Date: Fri 11-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-Labor-Day-Parade

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

With the protracted labor troubles at Southern New England Telephone, days on

the picket lines of the striking workers can be tedious and boring for people

used to doing technical work. Typically, the picket line at the small SNET

switching station on Queen Street has three or four workers following the

shade around as a warm day wears on. But on Monday, Labor Day, Queen Street

was the most attractive picket line in the state for the striking members of

the Connecticut Union of Telephone Workers. The line had a front row seat for

the Labor Day Parade, and the ranks of strikers swelled from three or four to

more than 50.

Not missing the significance of the day for their cause, a contingent of the

CUTW members talked their way into the line of march, and made their way

through town reminding Newtown with a bullhorn what Labor Day was all about.

Together with the legions of politicians who marched this year, the parade was

a little more issue-oriented than usual. However, the always popular (and

prodigious) Shriners, who drove round and round in circles in their little

cars, provided the perfect antidote for (and commentary on) the more

serious-minded marchers.

Mark Cooper and the Newtown Health District passed out Chinese fortune cookies

during the parade. There was no fortune, however. The cookie simply invited

residents to Saturday's health fair. That's where you can undergo a physical

examination to find out your real fortune.

How many people do you think were at the parade? Kim Stendahl, a member of the

parade committee, said she heard the Newtown Police guessed something like

20,000 people. But Lt David Lydem said it would be impossible to determine

without counting each person. He said the number of people depends on who you

ask. I guess it's kind of like last weekend's Million Youth March in New York

City where an estimated 6,000 youths showed.

Book dealer John Wiser of Hopewells, N.Y., was the envy of all the other book

dealers at the Booth Library Book Sale last Saturday. John secured the No. 1

position in line for the sale. When the doors opened, John and hundreds of

other collectors and book lovers were off and running.

The library in Kempner, Texas, population 234, is going to increase its

collection significantly now that it has been adopted by the Friends of the

Booth Library, all because of Allison Berry. Ms Berry, who lives in Baltimore,

was on her way from New Haven to Danbury on business when she saw a sign

advertising the Labor Day book sale in Newtown. She came to the book sale to

buy some books for herself, and in the process, she told some of the

volunteers about the small town in south central Texas, where her parents

live. The tiny Kempner library doesn't have a librarian; it operates

completely on the honor system. The Friends plan to find out what the Kempner

library needs and will supply it from some of the surplus.

A man's wedding ring was found among the books at the book sale. The owner

should call the library to claim it.

Louise Tambascio usually gets to My Place restaurant by 4:30 am to begin the

breakfast preparations but she undoubtedly was a few minutes late on

Wednesday. Nonetheless, by 7 am she was showing customers Polaroid photos of

her new grandson, Michael Joseph, who had been born at 4 am. The 7«-lb infant

is the son of Mr and Mrs John Tambascio.

When Marilyn Alexander noticed that she was referred to as Ms Alexander in the

Booth Library board minutes, she asked for the designation Mrs instead. After

all, she pointed out, she and her husband, Paul, will celebrate their 40th

wedding anniversary next week, a milestone that needed to be recognized.

A group of visitors from New York City were in the William Pitt office on

Church Hill Road late Monday afternoon when they spotted several deer walking

by on the other side of the road. From their reaction, it was obvious that

what seems so commonplace to most of us still is a real novelty for many

others.

Somebody dropped a bomb at last week's Board of Education meeting --

literally. Fortunately it was only a smoke bomb and it was thrown just outside

a window behind the school central office on Queen Street. The perpetrator was

long gone by the time anyone noticed.

George Mattegat is selling tickets for a benefit performance by ghostbusters

Ed and Lorraine Warren at the Pyramid Shriners Auditorium in Milford. The

Warrens, who are explorers of paranormal, will give a lecture and slide show

at 7:30 pm on Thursday, September 24. Tickets are $20 per person. Proceeds

will help the Shriners in their support of their burn centers and orthopedic

hospitals where medical assistance is given without charge. Call George at

426-3228 for more information.

If you're too spooked to go see the Warrens, remember you can scale back your

dose of incredible stories from ghosts to a black cat every week, right here.

So don't forget to...

Read me again.