Everyone has been thanking Bob Hope for the memories as America’s favorite centenarian. There’s one guy here in Newtown who has more than his share of happy memories, sent directly to him by the legendary comedian and his wife, Delores. Bill McIlrath of Appleblossom Lane started up a correspondence with the Hopes several years ago, when he was collecting signatures of famous people on envelopes for his unique stamp collection of first day covers, featuring the autographs of the people honored posthumously on commemorative stamps. Mr McIlrath tries to anticipate which famous Americans will have stamps struck in their honor (no sooner than ten years after their death, according to USPS rules) and seeks out their autographs while they are still living. Bob Hope happily agreed to help him with this hobby by sending along his autograph on the envelope Bill supplied.

 Mr McIlrath wrote back to the Hopes over the years, sending materials he had collected about the veteran comedian’s career, and they kept responding with notes and keepsakes, like the photo shown here. It is inscribed, “For William McIlrath, Happy Memories, Delores Hope & Bob Hope.” Mr McIlrath said last week that Bob Hope’s long life and career has certainly given him lots of happy memories. As for an autographed Bob Hope first day cover, the comedian seems intent on keeping the collector waiting.

Visitors to Ben Spragg’s new office at Edmond Town Hall can’t miss the sign, “free baby birds” posted on the doorway. Birds are nesting under the finance director’s window air conditioner and ever since the eggs hatched, the chirping and screeching of hungry baby birds has been driving him crazy. Ben says he sometimes is forced to take his paperwork and retreat to the old courtroom to work. He is hoping that the fledglings will fly the nest soon.

No such luck, says Cindy Simon. The town clerk says her office has had birds nesting what seems like nine months of the year since the air conditioners were installed several six or seven years ago. “It sounds like a condo,” Cindy says, with new bird families moving in as the others leave. Cindy says that after a while, she doesn’t really hear them, and she predicts that Ben will adjust, too.

Cindy has been one busy town official lately. She has been the tour guide for groups of local schoolchildren, who have been learning about local government. In tours of her office in Edmond Town Hall, Cindy has explained the role and functioning of municipal clerks in Connecticut, the public record keeping process, as well as the recording of documents. The children, who are accompanied by teachers and parents, have been touring town hall as part of their civics education.

Town police and correction officers from Garner Correctional Institution on June 6 were impressed with the town’s large size. Running the approximately six miles from Dodgingtown Market on Dodgingtown Road to the Blue Colony Diner on Church Hill Road made clear that six miles on foot seems like a much longer distance than six miles in a vehicle. But it all was for a good cause. The police and correction officers were making the annual Torch Run in support of the state’s Special Olympics program.

Tuesday must have been the night to do lawn work this week. I was prowling at the upper end of Sugar Street that evening and found myself serenaded by a constant drone of lawn mowers and weed whackers. I’m sure plenty of neighborhoods were playing the lawnmower song that night. It seems like a lot of people were taking advantage of the break between rain storms to catch up on some much-needed lawn care.

When I was watching the news later that night I heard an interesting statistic that probably won’t surprise too many people. We’ve had 23 weekends so far in 2003, and there has been rain during all but three of those weekends.

Sandy Hook resident Caitlin Kalbacher isn’t necessarily a big baseball fan, but she already has plans set for her next trip to The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. On June 28, the 11-year-old singer will be there singing the national anthem to open a Bridgeport Bluefish game. The Bluefish will be hosting the Pennsylvania Road Warriors that night, and Caitlin will be singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 6:30.

Caitlin made her public singing debut last summer at the same location. On August 17 she was welcomed onto the field at Harbor Yard to sing the national anthem a cappella. Since then she has handled national anthem duties for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and also for a handful of NHS girls’ basketball games during the team’s 2002–03 season.

Pat Denlinger, Ginny Chiaramonte, and Paulette Jurewicz were the grand last-place winners of the Ladies 550 bowling league. The last-place prize was graciously handed over by Nancy Larin, Marion Thompson, and Marilyn Alexander who had been last-place winners for many years among the seven teams, but this year finished in fourth place.

At least in this week’s column they are not last. I am. But let me be the first to invite you to…

Read me again.