Date: Fri 25-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-summer-solstice

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

I've been busy keeping track of my shadow ever since Wednesday, when I lost

track of it completely for a couple of hours. We black cats have a special

relationship with our shadows. It's not easy to tell where my shadow leaves

off and I begin, so when my shadow shrinks to the point of disappearing, I

tend to take it personally.

So on Wednesday at about noon, when I looked from side to side, my shadow was

nowhere to be found. Then I remembered that it was the summer solstice, and

the sun was as high in the sky as it gets in these parts. All I had to do was

wait and hour or two for my shadow to emerge once again from my great big

belly -- and I felt whole again.

Dog warden George Mattegat wants to remind everybody that a dog isn't whole

unless it's got a license hanging from its collar. So he is telling every dog

owner he knows that the deadline for getting dog licenses is June 30. After

that, the owners of unlicensed dogs are liable for $70 fines, especially those

who are on the delinquent list for not getting their dogs licensed last year.

Licenses are available at the town clerk's office.

VFW Post 308 Auxiliary is collecting the fronts of greeting cards to help the

children at St Jude's Hospital. This is a way to use those cards that you've

saved because they are too nice to throw away, and to help the children at St

Jude's Hospital. The auxiliary also is saving aluminum pull tabs from cans and

Campbell Soup labels. Anyone who wants to help should call Jo Ann Peck at

426-6299.

The Denlingers sure are doing their part to make sure that the country has

enough lawyers. Daughter Diane, whose engagement announcement appears in this

issue of The Bee , is a new lawyer who is marrying a lawyer. Daughters Carley

and Julie, both attorneys, also are married to lawyers. Only Pat and Bill's

son, Jim, opted for another career. He earned an MBA and works for a bank in

Seattle.

In Newtown one of the sure signs of summer is an endless stream of traffic

into and out of Treadwell Park on Philo Curtis Road. As town park department

programs got into full swing this week after the close of school, a steady

stream of minivans and sport-utility vehicles drove into and out of the park

ferrying children to and from recreational activities.

With the close of school for the summer, the town center during weekday rush

periods is a different, much less populated place. Church Hill Road and Queen

Street, which typically are full of buses and cars carrying children to and

from school, now seem like quiet residential streets. Especially noticeable is

the lack of school-aged pedestrians walking to and from Newtown Middle School.

That doesn't mean we can let down our guard as we drive around town -- the

kids are still out there, just on the neighborhood streets, so drive

carefully.

Have you noticed the newest landmark on Newtown's historic Main Street? It's a

plastic privy at the site of the new house under construction. Talk about

putting your best... er, foot... forward for guests driving through town.

Ray Craven has been coaching youth baseball for more than 30 years, during

which time he has led his players to numerous league titles. Last Saturday,

his Newtown Hardware club captured yet another title. In a show of

appreciation, his players drenched their coach with the contents of the water

cooler.

To the casual observer, it must look like Keith Simmons has the easiest job at

Yankee Discount Wines and Spirits -- he just sits at the register all day. But

if you look behind the counter, you will see that Keith is sporting a cast on

his ankle. He broke it several weeks ago walking his dog (you don't want to

know!), and he expects it will be another four or five weeks before it comes

off. In the meantime, he's a hobbler, which keeps him close to the register.

~Workmen at Edmond Town Hall this week ripped up the old set of flagstones in

front of the building, replacing them with a new, simulated-flagstone surface.

Over the years, the old flagstones had become uneven, causing a safety hazard

to pedestrians, resulting in their replacement. I guess it's only a matter of

time before we get some replacement, hazard-free, simulated public officials

to go with the new front walk.

There will be nothing simulated at all about next week's column. It will be

the real thing, so be sure to...

Read me again.