Have you ever noticed that a lot of Newington is the same few people all around you? Our town is only 13 square miles and has about 30,500 people in it. It’s saturated with all of the people we went to high school with because the only times we see each other is when we all flood back home post-college or during vacations to see our families. Newington has a way of sucking people back in Every time I see somebody around town that I haven’t seen in a few years, they always say, “Yeah I always said I wouldn’t wind up back here, and here I am. It’s not so bad,” I just nod my head and smile. Once a Newingtonite, always a Newingtonite.
1. Center Rats
These are the people that hang around the center of town for hours and hours on end. We all did it in high school at one point, but these are the ones you’ve seen day in and day out in the same old places; Starbucks, Strech’s, outside of Rite Aid, and chilling at the picnic tables at Mill Pond. (Photo: me at Mill Pond circa 2008 or 2009 being a center rat).
2. Middle/High School Teeny Bopper
They go to Starbucks, all order one Frappuccino and sit there for 4 hours talking about everybody they know…loudly. They walk to the center of town from the high school and then sometimes ride their bikes to the skatepark afterward. The group starts off with 2-3 people, but by their 4th or 5th stop around town, it always expands to 10-20. Can frequently be found at Bowl-O-Rama, T-bowl, Laser Quest, the movies (even though they’re technically in Berlin), and Yogurt Madness (…when it was open. RIP). They also take pictures of everything in strange poses. Many of them will be NHS star athletes, singers, etc and their whole lives revolve around their after school activity of choice. (Photo: a few friends and I taking pictures before homecoming in some strange and unexplained position for no apparent reason. It was probably hilarious at the time).
3. PomPom Parent
Coach, volunteer, or just cheering in the stands (sometimes all 3 at once) these parents BELIEVE in their kids and are at every dance recital, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, football game, cheerleading competition and piano lesson rooting for their son or daughter, pompoms and all. They can often be found with coolers full of snacks and water/gatorade in the summer months, hot chocolate and blankets in the colder ones, and with no voice from all of the cheering. They usually drive some sort of SUV or mini van (that smelly gear needs to go somewhere) and transporting at least 2 children that aren’t their own because they stick together and help out members of the pack; teamwork is their motto. (Photo: some Newington Little League moms braving the cold with hot coca in hand!)
4. Volunteering Is My Superpower
President of the PTA, on the Town Council, zoning board, in the church choir and costume designer for the musicals, this person is everywhere all at once. Often a combination of a PomPom Parent, the SuperVolunteer has so many commitments that eventually they start saying things like “I’ll pencil you in.” They can often be found flitting around town, carting the props for the day’s latest endeavors after work. (Photo: some awesome John Wallace Middle School moms volunteering at the 8th grade dance).
5. Too Cool for Newi Hipster
This person can most likely be seen posting pictures of all of the cooler places they’ve been besides Newington, such as their semester abroad, their trip to the beach, or even just that time they went to Boston for the day to see a Red Sox game and now they want to live in the city forever because it’s soon much cooler. They can most likely be found as the person
6. I’m Just Home for Christmas
This person is probably in college or has long since moved on from Newi, and always winds up slumped down in the corner during all family affairs, totally over all of the in-town gossip that is no longer relevant to their lives. The Home-for-Christmas is most likely to be found sleeping or incredibly bored and asking if winter break is over yet so they can go back to school. (Photo: okay so this is my cousin, Max…and he’s from Wethersfield and not Newington, but this picture of him sleeping at Christmas this past year was too good to pass up. Sorry Max!)
7. Starting a Family
This person is more like several people; they’re that adorable family that is constantly posting pictures on social media of everything their cute kids are doing. They just bought a cute little house and are always at the park and walking around pushing a stroller, or at target in the toddler section braving the sales. They’re so insanely cute it may or may not make you want to vomit because they’re just so darn happy. (Photo: I spent last summer as a freelance nanny/babysitter.
8. Hey You’d Kids Get Off My Lawn
These are the elderly that saturate Newington’s population; they’re your parents, your grandparents, and your great grandparents. They’re loyal to the local and old time businesses, and they just want to live their life peacefully and without running over a 7th grader who is riding their bike on the street instead of the sidewalk. You can find them walking around town on their daily walks, gossiping about the town at Public Market with the old crowd, and taking care of some pretty adorable grandchildren at the park. (Photo: my grandparents looking super adorable. They’re Newingtonites through and through; they even play cards with other Newingtonites weekly).
9. Emergency Services
Have you ever noticed that literally EVERYBODY in Newington is a firefighter, police officer, or an EMT (but mostly just a fire fighter)? It seems like everybody you know is marching in the St. Patricks Day parade, chilling at the firehouse, and doing some sort of fundraiser to benefit something or other. These people can frequently be found walking around town in packs of other emergency services workers, and responding when you need them…so you should probably just buy some flowers for the fundraiser. (Photo: West Hill Company of the NFD and their pink engine).
10. The Eventual Acceptance
I happily put myself into this category these days. I go away to school, but as a summer job I work at Goldburgers in the heart of our dear town. I babysit for a handful of different Newington parents, I find myself cheering on my step-sister at her softball games at the field, I wind up roaming the halls of Wallace and NHS for various choral concerts (siblings and the siblings of friends), and I don’t mind the Memorial Day Parade, the Extravaganza…I even enjoy them these days. Everywhere I go around town I seem to run into somebody I know, whether it’s at work, Price Chopper, or walking the dog. Once you try to get away, and like most of us, fail to comply rid yourself from Newington, you evnetually let Newington settle into your gut, that place that is reserved for “home,” you realize it’s not so bad here after all. (Photos: My sister followed the Newington tradition when I graduated and made me a sheet to hang on the Clem Lemire fence, my sister and I at the Brickhouse [aka the only bar people in Newington ever seem to frequent for some reason] for a fundraiser my family runs every year, my sister, the dog, and I at the Memorial Day Parade on Main Street, and finally, celebrating my 21st birthday at midnight by a night out [starting with midnight breakfast] with Newington friends).
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