COVID-19 changed how voting looked in Manchester this year. The State of CT required masks at all polling places and had installed new Official Ballot Drop Boxes at the town hall earlier this year.
Before 6:00 am, there was a long line of voters waiting to vote at Keeney School. At 8:00 pm, town officials collected the final ballots from the drop boxes.
I am grateful for all of the people in Manchester who coordinate and publish calendars of upcoming events at the various venues around town. Many are town employees.
This is a screenshot of the weekly view of the calendar for the first week of September. To find the interactive calendar, scroll to Calendar in the menu at the top and click on a view: Monthly, Weekly, or Upcoming Events. More information is available when you scroll over each event.
Due to COVID-19 there are fewer events happening in Manchester. Many institutions have either partially re-opened or have not re-opened at all.
I am grateful for all of the people in Manchester who coordinate and publish calendars of upcoming events at the various venues around town. Many are town employees.
This is just a screenshot of the monthly view of the July Calendar. To find the interactive calendar, scroll to Calendar in the menu at the top and click on a view: Monthly, Weekly, or Upcoming Events. More information is available when you scroll over each event.
Due to COVID-19 there are fewer events happening in Manchester. Many institutions have either partially re-opened or have not re-opened at all.
Not much has been happening in the Manchester area since the COVID Quarantine started in mid-March. Absent are the MCC Band Shell Concerts, Yard Goats Baseball Games, Senior Center classes, recreational opportunities, and TheaterWorks and LTM productions.
Even with a partial reopening in the state, we have felt the need to continue being cautious about social distancing and wearing a mask. We haven’t visited any indoor dining establishments or attended summer social gatherings. When we were out for our nightly walk around the block with Esther earlier this week, we were surprised by a sign advertising a concert at Center Memorial Park.
A quick look at the Beller’s Music website revealed this flyer.
We decided to check it out. Most people arrived wearing masks and kept them on until they were seated safely. There was a big sign letting us know how far apart to sit.
The weather was perfect. A socially distanced audience, relaxing music, and plenty of shady spots to sit created a joyful, soul-nourishing and much appreciated night out. The five-piece band, Autumn Mode, played selections made famous by Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye, and Steely Dan, to name a few.
I am grateful for all of the people in Manchester who coordinate and publish calendars of upcoming events at the various venues around town. Many are town employees.
This is a screenshot of the weekly view of the calendar. To find the Calendar, scroll to Calendar in the menu at the top and click on a view: Monthly, Weekly, or Upcoming Events. More information is available for each event in the calendar section.
With COVID 19 canceling events statewide, there is not much happening in Manchester in May. I am not sure how this calendar format will work when we are back up and running with a full calendar of events in Manchester.
I am grateful for all of the people in Manchester who coordinate and publish calendars of upcoming events at the various venues around town. Many are town employees.
I haven’t posted a calendar update in a few weeks. Since the last update, I’ve made some changes to the blog and calendar formats.
To find the Calendar, scroll to Calendar in the menu at the top and click on a view: Monthly, Weekly, or Upcoming Events.
With COVID 19 canceling events statewide, there is not much happening in Manchester to close out April. The biggest news is that the Board of Directors has voted to cancel summer camps.
It took me more than a year after retiring to enroll in some of the classes and groups at the Manchester Senior Center. I am grateful to have discovered the varied and appealing offerings and began taking classes in January of this year.
On Monday mornings I spend my time with the Digital Photography Group. We have been watching a series of videos by National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore, sharing and discussing pictures we have taken on our own, and creating a bulletin board for some of our favorite photos.
I’ve met some really nice people in this group with an interest in photography and a willingness to share tips and pointers. March 9 was our last session together before everything was cancelled. It was a beautiful, sunny, late winter day and we took a field trip to the greenhouse at Elizabeth Park in Hartford.
Here are some more of my photos from that trip:
I am looking forward to re-joining this friendly group of senior shutterbugs when this crisis is over.
The media arrived in Manchester before sunrise this morning. What’s the attraction? Super bowl Sunday? Road Race? No, just Chuckles making her predications.
According to Mayor Jay Moran, who speaks fluent groundhog, Chuckles made two predictions.
Manchester is located at the eastern edge of Connecticut’s First Congressional District. Our elected representative to Congress is John Larson of East Hartford.
In mid-October, at Goodwin College, Representative Larson spoke to seniors about the Social Security Program. I went to hear what he had to say. The following is what I learned:
Basic Facts
Misconceptions about Social Security
Representative Larson’s Proposal
Plan to Pay for the Proposal
Partisan Issues
Manchester’s contribution to the East Coast Greenway is the Charter Oak Trail. The East Coast Greenway “connects 15 states and 450 cities and towns for 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida. We are fostering a safe walking and biking route through the country’s most populated corridor.”
Many, many, many years ago a friend and I rode on ten speed bikes from West Palm Beach, Florida to West Hartford, CT. The East Coast Greenway did not exist in 1980 so we rode on back roads like Route 1 and 1A in Florida and Route 17 through Georgia and the Carolinas. We encountered a small problem in New Jersey and took quite a risk by riding our bikes on the Garden State Parkway from one exit to the next.
When the Greenway is complete a bike rider could ride from Florida to Maine almost entirely away from busy streets and traffic. Back in the day, I never would have dreamed this was possible. Given how polarized the country is today, the East Coast Greenway Alliance continues to be an amazing feat of interstate communication, cooperation and sharing of resources.
The East Coast Greenway is 33% complete but the section of the greenway located in Manchester is 100% complete. Enjoy the ride!!
