Date: Fri 28-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

Mountain-memorial-day

Full Text:

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Ladies and gentlemen... start your engines.

Here we are, all lined up at the starting line for summer, engines revving,

ready to get started on our summer fun this Memorial Day weekend -- the

unofficial start to the summer season. But before you jump the gun, be sure to

save some time on Saturday morning to observe the real reason for this holiday

weekend. Memorial Day services will be held at the Soldiers and Sailors

Monument at the head of Main Street on Saturday at 10 am under the auspices of

American Legion Post 202. With our military men and women in action abroad, we

have extra cause to stop and be thankful for all those who have made

sacrifices for our freedoms in our nation's wars.

The article in last week's Bee about Capt James G. Perkins, commander of a

company of 75 paratrooper medics who spent a year in Bosnia, brought back a

lot of memories for persons who remember when he attended Newtown High School.

Jim, who is the grandson of Win and Gertrude Ballard, comes from a military

family. His father, Rudy Perkins, is a retired lieutenant colonel who served

in the mid-east during Desert Storm and now lives in Florida. Jim's sister,

Deborah, who was a homecoming queen at Newtown High School, served in Army

intelligence in Korea, then joined the Air Force and retired recently as a

captain to have a baby. (Debbie's husband, Edward Koharik, also is an Air

Force captain who flies cargo jumbo jets into Bosnia.) Jim's younger brother,

Daniel, is in the Coast Guard.

Don't forget to bring your candle to next Tuesday's candle light vigil at

Newtown High School's Bruce Jenner Stadium. The event will serve as a memorial

to those students killed in the Littleton, Colorado shootings. The program

begins at 7:30 pm.

Marie Sturdevant, her daughter, Leslie, and her daughter-in-law, Amy, spent

the weekend in Miami Beach. It was a girls' weekend. Marie said the weekend

away from the guys was fun, but it took this trio 12 hours to get back due to

Monday's nasty storm.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal has become the unofficial tour guide of Edmond

Town Hall the past couple of weeks, leading hundreds of second graders through

the building's hallowed halls. Last week, it was Hawley School. This week,

it's Sandy Hook School, and students from Head O' Meadow and Middle Gate are

due to visit next week.

The latest editions of Newtown resident Gary Stoller's Short Escapes Near

Boston and Short Escapes Near New York City are out on the book shelves. The

popular Fodor's travel books are ideal for the person looking to find that

hard-to-find place off the beaten path.

Talk about the true scholar athlete, NHS senior Tara Fiscella rushed back from

her state open golf tournament near Hartford just in time to have her picture

taken with her fellow academic all-stars at Newtown High School. Tara was

among the top ten students in the senior class this year.

As if they didn't see enough of each other during the week, a couple of The

Bee's pressmen, James Busby and Brian Sacco, got together to go fishing up in

Bethlehem not long ago. James was the one having all the luck -- well, almost.

Soon after hooking a small bass, James quickly hauled in another one -- this

time trophy-sized. Brian helped him get it in the boat and held up the prize

fish in amazement. James, eager to have the bass in hand, asked Brian to give

him the fish, and in the transfer, somehow the fish made it back overboard.

The bad news was that James had no fish to fry, but the good news is that

there is now no evidence to limit the size of the fish in the retelling of the

story of the one that got away.

If James needs some pointers on fish stories, all he has to do is talk to Mary

Ellen Harris. Mary Ellen was at Lexington Gardens last weekend picking up some

more plants for the weak spots in her garden, telling everyone about the

4-pound trout she caught in Taunton Pond. I have it on good authority, however

(from husband Dave), that the fish was 1« pounds, tops.

Dog Warden George Mattegat is looking for someone to donate a working

refrigerator to the pound. The refrigerator there stopped working this week,

and George hopes someone has an extra one. Call George or Pat at 426-6900 and

they will arrange to have someone pick it up.

I took a lawn chair and a good book with me last Saturday when I went to the

Ethan Allen warehouse sale in Danbury. I got there at 8 am -- the sale started

at 9 -- and there already were at least a hundred people in the line, some of

whom arrived as early at 6 am. B.J. Johnson-O'Connor sent her husband early to

hold a place for her in line and, good guy that he is, he went even though he

isn't much of a shopper. I saw Janet Woycik, Beth Danziger, and lots of other

Newtown people braving the crowd to find bargains.

Everyone should plan their weekend household projects for Saturdays from here

on out. Newtown Hardware has decided to give up even its limited Sunday hours.

I guess it was too much to ask the employees to be inside on these fine spring

days. I bet Mike Sorrentino will be spending a lot of his extra weekend time

working on his vintage Ford truck.

OK, let's let the weekend begin, but don't get too carried away with your

weekend revels. Remember you have to be back here next week, same time, same

place, to...

Read me again.