This week really was for the birds. I heard three strange bird stories.
This week really was for the birds. I heard three strange bird stories.
The first one you probably already know about if you had a look at our front page this week. Carol Tani and her daughter, Jennifer Haggerty, spotted something large moving around in the Tani yard on Philo Curtis Road on Sunday. It turned out to be an emu (pronounced eee-myooo, according to those in the know). This isnât the usual fare that turns up at the bird feeder. This particular emu stood between five and six feet tall depending on its posture, which seemed to flow from poor to alarming depending on his state of mind.
The emu, as everyone on Philo Curtis Road knows, belongs to Jim Shortt, who lives in the neighborhood. The bird had escaped his pen and decided to take a constitutional up the street. For some reason, it decided it liked the Tanisâ lawn, because it strode back and forth in front of the house for quite some time before Jim came and retrieved the bird and trotted it back to its rightful home.
That wasnât the only exotic bird sighting, however. Shahnaz Syed and her neighbors, Susan Cortelo and Katherine Spignolo, were a little startled when they saw a peacock parading through their yards on White Wood Road last week. Mrs Syed grabbed her new camera to take some photos, but they didnât turn out. âI donât think I should have used the flash,â she said. She speculated that the bird might have flown the coop at Hollandia nursery in Bethel. Or maybe it was the NBC peacock in search of ABC after Time Warner cable pulled the plug on the network briefly last week.
The last bird story of the week comes from the West Street area, where a stray white chicken has been seen hanging around in the vicinity of Roosevelt Drive. Dawn Handschuh called this week to tell us that the chicken had been in the area for several days. Dawn was concerned that the chicken might meet the same fate as another white-feathered bird, which was hit by a car in the area. Bee photographer Jeff White went out in search of the chicken on Wednesday, but failed to find him. I hope he made it back safely to whatever coop he calls home â the chicken, that is.
Harvey Sellner called last Friday afternoon to take a stab at the Beeâs Buck â the âSâ on the side of his house. He had good humor when he was told that plenty of friends, family, and passersby had beaten him to the punch.
American Red Cross workers went on strike last Monday but the agency says management will run the blood drive scheduled for Monday, May 8, at the Sandy Hook firehouse. The hours have been cut back, however, to 1 to 6:30 pm. It is a dedicated blood drive for Greg Chion, 16, a Newtown High School junior who is being treated for acute myelocylic leukemia. The blood drive is co-sponsored by Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) and the Western Connecticut Federal Credit Union. For each unit of blood donated, the credit union will give $5 to Newtown Youth Services and $5 to the fundraising effort to provide thermal imaging cameras to the local volunteer fire companies. To sign up to give blood, call 800/GIVE-LIFE.
The friends and families of Thomas Ward are encouraging Newtown residents to join in the American Cancer Societyâs Relay for Life in Bethel on May 19 and 20. Thomas, who was operated on for a cancerous leg tumor, will lead the first lap around the track to start the all-night walk-a-thon. To sign up a team call the cancer society at 800/889-3340 or call Shari Burton at 426-5977 to join Thomasâ team.
John Martocci at Newtown Savings Bank is celebrating his birthday on Saturday (Jim Shpuntâs birthday was on Wednesday). Dave Treadwell is celebrating his 30th year with the bank this month.
Newtown Rotarian Ed Osterman is back in town this week after spending the past five weeks in South Africa. Ed traveled to the other side of the Earth to take part in a Rotary exchange program. He served as group leader for five young professionals from Connecticut. The group traveled throughout the Johannesburg area and stayed with host families.
Ed said the trip allowed his to see first-hand what Rotary International is doing to create better relationships between blacks and whites and to bring black people into the modern world in this troubled nation. Before his retirement, the Newtown resident traveled the world on business. However, he had never been to South Africa because of the United Nationsâ embargo against South Africa for its former policy of apartheid.
The months of May and June should be exciting ones for the Byrne family of Newtown. Samantha is due home from college next week and will watch as her sister, Cathy, gives chase to her all-time strikeout record of 599. Earlier this week, Cathy, a senior, passed the 520 mark and is on target to break her sisterâs record later this year.
This week, Cathy signed a letter of intent to play softball at Centenary University in Shreveport, Louisiana next year. Centenary, a Division I school, may be best known for having former Celtic great Robert Parrish among its alumni.
Michael Floros showed up at Tuesdayâs Legislative Council meeting at the senior center after jogging there. Dressed in tee shirt and shorts, Mike arrived at the meeting after hoofing it down from his home on Queen Street. Mike is chairman of Newtownâs Fairfield Hills advisory committee, which recently recommended that the town buy Fairfield Hills and use some of the space for corporate use.
Best wishes to Legislative Council member Tim Holian who was battling a case of bronchitis earlier this week. Tim, a local attorney, managed to show up to provide free legal advice to residents at Tuesdayâs Law Day event. However, he went to bed early that night and was unable to attend the council meeting.
Public Works Director Fred Hurley, who also oversees the townâs sewer system, recently took part in some genealogy research of his family and discovered a very interesting fact about one of his predecessors. It seems his great uncle, Frederick Wren, headed the construction of Bridgeportâs sewer system back in 1870s as chairman of the public works commission. I guess it is further proof that the apple doesnât fall far from the tree.
Anyone who has been wondering what happened to Robert Cerra, the tailor in Sandy Hook, will be glad to know that he is still providing service in the Newtown area. Mr Cerra operated RC Tailoring in Sandy Hook center for more than 15 years but he says he had to leave when a new owner took over the building and raised his rent. He has moved his business to his home in Danbury, but he has a Newtown drop-off at Nutmeg Cleaners in Rickyâs Shopping Center on South Main Street. He can be reached at 748-3714.
Bob Grossman has been uncharacteristically earthbound during this fine spring weather. He cracked a cylinder in the engine of his airplane, so he is grounded until necessary repairs can be made.
It seems there are fewer and fewer things you can really count on these days. Those of you who count on seeing Bob Hall cruising around town in his Pleistocene era Town Car may be shocked to learn that Bob is contemplating trading it in for a newer vintage car.
There is one thing you can count on, however. You will always be able toâ¦
Read me again.