PRIDE IN MANCHESTER. That’s the premise behind (and formerly the name of) a weeklong series of free, fun community events that takes place in early June each year. Celebrate Manchester, as it's now known, kicks off with a concert in Center Memorial Park on Saturday night and then an Art Show there on Sunday. We have details below in a jam-packed calendar that includes a student-run Manchestival at MHS tomorrow afternoon. But for starters here are some photos from last Friday's field day fun in our elementary schools:

You'll find more on the district Facebook page.

"Soul Sound Revue' performs in Center Memorial Park on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and the next day at the same site is a free art and craft festival with more than 100 booths plus music, food and more. You'll find all the details in this flier plus we've listed all the 'Celebrate Manchester' events (marked with a double-asterisk) in the very busy calendar below:

Thursday, June 1
1:30 - 6:30 p.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.

Friday, June 2

5-7 p.m. -- Manchestival at MHS (games, music, food) at MHS, sponsored by Class of '24
** 7:30 p.m. -- Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ opens at Cheney Hall and runs through June 18.

Saturday, June 3

** Times vary -- The Manchester Woman’s Club's Town Wide Tag Sale (rain date is Sunday). Click the link for more.

** All day -- ‘Take a Hike National Trail Day’; here is a guide to help explore Manchester’s 109 miles of trails.

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- Illing Middle School National Junior Honor Society can and bottle fundraiser at Illing Middle School.

** 10 a.m. -- Manchester Women’s Club scavenger hunt begins and runs through June 10

** 10 a.m. - 2 p.m -- Old Manchester Museum is open, 126 Cedar St.
** 1 p.m -- History Walk #11 of 23 in 2023: Center Springs, 39 Lodge Dr.

2 - 3 p.m. -- Playwright Christopher Baker visits Cheney Hall.
** 6:30 p.m. -- Concert in the Park featuring ‘Soul Sound Review,’ Center Memorial Park.

Sunday, June 4
** 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. -- Manchester Art Association’s ‘Art in the Park’ at Center Memorial Park.
** 1 p.m. -- History Walk #12 of 23 in 2023: Salters Pond, 123 Lydall St.
2 -3 p.m. -- Concert of Klezmer music at Unitarian Universalist Society East at 153 Vernon Street West.

Monday, June 5
6 p.m. -- Flower wine cork wreath craft at Mary Cheney Library.
7 - 8 p.m. -- Can and bottle drive at World-Wide Lighthouse Missions, 16 Brainard Place.

Tuesday, June 6
6 p.m. -- Manchester Youth Commission meeting at Lincoln Center.
** 6 -8 p.m. -- Line Dance Party to celebrate Manchester’s 200th anniversary at Senior Center, 549 Middle Tpke East.
7 p.m. -- BOD meeting at Lincoln Center.

To see the flier for all the Dutch Fogarty Day events, click here.

• Click the links for info on the MARC Concert Series and the Beller’s Summer Concert Series that will be happening in July and August.
  

• The Off-Main Experience returns to Purnell Place on the third Thursday of June, July, August and September.

• The Lutz has a seven-week summer camp program starting on July 3 that will take campers on a journey through time. Click here for registration information.

The weather was nice and the turnout strong for Monday's parade.

Two events at the high school brought people together recently as the National Honor Society sponsored a MARC 'Luau" and MHS also hosted a trade career fair.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS:

MACC Minutes: Volunteer Spotlight on Nathan and Community Spotlight on a donation of 470 fresh cookies from ‘Crumbl Cookie;’ the next Knights of Columbus monthly food drive will be June 17 at St. James Church.

Manchester Historical Society: Find out how many Manchester churches were led by women in 1973 (hint: the answer shouldn’t surprise you); free history walks on Saturday and Sunday; History Day is June 10 in Connecticut and many museums will be open free of charge.

Manchester Land Conservation Trust: Pictures from the annual meeting and dinner; info on a recent purchase agreement for a 19.4 acre property; upcoming events at Salter’s Pond and Stickney Hill and more.

Manchester Matters: The town of Manchester has job openings; dog licensing begins today and water main cleaning continues….Concert in the Park on Saturday, MAA’s ‘Art in the Park’ on Sunday. Click here to subscribe.

• The Hartford Shockers will host an ECBL playoff game on June 10 at East Catholic.Check back next week for more details.
  
• Manchester PAL is sponsoring a 3 on 3 basketball tournament at Charter Oak Park in July and August. Click here for sign-up info.
• Manchester Soccer Club is holding travel tryouts for the 2023-24 season in June. Click here for details.
• And if you are looking into summer soccer camps, you can register for one-week sessions in July and August by clicking here.

Students had a blast at the school talent show last Friday and the following day the boys and girls teams were each victorious at the state middle school track meet.

Below are Mahki Henderson, who cleared 5’10 in the high jump, and Harper Shirley (an eighth grader at Odyssey who competes for Illing), who won both the 800- and 1600-meter events.

• An Evening of the Arts is scheduled for Thursday, June 8 (5:30-7:30 p.m.) in the MHS cafeteria.
• The groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of Keeney Elementary is Monday, June 12 at 5:30 p.m.
• The next BoE meeting will be on June 12 in Lincoln Center at 7 p.m. with an end-of-year update and Teacher of the Year presentation.

• Manchester High’s graduation will be held on Memorial Field on June 14 (rain date: June 15). Here are other 'Senior Sendoff' dates.
• The last day of classes is Friday, June 16 (except for MHS and Bentley, which have a makeup day on Tuesday, June 20.

MHS seniors gathered on Memorial Field Wednesday to celebrate achievements as their high school careers wind down. They'll be back on the same field June 14 for graduation.

• 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, anything, 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.