There are so many signs around town these days to remind us that summer is coming to and end. The days are getting shorter, stores are having back-to-school sales and football practice has begun. At no time was that more apparent than Tuesday afternoon when I witnessed a Pop Warner football player (wearing shoulder pads and wearing his helmet) on the way to practice… on the back of his dad’s motorcycle.

Firefighters responded to a fire at Walnut Tree Hill Village Tuesday night after lighting struck a cupola atop one of the units. A large contingent of onlookers watched in the rain as firefighters battled smoke and flames. As the rain stopped, a rainbow arced its way over the scene, creating a somewhat surreal moment.

Speaking of weather phenomena, last Friday’s storm really did a number on Newtown. Many people lost power, including Jim and Sue Shpunt who lost it for 17 hours.

Jay Mattegat bought a generator to cope with power outages so he was ready when the thunderstorm swept through Newtown. On Saturday morning he was bragging to his neighbor about how well the generator was working. Then the neighbor informed Jay that power had come back on at 1:20 am, hours earlier, and he had been running the generator long after he needed to.

The threatening weather on Sunday afternoon postponed the planned rocket launch by the Boy Scouts at the middle school but it didn’t stop Kenneth and Laura Lerman, Carol and Tom Mayhew, Sally and Mike Meffert, and Bill Smith and his wife from attending the Everly Brothers and Kingston Trio concert at Ives Concert Park in Danbury. As an attendee looked around at the mainly Baby Boomer audience, he was heard to mutter, “Looks more like an AARP meeting than a rock concert.” But the music was good and the audience could be heard singing along with most of the songs. From The Kingston’s Trio’s “Scotch and Soda” to the Everly Brothers “Wake-Up, Little Suzy” it was a night that ignited memories.

Mary Ellen Harris also went to a concert last weekend. She was spotted in the grocery store on Saturday, carrying on a conversation in a near whisper, having lost her voice at the Rod Stewart concert in Hartford the night before.

Cecily Tynan was spotted running in the annual road race in Falmouth, Mass., over the weekend. Cecily, a 1987 NHS grad, is a well-known TV weather personality in Philadelphia and has even done a few fill-in gigs on Good Morning America. Cecily has worked hard to become a very competitive runner, although the contingent of Kenyan runners blew away the competition.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal is back in town these days after taking some time off to travel around the South with his wife, Michelle. The couple visited Charleston, S.C., Wilmington, N.C., and Atlanta. They also stopped off at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Herb’s an old Navy guy.

The first selectman said the trip ended up being more like a “working vacation” as he spent a lot of time on the phone with town officials, politicians and even the press.

Mary Kelley in the first selectman’s office and her husband, Michael, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on Monday.

Two Newtown schools – Middle Gate and the high school — have had water troubles this year. At the board of education meeting Tuesday night, Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed and board chairman Elaine McClure couldn’t resist making puns while Dr Reed gave the board updates about the water situations. Dr Reed said the district wanted to come up with a solution that would not cause them to “pour” a lot of money into the system, while Mrs McClure said both situations sound like they are “well” underway.

School board member Lisa Schwartz brought cookies to the board meeting for the second month in a row. In July she claimed she made them in honor of Assistant Superintendent Robert Kuklis who retired at the end of July. This month she claimed it was for incoming Assistant Superintendent Alice Jackson. Whatever the reason, all of the board members have been enjoying the treats!

Word has it the Newtown Schools building and grounds supervisor Dominic Posca is about to lose the few strands of hair he has left. He and his crew have been working quite hard to finish numerous school projects before students get off the bus August 28.

Rachel Laurel Snyder Mounts, the new granddaughter of Gordon and Betty Mounts of Newtown and Bill and Madonna Snyder of Sandy Hook,  was in a real hurry to be born on July 30. Rachel was born in Brookfield in a car on the way to Danbury Hospital. Her parents are Darren Snyder and Amy Mounts of New Milford.

Congratulations go out to Town Clerk Cindy Simon, who became a grandmother for the first time last week. Her daughter, Kim, delivered a baby boy named Jayson on August 9. The baby arrived six weeks early and Cindy had to rush home from Vermont to be there with her daughter. And she made it in time to witness the birth. Jayson’s father is Jason Anzelotti, the son of Sue Carney and stepson of first selectman candidate Owen Carney. It’s a small world.

Square dancers around the state will miss Hank Hjerpe, an enthusiastic hoofer who used to travel fairly long distances to dance three and four evenings a week. Hank, who worked most recently for The Bee, died last week at the age of 75. We’ll miss him.

What happens to you if you go to France on vacation? Well, if you are John and Maureen Rohmer, you get home and one week later you both have emergency surgery! John is in Westchester Medical Center and Maureen is in Danbury Hospital right now. They hope to be home early next week. Sallie Meffert says she certainly wants them home to watch the first game of the “mighty and invincible and unbeatable and number one in the nation Florida Gators!”

This Sunday begins the big shopping week in Connecticut as families everywhere prepare for the start of school. Once again the state is allowing a week of tax-free clothes shopping. Between August 19 and August 25 clothing and footwear costing less than $300 per item will be excluded from the 6 percent sales tax.  Ostensibly tax-free week is for back-to-school clothing, but a new business suit or a new winter coat also would qualify if under $300. I plan to really hit the stores next week, but I’ll be back in time for you to…

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