The excitement on Glander Field continues this week. Newtown Thunder has been playing host to seven other 12-year-old baseball teams from New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts in the Cal Ripken New England Regionals since last Friday, a big honor for our team. A bit of scrambling due to the weather found the kick-off parade of teams and sports skills events last Friday night taking place in the NYA, but I hear it was a great success. Each team had player representation in speed, outfield throw accuracy, homerun derby, and “Around the Horn.” (Newtown won the Around the Horn infield contest.) More than 400 hungry baseball players, coaches, and families feasted at a dinner at Reed Intermediate School, following the skills competition, and enjoyed a slideshow. Saturday, the teams played four games, and more games continued throughout this week. Check our sports pages next week for the exciting finals news — as my paws put this column to rest, the Newtown Thunder is shining in the competition. The championship game was scheduled for Thursday, July 26, at 3 pm — and whether or not the Thunder is there, we know our hometown team can hold their heads up high.

I’m feeling pretty sporty this week, so let me remind you that a special All Pro Sports basketball clinic is scheduled at NHS this coming Tuesday, July 31. Kids ages 7–16 can register at www.allprosports.us for this clinic hosted by former UConn and present Houston Rockets basketball player Jeremy Lamb. Jeremy’s dad, Rolando Lamb, a motivational speaker and former player, will be there as well during the 5 to 8 pm clinic. Seems like a good two-for-one deal. If I could dribble a basketball as well as I dribble cream off of my whiskers, I’d be there. Cost of the clinic is $40 per player.

Congratulations to the Begg family trio, Dr Bill Begg, Leah, and Erin, who all completed the Ironman race, Sunday, July 23, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Erin was one of only three 18-year-old competitors, by the way, among the 3,000 swimmer/bicyclist/runner athletes there. I’ve worked up a sweat just hearing about the one-day event made up of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.4 mile run.

I’m always in cat heaven when I hear about homeless kitties being adopted, so I guess I shouldn’t begrudge any pups looking for a forever home. Here’s your chance to find the canine love of your life: Your Healthy Pet, 224 South Main Street, above Tumble Jungle, will be hosting The Newtown Animal Center’s dog and puppy adoption event this Sunday, July 29, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Even if you aren’t in the market for man (or woman)’s best friend, maybe you’d like to volunteer to staff on adoption day, or just spread the word to other dog lovers about the event. To preview the doggies that will be in the window, and to be preapproved for adoption, visit www.TheAnimalCenter.org.

Twelve lucky kids get to turn into zombies, Monday, July 31, with the help of professional makeup artist Caroline Wilcox. If you’re quick, there may still be time to sign up for this gruesome afternoon program and learn how to create realistic wounds and bruises. To register or for more information, visit www.chboothlibrary.org.

I’m still purr-suing an idea for the Incredible Edible Book Contest at the C.H. Booth Library, this Saturday, July 28. Categories include Most Literary, Best Pun, Most Book-like, and Most Beautiful. Book related, edible, family-friendly entries must be delivered to the Meeting Room by 10 am. Green Eggs and Ham is too obvious, I think. Maybe I should go with something deliciously spoiled, a la Rotten Ralph, by Jack Gantos, or a marzipan Cross-Country Cat (Mary Calhoun) atop an iced cake… If You Give A Cat A Cupcake, by Laura Numeroff certainly has potential. Decision, decisions. I can’t wait to see what everyone else cooks up!

I was passing by the Newtown Congregational Church last Sunday, just after the service there had finished, and heard a most melodious sound drifting out the open window. So I meandered closer and jumped up onto the window ledge to find out the source. Inside, Newtown voice teacher Lynn Williams and 2010 graduate Andrew Nichols were practicing a duet, in preparation for the Sunday, July 29, service. NCC features special music in the summer, while the choir takes a break, and the Williams-Nichols duet is one that shouldn’t be missed.

You can make a musical weekend of it at the Newtown Congregational Church: On Saturday, July 28, at 6:30 pm, Redstone Ridge will perform in the church’s sanctuary, with an ice cream social (featuring Ferris Farms flavors) and including raffles and door prizes to follow the music. Admission is $12 for those over age 12, while parents and their children can attend for just $25. Redstone Ridge’s six-man lineup performs “genuine acoustic bluegrass music,” covering a long list of favorites and originals. Band members are Dave Aston (acoustic bass), Scott Camara (dobro and vocals), Vic Gallagher (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Irv Hagewood (five-string banjo, vocals) Paul Pozzi (mandolin, vocals), and Andy Spencer (guitar and vocals). For tickets or more information, call event chair Marie Sturdevant, 203-740-2733. Tickets will be available at the door Saturday night.

Happy Birthday, Newtown. On July 25, 1705, William Junos, Justice Bush, and Samuel Hawley purchased six by eight miles of land from the Pootatuck Indians “for and in consideration of four guns, four broad cloth coats, four ruffelly coats, four collars, ten shirts, ten pair of stockings, forty pounds of lead, ten of [illegible], ten pounds of powder and forty knives,” according to the deed on record. And that, my friends, was the beginning of our little hometown settlement.

I’m going to settle down with a cool drink to get me through the rest of this steamy week. But I’ll be back at the keyboard again next week, so… Read me again.