Bits and Pieces

Posted By: Staff August 16, 2022

Rockwell Summer Festival is Saturday

The Rockwell Summer Festival returns to Rockwell Park this Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The West End Association organizes the event, which has been on a hiatus during the COVID 19 outbreak, is back with a record number of vendors, 150, with offerings from food, crafts, retail, businesses and civic and non-profit organizations.

In addition, there will be the Kids Zone, a Bristol Auto Club car show and the now famous pie eating contest. Twelve bands will perform on two stages. The Kids Zone features magic acts, sing-a-longs and Princess singers in costume.

Final Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School tours set

The final opportunities to tour the new Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School (BAIMS) will be on Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tours will start at the Rockwell Theater every 15 minutes and last 45 minutes. On Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. there will be ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the school, which opened 100 years earlier.

Bristol gets two mentions in latest Connecticut magazine

In its “bite size” feature for August, Connecticut magazine features Bristol native Nick Valenta’s Smetana Food Truck. The feature includes some background, a photo and information, such as where to find the food truck. Note: Smetana Food Truck is a regular on Sundays at Tonn’s Marketplace just over the Burlington line. TBE featured Valenta back in January. Click here for the story.

In its Trending section, the magazine includes a brief piece on Carly Simon being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November. The piece recounts how in her memoir Simon writes about growing up in Connecticut, which comes up in her song, “The Wives are in Connecticut,” where she mentions a bunch of Connecticut town, among them Bristol

COVID updates for the past 7 days

Bristol has experienced a drop in positivity rate from 8.9 to 7.4 percent over the past seven days, but the city remains in the red category with over 15 cases per 100,000 people.

The CDC recommends that people at high risk for severe illness, talk to their healthcare provider about whether to need to wear a mask and take other precautions. In addition, the CDC reminds people to take the following measures:

In Hartford County the community level is low.

  • Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
  • Get tested if you have symptoms
  • People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.
  • People who are immunocompromised, can learn more about how to protect themselves here.

All TBE readers, supporters and donors     

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.     

  • Non-members will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.     
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  • Donors and financial supporters will have no limits.     

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.