Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-groundhog-day

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Winter weather-watchers and believers in rodent prognostication take heart!

Tuesday, February 2, dawned bleak and dreary here in Newtown just as it did

further south in Punxatawney, Pa. (and Gaithersburg, Maryland!). With plenty

of misty moistness to block out the sunshine, Phil the Groundhog emerged from

his winter quarters, sat up, stretched, sniffed the air, didn't see his shadow

and wasn't scared back to bed for another six weeks.

So spring must be just around the corner, and I guess that's good news for us

all. Speaking personally, I don't pay much attention to what prognosticating

groundhogs, badgers, wood chucks, hedge pigs or any other rodents are

supposedly telling me about how long I must wait for my first robin or

bluebird. Just to be safe, I'm laying in another load of kitty litter to

sprinkle on the front walk, and I don't plan to give up my cozy bed by the

fire any time soon.

You have to get out of bed pretty early in the morning -- even in the winter

-- to put one over on Sally O'Neil. Sally says she almost was taken in this

week by what apparently was a very clever phone scam. A woman telephoned

Sally, identified herself by name and said she was from the Visa credit card

fraud department. She said she needed to give Sally a new 800-number because

of problems with the one on the back of the card, and also a new security pin

number.

Sally said she objected to the new pin number because it was the same as the

last four digits of her phone number. "No problem," the woman said. "Just call

the 800 number and let them know what pin number you want."

The woman asked Sally to verify that it was her name on the credit card, then

asked her to verify the card number by reading the digits to her to compare

with her records.

"I said `wait a minute'," Sally said, suddenly realizing that something wasn't

right. "I know not to give my credit card number to anyone. But she was so

slick, so smooth -- it was scary." Sally said she hung up and called the

800-number and it just rang and rang. No one ever answered.

Sally is the coordinator of the Parish Nurse Ministry programs at St Rose

Church and wants anyone who is interested to come at 7:30 pm on Monday,

February 8, to hear an exercise physiologist from Danbury Hospital talk about

prevention of heart disease and cardiac rehabilitation. The program will be

held in the Monsignor Conroy Room of St Rose School.

Merlin Fisk says the mystery of the raincoat has been solved. Merlin wrote a

letter to The Bee two weeks ago to say that somehow in the past month or two

he must have gone home with the wrong raincoat because the one he discovered

hanging in his closet wasn't his, and his own was nowhere to be found. The

mystery coat contained a key ring with 13 keys but no identification.

Unable to find the owner, Merlin wrote to The Bee 's Letter Hive. Janet Woycik

read the letter and solved the puzzle. She knew that Gordon Williams had been

hunting for his raincoat for weeks. Both men serve on the Booth Library board

of trustees and apparently swapped coats accidentally at the December 8 board

meeting.

Merlin says this wasn't the first time that he's been involved in an

accidental raincoat swap but he hopes it is the last. He says he's writing his

name in bold letters inside the collar of his coat so it won't happen again.

Former Newtown resident Dianna Spell was crowned homecoming queen at Frederica

Academy on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, where she lives with her parents,

Carol Ann and Chas Spell. She is an active senior, captain of her varsity

soccer team, president of the National Honor Society and vice president of the

school's Honor Council.

Local churches are planning two big events to which the community is invited.

Christ the King Lutheran Church has invited the Concordia College Choir of

Bronxville, New York, to present a concert of sacred music based on the theme

"Sing for Joy" at 4 pm on Sunday, February 28. St Rose Church is planning an

ecumenical performance of the Gospel of Mark by actor Frank Runyeon, best

known for his television work on "L.A. Law" and many of the soap operas. This

family event will be held on Sunday, March 7, at 7 pm at the church.

While the unblemished string of victories by the UConn men's basketball team

may have come to an end this week, my winning streak continues unbroken, so be

sure to come back next week to...

Read me again.