Don’t forget that this Saturday, May 10, is Luminaria Saturday, a chance to purchase luminaria to honor those who are fighting or to memorialize those who have lost the battle to cancer. Kathy Nostrand, the luminary sales chairperson for the 2008 Newtown Relay For Life, tells me that the event was such a success last year that more locations have been added for this year’s luminaria sale. Look for the luminaries outside of Dunkin’ Donuts, Drug Center Pharmacy, Newtown Hardware, Mexicali Rose Restaurant, Sandy Hook Liquor Store, C.H. Booth Library, Down on Main Street Gift and Card Shop, and the Stop & Shop Plaza location for Newtown Savings Bank. A $10 donation gets you a luminaria labeled with your name and the name of the person you are honoring. It supports a good cause and will certainly light up your life.

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all celebrated a mother goddess, and early Christians had a day to honor the “mother church,” I found out by snooping around the Internet. By the 1600s, Europeans added a personal touch by instigating a Lenten season Mothering Day — and even gave Mom the day off from fasting. In America, though, those stodgy Pilgrims insisted on doing away with frivolous secular holidays, and Mothering Day was set aside. It wasn’t until activist and poet Julie Ward Howe called for a Mother’s Day following the loss of so many sons to the Civil War that a day to honor mothers once again took root.

Even so, it was an on again, off again thing until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May as a national day of observance of the holiday. It has since become quite the commercial enterprise, with mothers wined and dined and bejeweled to the tune of some $14 billion dollars, according to the National Retailers Association. Most moms I know, though, find the tiny hand cast in plaster of Paris a far more precious gem than any jewel purchased in a store. Follow it up with a handmade card and the words “I Love You,” and the package is complete. So I hope that you won’t forget to pay homage to the mom in your life this Sunday, Mother’s Day.

Laura Lerman sends me this modern-day riddle: How do you know it’s spring in Newtown? When you’re walking along Elm Drive and see a beautiful white horse ambling along Deep Brook Road with a rider wearing the necessary safety helmet. How do you know it’s 2008? When the rider is on her cellphone.

Laura was also among those who spotted a wonderful article in The New York Times last Saturday about Newtown’s Patricia and Bill Campbell, who formed the musical group The Reel Thing in 2001. The Reel Thing is popular at historical reenactment groups where the Campbells perform period music and lead the dancing. They also offer dance workshops at schools, libraries, and other sites — and you may have been lucky enough to see the Campbells in action earlier this month at the Shakespearean Festival held at the library.

Our own “Mr Flagpole,” Dave Lydem, was busy earlier this week sprucing up the flagpole where inconsiderate drivers have hugged the flagpole, leaving scrapes and scratches in the shiny white paint. He also touched up an unsightly stain on the pole where it looked like a cup of coffee had gone AWOL from a passing car window. Good work, Dave. Thanks for keeping it “Nicer In Newtown.”

Congratulations this week go out to Darryl Newman of Planters’ Choice Nursery. He was selected as the state’s Young Nursery Professional for 2008 by the New England Nursery Association, according to news we received from the Connecticut Nursery & Landscape Association.

We’re also sending out some get well wishes to Newtown philanthropist Howard Lasher this week. Howard arrived at a local eatery last Friday night looking pretty spiffy in his newly leased Mercedes, but left the restaurant shortly thereafter (without paying the bill, I might add) in a not so elegant mode of transportation under the watchful eyes of Newtown Ambulance volunteers. Howard, known for his generosity to local organizations and for sponsoring Camp Lash through the Parks and Rec program, tells us that it was a minor heart attack that fetched him room service at Danbury Hospital these last few days. We understand that the hospital was truly delighted to dismiss him and no doubt he will be up and about Jolly Hill soon under the tender loving care of Jeanette.

I got quite an earful at the US Air Force Band of Liberty Concert held Monday evening at Newtown High School, but my sharp eyes also spotted some familiar faces among the uniformed performers. NHS band students Nico Bonvini, Will Harrison, Ben Speigel, and Sadie Zukowski were selected to join the military band in a performance of “National Game” by John Phillip Sousa. What an honor for the kids, who had only a couple of weeks to prepare their parts.

The weekend of June 13–15 — which will include Flag Day on Saturday and Father’s Day on Sunday — The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary of Connecticut is hosting a Healing Field of Honor, with more than 800 American Flags in Bushnell Park in Hartford to honor “Hometown Heroes,” living or dead. You can sponsor one of those flags to honor a service person who has died, who is currently serving, or who has previously served our country, or any other hometown hero for just $30. The deadline to do so is May 15, so don’t procrastinate. For more information or to sponsor a flag, contact local American Legion Auxiliary Unit president Alice Saxton at 426-7728 or 304-3383, or visit HealingField.org/hartford. With Memorial Day just around the corner, what better and more beautiful way to say “Thanks, for all you have given.”

I’ve given my all this week. Don’t forget to… Read me again.