Date: Fri 24-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-hot-weather

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

I've got to say that being a black cat during the hottest days of July isn't

much fun. I wish there were some way I could store all this heat I've been

soaking up and use it in January. I could be a regular heat pump.

All the heat has been pumping up some peculiar weather. Monday night's

thunderstorm didn't seem like much but it certainly did cause havoc around

town, knocking out the controls for garage door openers, fax machines and

other electronic devices.

Members of the St Rose Women's Club board discovered when they arrived at the

parish center at 7 pm that the power was out in the center of town. So they

met until it got too dark to see, then adjourned the meeting to another

evening.

Across Church Hill Road, a half dozen cars were parked at The Ice Cream Shop

and more were pulling in, the drivers determined not to let a lack of power

get in the way of an ice cream cone. Owner Wendy White said the staff couldn't

use the soft serve machines but they lit candles and continued to scoop hard

ice cream until 9 o'clock. The power finally came back on at 11.

There were so many guys standing up and squatting down across the street from

The Bee on Tuesday, I thought there was a full fledged marble tournament

underway. On closer inspection, however, I found out that they were measuring

and placing strings on the site of what will be a gazebo behind Trinity

Church. A member of the church donated a gazebo in honor of a family member,

whose cremated remains rest in the nearby memorial garden. The work on Tuesday

was being overseen by Dave Luessenhop, who has added a contribution of his own

to complete some of the site work for the area. Dave, a member of the church's

men's group, hopes the gazebo will provide a place for people to relax and

appreciate the beauty of the memorial garden a few steps away. I certainly

plan to take him up on his offer.

Because Joanne Klopfenstein was so helpful in publicizing the 50th birthday of

Linda Townsend not so long ago, Linda called me this week all the way from

Grear's Ferry, Arkansas, where she and her husband, Jim, now live, to tell me

that Joanne will be celebrating her own half-century mark on July 30. The

Townsends and the Klopfensteins used to be neighbors here in Newtown. You

could say Linda and Joanne are old friends.

Jonathan Marshall, son of Henry Marshall on Berkshire Road also has a birthday

coming up on July 30, but he will only be reaching the one-tenth-century mark.

Jon went to his first major league ball game with his dad Monday night. They

had tickets to the twi-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. The first game

seemed endless for Jon -- and it almost was. The game went 17 innings. Father

and son left Yankee Stadium after the 12th inning because it was getting late,

but not before Jon got a chance to pick up a couple of souvenirs: a Yankees

cap and a plaque featuring his favorite player, Tino Martinez. Jon also got

his dad to spring for his first-ever major league baseball hotdog -- $3.50, no

mustard.

Mark Nielsen wasn't having hot dogs, because it was breakfast time, but the

Danbury politician was spotted at the Blue Colony Diner earlier this week,

just one day after capturing the 5th Congressional District Republican

nomination over Alan Schlesinger of Derby. He's hoping to avoid a primary and

head straight to the November election against Democratic incumbent Jim

Maloney.

Have you noticed the new flag in town? Joanne Zang of the Friends of the

Library said library custodian Jim Kearns mentioned that the library hadn't

flown a flag for years and asked if the friends would provide one. The

organization did and now Jim can be spotted every day raising and lowering the

flag.

A large bail of hay was seen right at the foot of the flagpole earlier this

week. It had apparently fallen off a truck on its way to a horse's mouth.

Someone quickly moved it out of the way, though a few straws were still

evident later in the day.

Who was it, I want to know, that decided that something coming "straight from

the horse's mouth" was more valuable than something from other kinds of

mouths? Those of you who want to buck conventional wisdom by getting your

information straight from the cat's mouth should...

Read me again.