THE PODUNKS. That’s the name of the indigenous tribe that once lived in this area that we now call Manchester, and tonight at Whiton Library you can learn about what life for them was like before Europeans arrived -- and what happened in the years that followed. We have more below and also a look ahead to a busy but longer-by-one-hour weekend that includes four church craft fairs on Saturday and History Walk #23 on Sunday, when because we’ve turned back our clocks it will be darker than usual in the late afternoon.

Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers, standouts on the UConn women's basketball team, visited Julie Barbash's room at Martin yesterday morning. Azzi and Paige joined the second grade class for Morning Meeting and read them a book about Election Day.

Student journalists at MHS including hosts Madelyn Spina and Mahdi Jilu used WORK_SPACE as their home base to create a special edition of 'The Pulse' that has features on Urban Lodge, Charter Oak Park and more. Click here to watch.

At Waddell, students last week took advantage of unseasonably warm weather to compete in pumpkin-roll relays during physical education class.

• The next BoE meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 13 at Lincoln Center with a human capital and talent update on the agenda.
• Project Graduation raises funds all year long so MHS seniors can have a safe, fun place to celebrate after their commencement ceremony in June. The next fundraiser is a dine out night at DQ on Monday (Nov. 6). Click to see the flier.
• The MHS cheerleaders are doing a 'double good' popcorn fundraiser and the info is here.

Thursday, Nov. 2
10:15 - 11:15 a.m. -- Preschool Picassos for children ages 2-5 at Mary Cheney Library.
12:30 - 5:30 p.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.
6:30 p.m. -- The Podunks at Manchester at Whiton Library.

Friday, Nov. 3
10 a.m. -- Preschool Playgroup at Mary Cheney Library.
6:30 - 7:30 p.m. -- Food for Yoga at Community Y, 78 North Main St.

Saturday, Nov. 4
8 a.m. - Noon -- Free Shred Event at Public Works parking lot, 321 Olcott St.
10 a.m. - noon -- Manchester’s Community Baby Shower at Manchester Memorial Hospital, 71 Hayes St.
10:30 - 11a.m. -- A Tree For Your Present! Follow the town’s new Holiday tree from Charter Oak Park up Main Street to its new home at Center Congregational Church, 11 Center St.
4:30 p.m. -- Manchester Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner at Georgina’s Restaurant, Bolton.

Sunday, Nov. 5
2 a.m. -- Turn back your clock one hour.
1 p.m. -- 23 Walks: North End, starting 41 North Main St.
4 p.m. -- New World Trio Concert at UUSE, 153 Vernon St.U, 153 Vernon St. West,UUSE, 153 Vernon St. West,

Monday, Nov. 6
9:30 - 10:15 a.m. -- ABC Storytime at Mary Cheney Library.
10:30 - 11:15 a.m. -- Dino Time @ Whiton, at Whiton Library.
6:30 p.m. -- Happily Ever After Book Club at Whiton Library.
7 - 8 p.m. -- Can and bottle drive at World-Wide Lighthouse Missions, 16 Brainard Place.

Further Down The Road:

• Disney’s ‘Beauty & the Beast’ will be at Cheney Hall Nov. 10 - 26. Click here for dates, times and ticket info.
  

• The Town of Manchester’s leaf collection program begins on Nov. 13. Everything you need to know about the program is here.

• The mobile mammography van will be at the Community Y on Nov. 30 and you can find out how to make an appointment by clicking here.

• The 8th Annual Manchester CT Jazz Festival returns to Cheney Hall on Dec. 2. Click here for ticket info.

• Help kids fighting cancer on PJ Day for the Kids on Friday, Dec. 8. Click here to find out more.

• Santa’s Workshop at Wickham Park opens on Dec. 12 and runs through Dec. 23. Click the link for the schedule.

More than 120 residents attended two recent community input sessions to share their ideas about and vision for a 21st Century public library in town and those who were not able to take part can weigh in via a survey you'll find here.

MHS senior Sam Johnson (left) completed the boys LL championship race in 17:38 (42nd out of 152) at Wickham Park on Monday while freshman Harper Shirley came in third (19:12) in the girls race and helped lead her team to a sixth place finish and a spot in the state open meet on Monday. We have more photos from the races on our sports Facebook page.

ALSO:

• Registration for the Manchester Road Race continues (6673 have signed up through Wednesday) and note some key dates leading up to the race by clicking here.

There are (at least) four holiday/craft fairs in town on Saturday -- at Center Congregational (9 a.m. -2 p.m.), Second Congregational (9-3), South Methodist (9-2) and Cornerstone Christian School (10-3).

If you have an event coming up and want the 10,000-ish people who read OneManchester to know about it, contact Paul Ofria at pofria@mpspride.org

DONT FORGET THE ANNEX: This is our new 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.