OneManchester

VENTANAS & ESPEJOS. That’s Spanish for Windows & Mirrors and it’s the name of an exhibit that opens at WORK_SPACE tomorrow night. Pieces from artists in the school district and throughout Connecticut will be featured in a celebration of Hispanic (Latino/a/e/x) Heritage and Culture -- all of which was also on display last Saturday:

Live music, food and fun made the town's annual Hispanic Heritage Day celebration special and to learn more about National Hispanic Heritage Month, click here.

Dads and family men are invited to participate in an 8-week Fatherhood Strategies development course, starting Thursday, Sept. 26 at Verplanck Elementary. Dinner will be served, and child care is available. Learn how to engage, support, and raise successful children with expert guidance from Doug Edwards of Real Dads Forever. Click for more and to here is a quick vidclip from Doug himself.

Also

• Manchester Adult & Continuing Ed will be offering CNA certification course Manchester High starting Oct. 7. The classes meet on Mondays and Wednesday and the cost is well-below market value at $200 for current MA&CE students and $350 for for non-students. Click here for details and here for other class offerings.

• Boys and girls throughout the district are invited to a free day of activities, mentorship, medical exposure, and networking on Saturday, Nov. 9 (8 a.m. - 3 p.m.) in Waterbury. Click here for more information. (Students in grades 3 and up are eligible but this is an especially great opportunity for middle and high schoolers.)

• Suicide Prevention: The attached bulletins (in English and in Spanish) were developed through a collaborative effort among the Department of Children and Families, the Department Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Office of Child Advocate, the Department of Public Health, the State Department of Education, and the Governor's Office. The content includes information on suicide, helpful tips to support people of all ages, and where to go for additional support and resources.
• COVID etc.: Students should stay home until they've been fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. Mask-wearing for 5 days is optional upon their return to school.

Thursday, Sept. 26
9:30 - 10:15 a.m. -- Toddling Tots at Mary Cheney Library.
11 a.m. -- MARC, Inc Golf Tournament at Manchester Country Club
12:30 - 5:30 p.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.
6 - 8 p.m. -- Prison Arts Annual Show at CT State Community College (formerly MCC)
6:30 p.m. -- Medleys and Memories: Reflections of Manchester’s Town Troubadour at Whiton Library.

Friday, Sept . 27
10 a.m. -- Preschool Playgroup at Mary Cheney Library.
5:30 - 7 p.m. -- Ventanas & Espejos’ (‘Windows & Mirrors’) art exhibit opening at WORK_SPACE, 903 Main St.
7 p.m. -- Huey Lewis & The News Tribute Show at Cheney Hall.

Saturday, Sept. 28
8 a.m. - noon -- MACC’s Farmers Market at Forest St. parking lot- canceled till further notice.
9 a.m. - noon -- BSA Troop 27 can and bottle drive at Bennet Academy
9 a.m. - noon -- Eastside Clean-up starting at 153 Spruce St.
7 p.m. -- The Music of Carole King at Cheney Hall.

Monday, Sept. 30
9:30 - 10:15 a.m. -- Shake, Rattle & Roll for ages 2-5 at Mary Cheney Library.
10:30 -- 11:15 a.m. -- Dino Time for ages 2 -5 at Whiton Library.
6:30 p.m. -- Local mystery author Karen E. Olson at Mary Cheney Library.
6:30 - 7:30 p.m. -- Seed Collecting and Storage at Whiton Library.

Tuesday Oct. 1
7 p.m. -- BoD meeting, Lincoln Center.
6:30 - 7:15 p.m. -- Shake, Rattle & Roll for 2-5 year olds at Whiton Library.

Wednesday, Oct. 2
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. -- Flu shot clinic at MARC, Inc, 161 Sheldon Rd.
9:30 - 10 a.m. -- Baby Rhyme Time at Mary Cheney Library.
10:30 - 11:15 a.m. -- Preschool Fun with Math Storytime at Whiton Library.
4 - 7 p.m. -- Northwest Park Farmers Market,448 Tolland Tpke.
6:30 - 8 p.m. -- Poetry at WORK_SPACE, 903 Main St.
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. -- East Side Neighborhood Block Watch meeting at 153 Spruce St.

Nathan Hale Park: The town has scheduled a Nathan Hale Park Improvement Engagement Session for Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Eastside Neighborhood Resource Center, 153 Spruce Street (across the street from Nathan Hale). This will include a guided tour of the Nathan Hale school grounds and the chance to learn about the community parks improvement plan for that area. Click for more.

Bike Friendly Campaign: Manchester has submitted an application to the League of American Bicyclists to potentially be recognized as a Bike Friendly Community and as part of the process is conducting a survey with results to be shared with town leadership. For more info click here.

From the YSB: The Youth Service Bureaus is offering lots of opportunities of note. He are some in-school programs (FACTS, Girl Circles and Voices) and a list of Fall and Winter programs (employment readiness, cooking, birdwatching and much more).

• Volunteers are needed for an Eastside Cleanup on Saturday. Click here for more details.

• Docents are needed for the historic open house tour (seven houses around Manchester) being conducted by the Manchester Sculpture Project group on Oct. 26. Click here for more information.

• LabWorks for Teens is a no-cost after-school program offered to MHS students at Leisure Labs. Click here for more information.

• The Manchester Early Learning Center has before and after school programs and you can learn more by clicking here.

• Cheney Hall is offering a ‘Headshots for Actors’ fundraiser through Monday. Click here for more info.

• MACC Charities presents ‘The Journey’ - a musical fundraiser on Oct. 4 and 5 at Bailey Auditorium.

• Rotary in Motion, an ‘All Abilities Community Outing’ returns to Charter Oak Park, on Oct. 5.

• The Elks Club is sponsoring an Americana Worksop for kids ages 2 -6 on Oct 5. Click here to learn more.

• There will be a Nathan Hale park improvement engagement session on Oct. 10 at 153 Spruce St. Click here for details

• Save the Date: The Sculpture Project’s House Tour will be on Saturday, Oct 26.

• Daylight Savings ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 3.

MHS senior Liz Schoeneberger has been nominted for GametimeCT Athlete of the Week. Five student-athletes from across the state are selected each week and its up to the fans to decide who wins, so here is your chance to help Liz win the title and represent Red Hawk Nation. Voting began Tuesday morning and will close tonight (Thursday, Sept. 26) at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be announced on Friday around noon.

The Red Hawks are 7-0-1 going into Friday's game at E. O. Smith and have outscored their opponants by a 54-6 margin. Liz leads the team with 25 goals and has four games with four goals or more.

"Liz is not only our leading goal scorer, but is a leader in every way and a great teammate who always puts the team first," said head coach Joe Finocchiaro. Click here to vote for Liz.

The MHS football team won for the second time in as many game when it beat Hall 21-14 last Friday and will host Xavier tonight in a rare Thursday night game starting at 6 p.m. Click here for tickets to tonight's game.

Also:

• Businesses interested in displaying an advertising banner at MHS home football games can click here for info.
• And click here for more pictures from the Hall game and here for the complete MHS fall schedule.

Online registration for the 88th Manchester Road Race is under way. The entry fee is $32 for runners who sign up on-line prior to 12 midnight EST on Oct. 1. The entry fee increases thereafter to $37 on Tuesday and to $42 on Nov. 23. Click here for registration information.

Soccer Notes:

• The MHS soccer teams have a mums fundraiser going on at Woodland Gardens through Oct. 5. Click here for details.
• The teams are also selling tickets to the UCONN Men's soccer game on Sunday, Saturday, Oct. 12. Here is the link to purchase: UCONN Soccer Tickets

Also:

• The Manchester Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner will be held on Nov. 2 at Georgina's in Bolton. You can read about this year's inductees and get ticket info by clicking here.
• Tylon Smith's fall basketball preseason skill training is happening at Illing Middle School on Mondays and Wednesdays. Click here for info.
• Manchester Travel Basketball will be sponsoring basketball clinics for boys and girls in grades 4 -8 on Fridays at Bennet Academy starting Sept. 20. Click here for more details.
• The Manchester Knights are offering flag football for 4 -5 year-olds at Martin School on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Click here for details.

Historians believe that piñatas evolved from a combination of Chinese, Spanish, Aztec, and Mexican cultural, religious, and artistic traditions. Holding one here is State Sen. MD Rahman.

DON'T FORGET THE ANNEX: This is our spillover space to other newsletters, social media accounts and more, including the 'OneManchester Planner', which has even has more calendar listings for the months ahead. Plus we share a special flashback photo from Paul Ofria each week. To get to The Annex, click here.

• NOTE: OneManchester is compiled by the school district's communications office but is dependent on contributions from people and institutions throughout the town and school district. So if you have something that you think people would want to know about, please let us know. Photos, fliers, links, tips, whatever -- please share with Paul Ofria at pofria@mpspride.org.