We wish all Newtown High School students attending the April 26 senior prom a night of cheer and merriment. Parents, please remember to submit photos from the senior prom for possible publication in next week’s print edition of The Newtown Bee. Pictures, with a brief description and the first and last names of those pictured from left to right, should be e-mailed to Education Reporter Eliza Hallabeck, eliza@thebee.com, by the end of the day on Monday, April 29.

We recently heard that 2012 NHS grad Katelyn Kean is on the staff of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St Michaels, Md., as of March. Katelyn will be registrar for its collection “of more than 70,000 Bay-related objects,” according to the museum news, and will maintain the collection and records as well as facilitate access to it. Katelyn is a 2016 graduate of St Mary’s College in Maryland with a degree in anthropology and history and is currently working on a graduate degree in museum studies from John Hopkins University. Way to go, Newtown grad!

The hives atop the fire-ravaged Notre Dame in Paris appear to have survived. According to CNN, bees were seen going in and out of the three hives on the roof near the rose window just a couple of days after the fire. While the area was engulfed in smoke, the hives apparently were not affected by heat and flames. Around 180,000 bees call the Notre Dame hives home. This is some sweet news from a horrific incident.

Has your family lived in Newtown or Sandy Hook for at least four generations? We would love to share your story with readers through our ongoing series in The Newtown Bee. Contact alissa@thebee.com to tell a tale of Newtown’s historical families. You can also reach out to Alissa if you have had some fun researching your ancestry (or your pet’s) through online and other sources.

April, Autism Awareness Month, is not over, and you can still purchase blue sprinkles at Ferris Acres Creamery on Sugar Street (Route 302) for 50 cents. All of the proceeds from the special sprinkles go to Newtown Youth & Family Services.

Newtown resident and Newtown Forward member Alex Villamil has concerns for a family he has been helping in Kent, Conn. ICE arrested the father last month and plans to deport him on May 3, Alex tells me. The family has been in this country for 21 years. “The mother is under a great deal of duress, their house is under foreclosure, three sons that suffer from autism, the second one being recently hospitalized and severely affected by his illness and the incarceration of his father,” says Alex. He is looking for some support for this family. Contact Alex at prismhsptng@aol.com to find out how you can help.

The Newtown Bee hosted its Ninth Annual Peeps Diorama Contest last week. Congratulations go to Lynn Remson, a member of our production department, who won the in-house trophy for her amazing Peeperoni Peepza. Lynn used a massive chocolate chip cookie as the crust of her creation, and then topped that with red frosting as the tomato sauce, white icing for the cheese, and Peeps as the toppings. It was a delicious win, the second consecutive one for Lynn. For the Peeple’s Choice Award, however, our Facebook followers selected Reporter Alissa Silber’s equally impressive Peeps of Oz as this year’s winner. Alissa created Peeps versions of The Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Scarecrow, The Wicked Witch, and Glinda and set them on a Yellow Brick Road edged with a field of poppies. A box of Munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts also provided a nod to another of the book and film’s characters. Visit our Facebook page and take a look through the 2019 Newtown Bee Peeps Dioramas photo album for more views of our winners, along with the other 2019 entries. Thank you to everyone who voted. Employees are already looking forward to 2020 and our tenth annual competition.

Who will be the winning mixologist? The Chamber of Commerce of Newtown is planning its Sixth Annual Martini Madness Tasting and Competition for Thursday, May 2, at Newtown Country Club, from 6 to 9 pm. We hear there are going to be some awesome competitors vying to be the maddest of martini makers. The public is invited, and tickets can be purchased at martinimadnessct.com for $40 ($50 at the door). Don’t forget to get a ticket for your designated driver ($15 online, $20 at the door.) Live entertainment, silent auction, delicious food and drinks — sounds like a recipe for fun to me.

If you’re searching for a special gift for the special woman in your life on Mother’s Day (May 12 this year), the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation has a suggestion. For $25, people can fund a native perennial plant for the sanctuary’s 12,000-square-foot butterfly and pollinator garden, and a beautiful card designed by Kim Hossler of Homegrown Arts will acknowledge the gift and be sent to mom’s mailbox by Mother’s Day. Sign up through May 4 at cvhfoundation.org.

If you have not already done so, runners are invited to sign up for the Knights of Columbus Second Annual Run4Hunger-Newtown, Saturday, May 11, from 8:30 am to noon, at Fairfield Hills campus, 3 Primrose Street. Register before May 1 at run4hunger-newtown.com, $30.

I hear that former Newtown resident and artist DeAnn Prosia will be teaching a watercolor and colored pencil workshop at Arundale Farm, July 27 and 28, in Kennebunkport, Maine. A beautiful place and a talented teacher (DeAnn taught through Continuing Ed in Newtown, and you may have caught some of her work displayed locally, as well, while she was a resident in recent years) could be pretty inspiring to artists of all levels. DeAnn lets me know you can find out more about the workshop at arundelfarmgallery.com/gallery-workshops.htm. I’m sure she’d love to see some familiar faces!

Maybe you’ll see my familiar face, maybe you won’t; but I’ll be out there, gathering the news for next week. Be sure to... Read me again.