We are all so busy talking about Fairfield Hills, or the NBA playoffs, or the upcoming graduation at Newtown High School, that we can barely look up. But there will be a grand gesture of heavenly respect and solicitude taking place next Thursday. I wanted to remind everyone to take note. Thursday will be the sun’s big day – the summer solstice, when it lingers the longest in the sky. The moon, out of its deep respect for the sun, recognizing that its own glory is a mere reflection of that of Old Sol, will turn out its light in a new moon that same day. Everyone be sure to enjoy the year’s longest day and shortest night.

Jennifer Brokaw of Newtown will be testing her driving skills this weekend when she gets behind the wheel of a stock car, competing in a race at Devil’s Bowl in West Haven, Vt. Jennifer won her spot on the racetrack by being the highest bidder at an auction supporting the cancer society. She has been fitted in a fire suit and helmet, and measured so that adjustments can be made to allow for a snug fit inside the car. Jennifer will be driving in a qualifying race, which is 10 laps around the course. The cars are limited to running 140 MPH.

For her career job, Jennifer is a captain operating a navy ship in the Caribbean. Her family has reminded her that driving a car on a track and captaining a ship are a bit different.

It’s been more than a few years now that Paul and Betsy Miles have been racing around from one field to the next watching their talented kids play soccer. These tireless parents have put more than their share of miles on the car. But they got a break last weekend during the State Open Cup games in Manchester, Connecticut. Kyla, a member of U-13 club and Derek’s U-16 team, were playing on fields side by side, making the whole experience a pleasurable and relaxing one for the Miles family. What’s more, both were winners, along with nine other Newtown athletes. This year, a state cup championship entitles you to a trip to Niagara Falls June 29 through July 2. Well, I guess that means more miles on the Miles family car.

Newtown Health District Director Mark Cooper recently announced his bid to run for first selectman in the Town of Southbury. Mark, a longtime member of the Board of Selectmen there, is running on the Republican ticket, which became open when incumbent first selectman Alfio Candido announced he would not seek reelection. Hope it’s a healthy campaign, Mark!

 State Representative Julia Wasserman is headed back to school later this week up in Boston. Newtown’s state representative is headed to the Kennedy Center at Harvard University for a three-week course on politics. As she packed her bags this week, Julia was warned to make sure she attended class and avoided the keg parties.

The phones at Edmond Town Hall were ringing off the hook earlier this week as everyone had a question regarding Wednesday night’s town meeting on the proposed 5/6 school and Fairfield Hills. One woman reportedly called the town clerk’s office to say she would be unable to attend, but wanted to know if her neighbor could bring one of those cardboard hands to cast her vote for her.

If you spot Laura Lerman walking with a cane this week, it’s because she had knee surgery at Danbury Hospital’s Duracell Center on Monday. Laura hurt her knee hiking in the Virgin Islands in March. This time her story is true. Last time she hurt her knee, she was carrying laundry but she told everyone that she did it when Sean Connery was chasing her on the beach.

Newtown Savings Bank president John Martocci celebrates his eighth year at the bank this month.

Middle Gate Principal Judy Gallo took some time off from work at the end of last week to head to Georgetown University to celebrate her 25th reunion.

Where’s Waldo? Or better yet, Who’s Waldo? The rising senior class arrived at the hill last week to have their 2002 class photo taken. Mike Sobo thought it might be a good idea to dress up as Waldo. Mike, are you planning to do that for your individual senior picture, too?

National Honor Society members surprised the high school faculty at a meeting last weeks. Members of the NHS branch each took a letter of the alphabet to say something nice about what the faculty does for them. One member, who shall remain nameless, received the letter N. She thought, easy, and came up with something like knowing all the work you do. Well once she got into the meeting she realized that her phrase started with K and quickly changed her N-word to nice.

Father Bob Weiss never lets a good opportunity pass. So when a celebration Mass was held at St Rose last Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of the ordination of Father Peter Townsley, the pastor realized there were a lot of guests from out of town. After the Mass, Father Bob invited all of the guests to stand, then he asked members of the Knights of Columbus to pass out books of tickets for the upcoming church raffle.

Two weeks ago, I told you about how Donna Gorton’s cat nearly spent the entire day in the fridge after it jumped atop the butter dish while the door was open. This week, Donna reports her cat has forsaken the butter dish and befriended the family guinea pig. It’s a much warmer relationship.

Rusty the cat, the smiling kitty who is one ear short of a pair, had his ear stitches removed recently. Ouch! Rusty, you may recall, had a tussle with a varmint which got the better of the feline and mangled one of his ears so badly that the veterinarian recommended that it be surgically removed. Well, the stitches came out. It took about five minutes. The cat’s feeling much better. Zoning Enforcement Officer Gary Frenette has decided against getting his pet Rusty a prosthetic ear. It would be so gauche! I hear Rusty is thinking about changing his name to Vincent.

I’ll be keeping both my ears to the ground for tales to tell in next week’s column, so be sure to…

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