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Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021

We launched our 'Humans of Manchester' gallery in August 2015 and today feature our 600th subject, a man whose barbecue restaurant has deep family roots. Like our gallery, Thomas' Smokey Pit Stop is still going strong -- no small feat considering it opened last March just as our town was closing down. The story is right below along with our usual collections of news, notes and more. And if you want to subscribe to OneManchester, just click here.

HUMANS
OF MANCHESTER

Pulled pork, jerk wings, smoke sausage. Darryl Thomas makes it all taste so good. His restaurant is on West Middle Turnpike; our gallery is on Facebook and Instagram.

Black History Month

WALK AND TALK

Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be An Antiracist" will be the first book discussed in Manchester Public Library's new Walking Book Club, which will debut in April. The MPL FB page will have more soon.

Note: Black History Month events are almost all online this year and the Courant has an overview.

School News

BOE MEETS MONDAY

The Board of Education meets Monday night at 7 with an agenda highlighted by the Winter Data update. For information on how to watch (and even participate) please click here.

RED HAWK HOOPS

MHS played its first home game on Tuesday and we have it covered on the OneManchester Sports Facebook page.

MEALS FOR STUDENTS

Here's the district's remote meal pickup schedule along with a reminder -- the pick up area at MHS is on the Freshman Center side of the building; use the parking lot off of Summit Street and follow the bus loop to the first set of doors:

Bennet -- 11:00 a.m.-noon
Buckley, Waddell & MHS -- noon-1 p.m.
MHS -- 3-4 p.m. (includes frozen items for next-day lunch)

SCHOOL SNAPSHOTS

Students were busy at Buckley (above) and Highland Park; we have more photos on the district Facebook page.

REMINDERS, ETC:

The district website has lots of other news and information including a COVID dashboard.
For the latest Adult Ed newsletter, please click here.

News, Notes Etc.

COVID RELATED

The town has a winter weather safety page on its website, which also has a dashboard devoted to COVID data.
For COVID-19 notifications from the state, text COVIDCT to 888-777 or sign up at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVIDCT

IN THE NEWS

PRIME TIME

Amazon will be one of the tenants in the former (and still massive) JC Penney warehouse. The JI has details.

Also:

Patch reports that the listing price on the former Manchester Drive-In property is now under $1 million.
Click here for the Manchester Historical Society's latest newsletter.
We have food drive information listed here and food availability here,

Calendar

Saturday night brings an online raffle to benefit MHS freshman Hannah Forstell, who for more than a year has been fighting cancer. She's shown here with mom and dad during a parade celebrating her progress last April.

Saturday, Feb 20 (12 p.m. and 8 p.m.) -- Manchester Historical Society’s February TV show on channel 15
Saturday, Feb. 20 (7 p.m.) -- Forstellstrong Benefit Raffle
Saturday, Feb. 20 (10:45 a.m.) -- Love Your Pet virtual races to benefit Petsmart Charities
Sunday, Feb. 21 (2-4 p.m.) -- International Mother Language Day virtual event
Saturday, Feb. 22 (9 a.m. - noon) -- Polish Food Sale at St.John’s Church, 23 Golway St.
Monday, Feb. 22 (7 p.m.) -- BOE meeting (virtual)
Tuesday, Feb 23 (7-8:30 p.m.) -- Creative Writing Workshop led by WORK_Space’s Stacey Zakin

Also:

Check out the OneManchester planner for more calendar items.

600 And Counting ...

A 'Humans of Manchester' Milestone

Our 'Humans' gallery has reached another milestone, as we've now told 600 stories that collectively paint a compelling picture of a fascinating community. The gallery is on both Facebook and Instagram.

OneManchester is compiled by Jim Farrell of the school district's communications office and he can be reached at b11jfarr@mpspride.org or 860-268-6377. OneManchester has been published since August 2017, is always free, and has not been hacked since Sept. 12, 2019, Want to subscribe? Just click here.