Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-summer

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Summertime, and the livin' is easy...

Ok, so all the rain last week doesn't have the fish jumping, and the cotton

isn't exactly high anywhere in town, but I do love the summer season. Even The

Bee office, where few of the denizens would call the living easy on deadline

day, loosened up a little in honor of the new season. Carol Fenn and Scott

Baggett, members of the production department at The Bee , organized the

company's first annual Bee Backyard BBQ.

At around noon on Thursday, just after the paper was put to bed for the week,

zombie-like workers, who looked like they had arrived straight from January,

came blinking out into the sunshine, lured by the smell of hamburgers and hot

dogs on the grill. After taking in a little nourishment with the sunshine, the

whole crew was quickly revived and ready to take on another week.

It looks like there will be a lot for everybody in town to take on next week.

The annual St Rose Carnival starts Tuesday night and runs right through the

Fourth. I can almost smell the fried dough now. The carnival is in its

traditional location -- the parking lot of St Rose Church on Church Hill Road

-- and will be open each night from 7-11 pm.

The Matthew Curtiss House will be filled with plants and flowers this weekend,

when the Garden Club of Newtown presents a flower show Friday and Saturday,

June 26-27. The public is invited to visit the Curtiss House and see how club

members have interpreted the theme "A Colonial Day." Admission is by donation.

Also outdoor summer concerts are returning to town, beginning this weekend. On

Friday night, the Sandy Hook trio called Treblehook will perform on the back

lawn at C.H. Booth Library. Admission is free, and the show will begin at 7

pm. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket for seating, and don't forget some snacks

for yourself... and your favorite cat, who digs the music of this acoustic

trio. If there is rain, the concert will be postponed to Saturday night.

While you are out this weekend, Merryhill Child Care Center is holding its

third annual tag sale on Saturday from 9 to 3 at its 49 Queen Street location.

The non-profit center will be selling used toys, baby equipment, clothes for

all ages, sporting goods, household items and some antiques.

Bob Eckenrode will be in Southbury on Saturday night, and is hoping to see a

few familiar faces there, too. The Newtown resident is drummer and

percussionist for the versatile, high energy band Hot Acoustics. The group

will be performing at Pomperaug High School from 8-10 that night, providing

entertainment during the Tribury Relay For Life event. Sponsored by the

American Cancer Society, Relay For Life is a community-wide fund-raising and

cancer awareness event. There is no charge to attend Relay For Life. The high

school is on Judd Road, just off Exit 16 from I-84.

Do you know anyone who is part of an area softball team? Shannon Hicks, the

Bee's arts editor and a coach for one of the Greater Danbury Special Olympics

softball teams, says the Connecticut Special Olympics softball season is now

open. The Danbury area teams practice two nights a week in Bethel, and are

always looking for groups to play against before they play in their August

tournament. The season runs through the third week of August, which means

there are a lot of practices between now and the tournament. Anyone who is

interested in volunteering their team to play a scrimmage on a Tuesday or

Thursday night is invited to call Shannon (426-3141) or CSO local coordinator

Kevin Cooper, 740-5195, extension 319.

Also, Special Olympics will be hosting an invitational softball tournament the

first weekend of August at Rogers Park in Danbury. The participating teams are

all set, but Special Olympics is looking for volunteers to help run the

concession stands and the scoreboards, among other opportunities. Interested?

The person to contact for this is Geanne (pronounced like "Jeannie") Murphy,

who can be reached at 730-5804.

Softball isn't Gary Fetzer's sport, but he doesn't mind playing golf,

especially when it's for a good cause like the Newtown Scholarship Association

benefit golf tourney, which took place Monday at the Whitney Farms course in

Monroe. But Gary couldn't make it to the NSA fund-raiser this year because of

a little mishap that occurred while he was pursuing his all-time favorite

sport: moto-cross. Gary broke his arm in a race in New York State last

weekend. Who knows? Maybe the gimpy arm might straighten out Gary's drive.

Melanie Mattegat was out in the yard with the kids recently enjoying the day,

and when she went back in the house, she found a strange Doberman had decided

to make himself at home in her house on Sealand Drive. It turns out the Doby

was from a house down on Hanover Road and was just touring the neighborhood

introducing himself. He was returned to his rightful home, courtesy of Newtown

Canine Control.

Shirley Jean Measures, Newtown's member of the original Little Rascals, has

sold her home and is on her way to her new home near Albany, N.Y., where her

daughter and other family members live. Shirley figures she has it made now.

"My daughter's fiance is car salesman, my oldest grandson is a mechanic, his

fiance is a veterinarian, my youngest grandson is a computer whiz, and my

daughter works for Blue Cross-Blue Shield," she said. "I've got almost all the

bases covered."

If you're out covering the bases next week, be sure to return home in time

to...

Read me again.