All Easton voters are invited to a Cocktail Party on Sunday, October 30, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m, at the home of Cathy and Adam Dunsby, 65 Redding Road, to meet the Republican candidates running for local office this year. Republican candidates who have announced they are running for Congress in 2012 also have been invited. Reservations may be made with Mary Ann Freeman, 203-259-8770 or on line at easton_republicans@yahoo.com. The cost is $15 for an individual and $25 for a couple.

This year the Cocktail Party will honor Ruth Powell, an Easton resident for more than fifty years who has been very involved in town boards and organizations. Ruth completed three terms on the Easton Board of Education, serving as chairman for two years. She also served on the Board of Ethics, as vice chaerman and secretary; held many offices, including president, with the Easton Parent Teacher Organization; and is a past president of the former Public Health Board of Easton. She has been an active member of the Easton Republican Town Committee for more than a decade.

Ruth's professional career has been in the field of education. She graduated from Goucher College with a BA in Education and Child Development. She was a teacher and then Preschool Director and the Head of Lower School at The Unquowa School in Fairfield for many years. She received a Certificate of Merit from the Connecticut State Board of Education. Ruth currently serves, pro bono, as an educational consultant for Easton and Fairfield pre-schools and for the Covenant Children's Center and tutors inner-city Bridgeport students. Ruth was the firm woman elected a trustee of the Covenant Church of Easton. She has been one of 8 members of the Church Council, has served on and chaired its Board of Christian Education, has been president of the Women's Guild, a Youth Counselor and a teacher.

Among her activities outside of Easton, Ruth served in may capacities including president of the Greater Bridgeport Branch of the American Association of University Women, a 400 member organization at that time. She also was on the board of the Connecticut State Division of AAUW holding positions as Historian, Bulletin Editor and State Education Chairman.