Mountain

Happy birthday to the Discussion Salon! It has been a year since organizer Ben Roberts put out the call for like — or unlike — minded people to gather weekly at Mocha Coffeehouse on Glen Road for conversations on all kinds of subjects. “Thank you so much to everyone who came during this time, whether you participated in just one or two sessions or were a hardcore Salonista who showed up regularly throughout the year,” says Ben. The open forum group met for 50 Monday evenings in all last year, taking off just Memorial and Labor Days. The Salon always welcomes new people. For more information, check out ConsciousFinancialDirections.com.

Town staff found a surprise poster taped to the wall Monday. Distributed by Dr Chris Mixon from Newtown Veterinary Center at 98 South Main Street, is an offer of a ten percent discount to all Town of Newtown employees for veterinary services, for as long as employment with the town lasts. It’s clear that he has us felines, canines, and other pets in mind. See for yourself at NewtownVetCenter.com.

“What so proudly we hailed….” If you caught the UConn Men’s Basketball game on February 27, at the Hartford XL Center, you also caught 14-year-old Newtowner Taylor Varga singing the national anthem. If you missed him, Taylor will also be singing “The Star Spangled Banner” on March 9, once more at the XL Center, for the Big East Women’s Finals. As a matter of fact, for the past two years, the anthem singer of choice by the UConn Women’s Basketball team has been Taylor!

Local comedian Andrew Kennedy tells me there has been some confusion as to the location of his March 6 show (Go to andrewkennedylive.com for more information). So if you have tickets to see him this weekend, the club’s address is 946 Ferry Boulevard, Stratford: From I-95 North, take Exit 33 Ferry Boulevard, merge onto Ferry Boulevard, and turn right at the third light; From I-95 South take Exit 34 towards Milford. Turn right onto Bridgeport Avenue (Rt. 1). Continue over the Devon Bridge. Turn left at light. Be prepared to laugh!

St Rose Knights of Columbus are going to use their snow date for this year’s Friday Night Fish Fry events (or Fright Knight Fish Fry, if you were quick enough to notice Shannon Hicks’s erroneous Twitter last Friday afternoon). Because of last Friday’s snow, the Knights canceled the Fish Fry that would have been held that evening and will instead be hosting their Lenten meals this week, as well as next week on March 12.

Speaking of St Rose, the church’s Women’s Club had to cancel its much-anticipated Family Bingo Night last weekend. It was something of a domino effect following the cancellation of Friday’s Fish Fry, Cathy Hickey-Williams told me this week. “The Fish Fry being canceled meant the hall wasn’t ready for us, and there was also talk of more snow on Saturday. I talked to some other members of the Women’s Club and we decided to err on the side of caution,” said Cathy, who spent time outside the church hall Saturday night apologizing to those who hadn’t heard of the cancellation before driving to Church Hill Road. The club is in the process of looking for another date for its Family Bingo Night, said Cathy, but it may be autumn before the club can reserve the very busy St Rose Gathering Hall. “We are definitely looking forward to offering it again,” she said. Meanwhile, Cathy would also like to remind all those Bingo lovers out there that there are nightly games during the annual St Rose summer carnival.

Here’s an opportunity to help one of our own, as well as the 30,000 other US citizens afflicted with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), a progressive muscle-wasting disease. Bobby Murray of Newtown was diagnosed with ALS in 2005, and now his friend Tommy Herbert is on a mission to raise money for ALS research. There is currently no cure or treatment to halt or reverse the effects of ALS. Very little funding is funneled to ALS research, as the percentage of patients with ALS is small compared to other debilitating illnesses. Tommy has joined the Multiple Dystrophy Association’s ALS Division 2010 NYC Triathlon Team and is presently in training for the 1500m swim, 40k bike ride, and 10k run on July 18. Your donation will help support Bobby, others with ALS, and this cause. Go to joinmda.org/nyctri2010/therbs for more information and to donate.

No experience is required if you want to get in on the trial life drawing class at The Blue Z on South Main Street, Tuesday evening, March 9, from 7 to 9 pm. Local artist Joanne Keane will lead the playful, music-inspired session, as well as the sessions to follow. The first class is free, but there is a cost associated with any follow-up classes. For information, check with Joanne at 203-994-2834, or keanejo@charter.net. I’d like to go, but do you think a snoozing kitty qualifies as a life-drawing model?

Make sure you catch up on your sleep this week, because next Saturday night, March 13, we set the clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Saving Time. That means we lose an hour of sleep. But it may not be your imagination if you’re feeling that the days still aren’t long enough. According to a CNN report, scientists believe that the Chilean earthquake may have shifted Earth’s axis just enough to shorten each day by 1.26 microseconds. If you’re like me, you’re always looking for that extra microsecond in the day. I’ll miss it….

But not as much as I hope you would miss me, if next week you failed to…. Read me again.