UPDATE: Information received from Two Coyotes Wilderness School this weekend indicates that the barn dance noted below is for staff, families, and community of the school only. It is not a public event. We apologize for the confusion.

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File this under "Sometimes You Can't Make Things Up." We watched last Wednesday as traffic repeatedly slowed and then backed up all day, the result of issues on I-84 as well as on some of the local secondary roads following Tuesday's storm. What we missed seeing from our windows at 5 Church Hill Road was something taking place just east of our office. During the evening rush hour (which wasn't a rush, but more like a painfully slow roll down the hill) someone dressed up in a dinosaur costume was handing out bottles of water to drivers and passengers sitting in the traffic. Nothing like a little bit of silliness to shake off post-storm blues.

This cat offers continued praise for town workers and emergency responders for the response to last week's storm - as well as to the many neighbors who took it upon themselves to make sure others were safe and had water and other necessities as the long wait for a return of power went on. We see over and again in times of need how generous our residents and volunteers are. Thank you does not seem enough.

Maybe the return of power has you ready to dance - or maybe you are so tired from that wait that you might as well dance - then Two Coyotes has a remedy for you. I see that on Sunday, June 3, the wilderness school will host a barn dance at Sticks and Stones Farm, 197 Huntingtown Road, from 3 to 6 pm. Bill Fischer is the caller, and we are told that he uses "easy dances, so that everyone can join in." Bill is a Contra dance caller and elder at Two Coyotes. Erick Feucht of the band Wool Hats, a fiddler and mandolin player, will offer music to get you in step. There is a suggested donation of $10/person or $20/family.

It was hard for me to differentiate between Sandy Hook Elementary School student Grady Franse and the school's Assistant Principal Tim Napolitano, becasue on May 11, at Sandy Hook School, it was Dress Like Mr Napolitano Day. According to Grady's mother, school PTA Co-President Heather Franse, Grady was so excited to dress like Mr Napolitano that he pretended to use his homemade identification badge when he arrived for school for the day. Read more about Dress Like Mr Napolitano Day in this week's Education section of the paper. The story will be live on our website as of May 26, 2018.

The Ana Grace Project retweeted a

CBS This Morning tweet on Monday: This Morning host Norah O'Donnell will donate $1,000 to the Ana Grace Project, founded in memory of the Sandy Hook school first grader who lost her life on 12/14. Ms O'Donnell had a bet with co-host Gayle King about whether or not Prince Harry would be clean shaven for the May 19 royal wedding ... and as the world now knows, the prince opted to keep his beard. The donation will have a positive impact on kids in New Britain and beyond, according to another Ana Grace Project tweet.

Here's happy news - congratulations to

Antiques andamp; The Arts Weekly web manager/writer Greg Smith and his wife, Daina, on the birth of daughter Brooke Dorothy Starr Smith, on Monday. Brooke joins her big brother, Reed, to make a happy family of four.

Margot Hall and Barbara O'Connor weighed in with information on

last week's Way We Were photo of three people holding a large painting. Both identified the trio as Ann Shpunt and Harry and Ann Carey. Interestingly, Bee front office receptionist Sandy Tannone was startled to recognize the painting - she has a signed print of artist David Merrill's Vermont scene!

Patrons of C.H. Booth Library may notice something has been different... Judy Craven, the library's Technical Services Assistant, retired from 23 years of service to the community this past Saturday, May 19. I'm told that Judy, always diligent, worked right up the last possible moments. Best of luck, Judy! You are a Good Egg!

You won't believe your eyes if you have not before experienced thousands of rubber duckies afloat in the Pootatuck River, but this Saturday's Lions Club event will make a believer out of you. The Lions host the 2018 Great Pootatuck Duck Race andamp; Town Festival in Sandy Hook Center, 5 Glen Road, from 10 am to 2:30 pm. You'll find entertainment, exhibitors, and food - but don't leave before the main event: the waterfall of yellow rubber ducks dumped from the Church Hill Road bridge into the river, at 2 pm. Cheer on your duck - look for Lions Club members in the Center, Saturday morning, if you have not purchased a raffle ticket yet. If your duck sails into first place, you'll be a big winner.

The VFW Post 308 will host its annual Memorial Day ceremony, Monday, May 28, at 11 am, at the Tinkerfield Road/Freedom Defenders Way club house grounds. The program is open to the public.

Those lazy, hazy days of summer are just around the corner, but school learning does not have to go into slow mode. Parents and caregivers of children of all ages are invited to drop in for a morning of coffee and conversation at Southbury Public Library, 100 Poverty Road, when Chris Robertson, Head of School at Newtown's Fraser Woods Montessori School, will share tips on how to keep your child's brain fresh during the summer months. Discuss strategies to improve learning this summer and beyond on Thursday, May 31, at 10 am. No registration required; call 203-262-0626 extension 3 for more information.

I'm feeling neither lazy nor hazy; so you can be sure there will be a reason next week to... Read me again.