Are you feeling like a winner? Rotary Club of Newtown continues to sell tickets for its annual winter/spring raffle. The club will be holding the drawing Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 pm, at Newtown Community Center. Tickets are $20, the raffle is limited to 1,000 tickets being sold, and the first place winner will receive a $1,500 Visa gift card. Second and third places of $1,000 and $500 gift cards, respectively, will also be awarded. Ticket sales will close Friday, April 16, at 11:59 pm, so visit newtownctrotary.org/2021raffle for purchase details and other information.

I’m like the princess and the pea when I’m on my cushion — if there’s a nickel beneath me, I squirm. So I’m pleased as punch to know that I can paw about and dig out loose change to support the Lions Club “Treasure Hunt 2” on April 24. The Lions will be collecting any and all change in front of Newtown Middle School that day, between 10 am and 2 pm. The money will support the drive to install playground equipment that is inclusive at Dickinson and Treadwell parks — that is, equipment that special needs children can use, along with all the other kids.

“Goosey, Goosey Gander, whither shall I wander?” Mother Goose had an idea, but Newtown Bee reporter Alissa Silber discovered where some gooseys were wandering recently. She saw a pair of geese waddling around Eichler’s Cove and enjoying a morning snack on March 27. It was a picturesque spring morning for the love birds as they strolled side by side, not venturing far from the other.

An e-mail from Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz and state Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Thomas J. Saadi reminds us that this past Monday, March 29, was National Vietnam War Veterans Day, honoring and thanking Connecticut’s Vietnam veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice. Nine million American men and women served on active duty in the US Armed Forces during the country’s involvement in Vietnam from 1954 to 1975, according to the e-mail, and approximately 61,000 Vietnam War veterans live in Connecticut. In May 2010, Connecticut became the second state in the nation to pass legislation designating March 30 — the day the last combat troops withdrew from Vietnam — as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” (Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut’s annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Ceremony has been canceled, though.) It’s never too late to thank a vet you know!

Newtown resident Mary Wilson, long a champion of pollinators, has been selected to give the first lecture in a four-part Zoom series on pollinator gardens that will launch this weekend. Roxbury Land Trust, Roxbury Conservation Commission, Roxbury-Bridgewater Garden Club, Bridgewater Land Trust, and Shepaug Valley High School have organized the series, to be held on Saturdays, April 3-24, at 11 am. Organizers intend to encourage local homeowners and gardeners to consider creating their own pollinator gardens and participating in the Pollinator Pathway program. Mary’s talk, “Protect Our Pollinators,” this weekend, will introduce attendees to the Pollinator Pathway Project, its history, national, and local presence, and environmental importance. Registration is required for the free program, and can be done with an e-mail to barbara@roxburylandtrust.org.

We asked, and two sisters came through. Sandy Hook mom Andrea Donigian shared two images of the coloring pages (published in our March 19 print edition) as colored in by her daughters Olivia, 8, and Sophia, 6. For submitting the filled in coloring pages, the girls earned handmade face masks decorated with a bee print. We are glowing at how well the girls colored in the pages. It’s not too late, if you still have the March 19 issue — color away, and send photos of completed artwork to eliza@thebee.com.

Hope springs eternal, and the Ladies Auxiliary of Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue Company are hoping that friends and supporters will visit them this weekend. Members will be at the fire company’s main station, 18-20 Riverside Road, on Friday and Saturday, April 2-3, 10 am-6 pm (or while supplies last on Saturday), rain or shine for their annual flower sale. Daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and hydrangea will be available for purchase, as will hanging baskets. Those who make a donation to FAITH Food Pantry will be entered into a raffle for an Easter basket.

It is fire season and our community has unfortunately seen a number of residential and brush fires lately. March’s windy weather has not been a big help, but you can help by attending to some tips regarding spontaneous combustion from the National Fire Protection Association. “Spontaneous combustion is a byproduct of spontaneous heating, a process by which a material increases in temperature without drawing heat from its surroundings. If the material reaches its ignition temperature, spontaneous ignition or combustion occurs,” according to NFPA information. Spontaneous combustion fires account for thousands of structure and vehicle fires, as well as outside trash fires. The garage is the most common area of origin, says NFPA, and hay and straw are the most common types of materials that catch fire in storage properties. Oily rags are also a source of these kinds of fires, so please be careful!

Holly Kocet was spotted tending to the Protect Our Pollinators (POP) garden at Fairfield Hills, near the Fruit Trail, on Saturday, March 27. The garden is planted and maintained by POP, which is a nonprofit organization devoted to education and the conservation of pollinators and their habitats.

Thanks to Karen Pierce of InnerSpace by Karen, who recognized one person in the March 26 “Way We Were” photograph. “The man standing in back with the glasses is my Great-Uncle Arthur Smith,” Karen tells us, “my maternal grandmother’s brother. I’m assuming this is a Town Hall Board of Directors meeting as he was a fixture there and helped lay the bricks of the building. He and his wife Isabelle ‘Bea’ lived at 40 Queen Street when it was the ‘country’ and far from the center of town.” Anyone else recognize the others in this serious group?

Maybe you’ll recognize me as I scout about town looking for news. Be sure next week to... Read me again.