There’s a new Bee Dog! Ladies and gentlemen, readers of all ages, please join me in welcoming Banks Baggett, who made her debut at 5 Church Hill Road early Tuesday afternoon. Banks is the new baby sister to our current senior canine staff member Liberty “Libby” Baggett, and has taken up residence in the home of Sherri and Scott Baggett. Her name honors the memory of our late Publisher, R. Scudder Smith, who enjoyed collecting antique banks among other things.

As mentioned last week, we are celebrating the introduction this week of “Invasive Insider,” a quarterly column from Newtown Conservation Commission. The purpose of the column is to help homeowners identify the many invasives that are threatening private and public properties and forests. This week’s column discusses the threats invasives pose to local properties and the community, specifically Japanese Barberry, a shrub easily identified in spring along property borders and in woodlands. Future columns will report on additional invasive plants, their identification, methods of control, and proper disposal.

You know what else is in the future? A milestone birthday on Saturday for Sandy Hook resident Ken Knapp. Vroom vroom, Kenny. I believe Sammy Hagar had a song featuring a specific figure — the same number of birthdays you’ll be celebrating this weekend, am I right?

If you’d like a last-minute gift suggestion for my friend, or something fun for yourself of course, Great Pootatuck Duck Race tickets this weekend will be sold at Butcher’s Best, 125 South Main Street (Highland Plaza), Saturday between 11 am and 3 pm. This is in addition to the ongoing sales at many local businesses and even online (newtownlions.org) ahead of the big event on May 31. Tickets are $10 each and there are 20 nice prizes again this year, including the first place prize of a weekend getaway to Saybrook Point Resort & Marina and a $300 gift card.

I heard something distressing over the weekend and my little cat brain can’t let go of it. Apparently at least one of the Little Lending Library locations in town has been completely cleaned out, a few times, in recent weeks. I’m not going to highlight which one because it seems it's already a target of unmerited maliciousness.

Here’s the thing about those wonderful little book sharing locations: they’re meant to serve as a platform for free books to read and share. Little Lending Libraries cannot be compared to institutions like C.H. Booth Library and its abundance of offerings, of course, but the smaller libraries do serve a nice purpose including a different venue. Some have specific titles and themes, and offer not only books but also literature to educate on causes and projects. The majority are filled with random subjects and genres for most reading levels. They are as random as a visit to a thrift store or the former Christmas Tree Shops I’ll admit I enjoyed visiting. You never know what you’ll find, but if you like it grab it then because it’ll probably be gone the next time you look. Regardless of who created them and maintains them, Little Lending Libraries are all meant to be additional options for bibliophiles.

I hope I’m preaching to the choir here when I say the little libraries should be respected. If you don’t like the titles in there, don’t read them. Don’t steal the books, or damage the kiosk, and certainly don’t take the books out to sell them. As with most things in life, no one is forcing anyone to access a Little Lending Library. If it isn’t your cup of tea, find something that is and leave the libraries for those who enjoy them. If you can’t resist the temptation of clearing out something you don’t have any need to be interacting with, we may have to have young Banks Baggett and her little razor sharp puppy teeth offer our next reminder.

On a very positive note, all ten Newtown High School spring sports programs are planning collections for FAITH Food Pantry. The “Nighthawks Week of Giving” will run April 19-28, which organizers realize is a little longer than a week but it allows all teams to do something during a home game. Each sport will request specific donations for the nondenominational food pantry. Sports Editor Andy Hutchison is hustling among the teams to find out who would like what, and when; check the Sports section for details. If you can’t make it to a game to donate to the food pantry, this is a perfect opportunity for me to remind you that we always have a FAITH Food Pantry donations box just inside the front door of our office. Nonperishable foods, cleaning supplies, pet supplies (I promise I won’t touch anything left here for cats), and personal hygiene items can all be dropped off when we’re open — weekdays between 8 am and 5 pm, earlier and later by chance. I hope you’ll be able to help those Nighthawks with their efforts, though. That’s some very impressive teamwork happening there.

Sandy Hook firefighters are still hoping to reschedule the 2025 Spring Food Truck Frenzy & Craft Fair, postponed last weekend due to the weather. Nothing definite had been announced as I had to file this week’s column, but I’ll make sure I share any updates as soon as I hear them.

It was nice to see people attending the NUSAR Open House last weekend. The local search and rescue dive team, whose headquarters is just a few driveways east of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s main station on Riverside Road, was bustling with activity for a few hours on Saturday. I was running errands late morning and early afternoon, and was so happy to see people visiting the red barn and looking at NUSAR vehicles each time I drove past 28 Riverside Road.

Continued thanks to our friends at Christ the King Lutheran Church, who shared some of their recent bounty with my friends at The Bee office. Pastor Rob Morris, his wife Christy and younger son Isaiah visited last week with a beautiful card made by members of the church’s Sunday School. They also arrived bearing a tray of homemade cookies, all decorated by the Sunday School students and some of their adult volunteers. The cookies were enjoyed very quickly, but the card is still in a place of honor at the office.

I’ll never turn down treats, especially if they’re flavored with catnip or shrimp, or dipped into a little bit of milk. I hope you’ll never turn down the opportunity to visit me, to … read me again.