TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, Manchester officially became Manchester. The town we now live in was then a section of East Hartford called Orford Parish, but parishioners filed documents with the state to ‘incorporate’ as a separate community. A bicentennial launch event was held at town hall yesterday and we have more on that below and also evidence that the future is bright, as our series spotlighting MHS upperclassmen rolls on.

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SHENNELLE. MATT. NATALIE. JOEY. They are the latest to be featured in our special student series of the 'Humans of Manchester' gallery. You can read all about them on the district Facebook page and other MPS social media sites.

Sophomore Sheela Wilke was a winner in the jewelry category of the statewide Scholastic Arts program while classmate Shaleya Waldron was a winner in the drawing category. Their art is below and you can read more here.

The CIAC released a nice video featuring senior Carolyn Miner and her mother, MHS Principal Katelyn Miner. Carolyn recently broke a school swimming record that had been set 32 years ago by Katelyn, a 1991 MHS grad. You can see it here.

• The third of three BoE workshops examining Superintendent Matt Geary's proposed 2023-24 school budget will be tonight at Lincoln Center.
• Geary's proposal, which would increase spending by 4.38 percent to $125 million, will be voted on by the BoE next month and then sent to the town manager, with the Board of Directors eventually determining the amount of the school appropriation.

• The next regular BOE meeting will be on Feb. 13. A vote on the budget is scheduled and Humanities and STEM K-12 updates are also on the agenda.

First graders at Martin Elementary show off their latest books.

Other School Notes

• MPS families -- if you have not yet taken the Winter Family Survey, please do. Your input is valuable and makes a difference.

• FirstView, our new bus tracking and parent communications app, lets you track where your child’s bus is in real-time and has a multi-stop view if you have multiple students on different buses. Click for details.

• Winter weather can take a toll on school attendance so please consider these steps to keep your children healthy and in school.
• MHS Class of '23 Project Graduation is looking for donations and volunteers. Click here to learn more.

Thursday, Jan. 26
6 p.m. -- BOE Budget Workshop at Lincoln Center.
6 - 8 p.m. -- Civilian Police Review, 2nd floor, Town Hall, 41 Center St.
1:30 - 6:30 p.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.

Saturday, Jan. 28
10 a.m. - noon -- Polish food sale at St.John’s Church, 23 Golway St.
10:30 a.m. -- Learn when and how to fight back - a free clinic at The Academy of Martial Arts & Personal Development, 1404 Tolland Tpke.

1 - 2:30 p.m. -- Rail Trail history hike (free) starting at 220 North Main St.(behind Key Bank).
2:30 - 4 p.m. -- Winter Tree Craft at Whiton Library.
5-7 p.m. -- GZGN Family Game Night at New River Church, 314Woodbridge St.

Monday, Jan. 30
6 - 8 p.m. -- Songwriters Group meeting at WORK_SPACE, 901 Main St.
6:30 - 7:30 p.m. -- The 1950 Census at Mary Cheney Library.

Wednesday, Feb. 1
12:30 - 6 p.m. -- The Teen Center at YSB is back and open on Wednesdays, 63 Linden St.
6 - 7 p.m. -- Beyond the Amistad: Black History at the CHS at Whiton Memorial Library.
8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at Manchester Memorial Hospital, 71 Haynes St.

DOWN THE ROAD

• Find out if we are going to have and early spring and meet Chuckles, Connecticut’s official groundhog at the Lutz on Feb. 2.

• Cheney Hall has a full season of shows on tap for 2023, starting with Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery that opens on Feb. 3.

• MACC’s 3rd Annual Souper Bowl of Caring is on Saturday, Feb 11 - pre-order by Feb. 8.

• The Mother Language Day celebration will be Feb. 25 and 26 and the ‘Language is Art’ exhibit will be on display at the Feb. 26 main event starting at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby of Bailey Auditorium. The exhibit can be viewed before and after the main event program.

• Save the Date: April 29 for Rebuilding Together in Manchester.

The swimming pool at Manchester High School was dedicated in honor of the late Dominic J. Squatrito, who was a record-setting diver at MHS (class of '57) and went on to become a U.S. District Court judge. He died in 2021 at age 82.

ALSO

The Transitional Living Center, a private, non-profit Manchester institution since 1981, is looking for volunteers to serve on its Board of Directors. TLC is a residential facility for Manchester children and youth who, through no fault of their own, cannot live at home. Click here for more information.

Secure Yourself A Job: A Security Guard Certification course is being offered by Manchester Adult & Continuing Ed this Saturday and Tuesday (Jan. 28 and 31.) Click here for registration info.

SPORTS NOTES

• The 35th Buzz Wooldridge Invitational Basketball tournament will be held at Illing Middle School, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Jan. 26 - 28) Click here for the schedule.

• Support Manchester High School hockey players by donating items for their Hockey Fights Cancer fundraiser on Saturday, Jan. 28. Click the link for more info.

Mayor Jay Moran was among those gathered at town hall yesterday for an event launching what will be a multifaceted bicentennial celebration. (Town troubadour Bill Ludwig has composed new music to mark the milestone.) For our part, we are using our 'Human of Manchester' gallery to feature some notable people from our town's past including ...

Check out the 'Humans' gallery (on Facebook or Instagram) to learn how we found Lorisa and who she was.

• NOTE: OneManchester is compiled by Paul Ofria of 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 at pofria@mpspride.org.