Congratulations to the Newtown U12 Thunder baseball team! They are on their way to the Cal Ripkin World Series in Maryland, August 10, after a week of battling teams from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and other parts of Connecticut, July 21–28, for the Regional Championship, right here on Glander Field. (See related story in this week’s Sports section of The Bee). I won’t say they had the home team advantage, because this team has made it to the Regionals for the past three years, proving their mettle. There’s a fundraiser at My Place Restaurant on Queen Street, Tuesday, August 7, to help the boys defray the cost of traveling to the World Series. Just mention Newtown Thunder World Series when placing an order that evening, whether for takeout or for dining in. A portion of the bill will go to the Thunder.

Newtowner Brett Boles’ musical, Foreverman, for which Brett wrote the story, lyrics, and music, finished up an outstanding run at the Performance Center on 42nd Street in NYC this past Saturday, July 28. Foreverman was one of 30 works selected for production in the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival that wrapped up Sunday night with an awards ceremony. I saw plenty of Newtown faces in the crowd when I scooted into the theater on Saturday, just before the last performance, and I have a feeling everyone was purring as contentedly as I was throughout the show. I am not surprised to give my congratulations to Brett and his crew — Foreverman received the Award of Excellence for Outstanding Orchestration.

Park warden Shelia Gervais has made a driftwood sign that now decorates a split rail fence at Eichler’s Cove. Overlooking the beach and Lake Zoar, her sign points out the miles to destination locations such as Virginia Beach.

If you love to sleep in on a day off, you’ll be pleased to hear that the parade committee has announced a later start to this year’s annual Labor Day Parade, Monday, September 3. The parade steps off from the head of Main Street at noon this year, rather than the traditional 10 am. Looks like viewers better pack a picnic lunch, instead of the usual cups of joe.

One Underhill Road resident is impressed with her neighbors’ efforts to improve stretches of roadsides near their homes. Although the town “does the basic job, a group of energetic, nonrelated people are finishing the job,” Jane Sharpe tells me. “They all do this independently. It has been going on for a couple years. I think they are good eggs. To me, that’s a long time to make that kind of commitment.” Mentioning the narrow lakeside streets near her house, she said, “Every weed is being pulled, every vine on the fences. As you swing into the riverside area it is cleaned up — a much more attractive way to enter.” She is particularly impressed with neighbor Stephen Parham’s work. “I have seen him march up the road with a shovel and broom,” says Jane. Here’s proof of all these good people:  Here are neighbors Beth and Terry O’Connell, who live around the corner from Lorenzo’s restaurant, and they consistently clean the sidewalk overpass. Helping them lately is Laurie and Oswaldo Saavedra’s daughter, Natasha. Jane isn’t one to be left out of the fun, though. She lends a hand and clears an area on Underhill Road opposite her house.

UFOStalker.com shows that an unsubstantiated sighting of an unidentified flying object was reported in Newtown, Saturday, July 21, near Riverside Road and Narragansett Trail. “I was in my yard at about 11:30 pm walking my dog before I went to bed. I just happened to look up and noticed what a crystal clear night it was and how bright the stars were. I tried to find the big dipper when I noticed what I thought was a star only brighter than the others. I then thought it must be the North Star. I observed this for about 20 seconds and this light suddenly got brighter and then seemed to ascend very quickly getting smaller but not diminishing in brightness. This lasted about for 5 seconds until I could no longer see it. I was confused as to what I saw and thought to wake my wife but it was already gone, I then [thought maybe] it would come back so I returned the dog to the house and [stepped] outside for awhile but saw nothing else,” notes the report. Memorial Chinese lanterns set adrift a couple of years ago had our town in a bit of a tizzy, until they were identified. I wonder…

This is definitely not an unidentified object.  John and Cindy Glaberson had a visit from this black bear in their Albert’s Hill Road neighborhood, last Friday morning. Around 9:30 am, John heard a noise while working in his basement office, and peeking out the high windows to where he can normally see the bird feeder, he saw… nothing. “I went upstairs and looked out the window, and saw the bear,” John says. As the photo shows, the bear cared not a whit that John was watching as he dismantled the bird feeder. “He played with the feeder for about 20 minutes, and then came up on the deck to look through our sliding glass doors, before heading off to the edge of the woods,” says John. The bear stayed there with the feeder for nearly two hours, even disregarding Cindy’s clanging of pots outside the door. “We’ve lived her since 1986,” says John, “and have seen a lot of wildlife, including a bobcat and the same day as the bear, a pair of otters, but never a bear.” John reported the bear, which he estimated to be about 180 pounds, to DEEP, and Mr (or Ms) Bear is now in the DEEP database. Earlier this week, John ventured into the woods and found “what was left of the feeder,” about 100 yards in.

The Glabersons are not the only ones seeing Boo Boo Bear around the area. Newtown’s director of emergency communications, Maureen Will, says that the center has received numerous calls of bear sightings, and advises people contact DEEP at the 24-hour hot line, 860-424-3333 or the weekday number, 860-675-8130 (8:30 am to 4:30 pm). Maureen has also provided a link to tips on bear encounters and a form to fill out if you see a bear, at www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=325930&depNav_GID=1655. Among the important tips the DEEP includes are not filling bird feeders between March and November, cleaning and storing grills immediately after use, and not leaving pet food outside overnight.

You don’t have to leave me food, but I’m happy to find any tidbits of gossip in my bowl. That way, I know next week you’ll… Read me again.