Date: Fri 05-Dec-1997

By DOROTHY EVANS

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Newtown-Fund-gift-baskets

Full Text:

How You Can Help: Newtown Fund Coordinates Gift Basket Program

BY DOROTHY EVANS

Lending a hand over the holidays to families in the Newtown community who are

less fortunate can be as easy as picking an ornament off a Christmas tree and

buying one more toy than you had planned.

It can also mean finding an extra hour to gather food, blankets or clothing

and then delivering them to Sandy Hook Elementary School by 9 am on Saturday,

December 20.

Or one can help by simply writing out a check payable to The Newtown Fund and

mailing it to PO Box 641, Newtown, Conn. 06470-0641.

The Newtown Fund is a long-standing, local non-profit organization that works

in connection with the town's social services director by sponsoring a

perpetual fund to address special needs in the community.

At Christmas time, this means "adopting" needy families that have been in

contact with the Department of Social Services and making sure they have a

holiday meal, much needed staples, gifts of clothing, toys and other useful

items that they need.

"These families have been referred to social services from so many places,

including the schools and the churches, and now we want to all pull together

to help them. It's a real community effort," said Newtown Fund treasurer

Sandra Stockwell.

"We cannot accomplish this without your support. No donation is too small,"

she said.

By early December, most of the Fund's families have been adopted, but there

are still several ways in which townspeople can contribute gifts of time and

money. Several of these ways are listed below.

Support the Holiday Gift Basket Program, which is sponsored and coordinated by

the Newtown Fund, by gathering food and clothing and household staples and

bringing these items to the fund's designated drop-off point on "Depot Day."

Depot Day will be at Sandy Hook Elementary School off Church Hill Road on

Dickinson Drive, and residents are asked to drop off their donations before 9

am on Saturday, December 20. This will give Holiday Basket Program workers

enough time to sort and assemble the items for deliveries later on the same

day.

Make a financial donation that will be used to purchase necessities and

additional food needed to complete many of the baskets. Tax-deductible checks

can be made payable to The Newtown Fund and mailed to PO Box 641, Newtown,

Conn. 06470-0641.

Volunteer to be a "Depot Day" delivery person by offering to drive the holiday

baskets to the designated "adopted" families. All deliveries will take place

after 12 noon on Saturday, December 20.

If you can help, please contact Sandra Stockwell at 270-9312 (day) or 426-6895

(after 5pm).

Participate In Junior Women's Club Tag-A-Gift Program. The Junior Women's Club

works together with The Newtown Fund on the Holiday Gift Baskets by

contributing toys through its Tag-A-Gift program now going on in area banks.

"We've done it for so many years, people look for it," said Sue Rahmlow,

president of the Junior Women's Club.

To help residents buy appropriate gifts, the club has placed holiday trees

decorated with special ornaments at the Union Savings Bank on Church Hill

Road, at Fleet Bank on Queen Street, and at the Newtown Savings Bank in the

Sand Hill Plaza.

Ms Rahmlow said there will also be a gift tree at the Wesley Learning Center

in Sandy Hook, "but we don't anticipate there will be any tags remaining on

that tree, not taken by the preschool families."

"Each ornament has a tag attached that indicates the family's designated

number, whether the gift should be for a boy or girl, and what the child's age

is," said Ms Rahmlow.

"On the back of the tag, we've indicated if there are any special wishes they

have," she added.

After picking out an ornament and tag, and buying the gift, "please bring it

back to the bank unwrapped by December 15, with the tag attached," she added.

"You get to keep the ornament. That's our gift and thank you to families who

are helping us."

There is also a sign-up sheet nearby each Tag-A-Gift tree that should be

filled out before an ornament and tag are taken home.

"We wrap the gifts December 17 and deliver them on Depot Day December 20," Ms

Rahmlow said.

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Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

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Date: Fri 05-Dec-1997

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