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Election Day in Manchester

6:00 am to 8:00 pm

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.

 

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Overflow Parking at Keeney School at 6:00 am
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Long Lines at 6:15 am
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Keeney School at 6:30 am
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Ballot Drop Boxes at 2:00
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Ballot Drop Box at Town Hall
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Volunteers Helping out the Candidates at 3:15 pm
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Voters at 3:30 pm
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Voting almost over 7:45 pm
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MPD Safeguarding Last Ballot Pickup
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8:00 pm Ballot Collection
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Final Ballots Collected
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September Calendar

Screen Shot 2020-09-01 at 11.45.06 AMI 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.

 

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July Calendar

Screen Shot 2020-07-21 at 4.15.54 PMI 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.

 

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What a Treat!! A Break from COVID-19 Monotony!

Thank you Beller’s Music!!!

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.

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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.

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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.

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We eagerly anticipate attending more Beller’s Music Thursday Night Concerts during this pandemic summer!

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May Calendar

Screen Shot 2020-05-16 at 3.54.25 PMI 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.

 

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Calendar

Screen Shot 2020-04-26 at 5.07.04 PMI 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.

 

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Digital Photography at the Senior Center

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.DSC_0216

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.

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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:

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I am looking forward to re-joining this friendly group of senior shutterbugs when this crisis is over.

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Chuckles Picks KC

The media arrived in Manchester before sunrise this morning. What’s the attraction? Super bowl Sunday? Road Race? No, just Chuckles making her predications.

Town Troubadours Bill Ludwig and Dan Miller lead the early risers in a song to coax Chuckles out and make predictions.

According to Mayor Jay Moran, who speaks fluent groundhog, Chuckles made two predictions.

  • Early Spring
  • KC will win tonight

 

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John Larson & Social Security

Manchester is located at the eastern edge of Connecticut’s First Congressional District.  Our elected representative to Congress is John Larson of East Hartford.fullsizeoutput_2f16

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

  • Social Security is in good shape right now with $3 trillion in the fund
  • 10,000 people a day are retiring (Boomers)
  • Social Security will start to run out in 2034
  • In 2034 Social Security will have to be cut 20% across the board to remain solvent
  • 63 million people receive social security benefits
  • More than 5 million people living on social security are receiving below poverty level benefits
  • Almost 3.4 million of the 5 million receiving below poverty benefits are women
  • Each Congressional District has an average of 125,000 people receiving social security benefits
  • Increases in Social Security Payments go right back into the local economy as people use the money to buy food, medication and heat for homes
  • AARP supports using CPI-E (Consumer Product Index – Elderly)
  • FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contribution Act

Misconceptions about Social Security

  • Social Security is not an entitlement; it is an earned benefit
  • Social Security is not a tax; it is a pre-tax contribution
    • However, it is called a FICA tax, so that is a little confusing

Representative Larson’s Proposal

  • raise the minimum payment to 125% of poverty level for everyone who has worked 40 quarters
  • The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) would adopt the CPI-E formula
  • Cut taxes for Social Security recipients who continue to work
    • the bill would increase the minimum someone can earn before paying taxes from $24,000 to $50,000 for a single person and $32,000 to $100,000 for a couple
  • Make the fund solvent for 75 years

Plan to Pay for the Proposal

  • Additional FICA contribution of 50 cents a week for every $50,000/yr in income
  • Contribution capped at $400,000/yr rather than $139,200/yr
    • Right now the FICA contribution of 6.2% is paid on income up to $132,000

Partisan Issues

  • No Republicans in the house have signed on to the bill
  • 400 bills are sitting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk awaiting movement to the Senate floor
  • The only Republican proposal to date would cut benefits by 30%

What do 74% of Americans (Republicans, Independents and Democrats) agree on?

  • Hearing from witnesses at the Impeachment Trial of President Trump is a good guess but is not the correct answer.
  • The correct answer is fixing Social Security.

 

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Charter Oak Greenway – Bolton to East Hartford

 

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!!