Newtown Newcomers has many different offerings. One of the most popular is Tot Tours.
Parents and children from birth to 5-years-old gather for tours and events throughout the school year. The events are scheduled at varying times and hours to accommodate different schedules.
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, the group toured the Big Y. The children were given the opportunity to go behind the scenes in the bakery department. They enjoyed seeing the large refrigerator, freezer and oven and hearing about the different kinds of cakes, icings and fillings that were made there.
Their favorite part of the bakery, however, was getting the chance to decorate cupcakes to take home.
The group was saw a pizza being made and were able to put cheese on a party size pizza, which they would enjoy at the end of their tour. One of the little girls, Grace, mentioned she likes olives on her pizza.
Big Y employee Amal, knowing the rest of the children might be less enthusiastic about olives, snuck an olive topping onto one corner of the party pizza.
According to Amal, on average they make 700 slices, 100 large pies and 100 party pies in a week.
From there the children went to the deli counter and were given a sampling of cheese, which they all enjoyed.
In the seafood department, the group met “Uncle Freddie”, the name Vincenzo Masella has given to the large 5-pound lobster housed in the tank there. Mr. Masella showed them a lobster that had lost a claw in a fight. He told them lobsters need their claws for protection and showed them that they swim backwards. The children were even given the opportunity to touch the lobster.
After pausing to wash their hands having touched the lobster, the children made their way to the food court. The pizza that they had helped make was ready to be sampled. Sam remarked he was pretty proud of himself to have made such a good pizza.
Big Y employee services representative Amanda Bryda gave all of the children pizza and cupcakes to take home. She mentioned Big Y does this as a free service to the community. She said they work with all different kinds of groups and tailor the tour to the particular group.
They have given tours to seniors and people with special needs as well. Anyone wishing to schedule a tour should contact Ms. Bryda at the Big Y.
Other trips that the Newtown Newcomers Tot Tours group has taken this year were to Treadwell Park, Castle Hill Farm, Silverman’s Animal Farm and All About Art in Monroe.
