cullens

Sponsored by Coldwell Banker-Bob Tendler Real Estate

Known as the Trinity Rectory, this home will showcase the Season of Advent.

The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is the preparation for the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.

The wood framed dwelling, which serves as the rectory for Trinity Episcopal Church (where the Rev Kathy Adams-Shepherd serves as rector), is a Victorian bracketed house. Built in 1867 for Edward Starr, the house features etched glass above the front doors and a star motif in the panels of the dining room side door.

The house originally contained at least four fireplaces, but with the introduction of central heating all but one were closed. The remaining open fireplace is a centerpiece of the home along with the pine floors discovered under the kitchen subflooring during 1980s renovations.

Around 1960, the house was willed to Trinity Episcopal Church by Curtis Glover. The house has since served as the home for Trinity’s rectors and their families. Regular Holiday Festival attendees may remember seeing the house during the 1996 walking tour.

Home of George & Ellie Whalen

65 Main Street

Theme: Victorian Christmas

Decorator: Ellie Whalen, homeowner

Floral Centerpieces:

Lexington Gardens

House Captains:

Cyndy DaSilva and Connie Widmann

Sponsor: Prudential CT Realty

& Eric DaSilva, Attorney at Law

Enjoy a Victorian Christmas in this Greek Revival/Victorian home built in 1867. The exquisitely decorated home holds a prominent position at the head of Main Street’s west side.

The wood framed 2½-story home features nine-foot ceilings, four-over-four rounded windows and spacious sun-filled rooms.

At one time this property was a small working farm owned by George Mayer. Even when he had retired as a farmer and moved into town, people would stop at the Mayer house for milk and, from here, milk was transported to Bridgeport for sale. As a testament to this farm, the property still has the fine old pegged barn.

Newtown Savings Bank

39 Main Street

Newtown Savings Bank opened for business on September 15, 1855. For its first few years business was conducted out of the home of its treasurer, Henry Beers Glover, at 50 Main Street.

The bank subsequently was run out of the home of Henry T. Nichols, then moved to a more substantial home following Mr Nichols’ death in 1887, to The Sanford Building (a/k/a The Chase Building), at the corner of West and Main streets. At that location the bank conducted business five days a week for the first time.

By 1908 the bank had expanded to the point that it needed a larger, permanent home. A new building was constructed at 39 Main Street, its current home, and  opened on May 5, 1910.

While the one-story stone structure quickly became a Newtown landmark, by the time the bank celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1955 the building had already undergone its first extensive restoration and expansion: an addition to its rear more than doubled the building’s floor space.

The growth of NSB during the postwar period was so dramatic that within a decade it needed further expansion. In a grand open house on May 16, 1964, the citizens of Newtown were shown the modern banking facility whose facade still graces Main Street.

It was done in a colonial style to fit comfortably with Main Street’s distinctive architecture, and brick ends mirroring Booth Library.

Further renovations were made in 1973 and 1987, but these were primarily internal and did not affect the exterior landscape except for the addition of a parking lot to the south and rear.

The current expansion began in 1997 with the acquisition of the former Newtown Congregational Church parsonage and church hall, to the north and northwest of the bank. The parsonage was in poor shape and impossible to renovate, which was the bank’s original hope.

The building was torn down and a complete replica was constructed, with offices for bank officers and a boardroom. The new building was then connected to the 1964 bank building.

The second phase of this expansion began with the demolition of the church house just a few weeks ago, and continues with the construction of a multistoried west wing.  When complete, the new wing will allow the bank to move all of its operations into the same building complex for the first time in 40 years.