HONK if you like student theater. The Illing Drama Club has been hard at work and for the next three nights will be on the Bailey Auditorium stage performing ‘Honk! Jr.’, the musical tale of the ugly duckling. We have details below as well as more from our middle school including spring sports photos. This is also Rebuilding Manchester weekend and there’s a big teacher-recruiting event scheduled for a week from tonight at MHS.

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal for ‘Honk! Jr.’, which opens tonight at 7 p.m. at Bailey Auditorium ....

There are additional performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. Below are photos from Tuesday's baseball game against Sage Park. Illing scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning win its season opener 9-6.

Also:

• Manchester Public Schools Teacher of the Year Jason Daniels talks about the important role of a teacher in young people's lives in this inspiring video.

The district music department has a busy month of May planned with seven concerts at Bailey Auditorium and we have the schedule here.

In other news:

• Manchester Adult and Continuing Education is offering a fee-based STEAM camp for school-aged students from July 31 to Aug. 18. Here's the flier.
  
• The kindergarten registration window for the 2023-2024 school year is now open. Parents/guardians of children whose fifth birthday falls on or before January 1, 2024, may begin the registration process by visiting the registration page of the district website.
• Online enrollment for MELC's summer program is under way; this is for children currently in grade K-6 and runs from July 3 through Aug. 11. For details click here.

The Manchester Youth Commission is recruiting students entering grades 9-12 in the fall. The application to serve on the MYC has been extended to May 20. Find more info on this flier and apply here.

MHS offers endless options: Yesterday a career fair gave students a chance to meet with dozens of local business people and others (at far left is Christine Rosinski from the U.S. Navy); April vaca brought a different level of exploration as a contingent of 40 traveled to Spain -- a journey chronicled on both Facebook and Instagram.

There will be an ice cream social on the MHS track on May 16 from 4-6 p.m. to support Project Graduation. Click here for details ... The Class of '23 is selling fun novelty socks to help keep the costs down for students to attend the prom and Senior Class picnic; the details are here. ... Purchase your lawn sign to honor an MHS senior by April 30 by clicking here. ... Pink Flamingos in the yard are a fun, positive way to celebrate high school accomplishments. Click here to "flock" a friend from the Class of ‘23.

Representatives of Adelbrook Academy will be at Mary Cheney Library tonight for a program on understanding autism; Saturday is Rebuilding Together day in town.

Thursday, April 27
2:30 - 6 p.m. -- Teen Center is open, 63 Linden St.
6 p.m. -- Hospice Care: Get the Facts, at Manchester Memorial Hospital, 71 Haynes St.
6:30 p.m. -- Just Keep Stimming - Understanding Autism at Mary Cheney Library.

Friday, April 28
10 a.m. - noon -- Preschool playgroup at Mary Cheney Library.
3:30 p.m. -- Arbor Day celebration at 330 Bush Hill Rd.
7:30 p.m. -- Minnesota singer/songwriter Peter Mayer solo concert at Unitarian Universalist Society, 153 Vernon St.

Saturday, April 29
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- The Illing National Junior Honor Society is holding a can and bottle drive fundraiser in the Illing Middle school parking lot.
9 a.m. - noon -- Rebuilding Together in Manchester.
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. -- Civil War Drill Day at Wickham Park.
10 a.m. - noon -- Polish food sale at St. John’s Catholic Church, 23 Golway St.
7 -8 p.m. -- Angelia Gadeliya Concert at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 60 Church St..

Monday, May 1
10:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m. -- Storytime at Whiton Library.
7 - 8 p.m. -- Can and bottle drive at World-Wide Lighthouse Missions, 16 Brainard Place.

Tuesday, May 2
6:30 - 7:15 p.m.. -- Storytime at Whiton Library.

Down the Road:

• The Butterfly Stroll returns to Main St. and the Lions Club will hold a free fishing derby - both on May 13.

• The Manchester Land and Conservation Trust’s annual giant tag sale will take place May 19 -27 at the barn on 330 Bush Hill Rd.

• Manchester Running Company’s ‘Spring Street Mile’ will be back on May 20. Click here to register.

• 300 Years of Manchester exhibit: The Present can be seen at The Lutz through May 28.

From left that's Beth Stafford, Tamara Womack-Speaks and Kelly Ray, who were honored at yesterday's 122nd annual meeting of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

• The Courant has the latest on a proposed Downtown makeover that would reduce traffic lanes, widen sidewalks and add roundabouts at the north and south ends. Check it out.
• The Courant also looks back 50 years to the mysterious disappearance of 7-year-old Janice Pockett, whose sister Mary Engelbrecht is a Manchester resident.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS:

• Better Manchester Magazine: the summer program and event guide; updates on the town’s Bicentennial celebration, community voice stories and more.
• Manchester Adult & Continuing Education: Meet Rome, the newest addition to the Adult Ed family, who posed for a pic with Dr. C-K just a few hours after entering the world.
• Manchester Historical Society: a big thank you to those who volunteered to help clean up the Cheney Homestead, more about Trolley Day, etc.
• Manchester Matters: Job openings, info on water and energy assistance programs and more. Click here for a free subscription.

More Sports:

• Manchester Knights football and cheerleading registration will be held May 1-5 at Illing Middle School from 6 - 8 p.m. Click here for details.
• Manchester Little League's second Opening Day will be held on May 6. Click the link for details.
• Manchester Travel Basketball is sponsoring a Mini Ballers spring session at Bennet Academy for Manchester students in grades 1-4. Click here for dates and 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.

On Tuesday, the MHS Young Men’s Leadership Group spent the day at the Manchester Ropes

Challenge Course on Hillstown Road working on team building skills.

• 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.