Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-Labor-Day

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Remember two years ago when Hurricane Edward was forecast to hit this area

somewhere around the start of the Labor Day Parade? Edward never arrived and

there were sunny skies when the annual parade kicked off.

"I remember people asking why we weren't canceling the parade," mused parade

co-chair Lisa Franze this week.

Guess what? Hurricane Earl was expected to hit Panama City, Fla., late

Wednesday night and then make its way northward. Parade organizers say bring

it on. "He's coming. He's on his way, but we plan to beat him off," they say.

Actually, the hurricane is heading in a northwestward fashion and does not

cause much of a threat to this area, according to Gary Lessor of the Western

Connecticut State University weather center. But we won't go into that here so

the parade committee can keep its awesome reputation as hurricane beaters.

There was a hurricane of politicians swirling around in the dust at the dump

last Saturday. Republican and Democratic candidates alike were there at 8 am

to glad-hand and solicit votes from everyone who showed up to dump their

debris at the transfer station and recycling center. Even congressional

candidate Mark Nielsen was getting into the spirit. "I haven't been to the

festivities at the Newtown landfill before," he said. "Now that I've been here

, they can't call me a patrician at The Bee anymore."

The town's Zoning Enforcement Officer Gary Frenette recently returned from an

11-day trip to China where he adopted a baby girl. He brought the 22-month old

cutie into work Wednesday and town employees were reportedly ooing and

aahhing.

Anyone with a toddler knows how difficult it is to stay connected to the real

world when you are tied to a little person who demands all of your attention.

Amy and Wayne D'Orio know all about it. Their toddler, Ethan, seems to call

all the shots around the house, right down to what they watch on TV. So when

Wayne managed an evening off recently to attend a planning meeting for his

Fantasy Football League, he was looking forward to some adult conversation and

catching up with the real world. It turns out, however, that a lot of the

other guys in the league are in the same boat at home. When the guys got to

talking about new music that they liked, the only groups that they all knew

about were the artists who sang on the Elmopalooza video that their kids all

insist on watching. Eventually, they'll all get a life -- in about 18 years.

I have received a couple of calls from members of the Newtown High School

Class of 1988 who were trying to find out information on its tenth year

reunion. Sue Belanger, where are you?

Graduates of Newtown High School in the classes of 1935 and 1936 will be

getting together for a reunion luncheon at the Stony Hill Inn on September 10.

Any Hawley High grads who are interested in joining the group are cordially

invited to attend. Call Lillian Ermisch at 775-9479 for more information.

Newtown resident Jeff Schnell was spotted on national television last

Saturday. He was in the front row for the Pilot Pen championship tennis match

between Steffi Graf and Yana Novotna. We saw you Jeff!

Melissa and Chuck Pilchard celebrated their 42nd anniversary on Tuesday by

going out to dinner but they had to wait until after Melissa attended a Public

Safety Committee meeting at Garner prison at 5 pm. Melissa says she believes

few other wives have gone directly from jail to their anniversary celebration.

If you were one of the attendees at Tommy Hanlon's 50th birthday party

Saturday, you might have thought that the ambulance parked outside was an

inside joke about his age. Actually, it was there because EMT Nancy McLachlan

was on duty that night and attended the party in uniform, ready to respond.

If you think August has been humid in Connecticut, ask Tom Swetts about the

few days he spent in Austin, Texas. "You get up in the morning and it's 100

percent humidity," he said, "and then it goes to 102 percent." I know they

exaggerate in Texas, but this story sure makes Mr Swetts sound all wet.

For more tall tales, be sure to...

Read me again.