About The Newtown Bee

ABOUT THE NEWTOWN BEE A user’s guide to your local newspaper

The offices of The Bee Publishing Co, Inc, are at 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470. To contact us, call 203-426-3141, fax 203-426-5169, send e-mail to editor@thebee.com, or visit newtownbee.com. R. Scudder Smith is the publisher, and John Voket is the editor.

Business and Health News: A weekly section of The Newtown Bee providing news ranging from Business Buzz, which promotes new local businesses, to localized health news. Contact John Voket at 203426-3141 or editor@thebee.com. Announcements and releases about business- or health-related matters must be received by 4 pm Monday for consideration for that Friday’s edition.

Community Events: News about clubs and civic organizations, schools, workshops, classes, and other events of community interest should be received at The Newtown Bee office no later than noon on Tuesday for publication in that week’s edition. Information for calendar listings can be mailed to or dropped off at the office or e-mailed to shannon@thebee.com.

Education: This weekly section provides school news of student accomplishments and events. Contact Eliza Hallabeck at 203-426-3141 or e-mail eliza@thebee.com. Announcements and submissions for the Education section must be received by noon on Tuesday for that week’s print edition.

Engagements, Weddings, Births: Forms are available in the office of The Newtown Bee and at newtownbee.com, under the Home Tab/ Submission Forms, for those wishing to announce engagements, weddings, and births. Photos will be returned if they are submitted with a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Photos may also be e-mailed to shannon@thebee.com. They should be .jpg attachments (not embedded within the body of an e-mail), and at least 300 dpi (large).

Wedding announcements must be received within six months of the date of the wedding to be printed in The Newtown Bee. Couples do not have to wait for their wedding photographer to return their wedding photos to them to submit a photo for their wedding announcement in The Newtown Bee. If a couple has a photo they like from their wedding day that was taken by a friend or family member, those photos will be accepted for a wedding announcement. Contact Shannon Hicks for additional information (203-426-3141 or shannon@ thebee.com).

Enjoy: A weekly section of The Newtown Bee that provides news of the arts, food, and cultural events in the region. Announcements and news about cultural events for Enjoy should be received at our offices at 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, at least two weeks before the event. E-mail is the preferred form of contact. Deadline for this section is noon on Tuesday for that week’s publication. Contact Shannon Hicks at 203-426-3141 or to shannon@thebee.com to submit a press release or for additional information.

Horse News: Equestrian news is published regularly in The Newtown Bee. News releases about shows, clinics, and calendar listings should be mailed to Andy Hutchison at 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or e-mailed to andyh@thebee.com. Submissions must be received no later than noon on Tuesday to be considered for publication in that week’s issue of the paper. Brief calendar listings may also be phoned in, e-mailed, or faxed to 203-426-5169. word limit on the length of letters, 300-word limit for thank you and endorsement letters. Letters should be mailed to Editor, The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road , Newtown CT 06470. Readers may also e-mail their letters to editor@thebee.com. The editor reserves the right to reject any letter or edit for length. The Bee does not vouch for the accuracy or any of the assertions made in letters to the editor, and the opinions expressed in letters are those of the writer and do not reflect the position of The Newtown Bee. Letter writers are limited to two letters per month. The deadline for submitting letters is noon Wednesday for publication in Friday’s paper.

Obituaries: The cost for obituaries, which are printed in The Newtown Bee and on its website, is $50 for an obituary without a photo or $75 for one with a photograph. The charge for memorials will be $25. (All obituaries submitted for print will be published online as well for the same price; online-only requests are subject to the costs noted.)

These prices apply to obituaries of up to 800 words in length. Each subsequent increment of 100 words is an additional $20 (eg, 801-900 words, $70 for obituary with no photo, $95 for obituary with photo; 901-1,000 words, $90 for obituary with no photo, $115 for obituary with photo, etc).

The person submitting the obituary will be notified of the cost, and payment will be required prior to publication. Obituaries can be submitted to alissa@thebee.com. The Newtown Bee can provide editing services upon request. Deadline for obituaries is Thursday, 9:30 am, for publication in that week’s edition of The Newtown Bee. A free death notice listing only for those who resided in Newtown/ Sandy Hook at time of death is available by mailing deceased’s name, place of residence, brief funeral information, and date of death to alissa@thebee.com or delivering to the office at 5 Church Hill Road office no later than 9:30 am Thursday.

Please call 203-426-3141 with questions and ask for Associate Editor Shannon Hicks.

Photographs: Suggestions for photographs should be directed to Editor John Voket at 203-426-3141 or editor@thebee.com. Reprints of photos taken by staff photographers are available for public purchase or perusal through The Newtown Bee’s online photo galleries — select Photo Reprints under the home tab at newtownbee.com.

Sports: General sports information should be received in The Bee’s offices before Tuesday at noon to be included in Friday’s paper. Material may be e-mailed to andyh@thebee.com. All hard copy submissions to Andy Hutchison should be typed or legibly printed and include a phone number in case clarification is required. Brief items may be phoned in to 203-426-3141. E-mail is the preferred form of contact.

To subscribe or to report delivery problems: Subscriptions to The Newtown Bee are $50per year or $86 for two years, $40 for half year, and $200 for five years. There is a subscription form on page A2 of The Newtown Bee every week. To subscribe or to report problems with mail deliveries, call 203-426-3141 and ask to speak to someone in the Circulation Department or e-mail subscriptions@thebee.com.