Newtown dogs won’t have any problem finding our newly painted town fire hydrants, thanks to work done in late spring by the Newtown Hook & Ladder Company. Where the old hydrant color was a dull, brick red, the new color is bright vermillion verging on scarlet. I can’t wait to see that blaze of color poking out of next winter’s curbside snowdrifts. Actually, maybe I can. Our hot, midsummer weather suits me just fine. All the better for taking catnaps, don’t you know?

While I’ve been napping, other animals have been busy over in Bill and Milda Kolesar’s. They’re used to seeing white tails on deer, but this is the first summer they have seen a white tail on a squirrel. Bill Kolesar brought us this picture of the unusual critter.  White must be the new black in the animal world. Virginia Jess reported this week that the small white dog named Buddy, owned by Cheryl Elliott of Marlin Road in Sandy Hook, won the dog contest sponsored by Canine Advocates and will be featured in The Bee next week. Canine Advocates raised $1,366 to help the dogs at the dog pound through this contest.

I think you should know the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers Market is not just about fruits, flowers, and vegetables anymore. Besides soaps, crafts, jewelry, pottery, fresh baked goods, and jams and jellies, now you can buy smoked ham, bacon, sausage, and pork loin from Nodine’s Smokehouse in Torrington. Shortt’s Farm And Garden will be selling these products along with their usual fresh produce at the Tuesday afternoon market off Riverside Road behind St John’s Church, and Sue Shortt promises they are delicious. “If you don’t feel like cooking, it’s just the thing,” Sue said.

To round out the week for farmers’ market connoisseurs, the Sandy Hook Village Farmers Market opens this Sunday and will continue weekly until mid-October. The market will run 9 am to 2 pm, in the new parking lot at 5 Glen Road. There will be at least three farmers this weekend, crafts vendors, nutritional seminars, and children’s entertainment. And I hear that the Whistle Stop Bakery will join the market in August.

While most teenagers are working and enjoying the summer, Patrick Keating and John Larsen, 17-year-old best friends, left immediately after graduation from Newtown High School to start basic training in the military. Patrick is at West Point, John at the Naval Academy. Once they complete basic training in mid-August, they will immediately start school at the academies. Patrick’s father, David Keating, said his family went to the fireworks and concert at West Point last weekend but military rules during basic training prevail, and they could have no contact with their son, other than to wave at him from a distance of about 100 yards. It won’t be until Thanksgiving that the two youths will have time off to come back to Newtown.

  Mary Beth and Gary Sippin of Newtown and their band Goldrush have a big gig this weekend. The band will be playing an opening set at Ives Concert Park in Danbury on Sunday, July 10, for headliners The Chieftains. Showtime is 7 pm. Goldrush combines traditional and contemporary country, western swing, bluegrass, and rockabilly. Tickets for that show are available through the Ives Concert Park’s box office, which is on the Westside campus of Western Connecticut State University, and also through TicketMaster vendors. Tickets are $20 for adults on the lawn, $10 for children on the lawn, and $40 or $55 reserved.

Wayland Johnson sure doesn’t waste time. It’s only his first year as a member of the Newtown Lions Club and already he’s been named Lion of the Year. What’s he going to do for an encore next year?

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait a year for my encore. I’ll be back next week, so be sure to…

Read me again.