Congratulations to DAWS Ball Honoree, Byrd's Books Owner Alice Hutchinson

We are pleased to present our 2020 DAWS Ball Honoree, Alice Hutchinson! Alice is well known to the local community as she's the proud owner of Byrd's Books, a staple in downtown Bethel. She has lived in Connecticut since she was young and moved to Bethel in 1979, where she resides with her dog, Chippy, and two children, Stephen and Sarah (pictured above).
 
Having had a varied, diverse background that includes a bachelor’s in theater, master’s degree in teaching, and stints in theater management, recording studio engineering, and elected office, Alice finally settled on bookstore ownership.
 
She served on the Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission for 16 years and as first selectman for one term, from 2003 to 2005. In office, she was chair of the Board of Selectmen, the Police Commission, and Public Utilities Commission. After working as a development director at Canterbury School for three years, Alice fulfilled a bucket-list item in 2010 and ran for State Senate in the 24th District, the seat Julie Kushner now occupies.
 
Alice opened Byrd’s Books in 2011 and has loved every minute of it. The store has held “PAWS to Read” adoption events, which invite children to come read to some adoptable DAWS cats. We hope to resume these events in the near future.
 
Her son, Stephen, who happens to be the store manager at Byrd's Books, continues as a volunteer cat socializer at DAWS and brings back heartfelt stories and videos of his efforts. Alice's daughter, Sarah, works as program coordinator at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
 
Alice is immensely proud of her children and is passionate about Bethel, her church, literacy, animals, and the arts and we are so excited to honor her at this year's virtual ball! We hope you'll join us!
 
Learn more and become an event sponsor HERE.
R
Submitted by Redding, CT

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